Zutara- Fire, Water, Steam ✔

The Real Monster

Zuko's POV

"I thought you've been talking to him." Katara dropped her books on the table in the common room. It's been two weeks since Sokka and Yue broke up, but he hadn't cheered up much. This is not really working for Katara.

"I have been. I think this is the most we have said to each other without the whole group but sometimes people just don't want to talk so I wasn't going to force him to share everything going on in his head." I explained.

"Why not?" She plopped on the couch next to me. In turn I gave her a 'You can't be serious' face. She let out a sigh and leaned in under my arm. "Yeah, you're right. I just can't stand seeing him so upset."

"And I understand that. Well, kinda anyway." She looked up at me confused. "I don't have the caring sister. Sokka is lucky he has you. I think that's all you can do for now."

"You don't talk much about your family." She said, sitting up to look me in the face.

"Not much to say." I turned away from her, scanning the common room. We were on the couch by the fire and most people were farther away. Makes sense since I was sitting here first.

"Don't do that." She held my chin and brought it back, so I had no choice but to look at her. She placed her hand on my cheek, but I stopped her by bringing it to my lap to hold it. "Why do you do that?"

"There are a lot of 'that's that I'm doing, so you're going to have to be specific." I tried to make a joke. Only it didn't work.

"Whenever I get close to your scar you pull away."

"I-I never realized that I did." I answered, truthfully.

"It wasn't obvious in the beginning, but then I noticed a pattern. Pulling my hand down to kiss it or even moving me when we would kiss-"

"In my defense, when we kissed you seemed to like it when I moved you." I said with a smirk. She gave me a playfully punch to the shoulder to hide her blush.

"Not the point. Do you not want me to touch it? Or does it hurt when I do?" She just gave me an opening to sweep this issue under the rug and I know I should take it. Only her face was so full of concern that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"I could lie to you and say yes but honestly I haven't felt anything there for years." I responded before I could chicken out.

"How did you get it?"

"A training accident. At least that's the official story." I said my voice sounding monotone.

"And what's the unofficial story?" She said, hesitantly. I sighed and stared into the fire. The flames flickered and cackled as I tried to think of a response. We have been together for a few months, but did I really want to tell her about this?

"I don't think I've ever actually said it out loud. The only people who know are my Uncle, Azula, Mai, and, obviously, my father." At this she let out a gasp.

"Does your father have something to do with it?" I continued to stare into the fire not sure if I could look her in the eyes and still tell the story.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it." She let this hang in the air, I guess because you have no clue what to that. If that shocked her then the rest might paralyze her. "It was three years ago, and we were at home. Let's just say that it was a very eventful Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving? What happened?" She asked.

"We have a pretty big house and we usually just stick to our own areas or rooms. There hasn't been a real holiday celebration for years. That year Father decided to use the holiday to how prefect he and his family are to a bunch of business men with their wives. Or they could have been their secretaries that they were screwing on the side, I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, my Father started by making some speech how he was thankful that they were there to spend time with his family. Then concluding saying that he was thankful for his wonderful family. Azula and I were sitting right by him, showing the prefect, like we had been all day. Hearing these stories of false happiness that I'm sure some families live but not us. Never us." I could feel my fists clench and my face harden. My voice had changed from the monotone and held so much anger. Katara continued to sit beside me, not saying a word, and waiting for me collect myself to finish.

"The moment that he thanked the spirits for his 'wonderful' family, I snorted and spoke, "What family?" in front of everyone. Not quietly, so it was easily heard across the room. It was completely silent until Azula came and saved the day. I don't even remember what she said but it caused an uncomfortable laughter. I was too buy staring into the eyes of my father. Eyes that looked murderous and I'm sure not only my eye would have been burned if it wasn't for the room full associates. As soon as the last one was out the door, I was pinned against the wall. I stood there, waiting for him to speak, not saying a word before he finally spoke. I needed to learn respect and that I should be grateful that I was even alive. The only way for me to understand this was to face him in an Agni Kai." At this, Katara broke her silence.

"You can't be serious?! A grown man challenging a teenager to a battle! That is unbelievable, and no way could it have been legal!" She was having difficulty controlling her voice because there were still people in the common room though very few due to the time.

"It's legal if it occurs in a private training stadium on private property. I accepted because there was no way that it wasn't going to happen. I was going to walk in with my head held high and show him I wasn't as weak as he thought. I was holding my own, but I knew I wasn't at his level. I was losing, and we could tell. He stopped and stood still so I followed his lead hoping against all odds that it was the end. As soon as I relaxed he smiled and shot one last fire blast . . . at my eye. He explained that it was necessary, so I knew NEVER to defy him again." When I finished, we were silent. The last student had left, leaving us alone with a dying fire. It wasn't until it was left with the glowing embers, that Katara spoke.

"You are the strongest person I have ever met." I looked at her in shock. She had a smile on her face and her eyes held nothing but admiration. "You are able to look at the man who should love you unconditionally but who has hurt you multiple times. A man who has shown nothing but anger and contempt. The man that put that scar on your face is the real monster in this story."

At this, I kissed her like never before. Pouring all my emotions into the kiss because there was no other way that I could convey how the one thing that I was truly grateful for was her.

Damn, that was intense. This was an extremely emotional chapter for myself and I hope you all enjoyed it. Another chapter in just a week, I am on a roll! Please let me know what you think through votes or comments.

I want to thank @TrapperBrown for the enthusiastic response and now following me! As well as every single one of you still reading this story. Not only does it have over 5k views but has reached #1 in Zuko! You have no idea what that means to me.

Don't forget to smile at least once a day :)