Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Smile Because It Happened ❯ Chapter 12

For those of you who are interested, there is fanart for this story! Just copy and paste the following addresses in your address bar and take out the spaces, okay?

Chapter 3 Comic: http : / / theamberdragonfly dot deviantart dot com / art / SBIH-Ch-3-Redo-Hello-95889112

Chapter 6 fanart: http : / / keydapersian dot deviantart dot com / art / Zutara-request-96008107

A million and three-quarter thanks to those of you who have faved and commented on this story- without you, this story would not be nearly as successful as it is, nor as entertaining!

Chapter 12

Katara lowered herself to her knees and knelt in front of the Firebender.  That lingering question was evident in her eyes.

He cleared his throat.  “All healed now?” he managed to say.

She nodded slightly.  “Except for one thing.”

Zuko frowned.  “Your arm?”

She leaned forward, a blush on her cheeks and her pulse racing in her ears.  Droplets from her wet hair dripped onto his still-bare feet.

“My heart.”

He stared at her, his own heart pounding so hard he was sure it was echoing throughout the tunnels. Uncertain, he leaned away from her. “…What?”

His movement seemed to remind her just what the situation between the two of them really was. Her blush deepened and she rolled back on her toes to stand up. “I… I'm sorry,” she apologized as she turned away from him, shifting into her familiar Waterbending stance in order to bend the water off her body and out of his clothes as she had promised. “I don't know what I'm saying.”

Zuko stood up and grasped her by the shoulders, spinning her so that she was forced to face him. “Don't give me that shit,” he hissed. “The stuff you're not saying is what's speaking loud and clear! So tell me: if things had been different… if Mai hadn't been in my room all those years ago… or if I had pushed her away… If I had done what I should've, what I really wanted to…”

She stubbornly refused to look up at him. Mildly irked, he captured her chin and lifted it to look into her eyes. His heart clenched when he saw the tears sliding down her pinkened cheeks.

“Katara?”

The tears said it all. Her actions, as always, spoke louder and more eloquently than any words could possibly hope to.

So… he kissed her.

It wasn't the mild, hesitant kisses she often got from Aang, or even the rare deeper kisses they had shared on occasion during their four years together. Oh, no.

Not. Even. Close.

With a passion just as blazing as the fire that flowed through his veins, Zuko captured, invaded, plundered, and ultimately conquered her mouth for his own.

And she reveled in it.

She met his kiss hunger for hunger, shivering a little at the sensations he was igniting just by moving his mouth against her own.

As abruptly as he had kissed her, he pulled away. His eyes were burning more brightly than she had ever seen before- and they dropped from her face to the necklace around her throat.

And he turned away, but not before she saw the scowl on his face.

Katara watched as he picked up his tunic off the ground and put the garment back on. Realizing that they couldn't stay there in their own little world, she too moved over to her robes. She knelt down and regarded the pile of the clothes.

Picking up the one-armed robe, she made a decision and ripped the remaining sleeve off.

Zuko blinked at her curiously as he secured his belt. “Why'd you do that?”

“I never liked these huge sleeves anyway,” she replied, her tone oddly light as she donned her altered robe. “Now I can Waterbend easier.” She looked at her newly-bared arms. “Not to mention I can see my hands again.”

He sat down and pulled his boots back on, glancing over at her as she took the oversized pants and carefully ripped them so that one leg was made into a single, long section of cloth. “Don't you think you should wear those?”

“I am,” she retorted as she wrapped her modified belt around her waist to secure her robe.

“Refusing to be a slave to fashion?” he asked, a small smile on his lips.

“You know me. I'm a rebel.” She grinned.

Her smile faded as Zuko stood up and walked towards her, stopping a few feet away, his expression shadowed.

“Katara?”

Something in his voice made her chest feel like it had suddenly been encased in ice. “Zuko?”

“We… That… that can't happen again.”

She blinked. Her minor pains that lingered from her injuries faded beneath the crushing weight of his words. “…What?”

His topaz gaze lifted and she almost gasped aloud- they seemed to glow with a life of their own from the shadows hiding his face. “What we did… we can't do that again.” He took a deep breath and let it out, as if clearing his mind. “I made a mistake.”

A thousand and three thoughts crossed her mind, but all she could come up with was “Why?”

“Katara! Zuko!”

Katara turned and stared into the darkness of the tunnel. “Aang?” she called, her voice confused and surprised.

Soon a bevy of people filtered into the small dead-end room. Katara stared in shock at the familiar faces that appeared out of the darkness with several lit torches- and proceeded to be caught unawares as a giggling female abruptly glomped her. “Katara! We finally found you!”

“Ty Lee!” Katara gasped, managing to disentangle herself from the Kyoshi Warrior. “You're okay!”

The perky brunette beamed. “Yup! Thanks to Aang and Toph!”

As the troupe moved throughout the small cave to take a short break, Katara's eyes drifted over to her fiancé, who was standing next to his diminutive Earthbending teacher… Oh, by Tui… Is he… Is he staring at her CHEST? “Aang?”

