katara gets SO protective of zuko while he’s healing from his lightning scar…………….like he cannot leave the bed without her checking over his wound yet………..the council had assigned her a room in the southern wing where the dignitaries and other notable visitors are usually housed - but, well, katara’s with him nearly every hour, makes sure to check for irregular rhythms in his chest area, makes sure he isn’t overexterting himself…………..one instance, the royal healers were checking up on him, and one of them propped him up with a little too much of force, made him wince, and katara SNAPPED………..lectured them about the treatment of the FIRE LORD…………….but if anything, zuko is Fine…………he can handle himself……….he can handle the recurring pain, the aftershocks, the busy planning of his coronation………….he can - but katara is there……she’s by his bedside, head lolling when she can’t resist the pull of sleep any longer, and he carries her to his bed, even if she’ll wake up and get mad at him the next day for sleeping in the chaise again……….he knows duties and responsibilities and peacekeeping will separate them sooner than later - so he takes what he can get, and if staying still while katara fusses over him and scolds him and keeps looking at him with Those Eyes every time he tugs his shirt off, every time her gaze lands on the sunburst scar, then that’s what he’ll take……………and sometimes at night, when the world gets a little too heavy and katara can’t keep the Strong Girl face on anymore, she just places her hand on the scar, head buried in his neck, while zuko’s arms are just wrapped around her waist, holding her steady…………the sound of two heartbeats……….a breath of devotion or two…….
