Zutara Week Day 3: Jealousy

“Don’t you ever wish for that, Toph?”

“Wish for what?”

Aang leaned back against the log, stirring the air around him into a miniature whirlwind absentmindedly. “Well…look at them.” Aang nodded in the direction of Zuko and Katara, who were laughing and having a ‘water fight’, which was Katara was clearly winning. But whenever she got close to completely soaking Zuko, he would unleash a controlled wave of fire to evaporate the water and dry himself off. “They’re completely in love.” Aang sighed loudly, still staring at the couple.

“I could ask you the same question, Twinkletoes,” Toph pointed out.

Aang just looked at her.

“Don’t give me that look. Just because I can’t see it, doesn’t mean I can’t see it.” Toph wriggled her toes triumphantly.

Aang sighed again, looking a little queasy. “Maybe. But seriously, Toph, aren’t you ever jealous?”

Zuko and Katara had stopped splashing water, and were bickering with each other now. Zuko wrapped his hand firmly around Katara’s, and continued bickering. Katara reached up and anchored Zuko’s head in place with her other hand, and pushed her forehead up against his. They were still bickering, but they were leaning closer together, closer…

“No,” Toph lied firmly, as Aang looked away from the couple.

He gave her a weird look. “Whatever you say, Toph, I’m going to go take a ride with Appa.” He stood up, brushing dust from his pants, trying very hard not to look at the couple. “But for what it’s worth…” Aang looked at Toph, then over at Sokka, who was watching them fixedly. “I’m not sure I believe you. And I think I can name someone else who’s a little bit jealous…” With a final glance at Sokka and a shrug, Aang picked up his glider from its place against the log and bounced away.

Sokka stood up, walking over to where Toph was and sitting down silently. Zuko and Katara went back to splashing each other, laughing. “They’re quite a pair, aren’t they?” Sokka asked.

Toph nodded, blushing at the proximity to Sokka. “Yeah, they are.”

Well…maybe Aang is right. Maybe I am jealous…but just a little bit.

Zutara Week Day 2: Blood

Katara sighed, frustrated, as she stared up at the full moon high above. She could feel its power rushing through her veins. This place was so serene, quiet in its power. But how could she be calm now?

How could you ask that of me, Aang?

“Katara?”

She jumped, spinning around. Zuko stood back awkwardly, his face silhouetted by the gentle flame he held in his hand.

“Zuko…”

He smiled gently, stepping closer to her. “You’ve been out here for a long time, Katara. Everybody else has gone to bed already. Are you okay?”

She gulped, nodding. “I’m fi- I’m fine.” Her voice cracked, giving her away.

“No, you’re not.” It was a statement, not a question. Zuko put out the fire, closing the remaining feet between them. He put his hand firmly under her chin, tilting her head up until his ember eyes met her sapphire ones. “Let me help you, Katara.”

His hand is so warm.

Katara closed her eyes, focusing on just the gentle comfort of his hand on her chin, the thumb that stroked her jaw line. “It’s Aang. He wants me to use my bloodbending in the Final War.”

“Zuko’s thumb stopped moving, and Katara opened her eyes. “Bloodbending?” His face was stony, but Katara saw the fear and confusion in his eyes.

Her voice cracked again. “Yes. Blood is made with so much water, that I can control it from within a bird, an animal…a person…”

The fear became more evident in Zuko’s eyes, and his hand slipped from her face and landed awkwardly by his side. Katara closed her eyes again. “And Aang actually wants you to do that?”

Tears slid from beneath her closed eyelids. “Yes. But I can’t…it’s not right. I won’t.”

Zuko’s eyebrows furrowed. “He has to understand that.”

With a sigh, Katara sank to the ground, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as she stared at the moon. Zuko sank to the ground next to her, an arm sliding around her shoulders. “He should understand that. A vicious old lady bloodbended on him once. And Sokka. She pitted them against each other, making them fight. They almost killed each other. Until…until I bloodbended her.” A sigh rattled from between her lips. “I had no choice. It was her or them, and I chose them.”

Zuko released a long breath. “Wow. What…what was it like?”

Katara scowled, her eyebrows pulling low over her eyes. “It was horrible. It felt so…wrong. Unnatural.” Katara shuddered slightly. “And I had never been more powerful. It is only something that can be experienced on the full moon, when a waterbender is at his or her strongest. But Aang seems to think that I can bloodbend whether there is a full moon or not.”

“Wow,” Zuko said again. He considered the idea. “I can’t even imagine what that would be like. For the one being controlled, I mean.”

