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Katara's Fire

a short Zutara fanfic

Zuko and Katara walked into the gates of the garden, although worn down and abandoned it still held a certain wild beauty, splashes of color from various wildflowers growing in the cracks of the paths outside the neat boundries they had once grown in. they had finally arrived, the temple was placed in the center of the garden, parts of it had caved in but it could still be seen that a lot of it around its main chamber stayed intact, there was a celestial calendar and a sunstone above the closed door.

"tomorrow is the solstice, so i guess we'll wait here" Zuko said "meanwhile we can camp over there in the part of the temple that hasn't completely fallen down, it will give us shelter for the night".

Katara nodded and they lead their ostrich horses into the cavern like chamber to the side of the temple, Katara ever since arriving there had noticed she felt a strange sensation, like her senses were hightened, at a light brush of wind she felt a tingling in her skin, she could feel the earth beneath and around her much stronger than before, and Zuko....the air around him had grown warmer than usual, it was a strange feeling. meanwhile Zuko took some bags of ostrich horse feed and gave them to the ostrich horses, he unsaddled them and left their travel bags in a safe corner of the chamber, then he walked over to Katara who was standing at the chamber's entrance

"i can see why this place has been kept secret so long" she said "i feel different, its like a clash of energies here"

Zuko smiled "yes, but its not a clash of energies, more like a harmony. you may find your bending slightly weaker here, but this is the only place like this left in the world after the war in which a bender besides the Avatar can learn another element"

Katara's eyes widened "but...thats impossible! only the Avatar can learn more than one element right?" she said surprised.

"no, its possible." Zuko said "but once we leave here we will lose any of the extra bending abilities from other elements we have learned, i think you can only learn one other element here too. I'm not sure but it may have originally been intended to be a sort of training ground for past Avatars, but others can train her too. this was before the war though, when benders seemed to understand other benders from other nations better. either way, we have to wait til tomorrow until we get to go in the temple, so instead of doing nothing, why not try your hand at a different element? i will do the same"

Katara couldn't deny it, now she knew what the feeling was, she was feeling the energy from the other 3 elements that she hadn't learned yet "Zuko" she said coming towards him "then, will you teach me...Firebending?"

"but that's your opposite element, it may be quite hard" Zuko said, but he was smiling, he had been anticipating this.

"that's why i want to learn it! is your element and well..." she didn't finish, she just blushed

"ok" Zuko said, he noticed her blush, he thought she was quite cute when she blushed. "and maybe you could teach me waterbending too" he added with a smile

"yes of course!" Katara said smiling wide

they left the chamber and went back out into the garden. it was almost noon, the perfect time to learn firebending when the sun had almost reached its peak. Zuko sat down in the shade of a tree and beckoned katara to do the same. they sat cross legged facing each other.

"firebending is in the breath" Zuko said, beginning the lesson "it is fueled by emotion, however if it isn't kept in check it could go out of control, that is why it is important to breathe, we'll first concentrate on that" Zuko sat up a little straighter and with his hands resting on his knees he drew in a few deep methodical breaths with his eyes closed, he then opened his eyes "now you do it, concentrate on your breath, and on the energy of the suns warmth"

Katara did, even in the shade of the tree the heat of the sun could be felt, and she could feel the dots of sunlight coming through the tree branches. she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, feeling the suns warmth. all was silent now except for the pair's breathing and wind in the trees and occasional birdsong. after a few minutes, or what she could tell was a few minutes, the sunlight was no longer just warmth...it strangely seemed alive. as she continued to breathe she could see faint colors forming on the back of her eyelids, it was a faint glow of orange, yellow, green and blue barely noticeable but still there. she was so mesmerized by this that she didn't even notice when Zuko had got up and now was sitting beside her leaning against the tree. but after a while she felt the sunlight started slowly moving as the day drew nearer to noon, she was broken from her trance and opened her eyes. Zuko sat cross legged beside her to the left leaning against the tree, his face was turned up toward the sky with his eyes closed. Katara didn't move, she cherished this quiet moment with him. he soon opened his eyes and turned toward her.

