The wind surrounding the Western Air temple was lazy that morning, hardly managing a breeze. It made the world seem quiet and at peace. The sun slowly made it's appearance that morning, pouring light across the horizon and over the mountains. Katara stirred in her sleep—she was having a wonderful dream that didn't want to wake up from-but she had a strong feeling that someone was watching her. She resisted opening her eyes. She had this feeling often, and it always turned out the same.
"No one's there," she thought to herself. "No one's ever there. Just stay asleep..." But it was too late for her wonderful dream. It already ended and was replaced by this nagging feeling, so she sighed and gave in, opening her eyes. Zuko sat cross-legged on the floor in the middle of her room—his dark, ruffled hair hanging messily in his face and his golden-colored eyes staring unblinkingly into hers.
"Zuko?!" Katara exclaimed, sitting up quickly. She pulled the blankets up with her and backed into the wall her bed rest against. For a moment she thought she was captured. Taking a better look around the semi-dark room, she remembered that she was in the Western Air Temple and that the Fire-nation prince had actually joined the group (much to her dismay). She looked back to Zuko, who continued to sit there quietly in the middle of her room. Her instincts sent a chill running up her spine. As much as she wouldn't admit it, the prince's presence induced a sense of fear.
Katara always managed to hide that fear behind her anger. She still didn't trust Zuko at all, so the waterbender began to frantically feel around for her water pouch. When she didn't immediately find it, she felt another shock of fear. Where did she put it? Katara always kept right beside her pillow incase they were attacked in the middle of the night. Her heart pounded in her chest and she could feel droplets of sweat forming on her forehead. However, she would never allow the prince to see that she felt scared, even for a moment, so she quickly composed herself-turning her fear into anger. Once again, she directed her attention to Zuko, who still hasn't said a word.
He had an innocent enough look on his face, but Katara knew that expression all too well, and she no longer trusted it. She eyed him, noticing he still wore his pajamas-they were a deep blood red shirt and pant ensemble made of silk, with a subtle embroidered pattern sewn with golden thread around the hems. The delicate clothes the prince slept in definitely fit his rough personality—but they were beautiful, and probably more expensive than anything Katara had ever owned. Her glare deepened and mood soured further. It seemed everything about him, even the boy's pajamas, angered and disgusted her. She glanced down at her own set of pajamas—which were really just her underclothing—made of simple white cotton. No embroidery, no silk—just plain old cotton. Her face grew hot as she realized how little clothing she wore and even though she was completely hidden behind her blankets—she was uncomfortable for a number of reasons.
The main reason being the prince, whom had been her enemy for so long, sat still in the middle of her room without saying not a word. Zuko finally opened his mouth to say something and then realized (a little too late) how creepy this probably was, so he stopped. He really was no good at judging social situations—he was no good at figuring out what was okay and what was... weird. "Um.." he managed to murmur. "I-I seriously just got here. I was gonna wake you up, but... you—you were, uh, sleeping and.. Y'know, I... I didn't wanna.. I mean—It... It wasn't like I was sitting here watching you all night or something—" he stammered. Katara's face turned an even deeper shade of red with the thought of Zuko watching her sleep, but not because she was flattered—she felt angry and creeped out.
"What do you want?" she snapped.
Zuko stopped speaking and suddenly felt very nervous. His eyes dropped to the floor. He didn't know why she made him feel like this. Who was she anyway? She's just some Water-tribe girl who travels with the Avatar. But even still, he's felt uneasy since their last conversation together.
"Give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there, permantently."
He took a breath and tried to calm down. It made him sad, nervous, and a bit angry that she didn't trust him. But thinking back to the caves in Ba Sing Se, he also realized that he had this coming. His anxiety climbed higher and higher as he sat there, wondering what to do next-he knew Katara was waiting for him to say something—but his mind had gone blank. Actually, his mind hadn't gone blank at all—it was cluttered with all the different things he felt and wanted to say. It made it hard to keep his thoughts straight, much less his words.
But the look on Katara's face made it crystal clear that he should start talking, or get out. So he stopped thinking and started talking. "I just.. wanted to ask you something," he mumbled.
Katara continued to glare at him. "Well? What is it?" she asked sharply.
"I was just..." Zuko paused, raising his eyes to hers. Finding them staring at him angrily, he dropped them to the floor again. He coughed, trying to clear both his throat and thoughts. "I was just wondering why you seem to be so angry at me," Zuko blurted. Not before he uttered the last word of his sentence, he began to curse himself. That was definitely not the right thing to say.
