The Art Of Finding Each Other (Zutara)

By the river

The sun had just started crippling throughout the window. It was an early morning. Zuko began to slowly open his eyes. He was tired, maybe even a little more than usual. He wasn't used to this lack of energy at those hours, the sunshine had always been his companion. Sometimes even his only one.

He sat down on the bed and started remembering the last night. Katara and Aang, kissing. The weirdness of it. Her abruptly opening up the door and realizing Zuko had seen it all. Their conversation. The way she looked at him as if she was trying to figure something out, to figure him out. What she had whispered. "I noticed". His soft "Goodnight, Katara". Those words resonated inside of him like an echo. Why? He didn't particularly know, or maybe he just didn't want to. Sometimes an innocent deception seems a million times easier than facing an untold truth. Specially with so much going on with the world. He reminded himself he had to focus on his duties as Fire Lord, not some unknown feelings, those had to be put aside.

Zuko got ready for breakfast. As usual, he was the first to arrive at the table. He started going through some paperwork to pass the time. Maybe no one was going to join him so early, after all it was a Saturday morning. What he really wasn't expecting was to see Aang enter the room, yawning.

"Hey, good morning." Aang smiled and sat down in front of him. "How did you sleep?"

"It was a decent sleep, the usual." Zuko lied. It was way better than to admit the girl his friend was in love with had strangely invaded his thoughts all night. He felt like an intruder once again. "What about you?" He asked him.

"Well, I slept amazing. The play last night was absolutely hilarious, you and Mai should go watch it tonight." He was happy, one could even tell by the way he poured his cup of tea.

Zuko felt a sting on his chest. "Really, it was that good? What did you guys do after?"

"After the play? Nothing really, we just talked about it and compared it to that crap we saw on Ember Island. Remember?" Aang laughed, that day felt like a lifetime ago. Zuko couldn't help but remember how awfully close to the true some of the elements of that play were.

"I will never forget it, miss Avatar". He couldn't let the opportunity to bug Aang go.

"Haha, very funny, my dear honor obsessed friend." Now they were even.

Zuko gifted him with a light smile. "By the way, we are going to the river for lunch today. Toph's idea."

"Finally some nature trip with all of us together, we all could use a break. Appa will love the fresh air." Aang was instantly on board with the plan.

"Eh, I was thinking we could all just go on one of the big carriages, it's easier." He explained.

" No way! Appa has to come, you know he doesn't like to stay at one place for too long." Aang was right.

"Sure, you can take Appa. But we won't all fit on his back, we have food to carry and a couple guards are coming too." Zuko was also right.

"No problem, Katara and I can ride Appa. She loves it up there." The avatar was quick to decide that.

"Whatever you like best, just don't be late." For some reason, Zuko didn't love the idea. But there was nothing he could do against it. After all, he wasn't the one practically dating the girl he almost died for. Aang was.

A bit past noon, everyone was already at the river, except for Katara and Aang.

"I told them not to be late. Damn, how hard is it to be on time?" Zuko thought to himself.

Everything was ready for a relaxing lunch and afternoon, but the group wasn't complete. Sokka, Suki and Ty Lee were swimming, clearly not that bothered by the delay. Toph was doing an enormous earth castle and deciding whether or not to get in there and take a nap.