"so did you see it?" he asked

Katara nodded "it was beautiful, so many colors it was amazing!"

"yes" Zuko said "i remember the first time i saw it, after i lost my firebending and needed to relearn it i went to see the firebending masters Ren and Shaw. before then i had always thought fire was only destruction, they made me realize it is life too, and harmony." Zuko stood up and walked out of the shade looking at the sky "its noon, want to try firebending now?" he motioned for her to come to him

Katara nodded getting up and eagerly went over to where Zuko was standing. he began to instruct her how she was to direct the flow of energy, he stood beside her and with his index finger traced a path down her arm to the palm of her hand. "if your doing it right, the palm of your hand should feel warm" he said "once you feel the warmth you can make a little flame, just be careful not to let it get too intense" he warned

"what if it gets out of control?" she asked concerned

"I'm here don't worry, i will stop it if that happens." he said.

Katara nodded feeling less uneasy now, she knew with Zuko here she was safe. she held her right hand out in front of her concentrating on the energy within her and the energy of the sun. Zuko stood close beside her, she could feel his warmth, she blushed a little but continued concentrating on her palm. she did begin feeling a little pocket of warmth in her palm, at first she wasn't sure though, perhaps its just the heat of the sun. but it wasn't, it felt different from the warm summer air around her. "i feel it!" she said, Zuko put his hand over hers and felt the warmth to "that's great" he said with a smile, then he put his hand under hers so that her hand was resting in his "now concentrate on it" he said. Katara's heart beat slightly faster than before. here she was, a waterbender standing there with Zuko prince of the Firenation, she tried not to blush, and went back to concentrating on the warmth in her hand.

fire. fueled by passion.

a little flickering flame appeared in the palm of her hand, but it didn't burn her, it slowly grew as her feelings intensified. Katara's eyes gleamed "i did it! i made fire!"

Zuko had a look of joy and pride in his amber eyes "yes you did, tell me, how does it feel?" he asked.

"it feels...alive" Katara said, the fire had grown a bit more now and she had it cupped in both hands, she stepped a few feet away from Zuko and made the fire flow from her hand in circles around her, guiding the golden strands with her hands in graceful movements. it was evident that although she was bending fire her movements had the same graceful fluidity as a waterbender, though mixed slightly with firebending movements she had seen Zuko do. Zuko thought it was the most beautiful thing he had seen. he helped her though, making sure she didn't hurt herself. if he saw a strand of flame straying too close to her he would redirect it. soon the strands of fire became thin as Katara let them disappear. she turned to Zuko, her blue eyes sparkled.

"that...was the most amazing experience i have ever had," she said in awe of what had just happened "i must be the first person ever to bend more than one element besides...the Avatar" Katara said, wondering if Zuko noticed her slight pause when she mentioned the Avatar. Zuko nodded and went over to her "yes you are, you did quite well too. tell me Katara....what is the second most amazing experience you ever have had? just curious." he said with a smile.

"well i don't think there is a second one, that was so completely unexpected!" she said eying him curiously wondering where he was going with this.

Zuko took her hand, she blushed but she didn't try to hide it this time. she knew that he knew about her feelings for him, but until now she wasn't sure he felt the same, but she now sensed that maybe he did. then unexpectedly he leaned in and kissed her, her eyes grew wide.

"how about that?" he asked her. he was blushing, he looked a little nervous as he waited for her reaction. she smiled and put her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes. "yeah i think that counts" she said. "so...you like me too?"

"yes" Zuko said "i have for a while now"

Katara leaned in a kissed Zuko again "i like you too" she said smiling

Katara withdrew her arms "so, do you want to learn waterbending now?" she asked

"yes" Zuko said and they made their way to the nearby river to begin. Katara knew that once she left that place she would no longer be able to firebend and things would go back to normal. well that's not entirely true, things would never go back to normal completely now that they both knew of each other's feelings, it was only a beginning.

