Disclaimer: I don't own the Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.

The Shadow of the Past

Chapter 8 - Decisions

Story by Last Butterfly

Summary: Seven years passed since that tragic night in Zuko's life, and he and Katara had been together for more than a year now.
But after this peaceful time a shadow neared them from the past he tried so hard to forget... - Zutara, Zuko x Katara Modern AU

Katara was lying on her stomach, hugging her pillow while Toph was sitting beside her. She had just finished her tale when the other started shaking her head.

"This is just plain wrong…"

"Tell me about it." The blue eyes girl sniffed, drying her eyes.

"No, I mean seriously," The blind girl frowned. "Sokka was – sorry to say – an Idiot with capital I, but…"

"That's exactly why I'm mad at him too!" Katara snapped after sitting up with the pillow in her lap.

"But," Toph started again after the other finished. "What did you expect from Zuko?" Err… that was not the best way to put that question, was it?

"What did I expect?!" The blue eyed girl shouted with a deadly glare. "I don't know, maybe I expected my boyfriend to be honest with me!"

"I meant right then!" The other answered just as loud. "He could not even explain himself, especially with Sokka being there! He said that he was sorry… and that he was afraid of what you would think," And as it seems he was probably right about that… Toph thought to herself while the other girl crossed her arms. "And if this is even partly true then it is obviously not the easiest topic for him."

Katara let her hands fall back on the pillow while a frown appeared on her face. "Do you know what it feels like… to figure out things like this after knowing someone for years?"

Damn it, Snoozeles…! The blind girl's lips turned into a thin line before she spoke. "Basically you were only together for a year." She pointed out, but that was only enough to annoy the other.

"It does not matter!" The older girl said sharply, and slamming her pillow back to its place behind her. Then in the low light as her gaze fell on the small flame-shaped charm at her ankle her eyes turned teary. "I… did not keep anything away from him… he truly knows everything about me," A teardrop fell on her skin but she did not even move to wipe it away. "I love him so much…" She sobbed. "S-so why can't he trust me?"

"Ssh… It's gonna be ok. I can feel it," This time Toph embraced her without a second thought. "And you have to trust me. I'm always right." She added with a smirk as she patted the other's back.

The other let out a half chuckle too, before speaking again. "He… had been so strange lately," She said through her tears. "I thought that… he cheated on me or something…"

"Zuko, cheating?" Toph leaned backwards with raised eyebrow and an even more knowing grin. "You're kidding me, right?"

Katara took a deep breath before his words came back to her. There are things that I did not tell you… things I'm not proud of…

What if…? She suddenly gasped, placing a hand before her lips. "What if that was the reason? What if he was trying to tell me this, but Sokka…?" Toph made a pout with crossed arms as the other let a hand through her wavy hair roughly, while letting out a groan. "But why didn't he call me?!"

"Where's your phone?" The blind girl asked, seeing the progress. "Did you even check it?"

"Of course I had!" Katara exclaimed, grabbing her handbag that she took with her to the supermarket then reached into it. "It's right here beside…!" She blinked. She lifted the bag to her face, searching for it again then threw everything for it upon her bed, only to find everything but that. "It… I thought it's here…"

"Backpack?" The younger asked, but the other was already kneeling beside that, elbow deep around books when…

"Gods, thanks! I started to worry I've lost it…" She spoke, picking out her cell. "I-it's depleted." She said, staring at it before Toph snapped.

"What are you waiting for? Plug it in already!"

After a half minute she could finally switch it back on, but it seemed like an eternity for her as it started loading. And then…

The phone beeped loudly in the silence, showing dozens of unanswered calls and new messages. Katara was unconsciously holding her breath and her heart started racing as she pushed a button, opening the first message from Zuko.

I'm sorry, I should have told you, but… I guess I was truly afraid, your father was right. Believe me I did not want to hurt you, please forgive me!

She sniffed with teary eyes, but she did not say a word, while Toph already formed a slight smirk. "So, did he call?" The other ignored her, reading the next one.

