Zutara mini series

Chapter Three

During their stay in Ember Island, things changed drastically. Apparently, he destroyed their plans by unfolding his father's ambition to claim the Earth Kingdom and then the rest of the world. They had to act, and they had to do it on the day of Sozin's Comet. Aang deflected every attempt they made to form a plan or an attack strategy because he didn't want to hurt a tyrant. The rest of them, though, stayed in the kitchen for hours forming strategies and exchanging ideas, trying to find the perfect solution, the perfect course of action.

At dawn, Zuko rose and he exited from the small room he resided in, which must have belonged to a servant. He went to the pavilion and practised his fire bending, feeling the energy flow through his body. Only this time he had a visitor, and he stopped moving at once before approaching her.

“I didn't know you water benders rise so early in the day.”

“Oh really? Why because you rise with the sun and I rise with the moon?” She said to him, teasing him. He studied her closely, and he noticed the black bags under her eyes the way she moved like something was weighing her down. It was a wonder how no one had noticed what was happening to her when it was so obvious to him. He simply sat next to her as steam rolled off of him before simply asking.

“What's wrong? And before you say nothing I can see that you haven't been sleeping and you don't seem as you should?” He said into a question scared that he was going to insult her.

“I am worried.” she said in a quiet voice that if he was paying attention to her it could have been lost to the wind.

“About what?” he asked her softly, scared that she was going to draw her claws and fight him.

“About everything really. The probable invasion of your father in the most powerful and secure nation in the world. That Aang won't have the guts to stop him. Because the only thing that seems to matter to him is if I will date him. That I have to take care of everyone all the time while no one is willing to help me. I am just so tired, Zuko. I can't do it any longer.” She said as she started sobbing in her arms. Zuko felt every muscle on his body freeze. He didn't know what to do. He knew that this wasn't Azula and one of her tricks. But he also knew that he didn't have the green light to hug her. His arms hung in her back before he took a deep breath and he started rubbing soothing circles in her back. Her whole body was tender and muscles jumped here and there. He slowly drew heat into the centre of his palms as he continued his movements. Her knots were coming loose under his hand and her crying quieted down as the pain she must have felt and hid vanished. She looked at him with shining eyes, her gaze full of gratitude and he shot her a fleeting smile.

That evening Zuko started cooking before Katara entered the room, he knew that she would be practising by the beach. And when she finally came back she halted on her steps as she watched the Fire Prince move gracefully around the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

“Cooking.” He said before he started humming under his breath.

“Why?”

“Cause you need a break.”

“Zuko don't be ridiculous just let me…”

“No”

“What? You are not cooking tonight. You can help me chop those darned vegetables if you want or you can simply keep me company and laugh at my terrible attempt to chop them. Or even go to your room and sleep, dinner should be ready in two hours.”

A stunned silence was his only reply. He knew he must look crazy with an apron while roasting beef but he didn't care. So when she came closer to him before grabbing a knife, he felt a light bump in his hip and he looked at her from the corner of his eyes before pointing towards the recipe they would be attempting. The hours passed in the blink of an eye as easy chatter and chuckles filled the room. Turns out that after a few minutes, Katara was content with watching him trying to chomp carrots in small cubes and cursing himself, in the middle of his embarrassing childhood stories. When dinner was finally ready their cheeks hurt from laughing and they had a red tint as they clutched their sides.

Everybody seemed surprised by their antics when they closed into the kitchen to find the two formal enemies laughing at each other, gasping for breath and wheezing out while they sat on the floor watching the food getting cooked in a handmade oven. And Sokka admired his sister from afar as she seemed to glow and bask in Zuko's presence. He felt sorry for Aang. The poor kid had a crush on her, and she just didn't feel that way and thought of him as her little brother but that didn't mean that jealousy wouldn't show its ugly colour. His pride was shoved aside as he turned hostile towards Zuko, but he didn't say a word, taking it to the chin believing that it must have been just his nerves for the impending battle.

Aang sat at one of the balconies of the huge house trying to get into the Avatar state but to no avail. He tried to find Katara, needing one of her pep talks but only found her exiting Zuko's room with a bright smile while he leaned against the door frame observing her. That was when he hit the last straw and he decided to run.

In reality, what had been a friendly game of Pai So, without knowing the rules and making them up on the way while she vented at him had been a great hangout and the reason behind the Avatar's disappearance.