Zutara: Come What May

Fire Lord Zuko walked down the hall of the Fire Nation palace, thinking as he went. It seemed like lately, so much had happened, in so little time. It had been a rush for him as well as the other members of Team Avatar. Aang had defeated Ozai, mastering the Avatar State and becoming a fully realized Avatar. Sokka, Toph, and Suki had taken down the air ship fleet, saving the Earth Kingdom in the process. His uncle Iroh, along with the other members of the Order of the White Lotus, had re-taken Ba Sing Se. He and Katara had defeated Azula together... and he had become Fire Lord.

Zuko shook his head in wonder. All those years I was at sea, becoming Fire Lord seemed like a dead part of my life. I never dared to hope it could actually be. Smiling, he thought, So much has changed since then. I've changed so much since then.

And now, the war was finally over. Zuko had thought that when he reached this point, all his troubles for the moment would be over. But the members of Team Avatar were preparing to leave the Fire Nation and go their separate ways. After all they'd gone through together, it seemed hard to believe that they wouldn't be together. None of them knew when, if ever, they'd get to see each other again.

Now, Zuko realized, there was one more thing that still needed taken care of.

He stopped walking, having reached his destination. He now faced the door that was all that stood between him and resolving that one last problem. He had come here with such resolve, but suddenly, his nerve was leaving him. He had always considered himself to be strong, but when it came to matters like this, he found he wasn't so great at handling things.

He closed his eyes and let out a slow, shaky breath. Come on, Zuko, he thought, You've got to at least try! He raised his hand to knock on the door, but then stopped, his fist frozen in midair. Then his arm dropped and he sighed. She'll be leaving soon. I don't have much time. Why can't I do this? He held his forehead in his hands and groaned in frustration. I just need some time to think.

And with that, he turned around and walked away.

Not long later, Zuko was sitting out by the pond where he and his mother used to sit, what felt like ages ago. The turtleducks were splashing and looking for bread crumbs, but he didn't even notice. With his back against a tree, he closed his eyes in thought, fighting with himself to build up the guts to do what he had to do before it was too late.

"Zuko?"

He opened his eyes and looked to see Katara standing next to him.

His heart fluttered at the sight of the waterbender. She was just the person he dreaded seeing... and the one person he couldn't wait to see. He didn't answer at first for fear his voice would give him away, but when he was confident with himself, he replied, "Yes, Katara?"

She sat down next to him, their shoulders very nearly touching. The nearness to her made him both overjoyed and anxious. He clasped his hands in his lap in hopes of hiding their trembling.

For a few moments, the two sat in silence. Their eyes watched the turtleducks frolic, while their minds were somewhere else entirely. Then, still watching the turtleducks, Katara spoke. "I thought I heard someone outside my door earlier, but when I looked to see who it was, you were walking away. You seemed troubled." She then looked at him. "Did you want to talk to me about something?"

The firebender was silent. Katara watched him, wondering what he had wanted. Without realizing it, her eyes analyzed his broad form. He really was an attractive young man. She couldn't deny that he had been in her thoughts quite a bit lately. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she had felt like... like something was brewing between them. There had been times when she could have sworn he felt the same way. Had he really reciprocated her feelings, or was it just her imagination getting carried away? The thought of leaving him had been something she hadn't even wanted to think about... and as ridiculous as she knew it was, there was a part of her that hoped that, somehow, she wouldn't have to.

Still watching the turtleducks, Zuko began speaking, his words heavy with hesitation. "I... well, the war is over."

"...Yes, it is." She was rather taken aback. She hadn't expected him to say something so obvious.

Zuko continued. "And, well, you'll be leaving soon."

At that, Katara looked away. "Yeah." She let out a contemplative hmph. "Hard to believe, isn't it? Seems like just yesterday Sokka and I found Aang. It's been so long since I've been home in the Southern Water Tribe... and yet, I don't want to leave all the friends I've made, or... this place."

Zuko didn't seem to have heard her. He went on. "Katara...." For a moment, he shut his eyes tight, fighting the fear to say what he wanted so desperately to say. "Katara, this may sound strange, but it seems like... like maybe you and I have something."

