Disclaimer: I don't own the show...
We'll Keep it!
Chapter 1
Keep it...
Her light footing on the cold concrete floor echoed throughout the empty room. Zuko's stare loomed from the hollow wall he was staring at to the small frame of Katara. She was frantically pacing around the room constantly pulling at her hair. His eyes carefully studied her face, contemplating her thoughts. Her brow was deeply furrowed in a look of confusion. He observed her as she held her chin in her hand, stroking an invisible beard.
His hands softly stroked the thin sheets under him as his eyes dropped from her face. Memories flooded his mind that instant. Hips swayed side to side as she walked about the room. Zuko licked his dry lips, wondering why she wanted to talk to him.
"Zuko, we need to talk." She had said during dinner. Her voice was very soft and for a moment he wasn't even sure if she had said that. It was obvious enough to come to the conclusion that whatever she wanted to talk about was not for the other to hear. Otherwise she would have said her statement louder so he wouldn't have to strain his ears.
He wasn't surprised when she roughly yanked him in when he knocked on her door that night. She didn't want anyone to see him at her door at night or even at all for that matter. He guessed that she just didn't want anyone to get any ideas about there "relationship". Well…they didn't exactly have a relationship, according to her.
For the past couple of weeks she had been pretty cold towards him. Okay, that whole attitude towards him wasn't anything new but he thought things would be different. Especially after 'that night', but who was he kidding? After what happened she had stopped breathing down his neck every 5 minutes. She was somewhat nicer to him. Then she started to change again. She gave him disgusted looks and became more aggressive, ordering him around. Her voice was mean and angry when she ordered him to sit. He almost jumped out of pants and sat on the floor when her voice arose. She could be quite scary at times.
Not knowing what she wanted to talk about weight heavy on him. Zuko wondered why she wanted to talk now. Of all the times they could talk, why now? A whole month after what happened. He thought she was avoiding it. Or maybe he was just thinking to hard. Maybe she had something else to talk about. Maybe what ever she had to talk about had nothing to do with the 'incident'.
A brief brush of the wind on his face caused him to come out of his stupor. His eyes looked up, past her breast and into her eyes. His eyes squinted in confusion. Was she done thinking? His eyes fell again. Studying her body language. Her hands lay gently on her hips as her lip turned into s snarl. Her eyes glowed with suspicion. Zuko took her silent words as sign that she as accusing him of something in her head.
"What!?" He couldn't help but to blurt out. Her doubtful gaze made him uncomfortable. It wasn't like he did anything wrong. Not to her, not to Aang either. She had already scoled him for making a mistake and burning him at one of their training section. It wasn't even that bad, only a minor injury.
Katara avoided his eyes, ignoring him. Her arms snaked around her back so she could hold her hand together. She began to pace again. Zuko let out a breath of disappointment. His eyes roamed to the ceiling, counting the cracks. Was it wrong for him to get annoyed…even a little? It seemed like he'd been in there for hours. It would have been nice if she sorted her thoughts before he had got there.
She was the boss. He had no say so in anything. She ordered and he was supposed to obey. Suppose to! It wasn't like he did everything she told him to do. He scuffed at himself. Who was he kidding? Wasn't he in there waiting for her like an ostrich horse waited for its master? He was whipped and they weren't even going out. Did they even like each other?
Zuko dropped his chin into hand in anticipation. He followed the psychotic waterbender with his eyes. He wondered how long it would take her to start talking. His mouth opened to ask if he could leave but was shut before her could fish out the words. She stopped again.
Her eyes locked on his as she bit her lip nervously. Zuko's curiosity grew. He wanted to ask what was wrong but never could get to the question fore she had already begun speaking.
"Do you remember…that night?" She asked softly, no longer with a deathly scowl on her face.
Zuko was highly alarmed. Was he right about what she wanted to talk about. He wasn't ready to talk about it. The memory was still fresh in his mind but he was very sensitive about it when he had to talk to her about it. She kind of hurt his feeling…his heart if possible.
