Hey, so here I am with another story. A small drabble. For a while, I was a little nervous posting for a new series but the nerves are gone now and I will be using whumptober to practice this particular series anyway but also, more Zutara, haha. This was inspired by the song 'I Wanna Know' by Joe.
Zuko's hand caressed the side of her cheek, and she leaned in. This moment…this closeness felt like a dream again. The last time they had been like this was when she had promised to heal his scar and even now, that touch lingered on his skin as if for a moment, it took the pain of his wounds away. But right now, he could feel the water from her tears as it fell onto her fingers. Losing a relationship was not easy even when you were better off as friends, and it was the best thing to do to save the friendship.
"I'm sorry."
Zuko knew these words would not heal the wounds on her heart that came from having a bad relationship. Aang was a wonderful friend – to him, to Katara but he had a lot to learn before he was ready to be a partner, a boyfriend to anyone. He had still been a child when he developed feelings for her. Not that Zuko could blame him for that. Katara was beautiful. The way her dark brown hair fell down the side of her face even now as it was frazzled and tears fell down her cheeks, she still looked like beauty was a word that had been created for her specifically.
He could never say these words to her – he had never been as brave as Aang to express those emotions, having pulled away from her when the Ember Islands players revealed the kind of relationship he would have liked to have with her. Katara shook her head.
"It's not your fault, it was for the best," Katara whispered and before he could even think of how to respond to that, her head rested against his chest causing his heart to almost jump out of his chest. He felt heat flood his cheeks and for a moment wasn't sure what to do. She had only broken up with Aang a couple of weeks ago. Was this really right? But at the same time, he wanted to know what he could do to bring that smile back to her face. The one that made his heart beat fast and slow at the same time. She was his moon. She always had been. And he wanted his moon to always shine the brightest even on his darkest night. Slowly, he wrapped his own arms around her, allowing himself to stroke her hair.
"Is this okay? Are you comfortable?" Zuko knew his voice was barely above a whisper, but his heart was racing at such a speed that she could likely feel it. But at the same time, he wanted to know. He wanted to know what made her heart skip a beat. He wanted to know what made her cry so he could always be the one to make her smile.
Katara nodded, looking up at him and as their eyes locked, he felt they spoke volumes in more ways than one. The dried tear tracks were still on her cheek, but they had lightened up a little from when he had first moved to greet her. She was the one who had come to visit him and now that she had come, he didn't want her to leave.
"I'm always comfortable with you," Katara said softly. "Before you, I never really knew what I wanted for me. Aang and I broke up and it hurt. But being with him hurt more because I wasn't being honest. I was with him, but I wasn't really with him because my mind…and my heart was with you."
Zuko blinked at that and for a moment, his stroking of her hair stopped before the heat flooded his cheeks. With him? She had feelings for him? All this time, they had just been dancing around each other. He almost wanted to laugh but that would be an odd reaction to her tender words. He felt a familiar pull towards her, one he had felt when they had been trapped together. When Aang was taking her away, he had let her go and he had accepted the consequences of those actions as never being able to be with her in that way, but this was his chance to fix it. To fix everything. He moved to caress her cheek again, kissing her forehead.
"I made the mistake of not stopping you once," he said honestly. "Will you stay with me? Forever?"
Katara flushed, kissing his cheek. "Forever."
