Ok, this is my first attempt at Zutara fiction. Any type of fiction, for that matter. Actually, any type of writing period. So go easy on me.
This is going to be pretty light-hearted for the first half, then get kinda-sorta darker for the rest. And there's only going to be 4 or 5 chapters.
Since I wrote this before The Earth King, it's kinda OOC now. But basically what I thought was going to happen was –
The gAang tries to get to the earth king to tell him what happening.
The Dai Li stop them.
Zuko, with his new-fangled change of heart, finds them and helps them out of the city.
Iroh opts to stay behind because he wants to keep making tea.
The Dai Li are still Chasing them, because in addition to telling everyone about the eclipse, they are telling everyone that Long Feng is controlling the earth king, and all that other good stuff.
Now, without further ado –
Chapter 1
Why is he so mean to me?
It had been a few weeks since Zuko had started traveling with them, and Katara still couldn't stand him.
She was actually surprised at herself. She thought, if anyone, Sokka would be the most distrustful of them, but he had accepted Zuko with (grudgingly) open arms. He trusted Aang's judgment, and was eager to have another teenage boy in their group. He wanted to have someone else to talk to about girls, weapons, food, and whatever the hell it is adolescent boys talk about. (A/N - I, for the record, am a girl)
Toph was indifferent, as long as he could take care of himself, and Aang was ecstatic to "finally get the chance to be friends with him, just like a hundred years ago."
Katara had tried to be nice to him, but for some reason, though he was nice enough to everyone else, he acted like an immature bastard to her. No matter how polite she was, no matter how many times she offered him help, or cooked him dinner, he insulted her, mocked her, and embarrassed her every chance that he got.
All I've ever done…actually, I never actually did anything to him that the others didn't do. So why is he singling me out? Why is he being so damn mean to me?
As she was thinking this, she walked into the market, with Zuko following her closely.
The group had decided that Katara needed a guard. She briefly replayed the scene in her mind, trying to see if anything she could've said might have convinced them to let her go alone.
"I'm not letting you go alone, Katara."
"Sokka, I'm a big girl. Would you like me to remind you how well I can take care of myself?"
"What do you – OW! That was uncalled for!"
"You were practically begging for a smack, Snoozles, don't pretend to be innocent."
"Sokka's right, Katara. With the Dai Li still after us, no one should go anywhere alone."
"But, Aang, I can take care of myself! I DO NOT need a babysitter."
"Hmm…although it does seem like you have the maturity of a baby…"
"No one asked you, Zuko."
"Please, Katara. Just to get a load off our minds. We already have enough to worry
about."
"…Ok, Aang. I guess if it means that much to you…"
"Good! You can take Zuko!"
"Wait, what? I don't want to take him!"
"What, scared I'll tie you to another tree?"
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, PRINCY!"
"C'mon, Sugar Queen, just take him. He doesn't bite."
"Every one else is tired, just take him."
"FINE!"
At this point, she had stormed away, only to return a few seconds later, blushing, because
she had forgotten her water skin. This, of course had opened up a whole new topic for Zuko to taunt her about. For most of the way there, he had kept up a constant string of accusations and goads - "…a good job of protecting yourself, without your water pouch!"… "You'd be lucky to have me here…"
Eventually he had gotten bored when she didn't react. They were well into the marketplace now, so Katara could ignore him by looking for bargains. And Zuko trailed her silently, no doubt trying to think of other rude remarks.
As Katara looked lazily at a sale in a butcher store, she absentmindedly asked, "What do you think of possum-chicken again tonight? I could make my special dish again…" She immediately cringed, berating herself for giving him ammo to insult her with. She didn't know how, but he was going to take her innocent comment and turn it against her.
A mocking smirk formed itself on his face. "Oh, that was possum-chicken last night? I couldn't tell. It tasted more like ostrich horse feed."
She was sooooo sick of him. That was the last straw. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. But just as she was about to blow up at him, a hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around. Behind her, she heard Zuko draw his swords move forward.
"Katara! It's so good to see you!" cried a familiar voice.
She smiled up and hugged him "Haru! Long time, no see! What have you been –"
"Ahem."
