Hi everybody! I hope you're one of my loyal fans, but I don't think I have any. Sob-Sob! Okay, back to the late Valentine's Day story! Oh, by the way, Libros is the author of this, my friends think I'm crazy for watching this show. I know, they're the crazy ones.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, I wish I did, because things between Katara and Zuko would be very fluffy, and Aang would be a saint, accept it all, and get together with Toph!
Zuko paused at the doorway to the courtyard and looked around nervously, grateful for the absence of one of his new "friends."
"Stop hanging about and get in here Hot Head!" Toph called from where she was sitting.
Zuko smiled as he went to sit around the fire with Aang and the rest of what Sokka called, The Gaang.
"Trying to stay out of Katara's way?" Sokka guessed.
"Why would he do that?" Aang asked, confused as to why anyone would avoid Katara.
"Duh Twinkletoes! Anyone would think you were the blind one," Toph said in a condescending tone. "They've only been fighting 24/7 since he came!"
"Hey, stop talking about me, I'm right here!" Zuko protested, and she only shrugged. "And she starts the fights, not me! When was the last time I even fought back?!"
"Here Sugar Queen comes now!" Toph warned, and they all fell silent as they watched her walk in, smiling and holding something behind her back.
Katara stood there, grinning softly and then she began to talk,
"In my tribe, we have a holiday where we give treats to all our friends, and if I was still there, that's what I'd be doing today. Since I couldn't get anything traditional, I disguised myself and went into a town to buy some."
"You did what?!" Sokka yelled, standing up and walking over to her and grabbing her shoulders. Zuko was in agreement with Sokka, risking everything for some dumb holiday was stupid, for lack of a better word.
"Anyway," Katara continued, shrugging Sokka off her, without removing her hands from behind her back, "I couldn't find anything traditional, so I bought this stuff called chocolate."
Sokka stepped back, even as everyone else was rushing forward to get their gift, except Zuko. To tell the truth, he really didn't expect one, she hated him after all.
Once Haru, Teo, and Duke had received their gifts of chocolate, they took off to go eat in private. Aang was glancing at Toph nervously, but she didn't seem to notice, or at least she didn't make fun of him. They both got their chocolate and then thanked her before ambling off somewhere in opposite directions. Sokka received a piece that was carved to look like the moon and a fan, which immediately made his smile become a little shaken, but he too thanked her and left.
'What a stupid holiday.' Zuko thought bitterly, wishing that he could be part of their fun.
"Zuko, come over here!" Katara ordered in a stern voice and he winced. Still, he got up and walked over to where she was standing. "Did you think I'd be mean enough not to get you something?"
The look in his eyes told her that he had thought that, but inside his mind was racing at the fact that she was alluding to the fact that she had bought him a gift.
"Well, I did, so be grateful," Katara said seriously before her face broke out in a smile. "Consider it a piece offering. Sorry I've made your life so miserable, I'm ready to give you a third chance."
Zuko discreetly pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. She hesitantly held out a small piece of chocolate.
"It took me forever to find one that fit your personality, but I finally found one." Katara babbled. Looking down at the chocolate, that was the image of two faces next to each other, one smiling, the other frowning threateningly, Zuko frowned.
"What, I'm two faced?" Zuko asked with just a hint of bitterness.
"No. It means that as a bad guy, you were a strong opponent, but as a good guy, you make an even stronger friend." Katara responded, looking a bit embarrassed.
"So, where did everyone else go?" Zuko asked, trying to sound casual while changing the subject.
"Probably to find gifts for each other." Katara responded, and Zuko realized with alarm that that was probably what he should be doing as well. Katara smiled and said, "Well, I guess I'll just get cooking."
Zuko saw his escape and took off to his rooms, but in his head he was already planning what to do.
Hours upon Hours later
"DINNERTIME!" Katara yelled, and it seemed like everyone crawled out of the wood work as if they had been just waiting for her call, which, to tell you the truth, was what they had been doing.
Dinner was quiet, as everyone was nervous about the upcoming gift giving.
"Let's do gifts now!" Aang exclaimed excitedly, and everyone nodded their agreement.
"I'll go first." Teo offered, and he produced some kind of liquid in bottles to everyone. "My dad taught me how to make this. It's a really sweet drink you make when you boil some roots, I swear, it's really good!"
