three years too late

the crystal caves

Katara & Zuko:

The next few weeks were a blur. Katara remembered only telling Zuko that they were supposed to be together, he rejected the idea, saying Mai meant more to him than some spirit fix-up. after that, she only remembered fractures, Suki, Haru, the northern water tribe, Yue's death, and lastly, Iroh and Zuko's return. Zuko seemed sad to see her for the first time since Kyoshi island, when he and his uncle left the team again to head to Ba Sing Se and open their tea shop a few weeks earlier than the first time. She didn't want to hear it, if his girlfriend is more important to him than his friends, she didn't want to be his friend. After the siege played out, almost exactly like the first time, their paths separated again, with Zuko and his uncle going back to Ba Sing Se and Katara going with Aang and Sokka to find Toph. The only thing she remembered in full was the last conversation she had with Iroh.

"Katara, I'm sorry this is happening. Zuko is having a hard time excepting that he now has a free pass of sorts to be with you. I know he likes you very much, maybe the same amount as you like him, he's just battling some inner demons. He doesn't know who he should be loyal to, Mai back at the fire nation, or you here. I believe he will get these feelings cleared by the time he is captured by Azula and the Dai Li, be patient, and you will know the answer" Iroh said, answering all her questions and more. She thanked him before getting on Appa and flying from the northern water tribe. She didn't see any of them until she was taken by the Dai Li agents and thrown into the crystal caves. She had feared this moment, seeing him again, trapped in a cave, just the two of them, alone. She still had the water from the spirit oasis, the last time she saw him. if she wanted to, she could heal his scar at least partially, but she will only do it if he comes to his senses, she vowed to herself as he was dropped from the hole in the ceiling.

"Katara," he said as he sat up and looked at the figure in front of him. she turned to face him, an unreadable expression on her face, or what she hoped was that.

"you seem angry," he said. she sighed and sat on the floor across from him.

"I am. Your uncle explained everything to you, yet you refused to accept it. Why?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from going up into a scream. He sighed and moved closer to her.

"you have no idea how much I wanted to hug you after I found out about it, how much I wanted to kiss you and tell you that I knew we would eventually be together. I had to make sure you rejected Aang for good before I did anything of the sort, I couldn't risk the avatar's wrath on me when we should be friends. It broke me apart every time I saw you smiling to him, every time he held your hand, every time he got closer to you" Zuko stopped. Katara had gotten closer to him with every word he said until she was close enough to kiss him. that kiss was everything she wanted since that night they defeated Azula together, and it finally happened, three years too late. They absorbed each other's love for each other through the kiss, that felt never-ending, they breathed each other in, each feeling as if they were melting. Then Katara leaned away, stopping the most incredible kiss Zuko has had in his entire life. She smiled and lifted her hand up, the water from the spirit oasis shone through the small vial hanging from the string she held.

"my healing is better now than it was the first time we were here, if you want to, I can heal your scar," she said, half teasing.

"Are you sure? Remember what happens here after Aang and uncle find us" Zuko said sadly and looked down. Katara lifted his head to face hers.

"I trust you; you won't betray us this time. You'll fight your sister" she said with a kind smile. He held her cheeks and stole a short kiss from her lips.

"is that a yes?" she asked, confused yet happy.

"I still think you should keep it for now, maybe after we fight Azula here," he said before kissing her again. She pulled away, making his lips pucker in desire for more of her lips.

"stop," she said, laughing.

"We need to talk about things, about us" she added seriously.

"what about us?" he asked.

"what are we?" she asked. His eyebrows fell in confusion.

"what do you mean?" he asked.

"Are we together, or just friends with kissing privileges?" she asked. He smiled.

"of course, we're together, I thought it's what you, the spirits and my great grandfather wanted," he said, calling out his confusion.

"what about Mai?" she asked sadly, covering her arms with her hands. He smiled and took her hands in his.

"Mai is a problem three years for now, and that's only because I made the mistake of not making us happen when I had the chance. I fixed it already, you have nothing to worry about" he said with a smile. Her lips followed his smile and she brought her forehead to his, and so they smiled together, like nothing else matters except them being there together. Then the wall exploded and Aang and Iroh appeared. Zuko and Katara got up, still holding hands. Iroh smiled while Aang blew a breeze to separate their hands and hug her. Her once held hand searched for his, but met Aang's instead. Zuko tried not to be too disappointed to see Aang pulling her after him, driving her away from her love. She looked at Zuko the entire time, a trusting look in her eyes. Zuko followed them, Iroh with him, into the fight with Azula. It had just started, Aang fought the Dai Li agents that tried to capture him with boulders while Katara was focused on Azula, instead of on Zuko that had just appeared. He attacked the Dai Li, helping Aang, while Iroh joined forces with Katara against Azula. Soon, however, the Dai Li got the advantage, cornering, along with Azula, both Aang, and Katara.

"Well, brother, you have a choice to make. Either join me and return victorious to father, or die, along with the avatar, his girl, and your pitiful uncle" Azula said, shooting a blue fireball to her uncle. It hit him, knocking him to his back. Katara ran to him and took some of the water, healing the man who has helped her so much already, it was the least she could do. Zuko and Aang combined forces to attack the fire princess, who dodged the attack swiftly and fired a bolt of lightning towards the avatar. Aang flew up using a gust of wind to avoid the lightning, giving Zuko the opening he needed to hit his sister. Azula fell to her knees, crying in pain. Her Dai Li agents took her away while Aang and Zuko ran to Katara and Iroh.

"Is he okay?" Aang asked.

"he will be, with more healing. It's enough for now though, we should go" she said and got up. Zuko and Aang helped Iroh up, Katara wrapped the four of them in water and lifted them up, away from the cave, just like she did with Aang the first time around. 

katara:

The day of the eclipse has arrived, the invasion. The first time around it failed, but this time, with Zuko knowing where his father is hiding, she had faith in their victory. She, Zuko, Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Suki, who had joined them at the serpent's pass, have spent weeks in the fire nation in disguise. Katara used the spirit oasis water on Zuko's scar, managing to heal most of it. Now it was just a small red line under his eye, she would have fixed that too is she had more water from the oasis. They were lovingly going about life, Sokka and Suki did the same, causing Toph and Aang to be uncomfortable and unwilling to hide it. Katara had mixed emotions about the day of the invasion. on the one hand, she and her friends could finally end the war, but on the other, the invasion meant no more blissful days with Zuko. She has had so much fun with him over the last few weeks, when he wasn't teaching Aang how to firebend, she didn't want it to end anytime soon. She almost thought about deliberately making this invasion fail.

Almost.

"you ready?" Zuko asked her after she put water bags on her back. She turned to him and smiled bitterly.

"what's wrong?" he asked.

"is it selfish to make this invasion fail just so we have more time together like this?" she asked him. he laughed quietly and kissed her briefly.

"I know what you mean, but we still have time together after the invasion. I will most likely become Firelord, but we can still be together, don't forget the spirits drove us to each other's arms" he said kindly and hugged her. She hugged him back and they kissed for the last time before the invasion.