Katara's eyes widened in shock. "Something...." she gasped. "What do you mean?"

Zuko looked her right in the eyes. "I love you, Katara."

Katara could only gasp and clamp her hands to her mouth in shock.

Zuko looked away again, then the hesitation crept back into his words as he continued on. "You may not feel the same way--"

"No, I do feel the same way!"

His eyes widened, and he looked back at her. "You do?"

Katara felt foolishly giddy, but she managed to contain herself and nod, grinning from ear to ear. "Yes! I've also felt like we had something, but I thought it was just me. I never dared to imagine you felt it too."

Now it was Zuko's turn to be overjoyed. "Really?"

Katara nodded, still grinning and fighting the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. Then she remembered that in only two short days, she and Sokka would be going back to the South. No! She didn't want to leave! She couldn't, not now! And yet, as badly as she wanted to stay with the man she had grown to love, there was a part of her that wanted almost as badly to be back home, with Sokka, Gran-Gran, and... her father. As much as Katara had loved her mother, she had really always been a daddy's girl. She loved her father. When she was young, he used to hold her, and there in his arms, she felt like nothing in the world could harm her. And when he had left for the war, that was the last memory he had left her with: one last embrace. His strong arms around her. She didn't want to live without that security.

She felt she had to give voice to her concern. "But Zuko, I'm leaving in a couple days. I don't want to, but I feel like I have to."

Zuko looked her right in the eyes, then he turned his whole body toward her and grabbed her hands in his. Katara held his hands back, enjoying the feeling of his strong hands clasping hers. Here with him, she realized, she felt... safe. Only one other man had ever made her feel that secure.

"Maybe you don't have to leave," Zuko said.

Katara looked up at him. She saw the look in his eyes; so much adoration emanating from those golden eyes. "What... what are you saying?"

"I'm saying... there's a way you could stay here. With me."

Katara began to realize what he was getting at, but she couldn't say anything. All she could do was listen.

Zuko then got on one knee, and, still clutching her hands in his, he spoke the words she would never forget for the rest of her life:

"Katara, will you marry me?"

All of a sudden, Katara couldn't focus on that moment. She remembered something her father had once told her, and memories flooded her.

~~~

"Daddy!" The little waterbender ran toward her father and jumped into his arms. Hakoda caught his daughter and spun her around, and both of them laughed. When he stopped, the little girl laid her head on her father's shoulder.

"I love you, Daddy. I want to stay with you forever and ever."

Hakoda grinned and placed his free hand on the back of her head. "I love you too, Katara. And I wish you could stay with me forever."

Katara looked up at her father, concern emanating those big blue eyes that always made him melt. "Can't I, Daddy?"

With a sad smile, Hakoda looked at his beautiful daughter for a moment, then spoke. "Someday when you're older, you're going to meet a great young man who's going to ask you to marry him."

"Ew! Daddy, I can't get married! That's icky!"

Hakoda almost laughed at that. "Believe me, Katara. When the time comes, it won't sound so bad. You'll want to marry him. And I'll be proud to entrust my little girl to the man who will protect her for the rest of her life. But no matter what happens, you'll always be my little girl. I'll always love you, Katara."

For a moment, Katara just stared at her father with those big, bright blue eyes, but then she closed her eyes and again laid on her father's shoulder. "I'll always love you too."

~~~

All of a sudden, that one memory seemed more vivid than ever. At the time, Katara couldn't even comprehend the idea of marriage, of clinging to another man. But just like her father had said all those years ago, now, it didn't seem so bad. She couldn't hold back the tears of joy and bewilderment that came to her eyes. That moment had actually come. She now would entrust her life to the man who she knew from experience would always protect her.

"Oh, Zuko." Katara smiled through her tears, then wrapped Zuko in a warm embrace. "I would be honored to be your wife."

He wrapped his arms around her, and then even Zuko couldn't hold back a few tears of him own. "Thank you, Katara. I promise, I'll always be a good husband to you."

"I know, Zuko. I know."

With the love of his life wrapped securely in his arms, Zuko felt, more than he had in years, that his problems were finally over. He knew that they would face storms in their life, but for the moment, none of that mattered, because he knew that, no matter what happened, they would always be together, come what may.