ATLA: Sacrifice LovDes Ch.17

Chapter 17


- Previously -


"Katara!" Zuko roared.
Katara smiled, "aww, what’s the matter; do you want help?" She offered him her hand.
He grinned as he took her hand and pulled her in, "not quite."

SPLASH!

"Hey!" Katara glared.
"You deserved it!"
"Oh yeah? Don’t forget this is MY element!"
He just remembered that, "crap."
Katara stood over the water and froze him from waist down, "I win."
"D-damn t-that’s c-cold…!"
"So do you promise to spar with Aang everyday and I’ll release you from the ice?"
"Y-yes a-already!"
"Okay."

Katara released her bending on him and pulled him out of the water and he shivered a little till Katara bended the water off his clothes. Zuko stood up and glared at her, but inwardly smiled at the dirty prank she pulled. They returned to the campsite and Katara went to sleep as Zuko went to the fire to think to himself.

‘I surpassed befriending the water bending to the point that I love her?’ Zuko asked himself. ‘When she was telling me what to think of, it took me a while to get it without her help. However, when I listened to my uncles words and thought about protecting something I loved, she flashed into my mind, and how I wanted to protect her…’

Zuko opened his hand and fire bended a fireball to see it red as he didn’t think of anything what so ever. Soon, he brought his thoughts to Katara, of how he wanted to protect her. He knew now that it wasn’t just something that he loved in order to protect it; it was someone, it was her.

‘I love a water bender,’ he thought to himself in confusion, ‘I love Katara?’


- Now -


Katara had time to herself right now as did Zuko who was meditating lazily since the others were gone. Sokka was out hunting for food, Toph and Aang were earth bending about a mile away with Iroh watching them so they could switch over to fire bending quickly. When they would return, Zuko spars with Aang and always wins, and then they all eat dinner.

As Katara was bending the water from the river in front of herself, Zuko quietly watched her, trying to put thoughts into his mind. He didn’t know if he really loved her, or just liked her as a best friend. His white flames told him otherwise because you had to love, and cherish something so much that you had to protect it with your life.

A month had passed for them all, and everyone was still trying to get used to adapting towards the two fire benders joining their group. Katara didn’t mind them at all; it was nice to have company while Aang and Toph earth bended and Sokka went hunting. There wasn’t much talking between them, but she didn’t care about that, his presence was let alone good enough for her.

Katara stopped her bending, "Hey Zuko, wanna spar with me?"
"No," he lied.
"Why not?"
"You’ll cheat by using the river and not your canteen."
She smirked, "but its just sparring."
Zuko growled and stood to walk away, "I don’t fight women."

Frowning, Katara lifted the water from her canteen and water whipped him on his butt with a loud smack. Blushing furiously, he bit his bottom lip to hold back a groan, and turned to her. Katara was smiling and got into her fighting stance, knowing that he wouldn’t back down if he knew she’d play rough.

"You should know better than to lie to me Zuko, you fought me at the Northern Water Tribe," she smiled.
"You were just in the way," Zuko smirked, getting his flames on.
"Oh really; what about the girls from Kyoshi?"
"They were a minor set back."
Katara laughed and wrapped some water at his ankle and pulled on it, "you’re so easy," she stated as he splashed into the water.

Zuko wiped his face off and glared at her when she was laughing at him while coming over. He got out of the water and gave out an exasperated sigh as he tossed his lengthening hair back. His eyes shifted at the last minute when he saw Katara coming at him, but he was too late as she tackled him into the water.

SPLASH!

The fire bender turned out of her grasp and wrapped his arms around her so that she wouldn’t escape him. Katara playfully squealed as he held her, but she wriggled out of his grasp one way or another and swam away, only to have him follow her. Zuko grabbed her by the foot and dragged her back to him and held her again, but this time they were face to face.

"Did you think you could get away?" Zuko asked seductively.
She smiled, "of course, but I’m going easy on you."
"I know."
"Then why ask?"
"I was merely curiously." He replied.

Katara stared into his gold amber eyes; not even caring about the scar that disgraced him in his family line. She brought her hand to it, and as usual, she would merely trace the outlines till she couldn’t anymore. Her hand was captured by one of Zuko’s and she looked to him.

"Can you heal it?" He asked quietly.
"I don’t know, maybe?" Katara the caressed his cheek, "but even if I can, I won’t."
His face hardened, "why?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and her forehead against his, "because that’s a symbol of what all you’ve been through."
"Humph," he looked away.
"Also because I like your scar; it makes you interesting," she blushed and pushed away lightly.
"…"

She sighed and turned away from him with a frown so she could collect her personal thoughts. The water bender knew for a while now that she was having a crush on him, but it couldn’t be allowed. Sure, they could be friends, but they couldn’t be anything more than that.

Her head shook violently at her mental thoughts, knowing that is was just stupid to even think like that. It wasn’t like the Fire Nations’ prince would dare love a Southern Water Tribe peasant. Still, Zuko was always trying to come close to her, but only from a far enough distance to not let so much happen.

