Beauty in the Beast (Zutara)

Chapter Thirty

The hand before her was filled with temptation. The desire to see her children once more, to stop living in uncertainty. She wanted to hold her precious children once more, the pain of seeing them grow without her stung in her heart. A pain he was more than willing to alleviate.

"Come now, Ursa. It's time to put this mess all behind us." His voice was so soft, like the first nights of their marriage. "It's time to come home." She knew better though. There was no kindness in his words. No gentleness in his smile that he flashed her. She knew him better than that.

"You lived so long without me." She said. "All three of you. Why do you want me back now?" Ursa was amazed his fake smile didn't falter. "What do you have to gain from me coming home?" Ozai didn't answer for a moment.

"You."

"Bullshit." Her eyes narrowed. "What's the real reason? You lost control again didn't you?" Observing the tenseness in his jaw, she knew she had to tread lightly. He was never above abuse to make his point. Her skin pricked at the memory of his hands on her. Silence loomed over both of them as her eyes lit up.
"You're losing territory again, aren't you?" His own eyes narrowed at her, a snarl freeing itself from his lips. "And you want me to fix finances and budget for you again." Defeated, he said nothing. She crossed her arms watching over the man trying to repair his ego before her. Despite harboring no love for her husband, she knew him intimately, more than she would like to admit.

"I admit, it's harder to keep areas outside of this fearful little town. I don't have the eyes and bodies like I used to."

"You got cocky, Ozai." She corrected him. "You always do. So used to having your wins handed to you, you don't know how to actually play the game." A low growl came from his throat.

"Watch yourself, Ursa." Rage fueled her legs as she closed the gap between them, her eyes glaring into his.

"No, you watch yourself!" She snapped much to his surprise. "You're the one who needs me! Not the other way around! You want me to come back and fix your issues; things are going to change." Slightly amused, Ozai crossed his arms staring down at her.

"Like what?"

~~
Zuko looked over at his reflection in a nearby window, fingers touching the border of his scar gently getting a feel for the difference in skin texture. Noticing someone inside the shop staring at him, he turned his head away, moving the scar out of the person's line of sight sighing at how quickly he shifted his attention back to his work. Despite years of having this large mark on his face, he still was unprepared when it came to others reacting to his face. How would she react? A thought bubbled up. He groaned and ran a hand through his hair at the thought of his own mother being repulsed by what he had become. What his father turned him into. Would she turn away from me now that her boy had become a monster? Embers had pricked under his eyes at the thought of the woman he wanted most, turning her back on him after seeing his face. What would he even do if she wanted nothing to do with him anymore? To reject him, deem him ugly, unfit to be her child any longer? Upon arrival, Katara looked at Zuko's distressed face and placed a soft hand on his shoulder, frowning to see him jump.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly. Zuko turned his scarred side away from her and nodded. Her jaw tensing, she turned his head to face her, meeting his resistance. "Hey, talk to me. What's going on, Zuko?" Her hand moved to his face her fingertips grazing the very beginning of his scar causing him to move her hand slowly.
"Did someone say something about your scar again?" He shook his head and kept his eyes off of her not wanting to see the worry on her face.

"Don't worry about it, let's just go."

"I...okay." She agreed kissing under his scarred eye delicately before her fingers locked with his. He kept his eyes down for a moment before squeezing her hand as they made their way to their date. She moved closer to him ignoring the gawking eyes of strangers passing by. Constantly, her eyes trailed to his tense jaw, his darting and worrying eyes, clearly mulling over something distressing in silence. Her teeth captured her bottom lip as she rubbed his hand with her thumb as they walked, relieved to see some of his tenseness being soothed from the action. He squeezed her hand again softly in silent thanks; something she recently learned about him when he was often too deep in his own head. She knew she calmed him at times and she was more than happy to be of service that way. He sighed as the cashier in the small café they went to flinched at his appearance, unaware of the warning glare his girlfriend was giving them. Zuko felt the eyes on his as he waited at the table listening to Katara, resisting the urge to hide his face once more. Katara watched as his fingers dug into the table while they waited grasping his hand instead, a curious tilt of her head.

