Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The breeze was rough against Katara’s swollen cheeks, her skin raw from the embarrassing number of tears she had shed since leaving Yon Rah in the dust. 

The texture less hushing of the wind as it raced through her hair and against her blackened clothes was calming, though even it couldn’t drown out the raging tension she felt between herself and Zuko. Silently she sat in Appa’s saddle as he guided the bison. Supposedly he knew a place they could stay.

Had she not been obviously crying the entire journey, her last words to both her brother and Aang ringing tirelessly throughout her aching mind, perhaps she would’ve felt more inclined to thank Zuko. She never thought such a concept would ever materialise. Zuko was the fire nation. He was the one who ruthlessly hunted them down for a year, who betrayed her trust in Ba Sing Sei. Still, in this instance she was well aware that he was the only one on her side. Had he not volunteered to help her she never would’ve found her mother’s killer. Even without yon Rah’s blood staining her hands she felt a comforting blanket of closure, like a thick blanket finally being placed over the coldest region of her soul. It would never truly heal, forever scarred, but at least now it had the chance to rest. Without Zuko none of that would be possible and here she was, wordless. 

A solemn tear trickled down her stained face. Without another look at him she lay her head down to the saddle and gazed aimlessly to the endless sea beneath her. Water had always been her guide. 

Not long after, though it felt eternal to Katara, her heart aching to see Sokka again, they arrived at Zuko’s spot. 

‘Ember Island.’ He announced as they descended towards the craggly lagoon of a small island.

Wherever they were, it was an upgrade and a half from their days of camping on half-damp banks and rocky cliffs. Even the air temple lacked Ember Island’s flair. 

Immediately, the nearby shore called out Katara’s name. As they climbed off Appa’s back, evaluating the area, Katara sprinted straight for her element. Despite the night’s cool touch the water was warm. The area, in all honesty, was beautiful. Jagged, black rocks erupted from the blossoming parades of tropical plants, each reaching out to the stars with slick, green arms. Palm trees towered over even the grandest of bushes, though, swaying to the beat of nature’s drum. 

She watched from the ankle-deep cove as Zuko approached the nearby house. It was clearly fire nation, perhaps an old home of the royal family based on its crimson roof and the gold details embellishing every window still, door frame and pillar. She watched tentatively as Zuko hesitated at the property’s grand entrance. The entire structure was foreign to her, the igloos back home traded all of this places primp and preen for functionality. Despite her explorations of the world it still amazed her the differences between the nations. Though similarly ornate and grand, even Toph’s mansion contrasted with this place. 

She sighed and looked up to the moon, lightly grazing her necklace’s charm, running her fingers over each familiar engravement like a sacred text she had memorised a thousand times. Light shimmered down over her, her hair illuminating with silver. Perhaps Yue was looking down on her. What would she have said if she had known Katara’s plans? She was always level headed, she would’ve told her what an idiot she was for ever thinking killing Yon Rah would make her heart hurt less. 

Silently she turned back to the house. Zuko was fully submerged, nowhere to be seen. Cautiously she waded from the sea up the rugged path to the door, red pillars peering down on her. At the very least the thought of some ancient fire lord cringing at a water tribe peasant entering his prized home gave her a cheap smile. 

Hesitantly she pushed the cracked door open, stepping into the stale air of the home. The inside was dark, its only light flooding from somewhere beyond a hallway to the left. All she could make out through the moonlight was an elaborate entry way and lounging area, seemingly leading off to some kind of courtyard through a sliding door ahead. 

‘Zuko?’ She half-yelled, afraid of the dark like a child.

The soft hum of footprints and the glow of light came from the hallway, getting closer and closer until a familiar face turned the corner.

‘I was just looking for some candles…I’ll go get the others in a minute, I just didn’t want to leave you here alone in the dark.’ He mumbled awkwardly, fumbling through a wooden box on a shelf with one hand whilst lighting the room with the other.

‘It’s fine. The moon is plenty of light for me.’ She replied, her tone surprisingly cold. 

‘Really, it’ll just take a moment.’ He retorted, slightly aggressively.

Katara sighed dramatically, waving her arms in frustration.

‘Look its fine! Just- just go!’ She yelled, heat rising in her cheeks like the fire in his hand.

Without giving him a second to react or respond she crumpled to the ground, her eyes hot and streaming.

Behind her, Zuko turned around to her sobbing on the dusty floor, her hair a mess from travelling and sea water staining her trousers. His face paled, his hands growing clammy. What in the four nations did he know about comforting people?

‘Uh…Are you…okay?’ He asked, clumsily scratching the back of his neck as he approached her.

‘I’m fine!’ She managed between sobs, her resolve breaking with every passing second.

‘Okay…You just don’t seem fine. You’re crying.’ He said, Katara turning to look at him with that annoyed glare he knew so well.

‘I know that!’ She yelled before turning back to hug her knees to her dampening chest.

Zuko sat down on the wooden step behind her, anxiously scratching his face and looking around for any much needed assistance. Even Appa would do.

‘Yeah, of course you do…I mean, like, do you… want to talk?’ He attempted, overwhelmed by her severity.

Katara didn’t respond, her wails turning to stifled sobs, tears falling mutely. She didn’t know what to say to him. She didn’t even know exactly why she was crying.

‘Well if it was all that stuff with Yon Rah I actually think you did a great job, like, I know you didn’t kill him but you totally could have. It was more of a mercy thing you know? That’s…respectable.’ He tried, sighing at his weakness. It was clear that she still hated him, as much as he was trying, maybe that was just how it was meant to go. His destiny, perhaps. 

‘Plus, I bet your mom would’ve wanted you to be peaceful, or whatever. Uncle always said I was too aggressive, he would always be like, “Prince Zuko, you cannot let your inner fire, create your outer fire or your fire will become a…”. Okay well he never said that, I’m not great at impressions, but what I meant was maybe you did the right thing…for you?’ He held his hand to his chin like a philosopher, racking his brain for some wise anecdote or phrase. With all the useless stories uncle had spewed over the years you would’ve thought he’d learn a thing or two. Really, he would do anything to hear another dumb tale now. 

‘It’s not that.’ A timid voice frowned behind muffling knees, ‘I know I did the right thing with Yon Rah. I just feel terrible.’ 

‘Why?’ He asked, genuinity in his gentle voice.

She smiled slightly in embarrassment, here she was confessing her deepest thoughts to her supposed enemy. What a fool she was. 

‘I don’t really know. I know I feel awful for those things I said to Sokka before we left, I know I feel bad for yelling at Aang for trying to warn me about revenge too. I just feel so overwhelmed and like nobody is helping me. It's just constant laundry and cooking and training and flying and fighting and comforting everyone else. I just wish they were on my side just this once.’ She closed her eyes as another solitary tear shed from her waterline, ‘Thank you for that.’ 

Zuko’s head spun to look in her direction, his eyes wide with momentary shock.

‘Thank me? For what?’ He sputtered.

‘For doing this with me. Even though it was just a waste of time in the end, thank you…for being there.’ She turned to look at him, gently smiling.

He returned the gesture, an awkward blush creeping up his face, ‘Well, really it was just payback. Like I thought if I could help you with this maybe you wouldn’t hate me…or something like that.’

Immediately he flashed red, averting his gaze. The lack of sleep was getting to him.

Katara’s face hardened slightly, a twinge of hurt on her lips. She didn’t retreat though, and soon looked back at him.

‘I felt betrayed. After Ba Sing Sei, hearing you say that I couldn’t trust you when everyone else managed to just hit a nerve. I really thought after you told me all that stuff about your mom we could…I don’t know, make amends? When you proved me wrong it stung. My stupid kind natured heart getting in my way yet again. I see it now though.’ She paused as he met her gaze again, ‘You’ve really changed this time.’ 

His expression of shock remained, though an added layer of warmth replaced the hot embarrassment all over his face. Subconsciously he raised his hand to touch his scar. She noticed.

‘How did you get it?’ Katara asked, her tone hushed as if she were revealing a dark secret.

‘Get what?’ 

‘The scar. It felt like you were about to say back in the caves but…’ She trailed off but Zuko knew what she meant. 

He sighed, looking away for a moment in disgrace. The thought of anyone but his uncle knowing the worst moment of his life brought a lump to his throat. He opened his mouth to speak but it dried up like a desert. 

‘Nevermind. I’m sorry for pushing.’ She turned back silently, once again facing her back to him. Moonlight shone through the nearby window onto their faces, the ocean’s calm melody infiltrating the silence.

Zuko rested his face in his hand and flicked a nearby piece of gravel in frustration. Tension built in his throat like a sea serpent was trying to escape from it. He ground his teeth and furrowed his brow. 

‘My father gave it to me.’ He admitted weakly, his eyes fixed to the floor. 

Katara didn’t turn to look at him. Her hand twitched slightly and the other rose to her neck, presumably to stroke her necklace’s charm as she did so often. He knew she had heard. 

‘He ordered me to an Agni Kai after I spoke over a general at a war meeting. I hadn’t realised it was him I would have to fight.’ He winced at the memory, a noiseless breeze filling the moment, ‘He didn’t go easy on me.’ 

Instantly she spun to look at him, her entire body moving with her. Blue eyes stared into his as they sat motionless, waiting for the other to move. The air was tense, Zuko could hardly take the embarrassment. What was he thinking? 

‘I’m going to get the others.’ He spat quickly, erupting from his spot to the door as swiftly as he could. 

She didn’t call for him as he left, if she did he couldn’t hear her over the myriad of thoughts drifting around his vision and through his mind. As the sky bison took off he looked down at the island, a final glance back before leaving her alone. She was there, watching from the gravelled path as he flew off, like a dark shadow stalking the place. He turned back to face the open sky.

‘So where exactly is this place?’ Sokka grumbled from Appa’s saddle, his arm placed lovingly around Suki’s shoulder.

‘Ember Island. My family used to vacation there before…’ He trailed off.

Maybe it was the harsh brightness of the rising sun or the sting of shame he felt for leaving Katara the way he did but Zuko just felt off. His hands jittered slightly, clinging to Appa’s reigns as some means of letting off frustration. They had come so far, or at least he thought they had. Katara had seemed less inclined to ice his face off whenever he spoke. Leave it to him to ruin everything again.

‘Yeah I can’t see any major flaws in a plan to hide out from the fire nation in the fire nation’s royal vacation home.’ Toph grimaced, clinging to Suki’s arm for support. 

‘Oh don’t worry, nobody from my family has been back there in years.’ Zuko attempted. He didn’t want to put an even stronger dampener on the mood explaining his depressing family life. 

They arrived at the familiar cove within the hour. 

Orange streaks stained the navy water as the sun rose behind them, the house doused in a much more appealing light than it had before. Shadows as black as soot rose like smoke behind the aching palm trees and snaggled rocks. At the dock, a known shadow sat quietly, only moving to look up briefly at the flying Bison as it descended towards her. 

Aang barrelled from the saddle, springing down to the dock like a wind-fuelled ostrich-horse. 

‘Katara!’ He exclaimed, his immediate joy fading slightly as she remained unmoving, her feet dangling in the glistening water. 

The airbender’s worried face turned to Zuko, his eyes filled with empathy, ‘Did she?...’ 

His tone was hushed, the entire group seemed to hold their breaths in turn. Even Toph was dry of a sarcastic jab. 

‘No, I didn’t.’ Katara broke the silence with a cold tone. 

As she stood up from the dock, however, and turned to face her friend, her face was ripe with something else. Maybe guilt? 

The gaang released a collective sigh, like a weight from their metaphorical chest had been released. 

‘I knew you would do the right thing in the end.’ Aang smiled, unrelenting warmth in his silvery eyes, ‘Forgiveness is always the right answer.’

‘I didn’t do it for you, Aang. And I didn’t forgive him either.’ She frowned, the shades in her eyes shifting, ‘But I realised it wasn’t what my mom would’ve wanted, to see me killing some pathetic man out of revenge.’ 

Zuko watched hesitantly as Sokka’s face fell, his sharp eyes swaying from his sister to the creaking wooden boards of the dock. 

‘But…there is someone I’m ready to forgive.’ She stated, a warmth mirroring that of the golden sunrise budding in his cheeks. Stepping forward suddenly she grabbed Zuko into an embrace. 

Unexpected for sure, Zuko froze for a moment, unsure how to react. Momentarily he considered breaking away or running off, was this really what he deserved? Instead, though, he gave in to the fire sparking in his heart, returning the embrace with a slight smile and rose on his cheeks.

In her arms he realised the mistake he had made. He had assumed that in relinquishing his past to her, she would mock him. Find him weak or pathetic. It wasn’t a warrior's scar or a sign of heroism, it was his personal reminder of every fault in his logic, every delusion he had fallen for under his Father’s oppressive hand. She hadn’t seen that. She was kind in her heart. She knew what it was like to do the right thing and be punished for it. She saw him for the things he had chosen to do, not the things forced on him and for that he would always be in her debt.

‘Sokka, could I talk to you for a minute?’ Katara asked, breaking from Zuko’s arms. 

He shuffled down towards the others, motioning Aang and Toph inside, Suki soon following after. The water tribe siblings remained on the dock alone.

‘Wow this place is way nicer than the dumb air temple!’ Toph smirked as they entered the house. 

‘Hey!’ Aang replied, his annoyance melting away into a gleeful smile as he saw the entryway, ‘Wow this place really is nice. Thanks Zuko!’ 

‘Uh no problem.’ He tried, embarrassment spreading over his face, ‘There's some rooms down the hall if you guys want to put your stuff down.’ 

‘I call for dibs!’ Toph yelled, catapulting down the corridor like a Gemsbok Bull, Aang quick to follow.

‘Hey no fair!’ He whined, a fast smile growing across his face as he pursued her. 

With the younger pair gone Zuko felt the tension in the room nearly stifle him. He still couldn't help feeling sort of uncomfortable around Suki. Sure, he had been a huge help in getting her and Hakoda out of the boiling rock but that interaction where she said he’d burned down her village kept playing on repeat in his head. He really was useless when it came to being good.

Suki seemed relatively unbothered by the so-called tension. She stood cautiously at the front window, peeking out from the transparent, red drapes at the siblings on the dock.

‘What do you think they’re talking about?’ She asked. Since nobody else was there, Zuko was quite worried that question was directed at him.

‘No idea.’ He replied with a shrug, dropping a bag of supplies down on a nearby chair. 

She didn’t respond. Assuming the conversation (if it could even be called that) was over, Zuko pushed back his hair and made his way to his room to change. The black disguise just reminded him of the mission to find Yon Rah and he wasn’t in the mood to unpack that all. On the journey to the island, as Katara had just sat there in silence, he was free to retrospect and really all his brain could seem to remember was watching Katara…bloodbend? He really needed to ask her about that actually.

‘Zuko?’ Suki said just before he disappeared down the hall.

‘Uh, yeah?’ He spun around to look at her, still staring out the open window.

‘I know we aren’t really close or anything but I just wanted to say thanks for everything you’ve done recently.’ She smiled, turning around for a moment to look at him, ‘You know, breaking me out of prison and whatever you did with Katara today? I think it helped her, like really, so yeah…thanks.’ 

Zuko was dumbfounded, unsure how to respond. Why was everyone suddenly so thankful? 

‘No problem I guess.’ he half-smiled awkwardly, ‘And uh, I’m sorry for burning down your village and stuff.’ 

Suki didn’t turn to look at him but giggled slightly. A blush spread across his face and, unsure what else to do, he turned and left. 

The sun was divorced from the horizon by the time Katara and Sokka arrived at the house. As they snuck through the front door the place was quiet. No sounds of laughter or chatter. Katara supposed they were napping? 

‘I’m beat.’ Sokka yawned, stretching his arms above his head dramatically, ‘I’m gonna go find Suki…where is she?’ 

Katara smiled. As much as her brother was an annoying oaf half the time he really had a kind heart. The image of him tearing up as she left to find their mother’s killer was stained on her eyes. 

‘Probably somewhere down that hall.’ 

‘You heading to bed too, or?’ he asked as he marched towards the corridor, letting his hair down as he went.

‘No, I’m not tired. I might start getting food ready for the day or something.’ She smiled slightly.

‘Suit yourself, weirdo.’ Her brother replied, trailing off out of sight. 

A soft noise of a door closing echoed through the room and Katara was totally alone again. Whilst Zuko was gone collecting the others the silence had stifled her, the only comfort in the sea of nothingness was the constant, rhythmic humming of the ocean, her only distraction from the panging shame and hurt in her chest. 

The memory of telling Sokka that he had loved their mother any less than her was a phantom, it just wouldn’t shake from her mind. Without Zuko’s ever presence there were no distractions, no other way of forgetting her mistakes. As she paced the rocky pace and wooden pier she mentally planned her apology. Sometimes she would start with every other grievance she had fermenting in her memory, other times she would hardly be able to say ‘sorry’ without tearing up. Her nerves shook her as she awaited their return. 

But by the time they arrived the electric anxiety had faded, washed away with the tide. Now, rather, Zuko’ words before he had left were what played and played in her mind's eye like an evil song. Guilt tugged away at her internally, clearly he hadn’t wanted to tell her about his scar. She shouldn’t have pushed. 

When she had embraced him with forgiveness he seemed more scared than angry. As she stood in the entryway of their new hiding place she couldn’t help but worry: had it all been for nothing? Was he scared of her? Scared of her telling the others maybe? 

She shook her head, frustrated. This petty drama was the least she needed. Aang needed to master waterbending still, fire and earth too, they could be caught and imprisoned at any moment like her dad. What was her dad doing? She hadn’t even had a spare moment to worry about him since parting ways at the air temple. 

All at once every feeling collapsed in on her at once. Dread rose in her chest, choking her with its toxic grip. 

She needed to get out of there, to get outside. That was what she knew.

With a shaking step she pushed herself to move, just to step forwards. She hadn’t explored the house in Zuko’s absence, too scared of not being there as they arrived back, but now she wished she had. All she remembered of the unfamiliar place was that door leading to a courtyard, or at least some kind of outdoors. 

Hesitantly she moved forward, reaching a twitching hand to slide the door towards her. Through the intricate carvings of the wood she felt the breeze of the wind brush her nose, a sign of life at least. As she swung the door open the early morning glow flooded the space. An amber tone, how typical of  the fire nation. 

As her eyes adjusted, she evaluated. 

It did seem like a royal courtyard, with a sandy path surrounding a grassy area, small fountain and seating area. The entire thing was surrounded by the house with multiple identical doors leading off from the roofed porch to the beige paths. 

Were it in its prime, being gardened by the nation's top landscapers and maids daily, as Katara assumed it may have once been, perhaps it would’ve been more royal. The remnants of what she recognised to be flowering plants, probably a range of reds, oranges and golden yellows, were overrun by hulking leafy bushes and weeds. The stone fountain, adorned by elaborate stone dragon figurines, was in a similar state of disrepair. Stagnant water made a fine home for algae and flowering water lilies. Perhaps it might’ve been a very beautiful place once, but now it was overwhelmed by a feeling of antiquity.

‘Katara?’ Zuko asked suddenly.

‘Huh?’ She blurted.

Whatever daze she had been trapped in before had shattered. Zuko, who she was only now registering was there, was sitting on a red, velvet cushion on the stone, brick floor, his back to her. 

‘Are you okay? You look a little…out of it.’ He asked genuinely.

He seemed to have changed out of his black disguise, changing it out for his usual tunic and golden sash. 

‘Oh yeah, I’m fine, really. I didn’t realise you were out here, so uh, I’ll just go.’ She forced, immediately motioning towards the door. 

‘No, wait!’ He said loudly, immediately cringing as he remembered the others were probably sleeping just beyond the doors only a few metres away, ‘I was just a little overwhelmed being back here so I didn’t feel like sleeping. Really, I don’t mind you staying out here.’ 

Internally she debated going to find a room and just lying down and crying for a bit but she knew deep down she didn't really want to be alone at all. Maybe this was the universe's sign of that. 

‘Okay, fine.’ She sighed, moving towards the grassy area near him and sitting. Quietly she placed her head on her hand and closed her eyes for a moment.

Neither of them spoke for a while, just letting the subtle howls of the wind in the long grass take control of the conversation. If they listened closely, it wasn’t difficult to make out Sokka’s snoring.

Zuko stirred from his cross legged position, something was playing on his mind.

‘So…what did you and Sokka talk about earlier.’ He asked, though immediately regretting his prying.

Katara didn’t mind though, rather she smiled slightly. 

‘I just wanted to apologise to him, for all that stuff I said about him not loving our mom as much as me.’ She shuffled in her position, picking grass aimlessly with a wandering hand.

‘Long apology.’ Zuko said, a twinge of humour in his voice, ‘You guys were out there for like an hour.’

‘We were not!’ She grinned, ‘We just got to talking about the old days, I guess. We’ve barely spoken just the two of us like that in ages. As much as he drives me crazy sometimes I honestly miss just hanging out with him without some crazy person chasing us down constantly.’ 

‘Sorry about that.’ Zuko smiled awkwardly but she only giggled in return. 

‘Do you ever miss your sister?’ She asked, gazing out into the grass, ‘I mean, if we’re talking about crazy people.’ 

He smiled weakly, tearing apart a small daisy with his hands, ‘No, not really. We were never really siblings in the way you and Sokka are. We didn’t just talk or “hang out”. Usually she was just mocking me for whatever reason, otherwise I just spent time with Uncle. He was more of a family to me than my father and Azula combined.’ 

Katara’s mouth opened slightly but no words came out. It was almost like the daze of the yellowing air had taken over her. It was only then she realised she had never really thought about the specifics of Zuko’s family life. If what he had said about his scar were true…

A grating rash of guilt spread up her spine in an itchy wave.

‘What happened to your uncle?’ She asked, almost whispering, ‘I mean, after Ba Sing Sei.’ 

Zuko sighed, avoiding her eyes, ‘I betrayed him. I don’t know where he is now.’ 

The corners of Katara’s mouth raised slightly as she placed a comforting hand on his rigid shoulders. His eyes meeting hers once again.

‘Honestly , Zuko, if what you’ve told us about your uncle is true, he’ll be fine. He’s probably out…giving food to refugees or something charitable.’ 

With that, his mood shifted from sombre to sassy. He rolled his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms.

‘Clearly you have never met my uncle. My father would appoint me Fire Lord before Uncle ever willingly gave away food.’ 

‘Sounds like someone I know.’ Katara chuckled, ‘Something tells me your Uncle and Sokka would get along swimmingly.’ 

A brief smirk flashed on Zuko’s face. Katara had really grown to appreciate him in a good mood over the past 24 hours, maybe she had only hated him so much because he had always looked like a constipated catgator constantly. 

‘It's pretty hard for anyone to not get along with Uncle.’ Zuko reminisced, his golden eyes lost in memory, ‘He has some kind of friendly…vibe, or something. I spent ages trying to figure it out, why people were so drawn to him but not me. I’m starting to think it was the hair.’ 

Katara couldn’t help but laugh at that, though he seemed positively confused at her sudden amusement. 

‘Trust me, it wasn’t just the hair.’ She managed, ‘And if it means anything to you we all like you just fine so maybe you do have a friendly vibe.’

He moved to rest his cheek on his hand, a pout on his lips.

‘Only after I chased you for a year, apologised like a hundred times and broke your dad out of jail.’ He huffed, ‘I guess you wouldn’t get it. You’re just naturally nice. You’re like my sister, she’s just naturally the best at firebending and you guys are all just naturally friendly, kind people. You’re good at everything without even trying. It’s not fair.’ 

Katara tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, ‘I’ll have you know I had to train twice as hard as Aang to master waterbending, I wasn’t just lucky . And really you can’t blame yourself for not being “naturally nice” when you have the most evil man in the world for a dad.’ 

That shocked Zuko slightly. Of course, his dad being evil was no revelation but he could hardly even remember the Katara who couldn’t kick his ass with ease. He supposed she was pretty weak when he first found them, he had hardly been able to make ice during that first fight on the boat, but his perception of her had always been of some badass, warrior of water. Or blood…

‘You know, speaking of water bending, I’ve been meaning to ask you about…’ 

‘Will you two be quiet! Some of us are trying to sleep over here and its pretty hard with you too yapping like a pair of iguana parrots!’ Sokka yelled, slamming his bedroom’s door into the wall and stomping out into the courtyard like a bitter old man.

The sight of Sokka, hair down and dressed in what could only be described as a Fire Nation royal dressing gown, with his face as red as Zuko’s tunic, did not create the effect he had hoped for.

Katara burst into a fit of laughter as her brother huffed and hollered, stomping his foot on the porch as they sat there shocked.

‘Hey! It's not funny, I need my beauty sleep.’ He spouted, eyes wide with annoyance.

‘Yeah we can tell.’ Katara sputtered between giggles.

Her brother stomped towards their spot in the grass, pulling the velvet robe closed as he did so.

‘What are you two out here giggling about at this time anyway?’ He asked as he sat down on the steps next to them. 

‘Oh, just gossiping about you.’ Katara feigned, cracking a smile at Sokka’s horrified face, ‘Or maybe it's none of your business.’ 

He scoffed at her rudeness, dramatically sweeping his robe though remaining solidly in his seat.

‘Well, don’t mind me.’ He yawned, leaning back against one of the porch’s large, red pillars, ‘Just pretend I’m not even here.’ 

Katara rolled her eyes.

‘Fine. What were you going to say before we were rudely interrupted.’ She asked Zuko, crossing her arms in amused annoyance.

‘Well uh…’ He started, cautiously eyeing Sokka, ‘You know when we were in that guard tower looking for Yon Rah?’ 

‘Yeah?’ katara replied, raising an eyebrow as her brother nosily peeked through a closed eye, immediately closing it again at her notice.

‘Well there was this thing you did which kinda…stuck with me.’ He anxiously fiddled with his sash, ‘It wasn’’t waterbending but it was. More like you were bending one of the guards…blood.’ 

Sokka, who had clearly “not been listening”, shot up from his lounged position like a dart, alarm on his face.

‘You blood bended? Again? Katara!’ He wailed, shaking her like a ragdoll.

‘Shut it!’ She hissed, pressing her palm over his mouth, ‘Do you want to let the entire island know?’

A cold sweat slid down Zuko’s back as the turning cogs in his head realised bringing it up may have not been the best idea. How was he supposed to know they had some weird inside joke about it?

Katara sighed out of frustration and let her whimpering brother free.

‘You said you would never do it again! You lied! You’re a liar!’ She shouted in a hushed whisper.

‘Fine, I lied! Are you happy now? You weren’t there so you don’t get to judge me.’ She looked away from him and picked her lip, ‘I was really angry and I told myself it would be the last time I ever used it.’ 

‘Pretty sure you said that after Hama nearly killed me and Aang!’ He mumbled before returning to whimpering as Katara turned to him, locking him in a death stare. 

Zuko sat still, awkwardly watching as the siblings argued, unsure if he was even allowed to ask for context.

Katara whipped her face with her hands and turned to him, plastering a false smile.

‘Yes, I was blood bending. Are you happy now?’ 

‘Uh…yes?’ Was all he could manage before Sokka began again.

‘’Don’t get mad at him for asking, you’re the one who’s doing banned water bending! Just you wait till I tell Aang.’ He furrowed his brows.

‘Tell Aang what?’ The avatar’s youthful voice asked out of nowhere.

All three of them let out a collective shriek. Toph was right about his twinkletoes.

Katara threatened her brother with eyes as cold as ice but he paid no warning.

‘Katara was blood bending! Zuko saw her do it!’ He semi-shouted as Aang approached their circle.

Again, Zuko awkwardly smiled. Suddenly he felt a bit guilty, like he had snitched on her or something. 

‘What! Katara!’ Aang exclaimed, a twinge of betrayal in his whiny tone.

Katara erupted from her seat at once, her fists clenched in tight balls a her hips and face taut with annoyance.

‘Oh fine! Why don’t we all gang up on me like none of you have no regrets! I’m not a perfect angel, sue me. Why don’t we just let the entire world know what an evil, terrible person I am.’ She hollered, no consideration for volume anymore, ‘I was the one who trusted Hama first, I was the one who thought trusting a poor old lady from the watertribe was such a fantastic idea. So really it's all my fault. Did you know that Zuko, I was the one who trusted Hama first! So it's really all my fault isn't it!’

They all looked to him for some kind of response. Sweating, he scratched his head.

‘Uh…who?’ He asked, not wanting the wrath of Master Katara or the avatar if he could help it.

‘The evil puppet master!’ Another voice echoed from behind a pillar across the courtyard followed by a maniacal laugh, ‘The last waterbender from the southern water tribe who escaped the fire nation’s prisons using her very own technique…blood bending!’ 

‘Toph? Have you been listening this entire time?’ Katara asked, her face hung with confusion.

‘Yup.’ She grinned evilly, ‘Then she took the entire town captive in the mountains and taught her evil technique to our very own angel Katara to fulfil her evil plans against the evil fire nation.’ 

‘Do you think she was evil?’ Sokka sarcastically murmured, cut off by a firm kick from his sister. 

Toph paraded her way over to them following that performance, plopping herself down next to the slightly frightened Zuko.

‘Look, Katara, we’re not mad at you. Just disappointed.’ Aang turned to her.

She dropped her shoulders and rolled her eyes, ‘Oh whatever Aang, why should I care that you idiots are disappointed?’ She spun to face the front door and marched towards it, stomping as she went.

‘Katara, wait up!’ Sokka tried, only growing annoyed as she ignored him, ‘Fine then! Come back when you’re not so emotional.’ 

Without hesitation she pulled water from the stagnant fountain and threw it over her brother, not even looking back to see.

‘Eugh!’ He squirmed and spat, ‘Katara there’s bugs in here! Gross.’ 

Aang raced after her, his concerned pleas only making her stomps louder. Behind them Sokka dry heaved into the fountain, running off to his room claiming he was ‘going to puke’.

‘Way to go Sparky.’ Toph mocked as she stood up, walking off back to her room.

‘What did I even do!’ Zuko yelled as she slammed her door, leaving him alone once again, sulking like a child.

Chapter Text

Katara sat in the courtyard once again. 

The last time she had been there she famously stormed out, tears of rage forming in her eyes. In the day since she’d cried most of it out, Aang too. 

As he had followed her out, begging for her to turn back, she lashed out. Though she now looked back on that entire situation with a lens of embarrassment, she was most ashamed of how she treated Aang. His kind nature was relentless, he just couldn’t seem to conceptualise the storm raging inside of her as they criticised her for a single moment of weakness. How many times had he gone into the avatar state and nearly killed them all? How many times was it her who talked him down?

She screamed all of that in his face, of course. She was furious, tired and drained. Aang forgave her of course, once they’d talked it out, but the shame in her wouldn’t relent. 

It felt like every time she opened her mouth recently she hurt someone. Maybe Zuko was having a bad influence on her.

No, she knew that to be false.

As she sat with Toph, decked out in fire nation attire, watching Aang and Zuko spar, it was clear to her that Zuko was trying.

Sure, he ordered Aang around like an army general, but what could you expect by a boy raised by one? As much as that itching part of her subconscious was pleading for her to slice him to pieces with ice, unwilling to see the person he was now rather than then, she wasn’t delusional. She could see the reality of things.

Zuko was an important member of their team and really she was growing to appreciate him. 

He acted as the second voice of reason when the others were too rambunctious, too childish, though at the same time he wasn’t humourless. He entertained Sokka plenty and Toph had certainly taken a liking to him. When else had she ever willingly come to “watch” any of them spar?

That was one relief, she supposed. His addition could’ve thrown everything off balance, rather he seemed a natural fit.

‘Hey, you guys!’ Sokka exclaimed appearing through a door, paper in hand.

‘What is it, Sokka?’ Aang asked, narrowly missing an attack from Zuko in his momentary distraction.

‘Me and Suki were just in town and look what we found.’

Excitedly he rolled open his scroll of paper, exhibiting it for all of them to see.

‘Wow, yeah that’s great.’ Toph jumped up sarcastically.

‘It looks like some people are doing a play here tomorrow.’ Katara translated, though Toph didn’t seem particularly riveted by the news.

‘Uh yeah, a play about us!’ Her brother yelled, his eyebrows high.

‘Wow, a play all about us, huh? We’ve gotta go see it!’ Aang declared.

‘Let me see that.’ Zuko grumbled, snatching the poster from Sokka, ‘Ugh the Ember Island players? My mother used to take us to see their productions, they totally butchered love amongst dragons.’

‘Well it wouldn't hurt. We’ve been working pretty hard recently, a night at the theatre sounds fun.’ Katara shrugged, beaming at Aang.

His excitement never failed to make her smile, he was almost infectious with his happiness. 

‘You’re joking right? We’ve barely done anything but sit around on our butts since we got here. Aang needs to train so he-’ Zuko stormed.

Interrupting, Katara rolled her eyes, ‘Defeat the firelord. We know! But Aang needs a break, come on, Zuko, it’ll be fun.’ 

Aang turned to him with his largest puppy eyes and sweetest smile, Zuko could hardly look at him without feeling mild disgust.

‘Eugh, fine. Don’t expect it to be any good though.’ He grimaced, grabbing a towel from a nearby rock and exiting to his room. 

‘Sparkys a little cranky today.’ Toph smirked.

‘Seemed pretty normal to me.’ Katara retorted, sipping from her coconut’s straw casually.

Toph laughed, ‘You say that like you two weren’t flirting out here yesterday.’ 

‘We were not!’ Katara spat out her drink slightly in shock, nothing was secret with Toph around, ‘Why do you have to act like this?’

‘Only teasing, Sugar Queen, no need to get your loopies in a bunch.’ 

Aang, who had previously been cartwheeling in excitement at the prospect of the play, turned to them with his trademark goofy smile.

‘Don’t even joke about that, Toph, Katara practically hates Zuko.’ He beamed.

‘Uh did she not forgive and hug him in front of all of us yesterday?’ Sokka asked, half-joking.

‘I’m right here you know.’ She huffed, ‘And I don’t hate Zuko, not anymore. But we still weren’t flirting, Toph .’

Still chuckling, Toph just stuck out her tongue in response to that.

‘I’m gonna go get lunch started.’

Before they knew it, it was time for the Ember Island Players’ much awaited production of the Avatar. 

Dressed in red and gold, the Gaang slinked off to the theatre prepared for the best play of their lives (except Zuko, who was reluctant to go at all).

By the time the curtains had opened they were barely in their box. Katara was slightly wary. Though she had been a main ambassador for going to the play in the first place she suddenly realised that recounting the most traumatic events of their lives on the stage for them to watch may not have been the best of plans. 

Aang seemed on edge as she looked back at him, a stern look on his usually animated face. Perhaps he had been thinking the same thing as her? Silently she hoped he would have fun. As much as she had been pushing him to train and not goof off, she was ever aware of the pressure on his shoulders. If she could be the one to relieve it slightly she would be.

As the first act began nobody was safe from the strange choices of cast. By the second Toph seemed to be the only one satisfied. 

At the very least, though, Aang seemed content. Other than his character being portrayed by a woman, he seemed to have fun with it. Tension only seemed to grow at the end of the second act. Old wounds from the siege of Ba Sing Sei were rehashed, Aang’s death most notably. The awkward jokes aimed at Katara and Zuko’s “relationship” hadn’t been the most comfortable either. 

As the act came to a close Katara audibly let out a deep sigh. What a mess. The group left their box for refreshments, but Aang seemed to have vanished out of thin air.

‘Have you guys seen Aang?’ She asked Zuko and Toph as they casually sat against the wall.

‘Nah. he probably went to the bathroom. Twinkletoes has the bladder of a lemur.’ Toph smirked as she reclined back.

Zuko was no help either. He seemed to be sulking about something. Whatever, she didn’t have time for that if Aang had run off, or worse, gotten kidnapped.

She searched the rest of the abandoned boxes, checked the lines for food and stalked out the bathrooms for a minute. It wasn’t until she ventured outside that she found him.

‘Aang, are you okay? I couldn’t find you after and I thought the worse.’ She furrowed her eyebrows, reaching out for him.

Something was wrong, Aang was just as sulky as Zuko, laying his head dramatically on the railing, staring out to sea.

‘Isn’t it clear? I hate this stupid play!’ He yelled, throwing his hat to the floor.

She moved forward, smiling kindly, ‘Aang, try not to take it personally. I don’t think any of us are happy with it. Well, maybe except Toph.’ 

He threw his arms out in anger, his face hard.

‘Did all that stuff really happen? Do you love him?’ 

‘Aang what are you talking about?’ Katara responded, her voice growing frustrated.

‘You and Zuko! You said you liked him, I thought you liked me!’ 

Katara was speechless. 

Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion. What had gotten into him?

‘I’m so mad! If I hadn’t blocked my chakras I’d probably be in the avatar state right now!’ He yelled.

‘Aang, they're just characters! None of that really happened!’ 

He breathed hard out of his nose, ‘So you do like me then? You don’t like Zuko?’ 

‘I-No. I don’t know. I’m confused, okay?’ She said, turning away from him.

In her heart she truly was confused. It was times like this that reminded her how much of a child he really was, how much he needed her. Simultaneously, though, she knew that Aang was kind. He was an inspiration to her, someone she looked up to. She loved him, there was no doubt about that, but she just couldn’t untangle how. 

Pulling her back to reality, Aang pushed her face to his in a poor attempt for a kiss. Shocked, she pulled back, stepping away almost frightened.

‘Aang! I just said I was confused and went ahead and kissed me anyway!’ She considered telling him off, but she held her tongue, instead running off back to the others.

Their box was empty when she got back. Well, empty apart from Zuko. 

Katara slunk down next to him, placing her head in her hands with an exasperated sigh.

Zuko said nothing, not wanting to cause yet another argument or fan some unknown flames. He just wasn’t in the mood. It was only a moment of humid silence before she sighed and spoke up.

‘Where’s Toph?’ 

‘No clue. She just got up and left after punching me in the arm.’ He mumbled, leaning his head on the balcony’s railing.

‘Plays getting to you too, huh?’ She murmured, mirroring his depleted mood.

‘I guess.’ He sat back and hunched over, ‘All it is is a compilation of my worst moments. Watching myself be such an idiot, betraying Uncle…It just makes me remember how much of a failure I’ve been.’

‘You’re on the right side now, that’s all that matters.’ She replied, though lacking her usual flood of empathy and compassion. Her heart was just drained.

‘What’s up with you? Couldn’t find Aang?’ Zuko attempted a caring tone though cautious to not sound creepy. She didn’t seem to care either way, she was off in the spirit world or something.

‘Oh no, I found him alright.’ Her eyes hardened and the air quite literally turned cold.

‘Right.’ Was all he could manage as a reply.

Was this where he was meant to pry or let her be? Uncle probably would’ve said something wise about life in an open ended enough way where it would suit any issue she was having. Unfortunately Zuko sucked at impersonating him.

‘Ugh he’s so frustrating sometimes! He just ran off mid-play and had me worried sick. When I did find him he was having a tantrum because our characters in the play were flirting.’ She swung her hands around erratically.

With that she crossed her arms and pouted, not even looking in Zuko’s direction. 

What was he supposed to say to that?

He rubbed the back of his neck gawkily, looking around the space as if hoping a magical flying boar would fly down and save him from the awkwardness of his situation.

‘Thought I’d find you two love birds in here. Where’s Twinkletoes?’

Like a gift from the spirits themselves Toph stomped her way past Katara to her seat, blissfully unaware of her contemptuous mood. Or perhaps she was just choosing to ignore it. Probably that one.

‘Oh I don’t know, Toph, why don’t you go find him yourself.’ Katara snarled, her face like thunder.

‘Sheesh, what did I miss?’ Toph teased as she reclined back in her seat.

Sokka and Suki weren’t far behind her and the third act began before Aang got back. He snuck in at some point, a bashful blush across his cheeks.