"Yeah…' He tried hard to keep his emotions unreadable.
Katara entwined her fingers together, fiddling with them. This was harder than she had thought it would be. She had planned out the conversation over and over in her head. Calculated his reaction and everything, but every time she'd think she was ready to tell him, she'd chicken out. She blamed him for her predicament. It was his fault…that wasn't true. If it were Zuko's fault she wouldn't be feeling guilty for blaming him. Why was she worried about what his reaction would be like?
"Remember what…we did?" She furthered the conversation, trying to get to the point. Her voice quivered while she fidgeted from nervousness.
"Yeah…" Zuko gave her a questioning glare. What was she doing? Provoking him? I was weird that she was the one who said "act like it never happened" but she was the first to bring it up. Weird girl…
Zuko's knees supported him as he slouched, sitting in a boyish manner. She had begun walking again. He sighed with annoyance. "Katara, why am I here?" He was serious now. Whatever it was she wanted to tell him had her stalling. Every time she would seem like she would say something, she'd pace again. Hiding something, he was sure of it.
Zuko refused to be ignored again. What ever she had to say she could say it later, when he was willing to sit and wait again. Glancing out the small window by the ceiling, he found it was night. He was past due for his meditation. He pushed himself off the bed to leave, eager to get some relaxing done.
Katara hurriedly flung herself towards him, pushing him to sit back down. Her hands shook at his chest. "Zuko, I'm…" she started.
Zuko's eyebrow lifted, encouraging her to continue. "I'm pregnant!" She practically screamed. Her gut bubbled with anticipation. The way she said it wasn't the way she planned it. She was supposed to be calm.
Zuko's eyes grew wide with surprise, then narrowed doubtfully. This wasn't what he expected and he didn't really take it in, as she would have hoped.
"Are you sure?" He didn't want to believe it.
Was she sure? Of course she was sure. Katara helped her Gran-Gran care for many pregnant soon-to-be-mothers and knew most of the symptoms. If she wasn't pregnant she didn't know what she was. She wasn't a stupid girl, she knew her body like she knew her name. For him to even ask her that, it was just…ughhh!
Morning sickness was not her friend and neither was her nose. Her nose had been very sensitive. Certain things just had this distinctive smell that would make her gag. She was catching hell trying to hide her sickness from the rest of the group. Her secret almost slipped when her and Sokka went out for a walk, "bonding", as he would call it. The smell of the oxe-tulips almost made her faint with nausea.
"Of course I'm sure," she sneered, removing her hands from his chest. "I'm not as naïve as you think I—Oh my Gods, I am naïve! I slept with you!" She pointed at him, her agony pasted on her face.
Zuko gasped in horror at her last comment. He was appalled. Why was he rebuked so harshly and she was the one who kind of suggested it? Obviously, she wasn't going to talk to him like a human being. He was tired of being degraded by her. " I'm outta here." He scuffed, making his way to the door.
"But what are we going to do?" Katara whined from behind. She didn't mean to insult him. Perhaps she did, but she wasn't supposed to let him hear it. It slipped.
Zuko crossed his arms as he leaned on her door. He thought for a brief moment before asking, " How do you even know its mine?"
Katara's hand immediately went to her hips, as if on impulse. She stared at him skeptically. "Who's else would it be? Aangs?" Her sarcastic sass leaked from her voice purposely.
It was her first time when they did it. How could he question her? They were in the Western Air Temple. In the Air, for goodness sake! Who else could she have done it to?
"Huru?" Zuko asked, unsure. He knew it was a 'no' but couldn't help but to ask.
Katara curled her lip in distaste. "Are you serious?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "He has a mustache."
"So…"
"He isn't my type, Zuko." She dared him to say something smart.
"And I am?" Amusement raced threw his veins as he saw her face turn red out of anger and embarrassment. She said it, not him.
Katara walked towards him, index and middle finger glued together to poke him in the chest. Insults flooded her mind, drowning her brain. "You," She pushed at his chest. "You were a mistake." She hissed.
