A Lost Love Found

Chapter XI

The next few days were spent training, putting out flames, hiding, and running away from a few security guards who caught Sokka and Toph stealing food from the local market and bettering their friendships. Aang and Zuko were making plenty of progress with their training as well as with their relationship. Aang had started to see the better parts of Zuko behind all the anger, betrayal, and trauma, even though it was hard to forget that he was ready to kill Aang last week. He had grown to like Zuko and his funny, but not funny, jokes and puns. He understood that once you let Zuko open up, he becomes vulnerable yet strong, which earned every bit of Aang's respect. 

Hidden on the sidelines, Katara and Zuko's relationship blossomed. It had been five days since they made things official, and it had been five days without a single fight or argument. Disagreements? Sure, but Zuko learned after day one that Katara was and could never be wrong. In the night, after everyone had fallen into a peaceful slumber, he would sneak into Katara's room to spend every second he could with her privately. He was almost caught by Sokka one night sneaking out of her room in the early hours of the day. Thank goodness Sokka was half-asleep and disoriented, so Zuko could convince him he was still dreaming.

 Zuko strongly believes that Toph knows about Katara and his relationship, even though she won't admit it. He constantly finds her giggling every time he brings up Katara, but when asked why Toph would shrug and find something else to distract her. 

Zuko thought about Katara more than he ever thought he would. No other person would ever be as connected to Zuko's scar as Katara is. Not Mai, the second person he allowed to touch his scar, only so that she could kiss him but not comfort him. Not Sokka, Toph, or Aang, with whom he never even talked about his scars. Katara was the first person he ever allowed to touch the spot from the most traumatic moment of his life. Katara, the girl who was his enemy just a few weeks ago, offered to try to use her precious spirit water to heal his scar that didn't even physically hurt anymore because it was that important to her if it meant he could maybe be free of his mark. Katara, to whose touch he closed his eyes and leaned into as she gently placed her fingers on his lips and his scar and took a moment to watch him like that. To him, he had everything to thank Katara for and would do anything to protect her. 

Katara had managed to bring out the best in Zuko within three days. She has made him open up more to her and the others, gaining everyone's trust and friendship. She has him more determined than ever and feeling stronger than he did before. She had been working overtime chasing after Aang and Zuko during their training, dousing flames that inch toward the wooden framework of the house. She suggested multiple times that training on the beach would be a better area to train than the backyard of a wooden house that could catch fire and leave them vulnerable to the world so easily. Maybe then she could catch a break from babysitting, she thought, but she knew that these boys wouldn't be able to find their way out of a paper bag without her help. She laughed at the thought. 

"Hey, what do you say to a day at the beach?" Zuko's familiar voice called her attention away from her thoughts. He was sitting at the dining table, leaning back in his chair, his legs stretched out in front of him with his hands resting upon the table. 

Sokka, sitting at the opposite end, perked his ears up with interest, "I like this idea. Go on." 

Katara looked over at her brother and couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been this happy in a very, very long time. Even with the war going on in the background, she had every reason to smile. 

"Yeah, I just assumed that we deserve a break from training. We've been doing it non-stop for the past five days. I believe that warrants a beach day." Zuko felt like his entire body had nails piercing through, his muscles sore, and the bones in his hands stiff. He couldn't imagine how Aang felt, but then again, he was the Avatar, which could mean he was built differently to endure this kind of training. On the other hand, Zuko was on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion.