SUMMARY: Two people, from the end of the war to the discovery of passion. Ever after is not a destination but a road we all must travel.

NOTES: I’ve recently developed an interest in future AU fics. This one, is, of course, Zuko/Katara. I can’t write anything else for Avatar fandom. Oh, and… please don’t hate me if this takes three years to update. It’s a drabble fic, and drabble fics can stretch that long. Really, they can!hides under rock

Title from The Smashing Pumpkins: "Thru The Eyes Of Ruby," myvote forpossibly themost poeticlyrics they've ever written.

Paula Cole-“I Don’t Wanna Wait”

Before

Two weeks before the final battle Katara learns their father will not be returning home from the war. She and Sokka accept this because acceptance is all they have time for. The century of strife is almost ended; the rise of the Avatar is near complete. Space for private grief exists between falling to a cot and rising with the foghorns, but still the siblings sacrifice sleep to spend their nights talking. They reminisce about tigerseal pelts and canoe rides, and in between the memories they console as only family has the power to do.