Freedom

Chapter 30: The Missing Spark

That evening was spent blissfully sitting by the fire, sharing old tales of each of the four nations and sharing many laughs. The stars shined above and the moon cast its full glow on the barn that night.

As the fire died out, they retired to their sleeping sacks, looking to catch some restful sleep for the first time in the past few weeks.

But Zuko laid awake, staring back at the rafters of the barn. He tried to close his eyes but sleep did not seem to come to him. Finally, with a quiet huff, he shoved aside his sleeping bag and sauntered away from the camp and the dying fire.

Katara laid there comfortably. Her eyes were not pulled into sleep, but she enjoyed the feeling of her sleeping sack around her, and the feeling of camping together again. She heard a quiet huff and the sound of a someone getting up. She rolled over to see who it was and caught Zuko's back as he was walking out of the door. She laid there for another moment, asking herself if she should follow. She didn't know if he even wanted to be followed. But she also knew better then to trust exactly what he wanted. He also wanted to let them leave him behind.

Katara quietly, as to not wake her brother or Aang, opened her sleeping bag and tip toed out of the barn. Appa grumbled lowly, but no one else made any indication they knew she was gone.

When she walked out of the barn, she saw Zuko sitting in a pile of rubble, his elbows on his knees as he stared out into the night sky. Katara walked towards him quietly at first, but as she approached she let her footsteps get louder as to not disturb him.

At the sound of her footsteps, Zuko turned towards the noise, letting out a breath when it was just her. He smiled back at her as she approached. Katara sat down next to him, "Couldn't sleep?" she asked.

He nodded, looking back up at the sky, "It's complicated..."

Katara shook her head a little, "Doesn't have to be..." she twiddled her thumbs as she spoke. Zuko sighed, wrestling with his emotions. He was never good at expressing how he felt, normally he would just take his emotions and yell at people. But he didn't want to do that to Katara. He never wanted to yell at her.

"I don't know..." he began, his mouth searching for the right words to say, "It just feels strange... being here..."

Katara nodded a little, "I can understand that..."

Zuko sighed, "It's just that for so long... my goal was to capture the Avatar and go home... but now..." he paused for a moment before speaking, "That's not my home anymore... it hasn't been for a long time..."

Katara looked over at him, finding the light in his amber eyes amidst the dark night sky, "Home isn't always where you were born..."

"I know... but it makes me miss my Uncle..." he looked down into his knees, then up at his hands as he wrung them together, "I wonder if he would be proud... or if he would tell me I'm doing the right thing..." he paused once more then let out a chuckle, "Or tell me some stupid proverb that wouldn't make sense"

The two of them laughed together, before growing quiet once again. It was a comforting silence, one that didn't need to be filled with background noise or mindless chatter. It was easy to sit next to each other and look up at the moon.

"I think he would be extremely proud of you Zuko..." Katara told him, looking over at him. Zuko looked back at her and smiled in thanks. The two looked at each other for a moment, getting lost in their amber and ocean eyes.