(no subject)
Title:Protective
Author/Artist: Earthstar_chan
Theme: Sweetheart
Couple/Fandom: Zuko/Katara/ Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: G
Warnings: Takes place during second season.
“Faster Zuko! They’re catching up!” yelled Katara as she desperately tried to keep the food in her basket from falling out as they ran.
Zuko growled. “Really, Katara?! I hadn’t noticed!” The prince quickly glanced back. The three Fire Nation soldiers were faster than he had thought. Zuko cursed. They had to be slowed down. He pounced upon a cabbage filled cart and flipped it over.
“MY CABBAGES!!” a man yelled as the vegetables tumbled towards the soldiers. For a minute, Zuko was afraid it wouldn’t work, but he tossed that fear aside as he saw the soldiers tripping and toppling over the cabbages.
This was their chance! He grabbed Katara’s hand and raced forward. Zuko was pulling so hard, Katara thought he would rip her arm off.
They quickly dashed into an alley. The pair ducked behind a group of barrels and crouched low. Both held their breath as the sound of fast paced feet went by.
There was a long pause before either of them could breathe properly. “Do you think we lost them?” Katara asked.
Zuko stood and glanced around the corner. “Yes. I don’t see any sign of them turning back.”
Katara sighed. “Good.” Then she punched Zuko’s arm. Hard!
Zuko yelped with pain. “Ow! What was that for?!”
Katara placed her hands on her hips, the international signal to men that they were in big trouble. “What do you think?! Because of you, those Fire Nation soldiers saw us and made us drop half of the food we bought.”
Zuko twitched. “It’s not like I meant for that to happen!”
“Zuko! You set that guy on fire! That’s just as bad as yelling ‘Hey Fire Nation! Come arrest me!’”
“First of all, I only set his sleeve on fire and that was to only scare him. You saw him! He just dunked his arm in a water bucket! He was fine!”
“But you shouldn’t have set him on fire in the first place!” Katara yelled, with both of her eyes twitching.
“I only did that because he was creeping you out!”
“He was not!”
Zuko folded his arms, and stared at Katara in a way that reminded her of her father right before a long lecture. “Let me get this straight. A man, twice your age with no front teeth I might add, walks up and calls you sweetheart and then asks you to have dinner with him. You don’t find that creepy?”
Katara fumed, but kept silent. Zuko wasn’t wrong. The man had been creepy. She would never admit it to Zuko, but she was actually a little scared too. It was just the way he was looking at her, like he was a starved animal and she was his next meal. It sent shivers down her spine.
“Okay, yes I did find him creepy, but I can take care of myself.”
“You mean like you did with those pirates.”
“You’re never going to drop that are you? Besides, that was different. I’ve gotten a lot stronger in my waterbending abilities since then. You of all people should know that.”
Oh, Zuko knew that. The memory of all the bruises she gave him during their fight at the North Pole was proof enough. Katara could have easily scared that man away, and probably in a manner that wouldn’t have grabbed the attention of those soldiers, but Zuko just went ahead and did it himself.
He didn’t understand why he did it. Something inside of him just boiled dangerously when he noticed the man examining Katara like she was a piece of meat. However, that was nothing compared to the anger he felt when he saw the scared look on Katara’s face.
Whatever was inside him snap and took over his body. Before he fully realized what he had done, the man was frantically trying to put out the fire. However, Zuko refused to tell Katara any of this. Why would he when he barely understood it himself?
“I know you’re stronger, but......he annoyed me.”
Katara raised an eyebrow, but accepted the answer. Who knew what was going through that head of his. “Let’s head back and think of how to explain it to Sokka that we lost half of the food.”
“Right and next time we’re sending Toph and Uncle to shop.”
Katara nodded, but said nothing. It wasn’t needed, but Katara was glad to have learned one thing. She could count on Zuko to help her when she needed it. A small part of her was happy to learn this. She paused, then slowly said “Zuko, thank you.”
Zuko showed no emotion, but he felt a strange pleasure to have heard this.
