synergy || zutara

six

It's been two weeks since their beach trip and the spirits of the two have been lightened. Zuko allows himself to have more fun. He and Katara began training together again just to keep their skills perfected, meditating together, they even read stories together sometimes.

Zhin and Kai won't admit should anyone ask, but they're betting 10 gold pieces that the two get engaged by the end of the month.

Katara feels more dedicated to fire nation politics and the restoration project. Everything is going great and the two have really been living together seamlessly and helping each other glue the scars left in them by friends and family.
——
Katara is repositioning a vase when the palace door opens. "Hey, Zuko can you help me pick up this vase?" She grunts, waiting for him to appease in her vision. Instead, a whirl of wind picks the vase up and it tips over causing it to shatter and Katara gasps. She who's around facing the only person on earth who could make that kind of wind movement. "Aang." She whispers.

He steps closer and she steps back. "Aang what are you doing here?" He looks hurt and she doesn't believe it for a second. "Me? What are you doing here? You left me unconscious in our home and sent Toph to make sure I wasn't dead then I don't hear from you for months. I'm sorry for what I did but Katara, you can't just run away from this." She is still in disbelief that he's in front of her when she snaps.

"Run away? No, I'm rescuing myself! You couldn't own up to what you did the first time I suggested visiting home so you guilt-tripped me into not seeing the people I love for months. You were so scared I'd tell people the Avatar is just a man capable of being corrupt as the rest of us that you— you controlled my every move for months." He turns white as a sheet. "Katara you don't know what you're saying. Please, come back to Ba Sing Se now that you've had time to cool down." He uses words suggesting she has a choice but Katara knows that tone all too well. He's not really asking.

"I wasn't cooling down, I was healing. I'm not coming back Aang. I never want to see you again." She turns around to quickly find Zuko but is hit with a gust of wind. "I don't want to do this Katara." He seethes.

"Then don't and leave!" She angrily suggests. Aang doesn't take her up on the offer and stops on the ground, allowing the floor to ripple right beneath Katara's feet. However, with her instinct-like reflexes, she moved out of the way and began her pursuit of Zuko.

Any other person she'd try to face alone but Aang is different. He's powerful. She rushes past the study and he's not there. He's probably out meditating. She dodges a rock and an idea hits her. The garden!

She takes a sharp left and bursts out of the back doors. "Zuko!" She yells. He turns around alarmed and in total confusion. Katara is bending the pond water onto her arms making the element an extension of herself. "I need you." She says her voice trembling slightly and he noticed the Airbender behind her, hot on her tail. Zuko springs into action, allowing the advice of the dragons to guide him through this fight.

Katara is countering every element he throws at her but doing so entirely in defense rather than combat. Aang thinks she's weak or unwilling to really fight back. However, she and Zuko have fought together before. This is entirely intentional.

He matches Katara's technique with his fire whips and they simultaneously attack. "Give up!" Zuko yells. "Why, so she can bed you?" The angry avatar shouts. The disrespect in that statement makes Zuko see red and Katara see blue. Zuko sends a blast of fire towards Aang so powerful it catches him off guard. He sends a rock towards Zuko's face that almost hits him head-on, however Katara sends an equally as large block of ice to combat it, keeping to her promise to keep Zuko safe. Aang makes a move to send fire towards Katara but Zuko reacts first and scorched Aang's hands first. Immediately he's hit with a blast of freezing water sending him into the side of the palace and Katara freezes him in place.

Aang's vision goes blurry for a moment but then he comes to, two sets of master hands capable of blasting fire and water are aimed straight at his face.

Aang surrenders but no one moves. "As of today you are no longer allowed in the fire nation. We will continue restoration without your input and it will be known the Avatar attacked the Firelord." Katara's eyes widen at Zuko's threat. But then she really looks at him. That's no threat, it's a promise.

She focuses her attention back on the man she finally stood up to. Her back is aching and her arms are sore. This battle is catching up with her but he's panicking and that's a great sign. "They'd never believe you! You're the descendant of Ozai." He spits. Right then and there Katara accepts this is the last time she'll ever see Aang. A part of her will always love him, but the only part she loved is dead.

Zuko laughs at Aangs words. "I'm also the descendant of Avatar Roku. Regardless, of who I come from I am not them or my past. Evidentially, neither are you." Katara's eyes move back and forth between the two wondering why no one ever told her he was a descendant of Roku. 'I'll ask later' she makes a mental note.

"Zuko has ended the anguish in more cities than you ever have. Defeating the fire lord isn't the only thing that ended the war, without his non-stop work, we'd be in tyranny. He ended brawls between the earth benders and fire benders in the colonies. He used his family's fortune and taxed pro-war businesses to stimulate economies destroyed by the fire nation. What did you actually do?" He opens his mouth to respond and Katara interrupts.

"Nothing. You may have given people hope and became a symbolic figurehead, but he's given them trust through hard and tedious work— and if they for some reason don't believe him, they'll believe me, the Avatars battle partner and ex-fiancée. I will defend him."

Aang surrenders right then and there. That's the last of him they ever see.

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A/N: shoutout to @Lilredshortcake who is always active on this story!!

Sorry for the late update, it's been a while.

QOTC- Favorite Legend of Korra Character?

My answer: Bolin or Jinora :)