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Rises with the Heart	By : AngelaBlythe Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 11670 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-PART I
- 2-PART II
- 3-PART III
- 4-PART IV
- 5-PART V
- 6-PART VI
- 7-PART VII
- 8-PART VIII
- 9-PART IX
- 10-PART X
- 11-PART XI
- 12-PART XII
- 13-PART XIII
- 14-PART XIV
- 15-PART XV
- 5
- 6
- 7
RISES WITH THE HEART
VI.I
As Zuko led the way up the mountain, he found it more and more difficult to breathe. The air had thinned considerably, and he regretted that he was probably not fully recovered from battling Azula a second time. He didn’t relish in the thought that he might have the wrong peak – he wasn’t nearly as positive as he sounded when Katara asked if he was sure he had the right cliffside path. As the air thinned, he noted the chill as well. As a native of the Fire Nation, he hadn’t seen snow until his exile two years ago. Any amount of chill usually put him in a foul mood.
With a backwards glance at Katara, Zuko decided it was time for a rest. His stomach was growling, and he knew Katara was probably just as tired as he was. She had been silent during the whole trip. Normally she was talkative to the point of annoying, but with Iroh gone, and Zuko never one for pointless conversation, he assumed she was just trying to survive the mountain. And him.
He’d been needlessly cruel to her the past few days. Zuko knew he had – he could see the pain in her eyes when he barked at her. He found it unsatisfying to yell at a person who wasn’t going to yell back, and Katara had an unlimited amount of patience. Well, most of the time. Prince of Nothing. The thought echoed in his mind whenever he spoke to her sharply. He tried to ignore it, but the words had persisted long after they left her lips.
Her ankles hung off the edge of the thin path that wound around the towering peak. One foot was bouncing lightly as she stared off into the clouds, a sweet pear in her hand. She had been the one with the foresight to pluck them from a farmer’s tree. Zuko noticed she was very liberal in her ideas of ownership concerning sweet pears. This had been the fourth time she’d ‘borrowed’ sweet pears since he’d met her. Sweet pears had been a favorite of Zuko’s in his youth – they were rare in the Fire Nation because they had to be transported from the Earth Kingdom. For some reason, they didn’t take to Fire Nation soil.
If she noticed him staring she never said anything. Her silence was perplexing…and a bit maddening. Like his Uncle Iroh, she seemed for the most part immune to his subtle prods. Sometimes he wondered why he was so cruel to her, why he pushed and pushed until he was sure she would leave him. And why was he so scared she would leave? His brows drew together in realization. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if she left. She had grown like a small plant on a boulder, cutting into rock with care and patience – a surgeon.
Perhaps he was so cruel because he was testing her. Back in the prison hut on Kyoshi, seeing her open the door with worry on her face – worry for him – had made her irresistible. She cared about him. Like she’d said on the boat before they’d kissed, she would miss him if he left. And he wouldn’t want to live without her. So he’d made her promise never to leave him. If she did…
She was the only person who had ever shown him kindness. His mother and Iroh excluded. She was the only person who he had ever felt something for him – without the temptation of status or payment. Her eyes could see through him. She could never leave him…
Self-examination like this was difficult for Zuko. Feelings were weakness – that was something drilled into him from childhood. Exploring his feelings for Katara filled him with guilt. How could he strive to make her happy when all he was good at was destroying things? How could he deserve happiness when he was so disgraced?
Katara became excited when they began the last set of switchbacks. In fact, it was almost hard to keep up with her. Katara screamed with joy as they came upon the blind earthbender and the flying lemur companion of the Avatar. The blind earthbender didn’t seem terribly excited to see Katara, but, in this case, Zuko decided looks could be deceiving.
The girl’s clothes were disheveled, and she looked terribly tired. Her cloudy green eyes were haunting, almost creepy, for her head turned in the direction of a voice, but her eyes never quite made it. “Toph, this is Prince Zuko. Zuko, this is Toph Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom.”
