Zutara- Reunion

    "Are you reassuring me, or you?"

    "Toph, please, not today." Zuko begged.

    Today was the GAang reunion. The war had ended five years ago during which time, Zuko and Katara had started dating. A little less than a year ago, they broke up in a fight. Zuko hadn't seen her since then, but today, seeing her was inevitable. Zuko's uncle took place of the throne until Zuko felt ready to become Fire Lord. Which he felt would never come. The sages also have a firm rule that the Fire Lord must have at least one available bachelorette on hand to be the mother of the next possible heir. Mai and him had ended awkwardly. Zuko admitted to her that she was not interesting enough anymore. She took it surprisingly well. Of course, after him and Katara broke up, Mai hinted with the subtly of a bazooka gun that she wanted to get back with Zuko. Zuko couldn't see her the same after dating Katara's passionate spirit. Toph had been living with Zuko in the palace. Toph's parents were far from understanding about her running away and Zuko missed having a little sister. Aang has been traveling a lot. He's been living like a true monk and not really living in one place. Suki and Sokka had already gotten married. They've been living on Kiyoshi Island. Zuko didn't know where Katara had been living for the past eleven months. He knew that she was okay money-wise because each nation sent all of the GAang members pension checks for ending the war, but even so, he worried.

    Zuko and Toph arrived at Sokka's house on Kiyoshi Island. Suki had gone all out and decorated the outside with various decorations. They knocked on the door and Sokka opened it with his big goofy smile.

    "Zuko! How ya doing buddy?" Sokka asked giving him a man hug.

    "Okay. How about you?" Zuko said. Faking a smile, he tried not to think of who else was already inside the house.

    "Great! What's going on Toph?" Toph punched him in the arm and walked into the house without the need of an invitation. "Ow! What was that for?" Sokka asked as he rubbed his now sore arm.

    "That's for greeting Sparky before me." Toph said over her shoulder. Sokka rolled his eyes and invited Zuko in. Everyone was already in the living room except -to his relief and to his disappointment- Katara. They all sat and talked about things that they've done recently, all the while Zuko was watching the door. Suki eventually caught on and sighed.

    "She's not coming Zuko." Suki said. Zuko looked over at her.

    "Why not?" He asked. Suki shrugged.

    "I don't know. She's been acting strange lately. She was living in the outskirts of the Fire Nation for a while but recently she decided to move to the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom."

    "Do you know why?"

    "No. She only said she needed to live in a bigger place. I'm not really sure what that means. She hasn't let anybody visit her either."

    "Personally, I think she's dealing with a depression." Sokka said. Suki shook her head.

    "If it was depression, she wouldn't be talking to us and she wouldn't move to a bigger house." Suki said.

    "Do you know where exactly she moved to?"

    "Near the city of Omashu." Suki said. "You're not going to visit her are you?" Zuko shrugged.

    "If I have to I will. I'm getting an uneasy feeling of her being alone and her wanting to stay that way. It's unlike her to want to be cut off from her family."

    "How are you going to find her?" Aang asked.

    "I'll send a spy out to find her exact location-"

    "A spy? You're going to send out a spy?" Sokka asked.

    "How else am I going to find her?"

    "Just leave her alone. If she wants some space away, then give it to her. You never know, she could be married to another guy already." Toph said. Zuko's stomach clenched. A part of him really wanted to hit her for making that remark even though she knew that it would hurt him.

    "I just want to make sure she's okay." Zuko said. "If she's happily married already than good for her. I'll leave her be."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

    The second Zuko got back to the palace, he informed Iroh what was going on and begged to send a private investigator. Iroh agreed and Zuko waited an excruciating month for word back. The P.I. only had sketchy information. The people of the town said that someone had bought and moved into a grand mansion in the Kolau Mountains near Omashu but whoever lived there never left. The P.I. said that was all the information he could get. He even spent an extra week spying on the house itself to see if the owner ever appeared but only the butler appeared.

