#I thought it would be them begrudgingly meeting and then the tension growing and ba

[ihidebehindanonymity]

As someone who went into watching RWRB with no knowledge on the books, I was a bit disappointed about the lack of slow in the slowburn - I was hoping for the tension to build for a bit longer before they started kissing, like the enemies stage in the enemies-to-lovers development was too short for me.

[zutaraverse]

Chapter 7 Part 1: Springing From the Earth

Chapter 7 Part 1 of Blood, Chi and Full Moons: Find previous chapters here or: Chapter 1 Part 1 | Chapter 1 Part 2 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 Part 1 | Chapter 3 Part 2 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

MATURE audiences only.. In both good and bad ways. R rated ok. Trigger warnings for torture, rape, murder, swearing, sex. 

Although the days following the now-famous Agni Kai had been quiet and somber, both teenagers felt much closer to one another. Zuko had a newfound respect for Katara’s strength and control - how she had managed to pull herself out of the darkest chapter of her life on her own, and yet did not give in to her instincts of revenge enough to kill the captain. Katara similarly saw Zuko in an entirely new light; He had done what she had asked him, he had respected her need for closure and hadn’t tried to interfere. She felt proud that he believed in her skills enough to let her take care of herself. It was something Aang had ever trusted her with. But Zuko… Zuko understood and believed - even though she didn’t miss his unwavering concentration, ready to intervene should anything go wrong. And that, in itself, made her heart swell in gratitude.

Katara started considering whether the trip they had taken years before to find her mother’s killer had been more genuine on his part than she had originally thought. Perhaps it was motivated more by understanding and support than guilt for the betrayal under Ba Sing Se. The thought of it made her smile.

Slowly, things started returning to something like normality. They trained in the mornings, and there were no more protests when Katara walked into meetings. In fact, the counsellors eventually had to begrudgingly admit she was an important addition to their discussions, since she had most recently visited many of the areas they were analysing and she was the only one to have a firm grasp of Water Tribe traditions.

Zuko did notice, though, how every day the dark shadow that had inhabited Katara’s features since she had returned was being slowly lifted. She smiled more - really smiled, up to her eyes - and her laughs were more genuine. There was a distinct bounce in her step as she walked around the palace, and in training sessions she was much lighter on her feet. It was as if an enormous weight had been literally lifted from her shoulders.

It was rare that the Fire Prince’s schedule remained empty for any considerable period of time now that he was acting as Fire Lord. Rare - but not unheard of, he told Katara when he realised he had one of these precious days coming up.

The sun had awakened the earth by the time they finished training, having taken it slow instead of trying to cram as much as possible in a short amount of time. They tried to throw one another their own elements, so that they switched continuously between fire and water. It turned out beautifully when Katara conjured an intricate ship out of mist and Zuko managed to take it over seamlessly as it continued its journey across the room. Zuko then created a dragon out of fire, leaving it shimmering in front of them, containing a burning wisdom behind its amber eyes.

Katara grinned. The dragon was the creature from which fire was learned, so she would create her own counterpart. According to her text, it was the dolphins from which her people learned water - but Katara had seen very few in her life. Instead she gave a shape to the ocean, letting it free-form and become clouds and rain as the dragon and the sea danced around one another.

They ended the dance, painfully aware of how close they had become, chests heaving as they tried to breathe in enough air to fill their lungs once again. Their eyes met, continuing the dance of their elements, although there seemed to be fire in the depths of her blueness and a calm, growing tide behind his golden ones.

Katara was the first to look away and step backwards, breaking the spell they had fallen under.

“Maybe we should take a breath of fresh air?” she asked awkwardly. Zuko sighed quietly to himself, then nodded and they headed outside to the sun.

The light hit them in full force as soon as they stepped out of the door. Usually, the dim lighting inside was not far off from the early morning sun by the time they finished their training. However, since they had taken things easy today, the contrast was striking. They blinked away the first impact and appreciated how the golden autumnal light caressed the gardens. There weren’t really extreme seasons in the Fire Nation, just slight accents to the warmth of the sun and the colour of the trees; a half-hearted impersonation of the outside world. In the most sparse islands, which included some of the colonies, there was no difference at all - merely more or less rain at different times of year. The gentle climate had allowed the Fire Nation to expand as much as it had, since it did not need to worry about the winter months - although the drier seasons meant that certain food was hard to come by.