As Zuko and anyone could have predicted, Katara's face twisted into a look of fury. "Why am I ANGRY at you?!" she screeched, "You're really sitting in my room right now, asking me that?!" Zuko flinched at the loud, harsh sound of her words.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid...," Zuko kept thinking to himself. "I-um, I mean, I know why you're angry with me and I mean, I completely understand," Zuko continued hastily, "I didn't mean to say that. I just—I really wanted to apologize. Again. I know you don't believe me, but, especially about Ba Sing Se, I'm sor—"
Katara's mind flashed back to the caves in Ba Sing Se for a moment, back to the horrific moment where Zuko—whom she believed to have changed and become a good person—began attacking both her and Aang. The most horrible part of the memory being when Zuko's sister, Azula, almost succeeded in killing Aang. Katara felt her body shaking uncontrollably from anger. She didn't want to hear another stupid apology. Not from him. Not again. Not after what he did.
"You've already done all that. Get out of my room. Now." Katara spat. Zuko clenched his fists. He didn't know how much more of this humiliation he could take. He may be on the Avatar's side now, but he's still Zuko. He still has his pride. He glared at Katara.
"What's your problem? I'm trying to apologize!" He yelled, standing up from the floor. He took a step toward Katara. "What can I do to make you believe me that I'm on your side?! I just want you to see that!" Katara's angry face didn't change, but she was feeling a little vulnerable as she clenched her blankets closer to her body. Zuko didn't notice though, as he was blinded by frustration. He took another intimidating step toward the Water-tribe girl. "Actually, you know what? I don't even care if you trust me or believe me because I know what side I'm on now, but stop treating me like some piece of garbage! Just treat me like you treat everyone else!" he bellowed.
Despite Zuko looming over her fuming and the fear inside her climbing, Katara managed to look down her nose at him. "Zuko, I will never trust you and, unfortunately for you, I don't think you're even capable of caring about something, or someone, like I care about Aang, Toph, and my brother—you don't even come close to being as important as they are to me. And because of that, no matter what side you think you're on, I'll never treat you the same as I treat them."
The angry, golden eyes softened their gaze and looked away. He stood there defeated. She was right. Undeniably so. He didn't have a connection with anyone like she had with the rest of the group.
He combed his mind to think of someone, anyone—but even the closest person to him, his Uncle, didn't share a connection with him like the one Aang and Katara shared. He closed his eyes. "...You're right," he admitted. He felt ashamed, pathetic, and foolish for even trying to come in here and make things right.
For the first time in their whole conversation, Katara's guard dropped. She stared at Zuko, feeling a little (just a little) sorry for saying what she said. But she didn't apologize—she didn't say anything—she just sat on her bed and watched him. Zuko lifted his head and his eyes met hers. By now, the rising sun had made its way through her windows, shining onto her face and bringing light to her dark, uncombed hair and soft, caramel-colored skin. The sunlight crept across Zuko's pale skin and the scar on his face—lighting up the misery in his eyes. Katara looked away from him, not wanting to see the sadness in his eyes. Those sad eyes made her feel sorry for the exiled prince, but she couldn't allow herself to. Not again. Zuko didn't deserve to have someone feel sorry for him. He was a confused, angry, spoiled little prince who has constantly hurt her and her friends for fun. She nodded to herself. "That's right, that jerk doesn't deserve any sympathy. Not from me." Safely hidden behind her anger once again, Katara turned to him sharply, her hair wild as it danced around her face. "Anyway, it'll be time for breakfast soon. So you can get out already—" she started.
Zuko couldn't take it anymore.
He closed the distance between them quickly and cut her off without using any words this time. Zuko grabbed hold of Katara's arm, pulled her to him, and kissed her.
As quickly as the kiss came to happen, it ended. The firebending teenager backed away from the waterbender rather clumsily. As Zuko stumbled backwards, he appeared just as shocked as Katara did.
Awkward silence dragged on for what felt like an eternity. Zuko swallowed hard and continued backing up toward the door, his face flushed and his heart pounding. His heart wasn't alone though, Katara's heart was booming within her chest so loud she was afraid Zuko would hear it. Her face was hot all over again, but this time, it wasn't because of anger. A lump formed in Zuko's throat.
He didn't have much time to mull over what just happened, as he was now dreading what Katara was going to do to him. Or what she would tell the others.
Fortunately for Zuko, Katara was too bewildered to be angry or worse, violent. The Firebender decided that he should take advantage of that, so he nodded awkwardly toward Katara, turned stiffly, and strode out of her room.