Fall of the White Lotus [Zutara/Taang]

40 | Zenith

Music: Calamity, Two Steps From Hell

                     Princess Ursa's garden was one of the most secluded in the Royal Gardens and famous for the many fire lilies growing there. But now it was nearly winter, and the garden had entered a state of rest. The flowerbeds were empty, and the willow by the pond was bare. A few turtle ducks had nestled themselves on the grass next to the pond, their small heads tucked between their feathers.

Katara and Zuko had entered the garden through a small backdoor in the low wall surrounding it, and now Katara's gaze wandered across the familiar scenery, her eyes drawn towards the pond where her future self had been sitting with the blue-eyed boy who looked so much like Zuko, feeding the turtle ducks. As the memory flashed in her mind, a strange feeling of peace came over her.

The gardens were empty but for the two of them, and no guard or gardener seemed to have noticed their arrival.

Katara was the first to break the silence. "She isn't here, Zuko."

Her subdued words held the quiet question of where he wanted to go next. Zuko let out a disappointed sigh, as he motioned for them to go to the pond, nonetheless. He had hoped that he would find his mother in her favorite spot at the palace - her own garden, with the white lotus still resting peacefully on the calm surface of the turtle duck pond.

The delicate sound of turtle ducks preening their feathers with soft, satisfied noises reached his ears, and he let his gaze rest on the family of turtle ducks he'd last seen six weeks ago. The ducklings had grown since he had left the palace, and he didn't even recognize which one had picked the rice from his hand. As always, the mother duck kept her ducklings close.

'I know what my mother would do if she were to return to the South Pole,' Katara's voice echoed in his mind.

'She would come looking for you,' he'd replied understandingly.

Zuko watched as the mother duck noticed that one of the ducklings tried to swim off on its own and, with a stern quack, called it back.

'And my dad and Sokka...'

His heart leapt up. Of course.

"I know where to find her."

He turned to go, only to find that Katara didn't follow him. She remained standing at the waterfront, her fingernails digging in her palms.

This was it.

Katara swallowed back a lump as she realized that the end of their journey together had come. In a moment, he would lead her to where he believed his mother was. A feeling of infinite sadness washed over her. With all her heart, she had wished for him to find his mother, but now that the hour had come, she'd never felt so lonely as she did now, knowing that she would never see her own mother again.

In an attempt to bite back her tears, she stubbornly followed the mother turtle duck and her ducklings in the water.

"Hey..." An arm gently slid around her shoulders, pulling her into a square shoulder. The tears she had been trying to withhold now started to flow freely down her cheeks, soaking his silk shirt as she cried soundlessly against his collarbone.

Zuko closed his eyes and pulled her in a tight embrace. "I know," he whispered.

It had been the one thing Zuko had been feeling horribly guilty about, the only thing he dreaded in finally finding his mother - the fact that Katara had to witness a happy reunion between mother and son with the knowledge that her mother would never be returning to the South Pole. It felt like a betrayal to her that he was to get his mother back, while she -