Work Text:
It was before things changed. Before the walls were smashed down and blown into oblivion, before the confessions, the drama, and before the meddling of a certain blind earthbender and one boomerang throwing genius.
Back when Katara only came to the capital as the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador, and her interactions with the Fire Lord remained friendly, fond, but mostly professional. They simply didn't talk about it.
No, it was easier to interact everyday as friends, colleagues, and heroes with a shared past.
Sometimes things broke through that shattered that whole idea to bits. Tiny things. Little gestures that meant so much more in hindsight, but were disregarded in the moment. The tension was there. The wanting was there. It's just the timing that wasn't right quite yet.
Katara only meant to go over her mail before heading to bed. There were a new stack of scrolls delivered just that afternoon while she was eating lunch, and she hadn't gotten the chance to look over everything yet. Most of the correspondence related to the Water Tribe trade routes and agreements, but there was one project that was more important than the rest.
Zuko went looking for his mother immediately following the war, but even the man who rediscovered the avatar could not uncover the trail that Ursa hid so well. So much time and money was dedicated to the search that ultimately turned up nothing. Zuko was forced to focus his attention elsewhere, and it broke Katara's heart. She shared his desire, his hope, that Ursa would one day be found.
The day the search officially ended until further notice, Katara found Zuko at the turtleduck pond. She hadn't said anything. Just sat with him as they cried together. Zuko carried the memory of his mother with him always, but he had a nation to run.
But Katara never stopped looking. She couldn't bring her own mother back, but she always thought that maybe she could help bring back his. Two months ago she found a lead.
Katara pushed the other scrolls aside and zoned in on the small package she had been waiting for. Suki was on a mission in the northern Earth Kingdom and ended up spending a night in one of the mountain villages. The area was remote and rarely interacted with the outside world. Suki was one of the first people to visit since the war ended.
They told her about another outsider who had once lived among them. A tall, sad woman with dark hair and amber eyes. They had been scared of her at first, but she proved to be a talented healer with more knowledge about the plant life in the mountains than anyone before her.
The package Katara received was full of all the records and receipts that the town had on their mysterious angel. She moved away from the small town four years prior, leaving her small cottage and nearly all of her belongings behind. Katara was immediately sucked in.
There were doctor notes, recipes, letters, and, strangely enough, poetry. All written by the woman that Katara dared to hope was the mother she was searching for.
She lost track of time as she got lost in the documents. Minutes stretched into hours as she studied.
It was well past supper time when Katara finished the first stack. She had a couple ideas and needed to write Suki a letter immediately.
The light dimmed in the room as the candle burned down, and Katara's eyes started to strain. The lines on the paper blurred together, and the longer she stared at what she had written, the more it didn't make any sense. But she had to keep going. She needed to have everything ready to send off tomorrow.
The faster she responded, the better chance she had of turning this lead into something promising.
The brush strokes got messier and the ink started to drip on the pages as she soaked up too much of it on her brush. Her head dropped down and her eyelids lowered for a second...
No!
Katara snapped her head back up. No falling asleep! She had to finish... she had to finish...
-
It was much later in the evening when Zuko left his study and started heading to his own chambers. Supper had been an annoying affair. The representative from the Earth Kingdom was pushing for more reparation money. Zuko was the first to admit that his country had enormous debts to pay and wrongs that he could never completely make right, but he wasn't too keen on sending money to a country that was already well on its feet while the Water Tribes struggled.
It didn't matter what he said or how he said it. The Earth Kingdom was pushy.
They couldn't even drop the topic at supper time. Talks about the local festival morphed into conversation about the traveling circus... which then went to the treatment of exotic animals... which then went to Bosco... then back to the Earth King and reparation money. So Zuko changed the subject and started talking about the new technology Ambassador Sokka was implementing in the local factories to cut down on waste and pollution. That started a discussion on new metalworks in Omashu... which flowed into metalbending... then earthbending... then back to reparations needed in the Earth Kingdom.
Katara didn't come to supper either, and that made the whole evening that much more unbearable. He would try and find her first thing next morning. For once, Zuko was more than ready to head to his study for some private worktime. He spent the next few hours pouring over the new trade deal he and Katara were trying to put together.
It was quite dark out when he closed the study doors and checked out for the night.
The palace was quiet and the halls were mostly abandoned. The solitude without the confining four corners of his office was nice, and Zuko slowed down to make the walk back to his chambers last longer. Most of the doors in the hall were dark and closed...all except one.
There was a small light that beamed its way into the hall from a doorway that Zuko was extremely familiar with.
Katara was still working?
He paused in the hall and peaked into the room.
There, fast asleep on a pile of scrolls and documents, was Katara. The candle was almost burnt out and dried wax had dripped down and was sprinkled all over the papers and top of the desk. She must have fallen asleep some time ago.
Zuko softly walked into the room and smiled lightly. He didn't know anyone that was more dedicated to her work than Katara. It was admirable and entirely unhealthy when she pushed herself to these lengths. He tried to remember other nights where she hadn't joined him for supper.
How often was this happening?
The thought of waking her up briefly crossed his mind, but he swatted away that idea quickly. If she woke up she might insist on resuming her work, and that wouldn't help.
Zuko leaned forward and gently pulled the brush from her fingers and placed it back in the inkwell. The ink stained her fingertips and, based on how her face was collapsed on the desk, she might have ink on her face too. Zuko picked up her hand and pulled her arm over his shoulders. She made a small snorting sound and he froze for a minute, afraid he woke her. She wrinkled her nose and her normal rhythmic breathing resumed.