Author/Artist: Earthstar_chan
Theme: Sweetheart
Couple/Fandom: Zuko/Katara/ Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: G
Warnings: Takes place during second season.
“Faster Zuko! They’re catching up!” yelled Katara as she desperately tried to keep the food in her basket from falling out as they ran.
Zuko growled. “Really, Katara?! I hadn’t noticed!” The prince quickly glanced back. The three Fire Nation soldiers were faster than he had thought. Zuko cursed. They had to be slowed down. He pounced upon a cabbage filled cart and flipped it over.
“MY CABBAGES!!” a man yelled as the vegetables tumbled towards the soldiers. For a minute, Zuko was afraid it wouldn’t work, but he tossed that fear aside as he saw the soldiers tripping and toppling over the cabbages.
This was their chance! He grabbed Katara’s hand and raced forward. Zuko was pulling so hard, Katara thought he would rip her arm off.
They quickly dashed into an alley. The pair ducked behind a group of barrels and crouched low. Both held their breath as the sound of fast paced feet went by.
There was a long pause before either of them could breathe properly. “Do you think we lost them?” Katara asked.
Zuko stood and glanced around the corner. “Yes. I don’t see any sign of them turning back.”
Katara sighed. “Good.” Then she punched Zuko’s arm. Hard!
Zuko yelped with pain. “Ow! What was that for?!”
Katara placed her hands on her hips, the international signal to men that they were in big trouble. “What do you think?! Because of you, those Fire Nation soldiers saw us and made us drop half of the food we bought.”
Zuko twitched. “It’s not like I meant for that to happen!”
“Zuko! You set that guy on fire! That’s just as bad as yelling ‘Hey Fire Nation! Come arrest me!’”
“First of all, I only set his sleeve on fire and that was to only scare him. You saw him! He just dunked his arm in a water bucket! He was fine!”
“But you shouldn’t have set him on fire in the first place!” Katara yelled, with both of her eyes twitching.
“I only did that because he was creeping you out!”
“He was not!”
Zuko folded his arms, and stared at Katara in a way that reminded her of her father right before a long lecture. “Let me get this straight. A man, twice your age with no front teeth I might add, walks up and calls you sweetheart and then asks you to have dinner with him. You don’t find that creepy?”
Katara fumed, but kept silent. Zuko wasn’t wrong. The man had been creepy. She would never admit it to Zuko, but she was actually a little scared too. It was just the way he was looking at her, like he was a starved animal and she was his next meal. It sent shivers down her spine.
“Okay, yes I did find him creepy, but I can take care of myself.”
“You mean like you did with those pirates.”
“You’re never going to drop that are you? Besides, that was different. I’ve gotten a lot stronger in my waterbending abilities since then. You of all people should know that.”
Oh, Zuko knew that. The memory of all the bruises she gave him during their fight at the North Pole was proof enough. Katara could have easily scared that man away, and probably in a manner that wouldn’t have grabbed the attention of those soldiers, but Zuko just went ahead and did it himself.
He didn’t understand why he did it. Something inside of him just boiled dangerously when he noticed the man examining Katara like she was a piece of meat. However, that was nothing compared to the anger he felt when he saw the scared look on Katara’s face.
Whatever was inside him snap and took over his body. Before he fully realized what he had done, the man was frantically trying to put out the fire. However, Zuko refused to tell Katara any of this. Why would he when he barely understood it himself?
“I know you’re stronger, but......he annoyed me.”
Katara raised an eyebrow, but accepted the answer. Who knew what was going through that head of his. “Let’s head back and think of how to explain it to Sokka that we lost half of the food.”
“Right and next time we’re sending Toph and Uncle to shop.”
Katara nodded, but said nothing. It wasn’t needed, but Katara was glad to have learned one thing. She could count on Zuko to help her when she needed it. A small part of her was happy to learn this. She paused, then slowly said “Zuko, thank you.”
Zuko showed no emotion, but he felt a strange pleasure to have heard this.