The Dragon and The Ocean // Zutara

Confrontation

Katara's POV

I should've known just by how cloudy it was when I woke up that it wasn't going to be a good day. I've never liked cloudy days. The clouds remind me of ash and whenever I think of ash , I can only ever think about the old Fire Nation attacking my village. Even if my views on the Fire Nation have changed now and it's been about 10 years since that happened, I still always subconsciously think about that.

When I opened my eyes on this cloudy morning, I realized that I fell asleep on Zuko's arm. I find that I keep doing that as of late and I know it can't be comfortable for him because it has been in that position for so long. However, he never bothers to move me.

The next thing I notice is Zuko, breathing slowly next to me. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. It was only a couple of weeks ago that he would be falling asleep with a pained expression on his face. No matter how slight it was, I could always see it. Now, he just looks relaxed.

If it had been sunny, I feel like I could've been convinced that it was to be a good day today. But with the clouds and the realization that today was the day where Zuko and I would be confronting the Fire Nation about my role into their hierarchy and my relationship with their Fire Lord, it immediately wasn't.

I think that Zuko felt me slump a bit on his arm upon that realization because within a minute of me waking up, I heard him let out a sleep groan before turning slightly to face me. I turn my head to meet his beautiful golden eyes struggling to open.

"Good morning, my love." I whisper to him as I find the slightest of smiles making its way across my lips. I can never be truly upset when I'm with Zuko.

"Morning." he mumbles sleepily. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine. It's easy to fall asleep when you're right here." I tell him without really thinking about it.

This causes him to smile before he rolls over and wraps me in an embrace. He is half way on top of me, but honestly, his weight is comforting so I can't complain. I wrap my arms around his neck to bring his head closer to me and we just enjoy the moment for a few minutes before he pushes himself off of me.

"We better start getting ready. We have a big day ahead of us." he says, almost sadly. I nod my head in agreement.

"I should go take a bath in my room," I tell him. "Meet you in the dining hall for breakfast." Now it's Zuko's turn to nod, before he heads into his bathroom.

It doesn't take me long to bathe and get into formal clothing. By now, Su has filled up my closet with a bunch of clothes that are my size so I just picked one of the red dresses that looks appropriate enough to wear while standing in front of a nation.

I pin some strands of my hair back with a blue flame pendant. It is designed with rhinestones that I can only assume are sapphires. Zuko brought it back one night after going out to the city and told me that it reminded him of me. It was the first gift he ever got me, so I will always treasure it.

Once I have my hair away from my face the way I like it, I head down to the dining hall. Zuko will most likely be there by now. He probably even ordered something for us. Whenever he orders something for me he always makes sure to add ash bananas drizzled with honey ever since my first day in the Fire Nation palace. They have always been my favorite.

Just as I suspected, Zuko is sitting in the dining room when I enter. He is wearing formal clothing, well more formal than usual, aswell. It's always nice to see a change of pace in his style. While he always looks good in anything that he wears, it's just a different look when he wears something fancy.

I make my way over to the large table and sit down right next to Zuko. He is looking at something in the direction opposite of the one I came from, so I place my hand on top of his to get his attention. He turns his head in my direction before looking me up and down.

"You look very pretty in that dress," he says quietly. Sometimes he can get so flustered when he compliments me. It's cute.

"Thank you." I reply before sitting down. "You look nice too. It's different from what you have been wearing recently."

"Good, different right?" he asks.

"Yes, a good different." I say with a laugh. He smiles at this.

"I ordered you some bread with lychee nut jelly. Oh and ash bananas." he tells me.

"Sounds delicious." I reply, intertwining my fingers with his.

When the food comes out, Zuko and I eat in what is pretty much silence. None of us want to address what is going to be happening this afternoon, so we opt for the silence. It's nice honestly. The calm before the storm.

**********

Even though I couldn't see any of them, just hearing all of the people talking was enough to make me nervous. Zuko and I are about to go out in front of all of those people. I've never been much of a public speaker although Zuko is, I can still always feel the nerves radiating off of him every time.

Like now for example. He is gripping my hand so tightly, I can't feel my fingers. He is just as nervous about this as I am. I mean what could possibly go wrong? I've been through much worse than this. Surely this can't be as bad as a war...right?

"You ready?" I hear Zuko ask.

I don't reply, just nodding my head to give him my answer. If I were to speak then Zuko would for sure know that I'm nowhere near ready. But, ready or not, I have to do this. If not for myself then I have to do it for Zuko.

"No matter what happens, just know that I love you okay? I don't care how many people are against us. I'll always stand with you, my ocean." Zuko says quietly.

When did he get so close? Why did him saying that just put all my worries at ease? All I can think to do next is gently grab his face and kiss him. It was short but sweet and I know it got my thoughts across. Now I'm ready.

We walk out of the large double doors, Zuko's hand still intertwined with mine. One of the guards announces our appearance and the crowd of people, much much larger than they sounded, quiets down almost instantly.

They all bow in respect for their Fire Lord, but almost just as quick I see the first person point out the obvious. It was a young child, maybe nine or ten. Her dad is holding her on his shoulders, probably so she can see. I see her point at Zuko and I's hands that is holding the others tightly. I see her mouth move. I see her father's head shoot up, his eyes quickly finding what his daughter was pointing too.

Whatever the little girl said, got the attention of the people around her and soon their heads were shooting up too. Just like a wave, everyone in the crowd looks up, making eye contact with the confirmation that what they were all thinking was true. And that's when the riots broke out. 

Am I just a little bit for leaving you on a cliff hanger and having a poor updating schedule on top of that? Yes, yes I am. But I mean come on...I had to :D

On a different note, this story has been BLOWING UP. I've been getting a crazy amount of of reads and that's just...crazy :) Thank you all so much for reading! See you in the next part (hopefully its done soon haha)