He’s not afraid of it? He’s not afraid of me?

Katara felt her mood lighten considerably at the thought. She eyed him suspiciously, the corners of her lips pulling up a little. “What are you saying?”

Zuko shook his head, frustrated. “Nothing. Just…” He hesitated. “I just kinda want to know what it’s like, that’s all.” He glanced quickly at Katara before looking away again.

“Well…” Katara considered the idea, playfully. “Maybe I’d show you what it’s like. Provided that you tell me if it starts to bother you, and it’ll only be for a minute. It’s not like I’ll be using it seriously or anything…and tonight’s a full moon, after all.”

Zuko grinned and jumped up like a four year old boy. “Okay! Let’s try it!”

*****

A few minutes later, Katara raised her hands, and Zuko tried to stand still. But it was hard. He hadn’t been this excited in a while. This was so new to him, so interesting…and it wasn’t like there were many waterbenders he could ask about this, after all. And there were even less bloodbenders. Because, apparently, Katara was the only one left.

And then, as if by magic, he was moving. Slowly, at first, and then faster, faster. And he was running, straight towards Katara. It was a weird sensation, running without actually running. He felt like he was doing nothing at all. And in truth, he wasn’t.

With a quick flick of her wrists, Zuko stopped, breathing heavily, just a foot away from Katara. She looked a little nervous, but the muscles in her face relaxed as soon as she saw the wonder in Zuko’s.

“Weren’t you…weren’t you nervous?” she asked.

Zuko was still staring at her with wonder. “Not really. If someone else was controlling me, maybe. But it was you…I trust you.”

Katara grinned. “So…it wasn’t bad?”

Zuko grinned back. “No. it was fun. And I would have been running to you anyway. I mean…look at you. You’re gorgeous. And with the moon shining behind you…” he shook his head, watching her eyes sparkle.

Katara laughed, raising her hands playfully. “Well, maybe I’ll just have to bring you closer.”

Zuko wrapped his hands around her waist, leaning down until his face was only inches from hers. He couldn’t help himself.

“You know…I’m not controlling you any more,” Katara pointed out as a light blush crept across her features.

“I know,” Zuko murmured huskily, leaning in closer.

Zutara Week Day 1: Crossover

What can I say, I got sucked in this year ^^;
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“Zuko? What are you doing?”

Katara’s steps rang loudly across the marble floor of the Fire Nation palace. Startled, Zuko quickly stuffed the small paperback book into the cushions of his chair before leaning over the breakfast table, spooning some fruit onto his plate. “Morning, Katara.”

“Don’t ‘Morning, Katara’ me,” she retorted. There was a sparkle of laughter in her eyes. “Tell me what you’re hiding!”

Zuko feigned confusion, his eyes wide. “I’m not hiding anything.”

Katara crossed her arms. “Please. I know that look innocent look of yours. Now, let me see!”

A few minutes and about five bruises later, Katara pulled the small, worn paperback book from between the cushions. A rather bedraggled Zuko tiredly tried to snatch it back from her, but she ignored him, flipping the book over to read the back. “Inuyasha? I’ve never heard of this before.” She eyed him, smirking. “It seems a little bit young for a twenty-two year old man.”

Zuko, looking embarrassed, flopped down into one of the chairs around the table. “C’mon, Katara, give me a break! I never really got a chance to read this when I was a kid, thanks to my dad banishing me. So why shouldn’t I read it now?”

Katara smiled. “I suppose.” She perched on the arm of his chair, stroking his hair absentmindedly, letting him pry the manga from her fingers. “What’s this about, anyway? I’ve never heard of it before, but we never had many books or manga in the South Pole.”

“Well…it’s about this girl named Kagome who shows up in Feudal Japan, because she fell into a well in her own time. And she finds this dog guy…Inuyasha…who’s been asleep for 50 years on a tree, and she wakes him up, and they travel around together with some friends trying to save the world from this evil dude named Naraku.”

Katara raised her eyebrows, looking down at the small Japanese book Zuko held in his hands. “Sounds familiar.”

Zuko nodded. “That’s what I thought, too. But you know what seems more familiar to me?”

“What?”

Zuko looked up at Katara, his ember eyes burning into her sapphire ones. “Kagome. And Inuyasha. They started off hating each other. And they didn’t get along. But in the end…Inuyasha loved Kagome. She meant everything to him. She…still does.” Zuko grinned sheepishly.

Katara blushed, but never broke eye contact. “Well…maybe…Kagome loves Inuyasha, too. And maybe she always will. ”

And, for the first time, Zuko blushed.