You must learn to join the dance

in my hands, the fire will never hurt you.

Katara and Zuko by Paulina Klime

Only when the tears spilled down his cheeks in earnest did she reach out her hand to caress his face. The few times she’d dared to touch him since he’d joined the group - since their reconciliation, really - his breath had grown shallow, his movements stilling. She hadn’t asked, even though the question lingered constantly on the tip of her tongue, but he clearly wasn’t used to as much touching as the rest of them were, herself and Sokka especially.

But Katara knew well enough that touch was the best cure for these kind of tears.

Pressed against his skin, her hand warmed pleasantly, and a buzz of satisfaction rippled through Katara’s chest at the sensation, like her hand had finally found its rightful place in the universe. She brushed her thumb along his jaw even as she pushed the feeling firmly back to the corner of her mind where she allowed herself to entertainment such things.

Zuko himself leaned into her hand briefly, then tensed, his spine snapping to a straight line. Opening his eyes, he wiped the tears on his sleeve and leaned away, however slightly.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice rough. “I - sorry.”

Her hand fell to her lap where she tangled it into the skirt of her tunic, trying to satisfy the missing sensation of his warmth. “It’s okay,” she said softly. “It’s okay for you to cry.”

Zuko’s whole face twisted into a scowl, his scarred eye disappearing entirely in the expression. “Not in front of you,” he insisted.

Katara blinked, her hand stilling in her lap. “Oh,” she said.

“Not -“ The disgraced crown prince of the Fire Nation shook his head, like it would help him decipher the jumble of words he kept locked up in there. Letting okay a sharp sigh, he muttered, “My family’s already caused you enough pain. You shouldn’t have to take care of me too.” Katara answered him with her own scowl, a familiar fire stoking in her gut. Rising to her knees, she closed the distance between them, grabbing his chin to direct his gaze up to meet hers. Any other time, she’d have blushed at the absurdity of the action - what was she, some hero from a romance scroll? - but it was impossible to feel absurd as Zuko’s lips parted minutely, eyes wide as they roamed her face.

“You’re right,” she said, low. “Your family - your country- has caused me a lot of pain. So why would you cause me more by not allowing me to comfort my friend?” Relaxing her grip on his chin, she brushed her fingers upward on his face until they traced the edge of his scar.

“Taking care of you doesn’t cost me anything, Zuko,” she murmured before releasing him. She turned away to give him space and maybe to jump in the ocean or hide away in her room until the flush that had slowly crept over her whole body calmed - but she didn’t get very far, because Zuko’s hand wrapped lightly around her forearm, tugging her back to face him. When she had, he gently traced his fingers down her arm until they were threaded with hers.

“It doesn't cost me anything either.”

@zutaraweek Day 3: Union

It's been a minute since I drew something with more spice than fluff, so I took this opportunity to play with the prompt. :) Usually, I draw aged-up Zuko with long hair, but I just felt like keeping his Book 3 hair cuz I like that too and didn't feel like going too deep with it. <3

Anyway, this is my last contribution to this year's ZK Week. I want to thank the mods for making this special week available for everyone to enjoy. I look forward to it every year and I know I'm not the only one. You're doing a great job and I appreciate you!

he rlly loves his wife guys

Zutara: Fire Touching Water

This scene was inspired by that one scene in Elemental where Ember and Wade are at the beach and while they're having an emotional moment, the sun is setting over the ocean... or fire is touching water.

Wanted to try drawing their young adult versions this time (yk the ones we got from that poster that was released while lok was going?)

Yeah anyway idk how I feel about this one, but I'm tired of looking at it so... here you go

some quick zutara sketch <3

All these colors fade for you only…

smiley zuko!

recent sketches!

Zutara week 2021

Day 5 - Mend Suddenly again Southern Raiders

He didn't.

my loser boy gets his notebook back and immediately gets back to work 🌊