She sneered at him. “Well,” she said abrasively, “welcome to the Southern Air Temple, Z.”
And that name stuck.
VI.II
After night had fallen, Zuko lit a fire in the cavernous overhang that Toph had been using as a shelter. From what Zuko had seen, the temple was mostly rubble, but it had a working well, and a fountain in the main courtyard that was filled with rainwater. He hadn’t been able to explore the whole complex before night fell, but the way Toph described it, he would probably have a little while.
“They left almost a week ago,” the blind girl said, batting Katara’s hands away when she tried for the millionth time to straighten the earthbender’s messy hair. “Sokka and the general were in a bad way, but by the way you describe it, General Iroh’s seen worse.”
There was no meat available except what Katara and Zuko had brought, and the blind earthbender was ravenous for meat. “There’s a healer’s sanctuary that Aang knew of somewhere to the northwest of here,” Toph explained, finally succumbing to Katara’s comb. “He didn’t stay long before leaving me here to wait for you. So it’s just been Momo and me for a while.”
“If they’re not back in a few days,” Katara said solemnly, pausing halfway through a massive tangle, “we should probably try to find it. Zuko and I’ve been seeing more and more Fire Nation soldiers since our escape from Kyoshi. This temple’s safe for now…but it’s isolated…”
Katara’s eyes grew dark as she absently combed her friend’s raggedy hair. “How did you even survive, Toph? And why didn’t you try to find us?” Katara asked gently. “I thought I’d killed you…”
Zuko was silent as Toph explained how she’d survived. “Well, after you hit me with that water tornado…” then she paused and frowned, turning to land a solid punch on Katara’s shoulder. Katara cried out in pain, but looked slightly happier afterwards. “I can only assume that I was too far away and well hidden for the soldiers to find me. When I woke I didn’t know where I was, and I was almost too disoriented to ‘see.’ Appa found me, and Momo fed me…but there were a lot of times I didn’t think I was going to make it.” She was silent. “I’d lost a lot of blood,” she murmured, her hand going to the side of her face where her hair hid an angry scar.
“When I was healed enough, I snuck to the site of the attack and took my pack. For the longest time I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing, but one night Appa flipped me onto his saddle and started flying.” Her voice became low. “That was the worst part…I can’t sense anything in the air, and he wouldn’t land. Not until we’d made it to Kyoshi.”
She yelped a little when Katara pulled hard on a lock of dirty, matted hair. Zuko was glad it was her, and not him. “Aang wasn’t in a good way even after you healed him Katara…something in that ship changed him. Him and Sokka.” She sighed. “He said he didn’t deserve to be Avatar,” Toph confessed. Katara gasped at this, accidentally pulling the blind girl’s hair.
“That’s crazy!” Katara growled.
“He blames himself for what happened,” Toph persisted. “He knows he almost cost everyone their lives…and I don’t think he can cope with the guilt…”
Katara and Toph continued to talk, but Zuko drowned out their voices. He had been following Azula and her companions since the incident with Iroh…he knew his sister would be hot on the Avatar’s trail, but he hadn’t realized the circumstances of their meeting. Had the Avatar really attacked Azula? Had he risked everyone’s life in a battle he couldn’t possibly win? Taking on Azula was madness. You couldn’t hope to beat her, merely survive her – escape her. If this was true, the Avatar had changed greatly from the boy that had asked to be friends…
Toph was curled up with her back to the fire, the flying lemur curled around the blind girl’s head. Katara, on the other hand, was staring into the flames with a serious expression clouding her cerulean eyes. As soon as his eyes were locked on her, however, she glanced up sharply and held his gaze. The intensity of the look sent a jolt through his body. What could she be thinking?
With a gentle, though serious voice, she spoke to him. “Aang needs to learn firebending,” she said simply. “Will you teach him?”
Zuko felt himself filled with rage at the question. The fire leapt as he growled in a dangerous voice, “No.”
