Okay so this is something to give people to read while I am trying to get these chapters of TKC finished.

I'm also working in another fic so stay tuned.

Yes I know I have a lot of WIPs to finish. However, I still don't know what to do with them after all these years.

We listen and we don't judge. Lol

Anyways, this is a new ship that is near and dear to my heart. This isn't a Harry Potter fic, btw. For those of you who indulge in Avatar The Last Airbender, I really don't need to say what it is. You'll figure it out real quick lol.

This is just a little one shot that just popped into my brain. Maybe I will explore it, who knows. Depends on if yall are interested in wanting more. Let me know what yall think.

One change: I aged them all up by 4 years. So that would make Aang and Toph about 16, Katara 18, Sokka and Suki 19, and Zuko is 20. Just in case I do decide to add onto this.

On with the fic!

Bending of the Heart

Set after the events of the episode The Southern Raiders.

She woke up with a yell that she hoped the others didn't hear. Her heart was racing, her body was in a cold sweat. She started to hyperventilate a bit, quietly as she could so no one would rush in to help her.

She didn't hear any rustling nor footsteps. She let out a shudder as she hugged herself slightly, thinking about the dream she just had.

Did she really have to do that soldier the way she did? She had told herself she would never do bloodbending again. To have control of someone's body like that? She could have forced him to fight himself. To jump off the boat. To break his own neck.

An innocent man. Well, innocent of the crime that she was accusing him of, that is.

She let out a gasp at the very thought of it. Replaying the scenarios that slumber had brought her. She grabbed a shawl and put it around her, despite it being a warm summer night. She left her text and headed in the direction of her brother's. She was about to pull it open when she heard a giggle and then a shushing sound. Oh...Sokka was entertaining Suki tonight. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. The one time she actually wanted to open up a bit to her older brother, and he was doing God knows what to his girlfriend inside.

She softly stepped away from his tent, confused on where to turn. She thought about talking to Aang, but she knew it wouldn't be what she wanted to hear. He would try, but his pacifist nature would get in the way and he would probably be frightened by what she had to say.

She thought about going to Toph. That thought left her head two seconds after it had entered. Toph was not too keen on people waking her up. She really didn't feel like hearing a rant about her sleep and how she had ruined it.

So...she took a left and walked towards Zuko's tent, which wasn't far from where Appa was curled up and softly snoring.

When she got there, she reached for the flap. She hesitated, pulling her hand back. She didn't know if Zuko would be welcoming of her waking him up. He was just as tired as she had been from their journey and actions of the day. She would be selfish to bore him with her dreams.

She turned to walk away. Maybe she would speak with someone in the morning.

"Katara?" a soft whisper came from behind, making her stop. She turned to face a confused looking Zuko, upper torso sticking from the slit of the low tent.

Katara suddenly felt nervous. What was she thinking, going to his tent in the middle of the night? As if she was some frightened child. "Ummmmm, sorry I...well..."

Zuko's look of confusion softened to a small smile. He moved back the slit, opening it enough for her to come inside. "You look like you need someone to talk to."

"But...you were sleeping."

Zuko shook his head. "Not really. I was actually sipping on some tea that I had packed with me. Uncle Iroh's favorite. You look like you could use some."

Katara nodded, accepting the invitation and heading back to Zuko's tent. He moved aside, letting her come in and closed the slit back after her.

She realized just then that she had never been inside his tent before. Hell, besides her brother's tent, she had never been in a man's tent at all before. Even more so, alone.

Still, it was cozy there. Zuko was tall, so he had a high ceiling tent with room enough for them to stand up inside. She could see his sleeping bag near a small makeshift fire pit that had low burning embers. He must have been reading, because she could see an open book near the opening of his sleeping bag.

"You okay?" asked Zuko, pouring the tea from a shabby looking teapot into a small wooden teacup. He held the cup in his hands for a few seconds, causing steam to rise from the liquid as he warmed the tea up. He handed it to Karara.

"Thanks," she said, taking a sip as Zuko poured his own. "And yes I am...I mean...well I'm not. But I don't need to trouble you with my dreams"

"Dreams?" he asked, sitting down on a thin blanket and pointing to a spot beside him for her to sit. "You have a bad dream or something?"

Hearing him say it like that made Katara feel like she really was acting like a child. " Forget it, it's nothing." she said, quickly taking another sip. Then sooner she was done with this tea, the sooner she could leave with some dignity.

"I have them all the time, you know," said Zuko, as if he were reading her mind. He moved some of his long fringe of hair out of his face so he could see her fully. His hair sometimes got in the way. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. Let me guess. It was about what happened, right?"

