wise words are overrated
(i'm bad at being good, but i'll never give up)

With a last glance towards the whimpering man on the ground, he turned around and followed her footsteps.

She didn't say a word on their way back to where they parked Appa, so he didn't bother to start a conversation. They've been through a lot today, and the only thing he wanted was for them to go back to their camp and go to sleep.

He pulled his black shirt off- it was soaked and heavy; and found that hers was already folded and she was currently holding it to his direction, and he got her message.

Their black shirts and face-masks was nothing more than black ashes just a minute later; he watched them get washed by the rain, wishing that the things they did tonight can go away that easily too.

Thud.

The sound snapped him out from his reverie; she was on his left side, one of her knuckles had hit one of the trees around them, and with another thud, the other knuckle joined.

Thud. Thud.

He couldn't see her face clearly from here, the rain made his vision go all soggy and blurred, but he was sure that she was crying. And this worried him.

Thud.

Zuko of The Fire Nation was not made for comforting girls.

He had met a lot of girls and ladies; either from Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom, but the only time he saw a girl cry besides her sister (when she was a baby, of course- Princess Azula does not cry) and her circus friend in Ember Island,was under the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se, and the tears had come from the same blue-eyed girl he was standing next to right now.

Thud.

And frankly, he didn't think that the words that he said the last time (I'm sorry) would stop her tears.

Thud. Thud.

The sound continued, and it grew louder and louder as she hit the tree bark harder and harder, and he started to worry that her knuckles might bleed.

"Katara?"

Thud.

"Katara." Thud. "Stop."

Thud. Thud.

He could see red coming out from the knuckles; this had to stop. "Katara!"

Thud.

He grabbed one of her hands- he's always been a physical person; only to lose it a second later- she's stronger than she was before, back when the only thing in his mind when he saw her is how to use her to capture the Avatar.

Thud.

Her hits were tinted with desperation; she hit the tree as if the action was the only thing that held her together, and she looked like she was going to fell apart if she stops.

"Katara." He took both of her hands from behind her and forcefully yanked her away from the unfortunate vegetation. She struggled hard, harder than he expected.

"Let go!"

"No."

"Let go!"

She must have meant to yell, but the sound that came out from her mouth sounded more like a child's shriek; scared and furious. She managed to turn herself around so now she was standing face to face with him and he was holding both of her wrists.

Déjà vu.

"I'm trying to help you!" He winced as soon as the words left his mouth; judging from her expression, he just made everything worse. Why, he asked the universe in his head, why couldn't his mouth say something right, just for once?

"I don't need help!" She yelled, angry blue eyes drilling holes into his golden ones. "What makes you think I need any help, and above all from you, huh?"

"Look," he tried to reason- where is Aang when you need him? He started to regret making fun of the kid earlier- "I know you're angry, and I understand-"

"No!" She cut him, hands struggling angrily to try to escape his grip. "You don't understand! No one does!" He could feel her tears dripping down on their hands, mixing with the blood on her knuckles. "Not dad, not Sokka, not Aang, and especially not you!"

He pretended that her words didn't hurt him. (That's what all her words did these days) To be honest, he really wanted to say that he understands, whisper against her ear that he knows her pain, and cares enough about it to the point that he didn't want to see her like this.

But he couldn't.

He's not made for spewing out words like that; words full of wisdom and sentimentality enough to make even his sister sick. No girl had ever needed that kind of words from him- Azula would rather die than asking him for advice, Mai's not a person who's into emotional heart-to-heart talks, and he didn't know the other girls long enough for them to share their feelings with him.

So he did what he does best.

He yelled back.

"You know what? Maybe I don't understand! I'm sorry that I'm not as unfortunate as you are!" He took a breath and looked her in the eye, "But if you think that I'm just going to stand here and let you hurt yourself over a pathetic excuse of a man, then you're wrong!"

She fell.

He was taken by surprise, and went down with her. The younger girl was sobbing uncontrollably now, burying her face in one of his shoulders, and he found himself releasing the grip he had on her wrists in exchange for patting her back awkwardly.

"They told me to forgive…" Her hands were gripping his tunic, and he found himself thankful that the red color would disguise the blood that splattered from her knuckles, "It's just… I can't…" The sobs continued, and he was, for the lack of better word, speechless.

Here he was, sitting sprawled on the muddy ground with the girl who threatened to end his life weeks ago crying on his lap and wetting his shoulder. Not to mention that it was raining, and the only company they had besides each other was a six-legged flying bison.

The description in his head sounded like a scene straight out from a romance play his mother used to watch in Ember Island.

He tried to think about how he should deal with this. What would his uncle do at times like this? If the old man was in his place right now, he would've pulled the waterbender to a warm hug, smiled and wiped out her tears, then told her some proverbs that sounded wise to make her feel better.

He sighed. No, that wouldn't help at all. His experience with Sokka in the Boiling Rock told him that uncle's proverbs sounded best when they were delivered by, well, by uncle himself. He's not feeling articulate right now, anyway.

Aang… The bald kid would've hugged Katara too, and told her that he was proud of her because she did the right thing. And then he would preach about the wonders of forgiveness.

No. Just… no. He wasn't even sure if she did the right thing- if he did the right thing- and he didn't think that she would actually be comforted by the sole topic of forgiveness, not with the way she was chanting "I'll never forgive him" to his tunic like some sort of a mantra.

Another sigh. Come on, he told himself. You can do this.

"Look…" Her sobbing continued, "Katara, I…"

He was losing his ground before he even began. She lifted her head, and their eyes met once again.

"I…"

She looked so small, so young, and so hurt that the sight of her almost broke his heart.

"I…"

Screw wisdom.

"I'm not good with words," he said finally. "I don't know what to say right now to you, but…"

He placed his hands on her back and pulled her for an awkward hug, "It's going to be okay."

She was still crying and soaking his tunic, but she hugged him back.

Even though the only words that he could say to her were "It's okay" over and over and over again until he sounded like a broken record, she accepted his comfort; and he was glad.

Reviews will be very appreciated. And oh, I don't own Avatar.