Katara was startled from her reunion by Zuko's polite cough behind her. She glared back at him.
"Yes?"
"Who exactly is this?" he asked, with a threatening look in his eye. She noticed he still had his swords drawn.
Oh. Right. She hastily introduced them. "Haru, this is…Li." Zuko cocked his eyebrow at his fake name. "We met with him in Ba Sing Se, and he offered to journey with us. Li, this is Haru, an earthbender that we met in our travels."
Even as she was talking, she could see both of them eying the other suspiciously. It almost looked like they were sizing each other up. She just wrote it off as being a weird guy thing.
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds after Katara stopped talking, but then Haru, with a somewhat forced-looking smile, held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Li."
Zuko looked at the proffered hand for a second before slowly putting his swords back in their sheath and taking it. He remained unsmiling.
"The pleasure is all mine." Katara mentally winced – she could hear the sarcasm – but why?
Katara looked back and forth between the boys. It looked like they were trying to stare each other down, while simultaneously trying to rip the others' arm off. She mentally sighed. It must be another guy thing.
The second she cleared her throat, both boys dropped hands and looked at her.
"So…" she said, trying to find some way to fill the awkward silence. "Haru! Why are you so far away from your village? Don't they still need your help?"
Haru smiled at her. "Oh, no, we kicked those filthy firebenders out a while ago. The earthbenders gave them a little taste of their own medicine and they fled with their tails between their legs. All fire nation citizens are cowards, after all."
Zuko made a motion to reach for his swords, but Katara quickly trod on his foot, and gave him a threatening look. She was surprised, however, to see how close he had gotten.
She turned quickly away, smothering the blush that rose in her cheeks, and turned back to Haru. He was still talking, oblivious to her temporary discomfort.
"…and then I thought, 'That sounds really fun!' So now I'm on my way to Ba Sing Se to try out!"
Katara did a double take. "Wait – are you going to try and get into the Dai Li?"
Haru smiled at her. "Yeah…why, do you think I'm not good enough?"
Katara laughed uneasily. "Actually, no. You see, we just came from Ba Sing Se, and the
Dai Li…well, it's a long story."
Haru's grin got even wider. "Why don't we discuss it over dinner tonight?"
Katara's eyes widened. "You mean like a d-"
The earthbender started to grin, but stopped. "Oh, no," he said hastily. "Just to talk."
She was about to answer when she felt an arm wrap itself protectively around her shoulder and pull her close. She nearly jumped out of her skin, then realized it was Zuko.
Hmm…not unpleasant at all…he is very muscular…
Wait. Is he trying to make it seem like we're…Gods!Katara glared up at him. He wasn't even looking at her – he was staring at Haru, his eyes narrowed.
"Actually," he drawled out, "Katara promised that she would make her special chicken tonight." At this he looked at her. "And you wouldn't go back on a promise, would you?"
She nearly gasped. He was just telling her that he hated her cooking, especially her chicken. How dare he try and use that as an excuse to keep her from going on a d…out to dinner with a good friend?
The waterbender glared at him before shrugging his arm off her shoulder and smiling sweetly at Haru.
"I'd love to, Haru." At this, she could see an almost invisible glance that he sent at Zuko – did she see…triumph? It couldn't have been.
Haru smiled, looking excited. "Great! I'll meet you here, and sun down."
Katara smiled too. "I'll see you then."
The boy gave her one last smile, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.
She gave it a few seconds, before turning to Zuko, who was still looking to where Haru had disappeared, looking…jealous?
"Li?" Katara asked sweetly.
He turned to her, the jealously on his face disappearing.
She slapped him.
His blank expression was replaced by one of fury. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"
She looked at his furious face inches from her's, and reminded herself to show no fear.
"That," she said slowly and deliberately, "was for insulting my good friend (he flinched when she emphasized good), insulting me, embarrassing me, and then TRYING TO
MAKE A MOVE ON ME!" Even though she tried to keep her cool, she ended up shouting the last few words. A couple of pigeons flew away in fright, and the whole market place fell silent, mostly because the fountain in the middle of the square had just exploded.
Zuko smirked. "And I thought I had anger problems."
