Realization~Part 5- Zutara

“Oh no,” Katara sighed as she sat against the door.

 Why can’t this be easier?  I just need to tell Aang outright at this point.  She grabbed her stomach.  The stress of hiding her and Zuko’s relationship was giving her pain. 

“I can figure this out after tonight,” Katara mused out loud. 

 She walked over to her closet to get out a simple, yet slightly form fitting dress.  It was a pale maroon color and reached just above the floor.  She reached up to her neck instinctively only to remember that she hadn’t actually found her necklace earlier. 

 Her eyes widened. 

 “I can’t believe I forgot about my necklace!”

 But it was almost seven o’clock and the palace was too big to search in such a short amount of time. 

 She sighed again and pushed open the door and headed towards the foyer where the group was supposed to meet for their double date. 

~Meanwhile~

Zuko couldn’t help it as a huge grin spread throughout his face.  He started off towards his room to change into something more suitable for the date.  Just as he passed through the courtyard he noticed something shining near the turtleduck pond. 

 Wait is that- it was!

 He couldn’t believe it.  There, sitting in plain sight on the grass was Katara’s necklace.  He walked over and picked it up.  For some reason he felt more relaxed as soon as he touched the blue stone.  This was great!  He’d found a reason to visit Katara later tonight. 

 He quickly shoved the necklace into his pocket and continued on to his room to get ready. 

 ~~~

As he was about to leave the room to meet the others Zuko scanned himself over in the mirror.  His hair had grown longer; it was about to his shoulders, he had to tie it back when he trained.  He touched his scar, a once painful memory that he hadn’t thought of in some time. 

“Ugh, why am I thinking about this, I have other matters to deal with,” he grimaced and thought about what to tell Mai, and for that matter WHEN to tell her.  He shuttered a little bit as he contemplated her possible reactions. 

 Zuko found himself in the front room before he even realized it.  No one was there apparently.  He looked at the clock in the center of the wall and realized he was about ten minutes early.

 “Oh! Zuko! You’re here early too huh?” Katara said from her seated position on the stairs.  She stood up as he approached her. 

 “Yeah,” he pushed his hair back. “I didn’t even realize what time it was.”

“I got here about ten minutes ago because I couldn’t stop pacing around my room” Katara awkwardly chuckled.  “But I’m glad I get to see you a little bit before the others got here.”

 “I’m glad too.”

 His eyes scanned her up and down.  She looked gorgeous her floor length dress.  Her hair was all the way down and he noticed that she had put something on her lips to add color. 

 “You look beautiful by the way,” he said flushing.

 “You don’t look too bad yourself,” she answered with a grin.

 He smiled and put his hand in his pocket and felt the necklace.  He was about to pull it out when he heard an exclamation that didn’t come from either of their mouths. 

“GOOD EVENING LADY KATARA AND FIRE LORD ZUKO!  GET READY TO HAVE THE BEST DOUBLE DATE OF YOUR LIVES!” an excited Aang yelled from the top of the staircase.  Next to him stood Mai, her usual glare looked less hostile than usual. 

 The pair at the top descended the stairs to greet their respective partners.  Aang barreled into Katara sweeping her off her feet and after setting her down planted a kiss on her cheek. She felt her cheeks burn with color.  He’d never acted that affectionate in front of other people before.  Mai simply walked over to Zuko and put her arm through his. 

 “So, uh, what’s the plan for tonight?” Zuko started.

 “Ha well, it’s actually a surprise!” Aang reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue blindfold.  Mai had pulled a similar red colored one out. 

 “We're going to need for you two to put these on,” Mai said with a slight smile.

 The two complied, as they were pushed into what seemed to be a carriage.  They were seated next to each other and Katara had to resist the urge to grab Zuko’s hand, as the road they traveled on seemed to be a bit rough. 

 After about what felt like an eternity of riding in silence the carriage finally stopped. 

 “Okay you two, don't go running off,” Aang chuckled.  “But seriously, don’t take off your blindfolds yet, Mai and I need to put the finishing touches on-“

 “Just keep your blindfolds on and don’t move,” Mai interjected quickly. 

 She shushed him as she pushed him out of their ride.  After they couldn’t hear them anymore Zuko finally spoke. 

 “Where do you think we are?”

 “I have no idea, but that was a really long ride, are we even still in the Fire Nation?”

 “Yeah, I think so, I mean it’s a pretty huge place and all.”

 Katara laughed audibly.  “That’s true, I mean when were hiding out here all those months ago I didn’t even realize how big the Fire Nation was until it took us a solid two days to fly out of here on Appa.”

 “I had forgotten you guys did that.  Yeah, when I was little I rarely left the walls of the palace.  Until…you know”

 At hearing that Katara reached out to touch Zuko’s hand.  Once she found it she interlaced her fingers with his and squeezed gently.  Before he could squeeze back he heard footsteps approaching.  They quickly released each other as the door to the carriage was thrust open. 

 “We’re ready for you guys!” Aang exclaimed.

 He grabbed Katara’s hand to help her out of the carriage.  Once she was safely on the ground he started to lead her down what felt like several steps. 

 “We’re at the bottom.  Take a seat here.”  He helped her into a chair. 

 “Keep the blindfold on, I’ll be right back!”

 When am I going to be able to take this dang thing off?  Katara reached up to adjust the obstruction covering her eyes.

 She heard as curse as Zuko had apparently fumbled down the last step and tripped.  She chuckled to herself as she heard him being sat across from her. 

 “Okay.  You can take your blindfolds off now,” Mai said blandly.

 Katara reached up and pulled hers off and let out a gasp.  It took a few moments for her eyes to readjust but the scenery surrounding her was beautiful.  They were outside, but surrounded by tons small hung lights.  The foursome sat in at a huge table in a large gazebo.  There was an opening at the top where moonlight shone through. 

 “Beautiful,” Katara murmured.  She looked up and saw that Zuko was staring at her.  Her eyes widened as she blushed and he quickly looked away. 

 “I’m glad you think so.  I was wracking my brain over what to do for tonight and Mai pretty much took this thing head on.  It was her idea to put all the lights up.”

 She looked at Mai who seemed to be suddenly very interested in the silverware laid in front of her.  But she saw the corners of her mouth turned upwards. 

 A sudden pang of guilt shot through Katara like an arrow.  Until now she had only been thinking about her and Zuko’s feelings and not how the other two would feel.  They had put so much effort into this.  She didn’t know what to do. 

 Zuko sensed Katara’s sudden shift in mood and quickly spoke up.

 “This is awesome guys, thanks for doing all this.” He looked at Katara whose expression was unreadable.  “So, what’s for dinner?”

