Hey guys! Here's a fluff piece entitled soulmates. It's basically Katara and Zuko as platonic soul mates, so not romantic, but platonic soulmates are nice too, right? =D

ZZ

He walked out of his job at 11:45PM, after helping his manager clean out all of the ovens and grills. He was tired, hungry, and smelly and he had zero desire to do anything other than climb into his car and drive home. He was trying to figure out the logistics of eating in the shower or in bed when he arrived to his car where he saw his best friend of eight years leaning casually against his door. She was wearing dark skinny jeans, a bright red shirt, and the highest black boots he'd ever seen a girl wear. Zuko was still exhausted but he now wanted nothing more than to pull his friend into a hug and keep her close for days.

"Katara," he breathed. It'd been weeks since they'd seen each other, she had been away on one of her mission trips with her monk-like boyfriend, and they'd only been able to skype once during the three weeks she was away.

"Zuko," she nodded, pulling out her phone and pushing away from the car. After dialing a number, she murmured into her phone softly and then closed it, quickly crossing the distance between them and pulling Zuko into an embrace. Zuko held her close and smelled her hair, inhaling the sweetness of Katara.

"It's so good to see you again," Zuko spoke into her hair.

"And you," she replied. He released her and she grinned at him in anticipation, "And do you know what's going to happen in three days?"

Zuko pretended to think about it, feigning confusion, "No, whatever could you be referring to?"

Katara laughed and lightly punched his arm, "Your birthday, idiot! The big 21! Which means that for the next 72 hours, you belong to me."

Zuko grinned. He and Katara had been planning their 21st birthdays since they were 16 years old. For the three days leading up to the birthday – Zuko's and then Katara's – the birthday person would belong to their best friend who was in charge of planning the whole thing. On the actual birthday, the two would join the birthday person's family for dinner, cake, and whatever else the family had planned, but for two whole days, it would just be the best friends.

"Right, my birthday, the big birthday, how could I forget?"

"Beats me. I have it all planned out. Your mom is going to take your car home, and you're coming with me. We're driving straight to the city, we'll stay in a hotel for the night, and tomorrow the fun begins."

Zuko couldn't help but grin at the huge smile on Katara's face, if there was one thing Katara liked doing, it was planning his birthdays.

A few minutes later, Zuko's mom Ursa walked out from the restaurant next door to Zuko's that she managed. She caught the keys Zuko tossed to her and hugged both her son and practically daughter.

"You two text me when you get to the hotel, you hear?"

"Yes, mom," Katara replied.

Katara pushed Zuko into her car and smiled at his mother, "we'll be home Wednesday at 3PM."

"You're a good girl, Katara, keep him out of too much trouble. Have fun, kids."

"Thanks, mom!"

Katara climbed into her car and turned it on. Grinning at Zuko, she reversed out of the parking spot and headed out of the parking lot. "Ready?"

Zuko grinned, "Tired, but ready."

"Sleep on the way, we'll get to the hotel in about 2 hours."

Zuko nodded and closed his eyes, leaning against the headrest as he did so.

While Zuko slept, Katara thought about how they met over eight years ago. She had been a high school freshman and met a girl named Mai. Mai invited her to eat lunch with her little group in the orchestra room at school. When Katara arrived to the orchestra room, Zuko and another friend were discussing Zuko getting the friend and girl to go out on a date. Now, Katara wasn't usually a meddler, she hated meddling – most of the time – but when she overheard something so disastrous as someone meddling in another person's relationship, well she had to say something, right? And so Katara marched up to the two boys and without preamble, stated she disagreed with the decision for Zuko to ask out a girl for his friend and instead encouraged the friend to ask her out himself.

"She's more likely to appreciate it if you ask her outright than if –" she looked at Zuko expectantly.

"Zuko," he offered.

" – than if Zuko asks her out for you. Just a personal opinion," and then she turned away from them, waiting her new friend Mai to arrive.

"What's your name, new girl?" the boy named Zuko asked.

"Katara, my name's Katara," she replied.

"And you just so happen to know more about my friends than I do?"

"Your friends, maybe not, but clearly relationships. Relationships that start off from your own effort last longer than relationships that start off because so-and-so heard that so-and-so liked you."

Zuko appeared to think about this for a bit. "I see your reasoning, but what if you can't ask out someone because you're nervous?"

