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The first time Katara has a dream that isn't her own, she does the only rational thing. She tells Gran Gran. The old woman's eyes were sad despite her smile. “It seems you have a soulmate, Katara. It's a beautiful thing not many people are blessed with in this life.”
Before the young waterbender could bury her grandmother in questions, Sokka snorted across from her while stuffing his face with food. He had said it was to “bulk up,” to better protect their people. The boy couldn't even protect himself from sliding penguinotters.
“Whatever,” her brother said around full cheeks, “My soulmate is a princess.”
Katara rolled her eyes and shoved him when Gran Gran wasn't looking for being a liar. She didn't dare tell either of them that her soulmate was fire nation.
X X X X X X
The more she dreamed, the more she learned about the boy whose soul is tied to hers. Sokka's pretend soulmate may have been a princess whenever he talked about her, but her soulmate was actually a prince. And though she knew she had to hate him, Katara couldn't. He was just a boy.
Instead of dreaming for herself every night, she saw his most important memories. She watched the world through his eyes.
Katara never tells a soul that he's the enemy, at times she hates the spirits for cursing her this way. But most of the time she's grateful to see that the enemy is human too. She's grateful to learn that they're not all evil. It's all very confusing, but it feels important. So she watches his memories and cherishes each night she can learn more about the kind but scared prince from the fire nation.
When she first realized he was a firebender, she spent most of her day at the edge of an iceberg practicing. His father didn't think he was very good, but he worked hard everyday. Part of her hoped he'd see she was working hard too and feel a little less alone.
She never sees his parents, only his sister and his uncle.
Until one night she dreams of the fire lord. He is just as cruel as she imagined. He's cold, mocking, and hateful to even his own son. Her soulmate's father and sister are terrible.
The next night she sees just how terrible they can be.
And then, he's gone.
X X X X X X
Logic tells Katara that her soulmate is dead. His father killed him. But something in her can't believe that's true. She thinks about him every time she goes to sleep and hopes she doesn't dream for herself.
Eventually her thoughts leave him and she focuses on the important things: her family and her bending.
Then she finds an impossible boy trapped inside an iceberg.
He's an airbender, maybe the last. A boy, younger than her with a big grin and funny ears. Within hours of freeing him she knows he's important. Katara just had no idea how important.
Fire nation ships invade her home and an angry boy with a scar on his eye hurts Sokka and nearly hurts Gran Gran. He takes Aang, but she and her brother save him.
Suddenly, Katara has enlisted herself to help the avatar and travel across the world. She leaves Gran Gran, her home, and everything she ever knew. Despite all that, she has never been more excited in her life.
She has no time to think or reflect on this cruel teenager from the fire nation.
Until she dreams of the fire nation prince again, for the first time in ages.
Her soulmate is alive. He's alive and he's her enemy.
X X X X X X
Every time they run, Zuko finds them. Katara tries to tell the boys not to tell her where they're going so she can be surprised whenever they land, but that lasts all of five minutes.
Her dreams are plagued with him. He desperately grabs any clue about their location. He's never too far away, always guessing where they might go before Katara herself even knows.
Still, she can't help but think he keeps finding them because of her.
After his father attacked him she hoped he was alive. Now, she doesn't know.
X X X X X X
“I'll save you from the pirates,” Zuko says.
“Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother.”
“Try to understand.”
“I need to capture him to restore something I've lost. My honor.”
“Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost.”
He does nothing to make Katara think he dreams about her too. If it weren't for the fact that the dreams came back as soon as he saw her and Aang at the Southern Water Tribe, she would have let herself believe that it was all in her head.
But even if he doesn't acknowledge the truth, it doesn't mean she doesn't know it.
Tied to a tree, Katara hates him more than ever.
When Sokka and Aang get captured she wants to tell them everything, she want to beg them for forgiveness, but in the end she's too ashamed.
“Aang, this is all my fault,” Katara says. He has no idea how much.
X X X X X X
Jet is brave, strong, and charming. He's the soulmate Katara wishes she had.
She and the boys stay at the Freedom Fighters' camp for the night and as always she dreams of Zuko's day. When she wakes up hollow and hurt once again, she wanders around camp and finds Jet.
They talk about their parents, about all the hurt the fire nation causes, and then she decides to tell him the one thing she never told anyone else. “Jet,” she starts tentatively, “do you know about soulmate dreams?”
