A Broken Bond Part Two
The Meeting
Zuko
I was freezing, and I knew it. The fire I had built was small, and I was having trouble controlling my body heat. I could usually just warm or cool my body as I wished, but I right then I felt like an icicle. I cursed the river, wishing a certain waterbender had been there to dry me out before I had gotten this cold. I had tried to evaporate the water, but it started raining. Then it turned to snow. It was definitely one of those days when the spirits hated me. Then again, most days were like that for me lately.
Katara
I shouldered my pack, heading off for the small canoe that would carry me to the Fire Nation. Kenai took my hand, kissing me gently on the lips. I smiled at him, but it felt hollow. “Be careful.” I nodded and hopped in my canoe, creating a wave that pushed me Northwest out into the open ocean. I floated for hours in my little canoe, bobbing up and down on the gentle swells of the frigid waters. After hours of paddling and waterbending, I spotted a small speck of land on the horizon. The southern tip of the Fire Nation was closer than I had thought. I landed, stowing my boat in a crack in the cliffs. I rubbed my hands together, studying the steep cliffs that lined the coastline. I cracked my knuckles, grabbing hold of a protruding rock and hoisting myself up. A very long climb awaited me, so I started climbing.
Zuko
I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness. I knew that I was too far from any Fire Nation outposts or villages to hope for help. I was as far south as you could go in the Fire Nation. The sound of pounding waves rang in my ears, and the sound of splashing water created a soothing lullaby. Suddenly the pelican gulls that nested in the cliffs started squawking, as if a stray pigeon hawk had come to raid their nests. “Ow, oh, ouch! No, go away!” a voice echoed up the cliffs. In my half frozen state I thought it sounded familiar. “Move, darn it!” My eyes shot open. I had been shoved out of the way with that same line many times more than three years ago by a waterbender on a rampage. “Katara?” I mumbled, but I didn’t have the energy to move. My vision was blurred, but I saw a blue shape climb over the edge of the cliff, collapsing on the ground in a panting heap. I tried stand up, but I stepped on a slick patch of ice, falling down with a crash. The blue shape raised her head. “Zuko?” I heard no more, and I fell into deep dark sleep.
Katara
I had just been attacked by pelican gulls and climbed a fifty foot cliff when I saw him. He looked sick, and he just kind of fell down. I rushed over, kneeling down to check him for injuries. He didn’t seem hurt at first, but my when my hand came in contact with his face, I felt like I had touched a block of ice. He was freezing! I dragged him over to the cave he had obviously been taking shelter in, restarting the fire and taking care of his hypothermia. It was several hours before he came to. He sat up, rubbing his head and groaning. “I need to lay off the leche nuts!” He opened his eyes, and they meet mine. His eyes got huge, and he flopped back down on to my parka that I had used as a makeshift bed. “Hello to you too Zuko.” I laughed. He shrugged. “I’m just having another dream. I dream about you a lot, actually. More than usual lately.” I raised an eyebrow. That was more information then I needed. “Actually, you’re not dreaming.” He shrugged again. “You say that every time. I’ll try to touch you and you’ll disappear in a puff of smoke. I can’t help it.” He sat up, his shirtless chest looking very impressive in the firelight. His eyes were deep pits of sadness in his pale face.
“I miss you.”
