Just because I could not help myself....
So I don't know how to do much here on LJ...but enough about my problems, here's Chapter 2!!
Enjoy!
Days had passed since Zuko had last spoken to Katara alone. Although they had seen quite a lot of each other recently, whenever Zuko managed to get close enough to talk to her in private they were always interrupted by either a nobleman or nation representative who wanted their chance to have a conversation with the Firelord or The greatest waterbender in the world. Aang, and the rest of the gang had arrived three days after Katara. Appa had become sick on the way which is why they had arrived later than expected. The days that followed Aang and the rest of the gang’s arrival were uneventful. They consisted mostly of formal meetings with various other representatives who were all fairly uninteresting. In the evening, most of the visitors were asked politely to stay in their rooms. Although the war had been over for a long time there were still many people who preferred life during the war and would do anything to return to the way things were. A dead or missing earth or water nation representative in the heart of the fire nation would be one of the ways to start.
It was late morning, the sky consisted of a beautiful array of oranges and blues and a light breeze flew in gently from the east. Zuko stood in one of the great hall of the fire nation palace waiting for the rest of the noblemen to arrive from breakfast for the first of today’s meetings. He hated this time of day; it was so dull and lifeless. Many of the representatives were a lot older that him and seemed as if they to have more in common with Iroh. Zuko sighed, walked across towards the window and waited. Suddenly, from one of the doorways of the hall Katara appeared dressed in a mixture cool blues. “She’s beautiful….” Zuko thought to himself. Katara walked over towards him. Her graciousness and lightness on her feet reminded him of that of a peacokswan. Zuko greeted her with a hug which she equally returned happy to see her friend again. Zuko was well aware of the hidden whispers of the nation representative whenever this occurred, especially those of the fire nation nobles but he didn’t care. He was with Katara now, nothing else mattered.
“It’s good to see you again.” Zuko said pulling away from their hug. She smiled and opened the window they were standing by slightly.
“Zuko, I saw you yesterday, don’t you remember? Or did you fall asleep near of the meeting like I did!” she laughed lightly. Zuko chuckled. He loved the sound of Katara’s laughter, it was like the sweetest music, he could listen to it forever.
“I guess I did.” Zuko replied. “How’s Aang, Sokka and the rest of the gang?” Zuko asked.
“Well, Aang Sokka and Suki went out early this morning to check up on Appa. He still isn’t quite back to normal so Aang thought that it was about time that he checked up on him. Why Suki and Sokka decided to join him, I don’t know. The excitement of these meetings must have been too much for them huh?”
“Yeah…”
“Sokka said that they should be back before dinner, No actually he said that they WOULD be back before dinner.” Katara laughed.
"Typical Sokka.” Zuko chuckled.
“Yeah” Katara replied “Toph should be here any minute, if she hasn’t decided to join then that is. Have you done anything interesting lately?”
“No not really. Training in the morning and meetings in the afternoon. That’s practically been my life for the past few days. How about you?” Zuko asked.
“I haven’t really done that much. The meetings have taken up the majority of my day. Also, the heat is beginning to get to me. “Katara smiled. “I haven’t travelled this far away from the South Pole in the last 4 years so I was just beginning to get use to the cold again. Then to come here so suddenly… well it will take me a few more days to adjust.” Katara shrugged and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll get use to it. Besides, it’s cooler in the evening. That’s when I go down to the garden. This evening” Zuko began to fix his clothes for no apparent reason. “Would you like to…………”
“Hey guys!” Toph interrupted. Zuko frowned. Hoping that he had said enough to give Katara a clue to what he was getting at.
“Hi Toph!” Katara said cheerfully. “Glad you decided to come. Looking forward to the meeting? This one is going to be about trading restrictions.” Katara said while playfully nudging her.
“Can’t wait…” Toph said sarcastically. She had changed a lot since war. She had grown into a beautiful woman with a headstrong personality to match. Her hair, like Katara’s was a lot longer but she decided to put it up. Appearances weren’t Toph’s thing.
Katara laughed, Zuko smiled. “It’s good to see you haven’t changed Toph.” Zuko said while patting her on the back. He had always been great friends with Toph, she was like the sister he would have liked to have had.
“We, I’ll see you guys later. Shang has just arrived and he looks confused. I better go and help him.” She pointed to the middle aged man dressed in indigo. “He’s Yue’s uncle, kinda like the deputy chief of the Northern water tribe. See you later.” With that, Katara left Toph and Zuko.
