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Zutara week - Manipulative

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Day 4: Manipulative



Katara sighed as she moved through the waterbending stances by the fountain. She missed having a constant source of water like a river or the ocean – having just a small amount like in the fountain was depressing her. It didn’t feel as wonderful to waterbend – it made waterbending seem like a chore rather than a way to fight or to express herself.

As she moved, gently spinning a ribbon of water in front of her, similar to how she’d once moved with Aang when he was just starting to learn earthbending, she sensed someone watching her. Calling up more water, she spun around gracefully, bringing it into a small ball beside her as she moved into a defensive stance.

To her surprise, it was Zuko watching her, an expression of confusion on his face. Sighing, she pushed the water back into the fountain, placing her hands on her hips. “What brings you here?” she asked, trying not to sound rude.

Zuko frowned, gesturing with his hands. “My uncle taught me how to do that,” he said, demonstrating by making a circle with his hands by pushing them around in front of him.

Katara frowned. “Why would your uncle teach you waterbending moves?”

Zuko smiled slightly. “He said it would make my firebending better – and he was teaching me to redirect lightning, which he said he learned by studying waterbenders.”

Katara’s eyes widened. “Redirecting lightning? You should teach Aang that – he’s been so worried about facing Azula and Ozai and their lightning. I mean, he obviously has a reason to be scared, but anything you could do to help would be great,” she said, smiling at him.

Zuko smiled back, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. “I’ll do what I can. Speaking of Aang, where is he? Toph said he was out here by the fountain.”

Katara shook her head, turning back to the water to continue bending. “Actually, I haven’t seen him all morning. I thought Toph and Haru were training him this morning,” she said, playing with another ribbon of water.

Zuko shrugged. “I’ll keep looking then. See you later Katara,” he said, his boots making a small scuffing sound as he turned around and left. It was then Katara realised she’d just had a conversation with Zuko in her underwear.

**************************************************************************

The next day, Katara was finishing preparing breakfast when Zuko and Aang appeared, sweating profusely. They’d been firebending again, and Katara rolled her eyes at the fact they again hadn’t had a bath before coming to breakfast. She splashed them both with some water from the bucket beside her. “You guys stink!” Toph said, wrinkling her nose.

Aang flushed, rubbing the back of his head. Zuko merely frowned in Toph’s direction, then turned around and disappeared again, Aang following. They returned just as the others were sitting down for breakfast, courtesy of Aang’s waterbending. Zuko and Aang took their places in the circle – Aang ended up beside Toph and Sokka, and Zuko ended up between Katara and Teo. Confused, Katara did a double-take as Zuko sat next to her – she could have sworn that Haru had been there a moment earlier. She must have been imagining things. Shrugging, she sat down with her bowl of food, waiting for the others to get their own.

Zuko made a sudden movement to her left, as though he was about to stand up, but thought better of it. She turned to look at him, and noticed a very frustrated look on his face. The Duke then stood up to share everyone’s food out, glancing sideways in the general direction of Aang, Toph and Sokka. Aang was frowning, not looking very happy at all.

The meal passed as it usually did, everyone chatting about everyday experiences and funny stories, to try and forget the approaching war. And as usual, everyone disappeared when the meal was over, leaving Katara to do the dishes. Sighing, she set about collecting them all from their positions on the ground where everyone had left them. She was about halfway around the circle when she saw Zuko was still standing there, that very frustrated look on his face again. He was also glaring towards the nearest door, scowling.

Sighing, Katara gestured to the dishes. “Zuko, since you’re still here, could you help me with these?” she asked politely, turning her back to pick up some more, and thus missing Zuko’s rather spectacular fall onto his face as he tried to move forward. She spun around as she saw him lying face-down in the dirt, and instantly moved forward. “Zuko! What happened?” she asked, looking concerned as she knelt down beside him.

He lifted his face off the ground, groaning. “I’m not sure. I think I tripped over something,” he said with another groan before lowering his head into the ground again. “Its just some bruises Katara, I’m fine,” he said, his voice muffled by the ground.

Raising an eyebrow, Katara stood up again. “If you say so,” she said, before turning around and collecting all the dishes. Several moments later Zuko dragged himself to his feet, dusted himself off, and moved over to help Katara.

He actually was a big help, because he was able to heat the water, which made it easier. Sometimes Aang helped with that, but usually he was too busy running off to play games or train with the others to think of helping her with so small a task. Sure Zuko couldn’t bend the water off the dishes like Aang, but at least he was helping. Plus, he could dry them almost as quickly with his firebending, which Katara was grateful for.

They worked in silence for awhile, which was kind of awkward. Eventually, near the end, Zuko suddenly cursed, dropping the plate he was holding back into the water. Briefly, he turned his head and glared at something before picking up the plate again. Katara blinked at his odd behaviour.