Katara turned heel and stomped out of the market, not caring if he was following her.
When he caught up, he looked vaguely annoyed. "By the way, I was trying to make you
stop because he seemed a bit suspicious to me."
Then he smirked. "And next time, tell me where your going before you stomp away."
That was it. She would teach him. Katara tackled him off of the path, catching him completely by surprise and knocking him over. She got in a few good punches before he managed to pin her to the ground, her hands on either side of her head. Then suddenly, she had a thought.
"And to think," she said casually, "that you did all those things because you were jealous."
Zuko froze a look of shock on his face. The shock quickly changed to anger, and he jumped up off of her, like he had been burned.
"Jealous?" he asked scathingly. "Why would I be jealous of that little mediocre bender of a…PRETTY BOY?"
She smirked. She had hit a nerve, and they both knew it. "Oh, it's just that he gets to take me out to dinner tonight. We're going to have soooo much fun."
She nearly laughed when she saw the emotions flashing over his face. Sweet, sweet revenge…
"Why would I want to take you on a date?" he asked scornfully, obviously trying to get his act together.
"Well," she said walking around him, trailing her fingers over his arms, "its probably because I'm sooo nice, and such a good fighter, and the most beautiful girl you'll ever meet, and," here she stopped, and leaned toward him, moving her head close to his and meeting his eyes, "I'm an excellent kisser."
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Katara thought triumphantly as she saw Zuko's emotions running through his eyes, the main one being desire.
Wait, what if he really does like me?
Hah! Him liking you!? Never in a million years. No, he's just a normal teenage boy, and what teenage boy wouldn't like a pretty girl rubbing her hands all over their arms and flirting with them?
Wait…FLIRTING????
Oh, shit.
She backed up immediately.
Great, more ammo for insults against me. I will never live this down.
As she cursed her stupidity, she noticed that Zuko had not stopped staring at her.
Deciding to play it out as long as she could, she leaned in and whispered into his ear
"But you don't like that in a girl, do you?" and then turning away and walking towards their campsite, trying not to run, and sure any second he would come up behind her and make a snide remark.
But she made it all the way there without him catching up. She almost sighed with relief when she saw it – surely he wouldn't mock her when she was surrounded by the others?
As she was explaining who she was meeting and why she didn't have food to the others, Zuko stumbled into the campsite, still looking a little dazed, but face clearing when he saw the others.
Katara finally managed to get the message across to her fellow travelers, and started getting ready for the date-that-wasn't-a-date.
Since Zuko had started traveling with the group, he couldn't stop thinking about her. The way she talked, the way she moved…he was completely smitten. Which really pissed him off. Every night, he would stay up late tending the fire, and just stare at her for hours. During the day, of course, he was as rude as possible to her.Maybe I'll get over it…maybe if I'm mean it'll just go away…(of course Zuko wouldn't really know how to handle a crush like a 16 year old. Probably the last real crush he'd had (not counting Jin) was Mai, when he was 10. And just look how well he handled the Jin situation)
But no. Each day he fell into a deeper infatuation with her, and it was on the day of the market he realized that he had fallen deeply, and irreversibly, in love.
Damn, he thought absently, as he watched her argue with her brother about whether or not she needed a guard to go shopping, she's beautiful when she's angry.
He thought hazily that she was beautiful all the time, before mentally smacking himself.
Don't get deeper in than you already are, Zuko. He actually started listening to the conversation when she smacked her brother with a waterwhip.
"…I don't need a babysitter."
He smirked as he instinctively came up with a good comeback. "Hmm…although it does seem like you have the maturity of a baby."
He was rewarded when she glanced in his direction, and only his firm control of his emotions, through years of meditation, kept him from blushing. He felt like he could fly, when her sapphire eyes met his – if only he could…"
"No one asked you, Zuko."
Her comment brought him down to earth. Ok, he was in love. He would have to push that into the little corner of his brain where he kept all of his other uncontrollable emotions, and only take it out and look at when she wasn't nearby. Or awake, at least.
He tuned back in when he heard his name.
"…take Zuko!" Aang said cheerfully.
