Seashell Locket

One Shot - Katara x Zuko

Chapter One -

May the water bring you back to me, dear.

When I close my eyes sometimes, I dream that I hold my heart-shaped glass. You are there too, walking in an uncertain direction. With an erratic rhythm, alternating between too slow and too fast. You walk around. Every step closer, the tighter I hold it, every step further, the harder my grip is. There's just no escaping this isn't it?

With every breath I feel the pressure, the wind, the water, the earthquakes, the tsunamis. I often question what would happen if I let go of it.

Will I drown? Will I swim? Will I fly? Will I sink?

But what if, what if...

I break it? Will I be free? I don't recognize this vessel anymore, what fills it and what doesn't? Did you pour sugar or is it a peach flavored something? Did you gift me lilies? Are you singing me lullabies? Ever since you came along, I can't tell which color is the sky. Did I stare too long into your eyes? I feel like I lost track of time.

Like I'm out of tune.

I can feel the cracks, but I sometimes wonder.. were they already there? Did I make new ones? It seems odd, but while laying in your arms... I could swear I felt them mending. I guess warmth doesn't need to burn to repair. But your fire, is it friendly fire? I don't wish to get caught in crossfire. If I have to put my heart on a line, I wish it not to be a dotted one.

My heart, oh heart. It can deceive me in ways people would only dream of, however my eyes... sometimes they tell me you're worth of my tears being shed for. My lips, they seem to always find an excuse to brush against yours. As if the fact they are chapped would be solved in an instant, urging to pretend you are my favorite lip balm. And my skin.. it trembles in your presence and shakes in your absence, as if telling me...

"Stop shivering, child. Come closer to the Sun"

Unknowing that I'm a child of the Moon.

How can you tell a fire apart from a sun? They shine, they burn. They can keep me close, but never too close. How could a sun stop spinning around itself and join me in orbiting this galaxy? Not many dare to take me out for a dance, but I know they love to watch. From afar, always. I dance in all my phases and places and faces. Changing paces while navigating through my mazes. A mystery for many, a threat to some, poetry for others, but alas, no one knows my origins. The fragile atmosphere, the heaviness of this heart and the weight gravity holds. If I had to stop for a full second, I should warn you, not even Atlas could carry my burdens.

Regardless, there's a need to keep moving. A deep-rooted melody that flows in my veins, it tells me to sing. So I sing, I dance, I swifty walk around time, barefoot, like my grandma taught me. Tiptoeing around space, orbiting this precious Earth.

Some say I'm bold, brave and at times feral.

But if I can't be wild, who am I to be?
Where's the freedom in being tame?
How could I ever stand being tamed?

A fire needs to burn, it needs oxygen, fuel.
Water? It only needs to flow. Movement.

Calm waters never made a good sailor, as they said. So if you're looking for stillness, don't you cross my eyes, dear. Beware of the storms it holds, don't come near if you can't face the cycloned soul behind them. I'm an ocean in all its fullness, the unknown dangers await the deeper you dive.

Courage. Oh, dear. You must be courageous to navigate such a challenging universe that is me. The tides would only open you a path if proven worthy of facing the waves. However, once taken in, it slowly becomes a part of you. You will no longer need to hold your breath as the water will embrace you in your fullness. It won't avoid you getting hurt, as the waters will heal your wounds. It won't shape your essence, as the waters will protect your freedom. It won't protect you from the world, but the waters would be a refuge if you ever need shelter. If so you wish to make it a sanctuary, you shall preserve and respect it as such.

May I remind you a snowflake is made of water, but so is a snowstorm.

However, I feel the need to confess and tell you dear...

May you ever wish to keep your mark in me; Engrave your name in my shells, don't write it in the sand. So in case you must be washed away, may those ripples bring you back to me. You will not be kept in soul; if you can help it, find solace in the fact that lost in a deep blue ocean, remains your name engraved herein.

And perhaps, deep down this vast ocean, sitting beside coral reef and seaweeds... lies a tiny creature holding a piece of you.