Broken then Healed

Chapter 17.

Do you ever wonder what would have happened if Zuko had let Katara heal his scar in the Crystal Catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se? A Zutara Fan-fiction

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR! I wish I did though. I lot of things would have happened differently. *smirks*

This story takes place at the end of season 2, and then what would have happened after in season 3.

Please review! :) It makes my day!

My trip to Seattle was great! I got to do so many fun things, and got to meet a few good people… I MET KATARA! Just kidding, only someone dressed up like her. Apparently, the Pax Convention was being held in Seattle the exact same time I went, so I got to see a bunch of cool people. Katara was one of them. Other than that, I visited my family and played with chickens. So eventful… :D

Well this was bad. Really bad. Think of the feeling of when you were a kid, when you got caught stealing a cookie out of the cookie jar. Take that feeling, and multiply that by 10. I was in trouble. Really big trouble. And once everyone found out about this, I would have a psychotic Sokka on my tail ranting about how I messed up his schedule. His stupid schedule of all things.

Quickly, Katara pulled down the hat that had a white veil on it. Hopefully, it would hide her identity. That is why she was wearing the stupid hat after all. The girl swallowed a sigh, she didn't have time for this. She needed to destroy that factory. Now.

In her best spirit voice, (whatever spirits sound like anyway), she tried to smoothly deliver the line she had been practicing in her head for the past few days. "Why hello, young one-"

"Quit the crap already," Zuko snorted with a cocky smirk. Oh how Katara wished she could slap that off his face. "I know it's you, Katara." The Painted Lady visibly deflated, and the fire bender had to hold back another chuckle. Seriously, what was up with this girl and helping people?

"Hey, Zuko." The water bender said in a defeated tone, taking off her hat. What was the point in wearing it when it didn't even do its job? "Please don't be mad." It was not like Katara to back down like a wolf with its tail between its legs. But if this girl was expecting an angry reaction, she was really in for a surprise.

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, smiled. That's right, he smiled. A genuine smile. "Why would I be mad?" He questioned, actually wanting to hear her answer.

"For starters, I put our whole mission on hold just to save this one village. Isn't that enough to get at least someone mad in our group?" The water bender clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "But they don't understand. No one does. I can't just turn my back on these people. They need me." Suddenly, the meek, angry water tribe girl turned determined. She held out her hand to Zuko, "so are you going to help me or not?"

|oO0Oo|

"So you really want to destroy this factory?" Zuko asked a he stared up at the gigantic metal monster that ruled the lake.

"Yes, I do." The 'Painted Lady' proclaimed with pure determination in her voice. "Sokka was right, the only way to truly help these people is to get rid of the factory." The fire bender looked upon Katara with newfound respect. He really could never understand her. No matter how stubborn and irritating she could be, she was always just looking out for other people. Without waiting for a response, the younger girl yet again grabbed his hand and dragged him through the open doors of the factory. It was such a mystery that no one had trashed it yet. The doors were wide open, and anyone could just waltz in when they felt like it.

I guess the Fire Nation never thought anyone would have the guts to rebel. Well they couldn't have been more wrong. Only a few seconds after walking in, the two got to work. Zuko would tip over buckets over hot metal, while Katara would use water to ruin the machines and electrical wires. And as a finishing touch, the water bender used the river to flood the factory.

The girl and boy stood back and admired their handiwork. Zuko had to admit, they worked well together. Not that he would ever tell Katara that, she would probably laugh in his face and tell him to get a life. Ever since they had 'bonded', their friendship had grown. However, in a boy-girl friendship, someone always likes someone more than they like them. And it was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

As the two opposites walked back to camp together, they took their time, not bothering to hurry back before the others woke up. They shared many laughs, and with every minute, they grew more comfortable.

"And then I used my water whip for the first time." Katara finished her story of the infamous water bending scroll. She spoke with such passion about her bending, Zuko couldn't help but stare at her. She looked so, happy. And in no time, they were back at camp.

The water bender turned towards they guy who helped her out, and grinned. "Thanks for, um… Helping me take down that factory." She gulped nervously and tucked a string of hair behind her ear. But it came out as soon as she pulled her hand away. Before Zuko could comprehend what his body was doing, he was already reaching out and tucking the small piece of hair behind her ear. Since when was silence so loud?

Katara didn't know what to do. Heck, did anyone ever know what to do in these situations? Half of her wanted to pull away and laugh it off, but the other half of her wanted to lean into his touch. Was that bad?

Seeing the confusion written on her face, the fire prince decided he needed to remedy this before it got out of hand. Besides, he didn't need Sokka or Aang to think this was something bigger than it was. Zuko put on a smirk and wiggled his eyebrows, pretending to be full of confidence. "Why don't you and I dress up as the Painted Lady and Blue spirit and go out sometime?"

The water bender chuckled and slapped his arm in a playful manner, deciding that Zuko was just trying to get a rise out of her. "Yah, in your dreams." She would rather not think that her friend was actually… Interested if you know what I mean. But before she even had time to start getting cleaned up, Sokka stepped out from behind a boulder. His arms were crossed, and he wore a big scowl. One big enough to scare away the big-bad wolf.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Sokka shrieked, his face taking on a dark shade of red. His sister wanted to try and make amends, but Toph, Aang, and Iroh stepped out from behind the boulder and took their place next to Sokka. Everyone looked pretty displeased. Everyone except Iroh of course, who was smiling like he always was. "Do you know what you've done?"

Katara groaned, "Please Sokka. I-"She was interrupted when her brother held up his hand silencing her.

"You put our whole mission aside just so you could save a few people. We are leaving now!" The older brother pointed his finger at her belongings. "Go clean up." And instead of holding her head up high and arguing, Katara just hung her head and obeyed. The fire bender was shocked and just stared at her retreating figure. But then his view was blocked by a face that was so close it was blurry. It was Sokka, and he looked even more pissed. "And what were you doing? You are not allowed to touch my baby sister. Got it?"

Zuko raised his chin in the air and gave all the people surrounding him a wary glance. Aang was glaring, Toph was staring at the ground, and Sokka was up in his face. But he wouldn't give up, it's not like he was kissing her. He just touched her hair. "Calm it, Sokka." The fire bender taunted. "All I did was touch her hair. It's not like I was kissing her or anything." Then he didn't give anyone a chance to respond as he turned on his heels and strode away. Leaving everyone with a picture of him kissing Katara in their minds.

The Fire Prince was now really starting to regret his word choice. Why did he have to say anything about kissing her? That brought up too many confusing memories, and not to mention Aang and Sokka would surely be more weird around him now. Why am I so bad at being good?

As you guys probably know, (or maybe don't know), I am starting school today! Yay... NOT! So I really hope I can update regularly and on time, but I am sorry if I don't...

One thing you need to know: I am skipping the part where Katara shows up and saves the town by pretending to be the Painted Lady again. The Fire Benders never show up and attack the village because the Factory was kind of already abandoned. Nobody checked up on it, hence the open doors.

The next chapter will be about Sokka's master, except it won't be much about Sokka learning to fight and stuff. It will basically include Zuko meeting Piandao and stuff like that. Also all the other stuff in that episode. I will also be skipping the Beach episode, since I can't really do that. Zuko is on the good side now!

Sorry this chapter was a little bit short. To make up for it, I am going to go back and add chapter titles. YAY :D