 ~~~

The rest of the night went smoothly.  They talked and joked like nothing.  After dinner Aang stood up. 

 “There’s one more part, saving the best for last.”

 He held out his hand for Katara to grab.  She took a side glance at Zuko who was staring plaintively at Aang’s outstretched hand.  She gave him an apologetic look and followed after him. 

 “Are Mai and Zuko coming with us too?”

 “No, Mai planned something different for them, I wanted it to be just the two of us for this.”

 Katara felt her heart sink.  This is so hard.  Aang led her down a path to what seemed to be a clearing.  What was in front of her made her tear up.  Hundreds of lightning bugs were floating in the space before them.  They looked so beautiful against the dark sky. 

 “Katara? A-are you okay?” Aang stuttered, noticing the tears coming from her eyes.

 “Oh, yeah I’m fine.  This is just so beautiful.  I don’t know what came over me.” She wiped the tears away from her eyes. 

 “Can we go home now?” She smiled sadly. 

 “Yeah of course,” Aang grinned. “We have a different ride back from Zuko and Mai. Appa!”

 Of course the sky bison seemingly came out of nowhere to pick them up.

 “Yip Yip!"

 They flew back in silence as Katara stared across the landscape passing them by. 

 “Aang,” She started. “I need…”

 “Hmm? What is it?”

 “N-nothing, uh it’s nothing.  Just that I had a great time tonight.  Thank you.”

 Aang turned to look at her and beamed. 

 Once they got back to the palace Katara wanted nothing more to see Zuko or to lock herself away in her room.  She chose the second option.  She gave Aang the excuse that she felt like she had a headache and wanted to turn in early.  He reluctantly let her go after giving her a quick peck on the lips. 

 Katara hurried quickly back to her room.  She threw open the door and was surprised to see that she had a guest there waiting for her.