Zuko stepped forward making her almost lose her footing. She stepped back awkwardly. "Oh, really?" His voice was low and dark. "Little miss 'Oh, Zuko. Sto—don't stop.'" he mimicked her the best way he could with heavy breathing and moaning.
Katara sucked her teeth and clenched her fist, trying to suppress what she wanted to unleash on him so badly. "So now this is my fault?" She didn't want anyone to over hear the conversation but it was hard to keep her voice down when he was acting so...impossible.
Zuko had enough for the day, so he ignored her. He wasn't trying to blame anything on her. He just didn't want to be the one blamed. He turned to leave.
Katara could feel her self on the brink of tears. Her pregnant mood-swings were getting the best of her. Emotions swelled her heart and threaten to burst as soon as he turned his back on her. "Why are you leaving?" She didn't mean for her voice to screech.
"I'm telling you I'm pregnant and your walking out?" Her words were broken as a result of the tears that decorated her mocha colored face.
Zuko's shoulders strained as he heard her broken voice. His hands froze at the door handle. His neck turned slightly to catch a glance at her. Her hands covered her face as her shoulders shook from her heavy breathing. He turned and stares at door, letting go of the handle. A small slap could be heard, caused by the palm of his hand hitting his forehead.
He was an idiot. He had no intentions of making her cry. He seemed to be the cause of all her pain. She was pregnant for Agni's sake. PREGNANT!
"Katara…" He started off slowly, turning around so he could face her. He missed her whipe her tears away. She turned away from him, not wanting to look at him. As if on impulse his hands flew out in a comforting gesture but retreated in fear of rejection.
"Look. I'm sorry, okay?" He asked for her forgiveness as gingerly as he could. Katara simply nodded in acceptance, but she still kept her face hidden. "Should I…just…go…get…" Her words were crumbled.
Zuko had a feeling that he knew what she was going to ask. He quickly answered her before she even had a chance to ask. "No!" His voice was stern. His hands covered themselves in his pocket after he heard her small intake of breath. She seemed…surprised. " Absolutely out of the question." There was no changing his mind. He would never allow the killing of his own child. He was not a cruel and heartless bastard like his father and would never be anything like him.
Katara kept her head down as she strolled towards her bed, awkwardly rubbing her arm with her right hand. The soft bedspread comforted her, only a little. "So what are we going to do?" This was not how she assumed the conversation would go. She planned on being the one in control and yet she was the one crying.
"We'll keep it." He made his way to her bed to sit next to her. "What will I tell the others?" She was afraid of the reactions they might have. Will they still love her? Will they still care? Would they look down upon her because she was unwed and pregnant by the ex-fire prince? How would her burden impact their group? She couldn't help but think of how Aang would feel once he found out. He's going to heart broken.
"We'll tell them when your ready." She nodded; giving the signal that she had heard him. She ran a shaky hand threw her mess of hair that was the result of her frantic pacing. Pushing strands out her face, she glanced at Zuko. His eyes were fixated on her stomach, his expression unreadable.
She wished she could understand that face and knew what he was thinking. He could easily hide his emotions, unlike her who had to cry to get his attention. Bastard…
"Its gonna get bigger." He invaded her thoughts, trying to break the cold silence.
"I know…" Katara wrapped her arms around her belly protectively and Zuko's eyes never left her stomach. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours before Zuko got up and stated that he was going to bed.
For the hundredth time that night, Katara stopped him in mid-step. "You don't really want this baby, do you?" She watched his back. He never turned around. "No, not really." He answered her before walking out the room.
She didn't know why but she cried herself to sleep that night.
A/N: Ah, crap! I know I know…I'm supposed to be writing the next chapters to I hate you. I love you. But don't worry. I haven't even reached my deadline yet. I still have the weekend left.
This has been stuck in my head for like ever. I just had to get it out. Idk if I'll finish it. I want to, but I have to finish my other story first.
Whenever I write the next chapter you'll find out what happened "that night" and why Zuko is so sensitive on the subjects.
Please review...
Smooches,
Whopper23