Katara sighed then narrowed her eyes. Standing up, she gave him a superior look. “Fine. I will go elsewhere and find Aang a master.”
Without another word she folded up her sleeping bag and put it in her pack with a minimal amount of food. Zuko seethed as he watched her, unsure of what to do. How dare she ask him to teach the Avatar firebending?! The only reason he’d ever saved Aang’s life was so he could be the one to send Aang to his death – hopefully by his hand. The Avatar was Zuko’s enemy, and aside from Azula, the person he hated most. To aid him would be the ultimate treachery to the Fire Nation.
Up until now, he’d walked the fine line of loyalty, justifying helping the Avatar escape on several occasions because of his own desire to turn him in. Zuko would never help that twelve-year-old brat, especially after all the effort he’d expanded trying to capture him.
Zuko watched with fury and disbelief as Katara threw her pack over her shoulder and, without a backward look, headed towards the path down the mountain. Zuko ran to catch up with her.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” he yelled accusingly, grabbing hold of her hand.
She jerked away from him, her face pink with anger. “I told you! I’m going to find Aang a firebending master!”
Then she turned on him again, her feet moving quickly towards the switchbacks at the top of the peak. “What?” he asked in an angry voice. “By yourself?”
She kept walking.
But he caught up with her again and stepped in her way. “You’re just going to leave?” he asked darkly, the rage inside him quieting at the prospect of her actually leaving him.
Katara’s face softened. “I promised Aang I would help him become the Avatar – a fully realized Avatar. I promised to help him on his quest. I can’t turn my back on that.” She paused. “I promised.”
Zuko hardened at the word. “You also promised me…” he reminded her in sinister tones.
“I’m not leaving you,” she said in a determined voice.
“THEN WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!” he bellowed.
Her face contorted in fury. “I’M GOING TO HELP AANG!!!”
Zuko locked eyes and wills with Katara like magnets. Neither had noticed the audience they’d gained several minutes prior.
“Help me what?”
Zuko whirled about, equally as surprised as Katara to see the Avatar, Iroh, and Sokka all standing about with confused expressions. Appa made a growling noise in the uncomfortable silence.
“Aang!” Katara shrieked in delight. “Sokka!” Zuko glared as she dropped her pack on the ground before him and launched herself at the Avatar and her brother. As he watched her embrace them both, Zuko felt a stab of jealousy. She looked happy in a way that he had never seen her – a happiness he could never give her. And she seemed so preoccupied with the Avatar and her brother that she’d lost complete interest in him.
His Uncle Iroh put a hand on his shoulder. “A touching scene, is it not?”
Zuko watched her smiles, her excited tone, and her carefree expression. He’d never seen her so elated. He turned to his uncle, a terrifying look of rage twisting his face. “Hn,” he replied, brushing past his uncle and the reunited friends.
VI.IV
With Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara all back together, Katara felt new rays of hope as she woke that morning. Aang was wide-awake already, badgering Sokka to play a game of Air Ball down in the arena. Toph was always pretty chipper in the morning – if by chipper you meant an unbelievable grouch. It was hard for Katara to see what changes Toph had described in Aang. Had something happened in that week at the herbalist’s?
Katara glanced at General Iroh and Prince Zuko, who had separated themselves the rest of the group during the night. Katara suspected General Iroh in Aang’s transformation, but without further evidence, Katara was at a loss to explain Aang’s lightheartedness. Aside from the fact that Aang was naturally lighthearted.
The relative peace of the morning was suddenly and horrifically broke by an argument that had exploded between Zuko and Iroh. Katara watched in amazement as Zuko completely lost his temper, ferociously burning and incinerating anything offensive in his way.
“HOW COULD YOU?!” Zuko raged, slamming his fist into a pile of rubble, which promptly went up in flames.
“Zuko,” Iroh began in a calm voice. Katara noted the hard commanding edge on it, though it was subtle. “You do not have to agree with me.”
“You TRAITOR!” Zuko accused, his face the picture of fiery rage.