I love you. I know how this sounds right now, but… Forget it! I need to tell you the whole truth, just give me a chance. Don't close me out, I don't want to loose you! Please, just answer the phone…

Katara bit her lips, trying to even her breathing which only made the other girl shift in her place, slowly getting annoyed. "Oh Toph…" She whispered, before her fingers moved to the buttons.

The younger girl heaved a sigh at the familiar beeps, lying on the bed as the other called Zuko's phone. Well, well… "So, you plan to tell him how much you despise him, right?" She smirked up at the other, knowing well that she would start reddening because she felt just as idiot as Toph wanted her to feel.

The dark skinned girl turned her back on the other while lifting the cell to her ear. But instead of the ringing she had to hear this: 'The called number is currently unavailable, please try again later, or leave a message after th-'

She frowned, lowering the phone in her lap. "His cell is switched off…" She murmured sadly, but then let out a yelp as a pillow hit her in the back of her head. "Toph!"

"What were you thinking? He was calling you for how many times…? Geez, his phone couldn't have just died like yours did!" She exclaimed loudly, waving with her hands but as she was smashed with the same pillow, the only answer that the other gave was a light laugh…

For a long moment Zuko numbly stood in his place. Have you ever felt so stunned that you somehow could not move? As if your brain would be convinced that something was in truth not even happening to you, but to someone else.

Honestly, the feeling sucked.

Mai's thin fingers ruffled in his slightly wet hair, her other hand clenching in the towel around his neck, trying to gain an answer from him, while his whole body remained stiff, his sealed lips giving no encouragement.

Then her golden eyes opened, boring into his still confused ones when he had to realize two things. First, his sister's best friend wanted him – which under other circumstances would have flattered him – and second… In opposite to her usually cool temper, she definitely did not need to learn from Azula about being sadistic.

She bit his lower lip hard enough to make him groan before forcing her tongue's way into his mouth, her fingers – which previously stroked his hair – suddenly clawed the skin on the back of his neck.

Finally the sudden pain brought him to his senses, and he let out a grunt while pushing her away. "Stop!" His hand moved to his neck, and he gritted his teeth as he felt that he was bleeding…

Her other hand still held onto the towel in his neck, but she only answered his angered glare with the faintest of smiles while taking shallow breaths. "What's the matter, don't you like to play rough?" His lips parted with surprise, but as he could not find his voice it was her who spoke again. "That's not how you react when she does it." She said while letting go of his towel.

Her sharp words caused him to flush, and the guilt kicked in fast. "I'm not doing this. I have a girlfriend…" He said on a firm voice as he straightened in his place.

Her smile faded. "That did not seem to concern you in the last minutes."

Zuko frowned darkly at her. "I'm not going to hurt her."

Mai's gaze moved to the side before the faintest change appeared in her expressions. Her eyes moved to his, the edge of her lips formed a small smile. "What she does not know…" She stepped towards him once again, making him tense. "Does not hurt her." She whispered, but when her hand reached towards his chest everything changed.

His hands grabbed her wrists with a scowl, and she hissed at the force he used. "What's gotten into you?!" He snapped, his eyes searching her ones which were burning with the anger of refusal. He let out a deeper breath as he shook his head. "If you weren't my sister's best friend since third grade…"

"Then you would do what you truly want?" She asked, on a low and venomous voice.

His eyes narrowed at once. "Then I would throw you out without a second thought!" The girl's expressions remained stoic. She turned her head away from his prying gaze but otherwise did not make any other move. She did not even try to free her wrists. This impassive manner - that had been a part of her for so long as he could remember - was the main reason he could not simply let go.

"Mai, don't do this to yourself," The girl's eyebrows slowly formed a frown at the softer tone in his voice. "You shouldn't ruin your life…" He sighed without looking at her this time. "…just because your parents' expectations are too…"

"Why, do you think you are not worth it?" She suddenly asked, and he raised his head to meet her gaze, but when he only shook his head with a half-smile she said lowly. "I would do far more than this for you."