Zuko gently lifted her up out of her chair and into his arms. He didn't know what anyone would think about him carrying the Water Tribe Ambassador through the palace bridal-style, but he didn't care.
If he would have looked down he would have seen his mother's name strewn all over the papers in Katara's crooked handwriting. Penmanship was never the focus of her life. He tried to give her lessons back in the day, but he was pretty sure most of it went in one ear and out the other. For someone who was so graceful with her element, the handwriting did not reflect the same. He found it endearing, and he always knew when Katara worked on a document or new law.
He was just about to turn off the light when Katara moved. Her hand came up and wrapped tightly around his neck. She nuzzled into his shoulder with a small sigh and her hair softly pressed up against his scar. He held his breath, but she didn't wake. The sensation was soft, sweet, and was a silent sign of her subconscious trust in him.
He decided he'd be satisfied to stay like this until next morning if he could.
But bed was the best place for her. Zuko glanced over at the melting candle and snuffed it at a glance.
The ambassador quarters were on the other side of the palace and the gardens, and hallways were already dark as the entire palace turned in for the night. The night air was starting to bite a little as the winter months grew colder. Zuko knew Katara was well accustomed to such temperatures, but he raised his body heat lightly anyway.
The less she was chilled the less likely she was to wake up.
The badgerfrogs made the only sounds as Zuko walked through the courtyards, lighting the lanterns as he went. Katara adjusted herself in his arms as he neared her bedroom. Every time he took too hard a step or jostled her more than he was intending a tiny little squeak escaped her lips.
Zuko would have laughed if he wasn't so intent on letting her sleep.
Her bedroom was tidy and immaculate, just as he expected it to be. He lit the lantern on the bed stand and gently leaned down to place her on the bedcover. He stopped for a moment and just looked at her peaceful form, snoring in her sleep, just like her brother (albeit Katara's snoring was much more tolerable than Sokka's).
For a split second he was tempted to lean down and place a kiss on her temple. She would never know, and he could carry the soft memory around and make it last him for weeks until the next time he was more vulnerable with her than he ought be.
But as he placed her hand back on her stomach he thought better of it. Now was not the time.
His eyes coasted down to the shoes still attached to her feet. Katara was in the bed with her shoes on. She would be outraged if she was awake right now.
Smiling to himself at the thought, Zuko quickly slipped off one shoe, then the next. She was still wearing her jacket and he quickly pulled it from her shoulders and folded it neatly together before pulling the bedcover over her chest. He didn't imagine that her clothes were the most comfortable to sleep in, but this was the most he could do for her.
He put the shoes on the floor and the jacket on top of the bed stand where she could find it easily the next morning.
He didn't want to go, but his job was done. He turned to leave the room, leaving the beautiful, sleeping beauty to her rest.
-
Katara dreamed she was moving, floating along on a warm pile of clouds. Her brain urged her to wake up, but she refused immediately. She was warm and comfortable and so, so tired. But when the smallest breeze touched her exposed neckline when Zuko took off her jacket, she slowly started to pull herself reluctantly out of it.
She wasn't in her study with her face smooshed on a pile of paperwork. No, she was warm and snuggled, and her feet felt deliciously free. She wiggled her toes and opened her eyes slightly.
She first saw his silhouette as he turned to put out the candle.
Zuko.
Her hand shot out in reflex before she could stop herself or explain the motion. Her fingers closed around his long sleeve, and Zuko turned immediately, surprise written all over his face. Katara lifted her head up, still groggy, but not willing for him to leave just yet.
He carried her. All the way from her study to here.
The butterflies in her chest were not new, and it wasn't the first time she experienced them around the firebender that occupied more of her imagination than he should.
"I tried really hard not to wake you," Zuko said quietly. She didn't need to ask him to stay. He turned and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. "You shouldn't work that late. The world needs you, but you have to take care of yourself first. Don't skip supper again, ok?"
Katara lowered her eyes. He was right. Of course he was. But she didn't want to tell him why she had been working so late. Not until she had more to give him. It would be cruel to raise false hope just to crush it later if it turned out to be nothing. Her eyes darted to the side and she spotted her jacket and shoes, all neatly put up.
Zuko did...all that?
"Zuko, you should've just woken me up! I know I'm not as small as Toph! You could've hurt your back!" Katara began. "You didn't need to do all that."
Zuko smiled lightly and he shrugged one shoulder. Her scolding was nothing new. Oh, Katara. Always worried about someone other than yourself. "Hey, I wanted to," he said simply.
Katara's eyes widened slightly at the honesty. There was no one else around to judge or speculate, and Katara quickly threw her arms around Zuko's neck and hugged him as tight as she could.
"I guess I have no choice but implement a bedtime, then," she said as she squeezed him close. "Especially if the world needs me and all."
Zuko smiled and leaned into the hug. Her soft breath floated over his neck and he cupped the back of her head, threading his fingers through her hair as he hugged her closer.
"What if I need you?"
The question remained unsaid along with everything else between them. There wasn't anyone to bear witness to the moment, and for now, that's how it had to be.
As her head slumped loosely on his shoulder and sleep returned for her once more, Zuko slowly unattached himself and laid her back down on the pillow.
He snuffed out the light then quietly left the room.
Some things weren't ready to be said aloud. But in this case, they didn't need to be.