Fire passed through his eyes quickly. His hand wound out to hold hers and Katara marveled at how they could be both soft and callous all at once. “You too?”
She pushed down the dry lump in her throat and nodded. “He's...” But it hurts to much to say out loud. It feels like a betrayal to everyone she's ever loved. Her hand grips his tightly. Her eyes are fixed on their joined limbs, too scared to look him in the eye.
“Mine's fire nation too.”
For the first time in years, she doesn't feel the crushing burden on her chest. Jet makes everything better. He tells her that the word 'soulmates' doesn't mean they have to choose to be with the people the spirits see fit for them. Maybe the dreams don't even mean what everyone says. They both choose to believe that in their cases it means they are tied to their soulmates by war. Two sides of one coin, never meant to be together just joined by destiny.
Then he shows her how to keep the dreams away, how to keep secrets from the people inside their heads. All it took was a special blend of tea.
When it turns out he's no better than Zuko, Katara takes comfort in knowing that at least he gave her a way to protect Aang.
X X X X X X
Zuko saves Aang.
Or rather, that's what her fevered dream tells her. But when she wakes up and Aang doesn't say anything about Zuko she knows it was all false hope. She's still holding onto to the kindness she'd once seen in the prince.
X X X X X X
Sokka didn't lie. His soulmate was a princess.
And as he lost his soulmate, Katara fought hers.
At the end of the battle Yue was gone, and with her a part of Sokka.
Katara watched him carefully as they rode off on Appa, hoping to comfort her brother somehow but knowing there was no way she could. He would probably do anything to see Yue again, but she hoped this was the last time she ever saw Zuko.
X X X X X X
Azula wouldn't stop chasing them.
Katara would get a minute of sleep and then they had to run again. Toph was getting on her last nerves, Aang was running out of positivity, and she never got a chance to take a sip of tea as they narrowly escaped Azula and her crazy cronies.
Zuko was alive.
But there were more important things to deal with first. They all split up along the way. Aang went off to deal with Azula, Katara and Sokka would deal with her friends, and Toph left.
All of a sudden, their luck seemed to take a turn.
The water tribe siblings met with Aang just in time, Toph came back, and Zuko and his uncle joined them in the fight. It looked like finally Azula would go down. She proved she was just as cruel in Zuko's memories when she attacked her own uncle to save herself.
Katara knew the old man was good. He was the kindest person in any of Zuko's memories. He was always able to guide and care for the prince, despite the boy's anger.
She told herself that she offered to help the old firebender for who he was, not for Zuko.
It felt like a lie when she went to sleep without brewing her tea.
X X X X X X
He shut her out again after that night.
X X X X X X
The last place Katara expected to see Zuko, was in Ba Sing Se. Serving tea of all things.
Things happened so fast. One moment she's running to warn King Kuei, the next she's in the crystal catacombs watching Zuko drop into her prison from the ceiling.
“Why did they throw you in here?” Katara couldn't help the anger in her voice even if she had wanted to.
Zuko kept his back to her and refused to answer.
“Oh wait, let me guess, it's a trap. So when Aang shows up to save me you can finally have him in your little fire nation clutches!”
Still, he said nothing.
Every bad feeling he'd made her feel pulsed in her head. “You're a terrible person! You know that?” If he wouldn't say anything, then he would listen to her. “Always following us, hunting the avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace. But what do you care? You're the fire lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood.”
The comparison finally got him to say something. “You don't know what you're talking about.”
Katara wouldn't let him trick her. “I don't? How dare you!” They had been stuck with each other for so long. She knew just how bad he and his people were. He was the one who didn't seem to know anything. “You have no idea what this war has put me through, me personally.” Her hand went up to her necklace. “The fire nation took my mother away from me.” Tears burned her eyes.
She wished he would have seen her memories then. Then he'd know just how terrible his people were and how much pain they all left behind in their selfish quest for power.
He didn't know her at all.
“I'm sorry.” Zuko's voice was soft. “That's something we have in common.”
It seemed she didn't know him either.
They sat away from each other in silence for awhile. Once she stopped crying, they both stood up and wondered who would speak first. “I'm sorry I yelled at you before.”
“It doesn't matter.” He wouldn't look at her. He seemed broken.
“It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy...it was your face.”
“My face?” His hand went up to touch his scar. Katara knew she'd made a mistake. “I see.”
“No, no. That's not what I meant.”
“It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me, the mark of the banished prince. Cursed to chase the avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny. Even if I'll never be free of my mark.” Katara thought back to the lonely prince from her first dreams. He was still the same person.