Katara was taken aback a bit. Not only was he not teasing her about it, but he was being understanding? Sokka and Toph would have joked with her before actually being of some kind of support. Aang would have coddled her. They were the best people, but sometimes they weren't good at dealing with certain emotions.

She sat down, looking into the cup in her hands. She nodded, not really wanting to say anything.

Zuko let out a grunt, indicating that he acknowledged her silent agreement. He took a generous swig of his tea, never really being one to sip it as daintily as his Uncle Iroh. "Tell me." he said, looking straight ahead. He was still getting used to this conversing without fighting thing.

Katara took in a breath. She put her cup on the ground, taking her hands and making subtle movements to make the tea come out of the cup and dance around. She had gotten so good at this, that it was second nature. So this had become soothing, making liquid dance around.

"I had gone too far," she said, making the tea turn in small circles. "I had ended up causing the man to break his limbs."

Zuko stiffened a little. He recalled watching the man move unnaturally, seeing the pain and fear in his eyes. It was enough to assure him that Katara was no one to mess with. He would sooner pick a fight with Azula, than to ever try to seriously piss Karara off.

"He was screaming in agony," she said, closing her eyes, then water swirling faster. "He was begging me to stop. Pleading for me to quit hurting him. But...I didn't. I continued onto his other arm, and his legs. I...was smiling. I was having fun. As if it was a game to me. And then..." she didn't want to say it.

"And then what?" asked Zoko quietly.

"I ...I had twisted his head...and before I had broken his neck I woke up. Screaming." she finished, opening her eyes and dropping her hands. The tea splashed onto the blanket. "Oh damn. I'm sorry, Zuko, I...ruined your blanket "

Zuko waved her hand dismissively, taking a rag and dabbing at his blanket. "You're good. Not like you burned it like I did the other end." he said, pointing to the other end of the blanket with singe marks on it. "Had a bit of a moment."

Katara nodded, making a mental note to ask him about it later. "Zuko, can I ask you something? And don't be all...all.."

"Aang about it?"

Katara glared at him. "That's not what I was going to say, Zuko."

"You didn't have to for me to know what you meant." smirked Zuko.

Katara rolled her eyes. Maybe telling him this was the wrong idea. "I was going to say don't be all sugar coaty about it."

"So I was right."

"Zuko!"

"Fine, fine," chuckled Zuko, holding his hands up in surrender. "I won't. That isn't my strong suit anyways. You should know that."

"I know." Katara said with a smirk. "My question is, do you think I went too far?"

"My honest answer? No. I truly don't." he answered, drinking down the rest of the tea.

"Really? Honestly?"

"Speaking as someone who has also lost their mother, I think you went easy on the both of them," he said, collecting both his and Katara's cup and putting them to the side. "Especially since your mother was killed. But that's the difference between me and you. You actually have compassion."

"Zuko, you have compassion," said Katara, looking over at him. "It isn't as abundant as Aang's but you do have it."

"Thanks," he said with a half hearted chuckle. "Anyways, as I said, you went easy on them. But I understand why you did it. If you would have killed them, you would have been no better than them. It wouldn't have given you any permanent satisfaction. It wouldn't have brought her back."

Katara sighed. He was right. "You have a point. I don't think I would have lived with myself if I would have permanently injured that man for nothing. And killing the other one? But...at the same time...does me having that dream and having the desire for revenge bad of me? If I had really killed him...would you have looked at me differently?"

"No," said Zuko with no hesitation. "I wouldn't have. That man stole your mother away from you. He took a life that didn't do anything in this world but love and protect her family. She didn't deserve what happened to her."

Katara looked down at her hands. "When I learned how to bloodbend," she began, "I had done it out of desperation. I did it on the person that taught me. Her name was Hana. She was using it on Aang and Sokka, almost making them stab each other. I made a vow afterwards to never ever use it ever again. I was so scared. And not for the reason you would believe."

"What do you mean?"

"I...I liked it." she whispered, voice trembling. "It felt like...like I had control. I had someone's life literally at my fingertips. I could have made that woman do anything I wanted her to do. Same with the commander. I could have ended either one of them if I would have allowed myself to do it. Do you have any idea how...how strong that made me feel?"

She turned her head to look Zuko in his eyes. Zuko looked back, eyes locking onto hers, taking her words in. He heard the sound of the crashing waves as they slammed into the nearby rocks. For some reason the sound enhanced the moment.