Zuko
I took in Katara in all her beauty. She seemed different then she did in my dreams. Usually she appeared as the fourteen year old girl I knew, but this time she looked older. “Take my hand, Zuko. I’m as real as you are.” I hesitantly reached out, her small tan hand looking the same as it had those years ago. I felt our hands touch, and I waited for the puff of smoke. It didn’t come. She clasped my hand tightly in hers, and I felt my heart give a jolt. It was really Katara! I stood up so fast my head started spinning, and I had to sit back down. I realized she was still holding my hand in hers, looking amazed. “I can’t believe I found you so quickly.” She opened her hand against mine until they were flat against each other. Our fingers twined, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Do you remember?” She asked, and I nodded “That was a long time ago.” Then it was her turn to nod, and I saw a look of confusion in her sapphire blue eyes. She bit her lip, and I thought she was about to cry. I put my free hand on her shoulder. “Do you remember when we were on that island all those years ago?” I nodded. “You gave me something.” Again I nodded, not sure where she was going with this. “Well, we have to go there again.” I felt my spirits soar. We were going back! “And burn it.” My good mood ended very suddenly. “What? Why? It was a good luck charm I carved for you!” She shook her head. “It has to be done, Zuko. But I think when you gave it to me under the Southern Light’s first appearance during the Solstice; it did more than bond our trust.” I nodded. “You want to break the bond.” She nodded back. “I’m sorry, Zuko! I don’t want to, but I can’t marry Kenai until I do!” her free hand flew to her mouth. I pulled my hand out of the twine. “I see. You’re getting married! Well, congratulations to the bride. Don’t let me spoil your happy day.” I stood up and stomped out of the cave, leaving Katara alone.
Katara
I sighed, slouching against the wall. I hadn’t meant to say anything about Kenai or my reason for breaking the bond and burning the amulet. My hand strayed up to my two necklaces that hung around my neck; my mother’s necklace, small and smooth, and my new necklace, Kenai’s betrothal to me, larger and rougher, a carving of a wave. I realized that there was something under all of the others, hanging so low I couldn’t see it. I pulled it out of my parka, watching it sparkle in the firelight. It hung on a thin black chain, with small red beads at intervals between the chains. At the end was a small silver carving, like a twisting snake, it wound its way around the small silver plate it was carved into. “So you kept it?” I jumped, whipping around. Zuko was standing at the entrance to the cave, arms folded across his chest. “I felt like it was a part of me.” I admitted, reaching back to unsnap it. I stopped, a realization hitting me. “I’ve never taken it off.” He smiled. “Nor have I.” He reached into his shirt, pulling out a small chain identical to mine except the colors. His was blue with white beads, and the carving was carved into black metal, like the metal from which Sokka had made his sword. He knelt down beside me. “I can’t believe you kept that thing for three years!” I said as he sat down next to me. “It was the only thing I had to remember you by.” I smiled, feeling a sudden sadness taking hold of me. “I wanted to remember you too.” He scooted closer to me until our shoulders touched. Actually, my shoulder came to about the middle of his upper arm. We talked and laughed about the antics of the old days long into the night, and I soon got sleepy. “Are you tired?” Zuko asked. I nodded, stretching my arms. I reached into my pack, pulling out my sleeping bag. I crawled into it, watching silently as Zuko rolled up his coat into a makeshift pillow. “Where’s your stuff, anyway?” He shrugged, resting his head on his arms. “When I fell into the River Unceasing my pack was washed away.” I nodded, imagining Zuko falling into a river. I suppressed a snicker. “What’s your problem?” I looked to see that he was glaring at me. I shrugged. “Funny mental picture.” He scowled and flopped down. I nearly closed my eyes, keeping them opened a crack. I knew he was watching me. “What?” I asked, and he jumped.
“Nothing, I was just……. Remembering.”
