Prompt: # 036 - Kiss
Title: Four Kisses That Never Happened (But Totally Should Have)
Word Count: 665
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Four kisses that never happened between Zuko and Katara. (YET!)
Author's Notes: So, I'm kind of going with the style of my last drabble but it's necessary for my idea. The other half will be up as soon as I can figure out how to write them but I just HAD to post this.
P.S. Yes, the second part is supposed to be based on Chapter 3. I thought it would be cool to put things from Zuko's POV
I
Their first kiss was an accident. Zuko had not walked Katara back to the campsite after a candlelit dinner or swept her off her feet after proclaiming his love.
No, it had happened on a sweltering day two days before they invaded the Fire Nation and nerves plus the sweltering heat had done nothing but cause the cord of tension that lingered between the group to pull tighter.
Zuko couldn't remember what happened. One moment they had been arguing over what was best for Aang and the next he was catching a very shocked Katara as she fell. Right. On. His. Lips. (He swore that the ground had shifted and he had heard a distant cry of "Yes!" that sounded suspiciously like the girl earth bender).
It was awkward, unplanned, and bloody fantastic. They stare at each other for a moment, too stunned to pull apart, but then slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes droop close and the pressure on his lips grows.
He pushes back, ignoring the rock digging into his spine (he knows it's going to leave a bruise but he just can't seem to care) or the fact that her brother is going to kill him for this later (again, he doesn't care all that much right now). And like most things between them, it becomes a battle of tangled limbs and will.
Zuko swears he can feel the gound shake beneath him but whether that was from the kiss or Aang going into the Avatar state, he wasn't sure.
II
Their next kiss was spent on a hill right after the fall of Ozai. His muscles scream in protest as he makes the long hike up but Zuko ignores it, he did make a promise after all.
'Just give in… you'll see her later,'
his mind whispers but Zuko shakes his head. No, he has to see her. He has to see her eyes, he needs proof. Proof that she's alive. So he trudges on, blades scraping the ground and eyes burning from the smoke in the air.When he reaches the top, the first thing he notices is the burning palace and all he can think is his home is burning. 'No, not home,' he corrects. 'Never home.'
Then, standing against the bloody sky and burning earth, Zuko sees her. Her clothes are tattered and hanging off her body, blood dotting the blue fabric. She does not move and for a second he wonders if this is some horrible trick that his exhausted mind has concocted. She is never this still, never this cold.
His swords fall to the ground and he quietly walks up behind her. She stiffens, war-ridden body exhausted and aware, but quickly relaxes and turns to face him. Salt trails streak down her face, leaving tracks through the smudges of soot and grime. She reaches for his face, shaking hands tracing each cheek and lingering on his scar (he never thought her hands would be calloused).
"You came…" she whispers her voice hoarse from the fight. Zuko's throat tightens, everything he has thought he would say clumping in his throat, and all he can do is nod. Katara smiles through her tears and brings his face down to hers. His arms automatically wrap around her waist and he puts all that he is into this kiss.
And as the world comes crashing down, Zuko finds peace.
A/N: I just had to get this out before the snow hits. (Though we're only going to get 1-4 inches, that's like a Godsend and state-wide emergency here in Alabama. Pathetic, I know but I am so freaking excited. XD) Hope you liked it and PLEASE review. It'll inspire me to write even more!