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Bending was such an extension of herself that Katara sometimes forgot what an art form it was. It was usually Aang who reminded her, usually in the Avatar state, when his bending was both beautiful and awe-inspiring.
She never expected the banished Fire Prince to remind her that bending was an art. She didn’t trust him and had only seen his Firebending as aggressive, an attack. It was never an art, never refined, never beautiful—just ugly rage. And since knowing him, he’d never struck her as a particularly powerful bender. Just an awkward kid she didn’t trust at all, who had caused so much hurt.
But when he came back with Aang from finding the source of Firebending, and they showed off the form they’d learn, it wasn’t Aang who caught her attention but Zuko. He moved seamlessly, a dance, the Firebending so natural to him. Before then, she’d only thought of fire as destruction, never as a living thing before, not the way she knew water was. Aang was speaking, but she’d forgotten he was even there as they went through the steps, until they came together at the end. She was entranced, even as the dance ended.
And then Sokka broke the spell, making some joke about the dance, and Katara was brought back to a reality where she loved the Avatar and hated the Fire Prince.