The play’s third act was by far the most…interesting.

The entire Gaang exchanged worried glances as they literally watched Zuko’s murder enacted on stage and the prince himself sat motionless.

As much as he knew it was just some dumb play made by one of the worst production companies that side of the fire nation, he couldn’t help but internalise it. It was his literal worst nightmare played to a cheering audience in front of him. In front of his friends!

He knew the fire nation hated him. He was the deserter after all. But cheering as he died, nay, was murdered by his sister? It struck a chord. 

As they left the theatre all anyone had to say was:

‘That was a bad play.’ 

And they were very correct.

Back at the “villa”, as Sokka had taken to calling it, an awkward silence haunted the group.

Maybe it was the awfulness of the play or the very real possibilities it had brought to life but nobody seemed quite in the mood for a lively conversation or riveting game of charades. 

Katara, presumably still bitter about her fight with Aang, had disappeared not long after getting back. Nobody could blame her, none of them were in the mood to chat either.

Sokka and Suki had snuck off the bed within the hour and honestly Zuko was ready to do the same if it weren’t for his room.

As luck would have it, being one of the last to select a room, he had ended up with his old room. This room he had stayed in the last time he had come with his family, when they were actually happy.

That room. Memories previously locked away flooded back with every second spent in it. The turning of the ornate door knob, the smell of thick dust, sea air and incense. It suffocated him. Avoiding it as much as possible seemed the only viable option if he wanted to remain sane. Of course, he could always ask to switch rooms but the hassle seemed more than it was worth. 

He was already the outsider of the group, he knew he sort of always would be. Picking another fight over such a petty thing was pointless. Plus he couldn’t risk swapping with Sokka or Suki. Whatever they had been up to in that tent was no doubt in full swing now they had access to a real bed. Zuko shuddered even at the thought.

Toph shuffled off soon after. The avatar had snuck out at some point, to bed or for a late night fly he wasn’t totally sure.

That left him alone. Luckily, he had managed to avoid solitude with the one person he was hoping to avoid for a little while. It seemed like every conversation Zuko managed with the waterbending master ended in some kind of fight or someone crying. It was like his presence alone was driving some wedge through the group. 

The wedged moon’ sallow face was high in the sky at this point. 

Considering his monumental lack of sleep the past few nights, the fire nation prince was determined to stay awake a while longer. Any attempts to escape the land of the living now would only bring up all the emotions he was so diligently keeping down. 

He needed to get out of the house.

Last time he had been on the island was notably recently, of course. It was far from a happy holiday, more an excuse for his father to get rid of him for a while, but those memories lingered. 

As Zuko walked down the gravelled path, kicking rocks, memories of the place riddled his already tender head. All it did was make him annoyed. Those visions of him and Azula actually getting along for once…they just seemed like a façade compared to the genuinity of Sokka and Katara. 

Even his fleeting romance with Mai, he realised now, was a distraction more than anything real. In fact, he had hardly paid his supposed girlfriend a second thought since seeing her at the prison. Some boyfriend he was. 

The illusion of happiness the fire nation under his father could offer him had been dissolving for some time now, he wouldn’t have broken free of his father’s iron grip if it hadn’t, but there was still an inching worm inside of him, some small part of his heart that truly still believed in his father’s love. 

Experiencing the real love of these randos, these kids, thrown together by the single collective goal of restoring peace in tangent with the bundle of chained memories attached to the island. He felt that small part of him die. 

Katara sat, waist deep in the sea, allowing the thunderous waves to crash over her as they mellowed out to shore. The way they melted over her like a refreshing hug gave comfort to her fiery insides.

Anger was bubbling inside her like an overflowing pot. In a way she knew it was irrational, there was no need to be so incredibly annoyed over a childish confession of love from a friend. She knew he was just that, a child. A child who had no experience with true love and who saw her as his entire world.

Still, it seemed to fuel some internal battle deep in her mind. Maybe this was a final straw kind of reaction, the result of a year cemented in the constant fight to just stay alive. Unprocessed grief and an overworked adrenal gland. 

She sighed. There really was no use worrying over it. Aang would either kill the firelord or he wouldn’t, there was little she could do until that happened. For the rest of his training she would remain there in the crushing cage of fighting a war.

If it took sitting in the waves all night to cool her down she would do it. Aang didn’t need the stress, he didn’t deserve it really either. His crush had been pretty obvious over their last year together, she’d even gone as far as to entertain it. Dumb mistake. But whether she felt the same or not, right now he was her main priority, her only reason for living. She would sacrifice everything she had if it gave Aang a fighting shot because she loved him and he was her last hope.

She looked up at the waning moon, a constant she was always appreciative for. Yue was always watching her.

The stars were bright that night too. She had missed them after spending so much time indoors or at the air temples.

Further down the shore her peaceful silence was interrupted. Rageful grunts and rushes of harsh noise permeated the rhythmic crashes of the waves. Harsh orange light illuminated the darkness, lighting up the beach. 

‘What is he doing?’ She whispered to herself, laying still so as not to alert his attention. 

Fire set the misty air ablaze, paint strokes of amber and gold harmonised with the night’s ink into a masterpiece of colour and rage. Too far away to see Zuko’s face, the cries of inflamed exasperations carried with the wind. 

Every blaze lit up the water’s surface and coloured her glossy eyes with streaks of saffron, her mouth slightly agape in wonder.

Of course, she had seen fire bending plenty of times, most of it at Zuko’s hand in fact, but its position as an element of destruction and pain had never really shifted. When Aang and Zuko trained it was the raw strength, the talent of technique which she picked out as its best qualities. Fire had burned her time and time before, it was a weapon, not an art.

But now, she understood. 

Zuko tore through the air with his fists, grasping at invisible hatred as a fuel for his fire. The original fire benders had given him a different outlook on his techniques, but anger was always the strongest fuel.

He breathed in quick and hard, roaring with power as he melted away his frustrations. Sweat glistened across his forearms and stripped off shoulder yet every burning sensation in his muscles only vindicated him. As his dance of sorts progressed, his form shifted from rigid, rippling with indignation, to fluid. Hid heat died down, replaced by spinning flames, teetering off into a caper of smoke. 

After a while he stood motionless, panting for air. He sighed with a slight smile, wiping his forehead with his tunic. 

The view of the sea at night seemed oddly appealing to him, all of a sudden. He had hardly stopped to appreciate it before his outburst into flames. Really, he had historically found little to appreciate in water. All it did was hold memories, and bad ones at that.

It was either feeding the turtle ducks alone after his mother disappeared or jumping into a fountain to stop his manic sister killing her friends. Of course, there was also all his time at sea. Times marked by hatred, they were hard to recall without a pang of guilt or a festering sadness building inside him. 

Tonight, however, it was lovely. 

His last night time visit to the beach had gone quite poorly if he recalled correctly. Maybe the only time he had ever “got along” with his sister, its memories were those of self-hatred and denial. 

Even so, the cool calling of the water seemed the remedy to his aching body. Slowly he teetered in, letting the water skim his calves and the waves splash his knees. 

Katara watched as her newest friend trekked back up the beach towards the house, unaware she had been there the entire time. 

There was something peaceful about that, something almost intimate. 

When she got back to the house he was nowhere to be found, hopefully sleeping. The greying bags under his eyes had only gotten worse recently. 

It was a shame, she thought, she actually quite enjoyed their short impromptu chats (when they weren’t getting interrupted that is) but even just seeing him there, expressing himself when he thought he was alone, was enough for her. It was the reminder she needed. 

She wasn’t alone in all of this.

Chapter Text

Katara fell to her knees, exhausted. 

The dry, ashy earth crumbled beneath her as she sighed deeply, placing her head in her clammy hands.

‘No luck?’ Her brother asked, sombre.

Aang had been missing for at least a few hours at this point, and if Zuko was right he would have to fight the firelord before the comet arrived. Time was running through their hands like the sand of Ember Island’s beaches.

‘He’ll be back soon, I’m sure of it.’ Suki smiled in an effort to comfort, though the uncertainty in the twinge of her lip was painfully obvious.

‘I can’t believe he ran away again.’ Katara mumbled, half to herself.

Toph and Zuko were quick to join them. 

‘It’s like he just disappeared! Ka-poosh!’ Sokka exclaimed.

‘But the bison is still here, he couldn’t have gotten far.’ Zuko grumped, his face as twisted with annoyance as it had been when he was still sporting the ponytail.

The team fell silent for a moment, all eyes shifting to the fire bender.

‘What?’ He snarled.

A hasty fear struck the back of his neck: they didn’t seriously think he had something to do with this, right?

‘If only we had someone with experience hunting the avatar.’ Sokka shrugged, a feigned sadness playing on his face.

Zuko’s concern melted away, replaced by a slight twinge of embarrassment.

‘Yeah, Sparky, if anyone could find Aang when he’s “disappeared” it's you!’ Toph belted, playfully punching his arm.

‘Well…’ He tried, did he really want to fall down that slippery slope again? 

‘Come on, Zuko, if there’s anyone who can find him, it probably would be you.’ Katara noted, a glisten of worry in her eyes.

He sighed and looked around at the ground. 

‘Hm.’ He thought a moment, his eyes suddenly sparking embers with the appearance of an idea, ‘Did Aang leave anything behind?’

June was easy enough to find. With Appa’s help the entire group was at her regular bar by sunset. Had it been just him and uncle, the comet would’ve come and gone by the time they reached her.

‘Oh, you again.’ She smirked as the group surrounded her table, ‘I see you made it up with your girlfriend, where’s the old man?’ 

Zuko and Katara exchanged looks of confusion, ‘She is not my girlfriend!’ 

‘Oh whatever, are you gonna ask me something or are you just gonna stand there…all menacingly.’ She turned to adjust her Shirshu’s saddle.

‘We’re looking for someone.’ 

Hastily, he snatched Aang’s staff from Sokka, who pouted like a kicked puppy in response. He had forgotten how annoying the bounty hunter tended to be.

‘The avatar.’ Zuko finished.

‘Yeah, doesn’t sound super fun.’ June replied, casually.

Rage exploded through Zuko’s body. 

‘Does the end of the world sound like fun to you?’

The shirshu spat its spiked tongue out at June, narrowly dodging its poisoned tip. 

‘Sheesh, calm it girl.’ She smiled, her face relaxing slightly as she turned back to the gang, ‘Fine, this stick is the avatar’s then right?’

Zuko nodded harshly, his face stoney. 

Over the past few weeks anger had begun to feel so distant, now its heated edges burned him rather than fueled him.

Ignoring the prince’s dirty looks, June held the staff to her creature’s nose, its scent immediately eliciting a reaction from the blind beast. Its nose twitched for a moment, its face scurrying from north, to east, to south, to west before shaking aggressively and ceasing movements all together.

‘What does that mean?’ Sokka asked, unimpressed.

‘Means your friend is gone.’ June mumbled, stroking the shirshu’s fur surprisingly lovingly considering the way she whipped it like there was no tomorrow. 

‘Yeah, we know, that’s why we’re here.’ Toph crossed her arms.

‘No, I mean he’s gone gone. He doesn’t exist.’ She continued, ‘No way to track that.’ 

The air around them seemed to run chilly as the entire group stood silent for a minute.

‘So what…you mean he’s…dead?’ Sokka asked, tentatively.

June smirked, ‘Nope, we could find him if he were dead. It's more like he just poofed. Wiped off the face of the planet.’

Sokka looked as if he had just been told the planet was as flat as a board.

‘Yeah, a real head scratcher.’ June pretended to look confused as she mounted Nya, ‘See ya.’

Zuko stood unmoving for a second, a thought suddenly rapping through his head.

‘Wait!’ He called, just as June had managed to get a metre away, ‘I have another idea.’ 

The bounty hunter sighed as he clambered up Appa’s furry side and wrestled something from his bag. Something that he wasn’t totally upset to give up.

‘You kept your uncle’s used slipper?’ Katara pinched her nose.

‘Dude? Gross.’ Sokka dramatically gagged.

Zuko blushed with embarrassment, even he wasn’t sure why he’d kept it all these months.

‘I think it's kinda sweet.’ Toph shrugged.

‘Would this work?’ He asked June.

Similarly disgusted by the overwhelming, pungent odour of the ancient sandal, June could hardly answer, only nodding and gesturing for the creature’s nose. 

He obliged, silently feeling sorry for the poor thing. It seemed to do the job, however, with the shirshu reacting twice as animated as it had to the staff. 

‘Let's get this over with.’ June said, pulling Nya’s reigns.

The shirshu bolted off like a startled ostrich horse.

‘Hey! Wait up!’ Zuko yelled, the group hurriedly piling onto Appa.

They tracked June and her shirshu over the harsh terrain of the earth kingdom. Thick forests and wide mountain ranges came and went, finally giving way to the familiar view of ringed walls.

‘We’re back in Ba Sing Sei?’ Zuko seemed genuinely surprised.

As they landed, Nya seemed twitchy against the first wall to the city, clawing at the stone with its long talons.

‘Your grandpas somewhere in the city. He’s nearby, Nyas getting twitchy.’ June shouted over to them as they climbed down onto the cracked earth, ‘Can’t take you any further than here, good luck, though.’ 

The group waved as the two rode off into the falling sun, barely visible in the suffocating darkness of the night sky. Zuko felt himself burn out as the sun disappeared behind the horizon though he was sure Katara was only just awakening.

‘I say we make camp and keep moving in the morning. We’re all pretty beat.’ Sokka yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

‘Good idea, Sokka. Lets set up here.’ Katara added, pulling down a few sleeping rolls and a sack of food from their store on Appa’s saddle.

She handed out seal jerky and fruit, the light of the rising moon highlighting the soft shimmer of tears formed over her eyes, like the glistening ponds at the palace, though her eyes certainly lacked the turtle ducks

Zuko built and subsequently put out a fire as they began drifting off. Everyone seemed exhausted, Katara particularly. He supposed they had all been searching for a while on Ember Island but she seemed particularly low. Maybe he would ask her about it the next day or maybe he would just let her be. Her and Aang had always seemed particularly close. The way she said Aang had been so upset at her character flirting with the onstage version of him struck Zuko as there being more than just friendship between the pair. 

The thought was lost as he dreamlessly floated away into sleep, the only thing plaguing his mind being the thought of his uncle’s enraged face when he finally faced him.

It was sometime past midnight when Toph woke up yelling. 

‘I feel people coming!’ She rushed out from her bedroll and to her feet.

The rest weren’t far behind, with Sokka reaching for his sword and Katara for her water skin.

In the distance a figure emerged from the small cliff ahead, a huge wave of fire encircling the team before they had a moment to react. Together they grouped up in the centre, backs to their camp and facing the mysterious fire bender. 

Had Azula found them? Katara seemed to remember her having blue fire and this fire was far from it. This was as red and alive as fire could get.

A maniacal laugh thundered through the valley as the figure grew closer, no, figures. Slowly, as they stepped into the light a series of familiar faces synthesised from the darkness.

‘Well, look who’s here!’ Bumi cackled, his speckled head as crazy as ever.

Next to him, the masters of their past stood strong. Paku, Jeong Jeong, Piandao looked upon them like angels emerging from the heavens. Katara could hardly contain her joy and her brother mirrored her overjoyed expression.

‘I don’t get it.’ Toph yelled, ‘Who are these old guys?’

‘They’re more than just old guys.’ Katara smiled, moving forward towards them, ‘They’re masters, our friends too.’ 

Both the water tribe siblings bowed to Paku, who’s grin was warmer than Katara had ever seen it before.

‘It's respectful to bow to your elders…’ He said softly, ‘But how about a hug for your grandfather?’ 

Their eyes lit up, both Sokka and Katara erupting into his arms.

‘So you and Gran Gran…’ Katara asked, wistfully.

‘Yup.’ He smiled widely, ‘I even made her a new betrothal necklace.’ 

Behind them, Zuko, Toph and Suki stood, slightly confused and now slightly awkward. Katara signalled Zuko over, who dragged Toph along with him.

‘This was Aang’s first firebending teacher.’ Katara gestured towards Jeong Jeong, allowing Zuko space to bow, ‘Master Jeong Jeong.’

Sokka raced past them both, bowing before Piandao before pulling him into a hug.

‘Master!’ He exclaimed, waving over excitedly for Suki to join them.

‘It is good to see you too, Sokka.’ He said, gently patting his pupil on the head.

Katara was overwhelmed with positivity. After the previous day’s constant hopelessness, she herself was starting to doubt, but this had relieved any negativity she had felt. Being surrounded by the powerful masters just outside the grandest city in the entire world was the reminder she needed.

Still, not everything was totally perfect. She noted Zuko’s dazed expression throughout the entire interaction. He had mentioned his uncle, his wisdom and how he had betrayed him. It was easy to guess what he was feeling, he wore it like a dress.

‘How do you guys all know each other then?’ Suki asked.

Piandoa smiled gently, ‘We are all members of a secret society. A trust formed on the basis of world peace which transcends both time and nations.’ 

‘The order of the white lotus.’ Zuko twinkled slightly at the realisation.

‘That’s right.’ Jeong Jeong continued, ‘About a month ago a call for help was sent out by a grand lotus, your uncle. Iroh of the fire nation.’

He appeared shocked for only a moment before nodding, a spasm of what looked like pride twinkling in his amber eyes. 

‘Well that’s who we’re looking for!’ Toph exclaimed, ‘Aang doesn’t exist so I guess you old guys are our last hope in finding him.’ 

The members of the white lotus exchanged glances before nodding.

‘We can take you to him.’ Paku said.

‘Let’s go!’ Bumi interrupted, earth bending himself into the distance.

The white lotus’s camp was far superior to the dusty campfire and scattering of blankets they’d managed. White tents with the lotus tile symbol decorated the area, completely surrounded by peaked mounts of stone and earth. A campfire sat at the centre, a true fire with bowls of soup and a meeting area surrounding it. 

As they sauntered in, Sokka seemed amazed by their preparedness, fawning over the place to both Paku and Piandao, to Suki’s amusement. Toph yawned, seemingly unfazed by the entire situation, but Zuko really caught Katara’s eye.

Perhaps it was the imminent nature of his meeting with his uncle, but the fire bender seemed almost panicked. Sweat beaded on his pale forehead and his fists were clenched at his sides. Whatever conversation Jeong Jeong was managing with him seemed stilted, Zuko being lost in thought or just plain not listening. 

When they reached the firepit, a sort of ‘town centre’ for the makeshift base camp, the group took seats round the fire with their masters or were directed off to bathrooms (or the kitchen in Sokka’’s case).

Katara watched as Jeong Jeong directed Zuko towards the largest tent of them all. Similarly white and marked by the lotus, it stood out as grand amongst the others. If she had to guess, she would say it belonged to a grand lotus.

Zuko sat cross-legged outside the tent, the dusty earth staining his deep red trousers. His calloused hands remained clenched in fists, like manifestations of all the tension in his body. His hair fell over his eyes, blocking his emotion from the world, though his pain was written all over him.

Katara approached cautiously, she knew his relationship with his uncle was really none of her business, but watching as he sat there for over half an hour in silence, still like a statue, made her heart break. She had managed to rip herself away from Sokka’s jabbering around the campfire, which Paku seemed regretful for, and moved forward towards him.

‘You okay?’

Zuko physically jumped at her words. He turned to look at her, shocked like she had silently glided over. Verifying it was really her, he looked back down at his fists.

‘No, I’m not okay.’ He exhaled what felt like fire, ‘My uncle hates me, I know he does, and I deserve it. My whole life he’s loved and supported me and all I could do to repay him was stab him in the back.’

Quietly she shrunk down next to him, allowing the crumbly dirt to wash against her long, blue tunic. She placed a comforting hand on his hardened shoulders and smiled slightly.

‘I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.’ She said, hushed, ‘You’re sorry for what you did, aren’t you?’

‘More sorry than I’ve ever been in my entire life.’ He almost yelled, his voice strained with pain.

‘Then your uncle will recognise it, he’ll forgive you, I’m sure of it.’ 

With that, Zuko went unresponsive. He sat for a minute, silent, though his face was evident with thought. The tension in his eyes remained, the scarred skin on his right eye twisting and bending like a mirror to whatever it was he was feeling.

After what felt like a while, he stood up wordlessly and, with a deep exhale, entered the flap of the tent. His strong legs seemed to shake as he disappeared into the abyss but she knew he would be fine. When had Zuko ever been one to give up? If what he had told her about his uncle was true she knew he was wise. She’d only met him a handful of times, once in the north pole and twice in the earth kingdom, but even without knowing him in a paternal role the way Zuko did, she saw kindness in his heart. Wisdom was obvious in his aged face and fire bending skill, yet empathy was even clearer in his eyes. 

She saw Zuko in them.

Katara joined the others around the campfire, eagerly awaiting Zuko’s return. She couldn’t help herself from sneaking peaks back at the tent whenever she could, often to the annoyance of her blabbering brother. At least she had Suki to keep him occupied, and really, she had come to realise recently how brilliant her brother could be. 

Since leaving Zuko at the tent the gang seemed to have evolved their conversations with their masters from that of idle conversation to grand plans and master schemes. Sure, they were rough drafts, hardly functioning plans, but watching as Sokka verbalised the intricacies of his ideas, he didn’t seem far from the masters, he seemed like one of them. 

Unfortunately, she was in no mood to talk game plans, much to Sokka’s dismay. She was run down, anxious and tired. What she really wanted was to find Aang or talk to Zuko. Or at the very least sleep, though she doubted she would be able to with all the chatter and the similar chatter of her mind and heart. 

Rather, she stirred the pot of soup boiling over the firepit. It wasn’t much but the repetitive motion was familiar, an easy distraction. 

‘Hey Sugar queen.’ Toph’s voice shoved its way through the medley of voices as she approached, ‘Need any- uh…help?’ 

Katara was almost taken aback. When had Toph ever asked if she needed help with cooking? Any chores really. Her job was always to keep a lookout, keep them safe from assassins or Azula or whoever. But chores? That had always been Katara’s domain.

‘Uh-well…’ She started, realising she had been sat with her mouth wide open for well over five seconds, ‘Not really. Thanks for offering though.’ 

Toph plopped herself on the ground next to her, her glazed over eyes staring vaguely towards the pot before looking down at her thumbs. She almost looked…sad? That was a strange sight on Toph.

‘Oh…alright. Do you mind if I just sit here then? They’re- uh…boring me.’ She said, unexpectedly sombre.

Katara had certainly seen the stoic earthbender sad before, she’d seen her cry in fact, but it didn’t make it any less jarring.

She couldn’t blame her though. All the talks of war and fighting, which sounded quite up Toph’s street to be fair, had grown tiring. Combined with their lack of sleep and Aang’s disappearance the mood was certainly less than peachy.

‘Well, I guess you could…’ Katara attempted, searching for a job Toph could do blind, ‘stir the pot for me? If you want.’ 

Toph’s face shifted from glum to glee in a second, though Katara was practically ill over the fact Toph Beifong, of all the people in the world, was smiling over doing chores. 

‘Thanks.’ She smiled as she took over the monotonous task.

Sure, it had been a slight comfort but Katara was happy to give it up, she was used to it. Seeing Toph happy again made it worth it anyway.

‘What was Sparky so gloomy about?’ She asked, smirking again to Katara’s relief, ‘He’s been talking to his uncle a while now.’ 

‘He was afraid his uncle would hate him for betraying him, I guess.’ She said softly, slouching back, away from the fire.

‘Oh, right. I forgot about that.’ 

‘I don’t know why he’s so worried, his uncle seems like the nicest guy to ever come out of the fire nation.’ Katara pondered, her eyes drifting from the dancing flames of the fire, a reminder of Zuko’s performance on the beach, and the tent.

‘Yeah, he’s pretty nice.’ Toph nodded, supposedly she’d managed to run into him in the earth kingdom, ‘But I get it. The thought of seeing my parents again makes me wanna puke.’ 

Katara winced slightly at the mention. It truly pained her seeing her friends’ parents be so cruel knowing how happy her family was. Simultaneously a mild anger began to brew inside her, just the reminder of Toph’s dad made her blood start to boil. 

‘Are you going to go and find them? If we win?’ She asked, caution in her kind tone.

Toph was still in thought for a moment, ‘Nah. They’d rather see me be a prisoner than an earthbending master, let alone a metalbender. I’m gonna travel the world and have fun.’ 

Katara couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. 

‘I’d like to see that. You travelling on your own? Do you remember that time we left you and Zuko alone to cook whilst me and Aang did laundry?’ 

Toph giggled, her youth so clear, ‘Yeah, I remember. It was only like last week.’ 

Laughing, Katara managed, ‘The food was black! In all my years of cooking I don’t think I’ve ever seen meat so charred.’ 

The memory was as clear as day, locked away in Katara’s secret vault of happiness, the place she went when hope felt lost. 

Her and Aang had gone to the river nearby to wash some clothes, Aang acting more as a portable laundry basket than an actual helper, meanwhile Sokka and Suki were out hunting some game. Since it was getting dark, Zuko, who Katara was hesitant to trust alone with Toph, and the earth bender were left in charge of dinner. Looking back on it Katara realised her mistake. Leaving the two children of insane wealth, who had probably never seen a pot before in their lives, to cook dinner? Terrible idea. 

Supposedly, they had come up with a genius plan to shorten cooking times since they were half starved by this point. Toph concluded that if it took thirty minutes to cook at normal temperature, at a temperature ten times hotter it would only take three, and Zuko could make that happen.

‘Sokka still ate it.’ Toph shrugged.

‘He’d eat a brick if it smelled meaty enough.’ Katara sighed, tears forming in her eyes from laughing so hard.

‘Well that’s on you for leaving a blind person and an idiot together to cook dinner.’ 

Katara looked up to the stars, clear in the cloudless night sky, ‘Well that was a lesson well learned. If I want dinner made I have to do it myself.’

‘We did make dinner, it just wasn’t technically edible.’ 

She only chuckled in response, the warm feeling of joy still tender in her chest.

‘Oh and Katara?’ Toph added, snapping Katara out of a slight trance, ‘I think those two are done talking.’

Katara followed her finger from the pot over to the tent she had been neglecting over the past few minutes of laughter. Of course it was the one second she peeled her eyes away that they would finally reappear.

‘Leave the pot, it doesn't really need stirring anyway, I think we all need to have a talk, together.’ 

Careful not to burn herself, Katara hauled the pot of soup from the pit and brought it closer to the others, who were beginning to congregate less around the fire and more in a circle around an area of plain dirt. Toph joined them in their seats, along with Zuko and Iroh, and Katara dutifully handed out bowls, waterbending soup into each before taking her respective place.

Everyone tucked in, weary and hungry, though the energy of the entire camp was strangely high, almost electric.

It was Iroh, the grand lotus, who began conversations.

‘I understand the avatar is…off duty at the moment.’ He started, his voice as commanding as a general with all the heart of an uncle, ‘In his absence, I think it is wise to start planning for what is to happen were the avatar not to reappear before the comet arrives tomorrow.’

Katara recoiled at the words. She had done such a good job of distracting herself, between Zuko and the chores, she had managed to repress her anxieties over Aang just enough. The thought of him not showing up at all was something she hadn’t even been able to fathom.

‘He will be back, I know he will.’ She blurted, an unexpected pleading to her voice, ‘Aang won’t abandon me again, he won’t abandon us.’

Iroh allowed her a moment to catch her breath before spiritually embracing her with the warmest smile she had seen in years. Even his aged eyes, thick with leathery skin, seemed to grin with him.

‘I don’t doubt that he will,’ A surprising seriousness to his tone despite his empathetic expression, ‘But it’s always better to be safe than sorry. If we do not plan for the avatar to stay hidden and he does, my brother wields a significant advantage over us that we cannot compete with.’ 

Katara sat back, embarrassed at her outburst and pale with dread. She looked between her friends for some semblance of comfort: Sokka and Suki seemed enthralled by Iroh, Toph seemed as indifferent as usual, though somewhat more engaged than expected, and Zuko was much the same, a clear admiration for his uncle on his face. For a moment, though, he broke his gaze from Iroh and looked to Katara, just that single moment, that weak smile of support, was all she needed. Quickly she was back in the conversation, ready to be realistic.

‘Uncle, you are the only person who can defeat the father lord…other than the avatar.’ Zuko said, his voice serious yet childish, as though he had finally let down his invisible guard. 

‘You mean the fire lord.’ Toph smirked.

Zuko immediately broke out into a heavy blush though it was hard to distinguish if it was embarrassment or anger.

‘That’s what I just said!’ He yelled.

He looked back to Iroh, his anger slowly melting away, but his uncle seemed uninterested in his slip up, rather being deep in thought.

‘Uncle, you have to come!’ Zuko practically pleaded.

Iroh only shook his head, placing his wooden bowl on the floor.

‘No, Zuko. Me fighting the fire lord, it would never end well.’ 

Katara noticed the wisdom in his words, everyone chosen carefully like a poet constructing a haiku. Where Zuko was impulsive and reckless, Iroh was as careful and deliberate as a painter. 

‘Why not? You could beat him, and we’d all be there to help!’ Zuko asked, the group all nodding in agreement.

‘No, that is not the right way.’ Iroh said, his eyes closing, pensive, ‘History would only view it as two brothers fighting for power. The only way peace can be reached is if the avatar defeats the fire lord.’

‘But you said we had to plan in case that didn’t happen.’ Zuko grew frustrated by the minute.

‘We must, but it doesn’t make the fact any less true.’ 

Zuko sighed, defeated.

‘But if we did win, you would come and take your rightful place on the throne, right?’ 

‘No. The fire nation walks a difficult line, it needs a new leader. Someone with a true and strong heart.’ Iroh smiled, looking over at his nephew, ‘An idealist with unquestionable honour. It must be you, Prince Zuko.’ 

Katara felt her breath hitch as Zuko’s face paled. It was as if his entire life were flashing before his eyes, like a hand were placed firmly on his throat and not releasing.

‘Unquestionable honour?’ His voice croaked, ‘But I’ve made so many mistakes!’

‘Yes, you have.’ His uncle spoke bluntly, but with a kindness that left no burns, ‘But you have grown. From your suffering and your struggles you have discovered your own destiny and your own honour. Only now you must take the next step.’

Zuko was speechless, though luckily, Iroh was only beginning.

‘The avatar will return. We will all face our destinies now, as the comet arrives. We will plan for it if he doesn’t but I have no doubts that he will.’ Iroh’s face suddenly lit up, ‘I once had a vision of me taking Ba Sing Sei, only now I realise that I would be taking it from the fire nation, so the earth kingdom may be free.’ 

The members of the white lotus sat up proudly, Katara couldn’t help but feel giddy, like for once everything was going to plan. 

‘Prince Zuko, you must go to the fire nation so you can assume power when everything is complete, though, Azula will be there waiting for you.’ 

Zuko seemed to snap at that comment, no longer fixated or lost.

‘I can handle Azula.’ He snarled.

‘Not alone.’ Iroh added, ‘You will need help.’

Without hesitation, the prince’s eyes darted to Katara, illuminated like a raging fire. She already knew the answer before he had the time to ask.

‘You’re right, uncle. Katara, how would you like to put Azula in her place?’

She couldn’t hold back her smirk, ‘It would be my pleasure.’

The rest of the planning was a blur. A frenzy of emotions, anxieties and most of all, hope. For the first time since Aang had disappeared, she truly felt completely and utterly sure. Once again hopeful for Aang’s return, hopeful that he would defeat the fire lord, hopeful that Zuko would make it to the throne.

Her part was small, in comparison to Aang’s, but she was hopeful that she could help. Help defeat Azula.

Before she knew it she was off. Leaving Sokka was a whirlwind and it was impossible not to cry. For all she knew this would be the last time they hugged, the last time she would ever see her brother. She wished so badly that their dad was there, just to hug him one last time, to hear a word of encouragement or an inspiring story from his youth. 

She hugged Toph harder than ever before, something which Toph complained about quite a bit but Katara suspected she actually very much enjoyed, and said goodbye to Suki and the white lotus before mounting Appa’s saddle with Zuko and whizzing off into the night’s sky.

By the time they had left, the sun was peeking out from the world’s edge, like a drop of fire rising from the ashes. Zuko stood as a silhouette at Appa’s neck, the reins clenched hard, his knuckles as white as snow. She could hardly blame him, she was a nervous wreck too. Fighting Azula was enough but fighting his sister? The thought of possibly killing Sokka had been the target of many a nightmare for Katara, now being ordered to do so in order to save your country, it was just unfair.

Based on only the view of his shaggy hair and tense shoulders, it was easy to see Zuko’s nerves. He had never been subtle. As they flew the heat of his breath rushed past her, nearly burning her with how ferocious it was.

‘We can take Azula.’ She stated, confidently, though she suspected that was the least of his worries.

‘It’s not her I’m worried about.’ He gritted through his teeth, ‘What if Aang doesn’t have the guts to take out my father.’ 

Her eyes widened slightly in shock. She supposed she had never reall heard him talk about it like that, or at least, she had never thought about it that closely. 

My father .

‘He will, I know he will. Aang won’t lose, he’s gonna come back.’ She chanted, though a slight fault shook her voice, ‘He has to.’ 

Zuko was still for a minute, his shoulders only relaxing slightly. Staring off into the void of the purpling sky she wondered what on earth was spinning around in his head. Whatever she was feeling must be attacking him tenfold.

‘Katara?’ He asked, uncertainty in his raspy tone.

‘Yeah?’ 

He seemed to hesitate, ‘Do you think I could do it?’ 

She sat up, previously leaning on Appa’s saddle, ‘What do you mean? Beat Azula?’ 

‘No.’ He shook his head, as if ashamed, ‘Do you think I could become fire lord? Or, be a good one…I guess.’ 

Her confusion turned to blush. A warmth grew in her heart. 

‘Can I be honest?’ She said, moving closer to him in the saddle.

‘Please do.’ He sighed, ‘If I’m honest, you’re probably the person that knows me the best in the whole world, apart from uncle of course.’

Unable to respond, Katara stayed silent for a moment.

Zuko seemed embarrassed, hesitant to speak, ‘I just mean, you don’t just see me as a prince or a traitor or an avatar hunter, or at least, not anymore. I think you see me for who I really am, scars and all. If you don’t think I could be a good fire lord…’

‘No’ She interrupted, looking up from the saddle at him, ‘I think you’re the perfect one for the job.’

He looked back at her, his eyebrows furrowed with surprise, like he were shocked at her sincerity.

‘You mean that?’ He asked, an astonished smile spreading across his paled face.

‘Your uncle is right, you’re kind and honourable and experienced. You’ve probably seen more of the world and more war than the past five fire lords combined. Seriously, I think you would make a great fire lord, Zuko.’ 

A quiet red spread across his face before he turned back to face the sky, though she suspected his smile remained.

The journey was completed mostly in silence. 

Nerves were high and both benders had a thousand thoughts rushing through their weary minds. Fighting Azula had to be their main priority, heartfelt conversations about the meaning of life could wait, taking the throne couldn’t. 

By the time they arrived in the Fire nation capital the sun was infecting the deep sky with its hues. Zuko felt at home with the sun, much more than he did back in his supposed home city.

The palace was filled with officials, servants and priests. Guards swarmed the outer walls as they flew overhead, powerless to do much else but watch. Above, the comet began its path of treachery across the burning sky and Zuko winced as he felt the overwhelming power flood every part of him. His muscles felt inflamed, like the moment after a hard workout before the aching kicked in, and his mind was as sharp as a pin. 

‘Can you feel the comet yet?’ Katara asked as they landed Appa, just a minute away from his sister’s treasonous coronation. 

‘It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.’ He admitted, ‘It would probably be like ten full moons for you.’ 

Her eyes widened at that, her face flooded by emotions Zuko couldn’t decipher.

Together they ascended the steps to the palace. It had barely been more than a month since he had left but the place already felt unfamiliar. A suspiciously cold sting hung in the air, something just wasn’t right.

Ahead, a fire sage held the crown above her head, practically taunting Azula with its power. She howled at him to hurry up, as if she were desperate for it like a starving man in a famine.

Zuko reached their platform, staring his sister directly in the eyes. She darted her attention from him to Katara, shock evident on her face.

‘Sorry, but you’re not becoming fire lord today.’ He spoke confidently, ‘I am.’

Azula could only laugh, ‘You’re hilarious, brother.’

Katara snarled behind him, ‘And you’re going down.’

‘Ah, so you really want to be fire lord?’ Azula taunted, her face melting from shock to mockery to anger in the space of seconds, ‘Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai!’

‘You’re on.’ 

In the large, stone courtyard of the palace, the duel was on the verge of commencement.

Katara and Zuko entered the arena, a place so familiar yet distant to Zuko, he almost felt no attachment at all.

‘Zuko, this is a bad idea. Can’t you see she’s trying to separate us!’ Katara whispered, her tone desperate.

‘Yah, but I think I can take her this time.’ He said, moving his eyes from the water bender to his sister, ‘Something has changed about her. I can’t put my finger on it but she’s slipping. And this way, you don’t have to get hurt.’

‘Your uncle sent me here so I could help you, Zuko.’ She urged.

‘Please, just trust me.’ He said, placing both his hands on her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes for some semblance of agreement.

Hesitantly, she nodded, though she couldn’t resist a quick hug before he entered into the danger zone. 

He stepped away from her, facing his sister across the courtyard. With all the grace of a psychotic swan, she ripped away her coronation dressings and her face shifted into that mocking smile he had come to associate with her.

‘I’m sorry it had to end this way, brother.’ She mocked, sarcasm ripe in her crackling voice.

‘No you’re not.’ He replied, hardly loud enough for her to hear.

Fire erupted throughout the area. The comet’s enraged blazes scorched the walls and floor as if they were simple cotton. 

Blue and Orange clashed together like waves in a furied sea, neither able to overcome the other. Azula remained her ruthless self, each punch and kick as powerful as the last, though distinctly less precise as he had recalled. Her choppy fringe darted across her face as she glided across the stone, powered by a wave of fire. Zuko, knowing full well his advantage of experience, threw in a wave of newer moves he had picked up recently. Watching Katara, Aang and Toph spar had been infinitely more useful in expanding his firebending as the sages’ scrolls had ever been.

Using an air bending move, he swung his feet around, creating a wave of fire even Azula couldn’t predict. Slashed to her feet, his sister was more enraged than ever, and seriously less predictable. Yet for every punishing blow or scarring slice, Zuko had a stronger wave or a crashing cloud. He twisted waves of fire around one another in the style of a water bender, inspired by the dance of the dragons he had witnessed from the true firebenders. He whipped flames at his sister as he had seen Katara do to him on their very first meeting. Walls of searing orange crashed towards her, only broken by ribbons of blue at the very final moments. Whatever had happened to her, it was serious.

One key aspect of her kit was missing though. He could handle blue fire, he always could, but it was the lightning he was most curious about.

‘No lightning?’ He taunted, somewhat proud.

Had she really slipped that far? Unable to lightning bend, the very thing he had been ridiculed over for so many years?

‘You want to see lightning I’ll give you lightning!’ She bellowed, the crackling blaze of her eyes erupting like a volcano, her body swaying and snapping as if it were controlled by a blood bender.

Inhaling deeply, Zuko moved through his moves, into his first position for lightning redirection. She would never see it coming.

His sister darted rapidly as the electric flashes formed around her like a cloud of angry scorpion bees. Her hectic hair stood on its ends as the long ribbons of silvery blue danced around her, her frantic eyes fixation on him…until they weren’t.

In the flash of a second, Azula whipped her arm to his right, her eyes ripe with an evil hiss of revenge. It only hit him when she smiled.

Katara.