Now, at the beginning of this pseudo-autumn, the sun had mellowed and the trees turned yellow and shed their leaves within a week in order to fertilise the ground at their feet. Shortly afterwards, they would grow some more, not needing to wait out the winter frost. The air was slightly more biting that usual, although still humid, with a cooler breeze ruffling the messy hair of the two teenagers.

They headed for the grassy slope that lead to their training area, and threw themselves down on the lawn to gaze at the clouds meandering through the blue.

There was silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts and enjoying the welcome cool of the wind.

“Zuko?” attempted Katara, breaking the enchanting quiet.

“Mmmm” he replied, not taking his eyes off the sky.

“I wanted to say thank you. For… the way you treated me when everything… happened.”

“You’ve already thanked me Katara. And besides, there’s no need. You would have done the same for me.” Katara allowed herself a smile. Yes, she would have. It was something new that she held the same perspective as somebody else.

“No, I mean in the Agni Kai. You didn’t hold me back or force me to stop. You just… believed in me I guess and let me do what I felt I had to do,” she trailed off, returning her gaze to the clouds.

Zuko frowned.

“I’m not really sure what you expected. I took you to find your mother’s killer and stood by you as you decided whether to spare him his life or not. This isn’t really very different, is it?” Katara chewed her lip.

“This is going to sound really horrible but I thought when we went on that trip it was just because you felt guilty and wanted to be part of the group. I’m thinking that maybe I underestimated you, and that you may have done it not only for selfish reasons. So I guess, thank you for that too…”

Zuko’s face fell. He had tried so hard to dispel the bad opinions people held about him and the idea that she still thought that about him until now was not a nice feeling. It brought back too many memories.

“Katara, I did want to make it up to you. I wanted to show you that I could be as supportive of you as you were being of everybody else. I felt dreadful about what happened under Ba Sing Se - you were so kind to me, you offered to heal this monstrosity,” he indicated the burned side of his face, “and I could see that you needed some peace from the things that were tormenting you. I did hope it would heal the wound between us but I wanted to go with you even if it didn’t help me…”

Katara felt tears spring to her eyes at the sadness in his tone.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think about you like that anymore. I haven’t for a while but this… well… thank you… again.” They fell into silence once more, their minds drifting back to the times when first one, then the other, was so filled with hate and rage that they couldn’t even be in the same room together. Now a day felt sad and empty if they didn’t see one another.

“Hey Katara? Can I ask you something?” started Zuko screwing up his courage.

“Sure.”

“Well… you know that night we were going over trade and military… uh… things in my study?” Katara stiffened. She had a very bad feeling of where this conversation was going.

“Yes, I remember,” she said slowly.

“Well you kissed me…”

“You kissed me back!” she quipped immediately. Zuko was confused.

“Yes, I did. But you were the one who started it… and ended it. And I wanted to know, well, why?” The question hung in the air as Katara took a deep breath.

“Why what? Why did I start it or why did I end it?” her voice was steady. She owed it to him to be honest, after everything he had done for her.

“Uh… both?”

“I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you.” Zuko couldn’t conceal a small smile at that. Even though it was obvious; why would she kiss him if she hadn’t wanted to kiss him?, it still made his heart flutter. He wondered how much emphasis she was putting on the fact that it was him.

“And you stopped because…? Am I a bad kisser or something?” Zuko regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. He was just trying to relieve the tension that had suddenly formed between them. Katara avoided eye contact, fixating a very wispy, non-descript cloud.

“No, Zuko, you are not a bad kisser,” she started carefully. Despite himself, this made him smile again. “You put your hand behind my head to… pull me closer I think. But I… have not been good with physical contact… as you know. I was scared that I would break down so I left quickly,” she glanced at him to gauge his reaction. “For what its worth, it triggered nothing bad. I didn’t associate it with what… happened… at all.”

Zuko stared at her in shock as he processed this. Of course! Obviously! He hadn’t thought of it because he didn’t know what had happened to her at the time.

“I’m so sorry Katara, I didn’t know…”

“No, its alright. As I said, I enjoyed it. But don’t worry, it won’t happen again.” Zuko inexplicably felt light headed at her words. Did that mean she regretted it? Maybe she was promised to somebody else after all!

“So… you regret it? Because I liked it you know…” Oh yes Zuko he thought that is definitely the way to sweet-talk the ladies! Zuko seriously needed to address the fact that his mind seemed to lack a filter when he was around Katara like this. He wasn’t sure if the conversation could have been any more painfully awkward.

