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"Well, I think that settles it." Katara plopped onto the bench next to him. "We've been ditched."
"Seems like it." Zuko's mouth was dry, and he scuffed his sweaty palms against his trousers.
This was not going according to plan. And technically, it was only half his plan anyway. So it wasn't really his fault that it was all going sideways.
It had been almost three years since they'd all been together in the Fire Nation. Almost three years since he'd had a chance to see Katara for more than a few days in a row, since he'd been able to talk to her outside of letters and political meetings. And the rest of his friends too. Of course he'd missed all of them.
But he would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that it was Katara who occupied his thoughts most often.
And now they were back together, all of them, and while the others were preparing to leave in a few days' time, Katara was here to stay. It had nothing to do with him personally. He knew that. The Southern Water Tribe needed an ambassador in the Fire Nation, and Katara was far and away the best candidate. That didn't mean that he wasn't excited to have her back. That certainly didn't mean that his feelings for her had gone away. He was only human, and he liked her very, very much.
It had been Zuko's idea for the group to spend some time together before Sokka and Suki left. It had not been Zuko's idea to go to the Equinox Festival. That had been Sokka's suggestion. More specifically, Sokka had suggested a double date at the festival.
Zuko had tried to protest the idea, he really had. He and Katara were not dating. This couldn't possibly be a date. He just wanted to see his friends again before they left. And spend time with Katara. Mostly spend time with Katara. But not on a date.
Not that he would mind dating Katara. In fact, Zuko would have been delighted to date Katara. But he was fairly certain that Katara didn't feel the same, and Zuko was working very hard to learn how to quit while he was ahead.
But then Sokka had talked a lot and very quickly, and somewhere along the way Zuko must have agreed to the plan because the next thing he knew, he was standing sheepishly outside Katara's door and inviting her to the festival.
He really needed to figure out how Sokka did that. It would make his most crotchety advisors so much easier to deal with.
To Zuko's surprise, Katara had agreed. She even seemed excited about it. And Zuko had begun to hope that the festival might still be the kind of celebration he had pictured. For all of them. But mostly for Katara.
Then Sokka and Suki had ditched them.
He snuck a glance at Katara. She'd taken to wearing deep blue Fire Nation silks sewn in traditional Water Tribe styles. The color, she had informed him, was reserved for warriors at the South Pole, and now that she had earned the right to wear it, she had no intention to ever wear another shade of blue again. Zuko couldn't blame her. She'd more than earned the honor.
But it was a bit of a problem too. She was luminous in her warrior's blue, and it made it exceptionally difficult for Zuko to look away.
"Since we're here anyway," he began, voice rough, "Maybe we should—" He gestured lamely at the festivities.
Agni, why was this so difficult? He spoke in front of his advisors every day, and they were much less pleasant than Katara.
She followed his gaze, then turned back, smiling. "You're right. We definitely should."
Katara was tempted to tease him. Zuko, the wise and beloved leader of the Fire Nation, who had an impeccable sense of direction honed by years at sea, was completely lost in the middle of a festival in his own city and getting more flustered by the minute.
"I just don't understand! The street performances should be in the theater district. It doesn't make sense to have them anywhere else!" He grew more and more animated, punctuating every point with a broad sweep of his arms.
The impulse won her over. "I don't know about that. I think it would make more sense to put them in the straw-hat district," she deadpanned.
"Why on earth would we put street performances in the—" Zuko met her eyes and stopped short. His brow furrowed, and he made a grumpy little sound. "You're trying to tease me, aren't you?"
Grinning, Katara took hold of his arm. "I'm pretty sure I'm succeeding."
Zuko made another grumpy noise. "For the record, we don't have a straw-hat district. This isn't Ba Sing Se. We're not big enough to be that organized."
"I'm glad," Katara answered, still holding his arm as she kept pace beside him. "It's going to take me enough time to learn my way around as it is."
Zuko's hand rested ever so lightly on top of hers. "I'll make sure you don't get lost."