He didn’t even need to think, his body almost moved without his permission. If Katara was in danger, he would save her, no doubt about it. Honestly, the thought had never even occurred to him, that his sister would be so…unhonourable. An agni kai tainted, it just seemed extreme, even for Azula. 

As the harsh strings of light pummelled through the air, their razor shards pointed straight at her, Zuko ran. He ran faster than he probably ever had before. Just a few steps felt like a marathon, the thought of losing Katara appearing in his mind with each one, with every head beat. He would rather be dead than have to break it to Sokka, to beat Azula and become fire lord on a throne of blood, no water bender to talk to when he was overwhelmed. Nobody to complain to him when Sokka was blabbering or Aang was pestering her. The world would be worse off without her. It was never a question of do or don’t, it was now or now.

Every nerve in his body fired as he leaped to catch it. His extended arm broken in the jump, his chi paths blocked. It didn’t matter.

He caught the blast and with it every nerve, vessel and cell inside him exploded. He hadn’t caught it with his fingers, he had caught it with his chest.

Stoney floor grazed every free piece of skin it could, but it was hardly felt.

Pain erupted through his body, he felt like an icicle being smashed upon the ground. He shook with the aftershock, clutching his chest with every functioning muscle cell he had left, unable to open his eyes, hardly holding on to his breath.

Spasming, his muscles gave out, he plummeted from his side onto his back, still shaking with electricity. He shrank with the pain, unable to unscrunch his face or move his body at all. 

As he tried his hardest to keep seeing, to keep his eyes open, to focus on the flue flames roaring above him, he forgot to focus on the rest of him.

With a hitch, his breath faltered and burned out.

Chapter Text

Searing, grafting shock clung to Katara's nerves like frightened children, her heart seemed to stop before racing forward once again, the calm before the storm.

In a literal flash, Zuko had skidded across the gravelled stone of the courtyard, his tunic smoking and face away from her. Something inside Katara paralyzed her, ripped her soul from the controls to her body. She could do nothing to help him, she was totally useless.

Against the dark sky, the full moon seemed to place a spotlight on her, on her failure. 

Above Zuko’s smouldering chest Azula swayed, an almost electrical pulse dragging her from side to side like a tree struck by lightning, unable to stand but unable to commit to the fall. 

He had been right to say she was slipping, her eyes widened with hysteria, a grinding laughter scraping up her metallic windpipe. Katara had never seen her like this. Each perfect hair was now ripped to shreds, gnashed into a tangle of saws across her paled forehead. Blood-like lipstick ran from her lips to her chin, her porcelain skin now more akin to the hulking, stained metal making up the tanks of the fire nation. 

Manically she whipped her arm from her side to above her head to her right then left like a crazed puppet, her electric golden eyes never wandering from Katara. 

As the waterbender darted forward, water clothing her hand with a healing veil, lightning cracked beneath her feet, blackening the floor with a sour hiss. She didn’t turn to look at Azula, she didn’t need to, she could hear that cold, mechanical laughter as clearly as she could see her friend dying on the floor. She would never let her get to him.

Katara pulled a large quantity of water from the nearby water features, surfing it like an Ember Island wave. Blue flames licked at her hands as she tucked herself behind one of the large, red pillars of the garden. She heard the vague screeches of Azula’s taunts but her ears were ringing. The pole covering her exploded to splinters, Katara barely dodging in time. 

She caught her breath behind an identical column, panic pulling at her throat. The ache of burns pulled her eyes to her hands, red and raw. They would have to wait. How far she had come since Aang had burned her that first time. There was no time to dwell on the memory. 

Katara whipped her body through the roofed patio, splinters of her previous column piercing her tunic and water skin as she fled. Her brain seemed to block out the explosions, the fluorescent blues and vivid howls of the fire princess. All she felt now was the clang of iron under her feet and the pull of water beneath it. 

Peering down it was clear to her what this meant. Water wouldn’t beat lightning but it would beat Azula.

Cautiously she backed further away from the courtyard, towards a wall. Perhaps it was a careless move, if her plan failed she was trapped, if Azula was faster, whittier even just bolder than she was Katara was as good as burned. No one would save Zuko then.

Across the yard she watched as he twitched, convulsing in that same charred spot like an animal waiting to be put out of its misery. How many times had she watched her dad kill arctic camels too infected to walk and too stubborn to lie down. 

The gruesome idea was interrupted by Azula, gladly for once.

Katara backed away further, her act as the vulnerable girl out of her element would be key. She doubted it would be hard to trick the girl, her fanged teeth gleaming through her snare, mania in her flexed eyebrows. Slowly she moved towards her, smirking as she strutted. Each step jolted her, making her walk like a pentapox victim. Her confidence was honestly impressive though Katara doubted its truth. The girl was truly mad.

She stalked like a predator but didn’t strike, didn’t even raise a hand to Katara. With that, Katara darted forward, her arms raising at a pace she had never managed before, the pace of a master. Azula’s reddened eyes widened and her left hand stabbed towards Katara’s temple though any power it may’ve held was immediately drowned out. 

The two lay frozen in the water for a moment, suspended like ancient bugs in amber. Katara mentally let out a breath before she allowed herself a real one, slowly moving to chain the princess’s hands. Had Azula kept her keen eye maybe she would’ve noticed it. As she secured the chain to the metal grid of the floor, she hesitated for a second before dropping the wall of water, both girls immediately sputtering for a breath. 

As the hot air of the capital filled her lungs, Katara felt a warm tear run down her cheek, though she couldn’t recognise why. Her head swam with a mix of confusion and relief. Well, until she remembered.

Practically giving herself whiplash, she swung her head back to the courtyard, to Zuko’s singed body. Probably corpse.

Without a second to think she jumped, like muscle memory, she raced to him. Pulling water from a nearby puddle she had left she kneeled down beside him, her knees sizzled through her leggings at the searing stone.

Carefully she pulled Zuko from his stomach to his back. His eyes were winced shut, his arms tense and shaking like a cold child’s. Mostly, it was his chest which was the issue.

A star shaped scar hissed at her angrily, its festering gore pressing against the centre of his chest. She felt for a heart beat, distant yet there, and tentatively listened for each raspy breath. 

She had never known panic like this. Every hair on her body was aflame, her chest pulled at her skin and her skin pulled at her to get up and run. She knew that she never would but even the thought of it was anxiety inducing enough. 

As she had with Aang following Ba Sing Sei, she placed a glowing hand on his tattered wound. She felt in there for life, for a sign of a struggle but all she got back was silence. Still, he breathed, that was more than Aang. Apprehensive, she initially tugged at his chi, but after eliciting no response, she pulled, pushing and pulling. 

There was no magic spirit water this time. There were no other healers this side of the planet. Her friends could arrive any minute or they could never arrive. 

Silently she sobbed, tears rolling down her flaking cheeks stinging at the raw wounds of battle. Singed hair melded against her sweating neck, her entire body erupting in hives of heat and perspiration. She wasn’t built for heat but no body was built for fire, let alone Azula’s fire. 

As she healed, Zuko’s heart rate was steady, his breathing shallow but constant. Though it wasn’t until his eyelids suddenly fluttered open that she felt truly relieved. 

‘Katara.’ He whispered, his muscles twitching at the pain of speech.

She tried to hush him but whatever spirit or god had given him the strength to speak was relentless. 

The calm before the storm.

‘Thank you.’ Was all he could manage, held together by a weak smile, his dark hair shading his eyes properly from her view.

She pushed it away, tears rolling down her cheek.

‘It’s you I should be thanking.’ She choked, returning her free hand to his chest.

As soon as he had returned he was gone again. His limbs and chest tensed in a surge of pain, his eyes crunching closed before falling limp again. His breathing was shallowerer now. 

Katara’s heart surged rapidly, her mind wavering, racing from her healing to death and back. She put herself to the limit, she had never been the best healer but she was truly putting her all into this. 

His heartbeat slowly grew fainter and fainter until it fell silent.

It had been Sokka who was the first to find them. Palace guards raced in after him, Suki and Toph close behind. 

Zuko was in a bed soon enough. He was stable. Alive.

‘And then Aang flew around the sky and was like “Firelord Ozai for all the bad stuff you have done I will kill you” in this really spooky voice and then he was about to shoot him right in the chest but then he stopped and he grabbed him by the head and he looked right in his eyes and the whole sky went blue and his bending- get this, was gone!’ Sokka reenacted enthusiastically from a chair, his leg pegged together by a stick and bandages. 

‘Well…close enough.’ Aang reasoned, his usual smile was slightly off kilter.

Katara could hardly blame him for it, he had really defeated the fire lord on his own terms. She smiled weakly, shame permeating her tired eyes.

‘I knew you could do it Aang.’ She comforted, lowering onto a red, satin seat beside him. 

‘Yeah, old news.’ Toph waved, her own wounds mostly healed by now, ‘Are you gonna tell us how you and Sparky took down Azula or are we gonna have to guess?’ 

Katara sighed slightly, turning her weary eyes to the floor before recounting the events of the evening. The fight couldn’t have been more than two hours before yet it was already blurry in her mind. Perhaps it was the hour of healing she had done before her friends arrived or the lack of proper sleep but every part of her ached. She told them everything as best she could, barring a few details, before excusing herself to tend to Zuko.

As she stepped behind the door separating her friends and the prince all she could do was sigh, louder and harder than she had ever before. She was tired. Relief peppered her warm chest with a cool misting of renewal at the very least. When she had first heard her brother yel her name the voice which usually annoyed her to no end sounded closer to an angel than Sokka. She was crying as he approached, partially from the overwhelming emotions of healing for such a long period, but mostly from the fear of never seeing that stupid face again washing away at last.

Now though, when she looked at them, all she felt was shame. 

As the looming door closed behind her, Katara stepped forward into the large, red room Zuko was being nursed in. It’s ceilings were practically as tall as the Earth King’s throne room though the overwhelming darkness of the room was more similar to that of a cave. Fire nation symbols hung from every wall, hanging silently their shadows protruding like deep gashes. The comforting glow of the lanterns illuminated the deep marble of the floors and the maroon silks and satins of Zuko’s bed. Even the supposed hospital bed was canopied, its fluttering curtains glimmering under the lantern’s soft glow. Though the room lacked the intricate carpets and tapestries she had spotted in other rooms on her way in, its simplicity was somewhat comforting. The amount of gold alone was enough for her, the stuff seemed to pollute every item of furniture, column and window frame in the palace.

As she moved through the room, everything lay completely still. Static like it were a painting. Nothing here was like home, not remotely. If she were back in the south Zuko would be lying on a collection of furs, not that horrible silky stuff that slid and danced with any mention of a breeze. The room would be lit by a fireplace. Instead it felt cold. Any comforting glow the lanterns gave was cooled by the time it reached her. Zuko’s sallow face was only yellowed by their incandescence, a reminder of his fragility. Still, he breathed now. His heart beat at a constant rate. His eyes didn’t flutter and his muscles still spasmed occasionally but the lightning had been mostly freed from his chest, released into the sky where it belonged.

She studied his sunken eyes. His hair lay awkwardly over his clammy forehead, lacking the motion it deserved. Slowly she caressed his hand, smoothing the skin as she recalled her mother doing for her some time ago. Maybe she had been sick, yes, that was it. She couldn’t stop crying and if she wasn’t crying she was vomiting. She doubted he could feel it, it was a selfish endeavour for her own comfort but for once she felt she deserved it. 

She had repaid his sacrifice, a life for a life? The moment replayed in her mind, never ceasing. Cringing, she slunk down to her knees. The crack of the lightning snapping against his chest was all she could hear. Anxiously she looked over at his scar, still there. A second scar for his collection. One for each evil family member he was forced to fight. She often wondered how Zuko managed to keep going. 

Since he confessed the story of his scar to her she had hardly gone a day without dramatising the moment in her mind's eye. Sometimes it was her own idea of the fire lord pressing that burning hand onto Zuko, other times it was her own father and Sokka, other times it was her. It plagued her dreams almost as frequently as her own mother’s death, as Ba Sing Sei. How Zuko kept going with a reminder of it on his face everyday was beyond her. How he kept fighting even now…

She looked down at him a final time. There was no good in healing him continuously tonight, she would try again tomorrow and the next day and the next day until he was back in perfect health. For now, she got up and silently left the room, rejoining her friends in the small talking area they had set up beyond Zuko’s hospital room. 

She hardly lasted an hour before retiring. A servant led her to a ‘guest room’, as they called it, though she could’ve mistaken it for the king’s private quarters. Any analysis of the room was forgotten by the morning though as she woke up in yesterday’s clothes on top of the blanket.

The fire nation air was suspiciously hotter in the capital. Perhaps it was the volcano it was built over or the immense number of bodies cramped within it but Katara couldn’t shake the sweat as she stripped off her battered clothes. They were hardly recognisable as a water tribe through all the wear. Her pant knees were decimated and her tunic stained with splotchy blood and gravelly dirt. If she had been in a better state of mind she may have thrown them away.

Rather, she chucked them to the bed and inspected the room. A wardrobe practically twice the size of her was looming, its doors practically begging to be opened. She obliged. Inside were a wide array of fire nation regalia, the expected reds and blacks of the fire lord’s court. She wrangled a set of robes from its hanger and pressed it against her body. Slightly too small but it would do until she could get her hands on something more practical. 

As she slipped the piece over her head. It was long sleeved with a long skirt, all red of course, with only the slightest hints of gold embroidery around the arms and hem. For such a humid place they were surely fans of modesty. Still, Katara found it hard to complain. The light weight material made it feel weightless, the heat, whilst slightly more bothersome than usual, wasn’t as large an issue as she thought.

As she walked down the magnificent hallway, Katara couldn’t help but feel like a criminal, as if she weren’t supposed to be there. She was only waiting for a gaggle of Joo Dees to spring out from behind a corner and usher her away. She almost wished they would, the palace was about as homely as the tundra in a blizzard. Every dark wall and towering pillar seemed to make her footsteps echo louder. Was someone following her?

She breathed deeply, trying to focus her attention on the myriad of tapestries and vases dotted around the gleaming room. Anything to take her mind away from her real worry.

‘Katara!’ A familiar voice chimed down the hall, bouncing off the shimmering black walls.

‘Hey, Aang!’ She smiled, wiping the rising panic from her face like makeup, ‘I’m glad I found you, I was starting to get lost.’

‘Yeah, this place is huge.’ He grinned, gliding over to stand beside her.

‘No, like really, who built this place, huh?’ She interrupted, waving her hands frantically, ‘It's like, what idiot would put this many- uh, columns in a hallway? And these tapestries? I mean, they’re just way too…tapestry-y.’ 

The monk stared at her like she had miraculously transformed into a giant lion turtle. 

‘Uh…are you okay?’ He asked, subconsciously taking a small step back, ‘You’re starting to act like Sokka when he hasn’t eaten in a while.’

Katara’s hands dropped from their frozen position in mid air. She wished her biggest issue was food.

‘I’m sorry, Aang. I’m just kind of stressed out right now.’ She looked down at the ground.

‘Zuko?’ He asked, his goofy grin traded for a comforting smile.

She nodded, kicking a notch in the rug running the length of the corridor. 

‘Don’t be so stressed about it, you're the best healer Zuko could ever ask for.’ He beamed, ‘I mean, you brought me back from the dead. Not many people can say that.’

She shrugged, ‘I had water from the spirits at the north pole when I healed you and even then it took weeks for you to fully recover.’ 

‘Don’t sell yourself short, Katara, you’re the best water bender I’ve ever met.’ He launched himself up onto an air ball, ‘Lets go get something to eat.’ 

Breakfast went by in a blur. Gruel and its accompanying strange spicy oils were all Katara really remembered. Sokka, Suki and Aang were all there chatting along about the previous day, Aang in better spirits than she’d seen him in a while. Toph was presumably asleep though Katara could’ve mistaken her for rocking the room with earthbending the way it seemed to be spinning. Maybe it was her heartbeat but everything just seemed jittery. 

She barely touched her food, it was much too bland alone and much too spicy with the oil, though she doubted she could’ve eaten more than a few mouthfuls if it were Gran Gran’s sea prunes. Her hands and legs shook as she scavenged her way back to the medical wing Zuko was being cared for in. 

Servants greeted her as she passed them though she felt eyes on the back of her head as they fell beyond her sight. Suddenly her clothes seemed to drag her body down, her chest feeling tighter with every step. 

By the time she reached the room and its layers and layers of silky, organza curtains she was practically passed out. The attendants gave her worried glances as they scuttled out the room upon her arrival.

‘Master Katara. I’m glad you decided to join us again today.’ The court physician smiled, though it seemed thinly veiled.

Conspiracy against Zuko and Iroh flooded her mind. Perhaps that was the staff’s reason for coldness, they were upset she hadn’t let the new fire lord die? She didn't like to scheme but after Ba Sing Sei it was hard not to, fake smiles and suspicious body language were as new to her as water bending now.

‘Yes.’ She squeezed out, ‘I was hoping to monitor Zuko for the next few days at least. I’m assuming he’ll need regular healing sessions.’ 

The physician seemed to mull over the thought for a moment, looking her up and down.

‘That sounds like a smart idea to me.’ He nodded, leading her further into the room, ‘You are the expert.’

Zuko lay in the same position on the same bed as the day before. He had hardly changed, almost like a corpse. He was as pale as a ghost on good days but now he looked almost luminescent. His hair was combed and the sheets appeared clean, though. At least the attendants were doing their jobs, conspiracy or not. 

‘If the prince doesn’t wake up soon I fear he will succumb to dehydration. The attendants have tried their best but the line between drinking and drowning seems too thin to be walked.’ The doctor mentioned, the pair of them staring motionless down at Zuko’s clammy face.

‘Just trust me.’ Katara sat down gently on the edge of the bed, ‘I have experience with this. I won’t let you down.’ 

The old man sighed, smiling slightly with tired eyes.

‘I’m sure you won’t.’ 

As he left the room Zuko’s faltering breaths filled the entire space. Silently Katara allowed one single tear to trickle down her purpled under eyes before wiping it on her floppy sleeve, just too short for her arm. In his sagging cheeks she saw Aang, lying lifeless in her arms. She felt that rush of emotions flood back to her. 

Then she breathed heavily and pulled a handful of water from the prepared urns nearby. There wasn't time for emotions now.

She would get through this the way she had with everything else. She would be fine.

The sun slowly rose, illuminating the large chamber with its golden hum inch by inch. By the time Katara allowed herself to look up from the tepid glow of healing, the dark room had been entirely encroached by the light, each scarlet banner seemed to bloom from dusty to alive, every transparent curtain drifting slightly out of view as rays bounced off its shimmering surface.

Even Zuko seemed less dead.

Katara slumped down next to him, her hands sore and wrinkled. Every part of her still ached as they had when she had just fought Azula. Perhaps she was turning into Gran Gran.

Almost as if her thought had manifested a psychic message to any and all elderly people, the curtain to Zuko’s bed area slid away from the dark wall revealing a familiar, old face.

‘Iroh! You’re here!’ Katara felt her limbs carry her from the bed towards him when just moments ago she could hardly convince herself to stand.

‘Master Katara.’ Iroh smiled, pulling her into a tight embrace as if they were close personal friends, ‘I was hoping to find you here.’

She stepped away from his hug, allowing herself just a single moment of relief.

‘Zuko…he’s still asleep.’ She said, trying her best to sound confident.

The general nodded gently, his smile melting to a distant line. 

Katara said nothing as Iroh examined his nephew’s still body. She watched silently as he lowered himself into the same position on the bed she had been in just moments before. She held her breath as he pushed Zuko’s hair away from his damp forehead, Iroh’s ageing skin crinkling as he did so.

For a moment he just stared at him, perhaps contemplating what she did to let his nephew end up in such a state. Then his lips curled up at the 

sides.

‘When I received news from your friends of what had happened, that my brother and Azula had been defeated, I had not expected to return from Ba Sing Sei so quickly.’ The general began, his gaze never leaving Zuko’s face.

‘I’m so sorry, Iroh.’ Katara tried, clearing her throat as if that would prevent the tears in her eyes from starting, ‘I tried my best to save him. Azula tried to strike me with lightning and he jumped in front of me..’

She crumpled onto the bed, her face now wet with tears once again. 

When did she become such a crybaby?

‘Well it's a good thing he did.’ Iroh turned to face her, his wizened face gushing with a kindness Katara could hardly comprehend.

‘What?’ She choked between tears.

Iroh placed a firm hand on her shaking shoulder.

‘Had it been you, you would be dead.’ He said matter-of-factly, retaining his smile, ‘My nephew was able to redirect some of the energy away from his body and you did a considerable job fixing the rest. Without you, I doubt Zuko could’ve beaten Azula.’

Katara imagined her face looked like one of the rotten fish from the fire nation fishing village they had come across in their travels. Between her puffy eyes and horrified expression, she didn’t even want to know.

‘If there is one thing which defines my nephew, it is that he is determined. He will be fine, especially with your help.’ 

With that, he pulled Katara into another embrace, however, this time she didn’t pull away so easily.

‘Even so,’ Iroh added, ‘I am exiling you from this room for the rest of the day. For your own good.’ 

There was little use in trying to argue with Iroh. Katara was too tired to try anyway. 

Like a half-formed ghost she stalked away from the medical wing, unsure what else to do with herself. As much as she loved her brother and her friends, the thought of having to talk to them at that moment was mentally taxing enough, let alone actually having to do it. What she really craved was to talk to Zuko. 

Alas, she knew that was out of the question for the time being. Still, she knew she needed to do something or the thoughts of Zuko dying of thirst or dying in general would swarm her again. That would not be ideal.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, before she had the chance to even worry about being worried about Zuko, an obstacle appeared.

‘Oh, there you are.’ Her brother said nonchalantly, crunching his teeth into a crisp apple.

Katara assumed she had been alone, however, preoccupied by her thoughts Sokka, famed for his obnoxiously loud footsteps, had managed to sneak up on her. She had nearly jumped out of her skin.

‘You know, I thought you’d be in the doctor's room doing your healing magic.’ He waved his hands around as if to allude to some kind of strange dance themed magic.

‘Yeah, I was. Then Iroh showed up and kicked me out.’ She quipped, slightly more snappy than intended.

Sokka hardly seemed to notice.

‘Oh yeaaah.’ He wiggled his index finger in the air with realisation, ‘That’s what I was gonna tell you. Iroh arrived.’ 

‘Gee thanks.’ Katara murmured.

‘No problemo. And hey, me and Suki were gonna sneak out and go snoop around the city later if you wanna come.’ 

Katara attempted a weak smile though she imagined it was hardly visible.

‘No thanks, I just want to lie down and sleep.’ She muttered as a response.

She doubted she would be able to sleep if she tried now.

‘Fair.’ He shrugged, though his demeanour seemed to shift slightly as he peered back over to her, like he had suddenly seen through a mirage.

‘You know, if you need to talk to me or anything, I’m here.’ He said awkwardly, ‘I guess all this Zuko stuff is pretty stressful. When I went to see him earlier he was practically sheet white.’ 

She hadn’t even registered that Sokka had come to visit. Tui and Lah, she really was losing it.

‘Yeah.’ She managed, ‘Yeah, it is.’

‘I mean don’t feel weird if you want to take a break.’ He exclaimed, suddenly more confident, ‘I keep thinking about what it must have been like when Zuko went down. Honestly, I don’t know how you did it, at least last time you had the magic healing water stuff…’

He continued rambling, thanking her for healing his leg and for something else she hadn’t heard at all but it all seemed to go fuzzy. Her entire body seemed to break out in hives, her palms sweaty. She really wished he would just shut up.

‘Katara? Katara, are you okay?’ 

Everything about the room, its bright windows and dark looming pillars seemed to crash back into her all at once. It felt like the wind was knocked from her sails and tears began to leak again.

‘Katara! What’s wrong?’ He placed his arms on her shoulders and back to support her.

‘Nothing, I’m fine.’ 

His face turned from shock to annoyance at an instance.

‘No, really what is it? Are those doctors overworking you or something? Did you even sleep?’ He demanded, his tone more hushed than angry however.

She backed away from his questioning,her back pressing against the wall. Slowly she cowered down, sliding down to the floor.

‘No, no its not that.’ She murmured, pressing her hands over her eyes.

After a silent moment, she heard her brother slide down next to her.

‘Well what is it then? Did…did I do something?’ He practically whispered.

She worried to herself about him hurting his knee sitting like this but it didn’t seem like the right moment to lecture him.

‘It…Its something that…If I tell you I know that you’ll hate me.’ She sniffled out, still refusing to look at him.

Still, she felt his blue eyes impending over her, seeing through her stupid tears. He probably already knew she was guilty.

‘I seriously doubt that.’ He snapped, quickly changing his tone back to the reassuring whisper, ‘Tell me and I promise I won’t be mad. When were you ever worried about making me mad anyway?’

She supposed she was right. The last time this had come up she had acted so self-assured, so confident. Now she was whining like a child.

‘I blood bended.’ She forced herself to speak each word, shame rising in her like steam. 

What had seemed so justified then felt like such a crime now. 

‘What? Against Azula?’ Her brother asked, his voice ripe with concern rather than anger.

‘No. I used it to keep Zuko’s blood flowing when his heart stopped. Before I could get the lightning away from his heart it stopped beating and I didn’t know what else to do.’ 

Sokka sat stunned for what seemed like hours, his face quite unreadable. Then, like time had been paused and played again, he wrapped her into a tight hug. 

‘I thought you hated blood bending!’ She exclaimed, shocked.

‘To hurt people! There’s a difference between saving the fire lord’s life and manipulating someone’s free will.’ He stated in that Sokka way, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

‘I guess you’re right.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat,

‘I’m always right.’ He smiled as he stood up, extending a hand to pull her up.

‘Not so true.’ She smiled, less weakly now.

The siblings spent the better portion of an hour wandering. Perhaps it was being alone with her brother for the first time in a year or the hostile aura of the palace but Katara couldn’t help but feel like her old self. It was as if every drop of fatigue had flushed from her body as her and Sokka scurried down hallways like children, giggling among themselves as palace staff stared them down suspiciously. 

It felt nice to not worry, even if it was just a single brief moment.

It didn’t take long for the novelty to fade, for that cracking feeling to rise up in her bones and muscles again. She had hardly realised how free it felt to escape the crushing weight of fear on her chest.

Her brother escorted her back to her room, mimicking some caricature of an astute fire nation butler he must’ve picked up in a play somewhere. 

When he finally left the silence was cold and stuffy. Though her windows were open wide and the sun shining in the afternoon sky, she just felt chilled. 

Hardly able to clamber her way from one side of the room to the next she slid off her robes with as little effort necessary, stripping down to just her most basic wrappings, and crawled like a snow rat in a tundra into the warm confines of her (still rather oversized) bed. 

It didn’t take long for sleep to take her, with far less effort on her end than Katara expected. Maybe it was the warm yet cool buzz of the silky bed sheets or the soft breeze wafting in but Katara could hardly stop her eyelids falling. 

When she woke up she was quite clueless as to how long she had slept, or what time of day it was at all, but in moments of her eyes screeching awake her heart was racing at the speed of a tornado.

‘Katara!’ A familiar, yet blurred face shouted at her, ‘Zuko's awake!’

Chapter Text

‘What?’ 

Katara was hardly awake enough to understand what on earth was happening but those words seemed to speak to her very soul.

Zuko's awake!

A person she now recognised as Toph loomed above her like a surgeon mid-procedure.

‘You heard me, Sugarqueen!’ She yelled, ‘Come on!’

The earthbender hardly gave her a moment to readjust to the light, or lack thereof, before hudling out of the room as if it were on fire. 

Katara took a half-second to rub the sleep from her eyes before pulling the sheets away from herself, her limbs discombobulated and confused. 

Scrambling in the dark, only now realising it was so dark, she pulled some kind of modesty robe from a decorated wardrobe she had been digging through the day before. Though the room was practically black, the only light source stemming from the slits of light echoing in through the open door, she could assume the robe was red and her eyes were probably in a similar state.

With no time to tame her unruly bed-hair or wash in the basin she dreaded being seen by presumably the entire staff of the palace. By the encompassing darkness of the gardens beyond her window, Katara could only assume it was the middle of the night, not that such a minor inconvenience would stop the palace staff. The place seemed to be in full running order 24 hours a day.

As she skidded down hazily lit marble hallways, strangely empty of servants, a new wave of nausea fell over her. It had not quite hit her thus far what exactly she was walking into here.

Zuko was awake . He would want to talk to her.

She grimaced imagining that conversation. 

Conversely, a golden thread in her mind was unravelling every emotion other than anxiety which had been so tightly woven away over the past days. The feeling of relief and joy was unmistakable.

Luckily, she had little time to experience any more emotions for the time being. The hallway to the medical wing, usually lit well by torch yet relatively isolated from large barrages of servants, now appeared flooded by black and brown hair and dark red and black tunics. Each face was turned away from her, their presumably excited expressions pointed towards the grand door to Zuko’s wing. 

‘Hey, move out of the way. Katara! Katara, come on!’ 

Sokka’s unmistakable voice sirened above the gentle buzz of intrigued speculation. 

Treating his word like a general’s order, the crowd turned to face her, wide eyes moving left and right to form a pathway for her, entire waves of people parting like strands of hair. With all eyes on her, Katara suddenly felt quite important. 

She also wished she had put a bit more effort into her appearance.

‘Finally.’ Her brother raved as she scuttled her way to the door, ‘Toph was back like an hour ago, what were you doing?’

‘Don’t exaggerate, Sokka.’ She rolled her eyes though secretly she peered back at the crowd as the doors rolled close behind them.

The sea of eyes seemed to hone in on her, moving as centerways as possible as the doors slowly came together.

‘When exactly did he wake up?’ She asked, realising only now that she had slept through perhaps one of the most important events in history.

She had dappled in the thought of Zuko’s death many a time in the past 48 hours, though it had never truly been something she believed. 

Only now the possibility was totally erased had it become so very frightening. 

‘Not long. We sent Toph to go get you the moment we heard.’ Sokka replied, his voice sounding more tired than it had earlier, perhaps he hadn’t yet slept, ‘Aang would’ve got there faster but Iroh didn’t think the Avatar running away from the fire lord’s bedside would be a good look.’

To that she nearly managed a smile.

‘And what time actually is it?’ She asked, half-whispered.

‘We ate a couple of hours ago, me and Suki were about to head off…to bed I mean.’ He blushed.

She wondered if they had managed to sneak away to the city or not. Knowing her brother he wouldn’t dare leave the palace knowing she was feeling so crappy.

‘Master Katara, you have arrived finally.’ A grey fire sage bowed his back as she approached, ‘The fire lord is-’

‘Alive and well, we know.’ Sokka interrupted, pulling her past the gaggle of important looking clergy people, ‘If we stayed and chatted Zuko would be dead from old age before we got to see him.’

She peered back for a moment, just long enough to catch the sage’s disgusted expression and angered eyes. That’s just what they needed, because fire sages didn’t hate them enough already.

The pair, walking at a pace Katara’s still sleepy legs would buckle under were it not for the adrenaline, made it to the curtain separating Zuko’s bed area from the the basins and medicine cabinets of the royal medical wing. How many times over these few days had she prayed for this moment? Walking through that stupid, dusty curtain and seeing Zuko awake? She shivered all over, though she still couldn’t place the fear. Surely this was what she had wanted?

‘Aang and Toph are probably already in there.’ Sokka turned to her, his hand gripping the edge of the fabric, ‘Are you okay?’

It was strange to see her brother so genuinely serious, of course she had seen it before, but it still made her feel strange.

‘I’m fine, Sokka, this is good news, remember?’ She smiled, false confidence eager in her cheeks.

He looked her up and down like a raised eyebrow before pulling back the curtain, its red fabric blending in with their fire nation clothes.

Everything in the room was just as it had been, however many hours before. The large canopy bed remained on its dais of deep brown stone, each sheer, red curtain fluttering in the non-existent wind. The urns of water she had used only earlier that day were still here, full of gleaming water yet to be used, their golden terracotta shimmering under the glow of the room’s candles.

But it wasn’t until she saw him that it all clicked into place that something was really different.

The cold, sleeping form of her friend had been replaced, a smiling man, wrapped in bandages and a thick robe sat up against the silky pillows she had rearranged for him. Spots where she had sat for hours, pulling and pushing the energy around his sorry body were now crumpled by movement or taken by eager airbenders. 

It was quite surreal, all in all. His wide smile, when was the last time she had seen him smile? It all seemed to attack her senses, all at once like a barrage of snowflakes flying on a chilled breeze. She felt the overwhelming urge to sob.

She didn't do that though, instead, she moved silently towards Zuko’s bedside like a mink snake honing in on its prey. Her eyes never left his face, though it seemed nobody had even noticed her and Sokka entering the room at all.

‘Hey guys.’ That was until Sokka strutted his way up to the others, cool as arctic snow.

Sometimes Katara wondered how they were even related.

‘Nice to see you, man.’ His tone shifted, as warm as the candles burning above him.

The two boys exchanged a brief half-hug. It wasn’t awkward or not awkward, it was just nice. On the opposite side of the bed, Aang and Toph watched on, Toph crossing her arms though Katara knew she really thought it was sweet.

It was only when Sokka stepped away that Zuko looked her fully in the eyes. She was glad to see his hadn’t changed at all, still glowing like embers in some dragon’s secret treasure trove. She hoped hers didn't look as dead as she was imagining they did. 

‘Katara.’ Was all he said, his voice somehow more raspy than before, like it hadn’t been used in years, though his smile said more than his words ever could.

For a moment she stood there, unable to move. She wasn’t sure what to say or what to do. She suddenly felt all those eyes on her, even if they only were her friends’. Before her brain had enough time to formulate, though, her body pushed her towards him, enwrapping the new fire lord in her tightest of embraces.

‘I’m so glad you’re okay.’ She whispered.

She assumed he meant to whisper back, but all he managed was a fit of coughs. She realised then perhaps a tight embrace was not the best move, considering his injuries. 

‘Sorry.’ She half-giggled, half-cringed, stepping back.

As his coughs subsided, Zuko lounged back onto the thick pillows behind his head. Much thicker, she now realised, than the mere sliders of comfort she had on her bed.

He smiled again, though his eyes winced slightly in pain. 

She stepped forward again, worried on her brow, but she was unable to assist before another guest arrived.

‘Uncle!’ Zuko sat up again sharply, falling back into fits of coughs almost immediately. 

Without asking Katara pulled a string of water from a nearby urn and swirled it into a nearby cup from his bedside.

Iroh swiftly climbed the dais, similarly pulling him into a warm bear hug, unaffected by his coughs and splutters. They seemed to share a word or two, between coughs, though Katara was too far to hear them. 

After a minute, Iroh turned to the rest of them, his smile warm and his face wrinkling to account for it.

‘Would you all mind allowing me and my nephew a moment to ourselves?’ He asked, though his kind tone retained the assertion of a general beneath its soft exterior.

Toph, Aang, Suki and Sokka mumbled to one another, climbing off their various pieces of furniture and filing out. Aang made sure to signal an over the top thumbs up to Zuko before falling behind the heavy curtain.

Katara began to follow them, leaving the water cup on Zuko’s bedside.

‘Master Katara.’ She stopped in her tracks, ‘Would you mind waiting out there for a moment.’ 

‘Yes…’ She managed, clearing her throat, ‘Of course.’ 

Katara stood like an ill fitting statue in the room beyond the heavy curtain. Servants, now permitted to clean the room of old bandages and refresh water urns, looked on at her with suspicion. 

She could hardly blame them, she herself wasn’t quite sure what she was waiting for.

At the very least their gossipy whispers distracted her from eavesdropping on Zuko and Iroh’s conversation. The curtain separating them was thick (and she was standing as far away from it as possible) but not that thick. With enough strain it was fairly easy to hear their every word.

Katara struggled to find a justification for eavesdropping on a, probably very confidential and emotional, conversation. 

She sighed and leaned up against the wall, out of the palace staffs’ way. She wished Aang or Toph were there too to break up the silence, even if it were only her perceiving it as awkward. 

She was also beginning to realise how little she had spoken to them since their victory. Aang had defeated the fire lord, won the one hundred year war for crying out loud yet she’d hardly sat down and really talked to him the way she used to. She had told herself it would all go back to normal when Zuko woke up, they would be their silly little group travelling the world again. 

Only now was she starting to force herself out of that willing ignorance. When Zuko was crowned, what would really happen?

‘Master Katara?’ 

As she followed Iroh’s calming smile back towards Zuko’s bedside, Katara tried to force away her uncertain future and focus on the good. Zuko was very much alive and well.

‘Katara.’ He smiled as she clambered onto the mattress opposite him, ‘It feels like we only just talked, but I guess it was actually days ago.’

Katara looked down, a brief smirk playing on her lips.

‘Well, I beat Azula for you.’ 

Zuko chuckled, careful not to overdo it and slip back into sputtering coughs.

‘I guess I never thanked you for that.’ He looked over at his uncle, ‘When I’m fire lord I’ll have to give you a fancy title or something to make up for it.’

‘Focus on making it to your coronation, first. I mean, jumping in front of lightning? What were you thinking?’ She smiled still, though under her skin a simmering itch of something she couldn’t place was rising.

‘I know, I know. Trust me, uncle has already lectured me about my recklessness enough times to write a book.’ 

His demeanour was so calm, almost playful. How could he not see that what he had done was so…so stupid?

‘Uh…I’ll just leave you two to it!’ Iroh smiled, somewhat nervously.

Perhaps he was picking up on the storm brewing in Katara’s brow and the obliviousness on Zuko’s pale face.

‘Clearly he didn’t lecture you enough.’ She crossed her arms over her chest, ‘You know, you’re gonna be the fire lord soon? You can’t just go throwing your life away willy nilly!’ 

It was strange, she had never felt anger at all when recalling the events of that night. Sure, she felt angry at Azula, angry enough to chain her up like a dog, but never Zuko. She was grateful; he had given his life for hers. 

So where was this all coming from?

‘What? You would have rathered I let you die? Surely, as fire lord, I should be doing my best to ensure others’ safety?’ He responded aggressively.

His voice was still hoarse and his bare chest inflamed, even beyond the bandages.

‘Not when it means you dying! You did die, you know!’ She yelled explosively, as if every pent up emotion crammed inside her were suddenly erupting all at once.

Zuko looked positively shocked and irate at the same time. At least that was familiar, him being angry at her.

‘Yeah I know. And you saved my life, why do you think I brought you with me to save Azula? Because I know you’re capable.’ 

She looked around the room, speechless- both in anger and surprise. 

‘I just don’t know what else you expected me to do?’ He waved his shrivelled arms around defensively, ‘You would genuinely have preferred I let you get hit? You would’ve died, one hundred percent!’ 

‘And? I’m not a fire lord!’ She stood up from the bed, her cross legged position making her feel like a petulant child being scolded by her father. 

‘You’re crazy!’ 

‘No, you’re crazy!’ Tears welled up in her eyes, warmth burning her cheeks, ‘Sacrificing yourself doesn’t make you anymore good or anymore just. It was a stupid decision and- and…and you’re stupid.’ 

With that incredibly well articulated final blow, she stormed out.

The weighty curtain tugged at her legs as she tried to push it demandingly from her path, threatening to trip her. Like a child acting out she yanked it with all her might and yelled out in frustration, practically racing out of the wing angry, crying and fresh with embarrassment.

The palace was rife with movement, despite the time, yet it seemed all of Katara’s friends had headed to bed. Sokka had looked half-dead last time she saw him, and truthfully she was embarrassed to be seen in her current state, but in her head what she wanted was a hug or someone to tell her she was in the right. 

Really, though, what was Zuko thinking? She had hardly paid head to his self-sacrificing but now she had said all that…stuff, it was hard to push back down. He really was an idiot if he thought she was more valuable than he was in that situation. What would’ve happened if he had died? She shuddered to think.

