Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Face of the Enemy

They stood apart in an open field on the edge of a forest. The sun was slowly setting in the background but neither took notice. The wind blew softly as both fighters took their stance. The fight began.

To her, his face had once been the face of the enemy. Of course now there was a greater enemy to confront– Azula and the Fire Lord himself– but the man still fired upon her. Flames came at her left and right. Katara ducked and dodged and bent water in the way to cease the fire. He wouldn't win, not this time. She wouldn't allow it. She came back with a water whip. Rather weak for one of her attacks, yes, but she wanted him to underestimate her. He easily fried the water; steam rising into the air. Thinking she had no more water, he quickly shot more fireballs at her, catching her off-guard by the speed, but he missed every shot.

You may be quick, she thought, but I have the element of surprise on my side.

Without his noticing, she pulled a small amount of water from the grass and froze it in her palm to make three little icicles. She continued dodging the fireballs the best she could and stealthily threw the tiny ice daggers at him. Katara flinched when one of them penetrated Zuko's leg and the slight delay in her movement allowed a fireball to graze her shoulder. Since the firing had stopped, she took the downtime to heal the burn. It was getting late and the moon was rising so the healing was quick.

As she stood up, she saw that Zuko was standing there, waiting. The icicle had been removed and a small trickle of blood dripped down his leg. But he didn't attack. Not until she was on her feet again. He shot streams of fire at her this time which she blocked with a wall of ice. When the wall shattered, Katara coated her arms in water that extended out past her hands. She attacked him with the extensions at a good distance where she could hit him and block his attacks. But Zuko caught on to her tactic and copied it on his arms with the fire.

They both whipped their respective element at one another until it was a tangled mess of diminishing fire and evaporating water. Just then, Zuko cleared the fire and charged Katara. Surprised by the move, Katara dropped the water just before Zuko smashed into her. The two of them fell hard on the ground; Zuko on top of Katara, holding her down so she could not attack. Then he kissed her.

And she kissed back. It sent shivers up her back. To her, Zuko had once been the face of the enemy. Now, she cared about him more than anyone else. He had once been obsessed with regaining his honor. Now, he was helping the Avatar defeat his own father. He had once been arrogant and uncaring. Now, he always put Katara before himself. He had once kept to himself. Now, he opened up to her and became friends with the rest of the Gaang. He was a changed man. As his uncle had once said to him, "You are going through a metamorphosis my nephew." The irony lied in the fact that a "Painted Lady" is a type of butterfly. It was as if Katara was the one to change him.

Katara wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, deepening the kiss. After a minute, Zuko pulled away and gave her one last peck on the lips that gave her butterflies. He stood up and smiled, offering her his hand. She smiled back and grabbed it, pulling herself up. Zuko then playfully shot a fire ball past her arm, missing, but barely. Katara glared at Zuko, who had a teasing smirk plastered on his face. A sly smile crossed her's as well and the sparring practice began once again.

Fire and water flew through the air in harmony like a work of art. The reds and blues mixed and intertwined; peaceful, healing, yet fierce water and destructive, dangerous, yet passionate fire. Like yin and yang, two opposites in perfect balance.

Katara spun to the left to avoid the flames coming at her. She couldn't help but smile. She cared about Zuko so much. Why didn't she realize it sooner? In the crystal catacombs they had connected so easily, so quickly. She was even willing to use up the spirit water on him.

But then he turned on me, she remembered. Anger boiled up in her. She pulled a large amount of water from the grass around her. In the dark, as it was now getting pretty late, she looked very eerie; dead plants surrounding her, the moon shining down, an angry look on her face. The scary side of Katara was chilling to Zuko. He let his guard down and Katara shoved the water in a wave directly at him.

The wave pounded into Zuko, knocking him to the ground. He sat there a moment, startled by her sudden mood change.

"Katara?"

She snapped out of her angry daze at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, Zuko! I'm so sorry!" She ran over to him, her hands glowing, ready to heal.

How could I be so stupid! I could have really hurt him.

"It's fine. I'm alright, Katara," he said, standing up. He grabbed her hands and she let the water drop. "Are you ok?" He was truly worried about her.

"Y-yeah. I was just thinking about before," she whispered. Zuko pulled her into a hug; he knew exactly what she was talking about and would do anything to take it back.

"I'm sorry. I will never do that to you again." He held her tighter. He had felt terrible about it; even now it pained him when the subject was brought up. He had been so caught up in regaining his honor, he overlooked everything else.

Katara. How could I have ever overlooked you?