Katara looked shocked, and not at all pleased. "Wait, what? I don't want to take him!"
Zuko felt slightly hurt, but reminded himself that he was indifferent to the entire thing.
He decided to taunt her about it.
"What, scared I'll tie you to another tree?" he asked snidely.
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, PRINCY!!!!" He nearly laughed out loud at her face when she turned on him, scarlet from embarrassment, but still furious. Zuko listened as the others convinced her to take him with her. In the end, she stomped out of the clearing, only to come back a few seconds later when she remembered to bring her water pouch.
The firebender smirked inwardly, knowing that this would give him enough tormenting topics to keep taunting her for the entire trip there. He could tell she knew too, because she glanced at him in embarrassment as they were leaving.
As soon as they were out of earshot, he started mocking her. After a walking for a while with no reaction from her, he got bored and decided to stop.
Zuko watched Katara view everything with a buyer's air, impressed with her concentration on the boring prices of food.
"What do you think of possum-chicken again tonight? I could make my special dish again…"
He knew what was expected of him, but he almost cringed at the thought. Katara was actually a good cook, though he would never let her know it.
Zuko managed a smirk. "Oh, that was possum-chicken last night? I couldn't tell. It tasted more like ostrich horse feed."
He watched as it looked like she was steeling herself to say something back, but was interrupted when a teenage boy put his hand on her shoulder and spun her around. He quickly drew his swords, ready to defend her if the boy was going to try anything dodgy.
He was shocked when the boy greeted her by name, and she smiled at him and – embraced him? Zuko felt like he just got kicked in the ribs, and a little green monster was born in his chest. It roared and tried to escape, but Zuko quickly locked it away and did not let the slightest jealousy cross his face.
"Haru! Long time, no see! What have you been –"
Since she was obviously ignoring him, he decided to remind her he existed.
"Ahem."
She looked around at him, confusion and annoyance in her face.
He looked pointedly at this boy, holding his crush in his arms. He could feel the threatening look he had in his eyes. "Who is this?"
Katara looked slightly embarrassed, but covered it up by introducing them.
"Haru (so that was the boy's name – how wussy), this is…Li." Zuko raised his eyebrow at her, which she ignored. He probably wasn't an old boyfriend (the pain from the earlier kick in the ribs lessened slightly), if she didn't trust him enough with his real name.
Now she was introducing the boy.
"Li, this is Haru, an earthbender that we met in our travels."
As she was talking, Zuko eyed Haru suspiciously, sizing him up. An earthbender, huh?
Not a very good one, by the looks of it. He was rather scrawny, with an annoying amount of hair. He saw the boy doing the same thing, trying to pick out his weaknesses, no doubt trying to figure out what his relationship with Katara was. He obviously had some interest in the girl, Zuko could sense it in the way he glanced at her, talked to her, the way he had held her…
He snapped out of his thoughts when Haru held out his hand to shake, saying politely
"Nice to meet you, Li." This was obviously for Katara's benefit – if it was just the two of them, they most likely would have leapt at each other's throats; battling to the death over the girl who stood between them, who was now looking at Zuko expectantly. He sighed inwardly, sheathed his swords, and grasped the other boy's hand. He could feel Haru trying to gauge his strength, while trying to stare him down. Zuko did the same
Hmm…he is stronger than he looks, but not as strong as me! He then focused his attention on the eyes of the boy. Usually he was very good at reading people through their eyes, but Haru's eyes were…strange. For a second he noticed, behind the suspicion and threat, there was…nothing. A blank look. But as soon as he saw it, Katara cleared her throat. They both dropped their hands and looked at her.
"So…" she said, trying to fill the awkward silence. "Haru! Why are you so far away from your village? Don't they still need your help?"
So something had happened to his village? She had probably helped them get rid of a flood, or something of that sort.
Haru looked at her and smiled. Zuko moved closer to her, glaring at him. Haru ignored him.
"Oh, no, we kicked those filthy firebenders out a while ago. The earthbenders gave them a little taste of their own medicine and they fled with their tails between their legs. All fire nation citizens are cowards, after all."