Zuko's hands let go. This was already far more than he ever expected from the Mai. He took a step back, but she was still watching him with a serious look. She still hoped he would agree…

For a moment his glance moved to the side but then he spoke with no hesitation. "I cannot give you what you want." His golden eyes became focused, his tone making it clear that his decision had been final. "I love Katara," Her expressions turned colder as he formed the name. "Not you."

Her eyes moved to the ground, her fingernails cut in her palm fueling her fury. But she said nothing only turned and left his room, leaving the door opened as she hurried down the stairs…

Ursa walked out of the living room when the girl reached the front door. "Mai, is something…" Wrong? She was about to ask but the girl did not stop, only shut the door close behind her, walking through the garden to her car.

Azula came out of the kitchen with a bag of chips and with a small frown after looking out of a window, to see her friend leave. "What's up with her?" She asked her mother first, but as she only raised her eyebrows, she moved to the stairs. "Ty Lee!"

The girl in pink opened the door, peeking down. "Yes?"

"What happened to Mai? She's just…" Outside an engine roared to life. "…leaving."

"I thought she's with you…" The other answered with a small frown, as the other walked up the stairs.

"No, she was…" Azula spoke but her eyes moved to the side as the doorknob of her brother's room seemed to move. She stopped beside Ty Lee, narrowing her eyes. "…not." Then she smiled at the other girl, giving her the chips. "Could you put this down inside? I'll be there at once."

"Ok." The girl in pink said, and a glint appeared in her eyes as she hugged it. It was her favourite flavor.

Then the golden eyed girl moved up to her brother's door, knocking on it loudly. "Zuzu!"

There came a groan from inside before the door opened, Zuko standing before her in a shirt, with a towel in his neck. "What?!" He scowled down at her, and she only smirked at how pissed he always had been when she called him that.

"Did Mai tell you something?"

Just slightly his thumb moved as he was leaning against his doorway with a hand, but the small movement did not avoid her eyes. Only then did he speak while holding her gaze. "Why would she want to say anything to me?" He asked casually then shrugged as he walked towards the stairs. "Probably her parents called her or something… you know how she is."

He said while Azula was watching him cautiously, but just when he took the first step down the stairs - slightly bowing his head – she saw what she was looking for: three parallel red lines just between the towel and the shirt on the back of his neck…

For a long moment she did not move at all, but she was looking at the stairs as if she could have burned them down by just doing so. Honestly, she loved to bug her brother about him not dating Mai and all. It was fun because she knew that it would never actually work out… And yet in that very moment she felt more angry than usual. First, because she was always pissed when Zuko stubbornly did something that could affect her daily life. No, whatever he usually managed to do kind of pissed her off anyway.

But what was worse: her friend knew very well how she hated if anyone around her drooled for her brother. And making a move on him was a taboo that she thought she made clear already. Honestly a part of her suddenly wished that Mai would slam into a tree on her way home…

"Azula," Ty Lee suddenly called out to her, bringing her out of her rather dark thoughts. "Do you want to wait till Mai comes back, or can we watch the movie?" She said before looking at her with a bright smile. "And… I'm a bit hungry, as I couldn't have lunch before the gym."

"No," The girl said with a shrug, letting a small evil smile appear on her face. "Let's not wait. It's her bad that she left…" Her smile turned into a frown though as she turned the TV on. "Who needs her anyway?"

The girl in pink only raised a brow for a second then shrugged as they sat down. "Ok then…"

When he heard a noise, Hakoda's eyes opened below a book upon his face. He slowly let it slip into his hands as he raised his head from the armchair's backrest. He had fallen asleep in his favourite chair with the TV on. It was not even bad that the phone rang.

He was rubbing his eyes while walking tiredly towards it, but before he could have left the living room something blue ran before him.

"I'll get it!" Her daughter said causing him to stop with a blink, then he scratched his head, returning to his place.

Katara half stood, half lied on the kitchen table to reach the phone, placing it to her ear. "Zuko?" She asked excitedly, but it slowly faded as she heard the voice on the other side.

