Avatar: The Last Airbender One-shots

Vanishing Memories

***Hello there! This story is basically Zutara, which I don't usually write. So... you're welcome? Also, just warning you, it's sad. But all my stories seem to be sad, so please comment suggestions or email me so they won't be sad! And of course, all of this is created by the terrific Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino! Enjoy!***

Katara lay there in the Western Air Temple on her sleeping bag, looking up at the rocky enclosure with the upside down temples, their blue spikes ready to impale her at any moment as everyone slept soundly around her. 

But at this time in the night, that thought was far away from her mind. 

Instead, it was filled with pictures and memories of her mother. 

Her beautiful, fierce, and gentle mother. 

Her mother that was cruelly taken from her, the only thing left being the carved necklace around her neck and the memories that haunted her. 

She grabbed a fistful of her dark brown hair, the same hair her mother had. Tears welled up in her eyes, dripping down her face as silent sobs escaped through her mouth as memories swelled into a crashing wave. 

She clawed at the concrete beneath her fingertips, begging for silence as her mind raged with words, smells, movements, pictures. 

Finally, she pulled her hands from the ground and clasped them across her face as a sob tore through her mouth. 

"Katara?" a deep voice suddenly sounded. 

Katara knew that voice. 

She quickly sat up, tightly gripping the water bag at her side. 

"What is it, Zuko?" she growled out. 

He stared at her with an almost pitiful look. 

"Look, I'm not in the best mood right now, so I suggest you walk away and forgot everything  you just saw." 

Katara faintly saw Zuko nervously shuffle his feet in the dark night. Silence then filled the temple, slowly consuming Katara until her veins twitched in her head.

 "I'm sorry." 

Katara abruptly looked up to where Zuko was standing, his head down and the words still lingering on his tongue even though they were just said. 

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it now." Katara spat out as Zuko winced. 

"Katara, I-" 

"No, Zuko. I don't want to hear your pitiful excuses. Save it for the others who accepted your wretched apology."  

Katara turned onto her side as Zuko slowly inched forward. 

"Go away, Zuko." Katara snarled, her head pounding as her mother's bright blue eyes flashed across her mind before she was taken forever. 

"Katara-" 

"Go away!" 

Katara stood up, sending a string of water his way, harmlessly hitting his chest as she sunk to the ground. 

Breathing heavily, Katara murmured, "Go away." 

Zuko looked at Katara crumbled on the floor, tears now resuming their path down her face, Zuko staring at the small stain of water on the floor that had hit him only moments ago. 

"Katara, I know about your mother." he said softly, so softly that Katara thought she had misheard him. 

"Oh, do you?" she grimaced. 

He walked forward, then crouched down beside her. 

"My mother was taken from me too." 

Katara looked up at him, pain crossing her face for only a moment until it turned back into a scowl. 

"I know." she gritted out. "You told me right before you betrayed me. Before you betrayed us." 

Zuko's face fell. 

"Oh...right." 

Katara looked at him for a moment, remembering the sadness she felt for him, the hope that he was different than the rest of his family. 

"But look how that turned out." she thought to herself, glancing briefly to where Aang lay, the damage from that day still resting on the center of his back. 

"Katara, I've already apologized-" 

"NO. Do not try to use that excuse with me. No words can ever fix what you did that day." 

Zuko winced as memories once again flooded Katara's mind with the silence that echoed through the temple. 

Finally weary, Katara hugged her arms to her knees, noticing Zuko slumped on the floor beside her. 

"Zuko, what are you doing here?" she mumbled, her eyes heavy with fatigue. 

Zuko looked at the ground, grief filling his face. 

"Same reason as you."

 Katara's eyes widened. 

"Oh." she mumbled. 

Zuko suddenly let out a sharp pierce of laughter, then his face fell. 

"It's funny how something so long ago can still haunt you as vividly as the day it happened." 

"Yeah..." Katara mumbled, crossing her arms tighter across her knees. 

"Do you still remember what your mother looked like?" Zuko asked, his golden eyes staring into hers as if looking for solace. 

"....Kind of. As I get older the more I feel like I lose her." 

Zuko nodded his head slowly, tracing a slow finger on the concrete floor. 

"I don't remember much about my mother. She was quiet and reserved around my father, never said a word about her past. The only thing I seem to remember is her smile. It was there one day and then gone the next." 

Katara hesitantly reached out a hand then drew it back, biting her lip as tears pooled in her eyes. 

"I know this might not mean much to you," Zuko said shakily, "but the first thing I'm going to do once this war ends is I'm going to find my mother." 

Katara sucked in a deep breath, staring at the floor to avoid looking at Zuko's somber expression, knowing that she would fall apart if she did, knowing that she should say something-anything- to lighten the mood. 

She stayed silent though, her heart sinking deeper in her chest with each beat as the silence continued. 

He finally stood up on unsteady legs, and gave a trying smile to Katara before he trudged back to the room he was given. 

A single teardrop slipped down Katara's face, trailing down her shirt and absorbing into the thick blue fabric. 

Katara looked to the opening, revealing the midnight blue sky and the numerous stars, knowing that the relationship between her and Zuko would never be the same. 

***Um... did you like the story? I personally think that something happened for Katara and Zuko's relationship to improve, and I think that Katara is one of the most sensitive people in the group. I hope you enjoyed reading this and please comment mistakes, suggestions, literally anything. I love reading them!***