Revised version of my songfic which can be located at the first chapter.
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, Callalily, Stars, or their album, Destination XYZ.
A picture of you reminds me,
How the years have gone so lonely,
And why did you have to leave me,
Without saying that you love me?
I'm sayin' I love you again,
Are you listening?
Open your eyes once again,
Look at me crying
"Hurry up, Zuzu. Just because you're part of the Fire Nation again doesn't mean you could laze around all day." Azula said as she walked underneath the brightly lit sun, its power washing over her as it reached its highest point. She turned back to look at her brother, who was falling behind as they approached the place where they would meet with a high-ranking Fire Nation general.
"Of course, Princess Azula," Zuko said, gritting his teeth. He hated having to be bossed around by his sister. And the general? Last time thay met (two days ago), he poured wine all over Zuko's robes, claiming it was an accident. Good think Zuko knew that bending would be stupid at that time: he could have gotten burned again.
As the trio of teenagers continued walking towards the grand building taht held the general and his soldiers, Zuko spotted a WANTED poster crudely nailed onto a wooden sign.. It said:
Water Tribe Siblings: WANTED
Crimes:
Multiple Escapes from Princess Azula and Prince Zuko,
Alliance with the Avatar,
Defying of rules of the Fire Nation
Issued by: Princess Azula
Below was a very accurate drawing of the two siblings. He looked at Katara's sketch. It showed every vivid detail of her beautiful face and her torn-up clothes. He looked the her neck, bare and blank. He remembered her necklace, the smooth blue stone that he kept with him at all times, never letting anybody else see it or touch it. He loved the feeling of the stone, he would rub it when he was frustrated, stare at it when meditating, imagining her face when he closed his eyes, her crystal blue eyes sparkling everytime her breatehd in.
When nobody was looking, he tore out the picture of the waterbending peasant and stuffed it into his pocket.
That night, Zuko took out the picture and stared at it A picture of you reminds me...
If only you could hear me shout your name,
If only you could feel my love again,
The Stars,
In the sky will never be the same again,
If only you were here...
"Okay Zuko, all you have to do is bring me the Avatar. I will provide you with a ship, men, and you could even take Mai with you." at this Mai turned a deep scarlet, hidden only by the shadows that surrounded her. The shadows that listened to her heart as she longed for the prince... "I guess that's all. You two leave tonight." Azula walked off, leaving Ty Lee to cartwheel and backflip, Zuko to ponder on his feelings, and Mai to blush at the thought of being on a ship alone with Prince Zuko. Well, she wouldn't be alone, anyway, fellow Zutarians
The two arrived at the ship three hours later. Zuko's room was beside the staircase leading to the deck, while Mai's was positioned in front of his.
Opening his door, he saw lavish scrolls of Fire Nation history on the walls, a huge bed with silken sheets, and even an expensive-looking meditation shrine with candles and such. This was far better than his room when he was banished. As his mouth twitched upwards in a tiny smile, he noticed one thing about his room: One side of the wall was in blue.
Blue curtains that framed a picture of the North Pole during the attack, blue candles floating in a small basin llined with stones at the bottom. And in the middle of this blue space, a small blue table containing waterbending scrolls and a letter tied in blue ribbon at the corner. He picked it up and saw that it was from his uncle.
Dear Prince Zuko,
I see that you've seen your room. I overheard your sister, my niece, Azula talking with one of the guards. She decorated this area to spite you, to make you remember the journey to and from the poles. This was the ship that they used to bring me in. And I'm sure that Azula never told you that. I managed to escape for a few minutes to leave these scrolls at your table, and a frame for you to put anything special in. Don't ask me where I got them, it's better to count your blessings than to question them. Use these waterbending scrolls to practice. Turn the water whip into a fire whip. Make the water octopus your own multi-tentacled firebending move. Whatever you do, I know that it will be the right decision.
Your Uncle,
Iroh
Zuko looked at the frame. He placed Katara's photograph in it, staring at her neck once more. He misses her soothing necklace...He misses her...
