"It's empty in the valley of your heart.
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind."
- Mumford & Sons
The sun was about to rise when I finally managed to fall asleep last night. When I opened my eyes again, I could tell from the sunlight streaming through the metal doors that it must be sometime in the early afternoon. I've been lying on my sleeping bag for the last twenty minutes, just trying to decide if I really want to get up or not. I'm actually surprised that Aang let me sleep this late, he usually rouses me in the morning to make breakfast or work on waterbending skills. He and Toph must have found something to occupy their time today. I'm grateful.
I can hear Appa fussing about on the upper level. I wonder if he's been fed at all today, I should probably go check. When Aang and Toph get to practicing earthbending, it takes a lot more than my yelling or Appa's grumbling to interrupt them.
As I make my way upstairs, I pause to look at the wall of statues that line the path I've chosen. It's strange to think that if I hadn't found Aang, I probably never would have traveled outside of the South Pole. Maybe Sokka and I would have made a trip to the North Pole at one point, but I doubt it. I never would have known about or experienced all of the different culture in the world.
When I reach the upper level, I'm stopped short by the sight before me. Toph is sitting on the fountain ledge with an awkward smile on her face. Aang is standing with his back partially toward me, his face pulled together in concentration. And then there's Zuko, with his hands shoved in his pocket, talking quietly to the both of them. Zuko. Zuko is standing two dozen feet away from me. Zuko is here, at the Western Air Temple.
I never should have eaten those weird looking berries that Aang had me try last night. Clearly, I'm hallucinating.
I try to blink away the scene in front of me, but it's not going anywhere. This is for real. Zuko is really here.
He finally notices my arrival and looks up, his eyes widening slightly. He steps forward, closer to Aang, and I react without thinking. I call up the water from the nearby fountain and aim it in a perfectly straight line into the center of Zuko's stomach. The force of the blow sends him backwards until he collides with a stone pillar and sinks down to the ground.
"Katara, wait!" Aang protests as I bring up another wave of water in front of me. He flashes over to me and grabs my arm, trying to turn me toward him. But I have my eyes locked on Zuko, waiting for him to attack. He peers up at me through his black bangs with an infuriating amused look on his face while he rubs at his back.
Aang finally forces me to face him. "Katara…" He says as if he's trying to soothe a wild animal. "Zuko came here to…"
I raise an eyebrow, urging him to go on.
Toph lets out a high pitched giggle, like this is incredibly entertaining for her. I'm sure that it is.
Zuko is the person who finally speaks, "I came here to join your group and teach the Avatar firebending."
After a long silence, I burst into uncontrollable laughter, leaning over to clutch my stomach. Really, this is just the comedic relief that I've been looking for. Whoo. That was a good one.
When I finally manage to calm down, I glance up and try to blink away the tears that formed in my eyes from laughing so hard. "No really, why is he here?" But the answering silence tells me that no one else is laughing. I look up from face to face. All three of them are staring at me with blank, unreadable expressions.
"Okay, this isn't funny anymore. What the hell is going on?" I demand.
"It's just like he said." Aang says, gesturing toward Zuko.
I shake my head back and forth. "No. Just no."
"Oh come on, sugar queen." Toph scoffs. "Try to think rationally for a moment. We've been trying to find Aang a firebending teacher for over a month and now-"
"And now the Fire Nation's prince shows up to teach him? And we're supposed to believe that's just some coincidence? No way! This is just another one of their tricks!" I pull Aang closer to me. Zuko may not have moved from where I knocked him into the pillar, but I'm no less on edge. How am I the irrational one?
"Look, if you don't want me to be part of your group then atleast take me as your prisoner." Zuko says.
Toph taps her fingers against her chin, probably contemplating all of the ways that Zuko being our prisoner could be fun for her.
"Yeah, right." I say sharply. "How about you just screw off?" I'm not falling for another one of Zuko's tricks.
"That's basically what I said to my father before I left yesterday. Right after I told him my plans to join the Avatar. I'm not here for the Fire Nation, I'm here for myself."
Although I don't believe that really happened, it's amusing to imagine what the look on Ozai's face would be if it did.
Aang tries again, "Katara." His gray eyes are full of desperation. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but we don't have any other options. We need to win this war."
"Well, I'm glad to see how easily you forgot what he's done to us." I snap. Seeing Aang's defeated look, I take a deep breath. I shouldn't be taking this out on him. Aang is a good judge of character. And he's right about us not having any other options. We're nowhere near finding Aang a firebending teacher and only weeks away from Sozin's comet. So I guess…if he really thinks that Zuko should be his teacher… I sigh and force the words out of my mouth, "I'll go along with whatever you think is right."
Aang gives me a small, lopsided smile.
Zuko finally stands again and straightens out his red robes. He smiles at me and I have the overwhelming urge to slap him for it. "I won't let you down. I promise." He says.
"Shut up." I say, my voice full of disgust. How dare he promise me anything.
Toph giggles again and quickly presses two fingers to her lips to silence herself. She hops up off of the fountain ledge and grabs Aang's arm. "C'mon, twinkle toes; let's go work on your earthbending skills."
Aang looks back and forth between Zuko and I before reluctantly following after Toph. He didn't really have a choice, given the vice grip she likely had on his forearm. Toph just isn't a gentle person.
"Katara," Zuko takes a step toward me and I immediately step back. A pause. "You have every right not to trust me. I already explained this to Aang and Toph, but these last few years have been hard for me, too."
"Woe is you." I mumble.
Zuko ignores my comment altogether. "I thought that I had lost my honor and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help Aang restore balance to the world."
"Did you rehearse that?" I ask harshly.
Zuko frowns and then sighs. "I brought you something." He reaches into his back robe pocket and pulls out Garjan's meteor, presenting it to me.
I'm slack jawed momentarily, but I quickly regain composure. I swipe the meteor from Zuko's grip and hug it to my chest, glaring at him. "This doesn't change anything. Let me explain something to you now. If you make one step backward, one slip up, give me one reason to think that you might hurt Aang or Toph, you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I will make sure that your destiny ends right then and there. Permanently." Aang wouldn't be happy if he knew I was making death threats.
Zuko keeps his eyes on mine. "You don't have to believe me, Katara, but I'll prove it to you."
I don't even bother responding before walking away from him. This is just ridiculous to me. You don't just change the entire course of your life in a few short weeks. It doesn't work that way. Not to mention that this goes against our game rules completely. Things are simple when Zuko and I are on opposite sides. We know where we stand with one another. But by joining our side, Zuko's crossed a line. The only thing I know how to do with him is fight or run away. What am I supposed to say? How am I supposed to act? I don't want this to be another trick of Zuko's to capture Aang, but atleast that would be easier to understand.
"Wait." Zuko calls to me.
I turn back to him reluctantly, with my hand on my hip.
He glances down at the ground. "Um… thanks for saving my life. Y'know, in the North Pole."
I watch him through narrowed eyes for a long moment. "Yeah well, now we're even."
I realize that I skipped basically an entire season, but I'm aiming this story to be around 30 chapters, not 100 :p I'm sorry if this displeases anyone! I love you guys :3