Your little piece of heaven, turns to dark,

Listen to your heart,

when he's calling for you, listen to your heart,

there's nothing else you can do.

Adorable chapters coming up :) YAY ZUTARA

Chapter 13-Listen to Your Heart

Zuko P.O.V

"I have to get backstage."

As soon as Katara was out of my sight, I panicked. Jaho turned me and grinned, "I know right! All those girls are hot!" He exclaimed, jumping up from his seat happily. I rolled my eyes and pushed through the crowd of people, my heart jumping with excitement. This was my chance to talk to one of my only friends in months. I didn't even care that the more stuck-up people were giving me dirty glares. Dodging all the bodies, I finally made my way to backstage, where all of the actors were laughing and joking around.

"Katara you were amazing!"

"Yeah Katara! You did great!"

Although I heard many voices saying Katara's name, I could not see her anywhere. What if she already left? What if she doesn't want to see me? What then? I tried to push doubts out of my mind as I scanned the room, searching for the blue-eyed beauty. There was so much make-up in the air, making it hard to see anything; costumes were also being flung around the room carelessly, the actors already getting drunk. I stopped in the middle of the crowd, starting to lose hope that I would find her tonight. Maybe tomorrow…tomorrow maybe I can see her.

A hand was laid across my shoulder.

"Zuko?"

My head snapped around to see Katara standing there with a small, sad smile on her flawless skin. (Who knew Zuko would ever use that word?Flawless hahaha) For the first time in months, I smiled. Katara threw her arms around me, gripping the back of my neck tightly. When she touched my skin, I felt warmer than I had ever been before. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, sucking in the scent of her ocean scented hair. My hands went down to her waist, pulling her close to my body.

This was probably the most affection I've had in years. Besides my uncle, of course, with his strange ways.

The hug ended all too quickly, and Katara peered up at me happily. "It's so nice to see you." She said, almost in a whisper. I don't remember her voice being that soft before, but it still had that magical sound to it as it was months ago. "It's nice to see you too," I replied, struggling to find the words. I probably looked like an idiot. "You were-uh-great up there!" I tried to say cheerfully. Katara smiled, revealing her still glossy, perfect teeth.

"Thank you."

We stood there, Katara's hand still on my arm, just looking at each other awkwardly. I felt like all the eyes on the room were on us, even though no one else was paying attention. My hands were sweating and I felt nerves start to set in. For the first time in forever, (I FINALLY UNDERSTAND!:) hahahaha) I felt butterflies in my stomach. I must be going soft…I, Prince Zuko, just used the word butterfly. I guess the war does that to you.

"What are you in town for?"

The question was so sudden I almost didn't understand what she said.

"We've been stationed here for the last two months. My father-well I guess you could say he disowned me."

Katara chuckled, but not in an amusing way. Kind of like she saw that coming. "I'm guessing he did that to you too?" Katara said, nodding to my scar with a sad look. I nodded, but tried to lift the conversation to a higher note. "Yeah…guess I just was meant to look like a creepy clown!" It was a terrible joke; I really should have used one of Uncle Iroh's lines. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Katara laughed anyways.

"I guess so!"

We paused again, but this time I thought quicker.

"You look um…great! Have you grown?"

Katara nodded as the people brushed past us. This really wasn't the right place to be having this conversation. It was awkward and just weird. "Few inches. Almost as tall as you now." She teased, a grin flashing for a quick second across her face. I grinned right back and rolled my eyes, "Yeah right!" I replied as a crowd of people walked between us. We tried not to lose eye contact through the people, but it was almost impossible.

Just as I was about to ask her out for some tea, Katara opened her mouth.

"I'm so sorry Zuko, but I have to go to work. Maybe I can see you tomorrow? We could meet up around sunset if you would like."

Disappointment shadowed over my heart, but I covered it up with a little sun. "That would be great! I'll meet you at my uncle's tea shop! At sunset!" I said, sounding like a total nerd. Katara smiled brightly, making all the doubts fade away. She hugged me quickly, but that quick hug made me smile uncontrollably. Katara started to jog away and I waved to her.

"See you then Zuko!"

"Bye!"

She walked out of my sight, and I must have stood there for at least half an hour. I guess having a crush on someone has that affect on you. My thoughts of Katara were interrupted by Jaho and the rest of the army bumping into me. "Hey buddy!" Jaho said, obviously drunk like the rest of them. Guess I hadn't taught him well enough. Getting drunk with a large group of people is a recipe for disaster.

"We're all going to the Gucci, Zuko! Come with us!"

Although his voice was slurred and hard to understand, I was pretty sure it wasn't a request.

I was right.

One of the bigger men picked me up and threw me over their shoulder as the rest of the men cheered and started singing. I was surrounded by complete idiots. It was more like suffocated with idiots. Either they ignored you, or they were all over you all the time. Don't take that the wrong way. They just could get super annoying and clingy. I'm sure now that they had no idea what they were doing, those traits would be amplified.

As much as I tried to struggle out of the man's grip, I could not get loose. They took me all the way across town to Gucci's bar, stumbling and tripping all over their dignity. "Down you go little man!" The guy carrying me said, putting me on the ground and patting my head. I glared at him harshly, but he didn't even see. I turned around and tried to leave, but the other soldier's grabbed me and drug me into the bar, where all eyes turned on us.