“Bye” they both replied. Toph then turned to Zuko and smiled.
"Zuko you should really try and control yourself there, you’re going to cause an earthquake.” she joked.
Zuko turned around shocked. “What are you talking about?” He asked.
“Your heartbeat Zuko. Its racing, every time Katara’s nearby or starts laughing, it beats like crazy. You’re making my feet sore.”
“I don’t now what you’re talking about Toph. Besides, there are over 20 people in this room most of whom’s hearts are on the verge of breaking down any minute. You’re mistaken. Anyway, everyone’s here now the meeting should be starting soon. We should go. Again, you’re mistaken. He walked off ahead of Toph embarrassed and frustrated. “What does she know anyway?” he thought to himself.
“This is going to be some reunion.” Toph chuckled to herself.
***
It was early evening. The sun returned to behind the hills providing a small amount of golden light that reflected beautifully upon the Turtleduck pond. Zuko sat under his favourite tree hoping that Katara would have picked up on his hint. He loved this time of day. Its tranquillity gave him the time he needed to think things through.
“May I join you?” Katara asked. The sweetness of her voice was impossible to resist. Within it he was able to feel emotions that other women like Mai had either hidden or lost the ability to covey. He loved it.
“Yeah sure.” Zuko said helping her down towards the grass. “You snuck up on me there.”
Katara laughed. “It seems as though your mind was elsewhere.”
“I really glad you came. I was hoping you would.” Zuko said, blushing a little.
“Yeah, I wanted to come out for some fresh air. You’re right, it is cooler.” Katara flicked her hair to the side and took of her shawl. She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress that rippled in the breeze almost identically to the way the water did. Zuko was amazed. She was beautiful before, but now she was simply stunning. He hoped that the lack of light hid how red his face was becoming.
“It’s still pretty warm for my standards though.” Katara said while smiling. She started bending the water into various different shapes before letting it fall.
“Hey Katara” Zuko said while taking her hand. “Do you want me to show you something special.”
“Do I have a choice” Katara responded.
“Close you eyes.” Zuko whispered.
Katara did it obediently. Zuko then flattened her and place his directly under hers. She suddenly felt a surge of heat in the centre of her palm.
“Open them”
Katara opened her eyes slowly. She blinked a few times unable to take in what she was seeing. Above her palm floated a single blue flame.
“Wow, Zuko. Its like I’m firebending.” She smiled cheerfully, joy radiating from her. “When did you learn to produce blue flames?” she asked.
“Its not me its you.” Zuko teased
“Seriously Zuko, its beautiful.” She stared at, it amazed at its beauty
“Like you.” Zuko whispered. Once again forgetting himself. This was becoming a regular occurrence.
Katara closed her palm and moved her had away. The blue flame disappeared.
“I’m sorry” Zuko apologised. “Uncle taught me how to do it” Zuko said rapidly changing the subject.
“Don’t apologise Zuko.” Katara said looking at her palms. She stood up gracefully Zuko followed.
“Please don’t leave. I won’t talk like that anymore if it upsets you, please, lets just talk. I enjoy times like this with you. Please”. Zuko looked at her, truly apologetic.
"Zuko, it’s pretty late now. I better go back to my room." She wrapped herself inside her shawl and walked towards the garden’s doorway. She then stopped and turned around to face the now sad looking Zuko. “Goodnight.” She smiled and returned back to her room.
“Argh!” Zuko thought to himself. “Why am I so bad at this?” He kicked the grass and stormed off towards his room
Above the moon was out and appeared to be smiling.
The following morning Katara woke up early and got dressed. She had not been able to get a good look around the fire nation palace since she had arrived and with the events of the previous night still playing on her mind, she though that this was as good a time as any to give herself her own personal tour.
As she walked through the rooms and various hallways she was stunned by its beauty. The fire nation palace was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The last time she was her she was in a fight for her live but now, she was able to take in everything. “No wonder Zuko likes living here so much” she thought to herself.
Minutes later she heard sounds coming from one of the smaller rooms and light flickering inside. She cautiously walked over to investigate. She crept over to the doorway slowly and peeked inside. It was none other than Zuko training alone. She smiled and continued to watch him silently. His movements were powerful yet hypnotic. She felt her own temperature rise just watching him. “What’s the matter with me?” she thought to herself. “This is Zuko, Firelord Zuko. Why am I feeling this way?” She moved her hand through her hair but before she could reach it, one of her bangles fell to the floor distracting Zuko.