Zuko
She looked so beautiful, her eyes closed and her hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Just the way I liked it, free and flowing as the wind. And her spirit. Like a waterfall in the moonlight. I shook my head. I was just a poetic mess that night. “Goodnight, Katara.” I whispered. “Goodnight Zuko.” I started, surprised to hear her answer me. I smiled a little smile, remembering the old days. “Do you remember when we’d say goodnight over and over until Toph told us to shut up?” Her voice was soft and distant, the way voices were when they were remembering. “Yeah. You always started it, but somehow I was always the one who got shouted at by the little earthbender.” She laughed. “The very scary little earthbender.” I nodded. “So, what’s become of all of them?” She sighed. “They grew up. Sokka and Suki are going on their honeymoon next month.” I nodded. “No surprise there.” She shrugged. The Sokka/Suki thing had been pretty much set since the Serpent’s Pass, when they had shared their first kiss. “Aang and Toph have gotten together.” I resisted the urge to laugh. “Aang’s with Toph? Isn’t that, like, against monk law?” She rolled her eyes. “He’s the last airbender on the planet, don’t you think there’s more than a small chance if they get married and have kids, at least one will be an airbender?” I snorted, and she realized too late what she was suggesting. “Never mind.” I fell into a laughing heap, and she joined in until we were both sore from laughing. “What about you? You’re getting married.” She lowered her gaze, and her laughing ended abruptly. “Yeah, I am.” I gazed at her, my eyes burning with intensity. “His name is Kenai and he’s from the North Pole. We met when he was helping to rebuild our home after a certain someone broke our ice wall down.” She put emphasis on ‘someone’. I shrugged guiltily. “He proposed to me three weeks later, and he was so handsome and kind I couldn’t resist. I really thought we had a chance.” I raised my eyebrow. “What do you mean?” She shrugged, and her voice softened. “On our wedding day, the ice broke right out from under me, like the spirits had a problem with me and Kenai getting married. The shaman said they already had me ‘matched up.’” I frowned. “Who with?” She bit her lip in the way I had come to recognize that meant she was nervous.
“You.”
Katara
As soon as I said it I mentally slapped myself. Why was I telling him all this? He probably didn’t give a leche nut about my emotional turmoil. “Me? You’ve got to be kidding me.” I shook my head, feeling his gaze blasting me. “Well, we’d better get a good night’s sleep if we’re going to get all the way to the Southern Air Temple in there days.” He rolled over and soon his breathing evened out, and he left me alone to think about my scrambled emotions. I rolled over, facing away from the sleeping boy. I closed my eyes, willing the peace of sleep to take me. Slowly I drifted away, sleep washing over me in an endless wave of darkness.
I was freezing, and I knew it. The fire I had built was small, and I was having trouble controlling my body heat. I could usually just warm or cool my body as I wished, but I right then I felt like an icicle. I cursed the river, wishing a certain waterbender had been there to dry me out before I had gotten this cold. I had tried to evaporate the water, but it started raining. Then it turned to snow. It was definitely one of those days when the spirits hated me. Then again, most days were like that for me lately.
Katara
I shouldered my pack, heading off for the small canoe that would carry me to the Fire Nation. Kenai took my hand, kissing me gently on the lips. I smiled at him, but it felt hollow. “Be careful.” I nodded and hopped in my canoe, creating a wave that pushed me Northwest out into the open ocean. I floated for hours in my little canoe, bobbing up and down on the gentle swells of the frigid waters. After hours of paddling and waterbending, I spotted a small speck of land on the horizon. The southern tip of the Fire Nation was closer than I had thought. I landed, stowing my boat in a crack in the cliffs. I rubbed my hands together, studying the steep cliffs that lined the coastline. I cracked my knuckles, grabbing hold of a protruding rock and hoisting myself up. A very long climb awaited me, so I started climbing.
Zuko
I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness. I knew that I was too far from any Fire Nation outposts or villages to hope for help. I was as far south as you could go in the Fire Nation. The sound of pounding waves rang in my ears, and the sound of splashing water created a soothing lullaby. Suddenly the pelican gulls that nested in the cliffs started squawking, as if a stray pigeon hawk had come to raid their nests. “Ow, oh, ouch! No, go away!” a voice echoed up the cliffs. In my half frozen state I thought it sounded familiar. “Move, darn it!” My eyes shot open. I had been shoved out of the way with that same line many times more than three years ago by a waterbender on a rampage. “Katara?” I mumbled, but I didn’t have the energy to move. My vision was blurred, but I saw a blue shape climb over the edge of the cliff, collapsing on the ground in a panting heap. I tried stand up, but I stepped on a slick patch of ice, falling down with a crash. The blue shape raised her head. “Zuko?” I heard no more, and I fell into deep dark sleep.
