4. Insides

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, or Staind, or the song Outside.

A/N: Set during Southern Raiders. Slightly inspired by the song Outside, by Staind.

Zuko and Katara were silent as they flew over the ocean. Katara didn't want to talk, Zuko thought she probably never would want to talk, not to him. It didn't seem to matter what he did to beg her forgiveness, it just wasn't in her to let herself trust him again. But then, he didn't see much reason why he deserved Katara's forgiveness, much as he irrationally longed for it.

When Katara had suggested bringing her mother back, Zuko had been hit with the idea for the next best thing; revenge for her death. He'd had no guarantee that Katara would even want to go along with the idea, but he'd figured he had to try something.

But when it came down to it, Katara had jumped at the prospect. Zuko had felt something jolt in him when she'd turned to look at him in shock. She'd actually looked at him for the first time since Ba Sing Sei. In that instance, Zuko had seen through her to the rage that she kept barely bridled, only unleashed on him. He saw through her to the part that was just as destroyed as he had been, just as ugly.

Sitting in Appa's saddle, Zuko watched the back of her head in the half light before dawn. Katara was tensed, ready for a fight, though it wouldn't come for at least another day and a half. Seeing her this rigid and angry, Zuko found he missed the Katara he'd met in the catacombs beneath the earth nation capitol. It felt almost like regret, how he wanted to be that close to her again without feeling rage and hate pouring off of her.

When she'd finished her threats, Zuko had been surprised that he wasn't surprised. Consciously, Zuko had believed Katara might go through with it, might take a life, but some other, deeper part knew she never would if she could help it. And it shocked him that he knew this. He'd thought he'd seen what she was capable of when she turned to him that day when she'd looked at him again. And he realized he'd seen deeper than he thought. He'd seen all the anger and the willingness to hurt, but he'd also seen what she was capable of in terms of compassion.

Zuko had seen every part of her now, he believed. The look she had given him after she'd walked away from the man cowering in the road before her had spoken volumes. She still held that scarred person inside, the one he matched perfectly. But alongside it was the person he'd seen in Ba Sing Sei, the one who had a tremendous capacity to love and to forgive, to trust. And he realized that maybe there was hope for him yet.

Katara held Zuko's gaze for a moment before she hugged him, and in that moment, they came to an understanding. Though Aang might still hold the hope that Katara would someday forgive the Southern Raiders of their sins, Zuko knew she had spoken the truth when she said she wouldn't.

In the glance, Katara had seen how Zuko saw her, how he really, actually took the time to see her from the outside looking in. She found he was right in thinking he was just like her. They held the same wounds, and they held the same grudges that would never allow for forgiveness. But they both also had what it took to move on, if not to forgive.

She had the power and compassion of a healer running through her, and he carried the strength and light of rebirth.

A/N: Okay, first chap on a new story! Awesome! Hopefully we'll be able to finish all of the list. Which means this should have one hundred chapters...that seems like a lot. Anyway, R&R, please!

- Jade

Lily: counting One, six, twelve, eleven, what? Okay, I may fail at math, but that does seem like a big number...