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Family

The streets of the shopping district of Ember Island were packed and humid, the midday sun sending out heat waves that made the passersby look warped and blurry. Merchants shouted their wares to the browsing Fire Nation husbands, wives, mothers, children as they walked leisurely, fans in the hands of many to guard against the stifling weather. Zuko watched it all silently from the corner of a vegetable stand that strangely enough seemed only to sell cabbages. The Avatar's gang had finally ventured away from his family's vacation home on the island and into town to restock the deserted place, and Zuko found himself comparing this visit to Ember Island with his last. He had strolled down the dusty streets in a bored air with an equally bored Mai at his arm, a bouncy Ty Lee a little ahead of him and his sister in front of her. Now he stood alone, though he felt more a part of the town then he ever had when he was welcomed here as a member of the Fire Nation Royal family.

His eyes caught on a pair as they entered his line of vision: a little boy, and a woman who could only be his mother. The boy looked to be around seven, with a shock of hair bound up in a knot that was slowly falling apart. The mother looked perfectly composed even in the heat, hair spilling in gentle waves over her shoulders and soft eyes focused only on the child beside her. The two were robed in the typical dress of nobility, though the kind expression of the woman was rare amongst nobles.

"Mommy! Mommy!" The woman smiled down at her son as the boy stretched out his arm to grab his mother's hand. They continued their walk down the busy street, blithely unaware of Zuko's eyes following them, watching as the boy pointed at various objects while the mother continued to smile. Mother, where are you… Zuko sighed softly, recalling how his mother had brought him to these very streets, pointed out the various shops and smiled much like that. What he would give to have some semblance of that normalcy, of his family, back. Yet he had no idea where his mother might be. And he knew now that his father—the Fire Lord, rather—had never seen him as anything other than an heir to his throne, and a lousy one at that. As for Azula? Well, his sister had just seen him as an obstacle to it.

Zuko's gaze wandered and he caught a glimpse of Sokka and Suki together across the street. Sokka was gesticulating wildly at some kind of purse, and Suki gave an exasperated grin and shook her head. A short way away were Toph—who seemed to be haggling with a merchant—and Aang, who was trying frantically to get her to walk away from the angry man. Zuko gave a small snort of amusement. Those two really acted their age sometimes, always sticking their fingers into one mess or another. Eyes traveling across the wide street, Zuko watched as Aang succeeded in making Toph abandon the small stand and make his way over to Katara. The girl seemed to be looking at necklaces, which made no sense to him, what with her attachment to her mother's pendant that he'd experienced first hand. Her hip was cocked to the side, one hand on the brown skin left exposed by that red belly shirt, and where had she found that, exactly? Zuko said a small prayer for his sanity even as he fervently thanked his nation for having such humid weather. And she was smiling that warm smile, the one she even gave to perfect strangers, like she had an unlimited amount to spare.

Katara…

Zuko had never been happier to receive forgiveness than when Katara had finally accepted him into her embrace just a few days before. He had observed the kind, motherly way that she had with the rest of the group, and he was very pleased that he was no longer a victim of her icy hatred. In fact, Zuko couldn't help but think that Katara had treated him much like that angry mother turtleduck. That's what moms are like. If you mess with their babies, they're going to bite you back, his mother had told him. And Katara certainly acted like a mother, though Zuko supposed that she was just the sort of girl who naturally mothered everyone; but he noticed she especially looked after Aang. And what had he gone and done? Thrown fire at her most precious baby turtleduck, and then stand and watch as his sister shot her baby turtleduck with lightening.

Zuko thought for the millionth time that he should have just stayed with her when they had met in the crystal caverns back in Ba Sing Se. She had been so gentle with him then, her hand on his scar, his lips. The glow of the crystals lit up tiny lights in her eyes, like warm little hearths to which he was drawn. He could have kissed her then, for being so open about the past as he had been, for not flinching away from him. He could have stayed there for a thousand days with her palm on his cheek and her optimism moving through osmosis down through his face and into his heart. He loved her for those minutes they had spent together, more than he had ever loved Mai for her months of companionship. And then, true to his history, he had gone and stomped on that love and ran back to his 'family.' And Katara had loathed him for it, even as he began to love her passion and temper that rivaled those who bent fire. But slowly, finally, she had forgiven him, and he fell in love with her compassion all over again in that embrace. He had felt warm even in the wake of the setting sun, wrapping his arms around her small frame, palms pressed into her back looking to prolong the contact. For no one had shown him such kindness since his mother…who he might never see again. His mood darkened and his eyes sought the pair of shoppers he'd been observing once more.

"Hey! There you are!" Zuko started to see that Katara had approached him and tried to school his features into something resembling a smile. He was apparently unsuccessful as her forehead drew down into a small frown he found, frankly, adorable, "Zuko, what's wrong?"

He pointed to the shrinking figures of the mother and son, "my mother and I used to walk like that when we vacationed to Ember Island."

Katara's expression grew somber, and she reached up slowly to place a hand on his arm. Zuko stood there a moment, reveling in the comforting gesture and contact before she spoke, "Zuko—"

He spoke his mind before it occurred to him to let her finish, "sometimes I wonder what family I have left."

To his surprise Katara grinned softly and gave his arm a soft squeeze, drawing Zuko's attention to her face and her warm, reassuring eyes, "Don't be silly, Zuko. We are your family."

And just like that, Zuko smiled.

A/N: Hello everyone! I've decided to participate in Zutara Week 2010! My plan is to submit a prompt for each day (or TRY). The prompts combine to form a short story, so each one is a continuation of the other.

This is prompt number 1: Family. I'm not in love with how this has turned out, but it's a set up for the next one, which I feel better about.

That's all for now!

Review please! And make sure to head on over to deviantart to check out all of the other submissions!