Katara's heart fluttered. She'd missed him. Exchanging letters was nice, but it was nothing compared to being with him, being able to talk face-to-face. A few peace summits and meetings a year just wasn't enough. But she hadn't expected to find herself alone with him so soon. Not unless it was on official business of some sort.
She suspected that Sokka and Suki had ditched them deliberately, though she couldn't decide whether it was so Katara would be left alone with Zuko, or so that Sokka and Suki could spend some time alone. The latter made more sense, which was exactly why she suspected the former.
She felt her cheeks burn and looked forward. "Good. I wouldn't want to make the Fire Lord's personal guards search the city every time I step out of the palace."
"I'd look for you too if you got lost."
Katara looked up in time to see his warm golden eyes soften. Her grip on his arm tightened just a fraction, and Zuko looked away, clearing his throat.
"And—uh—of course the city makes a lot more sense when the theater district isn't full of koalasheep petting stalls."
Katara laughed. It did look a little odd to see children petting fluffy animals in front of ornate, gold-trimmed theaters, but as far as she could tell, the festival had overtaken the whole city.
"You really had your heart set on finding the street performances, didn't you?"
He reddened. "I was looking forward to it. I heard from the palace staff that there was going to be an outdoor production of Love Amongst the Dragons."
She poked him in the elbow. "I seem to remember you complaining about having to watch that play."
His lips pressed together. "I complained about having to watch that play at Ember Island. It's a good play. The Ember Island Players are just bad."He paused briefly. "I guess we're not going to find out if this one is any good if I can't figure out where it is."
"Too bad you're in your fancy Fire Lord clothes. Otherwise you could climb up on one of these buildings to get a better view." She snuck a sideways glance at him. "Or does that only work when you have your mask with you?"
He scowled. "Very funny."
"You're grumpy," Katara observed, smiling.
He frowned. "I am not."
"Grumpy because we're missing a play."
"I'm not."
"You're the grumpiest."
She thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. "Stop."
"Fire Lord Grump."
He made a valiant effort at scowling but gave in when she laughed and hugged his arm.
"I'm not grumpy, Katara." The smile was evident in his voice, and when she looked up, the soft warmth was back in his eyes.
Her stomach did a pleasant little flip. "See, now I believe you." She let her head rest briefly against his shoulder. It felt good to be close to him again. Tugging him forward, she wound her way up the street, past a cluster of children ogling a pen full of moo-sows and the parents watching from a few steps back, past a tall woman giving another group of children an impassioned lecture about the gentle nature of komodo rhinos while holding one by the bridle.
Zuko fell in step beside her, following her lead, still wearing that small, soft smile whenever she glanced back at him.
Katara gave his arm a light squeeze. "Do they perform Love Amongst the Dragons very often? Maybe we could see it some other time." She motioned toward yet another petting stall. "When the theater district isn't full of moo-sows and koalasheep."
He reddened a little, but this time, it was softened by the warmth in his eyes, by the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "I'm sure we could. If you want to."
She felt something warm inside her. "Deal."
Her hands stayed steady on his arm, a gentle line of connection between the two of them. He softened into it. He liked the contact with her, the sensation that felt almost like tenderness.
She was just making sure that they didn't get separated. Zuko knew that. That didn't make his heart beat any slower or his face feel any less warm.
He cleared his throat and looked ahead. He was a grown man. The Fire Lord. He shouldn't be blushing so much just from the sensation of Katara's hand looped around his arm.
They wound their way past the last of the animal pens and up to the next street, where a wave of aroma washed over them. Spices and cooking meat and sweets—every type of food he could think of mixed into a single, heady aroma.
Katara groaned, and her grip tightened on his arm.
He looked down at her. "Katara? Are you okay?"
She looked up at him, her lower lip jutting out a bit. For all that she'd grown, for all that she was more graceful and mature than he remembered, she could still manage the most adorable pout he'd ever seen.
"I just realized that I'm starving." She eyed the food stands ahead. "Possibly to death."
He couldn't hold back a snort. "Somehow I doubt that last part. I've seen you sneaking into the palace kitchens in the middle of the night.