But she forgave him. When he first came to the Western Air Temple, she had been livid; ready to beat him down with everything she had. But he did everything in his power to make it up to her. In the meantime, he fell for her; hard.

And she had been drawn to him too. She couldn't quite figure it out at the time: how she flirted with him when he had her mother's necklace; how easily she put her trust in him back in the catacombs; how she had the hardest time holding the grudge against him. But one morning, everything became clear to her. Zuko had been training with Aang near the edge of the temple. Aang hit him too hard and Zuko fell off the edge, over the cliff. Katara's heart began racing and tears surfaced. She immediately ran to the edge and pulled the ocean water up like a spout, Zuko riding the top. She had gone from threatening his life to saving it in a matter of days. And she had never been so scared in her life.

Katara smiled. Through his stubbornness, aggression, control issues, and anger, he was still perfect to her.

"It's getting late," he whispered. "We should start heading back to camp." She nodded and released him from the hug. He then turned and went to pick up the bag that held two apples for them to eat on the walk back. Katara waited where they had been standing.

He's so wonderful, she thought, lifting some water from the ground. They were always teasing each other; Katara usually getting the worst of it. She was going to get him back.

I don't know what I would do without him. Zuko turned and Katara was preparing to splash him in the face.

I think I may even– Her thought was cut short by a crackling sound and a flash of light. Tears welled up in her eyes and she dropped the water as she watched Zuko collapse to the ground.

"Zuko!" she shouted and ran over to him when he hit the ground. She dropped to his side and supported him. He was still alive but she could tell she was losing him. Azula stepped from the woods.

"Awe, how cute. Zuzu has a girlfriend. But the water peasant? Come on Zuko, I think you can do better than that," she said in a bitter voice. Katara glared at the Fire Princess through streaming tears.

"Since you are now 100 traitor– helping the Avatar and apparently backstabbing Mai– Father gave me permission to kill you," Azula said very nonchalant. She prepared another attack, but right as she was about to fire, she froze. She couldn't move her muscles and the energy was building up inside her. Fear shone in her eyes. Since she was unable to release the energy, the lighting backfired, exploding in her face. She was blown backward and crashed into a tree. When she tried to stand, she was still unable to move.

"W-what's going on?" she asked aloud. She didn't like not being in control. She saw Katara slowly stand, her hands fixed in front of her face, vertical to the ground. She moved her hands up and Azula's body rose from the ground.

"Answer me peasant!" Azula shouted. Katara thrust her hand to the side and Azula crashed into a tree. Katara was blinded by fury but responded rather calmly.

"It's called bloodbending," she said through gritted teeth. She flung her arms side to side, Azula's body following her every movement. From tree to tree she hit violently until finally Katara slammed her into the ground and released her hold. Azula slowly began to try and get up but Katara pulled the water from the surrounding grass and bent it over at Azula, smacking her back onto the ground. She then coated her in the water and froze it; only her head was open to the air. Katara couldn't kill her. She didn't have it in her to do such a thing, even to Azula. She left her lying unconscious and turned her attention back to Zuko.

"Zuko," she cried, holding him again. His heart was beating unusually slow. "It will be ok, don't worry. It will be ok."

"I know it will. Katara, I've restored my honor where it belongs. I've helped the Avatar. I've earned forgiveness from my uncle. I've learned what love is." He smiled weakly up at her. "I've done what I needed to accomplish."

"Don't talk like that, you'll be ok," she said. He reached up to wipe some of her tears but pulled back and winced in pain. Katara immediately got water and began healing him.

"Katara," he whispered. "I love you." He closes his eyes. His breathing stopped.

She began to cry uncontrollably and put as much energy as she could into her healing.

"Zuko! Zuko don't leave me. Zuko!" she repeated as she ran out of energy to heal. She didn't know how long she had been healing him, but it felt like an eternity; an eternity that she didn't want to end unless he woke up. She looked down at his pale face and cried harder than ever. Completely drained, she fell down next to him and held him, her eyes clenched shut.

"I love you too much. Don't go," she whispered. She held his head with one hand and stroked his far shoulder with the other. Her eyes opened slowly as she felt a hand cover hers. Her face lit up when she saw Zuko's eyes open and a small smile cross his face. She buried her face in his chest and cried out of joy. The two laid there, arms around each other. Zuko was alive.

I just wanted to let everybody know that these first two one shots are based off this picture by neurosylum on Deviant art. I also entered this one shot in AnimantX's contest on Deviant art.

I also wanted to thank you for reading! I really hope you like them! Review and let me know what you think needs to be improved and whatnot. Much appreciated!

Kaida

Also, check out my Avatar Fanfic, Moonlighting.