"I can't say that I do," he replied. "But I will say that you aren't a bad person for thinking that, nor feeling it. That's a lot of power you have there, Katara." said Zuko, mentally hitting himself because that seemed like the wrong thing to say.

"I'm not?"

"No, not at all. If you were truly a bad person, you would have taken full advantage of your power."

"But isn't that what I did?" asked Katara, getting up and pacing back and forth in the tent. "I could have done anything else to fight that guy. He was lightwork! Instead, I took over his body. I took over his body as easily as I took a breath and I didn't feel sorry for it!"

Katara felt like the whole tent was closing in on her. She broke her own vow. Her own vow on someone that really didn't require that happening to him. She could have made anything she wanted him to, and she had almost no remorse. She grabbed her head and shut her eyes tightly, frustrated by the thoughts that were clouding her mind.

Zuko got up, going over to Katara and gently clutched her upper arms, causing her to stop. "Breathe, Katara. You're being way too hard on yourself. Look at me."

Katara kept her eyes firmly shut for a few more seconds. Then, she opened them slowly, meeting Zuko's. She felt as if her eyes were going to water, but she willed herself to not shed tears. She trusted him now, but she was not ready to really show that level of vulnerability.

Zuko was about to say something, however, he found himself distracted momentarily. Her eyes...he knew they were blue but...were they always this intense? Her eyes were literally the ocean. And now they were like the ocean during a storm.

"You...you did great, Katara." He said, his right hand loosening the grip on her arm to begin rubbing it. "The wonderful thing about you is that despite your hardship, you have morals. You had a moment of it slipping, but you pulled yourself together and even more, didn't kill the man that took the life of your mother despite the fact that no one would have bat an eye if you did. Well, at least I wouldn't have."

He chuckled a bit, with Katara joining him.

"The point of the matter is you did the right thing. So what if you enjoyed the power that you showed. You also pulled it back and stopped yourself before you really did some damage. That takes strength, Katara. A level of strength that I am very much working to have more of. I can honestly say my Uncle Iroh would have been proud if I ever reached that level. And I feel that I can say that your mom is proud of you for it."

Katara gave Zuko a stunned look. Damn. He had hit that spot. All she could think of was her mother smiling at her like she did when she first displayed her water bending skills. Two tears streamed down her cheeks, though she wasn't saddened by his words.

Zuko internally panicked at first, thinking he had hurt her with his words. But looking into her eyes, he could tell that she wasn't crying from a place of hurt. He composed himself placing his hand on her cheek in a way that she had when they were in Ba Sing Se. He wiped away her tear, eyes not leaving hers.

She didn't know if it was the night air, the closeness, the tenderness of his gesture, or the fact that she was in a mood that she normally wasn't in, but she found herself slowly moving her face towards Zuko's. The next thing she knew, her lips had landed on his.

Zuko's eyes went as big as saucers as she pulled back. Did she really just kiss her? This had to be a dream. There is no way that her lips had connected with his.

Katara's eyes were equally huge. What the hell had she just done? Had she really just ki-

Before any one of them could even process what Katara had done, Zuko himself had gently pulled her closer and kissed her back. Katara's eyes fluttered closed as she returned his advance, never feeling these butterflies before. She moved her hands to his cheeks as if she was making sure he wouldn't pull back.

Zuko had no intention of doing such a thing. Matter of fact, he intensified it, putting his arms around her and bringing her even closer into him. Now this was definitely not his first kiss. There was that girl from Ba Sing Se, and Mei. The girl was nice, but he didn't feel that spark. With Mei, there was for sure something there. But it didn't feel like this. This was different. This felt like he could do anything. Go anywhere. He felt as though he was flying and never wanted his feet to touch the ground.

Now Katara had only kissed Aang, which she had always felt conflicted about doing with him. It had elements of feeling right, but even more elements of feeling wrong at the same time. But with Zuko? It felt like everything. It instantly both scared her and made her feel elated. It felt like when she first fought him back at the Northern Water Tribe back at the North Pole. She had never told anyone that she felt like they had done more of an intense and powerful dance than an actual fight to the death.

To the both of them, the kiss had felt like hours. However, they had broken it within about 15 seconds. They stared at each other, breathless. Their hearts beating so hard, they could hear them. Or maybe it was just that quiet. Either way, something was happening. Something unexpected. And they both felt it.

Sure, there was a bit of a spark in Ba Sing Se, when Katara touched his scar. He would never tell that his whole face felt hot, but it was a comforting heat. Very much the opposite of what his father had made him feel when he had burned him. If he hadn't known that she didn't put that water on him, he would have thought she had healed him with simply her touch.