That night, Zuko was making a tough decision. He would be happy to see her once more, sure. But they would be enemies. Again. After concluding that he needed some fresh air and time to think, he left his new cabin and walked towards the deck, picture frame in hand. He walked over to the metal railings, not hearing the creeking of the metal door as somebody else walked onto the deck, hidden by the shadows that have helped her cope with her want of the Prince's love.
He walked towards the rails, the cool night wind combing through his newly grown hair. The velvet-like sky was twinkling with diamonds. He held on to the picture of her that he had brought along. Looking up at the sky, he saw stars. Lots of stars. But instead of seeing twinkling lights, he saw the Sapphire eyes of somebody he betrayed. Sapphire eyes filled with anger and tears. He held the picture tighter.
"KAATAARAAAAAAAAA!!!" he shouted until he ran out of breath. He looked down at the sketch. If only you could hear me shout your name...
He heard the sound of liquid dropping onto the metal floor, a sound that he would always remember. The sound of tears hitting the cold metal surface of the ship.
"Mai..."
A picture of you reminds me,
How the days have gone so empty,
And why did you have to leave me,
Without sayin' that you love me?
I'm sayin' I love you again,
Are you listening?
Open your eyes once again,
Look at me crying
The next morning, Zuko sneaked off the ship after they docked, using the excuse of having to look for clues on the Avatar's whereabouts.. He wandered through the cobblestone streets, asking about a boy with arrows on his body who was probably injured. He always got the same answer: No.
The very next day, he saw fire coming from somewhere in the forests. He walked towards it, hoping to see her welcoming face instead of that of the Avatar. What he was met with was far worse than he. He saw-
"What are you doing here, traitor?" came a voice from beside him. Looking down, he saw that a boomerang was against his throat, a small trickle of blood coming down his neck.
"I came to apologize." he said, trying to keep his voice neutral, although it was painful to have to see blood down his throat because he imagined blood covering Katara's body, while she begged him to help her. It was one of his most frequent dreams about the waterbender.
"Pfft. Yeah right, the last time you apologized, you nearly killed Aang!"
"Was I the one who hit him with lightning!?" he replied. The boomerang cut deeper. Zuko sighed and put his hands up. Sokka still seemed unconvinced.
"Look, I won't hurt you or pull the little stunt that Azula did. I swear, and a firebender never goes back on his word."
"Tell that to your stupid sister. Tell it to the circus freak who paralyzed us! Tell it to the knife throwing girl that nearly killed us! Tell it to the prince who's right in front of me! The prince who should go to hell because he's such a mean bast-"
"Sokka! Let him go, he sounds sincere about this." Came Katara's voice, Katara's soothing and calm voice. She looked as if she had heard the whole conversation between the two boys.
"But you have to prove yourself first, so spill." Katara added, seeing the glare her brother sent her. She looked apologetically at him.
"Fine. Azula sent me to capture the Avatar. Mai and a few soldiers are docked in a small Earth Kingdom town. Azula's planning on invading the North Pole after Zhao failed. And she's going to-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's gonna take over the world and junk. Blah blah blah. We know that." Sokka said, withdrawing his boomerang.
"Are you listening?"
Katara walked over to him and healed his neck wound. The water she used was cold to give Zuko a rest from the sun's heat, but not cold enough to make him shiver. It was just right...like her cool hands...
If only you could hear me shout your name,
If only you could feel my love again,
The Stars,
In the sky will never be the same again,
If only you were here...
It's been a week since Zuko joined the group. Aang seemed to have accepted him, as did Katara. But Sokka and Toph remained suspicious.
Zuko decided that the scrolls were more helpful to Katara, so he gave them to her, despite his uncle's advice. The ex-Prince spared a glance at his crush. She caught it and gave him a small smile. At that moment, Sokka stood up and walked over to Zuko.
"Okay Scarface, we need to talk."