    Mustering up all his courage, Zuko left the Fire Nation Capital and went to the Kolau Mountains. Using the address from the P.I. Zuko found the mansion. The mansion looked like it was made for royalty. It was grand and it looked out of place in the middle of the mountains. It belonged next to the Earth King's palace. Zuko approached the door and knocked. His heart thudded in his chest as he heard the locks open on the other side. The door swung open and standing before him was the girl of his dreams. Aside from the tired eyes, she looked like she always did. She wore her blue komodo and her hair loopies. Her mother's necklace still clutched her neck like a warm hug. They stared at each other for an eternal minute. They said nothing. They did nothing. Not a nod, or even a breathless greeting. In the most gesture-less way, Katara moved from the opening of the door in a way that invited Zuko in. Zuko carefully stepped inside the marble foyer. There were two staircases on both sides that lead to the top floor. On the right side there was a archway that lead into a cherry wood study. On the left side there was another archway that lead to the dinning room. Directly in between the stairs there was a glass door that lead to the back yard. Katara led Zuko through the cherry wood study into another room. The room's primary colors were pastel yellow and blue. There were two couches, a fireplace, a Pai Sho table and a scatter few sitting chairs. Katara took her place on one of the couches, and Zuko sat on the couch directly across from her. She poured two cups of tea from the tea set on the coffee table in between them. They sat in an endless silence as they both sipped their tea. Once Zuko finished his, he remembered why he came here in the first place. Zuko placed his tea cup on the table and looked at her.

    "Start talking." He said. Katara looked up from her tea at him then back down. She placed her tea cup on the table delicately then looked at Zuko with her puppy dog-like eyes. The same look she gave him when she wanted a kiss. Zuko was glad he was sitting down, otherwise he'd go weak to the knees at that sight.

    "I'm sorry." She said.

    "For what?"

    "For fighting with you, for ignoring you,-"

    "Stop." Zuko interrupted. "I'm not mad at you for ignoring me. I'm mad at you for isolating yourself from everyone. Especially your brother." Katara looked down. Zuko's tone softened. "What's wrong with you Katara? You are the most family oriented person I know. So when your brother tells me that you've been hiding in the mountains for months without visits from anybody, I worry. I just want to know why you won't see them. Why you won't even leave your house. I understand why you've been avoiding me. I was a jerk to you and I'm sorry for that." Katara looked up at him.

    "You weren't a jerk."

    "I didn't come here to talk about that, but I'm willing to after you tell me what's going on." Katara sighed.

    "Okay." She looked down and shut her eyes tightly. Then opened them and looked back at Zuko. "Do you remember the night before we broke up?"

    Of course he remembered it. It was the best moment of his life. It was the moment when he truly got to be with Katara. He was able to feel her. To know that it wasn't just a fantasy, although, he'll admit, he's fantasized about that night many times after. It wasn't appropriate for them to do what they did. Especially as a Fire Nation Prince. But it just happened. They both let their hormones think for them. He tried to read her face now. Did she regret it? Was she ashamed? There was shame written on her face but it wasn't the same. Slowly, Zuko stood. Without a word, he strode out of the sitting room and into the foyer. He ran up the stairs and went down the hallway to the right. He opened the last door and entered the room. It all made sense now. Katara walked into the room. Zuko turned and faced her with tears in his eyes.

    "Why? Why didn't you tell me?" Zuko asked with a sense of anger and sadness in his voice. Katara began to cry too.

    "I was scared."

    "Scared of what?"

    "Scared of what you might do when you found out." Zuko faced her.

    "I would've helped you. I would have done anything for you." Katara began to sob and Zuko pulled her into a hug.

    "I'm sorry." She wept. "I'm so sorry."

    "It's okay Kat." Zuko consoled.

    "I felt so alone. I didn't know what to do."

    "You're not alone. Not anymore, okay?" Katara nodded. Zuko pulled away and wiped away her tears. He kissed her gently and looked into her deep blue eyes. "I love you Katara."

    "I love you too Zuko." Zuko smiled and looked over at what she's been hiding.

    "How on earth did you deal with twins all by yourself?" He asked. Katara laughed.

    "It was a struggle." Zuko approached the two cribs. The babies had been awakened by mommy and daddy's episode.

    "What are their names?"

    "Lu Ten and Kya." Zuko smiled. Kya had his eyes and his color hair. Lu Ten had Katara's eyes and her hair. Zuko chuckled.

    "He looks like Sokka." Katara laughed.

    "That's what I tell him all the time." Katara said as she stood next to Zuko. He put his arm around her and kissed her temple.

    "Come back to the palace." He whispered in her ear. "Live with me. We'll raise them together like we should." He chuckled at a thought. "Uncle's going to be overjoyed to have grandkids." Katara smiled. "But you have to agree to something first."

    "What?"

    "Marry me."