Slamming the door to her chamber behind her she splattered on her bed like the fire nation starfish she had spotted on Ember Island’s beaches. 

She tried to picture how each of her friends would react to her little outburst there. Even if it were imaginary, she was really in the market for some moral support.

Sitting up, she costumed her best goofy grin.

‘Katara!’ Her imitation of Aang was closer to the Ember Island Players’ rendition than the real thing, ‘Zuko is sick and our friend, he needs our help now more than ever.’

She rolled her eyes, perhaps instead of questioning her friends’ reactions she should be questioning her sanity.

‘You did the right thing Sugarqueen. If it were me I would’ve punched him in the face for being so nice to me!’

Toph’s advice was never much help to be fair, not unless it was to do with rocks or metal. 

‘Maybe Zuko was just…’ She gave up with that, nobody could predict the elusive being that was Sokka’s mind.

With a heavy sigh she slammed herself back against the bed and her shallow pillows. Only then did she remember she was currently sporting only a robe and wrappings and had been all evening.

She groaned, wiping her hands over her blushing face.

Chapter Text

Katara shoved another bite of salted vegetables into her mouth to avoid more questions.

‘So you yelled at him? Way to go, Katara, the poor guy isn’t even alive for a full day and you’ve already sucked all the joy out of him.’ Toph shrugged.

Almost undetectably fast, she suddenly elbowed Sokka’s greedy paws from her plate, freeing the dumplings he had stolen from it. 

‘Hey!’ He yelled, though his sour expression almost immediately turned back to Katara, ‘You know, you could always apologise.’ 

She sighed dramatically, placing her, surprisingly rested, head in her hands. 

‘Why should I have to? I wasn’t lying.’ She mumbled.

‘You told him he was crazy for not letting you die?’ Toph clarified, her mouth quivering, holding back a grin. 

‘Yep, it's not my fault he doesn’t value his own life.’ Katara rebutted.

‘Katara, can’t you just let this one thing go?’ Sokka rolled his eyes as he reached for another helping of meaty dumplings, ‘It would make stuff a lot easier for the rest of us.’

‘Well I’m glad that’s all I’m good for, thanks a lot guys.’ She huffed, slamming her chair against the table and storming out of the large dining room.

After Sokka’s half-hearted attempts to call her back, she could’ve sworn he said he would ‘Send Aang to sort her out’. 

Katara fled the nearest door she could find and found herself outside. She had been told the palace’s gardens were vast and beautiful, though she had never had time to personally explore them beyond walking to the square where Azula and Zuko had their fated Agni Kai.

Now she just wanted to go somewhere where people were less annoyed with her for being stupid. 

Maybe it was muscle memory but after only a few minutes of walking the gravelled paths, surrounded by manicured trees and meticulously catered, fire orange flowers, she found herself back at that very spot. The site of the Agni Kai.

She had assumed, were she to ever find herself back there, she would simply freeze up in some panic induced catatonia, but now she seemed apathetic. 

The dim grey and terracotta hues of the stones were much less saturated in the daytime, or perhaps she was simply lacking the effect of the moon. Lines of columns which had seemed so frightfully tall now appeared petite compared to the looming giants of the palace’s hallways. 

As she examined the area, yes, patches of patchy, dried blood sat baking in the sun. They were hardly noticeable were one not looking for them, which if anything, Katara found to be somewhat frightful. In her mind she had thought that staying away from this place would be for the best, to keep the fear and anguish of that night trapped alone in her memory. Now though, the lack of any physical reminders that she was there seemed more scary. What if Zuko had truly died or she had died and gone down as another nameless face in a fire nation history book. 

Azula had surely made her mark. 

Though contractors were already on the scene of the crime, bamboo scaffolding plastered the entire roofed walkway she had so easily shattered. Her scorch marks on the floor and pillars were there, though somewhat restored. 

Still, her fire would surely outlast the little remains of Katara’s water.

She inspected the water grate she had used to trap the fire nation princess. The metal was dry as bone, water continuing to flow beneath it like it always had and always would. It didn’t remember her, or being ice, at all. 

With that depressing thought, Katara wandered over to the fountains on either side of the square. Still water sat aimlessly inside their rigid stone rectangles, the only movement within it being the reflections of the square’s buildings being disrupted and distorted by a small family of turtle ducks, treating the reservoir like a paddling pool.

Slowly, careful not to agitate the small, furry things, she pulled an arm of water from the artificial pond. 

It felt refreshing to bend properly again, the cool rush of the liquid over her skin seemed to heal her hands’ scabbing skin better than her healing ever could.

As she raised the water from the ground, relishing every drop, the force  of the pushing and the pulling, she felt more peaceful than she had in a while. 

Recently she had found herself more homesick than usual. Maybe it was seeing her father again or spending countless nights awake because the heat was so suffocating, but she was starting to yearn for the frozen tundras she had once scorned. She craved pickled fish in a way that salted vegetables couldn’t fulfil. 

She dreamed of feeling her element under her feet again. To never be stranded without it. 

Water whipped through the air like a hawk in quick descent, shifting from circular motions in the air to harsh whips against imaginary Dai Li agents. Katara breathed in fully for the first time in a long while, unafraid to close her eyes in fear that they may never open again.

A harsh breeze washed over her, pulling the heat away from her sweating skin in a way that made it turn to gooseflesh all over. Almost instinctively, she wrapped her flowy, organza dress more tightly around herself.

‘Katara, are you okay? Sokka said you were out here somewhere.’ 

Katara dropped her stream of water seamlessly back into the pool, her head slightly hung.

‘Oh, hey Aang.’ She said, rather unenthusiastically, ‘I’m fine, just needed some…fresh air.’

Aang stood in the centre of the square with his staff by his side; Katara assumed he must’ve flown down when he spotted her. He looked around at the area, his brow furrowed.

‘What is it?’ She asked, sitting down cautiously on the bricks surrounding the water pool.

‘This…This is where you guys fought Azula, right?’ He asked in that way she had always found so endearing.

‘Yeah.’ Copying him she looked around, though she struggled to take much in now.

‘Why did you come out here all alone? I thought you’d be glad to not have to be alone after healing Zuko alone so much.’ 

Katara looked down at the ground, unsure how much he knew and unsure what to say. She had hardly spoken to him since the end of the war. They had hardly spoken since he had kissed her unprompted at the play.

Aang, in his infinite avatar wisdom, must’ve seen her visible dismay. For a moment, he sat by her side, though he was never one to be silent for too long. 

‘Sokka told me you…uh- yelled at Zuko…and called him crazy? Something like that.’ Aang scratched the back of his neck nervously. 

‘Yeah…something like that.’ She repeated.

‘Maybe you should talk to him. He seemed kind of bummed when I went to see him earlier.’ 

‘Let me guess, all he did was complain that I’m an ungrateful hog monkey who called him crazy for no reason?’ She spat.

‘No, actually he didn’t mention you, just asked if you were okay.’ Aang shrugged, kicking his legs.

That was a surprise. 

Actually, it really wasn’t. Of course Zuko, in his superior moral transformation, was suddenly the expert at taking the high ground. Now she really looked crazy.

‘Do you even get why I was mad at him though?’ She asked, looking up at him.

Aang seemed nervous at the mention of that, averting her gaze.

‘I get that you’re upset, he nearly died and I guess you kind of blame yourself, but that’s not what happened Katara. Well…I guess it kind of is really but what I mean is that he saved you because he’s your friend and he knew you could defeat Azula.’ 

Considering he was only the better part of twelve, Aang did know how to comfort someone. 

‘You’re right, I suppose.’ She wiped a stray tear on her wrist, ‘But I wish he hadn’t. It was dumb and thoughtless and if he had died there would be no fire lord and it would be…’

‘Not your fault.’ Aang added, looking at her with that smile that could melt even the deepest of icebergs, ‘Really, Katara, don’t blame yourself for stuff that isn't your fault. Sure what Zuko did was kinda reckless but everything he does is reckless, I bet he got his scar trying to surf a volcano or something.’

She flinched at the mention of Zuko’s scar. She hadn’t really realised she was the only member of the group that knew its true origin except for Zuko.

‘But anyway,’ Aang continued, ‘You’re beating yourself up over stuff that didn’t even happen! Now that's crazy.’ 

She smiled slightly, Aang had always had that infectious positivity that even she struggled to rival. Sure, she was the hopeful one, but he was always the happy one.

‘Thanks Aang.’ She muttered, ‘You know, you seem really chipper considering it's only been, what? Not even a week since you took down the fire lord? I don’t know how you do it.’ 

Aang seemed to calm down with the mention of the fire lord, levitating back down next to her. 

He smiled, like he were remembering some fond, faraway memory.

‘I guess I don’t have much to be mad about, or sad about. I defeated the fire lord without going against my morals, without going against my peoples’ beliefs.’ The light in his child-like eyes seemed to dim for a second, ‘I wish Monk Gyatso would’ve been there to see it.’ 

‘Oh Aang!’ She pulled him into a tight hug, wrapping him into her like a baby doll.

‘Its fine, Katara.’ He said, more confident than solemn, ‘It's not like I have time to worry about it all. When Zukos gets out of bed, I guess I won't be able to just fly around with Appa and spar with Toph all day. I’ll have to do boring old avatar stuff.’ 

‘When has avatar stuff ever been boring?’ She asked with a brief grin.

‘Well it will be now. At least I might finally be able to go back to the air temples and actually rebuild, bring my culture back, you know?’ 

She smiled like a proud parent, ‘That sounds great Aang. You know, I guess I’m pretty excited to go home too. Maybe I could open a school, a southern water bending school.’ 

Aang leaped up from his seat with the grace of a paper crane floating on the wind.

‘That sounds great, Katara!’ He exclaimed.

‘Thanks Aang, you know, I think…maybe I should go and try to talk with Zuko.’

The airbender smiled at her like a smitted child.

‘Sokka said he’d challenge me to a dumpling eating contest when I got back so..I’m pretty eager to get back.’ 

She shook her head and waved him off, ‘Go on then, have fun.’ 

As he glided off, with that familiarly harsh breeze rashing against her skin, she wanted to yell out after him: ‘Have fun, you deserve it!’

The medical wing was a ghost town compared to the busy race to see Zuko it had been the day before. 

It felt off. Maybe it was her chat with Aang putting things more into perspective or maybe it was the fact the doors to Zuko’s wing were standing wide open. 

When had they ever been left open like that? 

Cautious, she wandered in through the open doors, feeling like she was intruding on something. Had something happened to Zuko she supposed she wouldn’t have heard about it. Though it had felt like mere minutes apparently she had been out chasing waterfalls for more like two hours. 

Still, she would expect more hustle and bustle were something tragic to have happened.

The curtain which had split Zuko’s bed chamber from the rest of the royal medicinal wing was also open.

Katara winced thinking of the tens of times she had been forced to push herself between the marble wall and the curtain (which was unassumingly heavy). It had always been kept closed for the fire lord’s privacy.

Now she could see why it was open, though.

As she climbed the small dias Zuko’s bed was placed upon, she found the deep sheets gone and the mattress empty.

Chapter Text

Zuko’s bed was blank of any humanity at all. His sheets were clean, neutral browns, far from his usual deep reds. Every wrinkle was smoothed and the pillows the same shallow ones as in her room. 

Most worryingly, Zuko was nowhere to be found.

Katara felt herself start to sweat (at least, more than she already was, stupid fire nation and their stupid volcano capital city).

A tremor came over her as she spun quickly on her heel. Perhaps if she could find her brother or Toph or Iroh they could explain what was happening. 

Perhaps if she were in a better headspace she may have asked one of the many servants she passed on her tirade across the palace, succinctly ignoring their concerned glances, her mind set only on her friends.

It just didn’t make sense to her. 

Was it really possible for him to have recovered so fast he was already off galavanting? She supposed she hadn’t been healing him as regularly as she was before, maybe had miraculously recovered in the time she had been away from him.

Or maybe it was the worse option. Had he become so unwell that even the royal medical rooms were unfit for his condition? 

Worse…had he even left alive?

She felt her pulse spike with that final thought and shoved the concerns from her head with violent force.

All that waterbending had certainly calmed her nerves enough to talk to the guy, but finding him in worse condition than she had left him would take more than a quick chat with Aang to fix.

As she approached the area of the palace their group had been assigned, she peeked into each room, scanning quickly for any trace of someone familiar.

Most were empty guest rooms for music or entertaining or whatever rich, fire nation socialites got up to in the royal palace. A few had been used and were being replenished by staff members, the dining room being set for lunch, one of the many sitting rooms being redecorated after a botched talent show Sokka had apparently hosted to up moral (it turned out air bending displays and china filled sitting rooms didn’t match particularly well).

The last door on the left side of the hallway had been one the group had favoured the few times Katara had felt up to hanging out. It was a large-ish sitting room with the usual chairs and a desk, but it was the outstanding view of the city they had been so drawn to. Large windows almost filled the entire far wall, with a view reaching out over the entire front of the palace. Katara noted the steps she and Zuko had arrived at, where Azula had very nearly been crowned. 

At night, the moon was always on full display, the city below’s lights illuminating the darkness beneath it.

The room’s decorative doors were askew, open enough to see it without having to step fully into view.

Through the crack, Katara examined it. 

Toph.

Finally, someone who could tell her something, though, with Toph Katara could never be sure if she knew way more than she let on or was seriously just that unbothered about everyone else’s lives. 

Before she could push the door open, her heart practically jumped out of her chest. 

Zuko was lounging on one of the deep crimson love seats, his bandaged chest covered mostly by a basic set of robes, not dissimilar to those she had worn the day before.

She was suddenly glad she hadn’t barged her way in. Really, she wasn’t really even sure what to say to him and of everyone in the group, Toph was the last person she wanted to witness it. 

She would never live down her title as the evil witch who yelled at the poor, sick fire lord and then cowered at his feet for mercy.

Still, it was nice to see he was okay. She felt her heart slow back to normal, her sweat production decreased to the normal abnormal amount. Even knowing he was totally fine, though, she stayed put outside the door for reasons beyond her comprehension, she just couldn’t bring herself to leave.

‘I don’t know why you’re so tired when you've been asleep, for like, a month already.’ Toph winged, plopping herself on the sofa at a right ankle to Zuko’s, pulling her foot up towards her chest before beginning to pick at her toenails.

Zuko’s expression was a mixture of horror (which was understandable) and a strange gaze of both appreciation and relief. 

‘More like a couple of days.’ 

‘Oh, whatever.’ Toph [ut her head back against the arm of her chair, ‘You know, I’ve been asking you to spar with me for what? A month? Guess that’s off the table for a while. You just had to go and get struck with lightning, huh.’

Zuko only smiled, ‘Who knows, maybe I’ll be back to bending by next week. The doctors said I wouldn’t be able to get up for two weeks and I did that…easily.’ 

‘Oh yeah, all that hugging the wall and grabbing your chest in pain really screamed easily.’ She mocked, picking some unidentified gunk from her toenail. 

He looked offended, crossing his arms over his chest defensively, ‘Don’t exaggerate.’ 

‘When’s your dumb girlfriend gonna get here, then? The grumpy one who chased us down that one time, right?’ 

The annoyance on Zuko’s face seemed to dissipate, though his expression was far from lovestruck.

‘Mai? She wrote me a letter saying she should be here soon…though I don’t know how soon, soon is.’ He shrugged, seeming to cringe in pain the second he did. 

‘Sure can’t wait to have another sourpuss roaming around.’ Toph sighed dramatically, ‘And speaking of, Katara, if you’re gonna try and spy on our conversation it would help if you didn’t breathe so damn loud.’

Immediately, Katara’s heart dropped to her stomach. Without a second thought she dashed away from the door and around the corner. 

How dumb was she to forget that Toph would be able to see her? Damn Toph, always ruining her attempts to be sneaky.

As she turned the corner, she stopped to catch her breath. Though she was practically a metre away from the door, Toph’s little scare had genuinely knocked the wind from her. 

Silently, she rubbed her sore hands over her eyes, covering them with her shaking fingers to block out the light, and leaned against the wall. 

How many times did she need to embarrass herself this week before the spirits just let her be? 

She sighed deeply, pulling her fingers down her, still slightly sullen, cheeks.

Now, with the gift of sight reinstated, she could clearly see Zuko stood in front of her, looking quite concerned.

‘Aah!’ She physically recoiled.

Really, Zuko seemed more scared than her, his eyes wide.

‘Tui and La, you scared me.’ She stated the obvious, ‘I didn’t even hear you leave the room!’ 

‘We don’t all stomp like elephant mandrills, you know.’ Great, Toph also watched her nearly have a heart attack over nothing.

‘What are you doing walking around?’ She pointed a finger accusingly at Zuko, who seemed very panicked at the accusation, as if it weren’t blatantly true.

‘Uh…Because I wanted to?’ He replied as though he had never spoken to another human in his life.

The three of them stood in silence for a long while, nobody knowing how to quite break the ice.

Finally, Katara couldn’t take it anymore.

‘Zuko, could I talk to you?’ She asked nonchalantly, though internally she was squirming.

What on earth was she going to say to him where she didn’t sound crazy, fake or super crazy.

‘Sure…’ He replied, wiping the back of his neck.

They both looked over at Toph, though she either couldn’t see it through the palace’s floors or she was purposely being obtuse for the sake of causing them slight discomfort. Either was possible with Toph. 

‘Alone.’ Katara clarified.

‘Oh, fine.’ The earthbender turned to leave.

‘And no eavesdropping!’ Katara called after her. 

‘No promises, Sugarqueen!’

Katara seethed silently at Toph. 

She rolled her eyes, bringing her gaze back to Zuko.

He stood there awkwardly. He wasn’t leaning on anything, perhaps an attempted show of strength, though discomfort was evident on his face. 

She examined him like a true medic would, only with her eyes. The skin unaffected by his scar looked clammy and sallow and his under eyes especially so. 

Though he was wearing a robe with full-length arms, she could sense the fragility of his limbs through the layers of material. She supposed it wasn’t a dissimilar set of symptoms to how Aang had been after Azula had struck him down, though by the time he had woken up he had been sleeping for so long, with such rigorous healing, he was practically brand new save for the loss of muscle from being unable to train.

‘You should sit down.’ Katara smiled weakly at Zuko, who pretended to be unaffected by her words.

‘I’m fine.’ He said, attempting coolness, his voice wavering as he did so.

‘Just sit.’ She practically demanded, and the prince wasn’t quick to get back on her bad side.

Katara pulled him through the closest door to them, a small office space with a desk and a few decorative arm chairs. Zuko sat down, less than gracefully, on the closest one. The relief on his face was obvious.

Katara began pacing back and forth in front of him. She imagined it was quite clear that she was clueless about what to say to him.

Usually, conflict resolution came so easily to her. She was full of inspiring speeches and all that sappy stuff, but now? It seemed the days of exhaustion had depleted her remaining stash of kind words.

‘Before you say…whatever you wanted to say to me, can I say something?’ Zuko stuttered.

A rush of anxiety struck her, a contradictory flood of relief soon after it. She doubted he would have anything good to say to her considering their last conversation.

‘You’re crazy!’ 

‘No, you’re crazy!’ Tears welled up in her eyes, warmth burning her cheeks, ‘Sacrificing yourself doesn’t make you anymore good or anymore just. It was a stupid decision and- and…and you’re stupid.’ 

Internally she cringed at the thought. 

Her social skills had really taken a downturn recently. Or maybe he was just too unsociable that he became a vacuum, sucking any and all of her social-ness out of her.

‘Sure…’ She looked down at the floor and bit her nail.

She realised after a few seconds she probably should’ve sat down, level the playing field a bit, but it seemed awkward to do it now.

Zuko took in a deep breath like he were hyping himself up to do a plunge into a frozen lake.

‘Look, I wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I was yesterday…and also for nearly dying, I guess. I just- I didn’t think it through, it was a heat of the moment thing and you’re right when you say it was dumb but…but I’m still glad I did it, because we won.’ He paused and looked at her for a moment, expecting a reaction.

When he didn’t get one he kept going.

‘I’ve been thinking about it, uh, what I said to you I mean, and I just wanted to figure out why me doing…what I did-why it made you so mad. And I just wanted to say sorry, if I was reminding you of your mom or something…I get you kind of feel responsible for that, even though you shouldn’t, so maybe the thought of me also trying to do something for you and getting hurt…maybe it like, made you think of that.’

Katara wasn’t sure what to make of that. She was sure that Zuko could see that was the case.

‘Well, uh, anyway. What I mean to say is…I’m sorry for calling you crazy, because you’re not crazy.’ 

She stood still for an awkwardly long length of time, just processing what in the name of Tui and La he had just said.

And I just wanted to say sorry, if I was reminding you of your mom or something

What was he talking about? Had she mentioned her mom in the heat of the argument or something? She was totally speechless.

Before she had even a brief formulation of how to respond, she noticed the feeling of hot tears streaming down her cheeks again.

How many times was she going to cry this week?

Zuko looked around like a lost polar puppy, even through her hazy vision she could see his discomfort.

‘Are you okay?’ He picked at his lip, ‘Should I go find Aang or…’

She shook her head slightly and slowly placed herself on the chair beside his, wiping her tears on her dress’ flowy hem.

‘No…no I’m fine.’ She mumbled, ‘I don’t even know why I’m crying.’

He looked down at the ground, probably hoping she would run out and never come to ‘talk to him’ again. 

She sucked in a shaky breath before she started speaking.

‘You don’t really need to apologise for anything, you know. I was the one who was acting crazy, but I guess I never really had a reason as to why.’

Zuko shifted in his seat to face more towards her, obviously trying to conceal the pain in his chest as he did.

‘What do you mean?’

She shook her head again, more subtly now, ‘I never really connected you to my mother, but now you mention it, I guess you’re right.’ 

Her tentative hand reached up to feel the smooth surface of her mother’s pendant. 

‘I guess I always sort of blamed myself for our mom dying, I mean, she sacrificed herself so that I could live…that isn’t something easy to grapple with.’ 

‘I know the feeling.’ He seemed to subconsciously reach his hand to his scar.

She bit her cheek, ‘I’m sorry that I blamed you for doing something selfless, even if it was reckless and dumb. I should really be thanking you, you did save my life.’ 

‘And then you saved mine so…I guess we’re even.’ Zuko attempted a smile, but it was the clear twinge of discomfort in doing so that made her smile back.

They sat in the warmth of their own silence for a moment before Zuko gripped at his chest. It was a subtle move, calculated so that she wouldn’t be concerned, but of course, she was.

‘I seriously don’t know how the physicians let you leave your bed when you’re like this.’ She stood up and came to his side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, ‘I’m taking you back to the medical wing whether you like it or not, you need to rest, not be galavanting around with Toph-’

‘No!’ He suddenly yelled, immediately looking plagued by some mix of shock and regret, ‘I mean…nahh, uh, I’m fine here.’ 

He tried to put his hands behind his head as though he were lounging on ember island, but the motion of lifting his arms alone sent him writhing in pain.

‘Right…’ Katara looked around, confused.

Zuko attempted to make a comeback, attempting a ‘chilled out’ sort of look before immediately collapsing back into a tired lump of mush in a chair. 

‘Fine. But can we just go to my room? Or I could just lay down on a couch…’ He bargained.

‘You need a bed, and what's so wrong with the medical wing? Your room in there is nicer than mine.’ She struggled, helping to pull him up from the chair like an elderly man.

He grimaced and rolled his eyes slightly, ‘I know it makes me sound lame but the medical wing is just…depressing. It's lonely and it smells of medicine. Literally the only memories I have of that place are from visiting my grandfather Azulon before he, uh, died, and visiting my uncle when he came back from Ba Sing Sei. It just gives me the heebie jeebies, alright?’ 

She could hardly argue with all that, anyway, if his bed was more comfortable in his room he would surely recover faster. 

He guided her to his wing of the palace, her supporting him to stop him from collapsing in the middle of the hall (where was Toph when she actually needed her?).

When they arrived, with his room luckily being relatively close to where the rest of them were staying, Katara couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. His room was practically the same size as hers, the furniture just as nice as hers too. 

She knew he wasn’t fire lord quite yet, but surely the crown prince deserved the next best?

‘Thank you, Katara.’ He said as he reclined back and let go of a breath that sounded like it had been suffocating him.

‘Don’t worry about it.’ She smiled, gently pulling a handful of water from an urn a servant must have prepared for bathing, ‘But seriously, don’t overexert yourself, all that’ll do is make it harder to bounce back.’ 

The motion of spreading the water over his crusting scar was comforting, suddenly the tears that had been uncontrollable mere minutes ago were a thing of the distant past. She realised she had missed this, having a goal, a routine. 

‘You sound like my uncle.’ He rasped, cringing as she itched out painful spots, ‘All he’s ever done is tell me to slow down. Now all I hear is that I need to be up and running as soon as possible.’ 

‘Whoevers telling you that is dumb, the war is over, we have all the time in the world.’

‘I guess your brother must be pretty dumb then.’ He grinned, ‘He’s been the leading supporter of getting a coronation up and going. Luckily his girlfriend…uh…’

‘Suki.’ She shook her head dismissively.

‘Oh yeah, Suki has been keeping him busy at least. Aang too. I don;t think he’s exactly eager for a coronation.’

‘Why? What has Aang been saying?’ She raised an eyebrow.

‘He didn’t say anything, he’s just young. He defeated the fire lord, I guess he just wants a break, a reward or something. Instead all he’s gonna get is more and more work. There’s never enough peace to go round.’ He snarked, staring up at the ceiling aimlessly.

Katara considered his words for a moment. She had sort of been thinking the same thing. Aang did deserve a break, he deserved to be a kid and to reconnect with his culture on his own time, without some crazy bad guy screwing up his day. 

‘I get it, but Aang isn’t just a dumb kid anymore. He’s grown up.’ She sucked in a breath before sighing as inconspicuously as possible, ‘I know he won’t run away anymore.’

‘I hope you’re right.’ Was all he could respond.

Chapter Text

Zuko was supposedly at breakfast the next day, though of course Katara had chosen that day to sleep in. 

‘He said he was gonna be pretty busy all day, or something.’ Toph relayed to her between moves, ‘I think Iroh is pressing for him to become fire lord as soon as possible.’ 

As she finished the sentence she narrowly missed Aang with a boulder, the airbender nearly losing his fancy new fire-nation regalia in the process. 

Katara sat on the steps watching them spar. For once she was neither extremely busy nor an emotional wreck.

‘Really? All the times I talked to him Iroh was pretty set on Zuko getting as much recovery time as possible.’ She shrugged.

Was it possible a safety concern had arisen? Maybe a coup to get the crown before Zuko could.

She yawned and sat back against the step behind her, she was trying her best to shove all those festering thoughts to the very back of her consciousness. 

For the first time in weeks she had slept well, no more worrying about the fire lord causing havoc, Aang losing them the war or Zuko dying in his bed. From here on out it would be smooth sailing.

She had mapped it all out:

She would stick around until the coronation. By then, her dad should have arrived with the rest of the water tribe soldiers for the celebration of the official end to the war.

Then, Sokka, their dad and her would sail back to the south. She hadn’t quite ironed out whether Aang or Suki (or maybe even Toph) would be wanting to come too. 

She would then have plenty of time to help rebuild her tribe, perhaps with the help of the North now they were less preoccupied by the fire nation, and start a school for teaching waterbending. She was the last southern waterbender after all, if she didn’t teach it who would?

Of course, she would be going to and fro every so often to see Aang, who she assured would be off to the air temples as soon as he could, and back to the fire nation to see Zuko.

She could practically already taste the seal jerky she had so long been thirsting for. The palace staff had tried their best in replicating it but without the seal it was pretty hard to get it quite right.

‘Katara!’ Someone called from behind her, snapping her out of her seal-jerky related daydream.

Toph and Aang ceased their fighting for a moment, with Toph (perhaps accidentally) smacking Aang in the stomach with a rock slab when he suddenly stopped.

Katara stood up and turned around. 

‘Katara!’ The voice was getting louder and by now it was clear who it was causing such a commotion. 

She watched as her brother barrelled down the hallway to the top of the steps, his face melting into a huge smile when he finally locked eyes on her. Behind him, panicked palace staff were chasing after him with concerned pleas.

‘Katara! Check this out!’ He waved a handful of parchment above his head like a victory flag.

‘Excuse me, Sokka of the water tribe, but I believe you have some rather confidential documents in your possession which I will require back!’ A rather posh gentleman in a butler’s uniform wheezed, the poor man nearly keeling over; he was so red and sweaty.

‘Oh, these old things? Nah, I don’t need them, just this one.’ Sokka handed over the bulk of the stack of paper to the man, the servants looking both overwhelmingly relieved and annoyed, though he kept a single piece in her tight grip.

‘Well, what is it?’ Aang asked, gliding over to where Katara was standing.

Sokka came tumbling down the stairs like an overexcited child.

‘Guess.’ Her brother grinned with glittering eyes.

‘Oh come on.’ Toph rolled her eyes purely through her tone.

‘A letter from Dad?’ Katara guessed.

She pulled his arm towards her and scanned the rolled scroll for any clues. As Sokka turned it over, she noticed the twine holding the roll together was stamped in grey wax with a seal she recognised.

‘Oh my gosh, it is from Dad!’ She exclaimed.

‘It just came in, I haven’t even opened it yet.’ He smiled from ear to ear as he carefully peeled away the wax seal and unpicked the twine.

‘Read it out.’ She commanded.

‘Dear Sokka and Katara, hey that’s us!’ Sokka squealed.

‘Give it here.’ She snatched it from him and pulled it to her chest so it would catch the light.

Dear Sokka and Katara,

I hope this letter finds you as well as it finds me. If my sources are correct, you two and your friends defeated the fire lord. I cannot express how proud I am of you two. Me and my fleet have just received the news and we have set sail for the fire nation capital. 

If you had told me on the day of the eclipse that in a few short weeks me and the entire fleet would be sailing into the fire nation without hesitation, and instead cause for celebration, I would have called you mad. 

Anyway, I will see you both soon, stay safe and keep the new fire lord under a close eye. I cannot wait to see you.

Love, Dad.

‘Yes!’ Sokka sprang into the air, punching his fist upwards as he went, ‘Give it here, let me read it.’ 

Katara only smiled, words seemed to escape her, she was so happy. How many times had they been separated? She had lost count at this point, but now they would finally be together again, forever this time. 

‘So your Dads coming here for the coronation?’ Toph asked.

‘I guess so.’ Katara beamed

‘Suki! Suki come down here! It's a letter from our Dad!’ Sokka hollered up the stairs. 

The kyoshi warrior pattered down the steps. It was strange seeing everyone still totally decked out in fire nation kit, but it was till sort of strange seeing Suki at all without her makeup. 

‘Seriously? Oh, Sokka, that’s great!’ She pulled him into a tight hug, ‘Did he say if he’s coming here?’ 

‘Yeah, he said they’re all coming for the coronation, I bet they’ll be here in a few days.’ 

The two began gushing and kissing. Katara took a big step back and turned over towards the others.

‘We haven’t seen your dad since…Zuko and Sokka broke him out of prison. Woah, that feels like ages ago.’ Aang marvelled.

‘I guess you’re right, Aang.’ Katara shrugged, ‘ Honestly, I’m just ready to go home. No offence to Zuko or anything but the Fire nation is way too hot and they put chillies in everything, it's like is there anything here not trying to burn me alive?’ 

As Aang began to ramble on about the air temples, she noticed Toph seemed to have drifted away from them. She was literally kicking rocks behind a nearby tree.

‘One second, Aang.’ She walked off towards the earthbender.

Aang seemed offended she had cut him off but rather than following her he just blushed and wandered off in a sulk. 

‘Hey, Toph, are you…alright?’ She asked.

Toph had always been an earthbender in her approach to feelings. She had seemed to be more open with the others than with Katara, but overall she seemed to prefer ignoring anything that wasn’t laughter at the pain of others or anger.

‘I’m fine.’ She murmured as she, rather aggressively, launched a pebbled across the rocky training area with her foot.

As Katara thought over the conversation, before and after Toph left, it clicked.

‘You’re thinking about your parents, aren’t you.’ 

Toph half-shrugged and wiped her eye as inconspicuously as she could. 

‘I’m sure they’re proud of you. It's one thing for your daughter to run off with the avatar but it's another for her to have ended the one hundred year war and mastered an entirely new form of bending!’ 

Toph shook her head, ‘I guess you really don’t know my parents.’ 

Katara sighed.

‘I really want to forget that they sent a pair of idiots to kidnap me and take me back to them, I mean they’re my parents after all, but at the same time, I know them. My dad won’t magically think I’m a strong, capable person just because I saved the world. He sees me as weak and helpless, a stupid, little blind girl who can’t do anything but be helped.’

She bowed her head.

‘I guess I just don’t want to go back there only to lose all the freedom I’ve gained by being out here with you guys. But if I don’t go back, where else am I supposed to go? You and Sokka have your dad and Zuko has to stay here, Aang always has somewhere to be but even when he’s not avatar-ing he at least has the air temples. Without my family, I’m just some runaway with no purpose.’ 

Katara watched slim tears trickle down Toph’s fair cheeks and almost instinctively pulled her into a hug. She had expected her to fight or push her away, but instead she leaned into it.

‘You know you always have a family with us, Toph. Maybe you wouldn’t like the south but its always there for you to visit. Plus, I’m sure Aang will always need benders to help renovate the temples.’ She pulled away from the hug to look Toph in the eyes, though she realised too late how pointless that was.

‘Look, Toph, you always have a purpose, outside of us or with us. For one, you’re the only metal bender in the world. Even beyond that, you’re smart and strong and funny. No matter where you go I’m sure there will be someone who needs you.’

Toh wiped her tears on her arm.

‘Thanks Katara.’ She smiled slightly.

‘No problem.’ 

The rest of the day seemed to fly by.

Katara finally found time to relax, mostly she was wandering the gardens with Sokka and Suki or sun bathing as she watched Aang fly around above her. Toph seemed in better spirits than she had, though Zuko’s lack of presence was notable.

Toph had said he would be busy all day but once dinner had passed and she hadn’t so much as caught a glimpse of him, she started to worry. She had warned him against trying to do too much so soon, but then again, nobody ever listened to her. 

After finishing her noodles and komodo chicken dumplings she made it her evening mission to find Zuko and force him to eat and get some rest. Sure, she was kind of sick of having to mother everyone all the time, but at the same time she was rather eager to get away from Sokka and Suki. Their affectionate love language had been sweet at first but now it was sickening.

Not only was having to watch her brother stick his tongue in her mouth grim, but it also made her realise that it wasn’t just her and Sokka anymore. She was alone, he had Suki. 

At the same time, though, she was glad someone else had to deal with his dramatics, honestly, she wasn’t sure how Suki hadn’t had a mental break yet.

With the distraction of the happy couple sparring in the middle of the living room, much to Toph and Aang’s enjoyment, she slipped away secretly. She wasn’t sure why she was treating this ‘task’ like a secret objective hand picked for her by the secret fire nation intelligence league but she knew if she had told Aang or Toph er plans they would’ve called her a worrywart and begged her to stay and watch (and do all the cleaning up after they inevitably spilled a vase or ripped a cushion in half, but they never seemed to menton that part). 

Unfortunately, she was rather unsure where zuko might actually be. Outside of their group’s hallway, bedchambers and the medical wing, Katara was quite clueless to the inner workings of the palace.

After half an hour of pointless meandering around various corridors, which all sort of blended into one dark, red blob in her mind, she decided to give in and ask a member of staff where she could find the soon to be fire lord.

She managed to track down a sweet, yet timid, servant girl carrying a tray of assorted parchments coming out of a large, important looking room, though Katara had little jurisdiction to guess what it may be for. 

‘Excuse me.’ She asked, though the girl seemed to pale as Katara approached, ‘Hi, I was wondering where i could find Zu- uh, the fire lord?’ 

The girl’s eyes darted around suspiciously, as if she were being interrogated rather than asked a simple question.

Katara was immediately on high alert. Were her suspicions true that there was a coup against Zuko, this girl fit the bill of an inside mole.

‘Master Katara.’ The girl instantly bowed her head, ‘I- I was just about to take these to Prince Zuko’s study…I could show you the way though I’m afraid I cannot guarantee he will see you.’

She seemed to flinch despite Katara hardly moving at all.

‘Alright.’ Katara smiled, her brow slightly furrowed, ‘That would be great, thank you…’

‘Lai.’ She squeaked.

‘Thank you, Lai.’ 

The girl shuffled through the towering corridors like a robot, navigating the labyrinth with ease. They passed through huge porched walkways leading out into small gardens with ponds and fountains, large walls of windows and columns as tall as mountains. 

Katara swore she had never seen any of it in her life, though she wouldn’t have been surprised if she had. It was like wandering the tundra in a snowstorm, everywhere looked the same, even if you’d lived there your whole life you wouldn't have known it.

Lai finally came to a medium sized door, though what it lacked in size it made up for in its ornate decoration. A scarlet dragon chased horizontally along the middle of the doors, two heads meeting at the line where the two doors connected, their intricate faces acting as door knobs. 

She knocked timidly before pushing the door open with minimal force. The door closed before Katara had any opportunity to join her so she awkwardly waited outside. 

She imagined she blended right in with the scenery in her red and black tunic and flowy trousers. Truthfully, she quite liked the style she had been forced to wear the past few weeks in the fire nation. Perhaps that was blasphemy against her tribe but she knew in her heart it was true. That didn’t mean to say she wasn’t excited to get back into her leggings and parkas without their fabric sticking to her perspiration or her sweat staining her armpits. 

Just earlier that day a team of women herded them all up for a ‘fitting’, which Katara assumed was for the coronation as the women preferred barking commands over giving much context. Supposedly, fabrics from the Earth Kingdom and ones inspired by the Water Tribe were being brought over specifically for them.

Still, she supposed she would miss the wishy washy organza when she went back home. She always thought she would look good in red. 

‘His highness is ready to see you, Master Katara.’ Lai bowed in front of her again, leaving the door ajar. 

The girl scuttled off with her empty tray before she could thank her, both for bringing her there and for using her proper title. 

‘Katara!’ Zuko exclaimed as she wandered in, ‘Is something wrong?’ 

She shuffled gawkily into the spacious study. Candles on the walls and ceiling lit the room up with a golden glow, and the wooden panelling covering the walls gave it a homely feel.

He was sitting at a large desk opposite the door, his chair certainly being one fit for a king with padded fabric seats and a golden trim around its wooden frame. Though the desk’s surface was littered with papers, the rest of the room was quite neat, with only a map of the fire nation and a decorative ink painting of a bonsai tree hanging on its walls.

‘Well, no. I just haven’t seen you all day, I was worried you were overworking yourself again.’ She noted the ink brush in his hand, ‘And I guess I was right to worry.’ 

He sighed and looked around at the parchments, guilty. He wiped his hair from his forehead. It was only then she noticed how red his eyes were, how his face was indented with red lines and a smudge of ink, almost as if he had been sleeping at his desk.

‘Really, Katara, you don’t need to be so scared for me all the time. I’m fine, seriously.’ 

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms defensively over her chest.

‘I’m being serious!’ He exclaimed, ‘Uncle was just showing me the right way to do a few things, and I’ve been getting all these letters which I need to reply to, you know, soldiers and…stuff like that.’ 

He sighed and placed his head in his hands.

‘Where is your uncle anyway? Toph said he was the one pushing you to be doing all this when you should be resting.’ She looked around, demanding. 

‘He’s in a meeting with the generals, it turns out ending a one-hundred year war is pretty difficult, especially when you were the one that started it.’ 