"N-no, it's me honey," Ursa spoke on the other side. The girl's lips formed an 'o' as she slowly sat down. "Look, I know that you and Zuko had an argument so I understand if you don't want to go,"

The blue eyed girl's eyebrows furrowed. First she was afraid that Ursa would want to talk to her in Zuko's name, but now she got the feeling that she had forgotten something...

"But you had that appointment at the doctor tomorrow, and I wanted to ask if you still…"

"Oh, t-that," Katara looked around just to be sure that none of her family members stood near her but as she remained silent a bit longer the woman went on.

"I mean if you want me to then I'll call the doc up to cancel or… postpone it?" Maybe… Ursa hoped, but the girl's answer surprised her.

"No, I think…" Katara peeked just one more time behind her with a slight blush upon her face. "I think tomorrow will be ok."

The pale woman blinked twice before letting a smile appear on her face. "So, do you want to go…?"

"Yes." The dark skinned girl answered, and to her annoyance, her brother just walked in the room she was in. He came to a halt with his hands in his pockets, and remained there, watching her.

"So you are not upset… with him anymore?" Ursa asked hopefully, but Katara tried to answer without giving much away to her brother who stood there.

"Not as much." She murmured, turning her head away from Sokka's slight guilty expressions. She was not going to forgive him so easily, and also as she decided not to talk to him she would not snap at him to get lost…

"I'm so glad to hear that hon', he was trying to reach you the whole afternoon…" The girl only hemmed, but Ursa felt better already. Zuko finally went to sleep, saying that his cell would be there if Katara tried to reach him, but she was afraid that there would be no progress about them till the following day.

"Well then, tomorrow I'll meet you up after school," Ursa said, walking around with the phone. After the girl agreed she bit her lip but asked anyway. "Do you… want me to say something to him?"

"Tell him…" She peeked up, straight into Sokka's blue eyes before turning away in her chair, lowering her voice to whisper. "Tell him that we'll talk tomorrow." There had been a slight smile at the corner of her lips as she said goodbye, but when she hung up, she let her expressions turn back to the one she wanted her brother to see. Then she stood up trying to avoid her brother, who stepped in front of her.

"Katara, please stop this, I'm sorry!" He hurried with the words but her face darkened as she stopped for a moment. "Don't be so childish, I just wanted you to know what…"

"I don't care, Sokka!" She shouted furiously, causing him to flinch – but still he preferred yelling over the silence treatment. "And how come you call me childish? It's you who should finally grow up!" She hissed with a death-glare. "If you want peace then don't stand. In. My. Way!"

The boy tried to open his mouth, but Katara hurried past him, shoving his shoulder with hers angrily before disappearing in her room's direction.

He stood in his place, bowing his head as a sigh escaped his lips then slowly moved to his own room, feeling defeated. This day became his little personal hell. First Zuko's outburst about what truly happened… it left him in a state as if his stomach had turned into a stone. He already realized how he should have looked for a bit more information, but he told Theo that it was enough.

Sokka hated when his sister cried, and the fact that he was her reason for that only added an extra pang of guilt. Oh, and then came Hakoda who of course had been so damn right about every word he said that was more than enough for one day.

He had to do something. That had been clear… but his own sister told him to go to hell.

From now on he would not be a prick to Zuko. If Katara managed to get over her rage… Sokka could only guess that she was fed up with both of them right now… maybe he should talk to him? Not that it would be a good idea… he did not want to create a higher chance of being punched. He still remembered how hard the guy could hit…

He reached his door, placing a hand on the doorknob. Ok, I'll try to talk to him tomorrow… I guess… and to Katara too… or maybe I should try again before she went to sleep? For a moment his gaze moved to her door then sighed while shaking his head. No, not while Toph's there… she will do better than me anyway… This time a small smile came to his face. The blind girl always seemed to brighten up their mood.

If only she had arrived yesterday. He slowly opened the door, his gaze on the floor as he stepped inside. Then probably none of this would have…

He let out a small gasp as two hands covered his eyes while a feminine figure pressed to him from behind. "Surprise, Snoozles…" She purred, sending a thrill down his spine.