Katara
I had just been attacked by pelican gulls and climbed a fifty foot cliff when I saw him. He looked sick, and he just kind of fell down. I rushed over, kneeling down to check him for injuries. He didn’t seem hurt at first, but my when my hand came in contact with his face, I felt like I had touched a block of ice. He was freezing! I dragged him over to the cave he had obviously been taking shelter in, restarting the fire and taking care of his hypothermia. It was several hours before he came to. He sat up, rubbing his head and groaning. “I need to lay off the leche nuts!” He opened his eyes, and they meet mine. His eyes got huge, and he flopped back down on to my parka that I had used as a makeshift bed. “Hello to you too Zuko.” I laughed. He shrugged. “I’m just having another dream. I dream about you a lot, actually. More than usual lately.” I raised an eyebrow. That was more information then I needed. “Actually, you’re not dreaming.” He shrugged again. “You say that every time. I’ll try to touch you and you’ll disappear in a puff of smoke. I can’t help it.” He sat up, his shirtless chest looking very impressive in the firelight. His eyes were deep pits of sadness in his pale face.
“I miss you.”
Zuko
I took in Katara in all her beauty. She seemed different then she did in my dreams. Usually she appeared as the fourteen year old girl I knew, but this time she looked older. “Take my hand, Zuko. I’m as real as you are.” I hesitantly reached out, her small tan hand looking the same as it had those years ago. I felt our hands touch, and I waited for the puff of smoke. It didn’t come. She clasped my hand tightly in hers, and I felt my heart give a jolt. It was really Katara! I stood up so fast my head started spinning, and I had to sit back down. I realized she was still holding my hand in hers, looking amazed. “I can’t believe I found you so quickly.” She opened her hand against mine until they were flat against each other. Our fingers twined, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Do you remember?” She asked, and I nodded “That was a long time ago.” Then it was her turn to nod, and I saw a look of confusion in her sapphire blue eyes. She bit her lip, and I thought she was about to cry. I put my free hand on her shoulder. “Do you remember when we were on that island all those years ago?” I nodded. “You gave me something.” Again I nodded, not sure where she was going with this. “Well, we have to go there again.” I felt my spirits soar. We were going back! “And burn it.” My good mood ended very suddenly. “What? Why? It was a good luck charm I carved for you!” She shook her head. “It has to be done, Zuko. But I think when you gave it to me under the Southern Light’s first appearance during the Solstice; it did more than bond our trust.” I nodded. “You want to break the bond.” She nodded back. “I’m sorry, Zuko! I don’t want to, but I can’t marry Kenai until I do!” her free hand flew to her mouth. I pulled my hand out of the twine. “I see. You’re getting married! Well, congratulations to the bride. Don’t let me spoil your happy day.” I stood up and stomped out of the cave, leaving Katara alone.