"You need to grow up and ask them. If you can't ask them on a simple date, how do you expect to be able to ask for what you need in the relationship? Nerves or no nerves, you have to be able to step up to someone and say, 'I like you, and I'm willing to put myself out there for you to reject me, because I think you're worth the risk of being rejected for,'."

Zuko then stepped up to Katara, looking down at her from underneath his eyelashes. "I like your spunk, Katara, and I'm willing to put myself out there to be rejected by you."

Katara had faltered slightly and nodded unconsciously. Zuko grinned and turned to his friend. "She's right, Jet, look at her. Ask Yue out yourself."

And then Zuko turned on his heel and walked away from Katara, jumping lightly onto the grand piano in the middle of the room and laying across it, his feet dangling off the edge. Katara took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart that had started beating faster when Zuko had stepped into her personal space. He had smelled of ash and fresh soap, and heat had been radiating off of him like the embers after a fire. As she struggled to regain control of her thoughts, her new friend Mai walked into the room.

"Katara, you made it!" The tall girl smiled softly and then turned to Zuko, who had jumped off the piano at the sound of the girl's voice.

"Mai, baby, how are you?" Zuko smiled brightly and walked to Mai, kissing her lightly on the lips. A wave of disappointment washed through Katara, but she smiled just as brightly and joined the couple.

As more people filed into the room, Mai made introductions.

"Katara, this is Zuko, my boyfriend, this Jet, Aang, Sokka, Ty Lee, Azula, Toph, Suki, and Yue. Guys, this is Katara. She's a freshman too."

After a few "Hi, Kataras," Katara asked who else was a freshman.

"Sophomore," Zuko replied.

"Freshman," Toph, Aang, and Azula replied.

"Sophomore," said Sokka, Ty Lee, and Suki.

"Senior," said Jet and Yue, who made eye contact and blushed.

"Junior," ended Mai.

For the rest of Katara's freshman year, she and Zuko became timid friends. Usually it would be Zuko saying something and Katara disagreeing, after which Zuko would invade her personal space to demonstrate her own point to her and then agreeing with Katara. Katara had never been more uneasy to win arguments.

As the years progressed, Katara and Zuko lost a few friends, were in romantic relationships with other people, and lost romantic relationships with other people. Only they remained constant in each other's lives. Sometimes, it was their friendship that caused a relationship to end for one of them. Mai broke up with Zuko after he kept rushing to Katara's aid when she would get into fights with her father who showed up ordering Katara around after 15 years of never seeing her. In the eleventh grade Katara dated a guy from her math class who dumped her after hearing a rumor that Katara and Zuko had been dating secretly for two years. In the twelfth grade, Katara lost her sister in an auto accident, Zuko spent three months living in Katara's bedroom unbeknownst to either set of their parents. Three months into Katara's sophomore year, she had been assaulted by three members of the football team and was plagued with nightmares for a month afterward, only Zuko laying between her and the door of her bedroom made Katara feel safe enough to sleep. In the third year of the friendship, when Zuko was a senior, Zuko got rejected from his dream college; Katara sat up with him every night for two weeks helping him fill out applications to other schools. Both friends were particularly adept at bringing care packages to the other during times of stress containing tea, playing cards, CDs for favorite bands, and favorite candies. In the summer between Katara's junior and senior year, the two had taken a road trip to Omashu to stand up in Jet and Yue's wedding together. They spent four days alone in a hotel room. Things had never been sexual between them, or even romantic, but Katara and Zuko had a connection they had never experienced with another person, romantic or platonic. Zuko could sense when Katara was upset or stressed, even without seeing or hearing from her, he just knew. Katara could always feel when Zuko was angry, and emotion he experienced frequently as his father constantly told him he was useless and less than. Ever since Katara was 13 and Zuko was 14, they had been best friends.

Katara cringed as she reflected on a memory of one afternoon when yet another girlfriend of Zuko's had been threatened by his relationship with her. Katara had walked into Zuko's house – after having been given a key by Zuko and his mom – to find Zuko and his girlfriend arguing in his living room.

"You know what, Zuko? I can't." His girlfriend glared at Katara as she walked in.

"Bad time?" Katara asked softly.

"Not at all," Zuko smiled at her. "What's up?"

"Not much, I just thought we could go see this movie at the theatre. It starts in half an hour. We could go another time, though, if you're busy."

"No, no, we can go ahead and go. Wait for me upstairs? I'll have to change."