How dare he? Insulting fire nation citizens – as if he knew them. Almost unconsciously, he reached for his swords, ready to teach the impertinent boy a lesson. Then he felt Katara step on his foot, and remembered that he didn't care what the boy thought of firebenders. When Katara glanced back at him, he saw the threatening look she was giving him turn to one of shock, then, embarrassment. He just barely caught the blush on her cheeks as she turned away.
Now the idiot earthbender was talking about why he had left his village, unaware of the other two's close proximity.
"…and then I thought, 'That sounds really fun!' So now I'm on my way to Ba Sing Se to try out!"
Zuko saw Katara do a double take. "Wait – are you going to try and get into the Dai Li?"
Zuko nearly laughed. The stupid boy actually thought he had a chance to get into the group that had the most advanced benders in the entire Earth Kingdom? He really was stupider than he looked.
Haru smiled at her again (jeez, his constant happiness was really starting to get on Zuko's nerves.) "Yeah…why, do you think I'm not good enough?"
Was he flirting with her? Zuko narrowly avoided punching him in the face. He settled for moving closer to Katara.
Katara gave an uneasy laugh. "Actually, no. You see, we just came from Ba Sing Se, and the Dai Li…well, it's a long story."
Haru smiled winningly. "Why we discuss it over dinner tonight?"
Zuko's brain froze for a second, then almost exploded. The pretty boy was asking her on a date. The pretty boy was asking her on a date. The pretty boy was asking her on a date.
The little monster nearly broke free, but Zuko held him back.
He realized that Katara was thinking along the same lines.
"You mean like a d-" she started to say.
The earthbender's grin got even wider, but saw Zuko glaring at him. "Oh, no," he said hastily. "Just to talk." (liar)
Zuko saw that she was about to answer yes, and, before he could debate what he was about to do, he snaked his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. He could feel her fragile body pressed up against his, but pushed his desire out of his mind as he desperately tried to think of an excuse to keep her away from that…boy.
"Actually," he drawled out, "Katara promised that she would make her special chicken tonight." He almost winced. That was definitely the lamest excuse of all the lame excuses he had ever given in his life.
Zuko then looked at her, and saw her expression was full of indignity, anger, and embarrassment.
"And you wouldn't go back on a promise, would you?" He saw her embarrassment completely vanish, to be replaced by anger. She glared at him once more before shrugging his arm off. Ouch.
He watched, almost heartbroken as she smiled at the earthbender (the snotty, conniving, pretty boy, irritatingly-peppy, bastard earthbender), and said in her sweet, pretty voice:
"I'd love to, Haru."
Zuko nearly died right there (why can't she talk to me in that voice?), but decided to live long enough to kill the earth boy when he gave him a triumphant glance.
The bastard smiled, looking excited. "Great! I'll meet you here, and sun down."
Katara smiled too (damnit, why does she keep smiling at him?!). "I'll see you then."
Zuko watched the boy go, just barely controlling his jealousy – the stupid green thing.
I wouldn't want to be the earth bastard when the monster-thing gets out. If he knows what's good for him, he will be far, far away.
Then he heard the sweet voice again.
"Li?"
Oh Gods, she's talking to me! No emotion, no emotion…He turned to face her, struggling to keep the jealously from his face. He was almost glad when Katara distracted him by backhanding him as hard as she could. The anger drown the little demon in his chest, and he found it much easier to control than his stupid hormonal urges towards her.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" he shouted, getting right up in her face.
Zuko could see that she was calm, even though his yelling had scared half of the inhabitants of the marketplace.
"That," she said slowly and deliberately, "was for insulting my good friend (he flinched unintentionally when she emphasized good), insulting me, embarrassing me, and then TRYING TO MAKE A MOVE ON ME!"
He was extremely hurt and offended, although he didn't let it show. She didn't like it when his muscular arm was wrapped around her shoulder? He certainly did – she fit perfectly into him. But he controlled his emotions, and, noticing that the fountain behind her had exploded, decided he needed to make a snappy comeback.
"And I thought I had anger problems," he smirked.
