No Words...Almost

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No Words . . . Almost

If you were to stop him at any given time on any given day and ask him "what is your relationship?" he could not answer. Not because he would not know who you were referring to, nor because he was shy about it. Simply because he had no knowledge on how to describe it. There were no words for his relationship with her.

He had no actual need of her. She did not do anything in particular that no one else could. Nor was there any desire to have her around. On the contrary, he often found times that he wished that she wasn't around so he could have some peace. She was continuously getting him to do things that he never imagined himself doing. Like walking through a mall carrying sacks upon sacks of decorations and prizes for a Halloween party.

"Tell me again how you got Sokka to agree to this."

Katara just turned and smiled at him. She was wearing a purple, sleeveless mid drift and a pair of hip hugger blue jeans. How she could stand the cold weather in that outfit was beyond him, but it was nice to look at. He on the other hand was wearing a pair of black pants with a black shirt sporting a red spiraling serpent dragon. She did not seem like she was going to answer his question any time soon, so he tried another.

"Are we almost done?"

"Aw, c'mon!" she said in her song like voice. "We almost never go out and do things like this!"

"For a reason," Zuko replied as he glanced around the crowded shops. He hated crowds. He was not the social butterfly that Katara was. Yet another strange thing that should have kept the two of them apart entirely.

"We haven't even gotten our costumes yet," Katara pouted. How could she be so annoying and so cute at the same time? If it were anyone else, Zuko would have just dropped the bags right there and left. But it wasn't anyone else. It was Katara.

"What costumes? I never said I was going to wear a costume."

"But it'll be fun!" she laughed as she wrapped her arm around his. "I've already got a good idea what I want to do."

"For your costume, or the one you're going to try to force me into?"

"Both!"

As Katara pulled him towards yet another shop, Zuko found himself wondering why she spent so much time with him anyway. When they had first met, it would have been an understatement to say that he was a complete jerk to her. He was a complete jerk to everyone back then. People shied away from him even more after the "accident" with his father that left him marked. Things only got worse when his mother died at father's own abusive hands. Zuko's uncle had taken Zuko and his sister Azula in back then. Azula seemed unaffected by the whole situation. So unaffected that Uncle Iroh had begun sending her to counseling. That just made being around people even harder. Except Katara.

Even after all of the cruel responses he gave her kind greetings; even after all of the vicious things that he said to her; and even after he lost his temper and actually struck her, Katara never turned her back on Zuko. She refused to watch him amble on down that dark, lonely, self-destructive road. She helped to save him from becoming his father.

"Oh! Go try this on!" Katara's voice interrupted. Apparently she had dragged him into a clothing store, because she was holding up a pair of rather uncomfortably tight looking black pants.

"You're joking."

"Nope. Now get!" she pushed as she took the bags from him. Zuko's mind returned to its earlier wanderings when he shut the changing room door behind him with a sigh.

If she had chosen, Katara could have spent her time with other people. Toph and Aang were the first to come to mind, but there were others. She had many would be suitors, much to Zuko's annoyance. This was one of the other things about her that baffled him. Even though she was so popular with the guys at their school, he never saw or heard about her ever going out with any of them. Sure there were a few times that he had blown up at one or two of them, but surely there were still boys that asked.

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"Hey there, Katara," an unfamiliar voice said from somewhere outside of the door. Speak of the devils and there they are.

"Oh, hi," Katara replied politely. "Jet, right?"

"Yeah. I hear you're throwing a party on Halloween."

"Yes, it's going to be lots of fun! We're having it at my brother's place."

"Nice," the stranger said in a confident voice. "So, is anyone invited?"

"Pretty much. Sokka's got a pretty big place. The University funds his research now and he took full advantage of the budget!"

"Very nice. So, do you have a date yet?"

"I'm already going with someone, if that's what you're asking."

"Don't tell me you still hang out with that Zuko guy," the boy named Jet said disdainfully. "You do know about him, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked. Zuko caught the annoyance and anger in her voice that Jet clearly missed. If he hadn't missed it, he would not have been so stupid as to answer.

"He's a freak!" Jet blurted out. "A dangerous freak! Don't you know where he got that scar? What his family is like? His dad's rotting in jail for killing his mom! His twisted little sister is locked away in a shrink ward for who knows how many reasons. His uncle is the closest thing to 'normal' that family has, and he's a senile old man! And if memory serves, hasn't that punk hit you before?"

Zuko blinked. He knew that it shouldn't surprise him that people knew about it, he just didn't realize that people were talking about it to Katara. Or maybe it was just this guy. Either way, it bothered him. Zuko had never spoken to Katara about that strike except once, weeks later, to apologize. She never brought it up even before then.

"That is none of your business," Katara said in a quiet, icy voice.

"Of course it's my business," Jet nearly shouted. "I don't want to see you get hurt! You should be with someone safer! Someone like . . ."

"Like what?" Katara yelled back. "Like you? You really think that I would be safer with someone I barely even know? You know nothing about the real Zuko. He's kind and caring and a good person! Yes, he grew up in a difficult situation, and no, he is not perfect, but he means more to me than you could ever understand. Especially more than some random guy who just walks up out of the blue and starts asking me for a date! So why don't you go crawl back under whatever little rock you came out from under and leave me alone!"

Jet must have left in a pretty big hurry, because by the time Zuko managed to force his way into the pants he was given and exited the fitting room, he was nowhere to be seen. Zuko waited as Katara looked him over with a mock analyzing look on her face. She walked around him a few times, taking in the look.

"I must be rubbing off on you," Zuko said when she walked back in front of him.

"You heard that, did you?" she blushed.

"I think the whole store heard that," Zuko smirked. Then his face fell into its usual stoic expression before he continued. "Did you really mean what you said?" Katara bowed her head as her blush grew.

"Yes. I've kinda been wanting to say it for a while."

Zuko did not know what to say. He was utterly lost for words. Then again, Zuko had never been much of a talker when it came to his feelings. He placed his hand gently on Katara's chin and raised her face to look at his. Very gently, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. The two of them stood, gazing into each others eyes.

"Nice pants," a girl said as she walked by. Zuko felt a surge of self consciousness as he remembered where he was and ducked back into the changing room.

Back outside the store in the bustling walkways of the mall, Zuko resumed his bag carrying duties as Katara continued to lead him. There was a noticeably happy spring in her step as she began to hum a vaguely familiar tune, and Zuko smiled with the knowledge that he was the source of this happiness.

"You know, you never did tell me how you got Sokka to agree to this party."

Katara turned once again, smiling mischievously.

"I just told him that we wouldn't do anymore damage to the place than his experiments usually do."

Much to his own surprise, Zuko let out a small laugh. He still did not know exactly how he would describe his relationship with Katara. He still knew that he could live without her. He still knew that he wanted her around, but not all of the time. He still knew that she was one of the few things in his life that he would actually miss if no longer there. But there were still no words to describe his relationship with her. Looking at her, smiling at him with those beautifully intoxicating blue eyes, Zuko smiled. Maybe there was at least one word after all.

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