She exhaled and moved towards him, ‘Well, you’re not fire lord yet and if you even want to make it to your coronation you ought to be getting some sleep.’

She snatched his brush from his hand, ‘These can wait until tomorrow.’ 

He looked at her as if he were angry yet he made no effort to stop her. Slowly, he hauled himself out of his chair with laboured breaths. 

The next few days were hazy, though Zuko was at least following her advice.

Iroh seemed to have stepped up in the helping out department since she found Zuko practically falling asleep replying to letters. These past few days he had been more focused on the ‘being able to walk more than a few metres without keeling over’ part of his recovery. 

If she knew one thing about him it was that he was determined, in hardly a couple of days he was already fire bending again, though nowhere near his previous abilities, it was a start. His hollow cheeks were back to their normal level of hollowness and his skin had returned back to pale from the ghostly shade of white it had been before. 

Aang and Toph were quick to swarm him, like momo to lychee nuts, and it was hard to deny that their overwhelming annoyingness was a contributing factor to Zuko being able to walk again. On a kinder note, their enthusiasm, taking him out for walks like a puppy or bickering for so long he was able to fall asleep, seemed to be genuinely helping him. 

By the day of the coronation, he seemed worlds better than he had just a short week ago.

The day was as hectic as could be imagined. 

Their group had been mostly kept out of the loop. Maybe there was a major military operation undergoing or maybe Iroh just couldn't be bothered to keep updating them, but to some extent Katara was glad to be rid of some responsibility. 

The morning was normal, though waking up to see her custom made ‘water tribe’ outfit was a feeling she couldn’ place. It was far from perfect, fire nation seamstresses weren’t used to their thicker fabrics and furs, and their typical outfits would hardly have been suitable for the weather anyway, yet Katara loved it like she had made it herself.

Breakfast was delicious, she seemed to have acclimated to the spice by now, and the anticipation of the day made their table buzz with excitement. 

Zuko was nowhere to be found, though that was to be expected. She had an appointment for a final healing session with him later in the day, before everyone began arriving. She imagined he would be freaking out, so she decided to leave him be, either way, Aang was mess enough. 

‘Aang, it’ll be fine, you already did the hard bit, it's all downhill from here.’ She told the monk as he sat against the wall of the living room, his face glum with anxiety.

‘Exactly, and anyway, it's not like you’re totally alone. You can always come back to the water tribe with us.’ Sokka shrugged, wrapping his arm around Suki, ‘Or you could stay here with Zuko, or go to Kyoshi with Suki or go…wherever Toph ends up.’

Their speeches didn’t seem to cheer him up.

‘Speaking of, I’d better go get ready. The Kyoshi warriors should be getting here any minute. Your dad too.’ Suki waved, standing up and dashing off to her room. 

All that seemed to do was make Aang retreat more.

‘Come on, Twinkletoes, everyone here is on your side, just make something up about coming together and rebuilding, you know, sappy, dumb stuff like that.’

‘Why can’t you guys get it?’ He burst out, standing up with clenched fists, ‘It feels like only yesterday I fought Ozai and now everythings changing again. You’re all going off to the South or wandering around the Earth kingdom, what about me? We were supposed to stay together, you said it to Toph the other day, Katara, we were supposed to be a family!’

‘Instead you’re all leaving and I’m stuck as the stupid avatar. I did my duty but now it doesn’t even matter if…if I don’t get to celebrate with you guys.’ 

Katara and Sokka exchanged concerned glances, though before they had the chance to rebuttal, a hoard of handmaidens pushed them out of the room to get changed. The ceremony would be starting soon enough. 

As two servant girls fiddled around with Katara’s hair, quite unsure how to style it she presumed, Katara admired herself in the floor length mirror opposite her.

The dress the seamstresses had made for her was utterly beautiful, perhaps one of the most elegant things she had ever worn. The fabric was clearly not Water Tribe, though its blue colour could certainly have fooled any average onlooker. It’s style was classic, similar to the many tunics and dresses she had worn on their travels thus far, though it notably lacked the leggings and long sleeves, making up for it with thin, baggy trousers under her knee length skirt. 

It was adorned with the most intricate embroidery Katara had ever seen, with what looked to be thousands of miniature, iridescent beads hand stitched along the lighter-blue hem and waist tie. Even the shoes they had found were flashy. They were quite standard fire nation boots, though they appeared to have been hand embroidered with blue and brown threads in designs she recognised as some distant attempt at Water Tribe patterning.

Even without the authenticity, it was hard not to love the entire look. She had expected the fire nation to be much less accepting, especially the palace, however it seemed they either didn’t care for the imperialism of the previous fire lords, or were simply too scared to speak up against a master waterbender. 

As Katara finished that thought, massaging the beaded material between her fingers as if it were a soft blanket, the handmaids excused themselves, leaving her alone to touch anything up. 

The style they had chosen for her hair was lovely, though very fire nation. Reluctantly she pulled a few strands from the front of the top-knot they had tied half of her hair into, and looped them across her face, securing them with her trusty beads and a golden pin she found laying on the dressing table. 

Her makeup was minimal, though her skin seemed to hate even that much, probably from lack of adjustment to it. She guessed makeup was much more widely used in the Fire Nation upper echelons since Azula seemed to always be painted with red lipstick and blackened eyes. 

Dabbing her cheeks carefully with a cloth to help stop the burning, she departed her room and found herself back in their communal space where Sokka, Toph and Zuko were waiting.

‘Looking good, girl.’ Sokka finger gunned at her awkwardly, which was hard to do considering how undeniably cool her outfit was. 

Similar to hers it mimicked what he usually wore, only adjusted for the weather and decorated much more highly with embroidery and a complimentary sash.

‘Give my thanks to the seamstresses, these clothes are amazing.’ katara smiled at Zuko.

He nodded though he seemed preoccupied.

‘I don’t know how they look but they sure as hell don’t feel amazing.’ Toph winged, ‘Whatever these little ants they stuck to them are making my skin itch like crazy.

Her usual wrestling get up had hardly been changed, it's only upgrades being the quality of the fabric and the beads stitched into the hems and belt. 

‘They let you ditch the shoes, at least.’ Her brother shrugged, biting into a crisp apple. 

She shook her head disapprovingly, of course he would be eating now of all times. She was practically waiting for the moment he slobbered a huge chunk down his freshly made clothes.

‘Uh, not to sound rude but are you seriously wearing that to your own coronation, dude?’ He asked Zuko with a raised eyebrow.

Katara had hardly noticed his clothes, so distracted by their own. He was still wrapped in a plain robe, his bandaged chest showing through. 

‘No, you’re right I should go get ready.’ He sighed and stood up with a little twinge as he did.

Katara smiled as she shook her head.

‘Maybe we should get on and do that final healing session. It kind of looks like you’re having some pain-’

She hardly got to finish her sentence before Zuko was rushing past her and across the room.

‘Mai!’ He grinned.

‘Don’t tell me that’s what you’re wearing, fire lord?’ She teased, immediately pulling him into a tight hug.

It was strange to see her so…emotional? Katara had hardly realised they were together until Sokka told her about the prison break. Since, she had practically forgotten she existed all together, Zuko talked about Azula more than he did his own girlfriend. 

The two pulled into a kiss and Katara swivelled to avert her eyes. Not that she found kissing gross, she wasn’t a child, she just felt some uncomfortable feeling in her chest whenever her friends, or worse, her brother, felt the need to do it right in front of her.

Sometimes it was plain ‘eugh’, an icky sensation that trickled down her spine like whenever she thought about Gran Gran and Paku kissing. Other times, though, it was something that burned. She found it hard to call it loneliness, because she was far from lonely, she had all her friends around her constantly. At the same time, though, something just didn’t feel right, like she was missing out or something, falling behind.

It was only then that the kissing broke up as Aang decided to show his face.

Unlike Zuko, he was dressed and looked much more impressive than the rest of them.

His childish poncho and tunic had been switched out for a true monk’s uniform with a long clock and long, baggy trousers. Everything was yellow from his shirt to his shoes, save for a few orange accents in his belt and necklace. Immediately she recognised it as being so similar to that of Monk Gyatso, with large orange feathers and a wooden pendant hanging between a long string of beads. 

Unlike the rest of them, he was decorated hardly in embroidery, only decorating the very edges of his sash. It was much more ‘monk’ than it was avatar, but Katara supposed that was the point.

Maybe it was being back in his own colours or the catharsis of his outburst, but Aang seemed to have the colour back in his cheeks and the air back in his step. 

‘Woah! Aang you look like a super sick airbending ninja monk or something.’ Sokka marvelled, standing up to pull at his cloak. 

‘I’ve seen better.’ Toph remarked from her position lounging on the couch.

Katara rolled her eyes and noted Zuko filing off to be dressed.

The coronation would start soon.

From their window, the preparations had looked grand, but from the ground level they looked even better.

Despite the short notice, the grand square leading up to the palace was decorated as if there had been months of planning put into it. Dragons carved from black wood and ones made of tissue paper were scattered around, lanterns and streamers filling the gaps they left. 

All around, people began filing in to watch the ceremony. Bemused citizens seemed awestruck by the place, as if they didn’t see it everyday from their windows, and new faces and colours slowly filtered in, breaking up the red and black with greens and blues.

From their position on the steps, Katara and Sokka scanned the crowd for Bato or their dad with little success. 

After a while, the entire stoney grey blur of the floor was replaced by a rainbow of faces and colours. Lanterns and torches began to be lit by fire sages, who slowly made their way up the steps.

When all had made it up, Zuko emerged with Aang close behind him.

The avatar and the Fire Lord. 

Zuko looked much more impressive now than he had in his robe and bandages. With his scruffy hair pulled back into a top-knot, it was a lot easier to see him as the new face of the fire nation rather than a grumpy teenager. 

The grand shoulderpads, which he could only assume were real gold, gave the impression of a leader, and in combination with his layers upon layers of militaristic red robes, he looked quite the part. 

A fire sage began a long speech before muttering about oaths and vows. Finally, though, he placed the crown on Zuko’s head and he stood up fiercely. Akatar suddenly understood why Iroh had been so adamant that Zuko take the throne, not him. While Iroh stood behind him, his warm smile and kind eyes reflecting exclusively on his nephew, Zuko exuded the confidence and drive of a ruler. Young and determined.

Aang and Zuko made their descent down the steps, where Zuko made his promises for the future, pulling Aang’s arm up with his as he concluded. 

Katara could only watch in awe as the entire crowd seemed to light up. Cheers erupted like a volcano, people in every colour seemed to mesh together into one moving piece, a single spirit powered solely by hope.

She smiled deeply and prayed to whatever spirits were listening that his promises would be kept and things could just stay this way forever. 

The new fire lord and the avatar disappeared back into the palace after a few minutes of cheering, but the rest of them made the speedy descent down into the crowd. 

Sokka and Katara seemed to subconsciously stick together, she supposed they were looking for the same person after all. They moved through the swathes of reds, yellows and greens, scanning any and every blue pocket they spotted in the crowds. 

A few groups from the Northern water tribe seemed to have come, perhaps as a sign of peace or maybe they were warriors preparing to move back now the war was over. Either way, they didn't spot their dad in their gaggles or any other familiar faces. 

They were almost beginning to lose hope, it wasn’t that unlikely that his ship had hit unfortunate waters, sending them a day's journey in the other direction. Still, Katara was pretty bummed, Sokka seemed to be too by the kicked look on his face.

It wasn’t until they found themselves in the very epicentre of the audience that they recognised someone.

‘Suki!’ Sokka pulled his girlfriend into a tight embrace before suddenly hiding her behind him as if she were a small child, ‘Wait, watch out! Ty Lee is pretending to be a Kyoshi warrior again!’ 

She only chuckled and pushed him away playfully.

‘Relax, she’s kind of one of us now.’ 

Sokka looked back at Katara like Suki had just sprouted a second head before their eyes.

Ty Lee giggled, ‘Yeah, me and the girls really bonded in prison. I said I’d teach them some tricks if they let me join their group.’ 

Sokka looked between Suki and Ty Lee with a raised eyebrow, though after a few seconds he seemed to give the matter up.

‘Whatever.’ He said, holding his hands up in defeat, ‘Its really great to see you girls, but we were sort of looking for our dad…you haven’t seen him, have you?’ 

Suki peered over at the others who all unanimously shook their heads, not that they had even met Hakoda. 

‘Sorry, I haven’t seen him.’ She placed a comforting hand on Sokka’s shoulder, ‘Don’t worry, he’ll be around here somewhere. We saw a bunch of water tribe boats docking when the girls arrived.’ 

‘Thanks, Suki, we’ll keep looking.’

He nodded to the side, signalling Katara to keep moving.

Together they waded through the crowd until they made it back to the steps. They climbed a few before turning back.

‘Darn it! I don’t see him.’ Sokka face palmed, a defeated look on his face.

‘Wait…is that- Sokka look its Bato! Wait- and Dad!’ Katara cheered, barreling off into the crowd before Sokka was even aware of what was happening.

‘Hey- wait up.’ 

‘Dad! Dad!’ She yelled, a smile on her face she couldn’t remember having since snowball fights back home.

Hakoda was hardly far into the crowd, his back turned, talking to other members of the tribe. He looked healthy, uninjured. She couldn’t have been more thankful.

‘Katara?’ Her father turned around, a mix of shock and glee on his aged face, ‘Sokka?’

The two of them sprinted straight into his chest, hardly waiting around for meaningless pleasantries.

Katara pulled her father’s stomach tightly against her own, tears welling in her eyes. For once she was actually fine with crying, happy tears beat sad tears.

‘Oh, kids. I’ve missed you so much!’ He pulled them in tighter, ‘You don’t even know how surprised I was when I heard about you all defeating the fire lord. I’ve never been more proud, and I know your mother would be too.’

Katara reached a solitary hand to her pendant, rubbing it closely between her thumb and index finger. 

‘I knew you two were amazing, but I’ll be honest, I hadn’t expected to hear that my son had almost single handedly taken out an entire fleet of Fire Nation airships and my daughter had won a fight against the princess.’ 

‘I wouldn’t exactly say single handedly.’ Sokka coughed, his voice clearly choked up from crying.

‘Oh, you know what I mean.’ 

‘Dad, how long are you staying here for?’ Katara wiped her eyes, ‘The palace has a bunch of rooms, I’m sure they could lend a few…’

Hakoda laughed and pulled her into a side hug.

‘Well we’ll have to stay a day at least, a few of our ships need some minor repairs, we need to stock up on supplies and, to be totally honest, the men are tired. Luckily a general very generously offered us an entire wing of the palace on account of us being family and friends of the amazing Sokka and Master Katara.’ 

She smiled softly, ‘Iroh.’

‘Yes, that was his name. Unless you two are planning on sticking around, we should probably be setting off the day after tomorrow. My men have wives and mothers they haven’t seen in years, children they only know through crude letters. I don’t feel it's right to deprive them of that so we can have fun in the Fire Nation.’ 

Sokka waved their father off nonchalantly.

‘Sounds good to me. We’re pretty eager to get home ourselves.’

‘What about your friend, Aang?’ Hakoda asked, letting go of them fully now.

The two of them exchanged worried glances.

‘We don’t know.’ Katara admitted, ‘I’ll talk to him tonight. Hopefully he’ll come stay for a while, I bet the kids would love it.’ 

‘I’m sure they would. Look, we have cargo to unload, so if you two don’t mind I’ll see you later, maybe tomorrow, okay? I promise this is the last time I’m leaving you two.’ 

‘I can help unload.’ Sokka eagerly volunteered.

Their father shook his head slightly, ‘You have forever to help unload crates, spend the rest of the time you do have with your friends and your girlfriend. Plus, your leg is looking a little shaky, did you break it?’

Sokka’s face dropped slightly, ‘Yeah, I did.’

‘Okay then, rest up and I’ll see you two tomorrow. I love you both.’

‘I love you too, Dad.’ They harmonised, watching him and his blue entourage shift away into the distance.

They didn’t see much of Aang or Zuko until the evening.

‘Ugh! It was so boring, we just had to talk to a bunch of old guys all day about politics and trading and stuff.’ Aang winged as he collapsed down onto a nearby sofa.

His yellow ‘avatar’ costume was crinkled, though it seemed to flatten again as he flopped down onto the floor and pulled an airball into his hands, teasing Momo with it.

‘Welcome to the rest of your life, Mr Avatar, only boring old guys and lame parties from here on out.’ Toph mocked, lounging back in her chair as she crossed her legs onto its matching desk.

All of them, but Aang, had changed out of their formal regalia into the more casual clothing the seamstress had provided them. Rather than stemming from each of their cultures, the pieces seemed to have come straight from the Earth Kingdom. Both Katara and Sokka’s were as green as Toph’s (who had surprisingly been wrangled into a dress) though Zuko’s leaned more towards browns and yellows. Even Mai, who Katara was surprised to see in anything not black, had been crafted something green.

‘It could’ve been worse, at least Uncle was there to dodge their questions.’ Zuko placed a steaming cup of tea in front of Toph, then Aang.

The uncle in question seemed far from the knowledgeable general and society man Zuko always framed him to be, fiddling away with a tsungi horn. She supposed he had been the one putting out the fires created by the Fire Lord’s exit, though he seemed so loveable, it was hard to see him as just another stuffy man talking politics in looming war rooms. 

She hoped silently that Zuko and Aang wouldn’t turn out that way, prioritising efficiency over joy and trade routes over life.

She looked down at the board game Suki and Mai were playing, she had never had time to learn Pai Sho, nor was she particularly interested, but seeing them play together brought back that annoying nag. 

As much as she tried to push it away, the day they all split up was looming closer and she couldn’t shake it. 

She had become a master waterbender over the course of their journey, she had made connections that would stay with her for life, met people she loved and people she wished she could forget. Even still, she just felt lonely. 

Sokka would go home with Suki, he would probably take over as Chief and they would have cute warrior babies. Zuko would be here with Mai, literally King, and they would undoubtedly have a huge wedding and a handful of tiny firebenders running around soon after. Toph would teach the world about the skill she alone knew and would probably play a key role in helping rebuild the air temples if she wanted to. Aang would always have a place in the world, being the avatar and all, but even there and now he had three temples to rebuild and repopulate.

And where did that leave her?

She would open her waterbending school like she so wanted to do and then…

It was so clear in her mind, standing off to the side at Sokka and Suki’s wedding, being the nice aunt who they went to see sometimes. Maybe Zuko would visit every few years for the sake of public relations and they would have a nice chat in between his royal duties. If she was feeling adventurous, maybe she would go and visit Toph or Aang, wherever they are at this point, though with no Appa it would be weeks of solo travelling and vast expanses of open ocean. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would settle down with a nice Northern boy who doesn’t treat her like an object and she would live there with him.

Always in the background of their stories but never really leading one of her own.

The overwhelming feeling of purposelessness was suffocating. She was the last southern waterbender and nothing else. She played her role already, she saved the avatar from death, the fire lord too, kept them all alive as they traversed the world, sewed their clothes up when they ripped and healed their wounds when they fell. She trained herself to be a master but what use was that when she had peaked at sixteen?

She sighed and wandered over to her brother’s desk, taking a cup of tea from Zuko as she did so. Luckily, it seemed Iroh had brewed this batch.

‘Why do I have Momo ears?’ She asked, pointing down at Sokka’s portrait of them.

‘They’re clearly your hair loopies!’ He exclaimed defensively.

‘Right…’

Zuko peered over her brother’s shoulder as he placed the final cups of tea on the desk.

‘My hair is not that spiky! I look like a boar-q-pine!’ 

Sokka shook his head and rolled his eyes.

‘And why am I firebending?’ Suki questioned, wandering over with all the commotion.

‘I thought it looked cooler that way.’ He shrugged.

‘Hey, Katara?’ A small voice said, almost shrouded by the noise of confused portrait-viewers.

‘What is it, Aang?’ She turned to him.

‘Could I talk to you for a moment? Outside?’ 

She paused and turned back to the group before looking back at him, ‘Sure, I’ll be right out.’

Chapter Text

The air was chilled against Katara’s skin. Inside it had been so warm, everyone huddled together, the wind seemed so harsh in comparison, even if it was just a breeze.

She had followed Aang out onto a large balcony on a roof overlooking the square the coronation had taken place in. 

Seeing it so empty again when it had been so full just hours before was almost saddening, it also reminded her she hadn’t seen her Dad all day, they must have been pretty tired to miss out on the free tea and food Iroh had procured.

Ignoring all that, though, the view was quite stunning. The mountains in the far distance were a lovely, deep backdrop for the hundreds of houses making up the city. Black, tiered rooftops filled the entire space as if they were trees in a forest, individual spires blocking tiny rays of sunlight. Pink and orange dominated the disappearing blues of the sky, only the clouds retaining their purple hues, the sun reaching down and kissing them with its soft hum. Harsh shadows littered the stoney floor around them as light poked through the decorative holes in the stone wall Aang was perched next to, gazing off at the view.

‘Aang.’ She smiled as she approached him.

She couldn’t help but feel proud as she saw him stand so elegantly in his monk’s robes, he really did look the part of the avatar.

He smiled back, a shimmer of anticipation in his wide eyes.

‘Katara, you came.’ He rubbed the back of his neck, as if nervous.

‘Of course I did.’ She leant against the wall next to him, facing the sun, ‘I never really got the opportunity to pull you away and tell you, but I hope you know how proud I am of you, Aang. You did really great out there today, very avatar-like.’ 

He turned to face her and his smile melted into a grin.

She pulled his chest into hers, wrapping him in a tight hug. Calmly she closed her eyes and just breathed. It felt nice to breathe again, calmly. She supposed the first time she had properly felt like this recently had been when she had talked to Aang in the Agni Kai spot. 

Either he had extraneously super calming vibes or he was the missing ingredient in her recipe for a calm life.

‘Thanks, Katara.’ He pulled away from her, blushing from ear to ear.

Suddenly, she realised what may or may not be happening right now and a mild panic set it. Or, maybe it was butterflies? Was she scared or excited? She couldn’t tell and she hardly had the time because he was already talking.

‘I asked you to talk out here, well…I wanted to ask you something, away from the others.’ He took a deep breath.

Here we go .

‘Ever since you broke me out of the iceberg I kind of liked you, I mean, I thought you were really pretty but also you’re kind. And then, we started going places and it just seemed  like you didn’t like me that way. Then the other week at the play…I just wanted to say that my feelings haven’t changed, Katara, but…I get the feeling yours have...’ 

‘What are you saying, Aang?’ She shuffled her feet.

‘What I’m saying is that I’m in love with you, Katara!’ He half-yelled, perhaps frustrated or maybe just passionate, ‘I get stuff has been kind of stressful lately, I mean, fighting the fire lord and then the coronation and stuff, but now…it isn't. What I’m saying is that I don’t want to go anywhere without you, I want you and me to stay together forever because I really like you, Katara, and not just as a friend or a sister or anything like that. I want you to…I want you to be my girlfriend.’

She was too stunned, for a moment, to even formulate something to say. 

Either he was a mind reader or they were just super on the same page. 

What I’m saying is that I don’t want to go anywhere without you

Wasn’t that her exact worry? 

How was she so blinded by stress, Aang had been the answer this whole time. 

She supposed she hadn’t really seen him in… that way before, but it didn’t physically disgust her. When he had kissed her during the play she had been angry and confused, but maybe, in hindsight, that was the stress of the inevitable battle creeping up on her? 

Now there was no more fire lord, no more war and no more stress. This was the perfect opportunity…so why did she feel so…

Aang pulled her swiftly into a kiss and this time, she didn’t pull away or yell or run off. She held her tongue and admitted to herself that she could grow to like it, she just needed time to adjust. 

When she had arrived in the fire nation she had hated it; it was way too hot, humid and spicy. Now, though, she had grown to almost love the place. The heat was a bit much sometimes, but overall pleasant, humidity was just another waterbending skill to master and her tongue was growing less and less inflamed as the days went by. 

If she could adapt to all that, what difference was it learning to love Aang…romantically.

When the kiss came to some kind of natural conclusion, Aang pulled back and stared at her, his cheeks pink and lips upturned. 

His stare was expectant, though, his grey eyes demanding an answer.

‘Yeah…’ She nodded subtly, almost as though she were convincing herself, ‘Of course I will, Aang.’ 

His eyes seemed to morph from grey to white they were so shiny with excitement, his cheeky grin flexing into a toothy smile spreading his entire face.

She admitted to herself she was happy to see him happy, though she kept the reasoning behind it hidden even to her own mind.

‘Really?’ Aang held still until she nodded reluctantly, pushing himself into the air and extending his fist upwards.

‘But Aang,’ She started, immediately the airbender fell back to the ground with a worried depression.

‘I don’t think we should tell anyone, not yet at least.’ 

His face dropped slightly though he was still undeniably happy,

‘Not even Sokka?’ 

‘Just for now. I don’t want him freaking out right before we leave.’ 

Aang shrugged before grinning again and placing a tepid kiss on her cheek.

‘Fine, as long as I get to be with you I don’t care.’

The air was uncomfortably warm when she returned to the rest of the group.

They had hardly noticed them leaving by the looks of things, with Sokka and Suki dancing (badly) to Iroh’s horn playing, and Zuko and Mai arguing quietly next to them, their attempt at dancing more polished though less meaningful than the others. 

Toph was either sleeping against the desk, or so bored she passed out, either way she was unconscious.

The room had seemed fuller when they walked in, and Katara saw now that the Kyoshi warriors had joined them, along with their other friends they had met during their travels.

Though she could admit it was nice to see familiar faces again (they hadn’t seen Haru or the Duke or any of them since Azula attacked the air temple), yet she didn’t feel up to facing them. 

She wasn’t totally sure what exactly she was feeling, it was like a strange concoction of guilt, sadness, joy and confusion were mixed together and poured down her throat during her kiss with Aang. She didn’t exactly want to wallow and cry but she also didn’t feel ecstatic, in fact, she hardly felt like she wanted to do anything at all.

As a compromise with herself, she darted from the room (which wasn’t hard, with Aang and her brother both being distracted by the music and old friends) and slid down against the outer wall of the palace, staring out at the same sunset she had just been kissed in front of.

It almost felt embarrassing, facing the sun again, as if it were a sentient being who would mock her confusion and scorn her for abusing Aang’s feelings.

She imagined it would tell her she was awful, an awful friend and an awful person overall, how could she not be when she was so clearly messing with her friend’s feelings? 

Was she forgetting he was the avatar? He had only a week ago risked his life to save the world and of all people in the world he had chosen her to love yet she couldn’t even do him the decency of returning the favour. 

She turned away from the conniving sun and shaded her eyes with her quivering hands.

She thought all this relationship business was supposed to relieve her stress, not give her more. 

Sinking down she wiped her eyes. When had she started to sink this low? Crying over every little thing. 

She used to be so confident, so sure of herself and her every decision. When was the last time she had really felt that way? What happened to the girl who risked her life to save a village of earthbenders she didn’t even know, or the girl who destroyed a fire nation factory just to help out a random town who didn’t even appreciate it? 

Sighing, she rubbed her hands from her face and opened her eyes to the sun.

‘Aah!’ She yelled, shocked.

Zuko sat, crossed legs, in front of her looking as if she had just called him a slur.

She honestly had not heard him walk out onto the balcony and sit down, not that he made himself known (like a normal person), instead he just wandered out and sat down opposite her. Tui and Lah, he was strange sometimes.

‘Uh sorry.’ He muttered, ‘It was getting kind of heated in there and I saw you come out here so…’

She shook her head and smiled.

‘It's not that, you scared me. You know, you could’ve just said “Hey Katara! What’s up?” or something, like a sane person.’ 

‘Yeah…whoops.’ He scratched the back of his neck, ‘Anyway, why are you out here crying?’ 

She averted his eyes for a moment, playing with her hair, before answering.

‘I just kissed Aang…and I guess we’re dating now.’ 

Zuko just stared at her wordlessly.

‘I sort of wasn’t supposed to tell anyone…too late now, I suppose.’ 

He stared at her some more before clearing his throat in a panic. 

‘That’s why you were crying?’

She shrugged, ‘Yeah, I guess it kind of sounds dumb when I put it like that. I’m just confused and kind of scared for the next few days, I guess.’

‘Right…I kinda thought that…at the play…’ He mumbled awkwardly.

‘He kissed me then too, right after I told him not to actually, but now it's all different. We were in a war then and now…’

Zuko nodded gently.

‘I get it. Sometimes I feel like me and Mai aren’t really right for eachother and other times I feel like she’s the only person I like in the world. I don’t know if this whole fire lord thing will change that or make it worse, I guess you’ve just got to try it out, see what makes you happy… or whatever.’ 

Katara chuckled and Zuko turned a shade of beetroot in response.

‘What?’ He hissed defensively.

‘Nothing, I just think that’s the best advice you’ve ever given.’ 

He seemed to light up with that, his embarrassed red cooling to a proud blush.

‘Maybe all of Uncle’s wisdom is finally paying off.’ 

‘Hmm not quite there yet, thank you though, I guess you are right.’ She smiled.

‘About what? 

‘Doing what makes me happy.’ She looked down at her hands warmly.

The orange hues of the setting sun seemed to melt into her skin, dyeing the greens and pale yellows of her dress into their own dying fires. She examined her hands and how real she suddenly felt, like all her adrenaline and uncertainty had melted away.

‘So…you and Sokka are going back to the South pretty soon I guess.’ Zuko interrupted.

She looked back up at him with a half-smile, though it hardly captured her emotions, and nodded.

‘I’ll have to come visit sometime soon, maybe when stuff here has died down a little. Do you know where Aang’s going? I kind of assumed the air temples or maybe Ba Sing Sei but if you guys are- you know…maybe that's changed?’

She turned the question over in her mind for a moment. Her dad had asked the very same thing only earlier and she realised she still didn’t know for certain, even though they were supposedly leaving tomorrow or the day after.

‘I need to speak to him about that, really I don’t think he knows where he wants to go. Ever since coming out of that iceberg me and Sokka have been his home. Sure, he still has Appa and Momo and the air temples are always there to be revitalised but honestly I don’t think he would be able to live without us…we’re kind of all he has left.’

Zuko sighed and swiped the hair on his forehead away.

‘Tell him he’s welcome to stay, you all are, but honestly I think he just needs to sleep it off. He only fought my father, what, a week or two ago? He needs something calm and normal for a while, not galavanting around fixing up temples or anything crazy. A bit of political work here and there, sure, I kind of expected he and Toph would stop by Ba Sing Sei to check up on it, I guess I’ll have to as well but that’s not the point. What I mean is-’

‘He needs to be a kid again, for a while.’ She finished his sentence, her face pensive. 

Zuko half-nodded.

‘I’ll talk to him later.’ She sighed and pulled the flower from her hair so she could braid it.

‘If you can pull him away from the Kyoshi warriors, it's a full on party in there.’ He seemed annoyed at the concept, though Katara was hardly surprised King Moody (as Toph would say) hated parties.

‘Speaking of, what are you doing out here anyway? You finally reunite with your loving girlfriend who imprisoned herself for you and you’re out here talking to me instead of her? Doesn’t seem very romantic to me.’ She smirked at his increased annoyance.

‘Ugh don’t even ask, she’s impossible.’ He crossed his arms angrily.

‘Did you just not say she was the only person in the world you liked?’ She mocked his gravelly tone.

He rolled his eyes.

‘I used to, sure, but now I don’t hate my life, it's a lot harder to let her hate hers.’ 

‘Damn.’ Katara replied, shocked that Zuko was actually the rational one in this relationship.

‘Whatever, like I said, you try stuff out and if it makes you happy you keep trying it. Right now maybe isn't the best time to be trying this. Uncle wasn’t thrilled when Mai showed up, he thinks I should try and work it out with this random girl I met in the Earth Kingdom.’ He huffed.

‘Can’t blame him, not to be rude to your girlfriend but the whole annoyed-at-life schtick doesn’t really scream Iroh to me.’ 

‘He doesn’t get her.’ Zuko sighed, ‘He’s still worried she’s loyal to Azula. Either way, he’s apparently not hanging around for long so it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t like her.’ 

‘What? Where on earth could he be going when his nephew just became fire lord?’ She exclaimed.

It never even occurred to her that Iroh would do anything after the war other than stand by Zuko’s side, fill in an advisor role or something.

‘When we were in Ba Sing Sei he has a tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon, or at least he did before we got ratted out to the Dai Li.’ 

Katara smiled guiltily.

‘It made him pretty happy, genuinely I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so overjoyed to clean tables. He says he wants to go back and retire, run his tea shop and explore the city as a migrant, not a general.’ 

Heat rose up in her face as he finished his sentence. 

‘But, but how could he? You worked so hard to get here and take down 

your dad and now he just leaves you? How is that fair?’ Katara almost yelled.

Zuko looked shocked for a moment before smiling gently, looking down at the floor.

‘It's fair to him, I put him through hell and back over the past few years. I still don’t know he managed to forgive me for getting him put in jail, but it's his turn to be the selfish one now. He sacrificed a bunch for me, it's only his right to have a nice retirement away from all this dumb politics stuff. Even if he's just helping out by keeping Ba Sing Sei content with his tea, it's enough for me, he deserves it.’ 

Katara felt suddenly ashamed, Iroh had been a massive help to them and here she was slandering him like some common man.

‘Look, I should really get back but with this whole Aang thing. Do what makes you happy, Katara, date him or don’t. You deserve it.’ He shrugged before walking back through the door to the palace, leaving her alone again.

She mulled over what he had said.

As she sat there, her back aching against the hard brick of the palace’s outer walls, she really thought about happiness.

Aang had always made her happy, from the moment he woke up she was happier. She learnt how to bend because of him, went penguin sledding again, met Toph, travelled the world. She couldn’t count how many times he had made her laugh or cheered her up when she was homesick or worried. 

Then her thoughts turned to Aang. He would be lost without her, and she didn’t mean that in a big-headed way, she knew deep down it was true. She was the one who had time and time again saved him from the avatar state, healed him even from the brink of death. She cooked for him, cleaned for him, he would be alone without her with nobody to help him. 

Deep down she knew what she had to do.

As she stood up to leave, admiring the peachy sunset for the final time, a head poked round the door, squinting at the sunlight.

‘Katara! Zuko said you might be out here.’ Sokka grinned, ‘Dad just sent over a note, we’re leaving tomorrow.’ 

Chapter Text

Two Years Later

Zuko sighed and leaned back in his chair, the rhino-leather sticky against his hot skin. Tired, he threw down the stack of papers he had been reading through and wiped his hands over his weary eyes. 

His desk was strewn with unopened scrolls, wax seals of all different colours and a multitude of crests, ink blots and vague scribbles covered the majority of the open parchments; half-written responses and poorly worded attempts at humour were hardly rare in his office. 

As it turned out, being Fire Lord was much harder than Ozai had made it out to be, though Zuko imagined that was thanks to all the worker abuse and use of slave labour he had been so fond of. 

Everyday was a never ending stream of correspondence with the other nations: when would the reparations be paid? Would he be able to attend their yearly festival as a sign of good faith? How many soldiers would be sent to help stop uprisings in the colonies? 

He could hardly keep up with it all.

Uncle Iroh had been the only thing keeping him a float at first, but with him leaving something like 6 months into the job all the day to day politics had fallen on Zuko’s shoulders. So far he had managed six hundred sleepless nights and endless days, though he imagined there would be six thousand more to come. 

‘Your Majesty, your meeting is about to start.’ A kind faced servant girl (what was her name? Amory, Amoru...that sounds about right) peaked her head around the door, ‘Would you like me to postpone?’ 

Zuko sprung back to life. He had half-forgotten all about this, he had been so preoccupied with everything on paper he had started to slip on all the real life stuff. He mentally scolded himself before hauling himself out of his chair to his feet.

‘No need, thank you for the reminder, though…Amoru?’ He tried to sound confident but with the amount of assistants and hand-maids he had it was hard to keep track.

As an attempt to keep away from his father’s…less than humane method of employee management, Zuko had made an effort to remember all his staffs names, though, with the uniform clothes and similar hairstyles, it was getting hard to tell black-haired assistant from very dark brown-haired assistant. 

Whether he got her name right or not, however, the girl nodded with a smile before quietly closing the door and shuffling away. 

The moment she disappeared, Zuko darted to the mirror he kept in the interior door of a cupboard and fixed his hair as best as he could. It was well done still, neatly tucked away in a top knot (finally his hair was long enough again for bits not to fall out), though the monotony of dissecting twenty treaties for minor villages in the north and various bills for unimportant things, seemed to have been getting to him.

Quickly, he pushed any stray hairs back up his scalp and slicked them down. He ran a thin finger over his greying under eyes and did his best to wipe the sleep from them. He told himself to wait just a few more months and things would settle down, though deep down he knew he had been saying that for the past two years.

His ‘meeting’ was taking place in a small house of sorts quite a way into the palace gardens. The place was expansive, the walk there long even as he speed walked, Zuko took the moment to appreciate being outside for once. He could hardly recall the last time he just sat outside to enjoy the sunrise or watch the turtle ducks. 

As he approached the structure, with its still overly grand pillars and decorative door frames, he drew in a deep breath and knocked brashly on the modest red door.

‘Ah, Fire Lord Zuko.’ The voice of a middle aged woman cheered, ‘Just this way.’

He knew her name at least, Nuso, and as he followed her down a compact yet breezy hallway, he tried to familiarise himself with what was ahead of him. 

It had become hard to remove himself from his work, there had been many times he would call a hand-maid by the name of a foreign diplomat without batting an eyelid; right now though, he knew he needed to be present. 

Nuso led him through a familiar sliding door. It was painted red like the rest yet it was deceivingly not wood but metal, the entire room was. 

The space was flooded with sunlight, large windows facing the gardens giving a warm view of the neat greenery. Even inside, however, the room was filled with the stuff, with large hanging and standing pots fluttering in the breeze with their long stems and large, round leaves. 

Two other doors, not dissimilar from the one he had just entered through, stood at the opposite end of the large room and to his left, facing the windows. 

From one, a girl emerged, her face surprisingly bare. 

‘Zuko!’ Ty Lee practically leaped across the room to hug him.

It was still strange, Ty Lee being a friend rather than just one of Azula’s cronies, though it was doubly strange seeing her without her entire Kyoshi get up. Really, it shouldn’t be weird anymore, she was always dressed normally in here, but it still felt strange. 

‘How’s everything going, in here and with the others?’ Zuko asked, still unsure if he needed to be professional or friendly with her. 

Technically he was her boss, her fire lord too, but equally, she was a childhood friend and the things she had done for him the past two years seemed to warrant more than an employee-boss relationship.

‘No complaints here.’ She twirled around like a dancer on a stage, ‘The girls haven’t found anything out of the ordinary since the Solstice.’ 

He nodded briefly.

Since an attempt on his life at the Summer Solstice festival by the extreme Ozai supporters, the Kyoshi warriors, who had been acting as somewhat of a personal guard, had been on high alert. 

With Suki back home and Ty Lee otherwise occupied, he had worried about their potency, though it seemed he needn’t worry. Any of them could probably beat him in a fight if he wasn’t careful.

His gaze turned to the other door.

‘And my sister?’ He prompted.

Ty Lee smiled and stepped out of her back bend.

‘No complaints there either. To be honest, I’ve ever seen her aura pinker.’

Zuko restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

‘Can I see her?’ 

‘Sure, she’s just in her room. She’s been majorly loving those scrolls you gave her last time, her vibes are way more chilled out now. She’s less grr grr!’ Ty Lee’s impression of Azula was quite melodramatic, though Zuko wouldn’t call it incorrect.

He gave an approving nod to Nuso, who promptly closed the door and left the two of them alone in the sun-lit room. 