Gears started turning in her head. She thought back to the last time they fought at the North Pole. “Maybe you could be free of it.”
Zuko finally turned to look at her. “What?” There was hope in his eyes.
“I have healing abilities,” she said.
“It's a scar, it can't be healed.”
She pulled the blue vial from her robes and pushed it toward him. “This is water from the spirit oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties so I've been saving it for something important.” Katara moved until she stood right in front of him. “I don't know if it would work but...”
He closed his eyes just as her fingers laid over the edge of the scar. The skin was smooth and rough from the old burn. Katara swallowed a lump in her throat, remembering how cruel the fire lord had been in her dreams.
Jet had been wrong about so much before.
If everything she'd been told about soulmates was actually true, maybe this was the reason why Zuko was hers. She was meant to take his pain away.
His breath came out as a a soft and warm exhale around her thumb.
Everything inside her screamed that Zuko was good.
She never got the chance to find out.
Aang and Zuko's uncle showed up suddenly. Katara looked back at him hopefully as she and Aang left, but he wasn't looking at her.
Then he was back to being the person she'd met back home.
X X X X X X
She trusted him.
Never again.
After Aang came back from the dead, Katara made sure they all stopped so she could drink her tea. Sokka tried to argue with her at first but the look in her eyes stopped him. Before going to sleep, she made sure to drink her tea. It became a ritual, an obsession. Zuko couldn't know Aang was alive.
It was tougher than she hoped to balance her two duties: drink her tea to keep Zuko in the dark, focus on her healing sessions with Aang until he woke up.
After awhile she had to rely on Sokka. She couldn't ask Toph and she refused to ask her father for help. So whether it was begging, bribing, or extreme flattery Katara had to pull every trick up her sleeve to get Sokka to collect herbs for her.
Toph tried to ask her about the tea one day but Katara made up a quick excuse and said she had to go check on Aang. Nobody was in the mood to really argue amongst themselves. All Katara could do was hope that Toph would forget to bring it up when things calmed down.
What Katara hadn't expected was for Sokka to grab her by the arm and drag her to her room below deck after he went for supplies. Her brother paced back and forth a hundred times. He ran his hands through his hair, mumbled to himself, pointed at her dramatically as if he were about to start speaking but stopping himself short. Then finally he dropped down into a chair with a sigh and looked at her seriously. His eyes were dull. They weren't shining with curiosity or pride, they were heavy with sadneess. “I just don't get it, Katara. Why would you want to push your soulmate away?”
She looked away from him.
Several times, she'd caught him sitting outside speaking to the moon. There was no way for Sokka to understand.
Hoping to get rid of some chills, Katara rubbed her hands up and down her arms repeatedly. “Sokka...how did you find out?” She sighed.
“When I went asking for the herbs you asked for, this old shopkeeper asked me if my soulmate had broken my heart. He told me what the tea does.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a leather pouch. As he stared down at the pouch, Katara thought he wouldn't give it to her. When he finally shook his head and tossed it at her she tried to feel guilty for feeling so relieved. “You know,” Sokka said, “you never talk about him. Your soulmate. I thought you just wanted to keep all of that stuff for yourself, but honestly I should have know better. I mean, when we met Jet you never stopped talking about him. Like ever.”
Katara ran her thumb along the seam of the pouch. The leather was softer than her waterskins. “Sokka, I just...There's no way you could understand.”
Like a switch was hit, Sokka immediately went from depressed to furious. “Not when you don't tell me anything! Katara, I'm your brother.” He stood up and walked toward her. “And I love you. I know you're strong but whatever is making you so opposed to having a soulmate—you don't have to deal with it alone!”
Her eyes moved to the ground. She couldn't look at Sokka. She couldn't see the slump of his shoulders and the grief in his eyes again. He had been so blessed when it came to his soulmate and it all still crumbled.
She couldn't tell him about Zuko. As long as she took the tea she never have to.
“Please.” Sokka's voice broke but it was too soft to hear it. “Let me in.” His fingers caught hers in a tight, reassuring grip. “Why are you doing this?”
It was too hard. It was too hard to keep this all to herself.
Katara dropped her head on his shoulder and took a deep shuddering breath. “I can't let Zuko know Aang is alive.”
X X X X X X
Telling Sokka was one of the greatest reliefs she'd had in her life.
Two days later Aang woke up. A storm seemed to rush through their ranks as soon as that happened. Aang was horrified. They had to split off and hide in plain sight.
All was going smoothly until Aang ended up causing a revolution at a fire nation school.
She couldn't pin down what it was that made her ask Aang about his dreams. Maybe it was finally feeling like she could talk about hers, or the freedom that came with pretending to be someone else, or the dance.
It wasn't rare for people to not have soulmate dreams. Actually, it was more common than nonbenders. Still, she never expected the avatar of all people to be exempt.
Of course, her friend saw the benefits in it. “My whole life has been decided for me. I'm glad I get the chance to choose something so important.”
She tried not to feel too jealous. “Yeah, that makes sense. I'm happy for you, Aang.”
“Wait.” His grey eyes were rounder than usual as he studied her. “Katara you—I always thought...” There was lightning in his eyes as he stood up. “You never said anything! I thought you...” He yanked the headband off his head and pressed his eyes shut. “I thought you were like me.”
X X X X X X
When Zuko showed up at the Western Air Temple, it took everything in her not to toss him out on his ass. Aang was the only one keeping him safe.
Katara thought about telling Aang that Zuko was her soulmate. There was no way he would let the firebender stay if he knew that Zuko was the person she avoided every night. But Sokka had let Zuko stay regardless. There was no guarantee that would work and after the kiss Aang gave her during the day of black sun that would most certainly be cruel.
So she settled for finding him alone in his room and letting him know just how little she believed his sudden change of heart. He would slip eventually, and she would make it her personal duty to destroy him when it happened.
Though she kept the herbs she had left, Katara stopped drinking her tea. If he blocked her out himself, it would only prove her suspicions.
X X X X X X
Her dreams hadn't confused her so much since she first started seeing Zuko's memories.
The strongest memories he had were consistent: a picture of his uncle, Katara, and Aang's firebending progress. The hardest dreams to shake off were always the ones where he genuinely seemed good with Aang, with Sokka, with Toph.
He and Aang left camp at one point to find the Sun Warriors. She was comforted with the knowledge that when she went to sleep she might get a glimpse at what Zuko did if he betrayed them. Instead she saw him and Aang work together to cross traps and beg an ancient people to teach them.
“My name is Zuko, crown prince of the fire nation. Or at least, I used to be. I know my people have distorted the ways of fire bending to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way. The original way. I am truly humbled to be in your presence. Please. Teach us.”
The chief told them the fire bending masters would look at their souls to see if they'd be worthy. Katara could almost feel the fear and doubt Zuko felt at that moment. It was the first time she didn't feel a bit separated from his memories. In the morning, she ignored her natural empathy for logic.
If Zuko was a threat, maybe the fire bending masters would take care of him for her.
When he and Aang returned, Katara tried to at least pretend to pay attention to their tale. But at night, seeing all the colors in the flames, she was unprepared for the feeling of awe.
Zuko was doing such a good job at seeming to change, that she tried to avoid him at all costs during the day. It was more than enough to watch him teach Aang in her dreams. He had none of the issues that Toph did. The firebender took to teaching the avatar as easy as she had. It was like a slap in the face.
After Sokka and Zuko left to go hunting, she went to sleep with the same comfort as before. If he were to betray them, at least she might get a clue from her dreams if he were sloppy.
But again, he kept up appearances. He ran after Sokka on a deadly mission to save their father. And he was there solely to help and keep Sokka safe.
She nearly woke up when Sokka addressed her in Zuko's memories.
They had been talking about the clouds, then about Zuko's uncle, and then about their girlfriends. “my first girlfriend, my soulmate, turned into the moon.”
“That's rough buddy.”
“Speaking of soulmates.” Her brother sighed deeply and looked at Zuko directly in that serious brotherly way he could summon at will. “Katara, I know you'll want to come after us. But I've got things under control. Just wait at the temple and take care of the others.”
Panic flooded Zuko, or maybe it was her own. “You know?”
Sokka laughed sarcastically and turned his head to look over the side of the war balloon. “Not as long as I wish I had.”
The two stayed quiet for awhile.
“I'm sorry.” The guilt Zuko felt as he said those words were so strong, Katara almost woke up from the feeling. “She deserves better.”
Her brother shrugged. “Hey, I'm just glad it's not Jet.”
During waterbending practice with Aang the next day, she tried to not lose herself in those memories. None of what they said made sense. How could Sokka trust him so easily? Why would Zuko say she deserved better when she had just threatened his life not too long ago?