"Do you want to grab the food and eat somewhere else?" She asked. He nodded quickly turning his face from her only to be faced with the burned side of his face in the nearby window's reflection. Sympathy ruled her face as she placed his hand on her face pleased at the way he immediately began to caress her cheek. His other hand was burdened by the weight of his head resting on it.

"I really don't understand what you see in me." His eyes widened slightly as he realized he had voiced his thoughts. She sighed and kissed his palm.

"A lot." She answered gently. He scoffed. "I mean it."

"That's what puzzles me." It was Katara's turn to scoff at him.

"Zuko, what's really going on?" She asked again. "I've been watching you grind your teeth in thought the whole time practically. Are you okay?" He bit his lip as their order was shouted.

"We should get that." Katara lightly growled at her boyfriend before getting up to get the order as he followed her out. The two of them found peace in the openness of a nearby park, no longer burdened by the foot traffic of passing people. They relaxed in the grass, admiring the peace and the gentle beating of the sun's warmth on their skin and the soft whistling of the breeze that danced in their hair. He hated the way she stared at him the entire time, as if to tell him she hadn't forgotten his distress. He also hated the way it was beginning to wear him down. Damn those eyes of hers. He pulled her closer, letting his lips linger on the side of her neck, pleased at the small shiver down her spine.

"Don't you start that." She warned, pulling away from him. "Something's clearly bothering you, Zuko." He sighed softly, resting his head on her shoulder. "You're more insecure about your scar than usual." She pointed out, aware of the slight flinch from him. "Did someone say something about it?" Slowly, he shook his head as he struggled to even begin to phrase what was going on in his head. Katara watched nervous hands clench and unclench on his leg feeling uneasy swallowing in his throat. He didn't even know where to begin with telling her what he heard, how he felt about his mother coming home. What she would say when she saw him; what she would say when she sees the scar. Zuko felt concerned eyes on him as he closed his eyes and sighed, pushing out his words.

"Mother...might be coming home." His voice was unsteady and quiet. Katara watched him carefully before her hands embraced his, stroking his hand. "And I don't know what she would think of me now. I'm afraid." Zuko slumped into her as she sighed.

"Zuko, I'm sure regardless, she'd just be happy to have you in her arms again." She allowed Zuko to move closer to her getting more comfortable in her embrace. "Is that all that's been worrying you or..." she trailed off, her words becoming unsure. Zuko groaned and ran his hand down his face.

"I don't know Katara. I should be happy right?! My mother is coming home again. So...why aren't I?" His face grew solemn. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be burdening you with all of this."

"Zuko, I'm your girlfriend. If I can help you I will." She responded softly kissing his head. "I want you to be happy."

"I just feel like I burden you too much." He confessed. "You've already done so much for me and I just...I feel like I do nothing but rely on you."

"You're not a burden Zuko. I promise." She assured him. "Are you a little messed up? Yes. Considering who your father is, there's no way you couldn't be." Zuko scoffed.

"You have no idea."

"You're right I don't." Katara agreed. "But what I do know is that you have to live with him. I can only imagine what that's like." A teasing grin grew on his face.

"Interesting, not too long ago, you were so sure about me." It was her turn to scoff as she rolled her eyes at his statement.

"I know. I misjudged you, horribly."

"Jokes on you, now we're dating." Katara let out a soft snort at the absurdity. "Well, to be fair, I misread you too." He admitted.

"Jokes on you, now we're dating." Zuko snickered and played with her hair gently.

"Yeah, we are." His voice soft and his fingers gently gliding against her skin. "And I never thought that would make me this happy." She smiled leaning into his hand as he kissed her feverishly pleased at the small squeak of surprise and the way she melted into him kissing back the last of their meal forgotten.