"Have a sit gentlemen! Front row, yes?"

An old man led us to the front of the room, where there was just enough seats for all of us. I silently cursed this and sat down next to Jaho. They were acting like complete hooligans, but there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. So I sat there, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ditch this place and go to my uncle's tea shop. I rubbed my temples hard, wondering why I did this. Oh yeah, it's because my father hates my guts and wishes I had never been born!

"Give it up for Katara and the crew!"

My head shot up as ten girls started walking onto stage. None of them were Katara so far. Why in the hell had they said-

There she was.

Katara had emerged from the back of the stage, making her way to the middle. She had a black, extremely short dress with a train on it; it was very revealing, and I wondered if they hadn't cut the top lower so it would look like she had some work done. It was ridiculous, I know, to perform such dangerous operations just for bigger breasts. That was another reason why I hated Fire Nation girls…they always had those done. They were nothing but fake.

Shock emerged in my thoughts. Here was Katara, the girl who had been violated and harassed by Fire Nation guards, now a dancer for Fire Nation guards? It made no sense to me why she would go into something this…un-honorable. Katara just did not seem like the type of woman to do this. She was so independent and strong; so what made her want to do this?

Maybe she doesn't want to do this shit head.

I shook my head, trying to stop my head from spinning. As soon as the music started, I left. My heart could not take seeing Katara in such a state. Don't get me wrong, she looked really-beautiful- but due to the reasons behind this career, I could not stay. I could not watch Katara give up hope like that.

Katara P.O.V

Another shift, another night wasted.

This was my life now. No use to rebel; they would just kill you or send you to jail. There was nothing left in my world…nothing left but hatred and fear.

But then Zuko was here. Zuko had been here for the past few months and I hadn't even known it! I should have looked for him or something! The only friends I have are the other actors from the play and a few little kids that I take care of from time to time. Toph was off somewhere, trying to get more groups to join a rebellion. She had already tried this twice, but she was determined to win. Sokka was off somewhere with the rest of the watertribe, searching for a place where we can go where there is no Fire Nation. And Aang…well, let's just say he is unresponsive.

As I walked through the dark streets, I let my thoughts drift back to Zuko. His scar was back again, which didn't surprise me. He still had the same shaggy, dark hair hanging across his forehead. When we were hugging, I felt more muscles and strength than there was six months ago. It impressed me how boys could get so muscular and tough like that so quickly. I smiled in the darkness as I thought of Zuko's awkward, but sweet, attempts to start a conversation. It seemed like he hadn't actually had a conversation with someone that wasn't about war.

I made my way to my mountain right outside of town, just before the city wall. I go here every night and think about what I should do. So far, I have come up with nothing. Tonight will be different; now that Zuko is back, maybe I can think of some crazy idea or plot. Sighing, I sat down on the green, mossy grass, letting the cool water sooth my anxiety. At least water always had my back.

It was quiet.

No birds chirping, no wind blowing, nothing. It was a peaceful silence I had not heard in months. My heart stopped thumping loudly, letting me calm down a little. A voice sped it right back up again.

"Come here often?"

I turned in the darkness, my eyes focusing on the person in front of me. I could make out Zuko's narrow face, so I smiled and motioned him over. "Every day." I answered as he sat down next to me. The moonlight reflected nicely off of his gold eyes, making it almost look like actual gold. Now, I'm no behavior specialist, but I could tell Zuko was upset about something. I let the next few minutes be silent before I asked anything.

"How are you Zuko? Honestly, on a scale of one to ten, how depressed are you?"

I asked it slightly jokingly, slightly serious. Zuko shrugged, his face not showing signs of any emotion. "I'd say about an eleven." He said seriously, making me look away. Not a good way to start a conversation. Zuko peered over at me, his scar lit up by the moon. "What about you? Considering your two new jobs, I'd say you'd have to be at a twelve." He said quietly, almost as if he didn't want to say it.

Two jobs…

Shit.

"You saw that huh?" I answered, looking down shamefully. I hoped Zuko knew me well enough to know that I didn't want to do anything like that; it was just how things worked out. "Well, just so you know, I don't exactly enjoy doing it." I added, feeling very let down. I had replayed this over and over in my head, but I could never find a way out of it. Without that money…I had nothing. Zuko laid his surprisingly soft hand on mine and I dared to look up at him.

"I know. The war has changed a lot of people."

"Truest thing I have ever heard Zuko. Didn't know you turned into a poet now."

I smiled over at him and hit him with my shoulder playfully. It felt so good to joke around with someone I actually knew. Well, I didn't know him that well, but you get the point. Zuko smiled a sad smile and looked up at the moon, his hand still on mine. Something I had always admired Zuko for; he always came through. Forgetting the times I always thought he had changed and then he went ahead and betrayed me. Other than that, he always came through for me.

Like today.

Today had been one of the worst days of my life until I saw him in the crowd. My heart had soared since that moment. If you don't get what I'm saying, just picture your best friend: you haven't seen them, laughed with them, or even talked to them for six months. Think of how miserable that would be. I laced my fingers through Zuko's timidly, giving him my brightest smile.

"It's so good to see you Zuko. Really, I'm glad you're here."

He returned the smile and squeezed my hand tighter.

"Would you like to go for some tea, Katara?"