“You and I are both traitors, Zuko,” Iroh countered. “There is nothing – not even capturing the Avatar – that will cause my brother to forgive you. He has no compassion.”
Zuko attacked a wall next, blowing a hole in it as he fumed. He yelled uncontrollably as he stormed away. Iroh sighed and shook his head at his irate nephew, taking a seat on a large rock and putting a hand over his eyes. No one spoke, but Katara drew the water out of her water skin and doused the prince’s fires. Kneeling next to the prince’s uncle, she looked into his tired face and asked, “Is everything alright, General Iroh?”
Iroh removed his hand from his eyes and gazed kindly upon Katara. “I fear my nephew has reacted quite hostilely to my decision.”
Katara’s eyes darted in the direction in which Zuko had stormed off, clouded in confusion. Iroh stoked the fire and began boiling water with a crude pot. “The Avatar was never meant to be anyone’s enemy,” he began softly. “He was meant to mediate disputes and prevent war, but his purpose is to bring peace, not fight. Bringing balance and harmony to a world fraught with chaos…Aang can do this…” He paused, also looking towards the angry prince. “If he masters firebending by summer’s end…”
Realization dawned on Katara. No wonder Zuko had been so angry. “You’re going to teach Aang firebending,” she said softly.
Iroh smiled, reaching into a bag and pulling out tealeaves. “The herbalist was a marvelous woman…with marvelous tea. I am sad to leave such a delectable collection of teas.”
A slow, warm smile formed on Katara’s face. “Thank you, General Iroh,” she said, placing a hand on his.
He returned her smile with a nod. “Care for some tea, little wanderer?” he called over his shoulder.
Toph stood behind him, her face expressionless as always. “I’ll pour my own, thank you,” she said in a rough voice Katara knew to be compassionate.
Katara left the two in silence, making her way towards the fountain at the center of the courtyard beyond their encampment. It seemed to have rained recently, for though the fountain didn’t work, it was filled with cold, clear water. Katara forgot how clean rain could be this high up in the mountains. She sighed to herself and sat on the edge of the fountain.
Zuko had been more than confusing lately. Ever since that day in Kyoshi he’d been nothing but cruel and cold towards her. She felt like some kind of animal he’d captured in one of his traps, something he was playing with before he would eventually kill. Katara didn’t like being toyed with. But she knew how he worried over his uncle’s safety, and she’d thought he was upset and taking his fears out on her. She’d borne these fears quite admirably, but Katara wasn’t made of tolerance, and Zuko was on his last chance.
How could he be so amorous and so hateful all at once? She thought of the way he’d pinned her to the ground, making her hot with desire before he’d made her promise to never leave him. She knew, deep down, this was the only way he could express any emotions. And she was happy to give him that, if those words meant so much. She’d say them every day…she thought she loved him…
But his refusal to help Aang stung. Katara had responsibilities – responsibilities to the Avatar, to her brother, to her people, and to the world. Aang could save the world, but to do that he needed firebending. Had she been wrong in her judgment of Zuko? Was he not the kind of man she thought?
Katara didn’t know. It was impossible to tell. He was changing almost before her eyes. She could still remember the first time she’d met him in the South Pole, how he’d threatened to kill everyone if they didn’t had over the Avatar. And now…now he’d saved Aang twice. He’d saved her. …He’d kissed her…
Though confusing, Katara was willing to put up with Zuko’s temperament, if only because she really did believe in his good qualities. Perhaps Yue had known what she was doing when she told Katara to be kind to the Fire Prince…perhaps she had known more than she’d told Katara… Could Yue have realized that Katara’s kindness would undoubtedly draw out a side of Zuko that Katara could love?