The next few days were torture. Not just because she had to watch Zuko and Sokka work together, or because she could now easily feel everything Zuko felt, or because prison was terrible, or even because she was starting to become desperate and impatient like her brother to see their father. It was all of that and the fact that whenever she went to sleep there was always one moment in Zuko's memories when he stared at a wall and told her not to follow them.
“You can't come after us. If you do, Aang will follow you. No matter what, he can't get near this place. You need to keep everyone else safe. Trust me.”
He was right.
She may not have trusted Zuko, but she had to have faith in her brother.
X X X X X X
Everyone kept treating Zuko like he was a part of the group! Like he deserved to be with us. Like every terrible thing he'd ever done us didn't matter. Aang had forgiven him. Toph, Suki, Sokka—they all kept trusting him.
Katara couldn't stand another minute of it. She left them all with their precious 'Sifu Hotman' so she could stand near some waves. They didn't know him like she did. They didn't know how easily he could change from the side of good. He wore a pretty good mask, but she knew how he saw the world.
None of her friends followed her. But he couldn't help himself. “This isn't fair. Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?”
She wanted to throw him off the cliff. “Oh! Everone trusts you now? I was the first person to trust you, remember?” This anger all felt so familiar. “Back in Ba Sing Se.” As she pointed out past the water toward the Earth Kingdom it felt like they were back there surrounded by a green light rather than darkness. “And you turned around and betrayed me! Betrayed all of us.”
It seemed like he was about to snap at her in return but he stopped and continued to plead with her. “What can I do to make it up to you?”
Her blood was pumping hot. “You really wanna know?” Katara took several deliberate steps toward him. “Maybe you could reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King!” She got so close he had to take a step back. They hadn't been this close since the catacombs and she hoped he remembered it too. Back then she was willing to help him because she thought he deserved it, now she knew he didn't deserve her forgiveness. She thought she knew who he could be. They had gone through the same pain. But he was just like everyone else from the fire nation. “Or—I know! You could bring my mother back!”
Back in her tent, Katara pulled the last bit of herbs she had left and boiled her tea. She wouldn't let him see through her eyes that night.
In the morning, she felt better rested than she had since Zuko first joined them. Letting her anger out and keeping him outside of her head for one night had really helped. Until she walked outside and saw him sitting on a rock in front of her.
He stared up at her blearily for a bit. The way he blinked slowly made her notice the bags under his eyes. His shoulders looked stiff.
“You look terrible.” He was clearly there to speak to her, but she wasn't going to welcome his company so she walked past him to get ready for the day.
Grabbing her brush, she tried not to tense up at the sound of him standing. “I waited out here all night.”
Katara kept brushing her hair despite now knowing she never even had to waste her last bit of tea last night. “What do you want?”
“I know who killed your mother. And I'm going to help you find them.”
Sokka and Aang tried to stop her. Zuko was the only one to stand by Katara. For once, she didn't question his actions.
As they went about finding her mother's killer, they took turns guiding Appa. Their dreams weren't invasive and unwelcome. It was just a convenient way of double checking their information.
There were a lot of firsts in this mission. Including the first time Katara used bloodbending without feeling guilty. Zuko didn't say anything or try to stop her. He questioned the leader of the Southern Raiders. But it wasn't the right man.
The right man was nothing. He was pathetic and sad and empty.
Katara didn't kill him.
When they got back to camp Zuko didn't pressure her or follow her as she left to find a place to think on her own. He didn't stop her from killing Yon Rah when she could, he didn't tell her she should kill him when she didn't, he didn't judge her. In fact, it seemed like he trusted her decisions, no matter what they were. It should have felt like he was leading her astray at the very least.
Her feet swayed in the cool ocean water. It was nowhere near as cold as the water back home.
She thought back to the young prince she dreamt of so long ago. He had grown up so much since then.
Footsteps echoed on the wood of the pier. Aang called out to her. She told him she was fine. It surprised her how true that was. Her chest felt light. Free from anger. Maybe that was how Zuko felt. Maybe that was why she could feel his emotions in her dreams now.
“I'm proud of you,” Aang said.
“I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger at him, but I couldn't.” Katara wanted Aang to understand, but knew he wouldn't. She didn't understand much of what she was feeling now. “I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it, or because I'm strong enough not to.”
A breeze came in from the horizon.
“You did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing.” He didn't understand.
