AfterLife Ch 6: Meant to Live

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN avatar nor any of its characters. If I did, Zutara would have happened XD. A:tLA belongs to Nick, Viacom and Mike and Bryan (a.k.a. Bryke)
                    
                                                   AfterLife Chapter 6
                                                       Meant to Live
It had been two months since the storm, and Katara could once again walk without the assistance of a crutch. While this was an improvement, Katara could not help but miss her family. One day, she was staring forlornly into the only picture she had left of them when Zuko walked into the room.
"Is this you?" He asked, gesturing towards the Southern Belle's figure head, which was mounted on the wall.
"No. It's my mother." she sighed. There was a long silence.
"Zuko, why did you save me?" Katara eventually asked.
This question caught Zuko off guard. Why did he save Katara?
"Well, I couldn't just leave you there on the beach. Something might have happened to you." This seemed logical enough to him. But there was still one other reason...
"What could have happened to me, Zuko?" She asked, the tension in her voice rising. "Maybe I could have died?"
"Perhaps," Zuko replied. For some reason, he could no longer imagine life without Katara. Her death was unthinkable to him.
"Well what if I wanted to die?" Katara burst out, finally cracking.
"Why would you want that?" Zuko felt his voice rising with surprise.
"What if I wanted to stay with my family? To always be with them? The only way that I could have done that was by dying." Her blue eyes and her words were like icicles cutting into his soul. Zuko could no longer believe his ears.
"We don't know that yet, Katara. Your father and brother could be somewhere deep in the forests of the island. We have no idea."
"It's been two months, Zuko. You would know by now." Katara replied shortly.
"Okay, who knows? None of us want to lose you, Katara. You've become one of us over these past few months. And besides, your dying wouldn't help anyone."
"Well, me just sitting here, holed up on some desert island isn't helping anyone either," Katara countered. "Life is meaningless without a purpose."
"Katara, you do have a purpose, you were meant to live." Zuko tried to reassure her.
"Well, what is it, Zuko?" She asked, exasperated.
"I don't know. Alot of people don't know what their purpose in life is, and that's okay. They eventually figure it out."
"But what if I never figure mine out? What if my purpose is just to die?"
"That's not a purpose, Katara. Trust me, we care about you. Don't just waste away here moping. You're not helping anyone." Zuko was getting tired of Katara's attitude.
"You're not helping anyone either by lecturing me!" She cried.
"Perhaps I would be if you were actually listening to what I'm trying to tell you!" He retorted.
"I am listening, and I still don't understand why you had to save me. I'd be better off dead." Katara turned her back, ending the arguement. Zuko left the room, slamming the door.
On the other side, Zuko pondered what had been said. 'Why did I save her?' he asked himself. And then he remembered...seeing her face for the first time, thinking that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen... embracing her as tears ran down her face... understanding her true value... it was then that he realized the truth.
Zuko was in love.