“Zuko, are you ok?” she asked, sloshing a small amount of water inside the cup.

He shrugged. “I’m fine,” he said gruffly, and then fell silent. A few more items later, and he spoke again, (again after a muffled curse). “I just....I just think its unfair that you have to do all this,” he said, gesturing to the dishes around them.

Katara blinked, handing him the last plate. “Its fine Zuko, I don’t mind.”

He sighed as he dried it. “You already do so much for everyone else – you cook for them, you clean up after them, you’re always there to support them, you train them, you look after them. It’s not fair that you have to do everything. They should appreciate you a lot more and try to help out occasionally,” he said earnestly.

Katara shrugged. “They have better things to do Zuko, and I really don’t mind,” she said, stacking the plates into a neat little pile.

He sighed again, gesturing with his hands as he often did when speaking. “But its really not fair to you. You do everything for them, and they never even thank you for it. And they don’t have better things to do – they spend all day playing, and you spend all day working.”

She frowned. “Actually, they spend most of their time training. Besides, if they all helped out all the time, things would just get confused and nothing would get done,” she said, shrugging again.

Zuko frowned in response. “They should still help you occasionally. They all just take you for granted. Don’t worry about anything, Katara will take care of it. You don’t want to clean up, fine, Katara will do it instead. Its just not fair to you that they expect so much from you, but you get nothing in return.”

She placed her hand on his arm, smiling gently. “It’s sweet of you to worry about me Zuko, but its really fine. The others look to me as their mother-figure – I’m all they’ve got left. They’re still just kids Zuko – they should be allowed to play games and not have to worry about cleaning up or making food. They put all that aside so they don’t have to worry about the war all the time. They play games so they can forget, and not go crazy with worry. So I do what I can to help them do that – its not much anyway,” she said modestly, shrugging again.

Zuko frowned, turning around to fully face her. “But that’s not fair either – you’re just a kid too. You should be allowed to have fun too.”

She smiled sadly. “But who would do all the work?”

Zuko shrugged. “I could help out if you want. You shouldn’t have to do it all by yourself. Besides, I feel I owe you guys everything, so it’s the least I could do.”

Suddenly, Katara moved forward and hugged him. “Thank you,” she murmured, her voice muffled by his shirt. “But its really not necessary, you know? I mean, I’m glad you’re helping, but you don’t have to do this you know? You already do so much for everyone – you give Toph and the Duke piggyback rides, you train Aang, you spar with Sokka....you teach and help everyone, you know?”

He smiled slightly, wrapping his arms around her. “But I haven’t done anything to help you,” he murmured into her hair.

She shrugged slightly, flushing (though he couldn’t see it). “You offered to help. You worry about me. You gave me a hug. That’s enough.”

He smiled, pulling her closer. “Well, I’m glad I finally took Toph’s advice,” he said quietly, but she pulled away slightly.

“What do you mean? What did Toph say?” she asked, sounding almost suspicious.

Zuko chuckled. “I was talking to her about how you always do everything for all of us, and she said I needed to talk to you about it. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s been trying to get me to talk to you for the last few days – its only recently she’s been making it a bit more obvious. Like bending the earth around my feet when I tried to leave earlier,” he said dryly.

Katara laughed. “So that’s what that was! I was worried – you’re not usually that clumsy around us,” she said, her laughter making Zuko smile.

She then moved closer to him, linking her arms around his head again. He felt his heartbeat speed up as she did so, and heard a small giggle in response. Confused, Zuko turned around to see a rather gleeful looking earthbender “watching” them, a huge smirk on his face. He frowned slightly.

His frown only deepened when she knelt on the ground, making an odd motion with her hands. In his arms, Katara made a small squeaking nose, trying to step backwards so she could look at her feet. Unfortunately, because they were now covered in stone, her step backwards failed miserably and she started to fall. Because she still had her arms around Zuko, he was pulled off balance as well, and fell forwards on top of her. At the last second, he thought to throw his arms out to prevent his whole weight falling on poor Katara (whose feet were now free), but as soon as he landed, he felt his hands and feet being encased in earth, thus preventing his ability to move off Katara.

He heard another giggle, and whipped his head around to glare at Toph, who smirked innocently back. Katara had noticed her this time too, and was also glaring at her, a slight flush on her cheeks. Several moments silence passed as the three looked at each other, before Zuko spoke. “Toph, will you let me go please?” he asked politely.

She shook her head. “You’ll have to figure your own way out of this one, Sparky,” she said, grinning broadly.

Several more moments passed, with Katara and Zuko both growing more and more embarrassed. Toph spoke again. “Honestly Sparky, what more do I have to do?” she said, grinning again.

He closed his eyes in embarrassment and groaned as he understood her meaning. Toph had known for days about his crush on Katara, ever since the first time his heart skipped a beat when she was nearby. And the little earthbender had decided to “help” him.