"Sure." Katara walked up the stairs, passing his silent and glaring girlfriend on the way out of the living room.

"Seriously?" she heard the girl seethe. "I practically beg you to watch this movie with me, and you refuse. She walks in here, unannounced, and asks once and all of a sudden it's 'oh let me go change'?!"

"It's not like what you think," Katara heard Zuko respond warily. "She's my best friend. We've been best friends for years. She's not forcing me to watch some chick flick."

"I'm your girlfriend, you can see one Agni-forsaken romantic comedy for me."

"Jun, please."

"No, Zuko, no. She will always come between us, won't she? It's always going to be you and Katara."

"You're overreacting. Katara and I are just friends, best friends. We've never dated, we've never slept together, we've never even kissed."

"Overreacting? Really? Where were you last Saturday afternoon?"

"At Katara's choir competition."

"It was my birthday party, my own date stood me up."

"Oh crap, I'm so sorry, Jun."

"Two weeks ago, when you were supposed to meet my family, remind me why you couldn't make dinner?"

"Katara had an academic team meet and I said I'd go to that."

"A month ago, when we were supposed to attend the midnight premiere of the Hunger Games, where were you?"

"Watching it with Katara…"

"Two days ago, when I was sick and wanted chicken soup, why couldn't you bring me any?"

"I was taking Katara painkillers for her cramps…"

"Do you see? Do you see how whenever Katara and I both need something, she gets it instead of me? I can't do this anymore. I can't sit back and watch Katara get you instead of me, over and over. Sure, she's nice, and she likes me, and she tries to include me, but that's not her job. It's yours, as my boyfriend, you should choose me over her, not all the time, but sometimes. You make me feel like the friend instead of the girlfriend. You put her above everyone else, and that's fine, I believe you when you say she's your best friend and you two aren't involved, but the way you treat me, we may as well not be involved either."

"Jun…I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."

"Can you say that you'll start putting me first? Can you tell me that when we both call you, you'll come to me instead?"

Katara listened with bated breath, she always hated when Zuko lost a girlfriend, especially when they blamed his and Katara's friendship. She always worried that one of these days, Zuko would tell Katara their friendship was over, that he was tired of losing girlfriends over her.

Finally, after several seconds, Zuko spoke. "I cannot," he said so softly Katara almost missed it.

"Cannot, or will not?"

"Both."

"Alright then, then I suppose I should go, so you can go enjoy your movie with her." Katara heard the sneer in the pronoun, and she knew it was pain that caused the girl to sound so angry. As Zuko bounded up the steps, Katara fought back tears. Today's break-up brought the number of broken relationships caused by their friendship to an even eight, five from Zuko and three from Katara.

"I'm sorry, Zuko," Katara offered.

Zuko just shook his head and pulled off his shirt, throwing it onto his bed as he walked into his room. Katara followed silently and perched lightly on the edge of his bed as Zuko looked in his dresser for a clean shirt and pair of pants. As Zuko dressed, Katara stared off into his ceiling, laying back onto his pillows. For a second, she was lost in his scent surrounding her, the scent that always managed to calm her. A few minutes later, Zuko threw himself against his bed, laying next to his best friend. She turned towards him and he smiled at her.

"So I lost another one, whatever. Whoever I date and eventually marry is going to have to love you just as much as I do. You're my best friend, Katara, and whoever enters my life is going to have to respect that."

"You could afford to put girlfriends ahead of me sometimes," she replied.

Zuko grabbed Katara's hand and laced their fingers together. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe not."

When Katara tugged her hand from his, he gripped her harder and added, "But I'll try to measure the needs by you and the girl, but if your need is greater, you know who I'm choosing."

Katara thought about it, "Alright. I just hate feeling responsible for girls dumping you. I'm afraid one day you'll get tired of me causing you to lose girlfriends and you'll break up with me."

"Do you blame me when your relationships don't work out?"

"Of course not."

"Then why would you think I would blame you?"

"I don't know."

"I don't blame you in the slightest. Like I said, whomever I marry is going to have to love you like I love you. You've been in my life for five years, and I don't ever intend on letting you go, got that?"

"You know, we do sometimes sound married."

"So? We're like Turk and J.D."

"Okay, but I'm Turk."

Zuko laughed and nodded. "Fine. Come on, Turk."

Katara smiled at the sleeping man next to her as she exited the freeway and pulled into the hotel they were going to stay at.

"Wake up, J.D., we're here."