The Art Of Finding Each Other (Zutara)

Little Bit Of Truth

The last thing Zuko was expecting to hear in the middle of the night before the trip was a desperate knock on his door. Loud and clear, someone needed him.

He was wide awake the moment the sound echoed across his room. A multitude of thoughts and worries had been preventing him from falling asleep so the noise didn't disturb him all that much. Though it did manage to surprise him.

Without thinking about it twice, he put on his robe and rushed to open the door. But the person waiting on the other side of it made his heart skip a beat.

Loose, messy, and beautiful ebony hair, a captivating aura, and that pair of dreamy blue eyes he had become overly familiar with. It was her. The girl who managed to take up most of his headspace by merely gifting him with a tender smile.

What was she doing there at those hours with such an anguished and eager look on her face?

"Katara?" Zuko dared to whisper. "Is everything okay...?"

"Not really." She stormed into the room, shaking her head. "I'm just... I knew it was bound to happen. Damn it, I called it weeks ago."

He closed the door behind him, carefully following her footsteps. "Wait, explain. What happened?"

"Well..." She sat on top of his bed, tugging the bedsheets as she let out a sigh. "Aang came to see me, just moments ago."

Hearing those words, Zuko felt a lump on his throat. He knew what he was supposed to ask her next. Still, he felt terrified.

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to see if we could get back together." Her eyes became a little mistier. "He asked me if we could pick up from where we left off at Ba Sing Se."

I knew it, he thought, I let go of my one and only chance. Aang's move didn't come as a shock to him. Deep down, the possibility had always been there. After all, Katara had been dating his friend while he was still trying to salvage his relationship with Mai. Why would it be any different now that they were all back together? The days of unspoken intimacy and long embraces could have very well come to an end. It was no longer just the two of them. No longer those evenings admiring the sunsets and laughing amidst the snow. No longer those nights of meaningful conversations and sleeping close to each other. In a split of a second, it could all be gone. Obsessing about his father, saddening for his mother, and worrying about his sister, Zuko had witnessed those days slowly beginning to fade away.

Unless all those fears were solely on his mind.

Again, he felt scared to even ask. One possible answer to the question he was about to make caused him a terrible deal of anxiety. "And? Are you two..."

"No." Katara shook her head, her voice barely a whisper. "I told him the truth. Unfiltered and unsweetened. He might as well hate me right now."

"Hey, don't even say that. Aang could never hate you." He leaned closer to her, suppressing the urge to tug her into his arms. "What truth could be so terrible?"

A part of him felt guilty for wanting to know more. Though he couldn't help it. He cared about her with every fiber of his being. Of course, it troubled him not knowing what she meant with such an enigmatic statement.

"That... That I just don't feel that way about him. I don't think I ever really did." The words blurted out of her mouth, giving away a desperate need to be honest about it.

A beat of silence found its way into the room. Sitting on the bed, the space between them seemed made of infinite little fragments of different words, feelings, truths, and doubts. There was a certain solemnity to that moment, a silent realization of what had just been said. Because it wasn't something that could be taken lightly, on the contrary, it felt as if a lightning bolt had struck them both. Quietly but nonetheless shocking.