A/N: Truth of the matter is my life has gone awry.

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA.

Unrequited

The truth of the life they were leading was that happiness was always temporary. The places they were staying were always left abandoned. And Katara's fragile minimal amount of hope for finding her family was fading.
The longer they traveled along the coast without a trace, the more foolish she began to think herself for ever thinking she could find them. Her and Sokka had lost their father a couple of months after the beginning, but the loss of Sokka was still relatively recent. Sometimes the comfort and warmth of Zuko's arms was still not enough to fight away the midnight terrors.
She didn't wake up screaming anymore; she woke up gasping for air. She would sit up and pace the ground, and at first Zuko had been able to coax her back to laying down.
Then one day she pushed him away.
In her dream (nightmare) they were in a different world. Her fingers were resting on smooth silky fabric; she was in a long dress. The entire gang was there and dressed strangely. Sokka's hair was in a pony tail and he was drawing with black ink beside Suki. Zuko was next to the girl from their school, Mai, as they whispered in each other's ear. Katara realized you could still feel jealousy in dreams. Toph was having tea with Zuko's uncle. Ignoring the envy, an overwhelming sense of content washed over her as she watched her friends just be with each other.
A soft, small hand pulled at her fingers and she gasped when she saw him. He had blue arrow tattoos running all over his body; he was dressed as a monk would and he looked so young. He must have been twelve at the time, and as Katara glanced around her she realized that they were all so much younger than she had originally thought. Then their faces started decaying before her eyes and their smiles morphed into growls as teeth began to rot and skin began to peel. She tried to pull from Aang to run, but his grip was surprisingly strong. He pulled her to him and before she could register what was happening his teeth were biting and pulling at the skin in her arm. Terror and pain swept over her as all of her friends, including Zuko, surrounded her, and the green silk of her dress began to stain red as they began to feed on her.
When she woke up she flew out of the sleeping bag and ran across the room of the abandoned beach house. Her fingernails dug into her forehead as images of her friends eating her flew through her head. Zuko stood up quickly at the noise of strangled breaths and the occasional short panicked scream that echoed through the cream painted room.
"Katara?" Her back was to him, and her hair fell to her waist. The curls trembled along with the rest of her body. He reached for her shoulder and was surprised when she spun around and looked at him with a torrential storm in her eyes.
"No." Hurt washed over Zuko's features at the single word, but she hardly seemed to notice. When he tried to reach for her again she placed her fingers on his bare chest and pushed him. He stumbled, but didn't fall.
"Katara I'm not going to hurt you." He watched as her body folded in on herself and her knees hit the wooden floor. Her torso fell until it rested against her leg and her fingers threaded through her hair until her nails dug into her scalp. Her face was to the ground and he watched as she curled into a fetal position and silence resounded through the room.
Then, gradually, sobs began to escape from her mouth as thoughts of Aang's unrequited love surfaced in her deranged mind.
Why couldn't she have loved him the way he deserved?
Then Zuko's hand pushed away her hair and he was rubbing circles on her back to try to soothe away her guilt.
"I just… want them back." Her voice was muffled and her words vague, but Zuko didn't have to ask to know who she was talking about.
"I want them back too."
Ten minutes later, when she finally allowed him to pull her into his arms, Zuko began to cry as well as memories of Jasmine tea and hours of philosophical advice passed through his mind.
They'd both lost their family after all.

A/N: I feel like I overuse italics?