As much as Zuko worried over his sister sometimes, either that something horrible would happen to her, or worse, that she would do something even worse to someone else, the staff he had employed were impeccable. Nasu alone could probably snap a log in half with her bare hands (her granny dresses were rather deceiving), let alone the other nurses on site.

Looking over at Ty Lee, he sighed and headed towards Azula’s door, knocking gently before pushing it open.

His sister’s room was far from awful. Whilst technically acting as a sort of psychiatric hold, her room hardly reflected it. The space was open and airy, the walls a pale wood and the floors a similar shade. Light poured in from all angles, hitting her luxurious bed, large desk and calming ‘zen space’ (as Ty Lee called it) all at once.

The room was more similar to a beach resort than the dark, cavernous halls of the main palace. The physician had suggested a break from the old environment and in with a new, more ‘breezy’ one. No mirrors, no ever-burning fires and no military banners hanging all around.

As Zuko closed the door, he noticed a shabby paint job on the door and made a mental note to bring it up with his handyman. In fairness, it had been hard to cover the deep scorch marks Azula had etched into the metal during her first week there, though he felt bad leaving it so messy.

‘Brother.’ Azula said, not even turning around from her desk to look at him.

‘Azula.’ He replied.

Zuko moved further into the room until he was practically dead centre, standing awkwardly behind her. 

His sister sighed and turned around in her chair to look at him, finally. She looked much better than she had two years ago, in fact she was still improving every time he saw her. Her poorly cut fringe had long grown out, though she now preferred to let Ty Lee braid it or tie it up, rather than slicking it back into a bun. 

Similarly, her face was brighter and less insane looking (to put it lightly). Her red lips remained, a small act of retaining her former self, Zuko supposed, though the rest had changed. She was older, her eyes were less youthful, her cheeks less full. She had grown leaner without the constant fire bending drills and seeing her out of a military uniform still felt off putting.

Either way, Zuko was at least sort of happy to see her looking well. 

‘You look awful, ZuZu, Agni have you even slept this week.’ Her tone lacked sympathy, more mocking than concerned, though it was missing the venom that used to define her voice.

‘I’ve been busy.’ He crossed his arms.

As much as he hated it, her jabs still got to him. He was trying to hard to let himself love his sister, to see her as the pawn their father had used against him, but the psycho who shot him with lightning and killed Aang was still there in her eyes. He doubted any amount of ‘nature therapy’ would be able to heal who she was deep down.

‘Yes, well, so have I.’ She picked up a stack of around one hundred sheets of paper and handed them to him boredly.

He flicked through a few and couldn’t help but smile. 

The nurses had thought it a good idea to let Azula take her ruthlessness out on something she couldn’t hurt. A thousand hours of therapy wouldn’t be able to stop her ever-consuming determination, if he wanted her to stay put and get better, she needed something to put her mind on. Zuko thought it might as well be something productive. 

‘Wow, thanks Azula.’ He shoved the stack under his arm.

As much as he found it hard to admit, Zuko knew Azula was talented. Not just as a firebender but as a strategist. It was too risky to let her onto his council, who knows what kind of anti-Zuko, pro-Ozai conspiracies she was subscribed to behind his back, so as a less drastic option he had her doing paperwork. 

Treaties, bills and requests Zuko was unsure of were filtered to her. She picked them apart, her ruthless, obsessive tendencies forbade her from missing a detail or an attempt at a trick. In the end, she got a way to relieve her need to obsess and he had a neat pile of paperwork he could reject without worry. So far, she was yet to double cross him, a team of lawyers and advisors of course checked over their work before being sent off, yet she seemed honest. Maybe she was just happy to have something to do, or maybe she was trying to get back into his good graces. Who could say.

‘Yes, yes, what would you do without me, blah blah blah. Tell me, Zuko, how is everything going. You, the Fire Nation?’ She asked.

Again, it was hard to tell if her sinister smirk was her luring him into a trap or if that's just how she looked. 

‘It's exhausting, we’re spiralling into debt and the colonies are rioting. Anything else?’ He frowned.

‘Well you know, I could always be of help to you.’ She smiled in a way Zuko knew to ignore.

‘Nice try, you’re lucky you get paperwork.’ He stood for a moment in silence before glancing at a clock above her bed, ‘Well if that's all-’

‘Wait!’ Azula exclaimed, looking slightly shocked with her own lack of composure.

She cleared her throat and adjusted herself, standing up to face him properly. It was only when she stood that she still managed to look childlike to him, her short stature still couldn’t make her look weak, but it reminded him that she was still a child.

‘Ty Lee…she mentioned a party. Soon.’ She looked at him awkwardly, like she wasn’t used to asking for things and not being guaranteed being given them.

‘And?’ He asked, trying his best not to enjoy the feeling of power he finally held over her.

‘Well obviously I’m asking if I’m invited, idiot!’ She yelled.

Zuko considered it for a moment.

‘I’ll ask her, if she’s willing to babysit you all night then maybe.’ 

His sister pouted and crossed her arms, 

‘You know, I’m not going to set the whole place on fire the minute you let me out of here. Maybe it would do me some good to be out and about.’

‘Yeah sure.’ He dismissed, ‘And how am I supposed to explain to my council that my sister, who tried to murder me on multiple occasions and was an extreme loyalist to our father, is now allowed to attend social occasions?’

‘Tell them I’ve changed? They clearly believed you could manage it, why couldn’t I?’ She rebuttled.

‘Because I didn’t have a psychotic break? Because I hated our dad while you worshipped him?’ 

‘Like I had any choice!’ She huffed, ‘You ran off with uncle and left me there to burn with him. Mother never liked me much, who else did I have but father!’ 

Zuko sighed and rubbed his forehead.

‘Look, I can’t do this right now, I’ll think about the party, okay? Keep on good terms with the nurses and read over those papers and I’ll think about it.’ He exhaled and left her room.

He felt her annoyed glare on his back but ignored it. He left the place without saying goodbye to Ty Lee and stomped back to the palace for an evening meeting with one of the Earth Kingdom affiliates. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, pausing in the middle of a secluded path not far from the palace just to breathe for a second.

When he was done he pushed the events of the last twenty minutes from his mind and did his best to re-enter work mode. 

It shouldn’t be this hard anymore, how many times had they had that exact argument and why did he let it bother him every time. 

‘Tomorrow the ambassador for the Southern colonies should be arriving around noon, the seamstress has an appointment with you after breakfast and the council has ordered a general meeting to discuss increased importing from the Earth Kingdom to help with the famine in the East.’ 

Zuko nodded slightly, one of his clerks reading off an itinerary as they walked back to his office. Though the halls used to frighten him, he almost missed their silence now. 

‘The Northern Water Tribe sent another crate of scrolls to be read over and sent out to merchants to begin exporting excess wood, I believe it was left in your room, Your highness.’ The clerk bowed awkwardly as they reached the intimidating doors at long last.

‘Thank You…Yun?’ He smiled.

The young man tipped his round framed glasses back up his head and nodded with a toothy grin. Zuko could’ve been the same age as him for all he knew, yet the way the clerk looked at him made him feel tremendously old. 

Zuko reached for the door handle, prepared to stretch his back and crack down for another night of signing decrees and studying laws he was supposed to understand.

‘Oh, Your Highness!’ Yun randomly bleeted, fumbling around in the small box of scrolls he was carting around.

He pulled out a thin scroll, probably a short letter rather than a twenty page long form he needed to fill out, and shoved it into Zuko’s direction, his face obviously nervous.

Zuko reached for it and though the clerk seemed to flinch, Zuko smiled and thanked him before hiding back into his office.

The moment the door closed he let out a deep sigh and through the scroll down on his desk with the rest. Laboriously he tugged his heavy cape from his shoulders and draped it solemnly over a spare seat in the corner of the dim room. 

He lit the candle on his desk with a quick spark and harshly tugged the drapes closed, the harsh darkness of the night sky only reminding him how tired he was. Yawning, he slammed himself down into his chair and once again fought the urge to just curl up and doze off as he stared at the endless pile of scrolls and parchment lying in front of him. 

He had never quite realised the amount of paperwork that went into being fire lord, even with the army of clergymen, sages, lawyers and clerks he was still haunted by ink covered pages wherever he went.

Clumsily, he rubbed his eyes and took a long sip of the jasmine tea a serving girl had prepared and left on his desk for him, as she did every night. Supposedly it helped him stay awake, though if anything it only made him more sleepy. All it seemed to do was remind him of his uncle and the nagging feeling of nostalgia always seemed more like a rash than a comfort when he remembered Iroh was living it up in Ba Sing Sei whilst he had a hundred letters to write. 

Speaking of, he pulled a crisp sheet of parchment from his stack and readied his ink brush, doing anything to procrastinate actually opening a scroll and reading it.

Finally, when he could no longer justify doing nothing, he turned his gaze back to that snarling stack of papers, only now, one caught his eye.

On the very top of the pile was a wax seal which particularly stood out. Rather than the usual: grey, blue, green or red, this one was a breezy, bright yellow. The signifier of the avatar.

Intrigued, Zuko carefully snatched the scroll from the top of his well crafted pyramid and examined it. Sure enough, Aang’s seal. 

Internally, Zuko was sweating. Aang hardly ever wrote to him, he said it made his hand hurt and he preferred to just talk in person, and when he did it was hardly ever good. 

The last time Aang had written, if he was remembering correctly, was when he, Toph and Katara had been called out to Ba Sing Sei to help stop rioters from attacking fire nation homes. It was quite the situation and Zuko ended up taking two weeks out of his schedule to sail over and do some damage control with Aang. 

In the end all was well enough, Zuko made some promises to make extra reimbursement to those in the city specifically displaced by the fire nation (though he was planning on doing that with or without the rioting), though all his tie away only ended up causing back logs on his payment to the water tribe and unease with the colonies, who as usual were being pretty argumentative to begin with. 

This letter was not what Zuko had been hoping for tonight, in fact, it came at quite an awful time. Only a few days ago he had cancelled plans to attend a festival on Kyoshi Island due to the issues he had been having negotiating with both the Water Tribes and the colonies. Both were upset about his reparations (or lack thereof) and neither could come up with any solutions. Though the festival would’ve been good, both for his image and his sanity, he knew that if he stepped away now for a few days things would only get worse.

Even so, he knew rationally not opening the letter would only prolong the problem.

With an unsteady hand he carefully pulled back the wax, finding it rude to rip the seal of such a close friend, and opened the letter with precision. Immediately he recognised the writing, it was much neater than Aang’s usual attempts.

Dear Zuko,

I’m writing to you as a plea to please come to Kyoshi for the festival. You can probably tell this is Katara because the writing is actually legible and I’m sorry to have tricked you by using Aang’s wax but I needed this to be seen urgently, and I assumed your staff would prioritise his letters over mine. 

Anyway, I heard today that you weren’t coming and to be honest I’ve cried over it. I am desperate for you to come to Kyoshi, even just for a day. It’s been like a year since we have seen each other and I’m honestly worried for you, I haven’t heard much about the fire nation recently but what I have heard hasn’t been great.

Things with me are fine good (I don’t know if you even know that since you haven’t responded to a single one of my letters), but I miss you and I miss us talking. 

Sorry this is so short, we barely have any paper here and I need to send this as soon as possible.

Please respond and please come.

Love,

Katara

Zuko’s eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. He had felt sleepy before but now he was wide awake. 

‘Never responded to her letters?’ He audibly asked, as if she were there to retort.

He shook his head. Had he been ignoring her letters? He supposed with all the junk he got sent maybe hers had managed to slip through the cracks.

He groaned and slapped his forehead in annoyance. He had been wondering when she would write, he just assumed she got busy and without seeing each other so often, maybe she just didn’t care to write anymore. It had saddened him, one of the highlights of his day used to be when her letters came through. 

She didn’t talk so much about strategy and politics like Sokka did, she just wrote like they were having a conversation. She answered his questions and he answered hers. When she stopped he assumed he did something wrong, but with all the crap being thrown at him the worry must have floated downstream without being caught. 

He reread the letter probably three times before slamming it down on his desk and leaning his head on his hands. 

He truly hadn’t realised she was so wanting to see him, he sort of assumed his friends had moved on a bit. Sure, they were still their little family but he was fire lord now, Sokka and Suki were engaged, Aang and Katara were together and Toph was out teaching metalbending. Of all of them, he was the one isolated the most, he didn’t expect them to move mountains (though he supposed Toph actually could do that) to see him and he knew they knew he couldn’t leave his nation at the drop of a hat.

Still, just this small sign that someone actually wanted to be in his presence was reassuring. He couldn’t remember the last time someone actually wanted to see Zuko and not the Fire Lord. If he was honest with himself, this was one of the first times in a while he had properly felt seen, felt happy really. 

He smiled softly to himself and picked up his brush. Guiltily, he glanced over at his stack of papers and cringed at what he was about to do. 

Carefully, making sure to use his neatest print, he brought his brush to the paper and wrote a reply.

Dear Katara,

Thank you so much for your letter. I am writing to you to tell you that I have reconsidered my previous statement and I will come to the festival after all.

Regards, 

Zuko.

Chapter Text

‘Have you seen Aang?’ Katara asked tiredly.

She had been searching the temple for him for close to an hour at this point. Why ask her to come find him if he was going to make himself so impossible to find? 

Xing Ying whipped her long, straight hair over her shoulders before turning to face her.

‘Oh, the last time I saw Avatar Aang he was out gliding. I hope you find him.’ She smiled, though Katara was just about ready to punch her pearly teeth in. 

‘Thanks, I’ll go look.’ She snarled with just enough falsity to appear somewhat genuine. 

She continued through the large hall, passing by a handful of women and men in their long yellow robes and orange sashes. Practically each and everyone of them stopped and stared at her, none of them seemed to find her water tribe tunic ‘air nomady enough’ 

She rolled her eyes and continued stomping until she reached the balconies and sure enough, there he was.

Surrounded by his awestruck posse of acolytes Aang was gliding around with a grin plastered on his face. Maybe once she would've stood there with them, proud and charmed, but after the first twenty times it starts to get old.

‘Aang!’ She yelled, the acolytes below him looking visibly disturbed at her outburst, ‘Aang!’ 

The monk seemed to catch wind of her yells and waved at her. It wasn’t until he noticed her stormy face that he hovered down and landed. 

‘That was incredible!’ One of the girls watching squealed.

It honestly grated Katara how happy they all were, like seriously? He did that same routine practically daily! She crossed her arms and waited for him to climb the stairs up to her.

‘Thanks Yee-Li, did you see the barrel roll I added?’ He stopped to chat.

‘I didn’t, I guess I’ll have to watch more closely next time.’ 

Aang laughed and placed a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder, though Katara was feeling less and less comforted by the minute.

‘Katara? What’s up?’ He yelled up to her, still grinning.

‘Can you come up here so we can talk properly?’ She shouted back, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

‘Uh…sure.’ He looked around at the acolytes like she had just asked him to bow down at her feet, they all but giggled in response.

The airbender propelled himself up the steps, landing perfectly in front of her, blocking the sun.

‘So…what’s up?’ 

He was just as tall as her now, maybe a bit taller. 

‘You said you wanted to speak to me? I’ve been looking all over for you.’ She gritted through her teeth. 

The urge to scream at him was growing by the second, though she supposed she didn’t exactly have a reason to be mad at him. By now she realised he was unreliable, he would say one thing then forget about it when something more fun and shiny came along.

‘Oh right, yeah.’ He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, ‘I found the robes I wanted to wear to the festival but I guess I left them out too long and I think a couple of spider bats got to them. Could you fix them up for me before we go?’ 

He smiled as though to sweeten the deal, but her patience had got bored of them a year ago.

‘Aang? Seriously?’ She shook her head with disbelief, ‘I asked you a month ago if you needed new robes or anything!’

‘But I have the robes! They just need to be fixed!’ He reasoned.

‘Urgh. Why can’t the acolytes do it? They seem so willing to do anything else if it means helping you!’ She swung her arms around, annoyed.

‘I just like the way you do it better! Besides, they’re busy.’ 

‘Busy doing what?’ She demanded, ‘I have to start making dinner soon. I don't have time to be running around fixing all your messes.’ 

‘We have meditation and you know that we’re repainting the grand hall right now!’ He sassed, ‘Anyway, it's not like you have anything else to do before we leave.’

She scoffed at that, her face painted by disgust. 

‘Maybe I had something I wanted to do, doesn’t matter to you clearly, you know, I do have hobbies outside of sewing up your old clothes!’ 

‘Look, Katara, I’m sorry. I just forgot, everythings so crazy right now.’ He pouted and kicked his feet. 

‘Yeah, whatever.’ She sighed, defeated, ‘At least we’ll have a week off for the festival. It’ll be nice to see Sokka again, and when was the last time we saw Zuko? I told you he hasn't been replying to my letters, I’m kind of worried.’ 

‘Oh, didn’t I tell you?’ Aang shrugged, his demeanour suddenly returned to his usual chillness, ‘Zuko isn’t coming.’ 

Katara’s face dropped, any semblance of pretending to be content were out the window.

‘What? Since when?’ She demanded.

Aang stepped back nervously.

‘Uhh…I don’t know. A week ago? Maybe more?’ 

Katara was almost vibrating, she was so angry.

‘And you didn’t think to tell me? Why am I always the last to hear about all this stuff!’ She hollered. 

‘I’m sorry! I thought you knew!’ 

‘Why would I know if you didn’t tell me?’ She exclaimed, almost breathless with disbelief. 

‘I dunno…’ He looked off into the distance.

‘Tui and Lah, you are so- ugh!’ She yelled before storming off, back into the temple.

‘Katara! Wait!’ Aang attempted behind her, though she noted he made little effort to follow her.

‘Did I tell you that you look really pretty today?’ 

She didn’t even dignify that one with a response.

The kitchens were dry and warm by the time she arrived. 

Air acolytes tended to prefer meditating or watching Aang’s ‘demonstrations’ this time of day, so usually it was her and perhaps one or two kind souls preparing dinner. 

Light rained in through the large widows carved into the stone of the temple. Every room seemed to lead onto a balcony and the kitchen was no exception, half the room was basically outside. 

From a large basin of water, she pulled enough to fill a few grand pots and using a match, she lit a flame beneath them both. A girl Katara didn’t recognize was there today and she seemed to be cutting up a series of vegetables. A giant bowl of tofu was already prepared and sliced on the side next to her.

Katara groaned internally, she had grown to hate the stuff as much as Aang seemed to hate meat. Begrudgingly, she thanked the girl for preparing it and poured it into a large steaming basket which she subsequently placed over the now boiling water. 

The girl seemed to stare at her with wonder, though like the rest of them she avoided eye contact with Katara herself. She guessed they saw her cooking as some kind of air nomad cultural ritual they all should learn and take part in from time to time, though the fact a water tribe girl was heading it seemed to tick them off. Honestly, Katara had no issue letting them do the cooking, it wasn’t like she loved doing it herself, but whenever she didn’t act as head chef someone inevitably came knocking, begging for her help or her advice. 

For her own sanity she had grown to just accept the duties as her own.

When they were done, she carted the massive pots through to the next room over, where she dished out steamed tofu and vegetables to all the hungry mouths with plates. 

By the end, she had just enough to scrape together a bowl for herself (which she wasn’t angry about, the less tofu the merrier) though, watching the acolytes scarf down their heaping portions (while preaching modesty) made her bowl look meagre in comparison. 

‘Uh, Katara, I’m sorry about earlier.’ Aang shrugged sheepishly as she took her usual spot next to him. 

The air nomad culture seemed to be based on mutual respect, with every person sitting on level field rather than the royals up top or the ‘leaders’ sitting above the rest. Even so, her and Aang had sort of found their spots at the head of the large table, and everyone else seemed to respect that.

She bit her tongue and smooshed the tofu around in her bowl. What she would do for a hunk of arctic hen right about now.

‘It’s fine, I guess.’ She murmured, ‘I’ll try to get your robes fixed before we leave.’

Aang grinned, though hardly a minute later he was already off chatting to a new group, leaving her alone to eat again.

It wasn’t that she was alone , per se. Moreover, she didn’t really know any of the people she was with. 

Though they had met the acolytes probably a year ago, she felt more like an outsider than a member. At first, she assumed it was her hair or her clothes which made her feel so isolated, maybe if she assimilated a bit better she would feel less strange, but all the yellow draping did was wash her out and if anything it made her feel even more out of place. 

Every now and then, she would make someone laugh whilst they helped her prepare lunch, though by the next day they’d moved on whilst she was still there chopping. 

Really, it wasn’t the worst. She had Aang, though he was around less and less everyday, and Sokka was only a short flight away when Appa was actually available (and not being used for ‘important’ spiritual trips through the mountains). 

Today, though, she felt particularly alone, even if really she wasn’t.

After mulling it over all day, the sting of Aang not even bothering to tell her about Zuko was really digging itself in. 

He knew how she felt about living in the temple, he knew she felt lonely and tired, he knew she would rather be in the water tribe or even out exploring the earth kingdom. That just made it so much worse. She wondered if he knew how excited she had been that they would all be together again, to see Zuko and Toph and Suki and her dad altogether. It wouldn’t surprise her if he didn’t, he hardly asked her about what she was thinking about anymore.

With that jolly thought, Katara wiped a stray tear from her tight skin and placed her bowl on the growing pile of dirty dishes. As much as the acolytes seemed to hate cooking, they were fond of doing dishes, one less thing for her to do. 

She left the hall with a covered face, fearful they would see her looking so fragile and laugh, or worse, treat her like a wounded animal they needed to pity. 

Luckily, and quite expectantly, nobody even noticed she had left. Before she turned the corner she snuck a glance back at Aang, her supposed partner; he was grinning ear to ear as the group he had accumulated laughed at whatever hilarious anecdote he had told them, probably one she had laughed at a million times.

The stone in her room was cold and almost damp. Though the rest of the temple was so often bathed in sunlight, she had chosen a room closer to the ground floor, closer to the water and the earth. 

She had been kind of surprised when Aang had suggested having separate rooms, in the water tribe they usually just share an igloo and when they travelled the group was always together. Katara could barely recall the last time she had slept completely alone: without Sokka or Aang or Gran Gran. At first, she was scared of it, so she snuck back to Aang’s room most nights and he didn’t contest it, though recently she has grown more accustomed to her own space. Aang spent so much time out in the environment with his followers, on spiritual retreats or cultural lessons (as he called them), it seemed silly to clamber up so many steps to his room just to sleep in an equally empty bed to her own. 

The stones that made up the floor were intricate and beautiful, she remembered her and Aang’s first day at the temple was spent cleaning away the dirt that covered them. That was before the acolytes, of course, though they showed up practically a day later. 

Beneath her feet they looked lovely, though they were frigid to the touch now that the sun was gone and the earth had cooled. She tiptoed across it hurriedly, her thin shoes no match for its chill. When she finally reached her bed even it was cold.

She sighed and tugged her snow boots out of her cupboard. The air nomads weren’t huge on worldly possessions, she had the wardrobe specially built in fact, but the idea of only owning one pair of boots and one outfit for the entire year made her little, water tribe heart bleed. 

Now more comfortable, she waddled over to the small desk across her room. Lighting a candle from the one burning above her head, she placed it down next to her stack of letter paper and sat down. 

It felt strange to be so emotional all of a sudden, thinking back, Katara struggled to think of the last time she cried, which was weird, because she used to be so driven by emotion. Nowadays she just felt blank most of the time, some kind of apathy she couldn’t explain. Maybe it was the tedious routine she had made for herself or the staunch lack of excitement but she had honestly felt more like one of the avatar statues in the statue hall than a person recently.

She breathed deeply, trying to calm the overwhelming rush of feelings, and wiped her wet eyes. She picked up a brush and wrote the only thing she could think to write: a letter begging Zuko to come to the festival.

As she did it she felt rather childish, what right did she have to be demanding the literal fire lord attend some irrelevant festival just because she wanted him to? It wasn’t even like he would read it, he hadn’t replied to her in weeks. Really, she couldn’t blame him for that.

When she pictured Zuko now she saw a tall, confident kin with guards at his sides and a council of wise advisors noting down his ideas with furious speed, even when she thought of him out doing charity he seemed so sure, so busy too. She really didn’t know why she expected the leader of an entire nation (let alone a failing one) to reply to her lame letters about cooking and cleaning.

The most exciting thing she had detailed recently was probably her watching Momo steal an acolyte's headband and getting away with it. How sad was that? 

She held up the note once it was done. It was short and messy, she worried if he would even be able to read it. For a moment, she considered feeding it to the candle’s flame, maybe the entire idea was stupid, if Zuko wanted to come he would come. 

Still, she supposed that the worst case scenario was that he read it and ignored it, what was the harm in that. 

Carefully, she rolled the parchment into a tight cylinder before tying it with some brown twine. 

She reached down into her drawer for her wax and seal, though when she finally felt it and pulled it up to the light she realised the wax was in fact not blue, but yellow.

For a moment she was confused, as if her brain stopped working for a moment, until it dawned on her hat it must’ve been leftover from when she had written a few letters for Aang a few months back, sealing them with his wax and crest.

She rummaged around some more until she found both her wax and seal as well as Aang’s avatar seal, placing all the items on her desk. For some reason, the thought of using Aang’s wax in place of her own was tempting, though she didn’t see why it would be. She thought it over for a second, contemplating if she would be in trouble were she to get caught using the avatar’s crest, though she quickly realised she couldn’t care less. 

Hastily she unwrapped her letter and scrawled a quick sentence about the wax in case Zuko were confused about its origins, perhaps worrying that their letters had gotten mixed up, before retying it and sealing it with the softened yellow wax. 

Though she realised too late she was still dressed half for the day and half for a snow storm, Katara shimmied up the stairs all the way to the mailing room. The place was quiet, she supposed nobody needed to post anything by the time it was dark, so she let out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding and quickly attached her letter to the back of a carrier hawk, sending it off to the palace. 

As she wandered back down to her room, Katara silently prayed to any spirits listening that Zuko would reply saying he would come. By the time she reached her door she felt sorry for those spirits because they were probably pretty depressed after listening to that.

‘Katara.’ 

She screamed at the sudden noise, jumping immediately into a water bending pose despite the firm lack of water at her disposal. 

‘Spirits, Aang, you scared me! What are you doing in here!’ She dropped her arms and caught her breath.

Aang, who looked equally as freaked out as she was, quickly sprung off her bed to his feet.

‘Well I saw you slipped out of the hall and I realised I’ve hardly talked to you all day, so I came down here to…you know, talk.’ 

More like all week , she thought, though she held her tongue.

‘Um, alright.’ She wandered over and took a seat on the end of her bed, the soft water tribe furs brushing against her hands, ‘How’s your day been today?’ 

‘Pretty good. I mean, you totally saw how cool those tricks I was doing earlier were, right? Anyway, after that me and some of the others took Appa for a ride and that was pretty fun…’ 

She nodded along though after a few sentences she realised how little she cared. When had that started happening, where she didn’t even care what her own boyfriend had been doing all day?

‘Oh and then just now in the dining hall me and Bahi totally started a food fight…anyway, what about you?’ 

She snapped back when he asked that, trying her best to look engaged. It didn’t make her the happiest to hear the food she spent all evening making was only a highlight of his day because some guy threw it at him.

‘You know, the usual.’ She mumbled, trying to smile.

‘Oh…cool.’ He sounded almost guilty, though mostly bored, like her day of cleaning up for him and his fan club wasn’t cool enough for him.

‘You know, maybe I should sleep in here with you tonight. Those…lovely animal furs sure do look…nice.’ 

He seemed to choke out the last part. At least that part of him had never changed, he had always hated animal furs.

‘Sure, if you want.’ She pursed her lips.

He hugged her tightly before wriggling into her bed; at the very least he was trying to hide his disgust at her methods of staying warm. 

As she stripped down to her undergarments and slipped on a warmer night dress (an orange one handed down to her from an air acolyte as it so happened) she snuck in next to Aang, who promptly pulled her into his chest. 

From across the room he blew out her candles and pulled the two of them down into the covers, warm from the chill of the room. As he lay his head down on the pillow she turned over to face away from him, though his arms still hugged her tightly.

Silently, she wiped a tear from her eye before letting herself close her eyes and force sleep to take her.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since Zuko had stepped foot on a boat.

For quick journeys across the fire nation islands he preferred air ships, though the journey to Kyoshi Island was long enough to force him back onto the waters.

As the salty air rustled through his hair and splashed at his skin, memories of him and Uncle’s time together in exile came flooding back. As much as he hated to dwell on those times, especially the years before Aang popped up, the feeling felt more like a happy nostalgia than the painful cringe it used to be. 

Maybe all it took to get over his past was becoming so overwhelmed that any emotion other than stress registered as good. 

He smiled as he looked out onto the grey horizon, the thrill of seeing the others finally hitting him now he was off fire nation soil.

At first, his council had been all but happy to hear he would be attending after all, in fact, they were quite irate. 

In the end, he remembered that whatever he said went and if he wanted to go he could, anyway, he needed an excuse for them to do some actual work. So far it felt like all the decisions and research had fallen on him, maybe him being gone for a few days in such a time would finally make them realise their positions were more than just meaningless titles his father had rewarded them with. 

That being said, Zuko hadn’t quite freed himself from his work. Below deck were a crate or so of documents he needed to sort out, reply to or double check. He thought that if he brought them along, he wouldn’t feel so guilty for going. 

By the time Kyoshi wandered into their view, he had managed to get through about a fifth of them. He sighed deeply as they docked, realising he may have less time to sit around and chat than he had originally planned. 

Oh well, some time away was better than none.

Kyoshi looked much grander than Zuko remembered, though in fairness the last time he had been there he had sort of burned it all down. He cringed internally and hoped everyone had forgotten about that by now.

The grass covering the island by the dock was lush and bright, even the trees somehow looked nicer than he recalled. Above, the statue of Kyoshi loomed down on him, as if it were warning him not to be so reckless again; he gulped and followed his guards. 

He had sort of forgotten that ‘his guards’ were in fact Kyoshi Warriors, by now the whole face paint thing looked more normal to him than their actual faces. Seeing them flock the island though, he realised how connected they were to the place, their faces (despite the makeup) seemed to illuminate at just the sight of it.

They trailed up a path which led through a forest and past the statue of Kyoshi (Zuko subconsciously held his breath as they passed) all the way to the village. The place looked completely transformed from the puny village he had seen last time. 

The houses had seemingly been rebuilt, their wooden frames now larger and more intricate. The festival’s decorations were similarly lavish, with large green and red banners dominating every porch and sign post. Lanterns attached to thick rope hung over the long path leading to the end of town, each one decorated like the face of a Kyohsi Warrior. 

By the time they had unpacked and made it to town, the sky was growing hazier. Lanterns sprung to life in the darker sky and children flocked to the streets waving paper windmills and fans. 

People peeled back their curtains as their procession made their way into the village and Zuko felt himself turn red. It wasn’t until then that it really hit him: there was a strong possibility these people positively despised him. 

He couldn’t blame them if they did, he had burned down their homes, had their prestigious warriors arrested and nearly murdered half of them. Even so, the pressure to please them was pressing, sure, people in the fire nation didn’t like him either. Die hard Ozaists would never see him as a true leader and the colonies hated him for using their land as reparations. 

These people felt different though, he wanted so badly for them to like him but the overwhelming feeling that they would suddenly boo him out of town was frighteningly vivid. 

More and more bodies started coming out, standing outside their front doors or congregating along the side of the road. Zuko wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead before trying his best at a diplomatic wave. He smiled nervously, and to his surprise, people waved back, in fact, a few began clapping, waving flags and pointing at him with grins plastered on their faces. 

He told himself it was probably the Kyoshi Warriors’ seal of approval that had made people like him, were they not standing directly beside him people probably would’ve booed, maybe thrown rotten cabbages.

‘Zuko!’ A friendly voice yelled.

Before he could react, a small yellow and orange fireball was launching at his face, though luckily, it was less fiery and more Aangy. 

‘Aang! It's good to see you! You look…older.’ He smiled, hiding the shock he felt.

He supposed he hadn’t seen the avatar in the better part of a year but wow, he looked so different, like when turtle duck chicks lose their fluffy yellow feathers and turn brown. 

‘I didn’t believe Katara whe she said you were coming, I’m glad you came.’ He pulled Zuko into a warm hug and Zuko realised how much he had missed his friend. 

As he pulled away, Zuko suddenly felt wind push down on him and to his surprise, a huge sloppy tongue ran its slobbery saliva all down his side. 

‘Appa.’ He smiled, though internally he was slightly concerned about the state his clothes were now in, ‘It’s nice to see you, uh…buddy?’ 

‘Come on, everyone else is up at Suki’s house.’ Aang chimed before darting off like a wind propelled squirrel toad. 

Zuko signalled to the others before they made the trek up the hill to the house Aang had just landed on.

The Kyoshi Warriors pushed ahead and into the house, immediately becoming a hoard of squealing girls the minute they saw Suki. He supposed it was fair enough, she was their leader and she was engaged. Together, the group oohed and ahhed at her new betrothal necklace, a green ribbon with a hand engraved piece of bone attached to it like a pendant, not dissimilar to the one Katara used to wear. 

Suki pushed past them to greet him, placing a quick peck on his cheek before instructing the rest of his staff on wear to leave their luggage and where they would be staying. 

‘Oh, Zuko, the others are through there.’ She added mid-conversation with Zuko’s captain, probably picking up on his intense awkwardness.

‘Uh thanks.’ He half-smiled, narrowly dodging a wall as he quickly turned around.

He pushed through a large wooden door and an immediate splash of heat washed over him. As a firebender he was used to being warm enough but as the heat of the fire hit him he suddenly felt more at ease.

‘Zuko! You made it!’ Sokka called from across the room, immediately rushing over to hug him. 

‘It's nice to be here, thanks for the invite.’ Zuko replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. 

As he broke away, Zuko took in the room, it was large and quite pleasant considering its more rudimentary design. The house itself appeared to be the largest in town (which made sense in hindsight with Suki being the mayor’s daughter) but this room was about as inviting as entertainment spaces came. The fire was huge and crackling and the wooden floors, which could’ve come across as cold, looked homey and warm. Large sofas covered the walls, all enhanced with what looked to be very comfy cushions, and bookshelves filled with a random selection of trinkets covered any other remaining space the seats didn’t take up.

At the end of the room was a large set of sliding, wooden doors and with both open Zuko had a good view into the kitchen, where a large window let in the little remaining light of the evening. On the counters sat a large (and partially eaten) piece of glistening meat and a series of plates, each filled with various roasted and steamed vegetables, noodles and dumplings. 

The smell was immense. 

‘Yeah, Suki’s mom has been pretty busy.’ Sokka licked his lips and pulled Zuko through the large room with the fire. 

A few people were sitting about, though Zuko realised he couldn’t recognise a single one of them. By the looks of things they were air nomads, at least based on their clothes. 

Sokka leaned into his ear, quite unsubtly, and whispered, ‘Yeah, Aang brought a few of his weird followers with him. They won’t talk to you if you don’t talk to them, don;t worry.’ 

Zuko couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s serious tone, like talking to a few Aang fan club members was his biggest concern. 

When they moved through to the room with the food, he finally found a few familiar faces.

‘I knew you’d come in the end!’ Katara pulled him down into a hug, smiling as she let him go.

‘You write very convincing letters.’ He shrugged.

She blushed, almost looking embarrassed, before grabbing her plate of food from the counter again.

‘Hey, Sparky.’ Toph waved from the table on the other end of the small kitchen, ‘I thought you weren’t coming.’

‘Change of plans.’ 

‘Hmm.’ She narrowed her eyes before smiling, ‘Try some of this meat stuff, it's great.’ 

‘She’s not wrong, it is great.’ Sokka added, feverishly digging into another serving.

It was strange putting faces to the letters again. Sokka always sounded so serious in his, he hardly ever updated him on his life outside of major news, most of his notes were detailing trade or treaties for the water tribe. Seeing him all goofy and Sokkaish again, it was just weird.

Zuko awkwardly cut himself a slice and nabbed a few dumplings before sitting down next to Toph. He huddled in on himself with nerves, feeling almost out of place, like he was intruding on their home. 

Katara placed her plate next to his and slid down into a chair. 

‘So Toph, how have things been…with you?’ He tried, immediately stuffing his face to try and avoid his gawkiness.

‘Meh, metalbending and blah blah blah, you know, nobody ever talks about how boring it is to start a school. If I’d known that before, maybe I wouldn’t have bothered.’ 

She was leaning back in her chair with her hands behind her head, her feet balancing on the table. Clearly she didn’t feel quite the same as him about intruding.

‘Oh, and my parents double kicked me out. My mom isn’t so bad now, I guess, but my dad, sheesh, he is not happy.’ 

Zuko tried to hide his shock, though he supposed it didn’t matter since she couldn’t see it anyway.

‘I don’t get why, you’re one of the best earthenders in the world and-’

‘The best.’ She interrupted him with a grin.

Zuko rolled his eyes.

‘Fine, the best earthbender in the world. What else could he possibly want from you?’ 

She shrugged.

‘I don’t know, you tell me. What did your dad have against you, Mr I-got-exiled-at-thirteen?’ 

He chose to ignore that, though by her chuckles he assumed she was picking up on his annoyance.

‘And what about you, Your Highness, how’s ruling going for you?’ 

Zuko nearly choked on his quite delicious meat, coughing like a maniac. When he finally cleared his throat he stifled a sigh.

‘It’s fine, I guess.’ 

‘You know I can tell when you’re lying right?’ 

‘Your feet aren’t even on the floor.’ He argued, though she only laughed.

He shook his head.

‘Okay, it's not the funnest job ever. I haven’t slept in two years and my country is on the brink of collapse. Happy now?’ 

Toph put her feet down and sat properly.

‘Sheesh, way to kill the mood, Sparky.’ 

He heard Katara giggle next to him and turned to glare at her.

‘Sorry.’ She tried to stifle her laughter.

‘I don’t know why you’re laughing, sweetness, you’ve been moping around for the past two days like someone kicked your dog.’ Toph pointed at Katara who promptly stopped laughing.

‘And that’s none of your business.’ She turned her nose up to her.

‘The dirty looks you keep giving to Aang’s clones aren’t exactly secret, Sugarqueen.’ Toph piled a handful of vegetables into her mouth.

‘How do you even know about that?’ She exclaimed defensively.

‘I have eyes everywhere.’ She winked, though she continued following Katara’s evil glare (which again, Zuko struggled to figure out how she saw), ‘Your brother’s a major gossip.’

‘Ugh, I should’ve known.’ She glanced over at Sokka with icy eyes.

‘I’m not saying it's wrong, though. Those freaks are super annoying. I’d probably go crazy too if I had to live with them.’ Toph shrugged.

‘I’m not crazy thank you.’ Katara strategically ignored Toph whispering ‘yet’ under her breath, ‘And they’re not freaks…they’re just…different.’ 

‘Katara, this is a safe space! Right, fire lord?’ Toph whispered at a volume which could probably not be considered a whisper, ‘Come on I need this, try teaching kids to metalbend and you’ll realise how much a tiny shred of gossip means to you.’

‘Yeah..sure.’ Zuko agreed.

Katara attempted to keep up her stance for a moment before sighing and breaking her strong posture.

‘Okay, fine, I kind of hate them. I mean, maybe they would be nice if I got to know them but they’re just so…so…ugh. They’re just so ugh.’ She shook her head annoyed, like even thinking of them made her heated.

‘No Katara!’ She mocked, ‘We practise the pacifism of the air nomads, you may not eat meat on this sacred ground.’ 

Toph chuckled and Zuko smiled.

‘It's like, hello? I cook all your meals but I’m not allowed to eat what I want? It drives me insane. This is genuinely the first time I’ve eaten something other than Tofu and vegetables in like, four months.’ Her eyes were wide and crazy.