‘But it’s too late…’ Katara whispered in her mind and looked to him softly, ‘I already fell madly in love with him, but,’ she began to swim past him and got out of the river, ‘I can’t tell him, it’s invisibly forbidden for us; especially for him.’ Her hands moved about and bended the water out of her clothes, ‘I’m so stupid…’

Zuko watched her silently leave him as she has been the entire week after getting close to each other such as touching. As annoying as it was to admit to things; he had to admit that he was worried about her. He hopped out of the river and lied down to dry himself off and concentrate on his conflicting thoughts.

Someone stepped over to him and stopped at his head, making it seem like he was in trouble. Zuko opened his eyes and glared at the blind fourteen year old girl and sat up to sit at a better angle. Toph was ‘looking’ forwards towards the river since she did not really knowing where exactly he was or how tall.

"Don’t go falling for Katara; Twinkle-Toes is madly head over heals in love with her." Toph stated plainly.
"I am not falling for her," Zuko stated sternly.
She felt his lying through the vibrations and shrugged, "good, because there ain’t crap you can offer her."
He began to glare at her, "excuse me?"
"Twinkle-Toe’s the avatar; he has a flying bison so they could travel the world. You’re a banished prince who can’t even give her half of it."
Roughly, Zuko reached forth and grabbed the collar of her clothing, "DO YOU WANT TO START SOMETHING?!"

"Zuko!" Katara yelled as she came into the campsite then looked at the two. "What the heck is going on?"
"…" Zuko looked at Katara and calmed down as his grasp loosened.
Toph swatted his hands off and turned to where she heard Katara’s vibrations, "nothing, just a little talk."
The water bender raised and eyebrow and looked at Zuko, "is that true?"
"Y-…" he looked away, "yeah…"
"…?" She looked curious now then looked to Toph, "so Iroh’s training Aang?"
"Pretty much I got bored and left." Toph replied and left them to go sit by the bonfire.

Katara walked over to Zuko, "do you want to spar here with Aang when he comes back or-"
"I DON’T WANT ANYTHING</I> TO DO WITH HIM; HE’S A SELFISH, STUPID LITTLE BRAT!" Zuko snapped at her.
"Zuko," she started, "what the heck is wrong with you?"
His eyes widened at the unnecessary yelling at her, "n-nothing, sorry."
"Okay, if you’re sure," the water bender began to leave.
He grabbed her arm and asked quickly, "am I worthless?"
She looked at him confusedly, "what?"
"Am I worthless, answer me," he said sternly.
"You’re not," Katara turned to him, "tell me what’s going on."

Zuko released her, "it’s nothing."
"No," she folded her arms, "I want an answer to why you’re freaking out."
"I’m not!" He roared.
"Then calm down; you’re about to become on fire."
"…" The fire bender obeyed.
"Thank you, now will please tell me what’s wrong?"
His head shook, "I don’t want to talk about it."

"Okay… but please don’t attack Aang then since he seems to be striking your anger right now and when he comes back with your uncle, I’ll tell him to give you space."
"Thanks," Zuko lightly smiled to her and reached out to stroke her cheek.
She grabbed his hand slowly and placed it down before he touched her, "don’t, please."
"…" He frowned, but listened.

--

Dinner time came and Sokka got suspicious of the fire and water bender, wondering what was going on with them. After finishing his meal, the water tribe warrior stood up and looked at his younger sister; not even caring that everyone’s watching or listening. Katara wasn’t really paying attention till he spoke out.

"Katara, are you starting to like this damn fire bender?!" Sokka asked in an irritated tone of voice.
Zuko kept quiet, not wanting to upset the water bender even more, "…"
"No…" Katara said truthfully in a plain voice then thought to herself, ‘I’m not starting to like him because I already do…’
"You better not be lying to me because if I found out you are, you’d be betraying mom, dad, and your tribe!"
That struck her nerve and roared, "I SAID NO!!!"

For a moment, you couldn’t tell if she was an earth bender or a water bender because when she yelled at him, it felt like the earth shook beneath them and the river seemed violent. Katara furiously threw her bowl of food at Sokka with ice cold blue eyes staring angrily at him to where it even gave the Dragon of the West some chills. Everything turned quiet except the water bender who was breathing loudly in anger and yelled again.

"I’m getting SICK and TIRED of you always QUESTIONING ME! You’ve criticize me with Aang, with Jet, with Haru, and even with Teo!!! Now Zuko?!" Katara stated. "Who’s next? Sangok? Hahn?! Perhaps little Tom-Tom, huh; Mai’s little brother?!"
"Mai has a little brother?" Iroh accidentally butted in, but was luckily ignored.
Katara continued, "I didn’t question you about Yue, Suki, or even Ty Lee and the poetry girl back in Ba Sing Se!"
"None of them are fire benders!" Sokka pointed towards Zuko now, "he is, and so was Tom-Tom for that matter!"
"Ty Lee may not be a fire bender but she’s part of the Fire Nation, for all we know, she might’ve known the man who killed mom!"
"We already know who did! It was demanded by Azulon!"
"I KNOW!!!"