Jerking himself out of his… reverie, the Avatar smiled cheerfully at his intended, his cheeks slightly pinked. “Oh… Hey, Katara.” He glanced at Zuko, who was being greeted most enthusiastically by Ty Lee. “You two okay? Where's Azula?”

Zuko's seemingly bored expression didn't change. “She tried to flambé us both before turning tail and slithering off to wherever she lurks when not destroying the lives of everyone on the planet.”

“Oooo, Zuko,” Ty Lee winced. “That's harsh.” She immediately grinned. “But accurate, knowing Azula.”

Katara turned back to Aang- and caught him staring in what seemed to be confused fascination at Toph. “So she didn't try to come after you on the other side?”

Toph snorted. “We didn't even try to leave the caves. We figured it'd be better to find you two first, before something happened,” she enunciated, “and see if you were okay.”

Katara's eyes narrowed at Toph's words. Why does she sound like she's hinting around at something? “Well, I did get burned pretty bad, not to mention I injured my ankle, but Zuko… found this pool for me and I managed to heal myself fairly well.”

Despite being sightless, Toph's eyes seemed to… sparkle. “Did he now? Wow, isn't he considerate?”

“Yeah!” Aang piped up. “That was really quick thinking, Zuko. How did you find this place anyway?”

Zuko didn't bat an eye. “I used my ears,” he deadpanned.

“Should've used your feet,” Toph chuckled.

Katara moved closer to Aang and Toph- and saw a little girl, probably no older than three, holding onto Aang's hand and partially hiding behind his leg. She knelt down and smiled at the child. “Well, hello! What's your name?”

The little girl blinked. “Cai.”

Katara beamed. “Hello, Cai! My name is Katara. Are you the Avatar's new friend?”

Cai shook her head slightly. “Cai bender.”

“Oh, you're an Earthbender? I bet Toph is enjoying the company of another Earthbender.”

Cai frowned and leaned out a little further from Aang's leg. “Airbender.”

Katara stared, closed her eyes briefly in a pronounced blink, and reopened her eyes to refocus on the girl. “Airbender?” She let out a breath that sounded like a weak laugh. “No, Avatar Aang is the last Airbender…”

Cai lifted one of her arms and swung it toward Katara. A blast of wind hit the Waterbender straight in the face- and left her gaping, speechless.

“No, Cai Airbender. Like A'tar Aang.”

She tried to pick her jaw up off the ground. “WHAT?”

A voice cleared their throat from behind her and she turned to see Chong and his wife Lily standing next to Zuko and Ty Lee. “Well, don't tell anyone,” Chong said slowly, “but we're pretty certain that our daughter can bend Air. Like the Avatar.”

Toph smacked her forehead with her hand.

Aang scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Yeah, Katara. It looks like little Cai is an Airbender.”

Zuko's eyes were wide as they looked at Cai, then back to her parents. “How?”

“Well, we're pretty sure it's because of our grandparents and great-grandparents,” Lily explained. “You see, we're not nomads just because we want to be.”

“Nope,” Chong added. “We are nomads because it's in our blood. Our great-grandparents were Air Nomads.”

Zuko frowned. “All Air Nomads are Airbenders,” he pointed out. “And they were wiped out when the War started.”

“Ah, but what about people that couldn't bend?” Chong asked. “What happened if a child was born that wasn't able to bend?”

“They were fostered out to families from the other three nations,” Lily said. She nodded at Zuko. “Including the Fire Nation, as this was before the War. As all of you know, except the Avatar, perhaps, there are many people in every nation that are unable to bend an element.”

“So over the generations, this dormant Air Nomad blood has passed through us, giving us the urge to roam but never the ability the Avatar possesses,” Chong continued.

“Until Cai,” Katara breathed.

The parents nodded. “Until Cai. And very possibly, many others,” Lily replied. She glanced over at another nomad couple and their young daughter. “Maybe even Lan over there. We just don't know.”

“It's the world restoring balance again,” Chong said sagely. He strummed his guitar. “Soon there will be Airbenders flying all over the place, like birds.”

Katara turned to Aang, who looked about as serious as she had seen him in a while. “Aang?”

“I need to find Guru Pathik as soon as possible,” he announced.

“Is he even still alive?” Katara asked.

“He'd be the only one who'd be able to verify their story.”

Zuko looked down at the little girl still hanging onto the Avatar's leg. “I'd say the proof of their claim is currently hugging your leg, Aang.”

“Anyways, we need to hurry up and get the hell out of here,” Toph reminded them. “Snoozles and Appa are waiting for us at the exit, and I don't want to think of what might happen if Crazy finds him.”

The group nodded. “Right. That's our priority right now,” Katara agreed.

Ty Lee scampered off to round up the nomads as Aang reached out and pulled the Waterbender into an embrace. “I'm glad you're okay,” he murmured in her ear as he kissed her cheek.

Katara tried to nod, but her thoughts were on a different kiss. From a very different mouth. As Aang leaned down to pick up the little girl who was tugging at his pant leg most insistently, Katara's gaze caught Zuko's. And lingered for a span of heartbeats.

“That's why,” was his quiet- and pained- reply.