He stopped his fire bending forms and turned to the door ready to face the intruder.
“Morning” Katara said embarrassed.
“Oh its you.” Zuko said relieved. “How long have you been standing there?” Zuko asked.
Katara walked in towards him. “A while.” Now that she was closer to him and could see that he was wearing only his trousers, his topless torso exposed.
“Here I’ll light a few torches for you.” Zuko said, helpfully.
“Thanks. Zuko, may I ask, why you train in the dark?”
“Well, I’m stronger during the day, so I suppose that this way, if I am attacked during the night I’ll have a fighting chance!" Zuko laughed. Katara walked closer towards him, she could feel the heat radiating of him yet it didn’t seem to affect her. Suddenly her facial expression changed to that of sorrow.
“What is it?” Zuko asked.
Katara placed both hands on the middle of his bare torso where a large reddish scar remained. "This is because of me” she said to herself. “You have this because of me.”
She repeated bowing her head. They were now standing face to face to each other. Closer than they had ever been before.
“No. Never think like that Katara. I was not going to let Azula’s lightning destroy you. I would do the same thing again a million times if I had to. I owe you that much. He said placing his hands on her shoulders to comfort her. “Please don’t feel sad, for me Katara. Please smile.” He placed thumb under her chin, lifted her face upwards and smiled . “I’m fine seriously.”
“But Zuko”, Katara was now whispering so that only the two of them could hear. “It could have gone through your heart.”
Zuko looked at Katara and slowly moved both of Katara hands from the scared part of his torso to his heart.
“I’m not sure it didn’t.”
They looked at each other silently for what seemed like an eternity. Lost in each others eyes trying to work out what the other was thinking or feeling.
“Katara, I ……..”
“Zuko wait. There’s something I have to tell you. You believe that we can create our own destiny right, that we are in control.”
“Yes why?” Zuko asked confused.
“Well … I just wanted to say that if I had the choice I would…. No what that’s not right ………… you see what I’m tying to say is………” Katara sighed. This was the first time Zuko had ever seen her stumble over her words, she was usually so confident and well spoken.
“Zuko”, she caressed his face and then dropped her hands still staring into his eyes. She chose her next few words very carefully.
“You’re a very powerful bender.”
Enjoy!
Days had passed since Zuko had last spoken to Katara alone. Although they had seen quite a lot of each other recently, whenever Zuko managed to get close enough to talk to her in private they were always interrupted by either a nobleman or nation representative who wanted their chance to have a conversation with the Firelord or The greatest waterbender in the world. Aang, and the rest of the gang had arrived three days after Katara. Appa had become sick on the way which is why they had arrived later than expected. The days that followed Aang and the rest of the gang’s arrival were uneventful. They consisted mostly of formal meetings with various other representatives who were all fairly uninteresting. In the evening, most of the visitors were asked politely to stay in their rooms. Although the war had been over for a long time there were still many people who preferred life during the war and would do anything to return to the way things were. A dead or missing earth or water nation representative in the heart of the fire nation would be one of the ways to start.
It was late morning, the sky consisted of a beautiful array of oranges and blues and a light breeze flew in gently from the east. Zuko stood in one of the great hall of the fire nation palace waiting for the rest of the noblemen to arrive from breakfast for the first of today’s meetings. He hated this time of day; it was so dull and lifeless. Many of the representatives were a lot older that him and seemed as if they to have more in common with Iroh. Zuko sighed, walked across towards the window and waited. Suddenly, from one of the doorways of the hall Katara appeared dressed in a mixture cool blues. “She’s beautiful….” Zuko thought to himself. Katara walked over towards him. Her graciousness and lightness on her feet reminded him of that of a peacokswan. Zuko greeted her with a hug which she equally returned happy to see her friend again. Zuko was well aware of the hidden whispers of the nation representative whenever this occurred, especially those of the fire nation nobles but he didn’t care. He was with Katara now, nothing else mattered.
“It’s good to see you again.” Zuko said pulling away from their hug. She smiled and opened the window they were standing by slightly.
“Zuko, I saw you yesterday, don’t you remember? Or did you fall asleep near of the meeting like I did!” she laughed lightly. Zuko chuckled. He loved the sound of Katara’s laughter, it was like the sweetest music, he could listen to it forever.
“I guess I did.” Zuko replied. “How’s Aang, Sokka and the rest of the gang?” Zuko asked.