Zuko looked back to his own plate and felt grateful that in all the annoyances of his job, at least he could eat whatever he wanted.

‘Ugh, sugarqueen, just go back to the water tribe already.’ Toph through her head back with annoyance.

Katara rolled her eyes.

‘You know I can’t just up and leave Aang.’ 

‘Uh, yeah, you can.’ Toph parried, ‘He has his weird cult of orange freaks to keep him company.’

‘You do realise we’re dating, right?’ She picked at the food on her plate with her chopsticks.

‘Unfortunately. Katara, I’m blind and even I can tell you look drained. You don’t even have to break up with him, love and all that, but just go home for a while, eat some meat and go back.’ 

‘It doesn’t really work like that, Toph.’ Katara shuffled uncomfortably, ‘I’m gonna get some more food.’ 

Zuko looked from her to Toph and suddenly felt even more awkward than before.

‘Where’s your freaky girlfriend?’ Toph suddenly asked, as though she hadn’t just read Katara to filth.

‘We broke up ages ago, does nobody read my letters to you?’ He questioned.

‘Meh, after the first few I got bored.’ She shoved a slab of meat into her gob, ‘So, what happened?’ 

He looked down at his plate.

‘Between me and Mai?’ Stiffly, he squirmed around in his seat, ‘Just didn’t work out, I guess. She got mad at me for working too much and not paying enough attention to her. I wasn’t about to give up my nation to please her so I let her leave and she never came back. End of story.’ 

‘Geez, and I thought Twinkletoes was unromantic.’

‘She didn’t care enough to be Fire Lady anyway. Uncle nearly jumped for joy when I told him.’ He smiled faintly at the memory.

‘How’s the old man doing, anyway? Last time I saw him he was going on some expedition to find some rare tea, or something.’ She spoke, though her mouth was full of food. 

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Zuko threw his chopsticks down, ‘I can’t keep up with him these days. I know when he’s coming to visit and the rest of the time I try not to think about the dumb stuff he’s doing. Not like he writes to me much anyway.’ 

Aang suddenly darted round the doorway, his face elated.

‘Guys, come on. They’re doing fireworks!’ He grinned the same way he used to, suddenly he looked 13 again.

The five of them, as well as the trio of air nomad people (or whatever they were called) huddled out the front door and onto the porch.

Sure enough, the darkened sky was illuminated by huge pearls of emerald green and fluorescent red. 

It was only then Zuko realised something.

‘What is this festival actually celebrating?’ He said, though only a moment later he realised he had not meant to say it aloud.

‘Seriously?’ Katara turned around to look at him, her face both perplexed and amused, ‘We’re on Kyoshi, take a guess.’ 

‘Uh, right.’ He stood in silence, still quite unsure.

‘Avatar Kiyoshi!’ Her face was practically twisted she seemed so surprised, ‘How did you even get here without knowing that? It was literally on the invitation.’ 

‘I’ve been busy.’ He shrugged, a poor attempt at defence, he knew.

‘Oh sure, too busy to respond to my letters too, I guess?’ She looked at him with smugness.

He felt his face turn red as he nervously picked at his ear.

‘I never got them, seriously! I promise I wasn’t just ignoring them for my own enjoyment. They must’ve got messed up in the mailing room, I’m sorry.’ 

‘It’s fine, I guess. You read the one that mattered, anyway.’ Her face flashed with green and pink and yellow as the colours above bloomed and melted together.

‘No, when I get back, I promise I’ll find them and read them all…well I will after I get through the backlog of all the other stuff.’ He realised his gesture didn’t seem quite so kind with the second bit tacked on. 

‘Backlog? How much mail do you get? Don’t you have, like, people for that?’ She scrutinised him with her eyes.

‘Trust me, if you saw the amount I got you wouldn’t want to touch it either, I mean, I brought a crate of it with me and I still have like a hundred scrolls on my desk.’ 

‘You’re kidding.’

‘I wish.’ He said, his tone weary.

‘Show me, there’s seriously no way you actually shipped a whole crate of mail all the way here.’ 

‘You actually shipped a whole crate of mail all the way here.’ She looked astounded.

Looking at it now, it was a lot fuller than he remembered. Maybe one fifth was optimistic.

‘Let me help you with it, it's making me depressed just looking at it.’ She sank to her knees and began rustling through the sea of scrolls and loose papers.

‘Katara.’ He tried to pull her back up, but she wouldn’t budge, ‘I’m not letting you miss the fireworks to file paperwork. My paperwork.’

‘They’ve lit those fireworks everyday we’ve been here, besides, I need something to stimulate my brain before it goes to mush.’ She shrugged and pulled a few scrolls out from the crate, tossing them on the ground next to her.

‘Toph was right, you have gone crazy.’ He sank down opposite her, realising she was going to be stubborn.

Katara only stuck out her tongue in reply.

‘Are these from my dad?’ She inspected the crest closely.

‘Probably. Him and Sokka have been hounding us about some trade routes or something. I don’t know, I can’t wrap my head around it.’ Zuko placed his head in his hand, the thought of opening more letters hurt his head.

‘Oh yeah, Dad’s always complaining about this. He says they need more help trading with the North and the Earth Kingdom, I guess the hundred years of war didn’t make for great trade relations.’ She said casually.

Zuko cringed, feeling his face turn red, though at the same time he felt an immense sense of relief. He had honestly been dreading having to ask Sokka about it, he already felt out of place enough, let alone showing his trade partners how much of an awful leader he was right to their face. 

‘Look, leave this to me, if you want. Honestly, it doesn’t concern you all that much.’ 

‘I can’t just do that, the water tribe is our ally now, we’re helping you rebuild because we…’ He drifted off though he knew she understood.

‘Well if you’re so busy, I’m sure having this off your plate would open you up a lot more for figuring out reparations.’ She spoke like politics was her mother tongue. 

‘I guess…’ He found himself conflicted, ‘Really, though, this isn’t your job. You shouldn’t have to-’

‘Well what if I want to, what then?’ She snapped, suddenly.

He faltered, how was he even supposed to go about this?

‘Exactly. Just let me do this one thing, it’s mutually beneficial.’ She smiled, smug at her victory.

‘Fine. Not now though, I don’t need Toph making fun of me for this too.’ 

She smiled.

‘My lips are sealed.’

Zuko fell asleep that night with concern on his brow. 

For one thing, he had just let Katara take over a major job for a nation she not only wasn’t a part of, but was staunchly against most of the time. And to make things worse, her and Aang had been bickering in the room next to him for an entire hour before he finally managed to doze off. 

Maybe it was the wooden walls, but they were loud and clear despite the wall between them. From what he (unintentionally) heard, Katara was annoyed at something one of Aang’s guests had said and Aang was mad that Katara wasn’t making an effort anymore. Unfortunately, despite his attempts, he had heard practically every word.

At breakfast, he managed to avoid the two of them (which was easy as they seemed to be avoiding each other), instead finding refuge with Sokka and Suki. He would take cringey couple talk over relationship tension anyday, he’d already lived enough of it.

‘So, you’ll need to take like a week off for the wedding.’ Sokka told him, his left arm wrapped around Suki and his right shovelling food into his face.

‘Any week in particular?’ Zuko asked.

‘We’re thinking sometime next spring, so maybe just calendar all of Spring out for now.’ He nodded, as if he were being extremely helpful.

‘Yeah, I’ll think about it.’ 

‘Hey, when are you gonna get married, Fire Lord.’ He changed his voice to sound old and grand as he said the last part, ‘What happened to that spooky girl you used to date?’

‘Does nobody here read my letters?’ He growled.

‘What can I say, I’m a busy guy! Besides, it's way more fun catching up in person. I mean, if I read all of Katara’s letters all the way through there would be no fun gossip to pick up on. Supposedly, Aang is planning on proposing to her on the last day of the festival, but you didn’t hear it from me.’ 

He winked aggressively.

‘Really? So no one else heard them arguing all night?’ Zuko grumped, maybe it was the half-sleepless night or maybe he was just sick of all the drama. 

He’d thought he’d left all that back home.

‘Hey don’t shoot the messenger. What Aang and my sister do is none of my business.’ 

‘So it wasn’t your business when you nearly strangled Aang to death when he told you they were dating?’ Suki chirped with a smirk.

‘Hey, you said you wouldn’t tell anyone about that.’ Sokka sulked, ‘Anyway that was years ago, I’m totally and utterly happy for them now.’ 

Suki only rolled her eyes and something told Zuko that meant he wasn’t being entirely truthful. That could be wrong though, he was never great at reading the room.

‘What were they arguing about?’ Suki asked after a moment of silence.

Zuko picked at his food nervously.

‘I don’t know, I don’t think she’s a huge fan of Aang’s fan club.’ 

‘Can’t blame her, they’ve been here all week and I don’t think they’ve done anything but meditate, eat and sleep. I don’t want to be rude, but they kind of give me the creeps.’ She looked over her shoulders with a worried expression.

‘Dad told them not to run off to rebuild the air temple so soon. I always thought Katara wanted to teach waterbending but I guess she’s more of a fan of home decorating these days.’ Sokka shrugged, ‘Anyway, me and Suki wanted them to stay in the South for a while to help build the place up for all the Northerners coming down, but no one ever listens to Sokka.’ 

‘I get Aang’s side, though, he’s been talking nonstop about those temples every time I’ve seen him since the war ended.’ Zuko added.

‘Yeah, well, maybe she should’ve just done the sane thing and listened to me.’ Sokka leaned back coolly in his chair.

‘Who should’ve listened to you?’

Sokka instantly straightened up as Katara placed her bowl down opposite him.

‘Uh…no one…Ty Lee! Yeah, we were just talking about Ty Lee, you know, how we usually do.’ He attempted, not so coolly.

‘Right…’ Katara looked a little weirded out and Zuko couldn’t blame her.

‘So, Katara…how did you sleep?’ Suki tried, breaking the ice.

‘The room is lovely, thank you so much, really. Honestly, though, I could’ve probably slept better without someone who will not be named snoring in my ear all night.’ Katara replied, growing louder until she was practically yelling.

‘Oh…I’ll ask my mom about that.’ Suki’s eyes turned to Sokka’s, almost in synchronisation.

‘Suki…don’t we have to…’ Sokka began, the pair exchanging strange glances.

‘Water the grass? Oh yes, how could I have…forgot? We better go do that…right now!’ Suki finished, the pair awkwardly standing, leaving the table with fake grins plastered across their guilty faces. 

The moment they thought they were out of sight, they darted from the room.

Zuko, now realising he had been left alone with an emotionally unstable Katara (which had never ended well for him in the past) with no buffer and no excuses. He tried his luck at just getting up and leaving.

‘Aren’t you gonna eat that?’ Katara pointed down at his mostly full plate of food, and in all honesty, he was quite hungry.

‘Oh yeah…whoops.’ He found himself sliding back down into his chair.

The pair of them sat in silence for a moment, the only noises coming from Aang and his followers.

‘What are they doing?’ Zuko asked, the strange humming and groaning was growing quite suspicious.

‘Yoga. Anyway, you know those scrolls you gave me? I think I’ve come up with a solution to your problem, if you want I could draft a letter to my dad for you, or I guess I could just ask him about it next time I see him.’ 

He sat there, speechless and quite shocked. Never had he known Katara to be dumb, but he hadn’t quite realised her efficiency when it came to boring trade routes and paperwork. 

‘Uh…Well if you want.’ He shrugged, unsure what else he was supposed to offer her, ‘Really, though, you don’t have to do any of this. It's sort of my birthright to handle this kind of stuff.’ 

She rolled her eyes.

‘Really, it's my pleasure. I spent half of last night reading over all those letters in Suki’s mom’s study.’ 

Zuko raised his eyebrows with concern.

‘Are you crazy or something? What is it with you and sleep deprivation?’ 

‘Well, I’m sure you probably heard, but me and Aang got into a kind of crazy fight last night. I just needed a breather and all those long words are a good distraction.’ 

Zuko sweated anxiously. He was fast approaching very awkward territory and he needed to turn it around, quick.

‘Yeah…I did hear.’ He awaited her response with baited breath, he wasn’t sure how much more neutral he could’ve made that statement but he prayed it was enough to move them away from the subject.

‘Yeah I bet you did hear with how loud he was being, it's like, Aang, people are trying to sleep! I told him we should just sleep on it and talk it out this morning but he said it was bad karma to go to bed angry. I mean, the stuff he comes up with just to prove me wrong? Then when I woke up, guess where he was? Yeah, I don’t know either because he just ran off. Who could see that coming? Aang running away.’ She scoffed, her face almost gleaming with anger.

It appeared he had not managed to turn it around.

At this point, Zuko wasn’t even embarrassed, he was getting mad. Maybe it was the lost sleep messing up his hormones or the pent up annoyance of the past few weeks all starting to pour over, but he felt heat start to rise up in his chest like it hadn’t in a long time.

‘So why don’t you just leave him then?’ He snapped.

Immediately he regretted it, but his anger only seemed to burn up his dispositions and it only grew as he let it out.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, yet not the happy kind of smile.

‘Oh, right, what else could I expect from you. When was the last time you even talked to Mai? I really don’t think I need your advice when it comes to relationships.’ 

‘So stop complaining about it then. If you and Aang argue so much, if you hate living with him so much, why are you still with him?’ He tried to keep his voice down but it was incredibly hard. He couldn’t remember the last time he had shouted at someone with his full force, the rules of court had kept his anger tamed. Now though he felt no such restraints, and it seemed Katara felt the same.

‘And do what?’ She yelled, ‘Live in some run down igloo watching Sokka pop out adorable babies while I turn all wrinkly and old with nothing to show for it? You wouldn’t get it, you’re literally the ruler of an entire nation and you could marry literally anyone if you wanted to. If I’m not with Aang, what do I do? Just…be lonely?’ 

‘Pretty much.’ He sneered, ‘Surely that beats screaming matches everyday, or are you that sad that the thought of living your own life scares you?’ 

Her face crumpled up like a sheet of paper, her eyebrows furrowing deep into her skin.

‘Yeah, you know what, maybe I am scared. Sorry I actually understand being part of a loving family unit, not everybody spends their whole lives running away from everyone who shows them kindness.’

He guessed she was talking about that time in Ba Sing Sei in the caverns, though it was a low blow.  

‘Whatever, Katara, come find me when you want to act like a grown up and not a toddler.’ He slammed his, still half-full, bowl down on the side before storming out.

The day outside was lovely, by Earth kingdom standards. It was a little chilly for Zuko’s liking, not that that was an issue for a firebender, but the sun was still shining high in the sky when he stepped off the steps of the porch.

Being on Kyoshi, he felt safe enough wandering the island without guards. To be on the safe side, though, he swapped his fire nation regalia out for a washed out green and burnt orange smock Sokka had gifted him for a birthday a year or so ago. He let his hair go free for once too, he supposed if he was going to be out in nature he might as well feel natural.

He wandered down a random path, leading off from the main road, down through a forest. It was dissimilar to the rest of the Earth Kingdom, and he’d seen enough of that for an entire lifetime, though it beat walking on eggshells around the match made in hell and their creepy cult.

Finally, after probably ten minutes of aimless walking, Zuko found himself in a pristine clearing. 

A large cliffside framed the view, with a trickling river tumbling down its rough face into a small lagoon. Downstream he spotted a small bridge made of a stick and wood combination. 

He continued his trek, clambering up the last leg of the trail all the way up to the top of the cliff. It was steep, though not particularly tall. 

By the time he made it to the top he was sweating like a bull-pig and panting like one too. 

He really needed to start working out again.

‘Hey, Sparky.’ 

Zuko nearly fell off the side of the cliff, he was so startled.

Toph only laughed at his misery, of course.

‘What is wrong with you?’ He clenched his chest as if he had just had a heart attack, ‘What are you even doing out here, freak?’

‘Sorry, Lord Antsy-pants, but I’m here on business.’ She took a step to the left, revealing a stone statue, which Zuko swore han’t been there before 

‘You made that…why?’ He inspected it more closely, now seeing the striking resemblance the stone man had to Aang.

‘Meh, Suki’s mom commissioned me. I can’t quite get the nose right.’ She suddenly jumped into a series of moves, each one resulting in a different (yet not quite right) nose.

‘Really, I should be asking what you’ re doing here, Mr Fire Lord. Where’s your armed guard and your fancy crown.’ 

‘I wanted to take a walk, is that illegal?’ He grumbled.

‘Let me guess, you got into a fight with…Twinkletoes?’ She guessed.

‘No.’ He snapped, before sighing dramatically, ‘Katara.’

‘Close enough.’ She shrugged, ‘What was it this time? Did you stand on her dress or something?’ 

Zuko nearly didn’t respond, but something about Toph’s smug tone always baited him into confessing things he knew he shouldn’t.

‘No, I told her to break up with Aang.’ 

‘No way! Not to sound mean, Sparky, but I didn’t think you had the balls.’ She giggled, ‘Bet she didn’t take that well.’

‘No, she didn’t, which is why I came out here…so I could be alone and…’ He drifted off, he wasn’t totally sure why he had come out here.

‘Reconnect with nature? Pfft.’ 

‘No…fire bend.’ He lied.

‘Right, yeah, you do that then.’ She chuckled under her breath as she walked off into the woods, ‘Liar.’ 

After that Zuko was feeling doubly heated. 

Toph was like Azula if Azula wasn’t evil and only wanted to humiliate him, not kill him. He hadn’t quite figured out which was worse.

He felt the touch of the sun’s warmth on his face and he felt inflamed. Maybe he hadn’t been outside enough recently, but he genuinely felt on fire.

With the sun sitting in the sky behind him, he moved through a series of poses, each one felt more and more familiar as he went through the set. The stretch in the muscles of his arms and core felt amazing, like he was shedding some kind of stone skin which had been entrapping him for the past however long. Long hair brushed at his back as he pivoted, flames licked at his forearms as he jabbed them forcefully through the air, energy invigorating him more and more with every breath.

The air around him was sweaty and warm by the time he had completed his first set. He also found himself uncharacteristically shiny, his hair was practically drenched. Even his breaths were thicker and deeper than usual, the choking feeling of lost athleticism held at his chest, stopping him from moving.

After a few moments, he found himself able to stretch again without the stabbing pain of his lungs exploding gripping his entire body. Slowly, he moved again through the positions, only now without fire. He closed his eyes and tried to focus in on the movements, only his mind was far from focused, all he could think about was the last time he had done this set specifically. 

It was warm enough that day, but what he remembered most were his friends’ unimpressed stares as he and Aang completed their third attempt at the dancing dragon. Now, though, he struggled to connect to the shame his past self had felt, the embarrassment that stained his cheeks as Katara and Sokka ridiculed them, all he could see now was the blinding wish to go back. 

He continued, re-visiting sets he hadn’t rehearsed since him and Uncle had first set sail. It almost felt appropriate to practise the most rudimentary skills, he was so out of practice by now he could probably be bested by Suki sleepwalking. 

As he practised, feeling the sun slowly move above and around him, the fire started to flow, the burn in his muscles seemed to dull with the rush of adrenaline coursing through him. 

Calmly, he deeply exhaled, placing his hands together in front of him. Though he had felt the sun the entire time, for the first time in what seemed to be hours, he opened his eyes, the white hush of the sun’s glare blinding him for a moment as he readjusted to the real world. 

Sighing, he pulled his hands down and across the skin of his face, pulling them away wet with glistening sweat. As he opened his eyes again, he turned slowly, removing his red face from the harsh whispers of the sun.

‘Nice performance.’ Katara suddenly appeared, leaning in front of a tree casually. 

He choked on the warm air. Where did she even come from? Had she seriously been there the entire time?

‘Uh- thanks?’ He rubbed his face on the drapey fabric of his tunic.

She pushed herself off of the tree and started towards her, though he decided to meet her halfway, allowing them both a spot in the tree’s shade.

‘You know, I don’t think I’ve actually seen anyone firebend in a solid year.’ She half-smiled awkwardly.

He had to admit it felt nice to not be the only awkward one for once. Still, he was very aware that he probably looked like a sweaty Iguana-Seal.

‘Yeah…I’ve hardly done any bending since becoming fire lord, so…’ He pushed his hair back off his face, presuming it probably looked like a swampy bird’s nest.

‘Really? That’s so…Anyway, Toph said I would find you out here and I wanted to talk to you so…’ She kicked a stone half-heartedly with her foot.

He stared at her blankly, unsure if he was expected to reply.

‘Okay, well I wanted to apologise earlier.’ She fiddled aggressively with her hair, ‘I’m pretty tired and I snapped at you for no reason, really you were just looking out for me and…I guess you kind of had a good point. I’m sorry for all the things I said, I didn’t even mean most of them, I just sort of wanted to make you feel bad. I’m really sorry, Zuko.’ 

Like a complete idiot, he stood there blanky, trying his best to formulate some kind of sensible response. 

‘Don’t say anything, it's fine. I just wanted to tell you I was sorry, that’s all.’ She pressed her lips together in a not-quite-smile before turning to walk away.

‘Wait!’ He exclaimed before realising he still han’t thought of something to say.

As she turned around, she looked at him with a spark of hope twinkling in her eye and he understood he needed to do something for her. For once, he decided to let his mind abandon him, rather, he would just do whatever came to him first.

‘When was the last time you bended?’ He noted the confused look on her face, ‘And I mean like really bended.’ 

She blushed and shrugged, embarrassed.

‘I guess I don’t remember, maybe sometime before me and Aang went to the air temple.’ 

Zuko grinned, wiping his clammy palm on his tunic before extending it out for a handshake, ‘Okay then, let's spar.’ 

Katara looked at him for a moment, maybe perplexed or maybe just shocked, though a few seconds later she was gripping his hand with a determination she hadn’t seen in her in years. 

The two of them stood on either side of the little grove, her closer to the stream and him closer to Toph’s statue. 

Zuko thought he had made peace with this loss, he was already pretty tired and very out of practice, but now it felt like old times again, and he was ready to win. 

Immediately, he lunged at her with a fist of flames, though she was quick, pulling the stream in front of her to block him. 

With lacking precision, he split the water with his flames, punching through it the second he could. With a smug smile, though, Katara not only blocked his punches but pushed him down. 

Maybe it was that smug look, but Zuko suddenly felt energy surge through him as he sat wet on the floor. He smirked at her before spinning around, a move he had picked up from Aang, launching fire from his feet with every spin. 

He watched as her face paled and her hands moved hastily to block his attack. As a last ditch effort, she ripped the water from the floor and put up a half-effort wall of water, the entire structure being immediately ripped down. 

As he picked himself up, almost jumping back to his feet, he narrowly dodged a whip straight to his face. Before he could even recover, ice was shattering around him, shards of the stuff flying towards him at scary speeds. With a twist of his hands, he pulled together two strands of knitted flames, instantly melting her attempted bullets and forcing her to dodge, pulling herself to his right on a wave.

Noticing her chance, she pulled his legs into the wave with her, freezing the water solid. Now behind him, Katara began pulling as much water up as she could, raising it up and above her head. Sensing he was about to get very wet, Zuko broke free of the ice and rolled forward, now looking Katara straight in the eyes. 

She stuck out her tongue at him mischievously and pushed the giant wave straight at him. With no chance of dodging it, he tried something experimental, creating a barrier of fire around himself. 

As the wave crashed over him, his shield kept him from most of the blast, though he found his clothes to be wet with more than just sweat. 

Their match continued on until Zuko felt the strands of muscle in his arm begging to be released, his fingertips burning with the constant flames licking out of them. 

Katara looked just about beat, too. Her face was gleaming in the sun, her limbs hanging tired next to her torso. 

Still, neither relented. This was more than sparring now, it was a competition.

As she narrowly dodged another of his half-assed blasts, he saw her almost  force herself to stay awake. That only made him smile.

Trying to take advantage of her fatigue, he pulled a ball of fire between his hands, tossing it from his side, right into her face.

Clearly taken off guard, she jolted to the side, and though she attempted to pull herself to her feet with her water, she only managed to pull herself forward, racing towards her like an out of control ostrich-horse.

Without the energy required to dodge, she swept him down, landing firmly on top of him, leaving them both soaked.

Panting, the two of them sat there in shock for a moment. Katara, perhaps realising the situation finally, clambered to her feet (through her legs were clearly wobbling) and pressed a hand down on his chest, pinning him to the floor.

‘1…2…3. Yes, I win! Suck on that, fire lord.’ She teased, waving her arms around in an attempt to be excited, though she was clearly too exhausted to properly commit. 

Unexpectedly, he didn’t find himself annoyed at her victory, rather he just sat up and smiled, using his hand to block the sun so he could glance at her poor attempt at a victory lap.

Breathing deeply, she limped over and helped him up, her smile wide and proud.

‘Come on, let me dry us off.’ She managed between heavy, laboured breaths.

They both stripped off their soaked tunic-shirts so Katara could easily pull the water from them, leaving them on the rocky area by the stream to warm up in the sun. She gently stripped the excess liquid from their hair before they crumpled down, leaning their backs on parallel trees.

Light streaked across her tan skin, highlighting the sapphire elements of her eyes and the pink in her worn out cheeks.

‘Spirits, I needed that. I really need to start practising again, though.’ She chuckled to herself, letting her neck give in so her head could rest against the tree’s trunk.

‘Why did you stop? Surely they have water in the temple?’ He wiped his face again with his untied belt.

‘Aang said it was disrespectful to the temple to fight, even if it was just sparring.’ She rolled her eyes though immediately fell back into a smile.

‘So the monks never fought for practice?’ He shook his head with disapproval, ‘Yeah, I bet all the previous avatars just mastered air bending through meditation and good deeds.’ 

Katara giggled as much as her tired chest would allow.

‘Yeah, well, I didn’t feel like I could fight him about it. It’s his home, really, who am I to go against what he says is right?’ 

‘I guess.’ He sighed, ‘It just feels unfair to you. Don’t get me wrong, I love Aang, but I would’ve murdered him by now, if I were you.’ 

She shrugged softly.

‘Relationships are all about making sacrifices…or at least that’s what I thought.’ 

‘To a point. Giving up waterbending and your family when he’s given up nothing doesn’t feel like a fair trade, though.’ 

‘Maybe you’re right.’ She twisted her ragged hair loopy between her thumb and index finger, ‘I just can’t help make excuses for him. Maybe he’s a little controlling when it comes to the temple, sure, but that’s all he has left of his family, I still have mine. Even if what he thinks is wrong and it's all some romanticised view of his culture he’s made up, what gives me the right to take that from him?’ 

Zuko shrugged and decided to leave it at that.

He could’ve pointed out how Aang could have all his made up monk fantasies without her being caught in the crossfire, but he bit his tongue. There was no point saying it if she wasn’t going to really hear it.

‘Hey! Sparky? What the hell did you do to my statue?’ 

Zuko’s face suddenly paled, his entire body tensing. 

Katara looked spooked for a second before nearly breaking into laughter. He shushed her and tried to hide behind the tree. She joined him a moment later, though containing her giggles seemed to be quite the impossible task.

‘I can see you, you know. Earthbending!’ Toph yelled from the other side of the tree.

Katara fully started cackling then, his face erupted with pink blush.

The pair of them came out from behind the tree to see an annoyed earthbender standing in front of them, her arms crossed firmly across her chest. 

Though she was short, she was quite the frightening image.

‘Care to explain that ?’ She pointed firmly towards the statue of Aang, which Zuko now noticed was smashed to pieces.

‘Whoops.’ He hadn’t meant to say that outloud.

‘Yeah, whoops.’ She shook her head and stomped over to the crumbled statue.

‘You made that, Toph?’ Katara asked.

‘Who else could’ve made a statue that realistic? Well, I guess I’ll have to rebuild it, thanks a lot clumsy dee and idiot dumb.’ She huffed.

Zuko looked down at his feet but Katara only seemed amused.

In a second Toph pulled a hunk of stone from the floor and tf he’d blinked he may have missed it, but the entire block suddenly exploded into a cloud of dust.

After sputtering for a moment, Zuko opened his eyes to find the stone brick gone and an exact replica of the statue before his eyes.

‘Damn, Toph. How’d you learn to do that?’ Katara seemed amazed, reaching out and touching the statue’s stone robes with a gentle hand.

‘Yeah, I’m amazing, we know that already.’ Her eyebrows suddenly shifted to accusatory, ‘What are you two doing out here, naked and sweaty?’ 

Zuko was suddenly very aware he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

‘We’re hardly naked, Toph. We were sparring.’ Katara shrugged calmly, still appreciating the artistry of the sculpture.

‘Hm, sure. Your boyfriend’s been looking for you, you know.’ 

Katara’s demeanour shifted instantly, her shoulder’s hardening and her face growing sour.

‘What does he want, now? Let me guess, I looked at a slice of meat for too long in his followers’ presence?’ She snapped.

‘Hey, don’t get mad at me! I only came up here to finish this stupid nose.’ She rammed her foot into the ground and the nose changed, now much more accurate, ‘See, that's way better.’ 

She turned back to the two of them.

‘You two can get back to your “sparring”.’ She put that in air quotes.

‘No, that’s alright, I better go see what Lord Aang wants now.’ Katara yanked her shirt and leggings from their rocky bed and stomped off.

As she left, Zuko found himself confused at what had just happened.

‘She’s gonna hate him soon if she doesn’t get away from him, I swear.’ Toph added before shrugging and wandering off.

Zuko stood there, very confused and completely uncomfortable.

He grabbed his shirt, tugged it on and tied it and looked around awkwardly. He ultimately decided to leave it there and head back, scratching his head as he tried to calculate what to do next.

The night air was cool and breezy.

Zuko found himself in his room alone. Outside he heard fireworks, though he felt himself draining of his lifeforce with even the thought of going out to socialise.

After he returned from his little outing, he found the house tense. The weirdos in orange were frozen when he walked in, though he doubted it was his intimidating presence. More likely, it was the screaming match between Katara and Aang taking place in the kitchen. 

Eager to avoid it, Zuko b-lined for the stairs, though even from as far away as that he could hear insults being thrown back and forth (with Sokka occasionally trying his best to mediate). 

In the end, it seemed to fizzle out and he assumed they’d made up since he could hear them chatting peacefully outside his window whenever the fireworks stopped to breathe for a moment. 

He cringed to himself every time Aang called Katara pretty (which was way too many times for one normal conversation) and cringed even harder when he imagined Aang possibly proposing to her the next day. 

To keep his mind away from the tension of the house, he decided he may as well get some work done.

Though Katara’s help had been appreciated, she had only taken maybe seven scrolls from the mass of the crate, he still had heaps left to do. That, in combination with his day of pointless escapades, meant he would probably be swamped with backlogs the moment he got back to the palace; if he couldn’t even finish one crate of paperwork in three days, what was he expecting to happen when he went home?

He sighed and leaned his tired head on his hand, the words on the page all blurring together. 

He was considering just giving up for the night when he had a knock at his door. Before he could even get up to answer it, Sokka burst through his door with a dramatic sigh more fit for the ember island players than the chief-in-training of the Southern Water Tribe.

‘Yeah, come on in, don’t even worry about it.’ Zuko threw his hands up in annoyance, though his guest seemed to ignore it completely, slamming the door and flopping down onto Zuko’s bed.

‘What do you want, Sokka?’ He stood up and looked down at his friend. 

His eyes were tightly closed with melodramatic tears welling in their corners. Like an overly stressed court lady, he sighed.

‘Zuko, I just don’t know what to do.’ He cried out, a rather jarring performance.

‘Okay?’

‘I think I need you to tell Katara about Aang’s proposal.’ He returned to his normal voice though the moment he said it his face shifted to the expression a toddler would use to beg for extra snacks.

‘And why would I do that?’ He huffed.

‘Because!’ Sokka collapsed back against the mattress, ‘If Katara marries him I know they’ll fight the way they did today, but like, everyday! Then she’ll be miserable and she’ll hate Aang, but I like Aang!’ 

‘And?’ 

‘And she’s my baby sister and I don’t want her to be sad.’ He tried again with the cute act but dropped it with a sigh when he saw Zuko’s face.

‘Exactly, she’s your sister, you tell her!’ He yelled.

‘No, no, you don’t get it, that’s exactly why I can’t tell her!’ Sokka whined, ‘She won’t talk to me about Aang unless it's to complain about him snoring! You two are all, you know, buddy buddy. Talk to her and make sure she says no.’ He nodded astutely and crossed his arms. 

‘Yeah, I’m not doing that.’ Zuko rolled his eyes and turned to sit back down with his papers.

‘Come on, man. Do you really want Katara to live the rest of her life sad and regretful?’ He flung his arms around as if to add dramatic effect, though he actually just looked crazy.

‘No, but it's none of my business. If she wants to make an awful decision, that's her problem.’ 

‘But you admit it would be awful, right? Come on, Zuko, do this one little favour for me. Pwetty Pwease.’ Sokka shook him by his shoulders aggressively.

‘Alright, fine! Will you leave me alone and stop shaking me if I say yes?’ He pushed him off of him.

Sokka only fell to his knees, however, gripping onto Zuko’s legs with a tight hug.

‘Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you one.’ He stood up and tried to kiss Zuko on the cheek with exaggerated exuberance, though Zuko (quite disgusted by the whole display of overwhelming positivity) shoved him out the door and slammed it.

Now alone again, Zuko took a moment to comprehend the conversation before harrumphing. 

He turned to look at his work, though he only ended up kicking the crate clean over, spilling scrolls across the floor. He immediately recognized that he would regret that the next day, but rather than cleaning it up, he ripped off his clothes and went to bed.

The feeling of going to bed seething wasn't something he had done in a while, and he suddenly realised why he was so sleep deprived two and a half years ago. 

Chapter Text

When she woke up, Katara felt a strange calm she hadn’t felt in a while. 

‘You alright, Sugarqueen, you look…weird.’ Toph grumbled from the table, sloshing the soup around in her bowl boredly. 

‘Look?’ Katara smirked, pouring herself a bowl.

‘You know what I mean.’ Toph eyed her evilly, ‘Why are you so…’

‘Happy?’

‘Yeah…’ Toph replied, suspicious.

Katara only smiled and shrugged, twirling down into her chair.

‘I don’t know.’ Though really she was conspiring that her sudden happiness had come from one particular conversation.

‘Probably all that bending you did yesterday. You two sounded like you were dying when I found you.’ 

Katara’s mouth hung open for a second, she hadn’t even considered that she was so focused on her chat with Aang. 

‘Yeah…’ She mumbled, pulling a spoon to her mouth, ‘Maybe.’

‘Anyway, what are you gonna do today? With it being the last full day and all.’ She asked plainly, her head resting perilously on her fist. 

‘Not sure.’ She chirped, ‘I’ll probably go check out the market, I haven’t been since the day we arrived and they were only setting up then, you should come, you know.’ 

‘Meh, maybe. I’ll see if I have time.’ Toph picked at her nails.

Katara rolled her eyes and dolloped a helping of peanut spread on a roughly cut slice of bread.

‘I’ll probably watch the fireworks again tonight too. Surely you’re going to that?’ 

Toph raised and dropped her shoulders.

‘See nothing once, see it a thousand times. I guess I’ll go since the rest of you’ll probably be there.’ Katara noticed her slight smile at the mention of them all hanging out together.

‘I can’t believe the festival is almost over. The thought of going home without you and Sokka and Zuko is just…it's sad, you know?’ Katara dipped her bread in her soup gingerly before scoffing it, ‘Maybe you should come visit the air temple sometime? That could be fun.’

Toph guffawed, shaking her head.

‘No way I’d be caught dead staying with Aang’s creepy cult any longer than I have to. Next time you and Twinkletoes go back South maybe I’ll come.’

Katara smiled. Deep down she knew Toph would jump at the opportunity to come see them, she loved them really. She couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid the air acolytes though, Katara had lived with them for half a year and she’d hardly spoken to them.

Wind blew the cloth curtains with a sudden blow and within a second music filled the room. Horns, pipes and flutes filled the air with a melodious tune Katara didn’t recognise.

‘What is that?’ Toph spun her finger around in her ear.

‘I’m not sure. Come on, let's go see.’

The two of them abandoned their half-filled bowls and wandered out to the porch. Standing behind the fence at the end of it, they had a perfect view of the marching band proceeding down the road.

‘Woah.’ Katara looked on in awe, ‘I had no idea they did a whole parade.’ 

‘Me neither.’ Toph grinned.

Behind them, two familiar faces followed them out the open door.

‘Sokka, why didn’t you tell us they were doing a parade today?’ Katara smiled at her brother, pulling him over to watch.

He looked at her with an uncomfortable smile, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

‘Oh right, I guess I…forgot? Anyway- uh…Zuko!’ He shoved Zuko forwards, right into her face.

He looked just as surprised as she was, though his face read more as guilty and annoyed than embarrassed.

‘Uh, hi?’ She said, confused.

‘Uh…can I talk to you…like alone?’ He said, glaring at Sokka every chance he had.

‘Right now?’ She grimaced, ‘I kind of want to watch the parade. I’ll come find you after it's done, I promise.’ 

‘I think Zuko wanted to talk to you right now- hey!’ Sokka attempted, though Zuko expertly elbowed him in the rib before he could finish.

‘It's fine, we can talk later, c an’t we Sokka!’ He yelled through gritted teeth.

‘Fine!’ her brother raised his hands up in defeat, ‘Right after this parade ends come find him. Where’s Suki?’ 

The pair finally wandered off, back into the house, and Katara turned back to face the performers. 

She shook her head, unfurrowing her eyebrows, and smiled with disbelief.

‘What was that all about?’ Toph asked.

‘You know, I have no idea.’ Katara shrugged, ‘Come on, let’s get closer.’ 

Katara dragged Toph over to where a small crowd was beginning to form. She straggled her way to the front, the music now loud and clear.

Beside them, people clapped along, waving their small, green flags. Katara noticed a few little girls dressed up in makeup that rivalled Suki’s. 

As the band stepped aside, a procession of Kyoshi warriors stepped out, beginning a routine of acrobatics and fan skills. Though she kept an eye out, Katara didn’t spot Suki within them.

‘Katara!’ She heard Aang yell from somewhere nearby.

‘I’ll be right back.’ She nudged Toph before pushing her way out of the crowd towards the tree line.

‘Aang?’ She smiled, as she spotted her boyfriend perched up in a tree, his posse of acolytes gathered below him clapping along to the music.

He leaped down from his branch with a bow and a smile.

‘What are you doing here? I thought you were all off meditating or something?’ She asked, hugging him briefly.

‘Yeah well Xing Ying wanted to check out the market so we decided to meditate later.’ He chuckled, his energy slightly overstimulating.

‘Right…’ She frowned slightly.

‘So you can go to the market with your weirdo club but not your girlfriend?’ Toph said, sneaking up behind her.

Katara felt her face flush pink, though she wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or shame or what.

‘Well, it wasn’t like that. It’s just…’ He attempted.

‘Yeah, whatever. Me and Katara were just heading to the market now, weren’t we Katara?’ Toph linked their arms together with a grip that rivalled her father’s.

‘Uh, yeah…I guess we were.’ She avoided eye contact with Aang.

‘Oh good, it all worked out in the end then.’ He smiled proudly, ‘Come on guys, we’ll have to walk pretty fast to get to the spot by noon.’ 

With that, Aang and his group sauntered past them without a second thought. 

Toph started dragging her forward, though Katara couldn’t help but feel deflated. She probably shouldn’t have got so excited over one decent conversation, she only ended up disappointed when she did.

‘Is it just me or is he acting like a total jerk all of a sudden?’ Toph huffed.

‘He’s just excited to have his cool new fan club.’ She sighed, ‘Maybe it's for the best anyway, he always drags me away from markets before I’m even done looking.’ 

