Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA.

"How did you get it?"

She says it in almost a whisper, her voice soft and her oceanic eyes gentle.

He has previously told her it was a training accident, as he tells anyone who inquirs. A pretty lie to cover up the truth. But she's always known it it isn't true. Not with his words in the crystal Catacombes, not the way his amber eyes darken when it is mentioned, and not the way his body stiffens at her question now.

Her eyes are like cobalt keys, unlocking thoughts that he tells no one else. In Ba Sing Se, their eyes met and he told her more of his scar than he had to anyone, "I used to think this scar marked me; the mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the avatar forever." Outside his Uncle's tent, her concerned cobalt eyes asked if he was okay and he admitted that no, he was not. And now here, her sapphire orbs gaze into his golden ones, and words spill out almost naturally.

"I was thirteen. I wanted to go into a war meeting, to prepare myself for becoming Fire Lord," he lets out a bitter laugh, "my uncle let me go in, but told me to keep quiet. And I did. I listened carefully to the war plans, letting the adults discuss and debate while I sat up straight, trying to prove my worth. I was the perfect prince." Zuko paused, wishing that was where the story ended. "Almost. The meeting was nearing its end, and the general us of his plan. He wanted to use the new recruits as bait, kill them off meaninglessly, as if they weren't people, with mothers and fathers and wives and children. Everyone was just sitting there, as if it was okay. I couldn't just sit there." Zuko spat. "I shot out of my seat, defending the new recruits. The general was furious at my behaviour and challenged me to an Agni Kai - a fire duel, usually to the death. I accepted."

Her eyes widen in the dull moonlight.

"I didn't understand. Why would I? I was thirteen, I was a fucking child! I didn't know what he meant! I didn't know that it would be my father, standing over me with thousands of my people watching as if my humiliation was some kind of entertainment!"

He feels he hand wrap around his, her voice gentle, "Zuko, you don't have to carry on if it's too-"

"I was on my knees, begging him to forgive me." A tear slipped down his cheek, and another and another. He is spitting out the words as if they are poison, but he is lost in the memory now. He can feel the heat of the stage and the beads of sweat on his forehead and the feeling of inferiority as the firelord towers over him and orders him to stand and fight. His words echo the Firelord's as they spill from his throat. "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

That's when he breaks. Just hearing those words again, even from his own mouth, terrifies him. He remembers the unbearable agony after those words, the scream that ripped through his throat and stained the world red.

He falls forward, his face distorted in pain and trauma. She is there to catch him, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she can as he sobs into her shoulder.

She doesn't know how long they stay like that. She does know, however, that this night is the first time she pressed her lips against his scar, an act which she continues for many years.

Zutara one shot! I really wanted to write a one shot about Zuko telling Katara how he got his scar so here you go!

I didn't know how to end it, but I've always had a little thing that Katara likes to kiss zukos scar (idk why but I just love the idea) so that's where the ending came from.

Also have you guys noticed that not only Katara is the first person to touch zukos scar, but he talked about it to her in that scene more than he was talked about it to anyone in the entire series? Because I realised that (I've written it in every single zutara rant I've written. I've written a lot of zutara rants.) and my little shipper heart just can't handle it.

~Bri