Katara
I sighed, slouching against the wall. I hadn’t meant to say anything about Kenai or my reason for breaking the bond and burning the amulet. My hand strayed up to my two necklaces that hung around my neck; my mother’s necklace, small and smooth, and my new necklace, Kenai’s betrothal to me, larger and rougher, a carving of a wave. I realized that there was something under all of the others, hanging so low I couldn’t see it. I pulled it out of my parka, watching it sparkle in the firelight. It hung on a thin black chain, with small red beads at intervals between the chains. At the end was a small silver carving, like a twisting snake, it wound its way around the small silver plate it was carved into. “So you kept it?” I jumped, whipping around. Zuko was standing at the entrance to the cave, arms folded across his chest. “I felt like it was a part of me.” I admitted, reaching back to unsnap it. I stopped, a realization hitting me. “I’ve never taken it off.” He smiled. “Nor have I.” He reached into his shirt, pulling out a small chain identical to mine except the colors. His was blue with white beads, and the carving was carved into black metal, like the metal from which Sokka had made his sword. He knelt down beside me. “I can’t believe you kept that thing for three years!” I said as he sat down next to me. “It was the only thing I had to remember you by.” I smiled, feeling a sudden sadness taking hold of me. “I wanted to remember you too.” He scooted closer to me until our shoulders touched. Actually, my shoulder came to about the middle of his upper arm. We talked and laughed about the antics of the old days long into the night, and I soon got sleepy. “Are you tired?” Zuko asked. I nodded, stretching my arms. I reached into my pack, pulling out my sleeping bag. I crawled into it, watching silently as Zuko rolled up his coat into a makeshift pillow. “Where’s your stuff, anyway?” He shrugged, resting his head on his arms. “When I fell into the River Unceasing my pack was washed away.” I nodded, imagining Zuko falling into a river. I suppressed a snicker. “What’s your problem?” I looked to see that he was glaring at me. I shrugged. “Funny mental picture.” He scowled and flopped down. I nearly closed my eyes, keeping them opened a crack. I knew he was watching me. “What?” I asked, and he jumped.
“Nothing, I was just……. Remembering.”
Zuko
She looked so beautiful, her eyes closed and her hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Just the way I liked it, free and flowing as the wind. And her spirit. Like a waterfall in the moonlight. I shook my head. I was just a poetic mess that night. “Goodnight, Katara.” I whispered. “Goodnight Zuko.” I started, surprised to hear her answer me. I smiled a little smile, remembering the old days. “Do you remember when we’d say goodnight over and over until Toph told us to shut up?” Her voice was soft and distant, the way voices were when they were remembering. “Yeah. You always started it, but somehow I was always the one who got shouted at by the little earthbender.” She laughed. “The very scary little earthbender.” I nodded. “So, what’s become of all of them?” She sighed. “They grew up. Sokka and Suki are going on their honeymoon next month.” I nodded. “No surprise there.” She shrugged. The Sokka/Suki thing had been pretty much set since the Serpent’s Pass, when they had shared their first kiss. “Aang and Toph have gotten together.” I resisted the urge to laugh. “Aang’s with Toph? Isn’t that, like, against monk law?” She rolled her eyes. “He’s the last airbender on the planet, don’t you think there’s more than a small chance if they get married and have kids, at least one will be an airbender?” I snorted, and she realized too late what she was suggesting. “Never mind.” I fell into a laughing heap, and she joined in until we were both sore from laughing. “What about you? You’re getting married.” She lowered her gaze, and her laughing ended abruptly. “Yeah, I am.” I gazed at her, my eyes burning with intensity. “His name is Kenai and he’s from the North Pole. We met when he was helping to rebuild our home after a certain someone broke our ice wall down.” She put emphasis on ‘someone’. I shrugged guiltily. “He proposed to me three weeks later, and he was so handsome and kind I couldn’t resist. I really thought we had a chance.” I raised my eyebrow. “What do you mean?” She shrugged, and her voice softened. “On our wedding day, the ice broke right out from under me, like the spirits had a problem with me and Kenai getting married. The shaman said they already had me ‘matched up.’” I frowned. “Who with?” She bit her lip in the way I had come to recognize that meant she was nervous.
“You.”
Katara
As soon as I said it I mentally slapped myself. Why was I telling him all this? He probably didn’t give a leche nut about my emotional turmoil. “Me? You’ve got to be kidding me.” I shook my head, feeling his gaze blasting me. “Well, we’d better get a good night’s sleep if we’re going to get all the way to the Southern Air Temple in there days.” He rolled over and soon his breathing evened out, and he left me alone to think about my scrambled emotions. I rolled over, facing away from the sleeping boy. I closed my eyes, willing the peace of sleep to take me. Slowly I drifted away, sleep washing over me in an endless wave of darkness.
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