Katara's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she stomped out of the marketplace. Zuko was taken aback by her sudden move, and it took him a minute to catch up to her. She was so furious, he decided he should at least try to make her understand…
"By the way, I was trying to make you stop because he seemed a bit suspicious to me." (Partially true, after all. The bastard's eyes were very strange…). Then, of course, he decided that a snide comment was in order.
"And next time, tell me where your going before you stomp away," he smirked.
Zuko was taken aback when she shrieked in rage, and turned to tackle him off of the path, landing on top of him (not angry, or displeased, just shocked). She managed to punch him in the face a few times before he could flip them over without hurting her.
Then, she got calm again, which worried Zuko. If she was calm in a situation like this, he was undoubtedly in trouble.
"And to think," she said casually, "that you did all those things because you were jealous."
Zuko couldn't control his emotions – he had expected a lot of things, but that? Was he that obvious? No, he couldn't be. She was just bluffing. So he had to be angry.
He managed to rearrange into an expression that he hoped looked like anger, and jumped off of her (damn…I was just getting comfortable too).
"Jealous?" he asked scathingly. At this the previously drowned little monster leaped back to life and broke free of its cage.
"Why would I be jealous of that little mediocre bender of a…PRETTY BOY?"
Katara grinned.
Oh man. She's got me.
He hoped his death would be quick and painless.
"Oh, its just that he gets to take me out to dinner tonight. We're going to have soooo much fun."
Damn gods. You never liked me, did you?The monster in Zuko's chest roared as he tried to regain his composure. All he managed was a lame insult.
"Why would I want to take you on a date?" in what he hoped sounded like a scornful voice.
"Well," she said walking around him, trailing her fingers over his arms (DAMNIT!!! WHY DID SHE INSIST ON TORTURING HIM?), "its probably because I'm sooo nice (yes!), and such a good fighter (yes!!!), and the most beautiful girl you'll ever meet (YES!!!!!), and," here she stopped, and leaned toward him, moving her head close to his and meeting his eyes, "I'm an excellent kisser."
Zuko reeled inwardly.
Oh shit…she's completely right…and she's RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME!FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T DO ANYTHING! SHE WOULD NEVER FORGIVE YOU!
But she's right there! It would be so easy just to lean down a bit and –
DON'T THINK ABOUT IT –But it was too late. A combination of her warmth, her proximity, and the fact that she was acting so gods damned sexy had thrown his stupid love struck mind into chaos. In fact, if she hadn't chosen that second to step back, he probably would've kissed her right there, and all of his hard work of being mean and sarcastic to her would've gone out the window. Even with her stepping back and turning away from him, he couldn't stop the images of them kissing and doing (ahem) more (A/N: I'll leave the details to all your nasty minds :-P) running through his mind. The only advantage of this was the fact that the stupid monster thing had settled down for a couple seconds, long enough for him to get his face under control.
Just as she leaned into him again. (damn, damn, damn, DAMN!)
Zuko felt her lean up to whisper into his ear. He closed him eyes, savoring the feel of her in his arms again.
"But you don't like that in a girl, do you?"
She then turned abruptly and walked quickly back towards the campsite.
He merely gaped after her form, then collapsed on the ground.
DAMNIT! What am I going to do? I can hardly control myself…You'll just have to learn with it. You've dealt with overbearing emotions before, just…ignore them or something.
Yeah, that worked like a charm, didn't it?Well, just deal with it when it comes up. Maybe being really rude to her will make things better.
No, then she'll just get pissed and do it again…Zuko swore mentally, realizing what he had just done.
I've just exposed my worst weakness…shit, I am soooo screwed the next time I see her.
Thinking of this, he waited as long as he could before getting back to the camp.
When he finally got there, he saw that Katara was in deep discussion with her brother Aang, and decided to keep out of sight as well as he could.
When she finally left to get ready, he relaxed.
A/N – Do you like it? Is it good-ish? I've already written the second chapter, so I'll put it up soon. But if you have any issues with the style, or language, or whatever (or if you just want to tell me that you love the story so much) PLEASE REVIEW!!!! If you want to yell at me for how awful this pairing is, save it. Zutara is my ship, so don't read if you can't take it.
Preview –
Zuko gets relationship advice from Sokka!
Katara has a fight with her conscience!
And much more!
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