"Woah..." they both said, eyes still locked onto one another's. Neither one of them knew what to do at this moment. They did, however, know that this moment was going to change everything.

"I...I'm-" Zuko started to stammer.

"I'm not.." said Katara, putting a finger gently on his lips to shut him up. She felt like an apology was about to come out of his mouth. He had nothing to be sorry for. She...she liked it. She wanted it. And she wanted to do it again. But she wasn't gonna take any chances.

That was until Zuko puckered up against her finger. Now the butterflies were in a frenzy.

He was indeed going to apologize. He had kissed her without asking, even though she had started it. Still, it wasn't appropriate. What will Uncle Iroh say? Did he disgrace her honor? Had he violated her in some way? That's what he was starting to think, until she had said what she said. So she had liked it just as much as he had?

"I should go.." she said, the words flying from her mouth before she could catch them.

Oh shit. Did he indeed mess up?

"Do...do you want to?" he asked slowly.

"No. Not really." she said truthfully.

"Then you don't have to." he said, putting his hand on her cheek, caressing it slowly with his thumb. What the hell. He wasn't even this tender with Mei. Although Mei wasn't always one for tender affection and that was one reason.

"Then I won't." whispered Katara, feeling once again breathless, this time by his touch.

The pair stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, though it was only a few seconds. Time really seemed to have slowed down. Then, as if it was pure instinct, Zuko knelt down onto his sleeping bag, gently pulling Katara with him.

Katara's body seemed to have a mind of its own, because she found herself willfully obliging. She laid down beside him as he had laid, eyes really never leaving his. Her head was screaming at her that this was not right. She was laying on top of a sleeping bag with a boy. Never had she ever laid on the same sleeping bag with a boy. Sure she had cuddled up to her father on the first few nights after she had lost her mother. Hell, she had even laid down with Sokka when he had comforted her as she was sick a couple times. But Zuko wasn't her father, nor was he her brother. This was different.

But it still felt equally right.

Zuko put his arms around Katara, drawing her close once again. It wasn't like he was trying to keep each other warm. The summer night was indeed warm and even if it wasn't, his small ember would have made it comfortable. But something just wanted her to be as near to him as she would allow him to. Months ago, this would have never been a thing. They had been enemies, fighting on opposite ends. Fire and water. Elements that shouldn't coexist. Azula would have spontaneously combusted if she could see this.

They were like the moon and the sun. Zuko had told her long ago that she rose with the moon, while he rose with the sun. And yet here they were. Rising together. Or was it them meeting each other in the middle like the sun and moon tended to do during a sunset? He didn't know the answer to that. What he did know was that this felt just as right as when he first joined Aang and the gang. When he was running the tea shop with his uncle in Ba Sing Se. When his mother would sing him to sleep. Moments where all was right in the world.

Katara snuggled against him, her head nesting under his chin. It was crazy how easily they seemed to fit. As if they were the last pieces of a puzzle. And now it was complete. The warmth of his body was so soothing, that she found herself beginning to doze off.

"Zuko, what if they try to wake me up in the morning and see that I'm not there?" she asked, hand slowly tracing his arm.

"I'll wake you before they get up," he assured her, being very comfortable in the position that they were in. He could tell that she was comfortable too. Katara seemed satisfied with that answer, and allowed herself to drift off into sleep moments later.

Zuko held her close, feeling a strange sense of peace wash over him. It was the kind of tranquility he hadn't experienced in years—maybe ever. He glanced at the embers of his small fire, which flickered softly, casting shadows that danced around the tent.

He wondered how they got here. How this unlikely connection had formed between two people who were supposed to be opposites, supposed to be enemies. Yet, here she was, curled against him, trusting him in a way that felt both exhilarating and terrifying.

As Katara's breathing evened out, signaling that she had fallen into a deep sleep, Zuko stayed awake, his thoughts racing. He wasn't sure what this meant for them. He didn't know if it was a fleeting moment brought on by shared pain and vulnerability or if it was the beginning of something more.

But for now, he didn't care. For now, all that mattered was that they had found a quiet corner of the world where they could be themselves—just Katara and Zuko, not the waterbender and the banished prince, not the girl seeking justice and the boy seeking redemption. Just two people trying to heal.

And in that moment, under the quiet blanket of stars, Zuko made a silent promise to himself: he would be there for her, no matter what. Whether this was the start of something or just a fleeting connection, he wouldn't let her carry her burdens alone. Not anymore.

With that thought, Zuko finally allowed himself to close his eyes, holding Katara close as they both drifted into a rare and peaceful sleep.

Fin...