Description
Katara's Fire

a short Zutara fanfic

Zuko and Katara walked into the gates of the garden, although worn down and abandoned it still held a certain wild beauty, splashes of color from various wildflowers growing in the cracks of the paths outside the neat boundries they had once grown in. they had finally arrived, the temple was placed in the center of the garden, parts of it had caved in but it could still be seen that a lot of it around its main chamber stayed intact, there was a celestial calendar and a sunstone above the closed door.

"tomorrow is the solstice, so i guess we'll wait here" Zuko said "meanwhile we can camp over there in the part of the temple that hasn't completely fallen down, it will give us shelter for the night".

Katara nodded and they lead their ostrich horses into the cavern like chamber to the side of the temple, Katara ever since arriving there had noticed she felt a strange sensation, like her senses were hightened, at a light brush of wind she felt a tingling in her skin, she could feel the earth beneath and around her much stronger than before, and Zuko....the air around him had grown warmer than usual, it was a strange feeling. meanwhile Zuko took some bags of ostrich horse feed and gave them to the ostrich horses, he unsaddled them and left their travel bags in a safe corner of the chamber, then he walked over to Katara who was standing at the chamber's entrance

"i can see why this place has been kept secret so long" she said "i feel different, its like a clash of energies here"

Zuko smiled "yes, but its not a clash of energies, more like a harmony. you may find your bending slightly weaker here, but this is the only place like this left in the world after the war in which a bender besides the Avatar can learn another element"

Katara's eyes widened "but...thats impossible! only the Avatar can learn more than one element right?" she said surprised.

"no, its possible." Zuko said "but once we leave here we will lose any of the extra bending abilities from other elements we have learned, i think you can only learn one other element here too. I'm not sure but it may have originally been intended to be a sort of training ground for past Avatars, but others can train her too. this was before the war though, when benders seemed to understand other benders from other nations better. either way, we have to wait til tomorrow until we get to go in the temple, so instead of doing nothing, why not try your hand at a different element? i will do the same"

Katara couldn't deny it, now she knew what the feeling was, she was feeling the energy from the other 3 elements that she hadn't learned yet "Zuko" she said coming towards him "then, will you teach me...Firebending?"

"but that's your opposite element, it may be quite hard" Zuko said, but he was smiling, he had been anticipating this.

"that's why i want to learn it! is your element and well..." she didn't finish, she just blushed

"ok" Zuko said, he noticed her blush, he thought she was quite cute when she blushed. "and maybe you could teach me waterbending too" he added with a smile

"yes of course!" Katara said smiling wide

they left the chamber and went back out into the garden. it was almost noon, the perfect time to learn firebending when the sun had almost reached its peak. Zuko sat down in the shade of a tree and beckoned katara to do the same. they sat cross legged facing each other.

"firebending is in the breath" Zuko said, beginning the lesson "it is fueled by emotion, however if it isn't kept in check it could go out of control, that is why it is important to breathe, we'll first concentrate on that" Zuko sat up a little straighter and with his hands resting on his knees he drew in a few deep methodical breaths with his eyes closed, he then opened his eyes "now you do it, concentrate on your breath, and on the energy of the suns warmth"

Katara did, even in the shade of the tree the heat of the sun could be felt, and she could feel the dots of sunlight coming through the tree branches. she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, feeling the suns warmth. all was silent now except for the pair's breathing and wind in the trees and occasional birdsong. after a few minutes, or what she could tell was a few minutes, the sunlight was no longer just warmth...it strangely seemed alive. as she continued to breathe she could see faint colors forming on the back of her eyelids, it was a faint glow of orange, yellow, green and blue barely noticeable but still there. she was so mesmerized by this that she didn't even notice when Zuko had got up and now was sitting beside her leaning against the tree. but after a while she felt the sunlight started slowly moving as the day drew nearer to noon, she was broken from her trance and opened her eyes. Zuko sat cross legged beside her to the left leaning against the tree, his face was turned up toward the sky with his eyes closed. Katara didn't move, she cherished this quiet moment with him. he soon opened his eyes and turned toward her.