A finger found its way into his ribs. "Only because you were sneaking around too. I'll have you know that I'm very sneaky about my midnight snacks."
He rolled his eyes and poked her arm back. "The sneakiest. That must be why I hear you walking past my door both ways every single time." He paused, turning his eyes down the street again. "Though you are a lot sneakier than Sokka, I'll give you that much."
"So generous." Her head swiveled from side to side, eyes wide as she examined all the carts and stalls and trays of fried snacks stacked into ornamental spires and pyramids and spirals. "What do you recommend? I don't even know what most of this stuff is."
Zuko gave his best thoughtful face. "Well, my favorite are always the fire flakes—" He cut off with a laugh when she jabbed her elbow into his side.
"Something I can eat. I'm a waterbender. I'm not supposed to breathe fire after I finish a snack."
"Wimp."
"Says the man who couldn't eat a pickled eel squid when he visited the South Pole last time." She smiled up at him, and Zuko's heart sped up. "I mean it. What's the best thing here that isn't so spicy that it'll burn me from the inside out?"
He considered. There were kabobs of different types of meat, all richly marinated, and several of them probably too spicy for Katara's liking. There were savory buns packed with spices, and dumplings smothered in peppery broth. And fire flakes, of course. She wouldn't like any of those. But everything else seemed equally likely. Stopping in place, he scanned the booths. There had to be something that would blow her away. Something more special than the cakes and pastries she was always stealing from the palace kitchens, sometimes to deliver to him, and sometimes not.
Something special enough to make up for the play she wouldn't get a chance to see tonight. Something special enough for her.
A smile crept over his face, and he cupped his hand over hers. "Wait here for just a minute. I think I know exactly what you'll like."
Katara waited. Not because she wanted to—she had her own money, and she was perfectly capable of picking out her own snacks. But Zuko had darted off through the crowd so quickly that she didn't really have a chance to stop him, and the crowd was so thick, so bustling, that she was a little afraid of getting lost if she moved too far from where he'd left her. Though she'd grown, she still wasn't tall enough to see over the crowd, and Zuko, though tall, wasn't so absurdly tall that he stood out from the rest of the crowd.
She was a tiny bit apprehensive. She trusted Zuko, of course, but he was almost too excited, and he really didn't understand how terribly spicy Fire Nation food could be. He didn't know that some of the milder treats that he'd sent along with his messages while she was still at the South Pole had given Gran-Gran an upset stomach or that Sokka had taken the spicier treats and challenged the rest of the warriors to an eating contest that left them all in tears. Of course, Katara's tolerance was considerably higher than Gran-Gran's, but she didn't want to accidentally make a fool of herself. She was enjoying her time with Zuko too much.
Only a few minutes passed before Zuko emerged from the crowd again, beaming, his eyes crinkled in joy and excitement. He held a small paper pouch between his hands and stopped a few steps away from her.
"Close your eyes."
Katara raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"
"It's a surprise."
"I'm not sure I trust that smirk." She stretched upward, and Zuko raised the pouch so she couldn't see inside.
"Uh-uh. No peeking or you'll ruin the surprise. Eyes closed."
Katara made a face. "Fine. But if you're trying to feed me fire flakes, I will blow stinky spice-breath in your face."
"Noted. Now open your mouth."
She obeyed, and she felt Zuko come closer by the soft, ever-present heat radiating off of him. She wanted to lean even closer, to rest against his chest and get lost somewhere in his arms.
Zuko popped something small and dense onto her tongue. "Okay. Try it."
Almost the instant she closed her mouth, she was hit by a rush of salty, sour tang, and her eyes popped open. It was chewy, whatever it was, and the outside encrusted with a thin layer of crispiness. As she chewed, the sharpest edge of the flavor wore away, softening into a sweet, mild taste.
"What is this?" she asked, staring at Zuko, wide-eyed. It was a bit like some kind of dried fruit, but it wasn't a type of fruit that she recognized, and the slight hint of salt remained as she chewed, and she could have sworn that she knew the flavor from something, but it was just different enough that she couldn't place it.