"Uh...why?" Zukosaid, but was forced to stand up anyway because Sokka pulled him up by the collar. He dragged the firebender over to the trees, where Zuko looked at Katara once more before they disappeared into the forest. The warrior turned around and glared at him.
"Okay Hothead, listen up. I will not let you harm Aang. I will not let you harm my sister. I will not let you betray us. I will not let you anywhere near my sister. I will not let you out of my sight. I will not let you even look at my sister. I will not let you eat if you do something we don't know about. I wil not let you look at my sister. I will not..."
Zuko let out a sigh, pretending to listen. He nodded every once in a while, not even bothering to find out what he was nodding about. His hand slipped to the picture in his pocket. If only you were here...
I'm sayin' I love you again,
Are you listening?
Open your eyes once again,
Look at me crying...
"So Zuzu, you decided to betray us after all... Pity, father would've welcomed you back." Azula said as she and her two friends circled the group. All five of them were back to back, making sure that nobody went out of their line of sight.
"Hmm...Five against three, hardly seems fair, no?" she said. Suddenly, when Katara moved to open her waterskin, she got struck in the chest by a blue fire ball. And as she fell, time seemed to have slowed down for Zuko. He pushed Sokka out of the way as he caught Katara's body.
Aang then went into the Avatar State, creating a whirlwind of chaos around the group. Azula and her cronies fled moments later, but Zuko wasn't paying attention to them anymore. He just wanted for Katara to wake up.
"Katara, Katara please. Please wake up. Open your eyes once again..."
If only you could hear me shout you name,
If only you could feel my love again,
The Stars,
In the sky will never be the same again,
"Is she gonna be okay?" Zuko asked the medic. They brought Katara to a town near the forest to get her treated. They've been there for hours, but she still hasn't woken up yet.
"She's going to be fine Mr...?"
"Li." he heard Aang reply from behind him. It took Toph and Sokka a while to get Aang to calm down after he went into the Avatar State, although they didn't blame him.
Zuko looked at the door to Katara's room. "Katara..." My life will never be the same again...
If only I had wings so I can fly,
I wanna be with you for all of time,
My love,
For you will never die...
"Katara!!" Zuko looked up from his chair as Katara exitted the clinic room she was assigned. He stood up and hugged her. "Katara, I was so worried."
"You helped me get through it." she said to him. He let her go and looked at her with a confused expression. She giggled.
"While I was unconcious I had visions sent by the Moon Spirit, Yue." she said.
"Yue? Princess Yue? What type of visions?" her brother asked from behind them. He wanted to know so badly. He was afraid for Suki, and he hoped that Yue is alright up there in the sky.
"I saw Zuko rip out my picture from a WANTED poster and he was looking at it all night. I also saw him on his ship, shouting my name while gripping the picture, your conversation with Zuko in the forest, what he was doing after the fight, oh and did I mention that I saw his thoughts too?" Katara said, thinking of what Zuko's been thinking about(the lyrics).
Zuko hugged her again. "I wanna be with you for all of time..."
If only you could hear me shout you name,
If only you could feel my love again,
The Stars,
In the sky will never be the same again,
If only you were here...
It was a year later, when Katara and Zuko were in the Fire Nation, after the war. They were walking in one of the gardens of the palace at night. They stopped by the turtle duck pond and Zuko kneeled on one leg. Katara looked shocked, and tears entered her eyes.
"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Sister of Sokka, Daughter of Hakoda, will you marry me?" he asked her, pulling out a necklace with a star shaped carving on it. Katara hugged him as he stood up. "Of course, Zuko. I love you." the two shared a passionat kiss.
"Zuko, what reminds you of us?Of...of our story?" Katara asked after he pulled away. Zuko looked up.
"Stars..."
Okay, this is the revised version of the original songfic, which can be found at the first chapter of this story. I want to apologize for any OOCness in this story, and I acknowledge that I suck at stories, so this is probably the best I could give you. Please review!
-R.G930