AN:
I hated all the "star-crossed lover" fics that made them too Romeo and Juliet-esque so I dug up stories from other cultures for this and voila! I don't own or take credit for any of the folklore.
Also, each chapter will have an accompanying song. As you can see from the chapter title this chapter will be "Listen to Your Heart" by Roxette (since I liked this version better).
Yes, this is an incarnation fic.
Please enjoy!
***
The world went still as a body crashed on the heated marble floor. The form almost unrecognizable. Exposed flesh, blistered and charred from the intense heat of the Fire Lord’s blue flame. The Fire Nation armor scorched in places and melted in others. A peculiar smell permeated the air -- the smell of death.
The children’s eyes grew wide with disbelief. Their breaths caught in oblivion as their hearts skipped a dangerous beat. No one dared to react, hoping against all hope that it was an illusion, that their eyes and minds made a mistake.
Then a piercing cry dragged everyone back to reality.
“No, Zuko!”
She flicked her hands as the water she controlled sent her enemy careening into the wall. The sickening sound of bones cracking upon impact was heard amidst the clash of battle. Katara ran to his side, wanting to touch, heal, but could not begin to fathom where, or even how.
He summoned all his strength to block the pain and open his lips. He had to say it now, or else…
“Katara,” he said slowly, painfully. “We’ll meet again, my love.”
Her companions created a protective barrier for her. Their minds had tabulated that she would be able to heal him. It was not so…it was only their wishful thinking.
Her brows furrowed. “What are you talking about, Zuko? Zuko -- wake up! Come back!” Her water encased hands glowed, she was ready to heal. But the gods did not permit it, as they took his breath away.
“Zuko!” she screamed, pounding his chest armor, regardless of how it burned her. “No!”
Her world stood still once more. A perplexing feeling bathed her being. Somewhere in the recesses of her soul she found it familiar, however, everywhere else, it was alien. The water glove disappeared from her burnt fist.
The world did not matter. The enemies stopped their attacks; fear thoroughly piercing their hearts. Her friends stood in her defense, and marveled at the glowing aura about her. The Avatar’s eyes widened, for he sensed what was about to happen.
The irony. Katara eyed the slumped form that lay a few meters away. His body burnt and cut in several places. Why he had not attacked after the fall of his own son, was anyone’s guess. But to her, the fact of the matter remained. He, Fire Lord, Ozai, did the unthinkable.
He killed Zuko.
With a swift flick of her hands, she brought his form up…and the worst thing she could ever have done became the easiest.
***
They were there at the head of the procession. Toph stood to her left and Aang to her right, her brother in the palace, recuperating from his injuries. Iroh was in front of her, silent -- a stony mask upon his face. It was the first time she had ever come to realize how old and haggard he looked.
She sighed, and she felt both her friends reassure her. Toph, squeezed her hand, and Aang gently rubbed her back supportively. She did not feel right, she was exalted as a hero, yet she was Ozai’s executioner.
In her mind’s eye, she saw her fisted hands opening and commanding his slumped form to stand. Her hands tingled before she closed them into a hard fist; knuckles white. She felt his heart stop, then implode within.
Her recollections were broken when the drums ceased. The bodies of the fallen Fire Nation royalty emerged from the temple. Suddenly, the smell of Zuko’s charred flesh overpowered her, nearly making her gag. Aang held her arm in support; he had never seen her so physically affected before.
Iroh began speaking in an ancient tongue as they lowered three bodies into the eternal flame.
Azula’s was the first to perish by Katara’s hands. She had not realized how hard she blasted Azula to the wall in the throne room. When the medics collecting the strewed bodies examined her, they said she died upon impact but felt no pain. Her neck snapped back and broke before she hit the wall and accrued the rest of her injuries.
Ozai…he died because Katara’s emotions took hold of her. Why she reacted so passionately at Zuko’s demise was beyond her. Aang was right, however, it was ironic how Ozai fell at the hands of a waterbender. She cried inside for Ozai; yes, it was true that he deserved to die, a man such as him, with no remorse — who lived by the sword, should die by the sword — but that was not the case. Katara felt she had cheated him—and everyone in fact — by his death, how easily it came, Bloodbent his heart to implode…
Zuko. He was a different case all together. He had not died by her hands. He was a compatriot in the end, regardless of their dour beginnings. Her heart felt infinitely heavy as they lowered his already burnt body alongside his kin. She blinked, praying to whatever deity passing that her honor would be intact. Alas, her prayer unheeded, as she began to weep hard for him.
No one knew why the regal water warrior cried out so earnestly. If it had been someone else, they would have been corrected — as it was not a Fire Nation custom to mourn for the dead so loudly — but it was she. Surely, she was allowed to mourn, for the enemies, for herself, and a love unrealized.