"so did you see it?" he asked

Katara nodded "it was beautiful, so many colors it was amazing!"

"yes" Zuko said "i remember the first time i saw it, after i lost my firebending and needed to relearn it i went to see the firebending masters Ren and Shaw. before then i had always thought fire was only destruction, they made me realize it is life too, and harmony." Zuko stood up and walked out of the shade looking at the sky "its noon, want to try firebending now?" he motioned for her to come to him

Katara nodded getting up and eagerly went over to where Zuko was standing. he began to instruct her how she was to direct the flow of energy, he stood beside her and with his index finger traced a path down her arm to the palm of her hand. "if your doing it right, the palm of your hand should feel warm" he said "once you feel the warmth you can make a little flame, just be careful not to let it get too intense" he warned

"what if it gets out of control?" she asked concerned

"I'm here don't worry, i will stop it if that happens." he said.

Katara nodded feeling less uneasy now, she knew with Zuko here she was safe. she held her right hand out in front of her concentrating on the energy within her and the energy of the sun. Zuko stood close beside her, she could feel his warmth, she blushed a little but continued concentrating on her palm. she did begin feeling a little pocket of warmth in her palm, at first she wasn't sure though, perhaps its just the heat of the sun. but it wasn't, it felt different from the warm summer air around her. "i feel it!" she said, Zuko put his hand over hers and felt the warmth to "that's great" he said with a smile, then he put his hand under hers so that her hand was resting in his "now concentrate on it" he said. Katara's heart beat slightly faster than before. here she was, a waterbender standing there with Zuko prince of the Firenation, she tried not to blush, and went back to concentrating on the warmth in her hand.

fire. fueled by passion.

a little flickering flame appeared in the palm of her hand, but it didn't burn her, it slowly grew as her feelings intensified. Katara's eyes gleamed "i did it! i made fire!"

Zuko had a look of joy and pride in his amber eyes "yes you did, tell me, how does it feel?" he asked.

"it feels...alive" Katara said, the fire had grown a bit more now and she had it cupped in both hands, she stepped a few feet away from Zuko and made the fire flow from her hand in circles around her, guiding the golden strands with her hands in graceful movements. it was evident that although she was bending fire her movements had the same graceful fluidity as a waterbender, though mixed slightly with firebending movements she had seen Zuko do. Zuko thought it was the most beautiful thing he had seen. he helped her though, making sure she didn't hurt herself. if he saw a strand of flame straying too close to her he would redirect it. soon the strands of fire became thin as Katara let them disappear. she turned to Zuko, her blue eyes sparkled.

"that...was the most amazing experience i have ever had," she said in awe of what had just happened "i must be the first person ever to bend more than one element besides...the Avatar" Katara said, wondering if Zuko noticed her slight pause when she mentioned the Avatar. Zuko nodded and went over to her "yes you are, you did quite well too. tell me Katara....what is the second most amazing experience you ever have had? just curious." he said with a smile.

"well i don't think there is a second one, that was so completely unexpected!" she said eying him curiously wondering where he was going with this.

Zuko took her hand, she blushed but she didn't try to hide it this time. she knew that he knew about her feelings for him, but until now she wasn't sure he felt the same, but she now sensed that maybe he did. then unexpectedly he leaned in and kissed her, her eyes grew wide.

"how about that?" he asked her. he was blushing, he looked a little nervous as he waited for her reaction. she smiled and put her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes. "yeah i think that counts" she said. "so...you like me too?"

"yes" Zuko said "i have for a while now"

Katara leaned in a kissed Zuko again "i like you too" she said smiling

Katara withdrew her arms "so, do you want to learn waterbending now?" she asked

"yes" Zuko said and they made their way to the nearby river to begin. Katara knew that once she left that place she would no longer be able to firebend and things would go back to normal. well that's not entirely true, things would never go back to normal completely now that they both knew of each other's feelings, it was only a beginning.