The Fire Nation forces Katara and Zuko to see new perspectives.

Part 4 - Mirrors - Shard 6/11 - Strangers

"Have fun by yourself, loser boy!"

"Nice"

He heard the boys high-five each other behind him as he left.

Zuko strode out of the party, he slammed the door with such force the bungalow's wooden frame shook all the way its foundations. A single clapboard shingle slid off the angled roof and dropped at his feet. Kicking it away, he walked down the stairs to the white sand of the beach. He'd screwed it up with Mai. Part of him knew he should be panicked and heartbroken at the thought of losing her. Terrified at losing the only person who had looked past his scar and chose to love him. Instead, he was seething. How else was he supposed to feel? Every guy there had eyes for her and why wouldn't they, she's beautiful. He had been so concerned about losing her to one of those ash-brained idiots that he let his temper get the best of him. He didn't need their help, he had lost her all on his own. What really stung, was that she seemed to feel nothing at the idea of ending it with him.

What were they even doing here? Trying to smooth rough edges? What did he hope to change here? Was he going to return home and miraculously become a good boyfriend, a perfect son, and fit back into his old life like he had been trying to for weeks?

How could he when he couldn't even manage to fit in with people his own age? In a room full of his clueless peers he had an empty slate and a fresh start and somehow, he still couldn't make it work.

Maybe it was hereditary? Azula wasn't exactly doing well in the social department either and she excelled at everything. No. It was Azula, she'd gotten the Dai Li wrapped around her finger in under a week, a room full of brats would take her an hour, two if she didn't feel like trying.

Weeks ago, he thought it was just the palace full of generals, advisors, and his family that made him feel like an outsider. Now, here on this pristine island, untouched by the war, he was realizing that he felt like an outsider in his own country. Over three years spent in every far-flung corner of the globe. His father's words haunted him. Had he changed? These kids, the generals, the advisors, his family, they hadn't experienced the world he had, had they? Did it really matter that much?

Tch.

Probably not.

Chang's friends, like him, were well off. They had seen the world, even Mai had spent time in the Earth Kingdom and she was the same dour person he knew at thirteen. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn't 'fit' since the day his mother disappeared. Everything in his life had begun to turn upside down that very morning. Even now, back in his rightful place at home, things still seemed off.

But why?! Why did it matter? Why did it make him so angry?

He punched the cliffside, the weathered stone turning to dust beneath his fist. It did nothing for the fury boiling over inside of him. His feet carried him through the darkness, across the sand, and on to a familiar path, one he hadn't taken in nearly seven years

/\

A sheen of sweat covered her limbs, glistening in the moonlight. The rush of the wind played with the ends of her hair and cooled the heat rising from her skin. Her cheeks were flushed and her heart still raced with the night's excitement. Aang had pulled her out onto the dance floor and in a whisper asked her to flow with him, the same way they trained. He took off and let her take the lead as she gave in to the push and pull of her element. Together they spun, ducked, and twirled, in tandem, following each other's movements as they danced. Everyone else in the room disappeared and the world narrowed down to just that push and pull of energy between them. Following his as it moved and meeting it with her own. It was exhilarating, thrilling, and fun.

Fun, she had forgotten what that felt like. All these months of traveling, training, and looking for teachers for Aang. Every moment was spent planning, plotting, and counting down. But tonight, just for a few hours they were able to forget. To enjoy the time they had and in those few moments of joy, she got to see the world through different eyes.

The Fire Nation was not what she had expected. In the crystal caves, she told him that she saw his face as the face of the enemy, but that was only a half-truth. Since she was a child she had seen the entire Fire Nation as the enemy. Every citizen was a monster, responsible for the burning wreck that the other nations had become. Or so she thought. Now in the heart of the Fire Nation surrounded by its people, she had found that it was nothing like she anticipated. She wore their clothes, ate their food, La she just spent the entire evening dancing with a roomful of Fire Nation kids. If someone told her a year ago she would be here, doing this? She would have pushed them off the tallest glacier she could find. But now? Now her perspective had shifted. Her thinking would have to as well.

The citizens of the Fire Nation were not the enemy she thought them to be. They were not what drove this machine of war that battered the other nations. It was very much the work of the Fire Lord and the royal family. It was their lust for power that had hurt so many and taken so much. That had taken her mother from her.

Somehow the loss of her mother had managed to color nearly every aspect of her life. It had been years, yet she could never manage to give that grief up to the sky like they had her mother's body, but the day of Black Sun was approaching. She was nervous and scared, but on that day, they would be vulnerable. Aang would face the Fire Lord, they would stop the Fire Nation, and maybe, just maybe in doing so, she and her family would find the peace they were looking for.

Katara is beginning to understand who her real enemy is and hopes to find closure with her mother's death.
Zuko believes he's exactly where he belongs but feels like a stranger in his own home.
We're half way through the pieces of this break, hopefully Katara and Zuko can find a way to put the pieces back together.