Hello. This is my first Zutara fic, so I hope everyone enjoys it. Please review! I want feedback. It takes place after the Firebending Masters so don't read if you don't like spoilers. However if you do, go right ahead!
Disclaimer: Nah…I no own.
Outcast
Zuko watched on as Katara and Aang practiced their waterbending in the fountain. She moved gracefully with the essence of a master and he moved more slowly, as if he was still unsure of what he was doing. Zuko sighed. The others had made a small group to the right of him.
He knew what they were talking about. He could hear the whispers. Although they did trust him, with the exception being Katara, he could understand why they would be whispering about him while watching the two waterbenders. He had after all been the one to cause them the most pain.
He turned his attention back to the duo in the pool. They were having a bending battle and the skill they demonstrated was amazing. She blocked his every move with her own, and she always somehow knew what his moves were going to be. She was still graceful, dancing in the water like a water snake.
"You're hesitating, Aang. Don't! That will leave you open and cause your opponent to know your moves before you decide to make them." Katara told her pupil while still blocking his attacks.
"I'm trying!" Aang said softly still throwing water at his master.
Katara put her arms down, and Aang did the same. They both stepped out of the fountain and Katara bended the water off of them.
"Not hard enough. We'll try again tomorrow. " she said.
Zuko did not say anything as Katara and Aang passed him. Katara gave him a look of disgust as Aang gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. What the thumbs-up was for, Zuko did not know, nor did he care. The group to the right started to disperse, and Zuko thought it'd be safe to try to seek out conversation.
He got up from against the wall and started to walk towards the groups of twos and threes when he felt the earth shake under him. He struggled to gain his balance when he heard a soft laughter behind him. It was Toph, the blind earthbender. She had been getting back at him for burning her feet since the day they had healed enough for her to distinguish him from the others.
"Got ya, Prince." She said.
She had been calling him Prince since the day he got there. She couldn't think of anything else, so she decided that his former status would do for a nickname.
"Yeah." He said. He looked around and saw that everyone else was talking. "So, how are your feet?"
"Oh, they're fine." She said. "Look I know you don't really want to talk to me, so I'm gonna go away." She turned to leave, "Watch your back!" she shouted playfully as an afterthought.
Oh, how wrong she was! Zuko was so desperate for company he would've welcomed Sokka with open arms. But that was his life at the Western Air Temple. He was the outcast of the group. The marked man. The man no one liked to talk to.
At dinner Zuko ate alone. Not that that mattered. He had been at the temple for about three weeks, Aang was learning firebending quite nicely, and yet no one, except for Aang once in a while, would eat with him. Zuko missed the company of his Uncle Iroh.
His mind wondered to Iroh. What was he doing right now? As Zuko wondered about his uncle, Katara walked over to him.
"Do you want any more food?" she asked rudely. Her eyes had little warmth to them, and yet Zuko felt that she would never be able to get rid of all her kindness towards him even if she tried.
"No, I'm full." He lied.
She nodded and left. Then she sat with others and started laughing at a joke Sokka had made. His heart ached for companionship in this place. His only friend was Aang, the others were nice enough, but none would qualify as friend.
He sighed and silently decided he was going to go to bed. He thought no one would notice that he was leaving. He thought that if any did, it would be Aang. But he was wrong.
Katara turned and saw he was no longer eating by himself but gone entirely.
Good, she thought, now I don't feel bad for not talking to him.
The next morning Zuko and Aang had a firebending session. Unlike Aang's and Katara's sessions, no one looked on. They wouldn't dare. Zuko guessed they thought that he would turn on them.
Zuko created fire daggers in his hands. But they were not flames of orange and red. They were white flames. A few weeks after he and Aang saw the dragons Zuko found he could produce this fire. It was stronger than Azula's, but he didn't let anyone else know. Only he and Aang knew of his talent.
Aang created fire daggers in his own hands; his were the traditional red and orange. The two bowed and the battle was on.
Zuko stabbed at Aang, not trying to hit him fatally of course. Aang ducked and weaved much like the airbender he was. Aang saw a break in Zuko's attack and took his chance. He sent a tunnel of fire at Zuko, but Zuko redirected it.
Zuko then lowered the power of his flames to blue. He sent a dozen blue fireballs Aang's way who blocked them with a wall of orange flames. Aang kicked and sent fire at Zuko.
Zuko blocked it also. Zuko raised his hand to signal the end of the battle. Aang was taken aback. Their sessions always lasted well into the afternoon before Toph would take him.
"What's wrong, Zuko?" Aang asked.
Zuko shook his head, "Nothing."
It was Aang's turn to shake his head, "I don't believe you."
Zuko looked into the young Avatar's eyes and said softly, "Then don't. Training's done."
Zuko watched Aang and Katara practice. There was a group to his right, and he heard the whispers. It was just another day.
Alright I know there wasn't a lot of Zutara, but I need people to understand Zuko in this fic. Next chapter will be about Katara, and then after that, hopefully, the Zutara will start. Let me know what you think. Till next time,
MisfitGirl13