“Well, Aang Sokka and Suki went out early this morning to check up on Appa. He still isn’t quite back to normal so Aang thought that it was about time that he checked up on him. Why Suki and Sokka decided to join him, I don’t know. The excitement of these meetings must have been too much for them huh?”
“Yeah…”
“Sokka said that they should be back before dinner, No actually he said that they WOULD be back before dinner.” Katara laughed.
"Typical Sokka.” Zuko chuckled.
“Yeah” Katara replied “Toph should be here any minute, if she hasn’t decided to join then that is. Have you done anything interesting lately?”
“No not really. Training in the morning and meetings in the afternoon. That’s practically been my life for the past few days. How about you?” Zuko asked.
“I haven’t really done that much. The meetings have taken up the majority of my day. Also, the heat is beginning to get to me. “Katara smiled. “I haven’t travelled this far away from the South Pole in the last 4 years so I was just beginning to get use to the cold again. Then to come here so suddenly… well it will take me a few more days to adjust.” Katara shrugged and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll get use to it. Besides, it’s cooler in the evening. That’s when I go down to the garden. This evening” Zuko began to fix his clothes for no apparent reason. “Would you like to…………”
“Hey guys!” Toph interrupted. Zuko frowned. Hoping that he had said enough to give Katara a clue to what he was getting at.
“Hi Toph!” Katara said cheerfully. “Glad you decided to come. Looking forward to the meeting? This one is going to be about trading restrictions.” Katara said while playfully nudging her.
“Can’t wait…” Toph said sarcastically. She had changed a lot since war. She had grown into a beautiful woman with a headstrong personality to match. Her hair, like Katara’s was a lot longer but she decided to put it up. Appearances weren’t Toph’s thing.
Katara laughed, Zuko smiled. “It’s good to see you haven’t changed Toph.” Zuko said while patting her on the back. He had always been great friends with Toph, she was like the sister he would have liked to have had.
“We, I’ll see you guys later. Shang has just arrived and he looks confused. I better go and help him.” She pointed to the middle aged man dressed in indigo. “He’s Yue’s uncle, kinda like the deputy chief of the Northern water tribe. See you later.” With that, Katara left Toph and Zuko.
“Bye” they both replied. Toph then turned to Zuko and smiled.
"Zuko you should really try and control yourself there, you’re going to cause an earthquake.” she joked.
Zuko turned around shocked. “What are you talking about?” He asked.
“Your heartbeat Zuko. Its racing, every time Katara’s nearby or starts laughing, it beats like crazy. You’re making my feet sore.”
“I don’t now what you’re talking about Toph. Besides, there are over 20 people in this room most of whom’s hearts are on the verge of breaking down any minute. You’re mistaken. Anyway, everyone’s here now the meeting should be starting soon. We should go. Again, you’re mistaken. He walked off ahead of Toph embarrassed and frustrated. “What does she know anyway?” he thought to himself.
“This is going to be some reunion.” Toph chuckled to herself.
***
It was early evening. The sun returned to behind the hills providing a small amount of golden light that reflected beautifully upon the Turtleduck pond. Zuko sat under his favourite tree hoping that Katara would have picked up on his hint. He loved this time of day. Its tranquillity gave him the time he needed to think things through.
“May I join you?” Katara asked. The sweetness of her voice was impossible to resist. Within it he was able to feel emotions that other women like Mai had either hidden or lost the ability to covey. He loved it.
“Yeah sure.” Zuko said helping her down towards the grass. “You snuck up on me there.”
Katara laughed. “It seems as though your mind was elsewhere.”
“I really glad you came. I was hoping you would.” Zuko said, blushing a little.
“Yeah, I wanted to come out for some fresh air. You’re right, it is cooler.” Katara flicked her hair to the side and took of her shawl. She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress that rippled in the breeze almost identically to the way the water did. Zuko was amazed. She was beautiful before, but now she was simply stunning. He hoped that the lack of light hid how red his face was becoming.
“It’s still pretty warm for my standards though.” Katara said while smiling. She started bending the water into various different shapes before letting it fall.
“Hey Katara” Zuko said while taking her hand. “Do you want me to show you something special.”
“Do I have a choice” Katara responded.
“Close you eyes.” Zuko whispered.
Katara did it obediently. Zuko then flattened her and place his directly under hers. She suddenly felt a surge of heat in the centre of her palm.