He opened his eyes to see Katara looking up at him in confusion, cheeks still quite adorably pink. She then turned her head towards Toph. “Toph, let him go already!” she snapped, sounding quite embarrassed.

Toph smirked, folding her arms. “Sparky knows what he needs to do, Sugar Queen,” she replied.

Zuko rolled his eyes and glared at the earthbender, who of course couldn’t see him. He then glanced down at Katara, who was looking confused again. He sighed. “Forgive me,” he murmured slightly, leaning down to kiss the corner of her mouth.

His movement, combined with the sudden jump in the heart rates of both teens, convinced Toph that her mission had been accomplished, so with one final smirk she released Zuko and left. “About time!” she called out as she left.

The instant he could, Zuko jumped off her, his face bright red as he offered her his hand. Katara felt her own face flushing too as she stood up with his help. “Ah....what was that?” she asked, raising one hand to touch her lips.

Zuko wasn’t looking at her. “Well, Toph wasn’t going to leave unless I kissed you, but I didn’t want to kiss you unless you actually wanted me to, so I tried to find a way around it, and because she’s blind she wouldn’t see if I did or not, and so-“ he ranted, more nervous than she’d ever seen him.

She sighed and cut him off. “Wait, why did Toph want you to...kiss me?” she asked, flushing again at the thought.

Zuko flushed and muttered something under his breath. She leaned forward, which seemed to distress him even more. “What was that?” she asked, frowning.

Zuko sighed and looked up at the ground, his colour brightening by the second. “SheknowsIlikeyou,” he mumbled quickly, keeping his gaze down.

“What?”

He looked up briefly and returned his gaze to the ground. “She knows I like you,” he said, a little louder this time. Katara’s sharp intake of breath told him she’d heard him this time, and he found the words spilling out. “I didn’t mean to, but you’re just so wonderful and kind and caring and sweet and absolutely gorgeous and you forgave me when I betrayed you so much and you were the first person I ever told about my mother and you listened and that meant so much to me and I couldn’t get you out of my mind back home and you’re just so wonderful and beautiful and my heart would stop every time I saw you and-“

Katara kissed him, silencing him instantly. She pulled back quickly, her face scarlet. “You talk way too much,” she said quietly, now looking at her feet.

He also looked back down at the ground. “I know, and I’m sorry,” he said, looking up at her. “But I just can’t help it. I get this idea in my head and I have to say it and I can’t stop it and it gets even worse when I’m nervous and-“

She stopped him again, now laughing. “Stop it!” she cried, jabbing him playfully in the chest. “I mean, you’re saying such wonderfully sweet things, but seriously, stop!” she continued, laughing some more.

Zuko flushed again, focusing his gaze elsewhere until she calmed down. Still red, Katara spoke again. “But how did Toph know?”

He shrugged, kicking a small pebble on the ground. “She said my heart would speed up whenever you were around, and it was driving her crazy,” he said sheepishly. “She never said anything about yours though, not even when I asked,” he said, looking up again, an almost hopeful look on his face.

She blushed, smiling slightly. “I think its kind of obvious Zuko, considering I just kissed you,” she said shyly. She then kissed him again to make sure he knew.

When she pulled away, she chuckled. “Toph knew I think – that’s why she was always pushing us together. She told you to go to the fountain yesterday, she swapped everyone around at breakfast, she stopped people moving if they were going to interfere. For a blind girl, she certainly sees more than most. Her manipulative matchmaking could use some work though,” she said dryly, looking at the ground when they’d been trapped just a few minutes earlier.

Zuko shrugged. “Well, I’m not complaining,” he said quietly, kissing her again.

Toph, just outside the door, laughed to herself as she “watched” the two lovebirds. “Toph: 1. Haru: 0. Now I just gotta go get my money,” she said, smirking as she raced off to find the unfortunate earthbender who had just lost a bet. How she loved being right all the time.
I beg forgiveness for how late this is. I've had a few dramas with being banned from the computer for a day, then writer's block, then failing internet, some more writer's block.....and yeah, lots of excuses. Still, please forgive me!

As soon as I saw manipulative, I thought of Azula. Then I realised how much Toph would be the perfect canon Zutara shipper, and this idea of her forcing them together was born. Originally she was going to do more than the fountain and breakfast, but that's where the writer's block kicked in. I was also going to have her stick them in a stone tent instead of being stuck to the floor. But my plans changed when that lovely chat sprung up out of nowehere. Sometimes, I swear Zuko and Katara write themselves O_O (though I still manage to mess it up, lol).

Anyways, though this one was kind of rushed in the end, I'm still kinda happy with it, but please, let me know what you think :D



Dedicated to the lovely TZO and NZD trios, all of whom are the most awesome zutarians ever :D Happy Zutara week guys!

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ameryl770's avatar
its ok that was totally