synergy || zutara

seven

The moment Aang left, the two embraced each other in the garden. Katara leaning heavily on Zuko after pure exhaustion. She looks up at him and really examines his amber-colored eyes. He looks down at her eyes, the perfect shade of cerulean. He hopes to Agni that the fight in her will never die. Drowning in concern he didn't realize the girl in front of him was not losing hope but gaining it rapidly in the arms of her best friend.

She kisses him. It's short but meaningful, their lips fitting together like Tui and La, forever calmed knowing the other would be by its side. "Katara, I need to know. Was that kiss a thank you or something else." She understands what he's leaving unsaid. 'Thank you, or I love you' "It was thank you and I love you." Zuko smiles and kisses her once again. Long, solid, with one hand supporting her and the other cupping her cheek. When he pulls away she feels breathless, he is too.

"Come on, lets get you inside." He says shyly. Even in pain, Katara teases the fire lord. "So was that a thank you, or an I love you?" She asks. "I think you're fully aware." He states, allowing his cheeks to turn a light shade of pink.

Upon entry into the palace, Zuko sends a message to the guards the avatar is no longer allowed in the palace but is an enemy of the fire nation. Katara hears him reprimanding guards for not being nearby upon the avatars attack. He makes it known Aang is now an enemy of the fire nation, sends for more security, and the situation falls heavy on Katara. However, she feels relatively okay

The two get ready for bed.

Zuko just finished brushing his teeth when he starts to get into his bed. However, he hates the empty feeling, tonight especially. He goes into Katara's room and knocks on the door. "Hi, it's me." She lightly laughs at him. The picture before her was just cute. Zuko was in turtleduck pajama pants and a deep red shirt, looking significantly younger like he did the first day he joined team Avatar. "I was wondering if you'd like another sleepover." She sighs in relief. "I thought you'd never ask."

She begins to get up but he just enters and closes the door behind him. She looks at him oddly. "You don't wanna sleep in your room?" He smiles. "This bed is smaller and— I would like to cuddle okay?" She laughs and Zuko huffs warm air.

"You're making fun of the fire lord in his palace? Some call that a death wish." She scoffs while scooting over to make room for him. She does so slowly because the events of earlier in the day leave light trails of pain tingling throughout her body. "Well I call it funny and I call the fire lord Zuko. So I'm not really 'some people' am I?" A teasing light in her eyes.

"You certainly are not." He says with a light smile. They get under the covers and Zuko lets his arm slip over her waist.

"Is this too much?" He asks her, worried he's moving too fast. She shakes her head no, momentarily forgetting this pitch black in the room.

"You know, I thought today would be a lot harder." She admits. Zuko listens, he's good at that. She continues. "Somehow I thought seeing him again would unleash feelings spiraling me back into whatever shell of myself I was before." Zuko doesn't trust himself to speak at the moment, imagining Katara becoming empty at the hands of Aang enrages him. She feels him become warmer but continues because he needs to hear what she's about to say.

"But it was easy. I always thought I owed Aang myself because he helped me find my purpose but I didn't. We equally contributed to war efforts and I let myself forget that. I guess today was easy because I realized I don't owe him anything, not even my sympathy for his cruel actions." Katara sighs if only she came to this conclusion earlier.

Zuko sits up crisscross to look at her directly. "Katara, you can't be mad at yourself for whatever happened. I wish I could have known earlier and helped somehow, but I didn't. Yet, the past is still the past unchangeable, and I'll forever have fallen short." Katara wants to protest but she knows he won't retract the statement.

"However, far too few people if put in your position would have done what you did today. Agni knows I wouldn't have. You're a brave woman Katara, I'm honored to know you." She looks at him, eyes welling with emotion knowing that statement means a lot coming from Zuko.

He lays back down, trying to figure out how he's to sleep when his heart is beating out of his chest.

"I'm ready now." She states as if it's the easiest conclusion in the world. He feels perplexed. "For what exactly?" She turns around to face him and puts her hand on his cheek while laying a short and sweet kiss on his lips. "For you, us, and whatever the future holds. I like how we work. It's not like the tale of two lovers who died without each other because they let others deter them. We're more like—"

"—extensions of one another. We're not weaker apart, just more powerful together, how it should be. A state of synergy." Katara loves how immediately he just understood what she meant. She loves everything he does if she's honest.

"Synergy." She repeats with a smile.

"I love you Zuko." She admits. He kisses her once more and she can feel the smile in his lips. "And I love you."
——
The news spread like wildfire but thankfully, no one was against Zuko for his decision to banish the Avatar. Although Katara didn't tell the story of her relationship with the banished Airbender to the many questioning people, she did heal and she did restore her friendships.

It took years of Aang meditating and visiting the spirit world to realize the moment he took Ozai's bending away, his negative energy converged with Aang's spirit thus corrupting the boy as a whole. However, one thing that Roku said paralyzed him. "One does not commit acts of malice purely because of influence, but the source of the crime begins in one's desires."

At that moment he vowed to never come near Katara again. He lived his life and met new people. Learning that he could only combat the growing darkness by visiting the spirit world every so often and interacting with the spirit Rava, who helped him maintain his light. However, he disconnected from those he previously knew. He needed to become the best version of himself.