“Open them”
Katara opened her eyes slowly. She blinked a few times unable to take in what she was seeing. Above her palm floated a single blue flame.
“Wow, Zuko. Its like I’m firebending.” She smiled cheerfully, joy radiating from her. “When did you learn to produce blue flames?” she asked.
“Its not me its you.” Zuko teased
“Seriously Zuko, its beautiful.” She stared at, it amazed at its beauty
“Like you.” Zuko whispered. Once again forgetting himself. This was becoming a regular occurrence.
Katara closed her palm and moved her had away. The blue flame disappeared.
“I’m sorry” Zuko apologised. “Uncle taught me how to do it” Zuko said rapidly changing the subject.
“Don’t apologise Zuko.” Katara said looking at her palms. She stood up gracefully Zuko followed.
“Please don’t leave. I won’t talk like that anymore if it upsets you, please, lets just talk. I enjoy times like this with you. Please”. Zuko looked at her, truly apologetic.
"Zuko, it’s pretty late now. I better go back to my room." She wrapped herself inside her shawl and walked towards the garden’s doorway. She then stopped and turned around to face the now sad looking Zuko. “Goodnight.” She smiled and returned back to her room.
“Argh!” Zuko thought to himself. “Why am I so bad at this?” He kicked the grass and stormed off towards his room
Above the moon was out and appeared to be smiling.
The following morning Katara woke up early and got dressed. She had not been able to get a good look around the fire nation palace since she had arrived and with the events of the previous night still playing on her mind, she though that this was as good a time as any to give herself her own personal tour.
As she walked through the rooms and various hallways she was stunned by its beauty. The fire nation palace was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The last time she was her she was in a fight for her live but now, she was able to take in everything. “No wonder Zuko likes living here so much” she thought to herself.
Minutes later she heard sounds coming from one of the smaller rooms and light flickering inside. She cautiously walked over to investigate. She crept over to the doorway slowly and peeked inside. It was none other than Zuko training alone. She smiled and continued to watch him silently. His movements were powerful yet hypnotic. She felt her own temperature rise just watching him. “What’s the matter with me?” she thought to herself. “This is Zuko, Firelord Zuko. Why am I feeling this way?” She moved her hand through her hair but before she could reach it, one of her bangles fell to the floor distracting Zuko.
He stopped his fire bending forms and turned to the door ready to face the intruder.
“Morning” Katara said embarrassed.
“Oh its you.” Zuko said relieved. “How long have you been standing there?” Zuko asked.
Katara walked in towards him. “A while.” Now that she was closer to him and could see that he was wearing only his trousers, his topless torso exposed.
“Here I’ll light a few torches for you.” Zuko said, helpfully.
“Thanks. Zuko, may I ask, why you train in the dark?”
“Well, I’m stronger during the day, so I suppose that this way, if I am attacked during the night I’ll have a fighting chance!" Zuko laughed. Katara walked closer towards him, she could feel the heat radiating of him yet it didn’t seem to affect her. Suddenly her facial expression changed to that of sorrow.
“What is it?” Zuko asked.
Katara placed both hands on the middle of his bare torso where a large reddish scar remained. "This is because of me” she said to herself. “You have this because of me.”
She repeated bowing her head. They were now standing face to face to each other. Closer than they had ever been before.
“No. Never think like that Katara. I was not going to let Azula’s lightning destroy you. I would do the same thing again a million times if I had to. I owe you that much. He said placing his hands on her shoulders to comfort her. “Please don’t feel sad, for me Katara. Please smile.” He placed thumb under her chin, lifted her face upwards and smiled . “I’m fine seriously.”
“But Zuko”, Katara was now whispering so that only the two of them could hear. “It could have gone through your heart.”
Zuko looked at Katara and slowly moved both of Katara hands from the scared part of his torso to his heart.
“I’m not sure it didn’t.”
They looked at each other silently for what seemed like an eternity. Lost in each others eyes trying to work out what the other was thinking or feeling.
“Katara, I ……..”
“Zuko wait. There’s something I have to tell you. You believe that we can create our own destiny right, that we are in control.”
“Yes why?” Zuko asked confused.
“Well … I just wanted to say that if I had the choice I would…. No what that’s not right ………… you see what I’m tying to say is………” Katara sighed. This was the first time Zuko had ever seen her stumble over her words, she was usually so confident and well spoken.
“Zuko”, she caressed his face and then dropped her hands still staring into his eyes. She chose her next few words very carefully.
“You’re a very powerful bender.”