confrontation

A soft melody sounded through the grove where our friends were resting. It was the song her mother sang to Katara every night before she went to bed. This song brought back fuzzy, yet beautiful memories of the past, when the war could not even be thought of. Until now, the young waterbender had spent the time playing little games in her element. At certain intervals you could hear a dull splash of water, which both the animals of the forest and the young Zuko heard. At first, no attention was paid to the sounds as the former prince was lost in thought. Zuko hadn't paid attention to his path for a while. His current priority was keeping a little distance from his uncle. It was only when Zuko crushed a thick branch in two that he woke up from his thoughts and looked around somewhat disoriented. The cracking was clearly audible, so that Katara flinched. She, too, was just deep in thought, most of them revolving around the last dream.There was an unknown silence. No bird twittered, nothing. Zuko could see a small family of turtle ducks scurrying into the river between the bushes and trees. Katara was not denied this sight either. She liked these animals, but she did not want to kick them if the mother was afraid for her brood. Mothers were great and Katara wondered if she would be a proud mother later too. When one little turtle chick nudged the other, she couldn't help but chuckle. The picture reminded her of herself and Sokka. The giggles were not denied Zuko's ears and so he ducked reflexively and crept to the nearest bush. His gaze searched for the being that had made that sound. From Zuko's point of view, he couldn't see Katara, he should have got up and looked over the bush."Who is that? Sounds like a girl ... She's in the water. And now?", Zuko thought strained and lingered behind the bush.Katara washed her face when she realized that if she stayed in the water longer, her skin would begin to wrinkle. It wasn't an exception even with waterbenders. A short time later, Katara grabbed her clothes and got dressed. As she took a few steps, she saw the bush, behind which Zuko was still crouching. It was a mammothberry bush, Katara noticed, and so she insisted on picking a few berries. The former prince was shocked when Katara did not rudely pick the fruit, and so he turned around immediately. Now Zuko could see part of Qatar through a narrow "hole" in the bush and a few moments later, they unwittingly but curiously stared into each other's eyes. A short cry of surprise escaped Katara, who let the collected berries fly in all directions. Zuko backed away a little. A call interrupted the whole event:"Kataraaaaaaa? I've seen you and you can no longer hide from your duties!You have to help me with this fish! You are so great at taming water! Fast! Before he gets away from me again! "It was Sokka who had been fishing near her for a while." Katara, where are you ?! ", Sokka was now slightly irritated. Katara looked from the bush to her brother, who was a little further away." Yes, I'm coming!, Katara replied, just as irritated.

A little later one could listen to the renewed argument between the siblings:"You usually have such a big mouth, Sokka! Now you can't even catch a fish!"snapped Katara."Why are you so angry? Did a louse run down your liver or what?"asked Sokka, really interested. It seemed to be the unknown what made Katara so emotionally upset. When their eyes met, Katara felt a certain warmth and curiosity that were alien to her. At the same moment she thought of her dream in which the young man she wanted to be close to appeared.Who was that?

Neither Zuko nor Katara was at "Katara's bathing spot". The firebender had lingered behind the mammothberry bush for a while before he left. He felt uncomfortable. Had he just looked into the eyes of one of the Avatar's senseless friends, without grabbing her and capturing the Avatar hostage-taking? The worse thing was that he found her eyes fascinating and unfathomed. Zuko stomped back to his uncle, ignoring his surroundings. He simply tore aside some undergrowth and crushed every flower, no matter how beautiful. Zuko wanted to scream and set some trees on fire. Why hadn't he been able to just grab this girl and use it to blackmail the Avatar?

The first thing Iroh heard from his nephew was a long, deep sigh. Immediately Iroh raised his head and looked over at Zuko, who plopped down on the meadow in front of him. Iroh cocked his head and laughed."What is it, uncle?"asked the nephew sharply."You look like you did when your sister stole your candy.", Iroh replied still laughing. Zuko put on a questionable face."... as my sister ...?" repeated the young firebender, quietly and thoughtfully.[i]"Nothing was stolen from me, did I?"asked Zuko, confused.

|| So, that was the chapter. I hope you like it. Maybe someone understands what I'm getting at in the last few lines. : Pto the next chapter! ||