Dark Side of the Sun

Chapter six



“I--“ Katara couldn’t speak. She almost said “yes” out of pure guilt but immediately stopped herself. She did NOT want to marry Aang. She did not want to send out invitations and throw a party and pledge to stay with him “till death do us part”. The very idea petrified her.

“I’m fourteen.” She finally managed. Aang looked a little panicked.

“Almost fifteen.” He said. Katara blinked. She’d forgotten her birthday was in a few weeks. Aang knew more about her than she did.

“--Right. But you’re only thirteen, and--“

“I know.” His expression fell. “But in a few years--“

“I can’t--commit to that,”

He looked heartbroken.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t--I can’t. Don’t you think we should wait? Until we’re, you know, older?”

“No.” Aang mumbled.

“But marriage--I mean, that’s a lifelong commitment. You’re only thirteen. You’re not--“

“I’m old enough to know that I’m going to love you for the rest of my life.”

Katara felt her heart slowly ripping in half. “Aang, I know you think you will, but--“

“I don’t just think I will. I KNOW it.” He watched her. “I thought you felt the same way.”

“I can’t--“ Katara looked away. “I don’t know.”

“That’s because you love Zuko.”

“It’s not!” Katara whipped around to look back at Aang. “Stop saying that!”

“It’s true.”

“No, it’s not. I don’t love him.”

Aang just looked at her. Katara knew he wanted to believe her, wanted to think she was telling him the truth.

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” She found herself saying. And then he had his arms around her and they were kissing.

It wasn’t anything like the first time. They both knew it. But for some reason, neither pulled away. Maybe it was because Katara wanted to prove she wasn’t in love with Zuko. Or because Aang wanted to believe her. Or even because Katara needed to convince herself.

When they finally did break apart, there was a long silence. Aang looked at the ground. A tear rolled down his cheek.

“I’m sorry.” He said, his voice cracking.

Katara couldn’t respond.



“Where were you?”

Katara looked up, surprised. Zuko had been sitting on the rock in front of her tent, and now he was blocking her from going in.

“In the forest.”

“With Aang?

Katara flushed. “All we did was catch a few more fish.”

“Oh.” Zuko still looked skeptical. “Well, let me know if he tries anything.”

Katara looked directly up at him, her expression cold. “He’s thirteen. He’s not going to try anything.” She pushed past Zuko and ducked into her tent. Zuko watched her, barely muttering the word ‘sorry’ under his breath.

Katara immediately regretted her reaction. She was stuck in a relationship with a guy she didn’t even like, and when the one she was in love with tried to protect her, she blew him off!

But she wasn’t in love with Zuko. It didn’t make sense. All this time, she’d always watched Aang. Loved Aang. Risked her life to help him. She never thought she’d feel that way about Zuko, but…

What had changed?

The image of a streak of blue electricity rushed through her head. She remembered how Zuko had screamed, how he’d leapt in front of it; how after that, everything was blurry and painful. How she couldn’t help crying as she kneeled at his side, her heart racing, trying to heal him.

She’d risked her life for Aang, but when it came down to it, Zuko was the one who was there for her.



“What’re you thinking about?” Mai asked, rolling onto her side to look at Zuko. She’d dragged him all the way out here, to a moss-covered hill a mile away from camp, and now they were lying on their backs, watching the stars. Well, at least Zuko was. Mai seemed to have other ideas.

“My mom.” Zuko answered. He wasn’t lying. His mother had been the only thing on his mind (besides from Katara) for the past few days. They were almost to the seaport, which meant that in a day or two’s time he’d see her again. He could barely imagine what he’d say to her, let alone what he’d tell her about his scar. He wasn’t even sure if she’d want him to live with her or to stay with his friends. Seeing his mom everyday would be incredible…but never seeing Katara would be torture.

“You’re going to see her soon.” Mai said, leaning closer to Zuko.

“I know.”

Mai kissed his softly on the lips, but Zuko turned his head away. “Not right now.”

“Why not? We’re alone. Your girlfriend isn’t here to make you feel guilty.”

“She’s not my--“

“Whatever, Zuko. If she really wasn’t your girlfriend, you’d be kissing me. You’d be thrilled that we had this whole hill to ourselves. You’d want to make it the most romantic night of my life. But instead, you’re daydreaming about Katara, who HAS A BOYFRIEND. She’s Aang’s girlfriend, Zuko. She’s in LOVE with Aang!”

“She’s not!”

Zuko’s exclamation sliced through the silence surrounding them like a knife. Mai stared at him.

“Why do you love her?” She asked quietly.

“Mai, I’m not--I don’t--“

“Just tell me why you love her and not me.”

“I don’t love--“

“ANSWER THE QUESTION!” Mai screamed. Zuko drew back. He hesitated.

“Mai, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said when you abandoned me in the Fire Nation. So, what, you could go join Aang and Katara and their little gang of heroes? Do you want to be a hero, Zuko? You want to make people happy? You can start with ME!” Her bottom lip shook. “I have loved you my entire life. No matter how many times you rejected me, I always came back. And you--you just left and when you came back for me I thought we’d just continue from where we left off. But something was different. You were different.” A tear ran down her face. “Because you--were in love with her! Her and not me! We were together our whole lives but you--spent a couple of WEEKS with her--and it was like I never existed!”

Zuko watched her. He’d never seen Mai cry before. It was like watching an entirely different person unfolding before him. He wanted to tell her she’d been nothing but a rebound from how Katara had rejected him in the Crystal Catacombs, how he never really loved her like he loved Katara, how he was sorry she’d had to go through this.

But he couldn’t.



That night, Katara laid awake, waiting for the sound of Zuko’s footsteps coming back to his tent. They came blissfully early. Relieved, Katara laid back on her bed and allowed herself to sleep.

She dreamed about a wedding. She was wearing a long white dress, and the man she was marrying was wearing a black suit and a veil that covered most of his face. She somehow knew not to move it until the right point in the ceremony.

Together, they walked to the altar, the dark veil still shading his face from view. The preacher read something from a book. Then he told Katara she could remove the veil.

She reached over and lifted the cloth from the man’s face. It was Aang, but he had a deep scar around his eye.

“You’re not Zuko!” She was saying, yelling. She looked around at the crowd, but they were all laughing at her. And they all looked the same; all had the same long, shiny black hair and familiar thin eyes.

“You’re already married!” One of them yelled out.

Panicked, Katara ran down the stairs from the altar. “Zuko!” She was calling his name, frantically searching for him, but they were all just laughing. Laughing and pointing.

“ZUKO!”

Katara sat straight up in her bed. She was sweating, and her blanket was twisted into a mess at her feet.

Aang was standing just in front of her, holding a tray with her breakfast on it. He’d even laid a rose next to her plate. Katara stammered. How much of that had she been yelling out loud?

“Zuko?” Aang whispered. He slammed the tray down on her bed and stormed out of the tent.

Katara didn’t have the heart to call after him. Instead, she gingerly picked up the small, folded note he’d placed under the rose.



I still love you. And I’ll never stop.



Her throat caught.

“I’m sorry.” She choked out, crumpling the paper into the palm of her hand. “I’m so sorry.”