"Mine's tons better than that!" Duke exclaimed, taking out little rocks on which he had written his name in chalk. "Each rock is worth one chore for me to do instead of you."
"That sounds good to me!" Katara exclaimed, thinking about all the work she did everyday.
"I just have something small." Haru said, and he handed them all little rocks which he had bended to look like the symbols for their nations, even Zuko got one.
"I got a leaf for everyone!" Sokka exclaimed, and they all looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Seriously, they're cool leafs, they're called mood readers. You set them on you, and they change colors, until they decay and blow away."
Wanting to manage to get through today without teasing him, which in itself would be a gift for him, Toph stood up, smiling brightly as she slung a bag off her back and opened it up. Inside lay little stone statues, one for everyone. Teo's was shaped like a chair glider, Dukes like a bag of blasting jelly, and Haru's was like a little fire nation ship. Sokka's was a little boomerang, which he immediately threw and was pleased to find came back and hit him in the head just like it's larger model. Katara received a miniature cooking pot, which made everyone laugh. Aang got a mini-exact statue of himself, and he stared at it in wonder, exclaiming that it was amazing, but Toph only shrugged and blushed.
Toph finally turned to Zuko, and he waited with baited breath. Slowly, she reached into her bag and brought out a rock she had bended to look like fire and water dancing with each other.
"Toph-" He started to say in a warning fashion, but she cut him off.
"I know, but can you blame me?"
For his gift, Aang showed them a few new airbending tricks while he was standing on Appa, and they all clapped enthusiastically. Now it was Zuko's turn.
"I just want you all to know I'm not very good at this, and I don't normally give gifts." Zuko said nervously. "So I can't say that this is really a gift, but Aang gave me the idea, so here it goes."
He stood up, and all eyes were on him. He took a deep breath and then emitted a flame from his hand, causing it to dart around the courtyard. It became a dragon, which circled all of them before exploding into a million sparks which all fizzled out before they had touched the ground. Then, both of his hands emitted flames which formed a heart, which was then struck by a flame arrow. It then rose higher in the sky where it exploded like fireworks.
Everyone clapped loudly, staring at the night sky in wonder. One by one however, as Katara washed the dishes and Zuko dried, they drifted off, one by one.
"It was cool what you did tonight Zuko," Katara said, not looking at him, instead she was scrubbing hard on an invisible spot on one of the pans.
"Thanks Katara," Zuko said as he gently took the pan out of her hands and began to dry it. "It was nice of you to have put on all this Valentines Day stuff for us."
"Wow, you actually showed gratitude for something," Katara said a bit bitterly, but then she sent an apologetic look towards him. "Sorry, it's gonna take some time for me to get used to the whole being nice to Zuko thing."
"That's the last of them," Zuko said, as he dried the last bowl. Then he said, with a blush spreading across his face, "So, can I walk you to your room?"
"Sure." Katara said, biting her lip as she stood up.
They walked to her room, not really talking about anything important, but their conversation wasn't full of hostility, which would have been impossible before today.
"Well, this is my room," Katara said unnecessarily as she came to a stop.
"So, I may not know a lot about water tribe customs, but I think I've heard something about this Valentine's Day stuff." Zuko said, rubbing the back of his neck. Katara turned to him, expecting him to tell her what he was talking about. Instead, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. It didn't last long and it wasn't that impressive, but to Katara, it was the most amazing thing ever.
"Goodnight Zuko." Katara said, smiling even though her face was as red as it could be. With a little wave she went inside her room and closed her door, leaning against it as she touched her still tingling lips. Zuko was frozen for a minute, but he gained control over his body and he walked back to his room on autopilot, his heart felt like it was part of his earlier fire show.
In another section of the Air Temple, Toph was giggling in a very un-Toph way in her room, going over every moment of Aang's and her kiss, while Aang was literally walking on air in his room, celebrating.
"I love Valentines Day!" They all exclaimed at the same time as they flopped onto their beds.
The End
So, was it bad? Was it good? Were the characters out of character? Are you even reading this part of my story? Okay then, I hope you liked it! It probably wasn't the greatest, but I had a need to right a Valentines Day story! Hey, don't forget to review! ;)