oneshot: Follow the Scars (spoilers)
Title: Follow the Scars
Characters/Pairings: Zuko/Katara
Warning: Spoilers for Sozin's Comet/Finale!
Rating: PG.
Word Count: 689.
A/N: Written quickly after watching the finale and decided they should have added his part.
.x.
It hurt before it happened.
He wasn't going to lie--he knew it would hurt. But the moment he saw his sister shift, a cry ripped through his throat, something deep and desperate exploding from his chest, and there was no time to think clearly. Twisting his body, his feet pumped to the rhythm of his racing heart and he forgot that he was supposed to be the Fire Lord, that he was a powerful bender, that the world needed him and all that remained through his panic and aching was that he was just another boy--he was human.
Zuko only saw one thing when he jumped.
He saw the girl from the crystal catacombs, a blue necklace around her neck, tears in her eyes as she walked awa from a monster, broken but strong, her hands wrapped around him in forgiveness, and he saw those blue eyes--forgiving, caring, healing.
When the lightning pierced through him, pain burst through the tunnels and streams and chambers of his body, from the pit of his chest to the digits of his fingers, his eyes clenching and his heart unclenching. He could feel it puncturing his chest, bruising his heart.
He hit the ground and heard the same girl call his name.
It almost hurt more than the lightning.
.x.
You saved me.
You saved my life.
Katara wanted to scream it at him, to grab his face and either slap him or simply touch him to know his is alive, to ask him why. Her heart is ridiculously full. Tired and beaten, but so full. She can’t move her hand from his back, so she doesn’t.
Slowly, her eyes drift to the noise and the wild rage. “Your sister,” she starts, soft and hollow, her hand shaking against his frame.
“She was my sister,” he chokes on his own words, “Not anymore.”
Even Katara can see through the lie as they walk away, the screams dragging behind them.
(She wants to save him now, but she doesn’t know how.)
.x.
She was still on her knees, his chest bare with burnt skin and pain, the star shaped scar so dangerously close to his heart. For a moment, she couldn’t take her eyes off it, still trying to understand how this could be for her, on the chest of a boy she once hated.
“Now I have two scars.”
From the safety of Appa’s saddle, Katara looked down at the scarred prince, breathing heavy and sharp. “Yeah,” she began to rip the bottom of her dress, tearing the fabric to cover up the wound that had her heart tied up in knots. A thought struck her.
“How…” Katara saw him stare back up at her, “How did you get this one?” Her hand slightly grazed the edge of the scar around his left eye, her thumb resting on the smudged line of where the red and pale skin met.
“My father gave it to me in an Agni Kai. I spoke out during a war meeting, because he wanted to use innocent soldiers as a decoy, and I thought it was wrong. I was just a little older than Aang.”
Somehow her hand moved to stroke his hair, but he didn’t flinch. His head tiredly tipped against her palm. “To this day I still wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t spoken out. Would I have this scar? Would I be a traitor today? I still…I still don’t know why I did it.”
Her fingers followed the outline of the comet shaped mark, but her hand always ended up the same way she had touched him under the glow of crystal caves.
“Because you knew it was right, and your heart told you to.”
Breathing in, breathing out, he took her hand and brought it to his chest where his new scar was, and she imagines herself following the lines of his scar, all the way up and up until she found his beating heart.
“This one too.”
She fell to his chest and cried, hugging him, remembering him.
Because nothing would ever be the same after this.
.x.
Characters/Pairings: Zuko/Katara
Warning: Spoilers for Sozin's Comet/Finale!
Rating: PG.
Word Count: 689.
A/N: Written quickly after watching the finale and decided they should have added his part.
.x.
It hurt before it happened.
He wasn't going to lie--he knew it would hurt. But the moment he saw his sister shift, a cry ripped through his throat, something deep and desperate exploding from his chest, and there was no time to think clearly. Twisting his body, his feet pumped to the rhythm of his racing heart and he forgot that he was supposed to be the Fire Lord, that he was a powerful bender, that the world needed him and all that remained through his panic and aching was that he was just another boy--he was human.
Zuko only saw one thing when he jumped.
He saw the girl from the crystal catacombs, a blue necklace around her neck, tears in her eyes as she walked awa from a monster, broken but strong, her hands wrapped around him in forgiveness, and he saw those blue eyes--forgiving, caring, healing.
When the lightning pierced through him, pain burst through the tunnels and streams and chambers of his body, from the pit of his chest to the digits of his fingers, his eyes clenching and his heart unclenching. He could feel it puncturing his chest, bruising his heart.
He hit the ground and heard the same girl call his name.
It almost hurt more than the lightning.
.x.
You saved me.
You saved my life.
Katara wanted to scream it at him, to grab his face and either slap him or simply touch him to know his is alive, to ask him why. Her heart is ridiculously full. Tired and beaten, but so full. She can’t move her hand from his back, so she doesn’t.
Slowly, her eyes drift to the noise and the wild rage. “Your sister,” she starts, soft and hollow, her hand shaking against his frame.
“She was my sister,” he chokes on his own words, “Not anymore.”
Even Katara can see through the lie as they walk away, the screams dragging behind them.
(She wants to save him now, but she doesn’t know how.)
.x.
She was still on her knees, his chest bare with burnt skin and pain, the star shaped scar so dangerously close to his heart. For a moment, she couldn’t take her eyes off it, still trying to understand how this could be for her, on the chest of a boy she once hated.
“Now I have two scars.”
From the safety of Appa’s saddle, Katara looked down at the scarred prince, breathing heavy and sharp. “Yeah,” she began to rip the bottom of her dress, tearing the fabric to cover up the wound that had her heart tied up in knots. A thought struck her.
“How…” Katara saw him stare back up at her, “How did you get this one?” Her hand slightly grazed the edge of the scar around his left eye, her thumb resting on the smudged line of where the red and pale skin met.
“My father gave it to me in an Agni Kai. I spoke out during a war meeting, because he wanted to use innocent soldiers as a decoy, and I thought it was wrong. I was just a little older than Aang.”
Somehow her hand moved to stroke his hair, but he didn’t flinch. His head tiredly tipped against her palm. “To this day I still wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t spoken out. Would I have this scar? Would I be a traitor today? I still…I still don’t know why I did it.”
Her fingers followed the outline of the comet shaped mark, but her hand always ended up the same way she had touched him under the glow of crystal caves.
“Because you knew it was right, and your heart told you to.”
Breathing in, breathing out, he took her hand and brought it to his chest where his new scar was, and she imagines herself following the lines of his scar, all the way up and up until she found his beating heart.
“This one too.”
She fell to his chest and cried, hugging him, remembering him.
Because nothing would ever be the same after this.
.x.