“Wait what? Regret it? No, of course not! But… wait… Zuko can you just be straightforward about things? Do you want something like that to happen again?” She had sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and looking down at Zuko who was rigidly lying on the ground trying to control the fierce blush that was taking over his features.

“I… well… yes. I thought that was pretty obvious?” he said, avoiding her gaze. Then quickly added “but you know, if you don’t -uh- see me in that way thats fine too!”

Katara rested her head on her knees, squeezing her eyes shut.

“But don’t you think of me as disgusting after what happened to me? I told you what he did to me…”

Zuko’s eyes widened in disbelief. Katara thought that he found her repulsive! He sat up to face her.

“How could you even think something like that! Katara I think you are the bravest, kindest, strongest, most intelligent, most talented and … and most beautiful person I’ve ever met. I could never find you disgusting - not when we were mortal enemies and most definitely not now that you’ve proved how strong you can be!” The filter problem really needs to be addressed, he thought distantly.

“So… you… don’t mind the scars?” her voice was quiet, and she turned to him with wide blue eyes filled to the brim in tears. He gaped at her.

“What the HELL Katara!”  he said angrily, moving towards her and pointing to his face, “have you forgotten that I have a scar that has fucking deformed my face? Given to me by my father? Or one decorating my chest given to me by my sister? What the hell is wrong with you?!” Now he was angry. If she thought he could dislike her because of a few scars when he himself was covered in wounds then she was thicker than he thought.

However, she shrank back a little and shook her head frantically.

“No, you don’t understand,” she choked out, “your scars, they add to your character; you got them by being kind and brave; they’re a reminder of how … how … amazing you are! Mine, I had no choice in mine. Its not like I was on some grand mission to save anybody, or help anybody - it was an accident that I was put in that situation. It is a physical representation of my own stupidity and my own weakness. I… I can’t even look at myself with them anymore!” By this point tears were streaming down her face, her eyes searching him imploring him to understand.

Zuko’s expression softened. He shuffled over to where she was sitting and put his arms around her. She stiffened momentarily before relaxing in his hold.

“Don’t tell yourself that Katara. That’s what Ozai told me about mine, and that is more of a scar than anything physical. I didn’t choose my scars either. I didn’t know he was going to destroy my face, and I didn’t know what Azula had in mind. Yes, I got mine having done, retrospectively, good things… but you got yours on a search for knowledge! You’re the first person in … well … Yue knows how long to command more than one element! You have translated ancient texts and become the most powerful healer the world has to offer. A journey you easily could have ended with Hama by following in her footsteps, but you chose not to. To me, scars are just reminders of the times we have been through; and yours show how any obstacle can be overcome.” He was stroking her hair and he felt his own throat close up at the words that were coming out of his mouth. He hadn’t even planned to say them but as soon as he heard his own voice utter them he knew it to be true. He sniffed, holding back whatever emotion was threatening to overflow.

“Besides,” he continued into her hair, “unlike some of us at least you have the looks to pull them off,” he chuckled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Katara stirred from his arms and fixed him with an angry glare.

“Oh please Zuko, you are extremely attractive and don’t even think of pretending you don’t know that!”

Zuko looked at her as if she were crazy, and let her wriggle out of his arms. They felt slightly empty, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

“Oh, yeah, because you can see all the girls who are throwing themselves at me - and I’m not talking about the ones that want my position and money. I mean my last relationship ended up with her going off with another girl! Look, I don’t need your sympathy Katara, I know what I look like,” he grumbled bitterly looking away. Alright, bringing up looks was a bad idea. What was he thinking? She was far too pretty to be with him!

“ZUKO! Look at me!” she sounded mad. “I have travelled around the world. Twice. And I have seen fine men from all nations and all walks of life. From kings to chiefs to warriors to traders and shoeshiners. I can tell you that, honestly, hand over heart, you top them all,” she reached out to squeeze his hand. Well she looks genuine, he thought, maybe she hit her head very hard at some point. Regardless, not something to complain about!

“Especially,” she added with a weak smirk, “now that you’ve got rid of that weird bald-pony-tail-thing. That was not a good look for you!” He laughed in spite of himself.

They both seemed to realise they were still holding hands at about the same time. Katara blushed.

“Well, I guess if … we both … you know …”

Zuko rolled his eyes and leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and planted a soft kiss of Katara’s lips. She was taken by surprise, but as he pulled away she followed him and captured his lips against hers, savouring the feeling and the shivers that involuntarily made their way up her spine.