Katara stood up. Aang was watching her with wide grey eyes. His face was kind, sympathetic, and proud. “But I didn't forgive him. I'll never forgive him,” she said.
Behind him, Zuko watched her carefully. As if he were holding onto everything she said because he knew it was important that she say it. After so long, it made sense that he understood. He knew her.
She turned to smile at him. It seemed like she misjudged him. “But I am ready to forgive you.”
When they hugged she felt him sigh.
X X X X X X
After spending so long fighting against all the soulmate stuff, it was surprisingly easy to let Zuko in. It wasn't as if she'd completely let go of Jet's ideas that soulmates don't have to be romantic. But she trusted him now. They were two sides of one coin. Sleeping was a lot easier knowing that.
Aang had nearly mastered firebending, their plan to take down the fire lord was starting to feel a lot less like a hopeful dream. They even had a decent place to stay for once, Zuko's old family vacation home.
Everything was going well.
“Hey, Sugar Queen. What's up with you?”
Zuko and Aang were busy practicing their bending and there was not much else to do. Toph and Katara had been leaning back observing for some time. She had no idea what Toph could possibly be talking about. “What do you mean?”
The boys stopped their work out.
Toph rolled her glassy eyes and scratched her ear. “I mean,” she said slowly, “you don't smell all weird lately. Why aren't you drinking that funky tea of yours anymore?”
Her cheeks immediately felt warm.
“Tea?” Zuko asked.
Not too far from them, Aang perked up in recognition. “Oh, yeah! You haven't. Did you run out?”
Before Katara could agree with him and, since it was the truth, shut Toph up, the earthbender snorted loudly. “Not likely! You should've seen her when you were out, Twinkle Toes. Katara here was obsessed about making sure she always had enough. Hey, why's your heart—“
Luckily, Sokka had excellent timing. He and Suki showed up with the poster for a play and it turned out to be the perfect conversation derailment.
The theater buzzed with energy when they arrived. It was contagious, but misleading. The play was painful. The actor playing her was ridiculous, so was the one playing Aang. But Zuko and Sokka's were pretty much perfect. They made her seem like a crazy person. Jet was overacted. Yue's death was funnier than it was sad—well, for everyone but Sokka.
Zuko was right, though, the intermission was the best part about the play.
The next act wasn't much better.
Toph was played by a big, burly guy. Jet had hooks for hands. But that wasn't enough.
It was awkward enough learning to be friends with her secret soulmate, but now Katara had to watch a play where some crazy writer actually guessed that's what she and Zuko were to each other. Though the writer really went overboard on the romance angle.
“I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me.”
Yeah, right! The first time he captured her, Katara started hating him.
She glanced at Zuko just as he did. He seemed just as uncomfortable as her.
At some point, Aang left the theater. During the second intermission, Katara noticed he hadn't returned and went looking for him outside. She found him, but he was freaking out about the play.
He kissed her.
Katara took a step back from him. She couldn't believe he did that to her. “I just said I was confused!” And he had no idea just how confused she was.
He looked shocked and hurt. “Is Zuko—“
She wasn't going to talk to him about that. Not then. “I'm going back inside.”
The play somehow got worse in the third act.
When they walked back, Katara remembered what Toph had asked her earlier that day. And with that reminder also came the reminder that she was out of tea. She made sure Aang wasn't around, only making her feel even worse about the situation, before going to Zuko's room.
Quietly, she slipped in and closed the door.
He was still awake, and in an offensive position. His eyes softened and his arms dropped after realizing it was her. “Oh. Hi.” Zuko cleared his throat. “What's wrong?”
Katara sighed and grabbed her elbow self-consciously. “I—“ She wasn't sure how to do this. “I think it's about time we talked. About everything.”
She saw his Adam's apple bob once. He nodded his head and offered her a seat on the ground.
They started off with the basics. They were soulmates for one reason or another, and that wasn't easy. She asked him why she stopped dreaming about him all those years ago and he told her about his father. “I didn't want you to see me like that.”
He told her that he immediately recognized her at the Southern Water Tribe. “I was a different person. I didn't want you as a soulmate anymore, I'm sorry.”
“I didn't want you either.”
“Yeah, but you didn't want me for a good reason.”
Automatically, Katara reached out and held his hand.
He told her what she suspected all along. Like her, he took a tea every night that his Uncle knew would keep her out of his head. When he saw that she would be his best bet at finding the avatar he stopped drinking it.