Oh man, I love when she does that… He smiled broadly into the darkness, letting his hands trail behind him, caressing the sides of the girl from her waist to her hips while she lightly laughed, burying her face in his hair before placing her lips against the back of his neck.

Sokka sighed contently then turned in his place, while her arms circled his neck. For a moment he was only looking at her slight smirk and her pale green eyes which shone in the moonlighted room. He held her sightless gaze, whispering only three words. "You look beautiful."

Toph rolled her eyes before trying to place some of her bangs behind her ear. She knew her hair was a mess, she was in the same clothes as in the last twenty-four hours but at least she could have a shower before they left the last hotel. "Yeah, I bet…" She murmured before putting her arm back around him. "But at least you still lie just as much as you used to."

He pulled her closer to him by her hips, letting his thumbs stroke the slim line of her exposed skin there. "You know I'm honest…" He said before grinning himself. "If I wanted to lie I would say that you are an awesome singer," Toph suddenly turned rather red, making him chuckle. "That you have proven otherwise after that last party on our way home!"

The blind girl punched him in the shoulder but he snickered on, not allowing her to push him away. "Sssshut up!" She said through gritted teeth. "I have drunk a bit… as if you hadn't!"

He did not answer to that, only smiled before embracing her fully. Her head rested on his shoulder while he placed his cheek to her hair, inhaling her scent… wildflowers and strawberry from her shampoo. He always felt calmer while Toph was around, because she seemed to face even the roughest situations easier than others, laughing even in death's face…

As she let out a sigh, he bowed his head to the side. "What are you thinking about?"

"Many things…" She smiled, turning her gaze towards him once again. "About how handsome you must look now yourself."

"Geez Toph, be careful…" Sokka teased this time, moving his hands to her slender waist. "You might have been horribly misled, and maybe once you realized how I truly looked like you would run away as fast as you could!"

The blind girl only reached up to his face, gently letting her fingertips brush his face while he closed his eyes to let her. "I can feel when I'm right…" She said lowly, feeling as the edge of his lips curled upwards below her fingers. Then she let her hand move above his heart, which slowly beat faster, in rhythm with hers. And her eyebrows rose at something else…

"And I can feel that you truly missed me." She chuckled with a whisper. But then she only had time to take a deeper breath, before being pressed against the door. A soft moan escaped her mouth as his hands had suddenly been everywhere… One of her legs trailed upwards his one while she yanked on his shirt to meet his eager lips.

"W-wait," Sokka suddenly sighed, pulling away for a moment as if his brain would have pulled out this last thought before becoming unusable. "I should have tried to talk to Katara once more before…"

Her eyebrows snapped together, and for a second her face flushed because of anger and not else. "Sokka," She said through gritted teeth as her hand formed a fist in his shirt. "If you dare to leave me alone now, then you will be in far more trouble than you are already in, you got that?!"

In a blink of an eye the blue eyed teen grinned already, and Toph pouted in the silence as she realized he wouldn't have left right then – unless the house had been in flames. "Oh, damn you." She murmured before continuing from where they had stopped…

In the complete silence, the black sedan slowly pulled beside the pathway before the engine died. The dark figure from behind the wheel slowly stood up, letting the city lamps reveal his face. His golden eyes were shining from his pale face, his dark hair free before he turned towards the small shop.

Inside the lamps were all turned off, the different shaped and sized tables had only been visible because of the chairs that stood upon them…

He let a smile come to his lips as he walked around his car, leaning to it at the passenger's side while looking up at the letters above the teashop.

"Like a dream come true, isn't it?" Ozai spoke as he trailed his gaze upon the windows. They seemed to have been cleaned lately too. "Well, well…" He shifted from his place, picking something up from the passenger's seat.

Who would want to ruin this for you? He let a smirk come to his lips before slowly walking towards the shop. Who would indeed…?

A/N: It ended a bit longer than the previous one... ^^; I hope you don't mind that. (This story is getting longer than I first thought it would.)

Ok, help me out a bit. Did the Tokka part end too cheesy? I'm new to this ship... :) so those who like them, be loud if something is off, plz.

The next chapter's title is: 'To Lie or not to Lie', get ready! :D