“Katara.” Zuko’s smile is bright and glad as he envelops me in a hug. I can’t hug him back.
He pulls away, looking self-conscious. “Sorry, I--Katara? What’s wrong?” He’s concerned, I can see it in his eyes. He knows me well enough to see through my calm disguise.
Pain pounds through me like my heartbeat, loud in my ears. All those years, I hated him because he lied to me. But it wasn’t even a big lie, it was just one little half-truth and I was happy not knowing it.
But me? What I have done is so much worse.
He is going to hate me.
Lia is gone. It’s my fault.
He may never know his daughter and it’s because of me.
“Katara?!” Zuko’s amber eyes are wide and I feel the heat of his fingers as he brushes tears off my cheeks. His hands grip the sides of my head and his face is very close to mine. “What happened? Talk to me!”
But how can I? What can I say that will make this better? Nothing. That is what I can say.
Nothing.
But I have to. I have to tell him the truth.
“Zuko…” his name comes out a whisper, but it fills the air between us. I lean my forehead against his, breathe him in. In a sudden movement, I wrap my arms around him and cling to him, and he holds me tightly to him.
I wish that I could stay here forever. I wish that things didn’t have to change.
His words come back to me, the ones he said to me in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se, the day everything changed.
I won't ask you to forgive me. I know you won't. Just--just remember that I love you, Kara. No matter what, I will always love you.
But he won’t. Not after this.
I bury my head in his neck and I cry. I whisper the words into his ear. “I won’t ask you to forgive me. I know you won’t. I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I wish I could tell you how sorry I am, but it doesn’t matter now.”
He pulls back from me, stares down into my eyes. He is so confused. “Katara, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”
I wipe away my tears with the back of one hand. I need to be strong now. “Zuko… I messed up. I… I lost her.”
“You lost who? What are you--”
“Her name is Lia. Allia. She is my daughter and she is your daughter too. And she’s gone. She’s gone. They took her and I… I can’t…” I bury my head in my hands, but not fast enough.
Not fast enough to miss the understanding, the realization in his eyes. I feel him step away from me.
Hear the shock and confusion in his voice as he whispers, “what?”
“We have a daughter, Zuko.”
“So where is she? What did you do, Katara?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
_______
T-T
NOOOOOOOOOO *dramatic sobbing*
*hands out more poke balls that become whatever kind of cake is your favorite*
YOU ARE READING
Prophecy (Sun and Moon Book 3)
FanfictionLong ago, the Sun and Moon began a feud that tore the human world apart. At the center of it all was their daughter, Harmony. Now, many millennia later, the story unfolds yet again. Zuko and Katara have been fighting for so long, caught in a vice b...
