@zutaraweek 2020

@zutaraweek 2020

(Part 1/?)

Day One: Reunion

As soon as they had gotten the news that Appa landed in the courtyard, both Katara and Zuko had rushed outside to meet them. It had been over half a year since Katara separated from the group to be the representative for the Southern Water Tribe in the Fire Nation and she was eager to see her friends again.

That didn’t really explain why they both were hiding behind a pillar, watching the gang dismount and stretch instead of rushing in for hugs, but she had her reasons. Mostly, she had gotten one good look at how happy and excited Aang appeared and she had suddenly lost her nerve.

“It’ll be fine,” she whispered, turning to Zuko, who had stopped when she had and allowed himself to be pushed into the shadows before they’d been spotted. “They’ll be happy for us. Sokka and Toph will tease us for a while and Aang…” She took a deep, slow breath. “Aang will understand.” Katara did her best to smile up at him. Zuko turned to her from watching their friends and lifted a wry brow.

“Which one of us here are you trying to convince?”

Katara gave up trying to smile and let her head fall onto Zuko’s firm chest. “I just don’t want to hurt him, Zuko. Maybe I should have told him in a letter after all. It would have given him some time to work through it.”

She and Zuko had started dating some three months ago. Considering the somewhat turbulent political atmosphere still present even a year after the war ended, they decided to keep their relationship private and to take things slow. The only one who officially knew was Uncle Iroh. Katara had debated over and over again with herself about telling Aang.

Her romantic relationship with him had been short lived, but not for lack of effort. She had tried to feel for him what he obviously felt for her, but just felt awkward and guilty instead. They’d ended it on good terms in the guise of ‘taking a break.’ When she left for the Fire Nation, she had told Aang not to wait for her. That she didn’t think her feelings for him would change.

That didn’t stop him from adding (what he probably thought were) subtle romantic overtures in his letters, which she resolutely ignored. Many times she had tried to write him the news that she had fallen for and was now dating Zuko. But each time the words came out sounding impersonal and insensitive. Cruel. She had thought that if she were able to tell him in person then it would be more respectful of their friendship. But now she was regretting her cowardice.

“Hey,” Zuko said softly, cupping her cheek and lifting her head so she could see his eyes. “He knows you’d never intentionally hurt him. He may be disappointed, but he’ll be okay. And, if you recall, it’s not your responsibility to keep him happy.”

She actually smiled at that because, yes, she did recall. She had boldly made that statement last night when she became fed up with fretting about the reunion and for a while it had calmed both their nerves. They had taken advantage of the quiet night and gone for a walk in the vast palace gardens, talking about nothing and laughing at stupid jokes while holding hands and sharing playful touches. It was all quite innocent, but she still marveled at the intensity of her feelings for Zuko. It was all still new and exciting and… markedly different from how she felt with Aang. If this was how he felt about her...

Not your responsibility. Stop it.

She took a moment to breath again, Zuko waiting patiently, looking down at her fondly as she built up her determination again.

“Right. Okay. The sooner we do this, the better,” she said and took his hand to lead the way to their friends.

——

Happy Zutara Week!!

I’m going to try to use some of the prompts to form a connected sort of story. Because that’s just how my mind works, apparently. I’ve been working my through an Art Swamp of Despair for a little while now (the kind where I question if I even know how to draw, like at all) so it’s going to be slow going. But hopefully I can rely on the magic of Zutara to help me out. Seeing all the beautiful works posted throughout the week should help, too!