Katara wondered also at how Zuko had reacted when she’d told him she was going to find Aang a firebending master. If she wasn’t mistaken, his voice hadn’t been so much angry…as fearful… Could he have been afraid she would leave him? Katara knew it was wrong, but she thought to force Zuko into helping by saying she would go and find another, a master, to train Aang. She wouldn’t leave him…she wasn’t sure she could…
Frowning to herself, Katara skimmed the cool fountain water with her fingertips, swirling the water into little whirlpools. Why had the ancient spirits of the Ocean and Moon not given her information on how to deal with things like this? Waterbending was fine and good, but she could be a real master if she could understand Zuko.
As the water slowed, a reflection appeared beside her own. “Zuko,” she said softly.
His face was impassive, unreadable.
She sighed and turned to him. The livid burn over his eye was a deep red. It was the first time Katara really thought about it. Though he was truly a handsome man, the scar would be enough to drive any woman off. And if that didn’t drive them off, his cantankerous personality would definitely do it. But Katara didn’t see the burn; she just saw what it meant. It was the physical manifestation of his father’s cruelty, the reason Zuko himself was filled with guilt and anger, the only thing that kept him from his rightful place as heir to the Fire Nation.
“I lied,” she confessed, looking down at her hands folded in her lap.
She saw his feet shift.
“I only wanted you to teach Aang firebending. I never would have left you…but I had to help Aang,” she continued, tears welling in her eyes.
Of course he may never be able to forgive her for her trickery. She had played his emotions against him exactly as Azula would have done. Could it be possible that Katara was actually crueler than Zuko? She searched his hard, bronze eyes. They betrayed nothing.
“I’m sorry,” she finished, the heavy tears trailing down her face.
Katara retreated at his silence, more scared that he would talk than that he wouldn’t. Those hands, she thought as he held fast to her. Quick and capable of mass destruction, Zuko’s hands were a constant source of surprise to Katara. They could blast through stone and set it aflame, but they could also set her aflame. The thought of his hands on her body…the way they caressed her with inexperience and lust…the way they teased and controlled… Shivers reverberated down her spine.
But he didn’t pull her close or turn her to face him, he just held her wrist firmly in place as he spoke in a low, dangerous whisper. “I told you that you could never leave me,” he began. “Don’t forget.”
“I’m not a possession, Zuko,” she replied softly, still not able to face him.
The pressure on her wrist increased just slightly, and she could almost feel his possessive smile, the one that both scared and aroused her. “Nevertheless…” he threatened. After a moment he released her from his grasp, and Katara shivered at his retreating footsteps.
VI.V
Toph had almost immediately recognized the difference in Aang’s attitude. When he had left the Southern Air Temple he had been beating himself up over his actions two weeks in the past. It seemed he’d entered a state of guilt so severe perhaps not even Katara (whose kind words were usually just the trick) could talk him out of it. But when he’d returned to the Southern Air Temple the night before he’d been relatively normal. He’d laughed and been his fancy-free airbending self.
With a frown she sipped her tea. Listening and waiting…she knew how to do that. Eventually she would know the truth of what had happened…why Aang had gone to battle Azula, what had happened on that ship, and how he got back to his old self. She suspected the man in front of her.
Iroh was an interesting character. Along with her blindness came a host of other abilities. Extra-sensitive earthbending was one of them. The ability to memorize voices was another. But the ability to assess an enemy, and to judge a person’s strengths and weaknesses, was something Toph had to learn on her own. Toph had learned the hard way about what was on the inside of most people – weakness. And sometimes evil. Iroh was neither of these things, though pinning exactly what he was had become difficult. A wise old man in the mountains was the first side she’d met. But a cunning strategist and a kindly friend were faces of his multifaceted personality.
The incident with Zuko had spoken volumes… Toph reached out to pour herself another cup and paused. Zuko was coming this way, she could tell by his weight and walking – well, stalking – pattern. She stood and straightened her skirt.
“I think I should find something to do,” she told him cryptically. Then she brushed past Zuko and caught his shoulder. “Hey! Watch where you’re going, Z! I’m blind you know!”
Smirking at his speechless anger, she walked away.
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Rises with the Heart