"Do you like it?"
She nodded. Whatever that thing was, it was wonderful.
Zuko's smile grew. "Candied ocean kumquats. I remembered that your family ate them stewed when you were all in the Fire Nation, because—"
"Because they're just like sea prunes."
Zuko nodded. "I don't really get the appeal of stewing them, but the candied ones are pretty popular."
Katara couldn't keep her smile from growing wider and wider until it felt like her face would crack. The candied ocean kumquats tasted good enough on their own, but Zuko had chosen them just for her, and he knew her well enough to know that she'd like them, and he was right, and—she reached up and snatched the paper pouch from his hand. If she didn't do something quick, she was going to be in very real danger of kissing him.
"Just for that stewed sea prune blasphemy, I'm taking the whole bag."
"Hey!" he protested. "I didn't say they were bad. Just—slimy."
Grinning, Katara popped another little candied kumquat into her mouth and spun out of his reach. "I'm keeping them. All of them."
Zuko seemed to catch her teasing tone and caught up with her in just a few steps. "Give me one."
"Why should I?" She gave a little sniff and held the pouch out to the other side. "You called my favorite food slimy."
One of his long arms snaked around her, and Katara yelped, pulling the pouch in against her chest.
Laughing, she ducked under his arm and stepped back a few paces. "You'll have to fight me for them, Fire Lord." She folded the top of the pouch shut and dangled it out at arms' length.
"Are you sure you want to challenge me? I'm taller than you. I can reach wherever you try to hide them."
"You may be taller, but I'm hungry, and a very nice man just bought a snack for me." She opened the top of the pouch again, just enough to slip out another piece of candied kumquat between her fingertips.
Zuko took that as his chance to lunge, and caught her by the waist, lifting her off the ground.
Katara couldn't stop laughing. Through the irrepressible fits of giggling, she saw him laughing too. Her heart fluttered. How had she forgotten how wonderful his laugh was? It was rare, but every time she'd ever heard his laugh unweighted by stress, every fiber of her being lit up along with him. His arms around her waist were warm and strong, and being pressed against his chest was every bit as perfect as her imagination had suggested. She would be perfectly content to stay pressed up against him forever.
Smiling, he came to a halt, and holding her with one arm, grabbed the pouch with the other. "Got them," he said quietly, not pulling the pouch away from her.
His breath brushed against her cheek, and she realized anew how close he was, his face only inches away. In fact, with the way he was holding her, with her feet dangling a few inches from the ground, she was perfectly level with him. So close that if she just leaned in—
Her lips crashed into his, and she saw Zuko's eyes widen for the briefest moment before she closed her eyes. She'd kissed before. Not often, and not with many people, but this one felt different. There wasn't fluttering or uncertainty, there was no feeling that she was going to lift off the ground and float off into the sky. This felt like landing. This felt like reaching shore after weeks at sea, like her feet on solid ground after flying away from danger. This felt like home.
She only pulled away when Zuko's grip on her waist slackened enough that her feet touched the ground, and she stared up at him, breathless. Zuko's face had gone crimson—even his scar looked a shade darker than usual, and his eyes were wide.
"You—you just—"
"Did something I've been thinking about for a long time?"
"You did? You have?"
Katara smiled and pulled the pouch of candied ocean kumquats out of his loose grasp. "And I think I won these back." She dangled the pouch in front of him again.
Zuko kept gaping at her for a few seconds longer.
She looped her free hand through his. "Did I break the Fire Lord too?"
"Maybe." He looked down at her, and her heart fluttered in her chest. "Definitely a little bit."
"Hmm." She squeezed his hand and turned for the food stalls again. "In that case, I'm going to have to have you point out your favorite food in this whole place, and it'll be my treat."
"And if I say that it's fire flakes?"
She leaned a little closer to him as a cluster of people pressed past them down the path. "Then it might be a little while longer before I try that kissing thing again." She snuck a glance up at him through her lashes.
His mouth curled into a slight smile, and he returned the pressure on her hand. "Then I think I can handle finding another favorite."