She told him about Jet, the parts he didn't know from the play. His thumb ran over her knuckles while Katara explained how she learned about the tea herself and how she viewed him as a destined enemy for those months.
They talked about the catacombs.
They talked about her fear of letting him see that Aang was alive and how the continued lack of dreams had only proved his suspicions. She told him about the village she helped, he told her about Mai and trying to fit in with his sister. She told him about Aang's feelings for her. They told each other about their versions of eclipse.
They talked about everything they could think of except one thing. All while never letting go of the other's hand.
The candles blew out and the sky started to brighten.
Her chest ached when she realized she should leave so no one caught them. So Aang didn't catch them and go mad with assumptions she didn't know were true or not.
But Katara couldn't let go of his hand first. “I should go,” she said.
He gave her hand a firm squeeze and let go for her. “Okay,” he whispered.
Her legs were sore as she stood up. The floorboards squeaked slightly and her body tensed. She shook her head and made her way to the door much more quietly.
“Katara,” Zuko said sopping her at the door, “it'll be okay. We'll figure it all out eventually.”
Her throat felt tight and her eyes stung a bit.
Maybe he was her soulmate because he seemed to always know what she needed.
X X X X X X
Aang ran away right before the comet.
They all rushed to try to find him. And with Zuko now in their ranks, that meant first finding the best tracker any of them had ever known.
“Oh great, it's Prince Pouty.” Jun had an easy confidence and general unaffected nature about her. It wasn't too surprising she was the toughest person in a tavern full of thugs. “Where's your creepy grandpa?”
“He's my uncle, and he's not here.”
She didn't linger on that bit of information too long. “I see you worked things out with your soulmate.”
Katara didn't have to look at Zuko to know his face looked just as annoyed and shocked as hers. That didn't mean she didn't miss the fact that he had told a criminal about her.
“You told her?” Her anger momentarily made her forget the three other people behind them.
“What?” Suki asked, completely caught off-guard.
But Sokka and Toph weren't.
“I knew it!”
“She knew before me?!”
“I didn't!” Zuko protested.
Jun rolled her eyes. “Your uncle did. Sheesh, I was only teasing. Alright, what do you need?”
X X X X X X
“My uncle hates me, I know it,” he said.
“Zuko, you're sorry for what you did right?” she asked.
“More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life.”
“Then he'll forgive you. He will.”
Katara didn't see him again until much later that night. He laid down on Appa's paw beside her.
At first, she wanted to ask him how it went. She wanted to make sure he was okay.
His soft smile was more than enough of an answer. He grabbed one of her hands and held it between them in a soft hold. It was almost as if he were afraid she would want to pull away. Instead, Katara scooted closer to him, until only their joined hands separated their bodies.
He blinked at her in shock.
She bit back a smile and closed her eyes.
A few minutes late he sighed and relaxed beside her.
When Katara woke up, they were embracing. She didn't pull away.
X X X X X X
No, no, no.
He couldn't die. He couldn't die.
Katara continued to fight Azula tooth and nail.
There was a deep piercing pain in her chest, but she tried to ignore it.
Zuko wasn't dead. She couldn't think he was dead.
But if he was hurt she had to defeat Azula as soon as possible.
As she dodged Azula's attacks, Katara tried to focus on the most important thing. This was a battle. Her head had to be in the battle.
With her goal in mind, Katara moved as quickly as she could. Gliding around the palace's grounds on a wave, evading Azula's manic and uncalculated attacks, until she found the grate. She froze the princess in place and then chained her.
The crashing water felt like a sigh, but it wasn't over.
Running toward Zuko, she noticed his body twitch as he groaned. He was alive.
She flipped him onto his back. His robes had been burned down the middle and a large gash in his chest glared at her. Without wasting a second, Katara enveloped her hands in water and started healing him.
His pulse was steady.
He was okay.
“Thank you, Katara.”
All her fears came crashing down. Tears of relief spilled from her eyes. “I think I'm the one who should be thanking you.”
She helped him sit up. Then she ducked her head under his arm to help him stand.
Zuko didn't follow her.
Instead his hand moved down behind her neck. He pulled her closer to him until their foreheads touched. He didn't pull her any closer. Their breaths mixed together.
Again, he said, “Thank you, Katara.” This time the words seemed to be bigger to mean so much more.
Katara laughed as she moved her hand to his cheek, holding him in place. “I'm glad it's you.”
She kissed him.