"Okay, stop it you two!" Aang yelled out to the two fighting siblings, in which normally they’d listen, but this time they didn’t.
"You already know it was that damn Fire Lord’s fault for her death!" Sokka yelled.
Katara screamed, "YOU DIDN’T EVEN TALK TO LU TEN BEFORE HE WAS SENTENCED! HE WAS A FORCED FIRE BENDER! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

Everything was silent, Zuko was stunned to hear his cousins’ name, and Iroh was pained to hear of his son like this. Katara turned around and furiously stormed away with tears in her eyes. Toph and Aang seemed a little scared from that fight, and Momo was terrified and hid behind Appa.

Sokka rubbed his forehead roughly in frustration and threw his whale toothed sword angrily, "damn it…"
Aang spoke up nervously, "who’s this Lu Ten guy; you never said his name before."
"He was the damn fire bender who killed our mom," he replied annoyed, "I don’t understand what happened, but it seemed like his troop abandoned him."
"Abandoned their leader? That seems a bit farfetched though, even if it’s the Fire Nation." Toph stated.

Zuko looked to the elder, "uncle…?"
"This is why I wanted a word with Miss Katara," Iroh replied quietly.
"But you didn’t tell us…"
"I couldn’t." He left quietly.

--

"Katara," a voice called out against the tree she was leaning against on the floor.
"What Zuko," Katara sniffled quietly.
He sat down next to her, "why are you crying?"
"I wasn’t supposed to tell Sokka about him, our dad didn’t want me to."
"…" Zuko brought one of his hands up and removed her tears, "What did Lu Ten say?"
"I don’t want to talk about it…"
"I want to know his words of why he killed your mother."
"I don’t want to talk about it!" She cried out.
He didn’t want her upset, so he listened to her, "okay…"

The water bender turned over and clung to Zuko’s chest, causing him to blush multiple shades of red. However, he wrapped his arms around her and placed her on his lap so he could comfort her. This was new for him, so he didn’t know really how to comfort her, that’s why he only kept her close to him.

‘No… it’s because I want her close; I don’t even know how to comfort her. Somehow it seems so depressing to think that.’ Zuko told himself as he inhaled the scent from the seaweed lotion she would place on all the time.

"I have something… that I have to tell you, but, I don’t think I should…" Katara said quietly against his chest.
Zuko was quiet until he knew what to say. "Do you want to tell me?"
"I do… but I don’t know because of you… and then there’s the Nation and Tribes…"
"What do you want to tell me?"
"…" She was quiet.
"Katara," he spoke softly but in a stern tone and waited for her to look at him, "tell me what it is."

Looking away nervously, she didn’t know how she could tell him without being ashamed of her self when he rejects her. For five months she’s known him as the banished prince from the Fire Nation, but for two months now, she’s known him as Zuko. Seven months combined, and she falls for him; the prince of the worlds’ enemy.

"I…" Katara paused, feeling tears come out once again, this time of the upcoming rejection, "I love you…"

Zuko’s eyes widened in shock and stared down at her in astonishment then wondered of why she cried. His hands unwrapped around her and went to her face to make her look at him. He wiped those tears away with his thumbs and gave her a kiss, and then softly pulled away so he could talk to her.

"And I you," the fire bender whispered.

Katara gasped inaudibly and looked straight at Zuko to see him smiling at her gently like never before. Zuko placed his lips against hers and for the moment, Katara was still in shock, but slowly returned the kiss for him as he moaned in pleasure. Her hands went around his neck as usual while his went to her waist unconsciously.

She broke away, "you’re not lying?"
"No," Zuko replied, "my flames prove it because it works when I want to protect something or someone I love."
"That doesn’t mean you can’t love me as a friend," Katara frowned.
"Shut up." He took her lips roughly and ravished her mouth in lust.

"Zu… ko…" the water bender said between breaths.
"What now?" He grumbled.
"Even if we love each other, we can’t do anything about it because of our countries…"
His hands pulled her waist closer, "forget about the countries and our differences."
"But the journey-"
"Shush."

Zuko felt insane with lust, and it seemed so confusing to him that he didn’t even understand why he was feeling so hot. Above him; sitting on his pelvis, Katara looked nearly the same way. It seemed that her body was calling to him, and he wanted to reply to it with his own somehow.

The fire bender pulled her closer and she felt something beneath the fabric of his clothes and knew what it was. Katara looked at him to see that he wasn’t embarrassed or self conscious; he was in complete lust, and he wanted her. She removed her arms from his neck, and brushed back his lengthening hair with a smile.

"Katara…" Zuko said as he nearly slipped out a moan.
"Hmm?" She looked to him softly.
"Can… can we…?" His breathing began rasping.
"Not here, we’d get dirty."
He took a moment to think, "In the water?"
"It’d have to be away from the others."
"There’s hot springs not far off."
She smiled, "lead the way."