Zutara - Petals

Katara sat on the hill bursting with tiger lilies, braiding her hair ever so cautiously. She refused for it to be loose, but also didn't want to hurt her scalp, and it took AGES to get it perfect. Long brown hair was nice in the cold, but out in the fire nation, where they were resting, it was so inconvenient and hot.
"Oh forget it!" she cried, and let it loose. It sprang from her grasp like a cricket and waved in the wind, looking unruly and free, much like her Dad described her. Once again she thought about getting it cut, but disregarded the idea, because if she got it trimmed to her chin, her hair had the consistency that would make her look like a mushroom.
"It looks good that way," Zuko said from behind her. "It makes me happy to know that you're not torturing your head."
Katara turned with her eyebrow raised. "I thought you were never happy," she mocked.
"Not usually, that's true," Zuko said. He strolled nearer and sat beside her. "Are you still mad that you saw Aang kissing Toph?"
Katara blushed. Had it really been that obvious? "Well, no, not really."
"I'm guessing in girl-speak that means in every possible way?" Zuko grinned. It made his eyes squint up so that they were both the same size. That made the burn mark seem less noticeable.
She swatted him on the arm. "You know I'm happy for them."
"I'm never happy, so neither do you," Zuko whispered.
"What do you mean?" she asked him, puzzled.
"You're the type of person who always has to balance out the emotions in a room. If everyone else is depressed, you cheer people up. If everyone else is fine, you get peeved really easily."
"Not true!" Katara cried, crossly. Zuko ignored her and went on.
"Ever since I came here, you've been happy all the time, trying to balance everything out. I don't want to force your emotions."
"Well, you've done it plenty of times," the water-bender scowled.
"What? When?" the fire-bender said, plainly surprised.
"You've killed my mother, which made me angry. You've played with my emotions when we were in the cavern, making me pity you. You made me distrust you when you came to our camp the first time, looking for shelter."
Zuko looked pained to hear about his wrong-doings. "I thought I told you, I'm not that type of person anymore," he pleaded.
"Yes, you've turned over a new lead and all that," Katara said, angrily. "But how am I supposed to believe that you're not still that arrogant, self-obsessed, outrageously stubborn, violent, destructive, angry, stunningly handsome-"
She cupped her hands over her mouth at that moment, blushing wildly.
"'Stunningly handsome?'" Zuko's only eyebrow raised. "Was this before or after I lost the ponytail?"
Katara surprisingly and conveniently started rolling down the hill, her hands still over her mouth. Zuko yelled in alarm and came tumbling after her.
The two came rolling down the hill, bounding and falling roughly and landed on their rumps at the bottom, dizzy and high on adrenaline. Katara started to stand, giggling madly, and fell on her friend with a "THUMP!"
As she opened her eyes, she beheld a small flower in front of her. "Hmm... A tiger lily," she said, because, like most people, she said the obvious when confused.
"You know, those are supposed to be able to tell true love," Zuko commented, rubbing his forehead.
"Oh really? Well, lets experiment!" she shouted, a true skeptic of anything not yet tested.
She grabbed the first speckled scarlet petal and let it drop to the ground. "He loves me..." she whispered.
"He loves me not..."
"He loves me..."
"He loves me not..."
"He loves me..."
"He loves me not..."
"He-"
Here, she paused and looked up into the eyes of the one resting his chin on her head. He stared down at the flower, now a blunt, boring stem with a single petal on it and motioned for her to go on.
"He loves me. He does, doesn't he?" Katara understood.
"Yes. He does, with all of his heart. But," he picked up the stem, fingering the leaves gently, as a mother with her child, as a chef with a souffle, as a zoologist with a specimen. "Does she love him back?"
"You know what? I think she does," Katara said, leaning her head on his shoulder. He kissed her long and hard, surprising her and him. But it wasn't a mistake. They both knew at least that.
"It's a shame that such a beautiful flower had to be lost in order to bring a love," Katara decided.
"We only took the bud. Next year, it'll grow back and allow more people to see it's beauty. And perhaps to use it," Zuko replied.
"Grow, little flower," Katara whispered to it. "Grow as you have helped us."
And you know what? It did.