‘Ugh, why do you keep letting him put those freaks ahead of you?’ Toph yelled suddenly, pulling away from her arm to point at her accusingly, ‘You can keep saying they’re new but they’ve been hanging around you two, for what, six months? You can’t let him treat you second to some random baldies he hardly knows!’ 

Katara looked at her offended for a moment before turning her face away.

‘Look, Katara, I’m not trying to be mean but if you don’t tell him how you feel he’s just gonna get worse.’ 

‘You think I haven’t told him?’ She yelled before speed-walking towards the market.

‘Hey!’ Toph started speed-walking beside her, ‘Don’t ignore me, it won’t go away if you just ignore it.’ 

‘Look, Toph, I’m kind of just confused right now so could you just leave it? Let me enjoy this stupid market and then you can yell at me.’ 

Toph crossed her arms defensively, her face stormy.

‘Fine.’ She leaned aggressively against a nearby tree trunk and pouted.

Katara took that as permission to go.

The market was small, about what she was expecting for the tiny island, though it was far from disappointing. Stalls of beautiful fabric, ornately crafted scarfs, lovely leather bags, jewellery, hair combs and even knives lined the main road, each with a colourful tent-like roof and accompanying flag. 

Shops with wagashi pasties and fried dough filled the air with a delectable, powdery scent, her mouth practically watering as she admired the shiny tops on the donuts at the stuffed apple donut stall. Plates of curry, noodles and dumplings were all she could see in shoppers hands as she wandered the rows of tents and by the time she had done a full loop she was practically drooling.

When she reached the stalls of clothes and fabrics again she slapped herself awake, prepared to make a dent in her purse. 

First she stopped by the fabric seller’s tent, eagerly snagging a few patterned reels in shades of blue, green and yellow. She had been meaning to get back into sewing (and not just when it meant repairing Aang’s clothes). Next she picked out a few scarfs, tunics and belts before deciding on a pretty pair of grey boots, the embroidery coating them making her mouth water as much as the donuts did. 

After perusing the jewellery shop she made up a bag of bangles and a few small parcels of intricately crafted beads like she had never seen before. 

Though she passed on a new hair comb, a strange tent selling a variety of unique trinkets caught her eye. 

The shelves ranged from peculiar dolls with unsettling faces to beautiful glass ornaments which would be shattered within the hour with either Aang or Sokka around. 

The vendor was an older woman who reminded Katara strangely of Gran Gran. After striking up a conversation with her, Katara found herself convinced to throw a few things into her new beaded bag. First she grabbed an embroidered bird in a picture frame, its turquoise and azure feathers immediately grabbing her. She of course couldn’t help herself from getting a small statuette of a dancer, which reminded her quite a lot of Ty Lee, and a not so small statue of a warrior, his pose suggesting he were mid-battle. She supposed it would make a good present for Sokka. Finally, she inspected a carved and painted wooden box, around the size of her palm, though when she opened it music played as if there were a flute somehow twiddling away inside. 

She could already hear Aang complaining as she paid and wished the woman well. 

When they had gone around the Ba Sing Sei markets a year prior he had seemingly no problem with buying random junk. Sure, he was less willing than her to grab a handful of ‘useless’ nick nacks, but he wasn’t so against it as he was now. Nowadays it was all, ‘material possessions’ and ‘letting go’. 

Something in that temple was making him lose it.

She shook her head and marched over to the food stalls to distract herself. Her current purchases threatened to spill out of her three new bags, however the smell was too delicious to resist.

Carefully, she decided on a small box of dumplings to take back with her, maybe to eat while she watched the fireworks, a sugar cookie and two apple donuts for her and Toph to share.

By the time she was leaving, the weight of her bags was making her tired and when she reached the tree it seemed Toph had left her. Judging by the sun she may have spent an hour or two longer shopping than she had meant to.

At first she felt a bit guilty, she had meant to spend the day with Toph, after all, but with a moment's thought she decided to ignore those feelings because right now she was happy.

She took a large bite from her donut defiantly and continued her trek up the hill, every second making her regret the extra belt she had piled into her bag. 

Even so, she felt happier than she had all trip, perhaps excluding her and Zuko’s little bending battle, and she relished in the feeling. The creaminess of the donut only sweetened the deal. 

When she finally made it to the house she immediately clambered up to her room and dumped her stuff on her and Aang’s bed.

almost immediately, however, she piled it all back up into her arms and pushed herself back into the hallway. She thought for a moment before barging her way into Zuko’s room and dumping it, once again, onto his floor.

She wiped her hands together, satisfied with her work. As she turned to leave, she suddenly noticed the crateful of scrolls Zuko had shown her were tipped out all over the floor. She was lucky not to have squished any as she came in.

She rolled her eyes and reached down to clean them up. She’d always thought of Zuko as one of the cleaner ones. The rest of his room was pretty immaculate compared to Sokka’s, but letting (supposedly very important) documents sit on the floor like that was just wrong.

Carefully, she piled them up in her arms before dumping a few into the crate. As she reached for another, she suddenly became overwhelmed with curiosity. 

Zuko had never been super open about what he actually did as fire lord. She was sure those water tribe trade routes were the tip of the iceberg, but she was deeply curious to know more. 

Sneakily, she checked over her shoulders before unwrapping the ribbon and carefully peeling back the seal, he never even needed to know she’d read it. It looked to be an earth kingdom letter, based on the green wax, though she didn’t recognise the crest (really the only one she knew was Toph’s, so that didn’t mean much). She unravelled the scroll gently, paranoid someone would overhear it rustling and break the door down with accusations. 

Checking the door periodically, she scanned the letter. It sounded like a dispute over land and soldiers, probably sent by a merchant or land owner eager to get some remaining fire nation soldiers off his land. She realised about mid way through this was actually a follow-up letter, so as quietly as possible she searched the floor for any matching crests and unwrapped them too. 

She pieced the correspondences together, shifting them around to fit the correct order, before reading them over. 

After a few minutes she started to get confused and, as any normal person would, she pulled a sheet of new paper out from Zuko’s stationary box and began writing down notes. It didn’t take long for her to wrap her head around the issue, and honestly, she had many thoughts. For one, Zuko was clearly working way below his pay grade here, why did the fire lord need to be handling this? And secondly, the answer was clear.

She continued her page of notes, passionately writing down her own solution to the issue, even if nobody would ever read it. She had gotten this far, she might as well finish what she started before she finished tidying.

Unfortunately, she never did finish tidying. 

After the first set of letters, she did try her hand at putting the rest away, but the seals enticed her. How dare they lock away information behind a wax seal? All it did was make her want to open them more.

And that she did. She was on her fourth set of crests by the time she heard commotion in the hallway.

The noise seemed to snap her out of her frenzy and suddenly she looked up at the window above her to find it blackened. She blinked, assuming she was going blind or something, but no, it was just nighttime. 

Realising she had probably spent the better half of a day bent over a bunch of scrolls, she had the urge to leave. The fireworks would be starting soon. But just as she prepared herself to stand, whispers fluttered in from under the door. 

A few muffled voices could be heard from where she was sitting on the floor, but she couldn’t make out the voices. Unfortunately, she was far too nosy to ignore it. 

As carefully as humanly possible, she crawled her way across the floor to the door, where she pressed her ear against it, making sure not to slam her face into the wood as to alert whoever they were of where she was.

‘So you haven’t talked to her yet? Dude!’ She recognised those whisper-shouts as Sokka’s. 

‘Hey, don’t blame me! I haven’t seen her since this morning! Toph’s been beating my ass all day sparring.’ Zuko hissed in response.

She went cold with fear. If Zuko took a single step towards his door he would be met with twenty open scrolls, a bunch of stuff she’d bought and a burning candle she forgot to put out. She gulped and immediately regretted it, paranoid they would somehow hear it.

Buh- huh- Dude! The fireworks are starting any minute now! We have to find her now.’ Sokka sounded stressed.

It then occurred to her they were probably talking about her and that strange interaction they had had that morning suddenly came rushing back. She questioned what on earth they could need to talk to her about that couldn’t wait until after the fireworks.

‘Sure, if you know where she is, which you don’t.’ Zuko whisper-yelled back.

‘Okay, well Aang is down there right now, ready to strike. You need to get down there and find her!’ 

‘She’s not down there, we’ve looked everywhere.’ 

Sokka sighed dramatically and she could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘Okay, fine. I’m gonna go downstairs and distract Aang. Maybe I can pull some strings with Suki to delay the fireworks. You need to find my sister and talk to her before she finds Aang. Got it?’ 

‘Ugh…fine.’ Zuko grumbled.

Whatever Sokka wanted him to tell her, he clearly wasn’t enthusiastic. She racked her brain for whatever bad news she could think of that only Zuko would be able to relay, though she came back blank. 

‘Let me get changed, go do…whatever you’re going to do.’ Zuko sighed, pressing the door handle down.

Katara had to stop herself from audibly yelping. Quickly she shuffled back behind the door, praying he would just…leave it open while he changed?

Oh spirits, then she would have to watch him change.

She squeezed her eyelids tightly closed and kneeled behind the door, all her muscles tensed.

‘What the-’ Zuko exclaimed as he walked in.

She realised it probably looked like an assassin had come looking for him and trashed his room or something.

‘Uh…Katara?’ He sounded both angry and surprised. 

She wasn’t excited for this talk.

‘Hey…Zuko!’ She choked out.

She knew that she looked extremely guilty, mostly because she was, but his face looked genuinely alarmed.

‘What…what happened?’ He looked around, dumbfounded.

She searched for a reply and found nothing. Really, she had no excuses, she would have to…distract?

‘Uh…well you said you wanted to talk to me earlier so…here I am?’ She stood up awkwardly.

He looked just as shocked as before.

‘Um…okay.’ He said, exasperated.

‘So, what did you want to tell me then?’ She tried her best to seem confident but he looked too confused to notice.

He looked around for a few more moments before shaking his head, snapping out of the daze of confusion.

‘Right, yeah. I needed to talk to you.’ He scratched his head, ‘Well, Sokka wanted me to tell you something, really.’

‘And he couldn’t tell me himself?’ 

Zuko just shook his head and wiped his forehead, fed up. He looked around again and suddenly spotted her collection of new junk, though at this point he seemed too done to even care.

‘I needed to tell you that…Aang is going to propose to you tonight.’ He looked at her with guilty eyes, ‘And Sokka wants you to say no so you won’t be miserable your entire life. His words.’ 

She stood there, gobsmacked. This was probably how he had felt two minutes ago.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Zuko rubbed his eyes before looking back at her.

She remained in shock for a few seconds before she began mulling over just what he had said.

‘If you’re going to say yes anyway, he’s probably going to do it in front of the fireworks. Has a whole necklace and everything.’ 

She slowly walked past him and sat down on the edge of his bed. A few moments later, he followed her, sitting a foot or so away from her.

‘I don’t know what to say.’ She said truthfully.

He just sat there, silent.

Still staring blankly, she turned to face him.

‘What do you think I should do?’ 

He looked surprised at her question, rightfully so, she supposed, they had sort of argued about this exact topic the day prior.

‘What do I think you should do?’ He asked again.

She nodded.

He looked down at his hands for a moment, as if thinking.

‘I told you yesterday to just leave him if he was making you so mad.’ He looked back at her, though she stayed silent, ‘I guess I stand by that. Really, Katara, you should do what makes you happy. If you’re happy being comfortable with Aang at the air temple then say yes. If you’re not, say no.’

Again, she stayed quiet, looking down at the floor.

‘I know I wasn’t there, but Sokka had told the story of you guys first meeting Aang probably a thousand times and everytime he makes a huge deal of how hard you fought to go with him to the North Pole. Maybe you’re different now, I guess war does that, but if you’re not happy where you are you don’t have to stay there. Imagine what would’ve happened if you’d stayed in the South Pole, if you hadn’t followed your heart…or whatever. I guess I’m not that good at giving advice. Really, what you want is to speak to Uncle. He’d probably tell you some inspiring story which would make you reconsider your entire life path.’

‘I don’t know if this whole fire lord thing will change that or make it worse, I guess you’ve just got to try it out, see what makes you happy… or whatever.’ 

‘What?’ 

‘Nothing, I just think that’s the best advice you’ve ever given.’ 

‘Do you remember when me and Aang first got together, you and I talked? It was on the roof of the palace and there was this beautiful sunset.’ The image was as clear as a painting in her mind.

‘Yeah…why?’ 

‘You basically said that exact same thing then, you know. Do what makes me happy, see where stuff takes me…or whatever.’ She smiled at the memory.

‘I did? Doesn’t sound like me.’ He looked confused but it only made her laugh.

‘Yeah, you did.’ She wiped away a tear of laughter, ‘I don’t know if I listened to you then.’

‘I guess you are right.’ She smiled.

‘About what? 

‘Doing what makes me happy.’

‘I don’t know if I really did do what makes me happy, or maybe what makes me happy has changed.’ She twirled her hair between her fingers.

‘Maybe.’ 

‘I don’t think marrying Aang would make me happy. I don’t think being in that temple ever really made me happy. I think it makes Aang happy and I want him to be happy because I love Aang.’ She wiped another stray tear from her cheek, though this one wasn’t from laughing.

‘Then say no. Be your own person for once, Katara.’ He shrugged and stood up from the bed.

‘I guess I should apologise, really. To you and Toph. All you guys were doing was looking out for me, I’m sorry.’ She stood up next to him.

He shook his head and smiled gently.

‘It's fine.’ He rasped, ‘You should’ve seen me when me and Mai first broke up. Love makes people pretty crazy sometimes.’ 

She chuckled before exhaling, the tight feeling she hadn’t even noticed was there seemed to relax.

‘Uh…about all this though.’ He motioned to the room, ‘This was you, right?’ 

She turned guiltily.

‘Sorry. I sort of stashed all the stuff I bought at the market in here so Aang wouldn’t get mad at me. I would’ve put it in Toph’s room but I know she’d snoop.’ Her eyes fixed on the pile of notes she’s scrawled out, ‘Oh…and about that…’

‘Those are highly confidential, you know.’ He looked at her sternly, though it was hard to take him seriously. 

‘I was cleaning up and…got a bit carried away.’ She smiled as if he persuade him to drop it.

Luckily, before he could speak, a large boom of colour filled the room. The window was stained with an explosion of bright green, covering the room with light.

‘We can talk tomorrow, I promise I’ll fix this before we leave. But come on, the last fireworks show of the festival?’ She tried to bargain with her eyes.

He only rolled his in response but started walking to the door. She smiled and thanked him, barrelling down the stairs and out the front door.

Pink light melted over her the moment she opened the door.

Toph, Sokka and Suki turned around to look at her, Sokka’s face visibly distressed.

She smiled at him, though he didn’t seem to relax until Zuko followed her out. Together, they all stood there, just taking in the moment. It didn’t feel complete though, not totally. Someone was missing.

‘Where’s Aang?’ Katara tapped her brother on the shoulder.

He looked disappointed for some reason, but pointed him out to her.

‘He’s on the roof.’ He shook his head.

‘Okay, thanks.’ She stepped away from the group and down the steps, mentally preparing herself of what was to come.

Her view was obstructed as she walked round the side of the house, though she knew deep down that talking to Aang now would bring her more happiness than fireworks ever could.

Loud, blaring booms thundered through the air as she yelled Aang’s name on the slight chance he would hear her. 

It must’ve been her twentieth ‘Aang!’ before she saw a bald head peak over the edge of the roof. 

‘Aang! Can you come down? I need to talk to you!’ She called, cupping her hands around her mouth.

The airbender looked conflicted for a moment before ultimately jumping down. As he hit the floor, Katara felt her heart start to race.

‘Aang-’ She started, though the planned out speech she had formed in her head was interrupted.

‘Can I say something first?’ He looked at her with an expression even she couldn’t register.

‘Okay…’ She nodded gently.

He pulled in a sharp breath before slowing exhaling, closing and reopening his eyes as if he were meditating.

‘Sokka came to talk to me earlier so I guess you already know.’ He reached into his pocket, pulling out a bright, orange ribbon completed with a small circular pendant, ‘And I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for us always arguing and stuff but I love you and I really think this could work and-’ 

‘Aang…’ She attempted.

‘No, Katara, I just don’t understand why this is happening. What went wrong, why aren’t you happy anymore? I don’t get it, why am I not enough?’ He cried.

She pulled his hands into her own, the necklace clasped firmly within his grasp. She studied his face; he wasn’t in the avatar state at least.

‘Aang, I love you, I really do, but-’ 

‘But what? You don’t love me enough to marry me?’ Tears welled up in his eyes.

‘Yes.’ She sucked in a deep breath as she turned those words over and over in her mouth, like a piece of bone that just won’t lose its flavour.

Aang shook his head and lowered his eyes to the floor in despair.

‘Aang, do you seriously think this would work? We haven’t slept in the same room in months, we hardly speak to each other outside of arguing and you’re too busy doing your own stuff there’s no room for me anymore.’ 

Aang pulled his hands away and tried to wipe his tears away discreetly. She noticed the ribbon now placed in her palms and slowly she rubbed it over with her fingers. The vibrant seizures of colour that filled the sky rained down on them, painting them with blues and greens and reds, though even with all that noise she still couldn’t ignore the fact he had chosen orange, not blue.

‘I don’t want to take away your culture, or make you give it up to make me happy, but I can’t spend my life in your shadow, I think…I think we both need to be our own people, at least for a while.’

She smiled as she recalled a memory she often went back to when she couldn’t sleep, or when she was trying with everything in her not to scream the roof down. Silently, she wiped a tear from her cheek.

‘It feels like I’ve known you my whole life, I guess both of our lives didn’t really start until we met. When me and Sokka freed you from the iceberg, I guess it felt like our little family was complete.’ She turned the pendant over in her palm, ‘But now I think I see that I need to start to live for myself. If I don’t now, then I’ll probably hate myself for it for the rest of my life. And I think you feel that way too, even if you don't see it now. You have your acolytes and temples, you have an entire world to rebuild…and I don’t know if that’s what I want to spend my time doing.’

Aang sniffled and looked back up at her, finally.

‘So…this is over…forever?’ His eyes were red with pain and her heart broke all over again seeing him like that.

‘I guess.’ She whispered.

Cautiously she reached over to him and uncurled his fists, gently placing her necklace in his cupped palms.

‘Katara, no! Please, keep it. Even if you really don’t want to marry me, I want you to have that at least.’ 

She nodded and placed the necklace in her concealed pocket.

‘I hope you know that I do still love you though, Aang.’ She placed a delicate hand to wipe a stray tear from his face, ‘You’re still my family.’

He sniffled loudly before curling into her. She inhaled deeply, pulling him into her arms.

‘I’ll always love you, Katara. I promise.’ He managed between sobs, ‘Okay, promise me you won’t forget about me when you’re exploring or teaching or getting married.’

He looked at her with a twinkle of total melancholy in his eyes.

‘Of course.’ She smiled, though it was bittersweet. 

Behind them, the largest spark of the night erupted into the night’s sky, staining everything it touched with pure, white light.

They had wandered over to the rest of their friends that night, hand in hand, though everyone knew what had happened, and they knew they knew. 

Sokka had pulled Aang into a tight side hug, refusing to let him go until the show had ended, and Katara stood next to him, Zuko’s smile enough comfort to finish the evening without collapsing.

It was only the next morning that everything really hit her.

‘Come on, Sweetness, if you don’t get up I’ll make you get up.’ Toph stood at the bottom of the bed menacingly. 

She had been kind enough to let her crash in her room for the final night there, though not kind enough to let her sleep her misery off.

She pulled the blanket over her face, hiding herself from evil Toph and the evil world, though having none of it, the earthbender tugged the sheets clean off of her, leaving her exposed and annoyed.

‘I don’t even know why you’re wallowing, you broke up with him!’ She exclaimed as Katara tried her best to roll over and ignore her, ‘Come ON Sugar Queen!’ 

Toph lifted the bottom of the mattress off its frame, humbling Katara to the floor.

‘All right, I’m up!’ She yelled, only to be met with her clothes being chucked at her face.

‘I’ve got a long haul trip back to Ba Sing Sei and if I have to be up you have to be up.’ She stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

At this rate, the entire house would be up soon enough.

Muttering curses under her breath, Katara pulled on her clothes and stomped her way downstairs. Luckily, she knew Aang and the acolytes had left before sunrise (boy was she glad that wasn’t her anymore) so the only awkward encounters now were unknown. The world was her oyster.

‘What’s up, Single Sister?’ Sokka pulled her into a strange hug as she raged into the kitchen.

She rolled her eyes and shoved him away. At least the food looked nice.

‘Rude.’ He shook his head sassily before taking his seat next to Suki.

‘What are you all doing up? What happened to me having to drag you out of bed everyday at noon?’ She asked, trying not to slam her bowl down against the table.

‘People grow, Katara, perhaps it's about time you learned that.’ He looked proud of himself after that.

‘My mom needed help moving the decorations off the road and I volunteered to help.’ Suki clarified, only smiling as Sokka glared at her.

‘Where’s Sparky? I thought he was leaving pretty early?’ Toph managed between mouthfuls, soft crumbs of her steamed bun parading down her chin.

‘The girls asked to stay at least until noon to help clean up.’ Suki replied.

‘Right…So then, Sugar Queen, where are you going?’ Toph asked, and the others turned to look at her.

Katara felt her face redden as she struggled for an answer.

‘You know, you’re welcome to stay. I doubt my mom would mind, though I guess you wouldn’t have much to do.’ Suki tried.

‘Or just come home, with us. I bet Dad and Gran Gran would be happy to have you back. As much as I love you, babe, Katara’s sea prunes make yours look like sea slug mucus.’ Sokka grinned, ‘Ouch!’

Suki looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he rubbed his slightly-punched arm.

‘What, it's true!’ He defended.

‘Not that yours are any better. I’d take sea slugs over burnt slime anyday. I didn’t even know that was possible.’ 

Sokka shrugged.

‘That’s fair.’ 

Katara smiled slightly though she knew that if she went home right now she would never leave. She would stay in her comfort bubble forever, just like Zuko had said. How was that any different to staying with Aang?

‘You could always come to stay with me in Ba Sing Sei.’ Toph chimed in.

‘If you’re gonna wake me up every morning at the crack of dawn, no thanks.’ She sighed, ‘It's not like I’d have a purpose there anyway. You have your school and I’d just be there.’

‘I guess.’ Toph licked her lips, ‘You know you would make a good lawyer or something. Go live at the North Pole and sue all the evil men who told you you couldn't bend.’ 

‘It would probably be easier to just kill them.’ Suki pointed out and Toph couldn’t help but nod along.

Katara, however, just sat there numbly. 

‘I’m gonna go pack up my stuff.’ She said, leaving the table without another word.

Her and Aang’s room felt cold now. She couldn’t imagine him sleeping there alone without her.

The sheets were crinkled and messy, not that she had expected Aang to have stripped or even made his bed, and the floor was littered with random things she’d brought and even randomer ones he’d left behind.

Slowly, she bent down and picked up every dress, robe, tunic, pair of leggings, sock and shoe that she found, admiring everyone of them. Aang left behind a pair of brown boots which had confused her for a moment before she read their inspiration on their soles and realised they were the ones she’d bought him when they’d visited Omashu about a year ago. 

He’d also left a scarf she didn’t recognise, a handkerchief and the sky bison whistle he had bought all those years ago.

As she moved it around between her fingers everything suddenly felt real, like all the colours in the world had been drained but were now turning in flashing, vivid bursts of hue. The room blurred as tears covered her eyes, rough, spilling tears rushing down her cheeks with their hot trails of pain.

As she tried to cry as quietly as possible, the door creaked open.

Zuko stood in the doorway, his eyes wide.

‘Uh…I can come back-’ He turned to leave, though she shook her head and beckoned him back.

That didn’t seem like the outcome he was hoping for, his face pale and his hands fidgety.

‘What is it?’ She asked, using her sleeve to swipe away the tears.

She tucked the whistle into her pocket along with the pendant.

‘Okay then.’ He ripped the back of his head awkwardly and pulled out a few pieces of paper from behind his back, ‘I haven’t slept much so sorry if this makes no sense but I don’t understand all this.’ 

He lifted the papers up to her eye level and turned them around, suddenly they were much more recognisable.

‘Oh, those were just random notes. You didn’t need to read them.’ She felt herself tense up, her face warming again.

‘No, no, this is good.’ He nodded aggressively, ‘I just don’t get how you did it. You read a few scrolls and came up with solutions to issues my council called unsolvable. I just…I don’t see how you of all people would know how to do this and why I can’t.’

She narrowed her eyes at him.

‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ 

He looked confused for a moment before paling, his eyes darting back and forth from the paper to her.

‘Oh, no no no, I mean like I’ve been trained to do this by the best of the best, like councilmen who have dedicated their lives to this stuff. You haven’t.’ He tried, nervously smiling? If it could be considered a smile.

She snatched the parchment from his hands and eyed him suspiciously.

‘I don’t see what’s so hard? Do all your employees lack empathy?’

He shrugged.

‘Probably.’ 

‘Yeah, that’s your problem.’ She rolled her eyes and handed the sheets back to him, ‘I don’t get how you of all people could lead a council of old men who don’t care about the people they’re supposed to help!’ 

He looked at her nervously.

‘It's really not hard. Why don’t you try following your own advice for once and step out of your comfort zone. Maybe people won’t like it but, not to be rude, your country doesn’t really have any other options if your council is that dense.’

She analysed his face for a minute. He didn’t speak, only looking down at the papers as if he were trying to come to terms with what she’d just said.

‘Anyway, if you can’t read my writing or something I’m in here, but I kind of need to pack.’She turned back to her bag before he spoke again.

‘Come back to the Fire Nation, with me.’ He said, almost shocked to be saying it.

‘Sorry?’ Her voice was ripe with surprise. 

As much as her friends had been generous, offering to let her bunk with them, she hadn’t expected it from Zuko.

‘Seriously. You’re genuinely talented with this stuff, I mean, my cabinet could use some diversity. You could be like our live-in advisor, or Water Tribe ambassador. Advise me about this stuff.’ He waved the papers around, ‘Really, we need someone like you. Someone kind, who isn’t biassed, but also isn’t scared to fight against injustice!’

She grimaced slightly before looking down at the floor.

‘Sorry to be so blunt, but why would I want to live in the Fire Nation?’ Her eyes met his, the hope in them slowly burning, ‘Really, I like your idea but I’m a water bender from the Southern Water Tribe. In what world would your stuffy cabinet accept me? And why would I want to put myself through that?’ 

‘Okay, but it doesn’t have to be forever. I mean, if you don’t already have plans why not just try it for a month, maybe even half a year.’ He stepped towards her, ‘You can always leave if you hate it. And anyway, I wouldn’t let people treat you badly because you're a waterbender. I know my country has done awful things to you, and I’ve said some pretty nasty things in the past, but in order to rebuild I need someone willing to stand up for people like you. I try my best but there’s only so much I can do.’ 

She looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed with confusion. He sighed before turning to leave.

‘Just think about it, okay? Me and the Kyoshi warriors don’t leave until after lunch. Even if you change your mind later on, send a letter and I’ll work something out.’ 

He smiled before closing the door, leaving her in silence.

Katara sat motionless on the edge of her bed for a while. Avolition seemed to take hold of her and the thought of moving seemed impossible. All she could hear were the distant conversations happening downstairs and the clock in her mind slowly running out of sand. 

Weighing up her options felt like pulling teeth rather than deciding her future. What choices did she really have?

She could go home with Sokka, maybe open that school she had dreamed about, or she would just fall back into old habits, being the babysitter, the chef, the seamstress. She didn’t know if she could really handle that again. As much as she missed her family, the food she used to love, the cold, she also felt like she’d outgrown it, or maybe it had outgrown her. Either way, the thought of being huddled over a cooking fire as Sokka took up the mantle of chief made her feel nauseous, and did she even feel up to teaching? 

She loved her culture, she wanted to continue the legacy that had been taken from them but what was the point when she was the only waterbender over the age of one? 

Alternatively, she could go to the Earth Kingdom with Toph, though she knew she’d have even less to do there and even more of a shadow to stand in.

She sighed and flopped back against the mattress, the first time she’d moved in the better part of an hour.

Then there was Zuko’s proposition. 

As much as it tempted her, she had so enjoyed solving the puzzles which made up those scrolls, it felt like a betrayal. She loved Zuko, he was as good as any person, maybe better, but she knew the rest of the Fire Nation wasn’t. 

What happened if she went and ended up making things worse? He was right to question her, she had no idea about politics or anything beyond the random bits and pieces she had picked up on from her Dad. What happened when she messed up and an entire Nation had to pay for her stupidity? It wouldn’t be her neck on the line, it would be her entire peoples’, Zuko’s too. 

A quiet knock rippled over her door.

She felt the urge to sit up, to be ready, to smile and say hi. Instead she just lay there, her eyes fixed to the painted wooden planks of the ceiling.

‘Katara?’ Sokka whispered as he poked his head through the door.

‘Yes?’ She responded, though her tone lacked any sort of nicety.

‘Zuko said you were in here.’ He moved through the room and placed himself on the edge of the bed, next to her.

‘Did he tell you what he told me?’ She asked, her eyes still fixated on the roof.

‘Yeah.’ Sokka rubbed his neck and looked down at her, concerned, ‘What are you gonna do?’ 

Finally, she forced her eyes to meet his, the sting of tears prickling at them again.

‘Hey, come on, it's not a big deal.’ Her brother reasoned with her, ‘You could always come home until you make your mind up.’ 

‘I won’t though.’ She covered her eyes with her hands, ‘I’ll say that and then never leave.’

Her brother looked around the room, maybe unsure of what to say.

‘What do you think I should do? If you were me right now, what would you do?’ She pleaded.

Sokka almost cringed.

‘Do you really want to know? I don’t think you’ll like it.’ He warned.

‘Just tell me.’ She mumbled.

‘If I were you I’d go with Zuko.’ He braced for her to yell at him but she continued to stare aimlessly.

He cleared his throat.

‘I think you need something kind of crazy to get you out of this weird slump. Honestly, from what he said, it did kind of sound like something you’d like, even if it means going to the Fire Nation for the foreseeable future.’ 

‘But you don’t think it would be…disrespectful?’ She sat up slightly.

‘To who? Zuko?’ He rubbed his chin with thought, ‘He’s the one who asked you so probably not, if anything it's rud er to decline.’

‘No, to us. To the South. Wouldn’t it be weird for me to go be a part of the government for the country that destroyed our tribe? Who killed our mother?’ She looked at him with utter strife.

He could only look down at his hands.

‘Honestly, no. Kind of the opposite, you’d be giving us a voice. If it feels wrong, don’t go, but if you want to make this big change in the world it means doing things that are uncomfortable. Even if you just acted as a means of communication for us for a month, things would probably turn out better in the long run. For you and the Water Tribe.’ 

She turned to the wall for a moment and picked at her nails. She supposed she hadn’t thought of it that way.

‘Either way, you’ve just gotta do what makes you happy. Not the tribe, not me, not Zuko. But if you do want to go, I’d get packing. Their ships leaving in an hour-ish.’ He shrugged.

His face looked terrified for a second as she ambushed him with a hug, maybe he hadn’t expected any sudden movements from her, but when he realised it was an embrace not an assassination plot, he smiled and pulled her in closer.

‘Thanks, Sokka.’ Her voice was muffled by his shoulder.

‘So you know what you're gonna do?’ He asked.

She sat for a moment wordlessly before finalising her answer.

‘Yeah…I think so.’

Chapter Text

Grey clouds hung heavily over the docks as they stood by, waving and cheering. The entire village had shown out to see them off.

Katara felt herself on the verge of tears, the crowd's kindness the entire week had been incredible. Now, she felt the harsh breeze of the sea washing up and against her, the long braid which hung from the nape of her neck swishing violently back and forth across her back. 

Her brother smiled at her, his mouth wide and his little ponytail (or warrior's wolf tail, as he would prefer) swaying above his head in tune with her’s.

Beneath her, she felt the water swirl and swell with the start of a motor, the metallic hum under her feet suggesting it was finally time, she was leaving Kyoshi without Aang.

She reached as far over the barriers as she could, waving over to her brother and Suki with all the fury she could manage. Though her arm ached, a smile remained tight across her face. 

‘Step back now, Miss.’ One of the sailors instructed, reluctantly pulling her down from the railings.

‘Sorry.’ She smiled bashfully.

He nodded slightly before hurrying over to the tip of the deck.

‘Are you okay, Katara?’ A kind-faced Kyoshi Warrior asked her.

Suddenly she felt ashamed, she didn’t exactly know their names.

‘Yeah, kind of nervous but, yeah. Thank you…’ She replied.

‘Ziyi.’ The girl smiled with a nod, ‘It’ll be nice to have another girl around. It's pretty much just us and the princess with Mai gone.’

Katara almost found herself taken aback.

Azula

She hadn’t thought about her in years, Zuko barely mentioned her. In fact, she was only now realising she had no idea what had happened to her after the Agni Kai, she assumed Zuko had just thrown her in prison.

‘How is she doing these days…Azula I mean.’ Katara asked, though honestly she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

As much as she hated Azula, she was twice as bad as Zuko ever was, but if he could change who knew what she was capable of.

‘Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot outside of what Ty Lee lets slip.’ Ziyi shrugged, ‘Supposedly she’s being kept in some weird kind of asylum. It's like a normal apartment but she has constant supervision and she can’t leave. I’ve only ever been there when there’s security breaches.’ 

‘Woah.’ Katara wasn’t sure how to react to that news. 

When she’d decided to go with Zuko she hadn’t really factored his bizzaro family into the equation.

‘She’s not so bad these days, apparently. The Fire lord has her doing random office work according to Ty Lee, more effective than sedatives ever were.’ Ziyi continued before being called away and running off with a brief wave.

Now alone on the deck, Katara found the wind’s chill frigid and the sea’s rhythmic hum suffocating. She pictured herself like this, alone in the great halls of the Fire Nation palace, begging for her brother or her dad or Aang, sweltering with the heat and the crippling loneliness of being so far from everyone she loved.

Her muscles tensed up like she was freezing to death though her skin broke out into sweats. All in less than a minute she had gone from smiling to paralyzed. She needed to get her act together fast.

‘Are you not cold there, missy.’ An older man in a naval uniform came up behind her, freeing her from her paralysis. 

She pushed her fly aways out of her face with speed and gawk.

‘Uh- yeah, a bit. Maybe I should’ve packed some warmer coats.’ She tried to smile.

‘Why don’t you go down to the cabin with the rest of ‘em.’ He grunted, leaning down to turn a metal lever she hadn’t even noticed before.

‘Oh, I can do that?’ She said aloud, immediately embarrassed at the stupidity of that question, ‘Yeah…thank you.’ 

As swiftly as possible she scurried down to where she had seen the girls disappear off to just a few minutes ago.

The hallway she found herself in was certainly warmer than it had been on deck, though that wasn’t exactly hard to beat. She wandered along the dark, metallic space, inspecting every door as she passed them. She found two to be locked, two to be off-limits to non-personnel members and 3 to be unoccupied rooms she couldn’t categorise.

The final door was open, the room spelling over with voices, though before she was close enough to sneak a peek as to what was being discussed, the entire group of Kyoshi Warriors filled out, chatting amongst each other as they went.

‘Oh, hey Katara.’ Ziyi smiled before turning back to her friend.

Katara smiled, waiting for them to move into another room before inching her head forward to peak inside.

Zuko, sitting on a floor desk, was turning his neck to look at her. He smiled when he realised she’d spotted him. 

Her face blushed pink, she already looked like a weirdo and she hadn’t even got to the Fire Nation yet. Silently, she scolded herself and reminded her stupid internal monologue to stop convincing her to do stupid things. It was only Zuko this time, but who knows what could’ve been going on in there and she was just snooping around like an idiot. 

‘You can come in, you know.’ She heard Zuko say and she felt herself go warm all over again.

‘Sorry.’ She smiled awkwardly as she slipped out from behind the door frame and into the room.

‘How are you?’ He asked, ‘Want to go home yet?’ 

She glared at him, taking a seat to his left.

‘I’m okay. A bit cold.’ She mumbled.

‘You? Cold?’ He looked at her as if that were the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard, ‘You can wear this if you want.’

He unwrapped a long, yet casual robe from his shoulders and placed it in her lap. A stinging feeling of guilt rose up in her.

‘It's fine, you keep it. I guess I should be used to the cold.’ She admitted, though she still gripped her arms with her hands in an effort to warm them up as soon as possible.

‘It's fine.’ He said, not even looking up from the document he was writing, ‘I’m warm blooded.’ 

Not wanting to be rude, she carefully slotted her arms into the flowy sleeves and smoothed the robe over her back. 

‘Thanks.’ 

‘No problem.’ He continued staring down at his piece of paper, now scrawled over with ink.

‘What’s that?’ She craned her neck to read it, though before she could he’d snatched it from her view.

‘Confidential.’ He side-eyed her aggressively.

‘I’m here to help you, surely I’m allowed to read it!’ She scoffed.

‘Not yet you’re not, right now you’re just regular old Katara.’ He dipped his brush in his ink and glared at her before continuing to write.

‘Whatever, I have things to do anyway.’ She stood up defiantly. 

‘Yeah? Like what?’ He smirked.

‘Lots of things!’ She huffed before trying to storm out.

‘Hey, wait.’ He yelled after her, forcing her to turn back (though she did it was an exaggerated annoyed face to show she was not happy about it).

‘What?’

‘Uh- well I haven’t really had time to sort out any arrangements for you. Are you fine with having a random guest room for now? I’m guessing you have clothes with you and stuff but if you need any just let one of the housekeepers know.’ He looked uncomfortable for some reason, ‘And I’ll write to Aang, tell him to send your stuff over.’

She smiled gently at his consideration. She had never really thought of him as one to care about small stuff like which room she stayed in or the clothes she had.

‘Don’t bother, I brought pretty much everything I own now with me.’ She shrugged, ‘Thank you, though, that all sounds…good.’

‘Good.’ 

They stayed awkwardly in silence before Katara smiled and left the room, immediately internally slapping herself for acting so weird again. She put it down to nerves but gave herself a warning, she needed to be on her best behaviour from now on; old council members wouldn't be as forgiving as Zuko.

Katara stared longing out into the sea, the only comfort to her being the hope of an adventure and the steady thrashing of the water against the ship's hull. She leaned against the barrier of the ship, silently creating fantasy scenarios, both nightmarish and dreamy, of what would happen were she to be summoned to a council meeting or cornered by a disapproving nobel.

She sighed, pushing herself up from the bannister.

It was less cold now, the sudden Rush of the Southern winds lessening as they approached Fire Nation territory. It felt weird to say that in a positive way, in her head the Fire Nation still carried undertones of danger, something to fear, to stay away from at all costs.

Yet, there she was, willingly walking straight into its clutches.

She supposed she’d ought to update that way of thinking in the next however long. Anyway, the last time she’d been to the palace it had been perfectly nice (aside from the Agni Kai and Zuko nearly dying, of course).

Still, it just felt wrong. She should be flying in on Appa with her brother and Aang, not watching the horizon for-

Land Ho!’ A sailor shouted behind her, sending her into a mild panic before twisting around to see for herself.

Sure enough, the Fire Nation capital was fading into view. It looked a lot friendlier without the flaming net and battalion of soldiers waiting for them.

As they pulled into dock, the Kyoshi Warriors were first onboard, each scouring the crowd before two of them made their way down and into the crowds, presumably checking for any signs of an assassin. 

The thought exhausted her. She suddenly pitied Zuko a lot more than she had, when was the last time he’d been truly free to do anything without a team of bodyguards watching his every move and a squad of assassins on the prowl for his head.

She shuddered at the thought before reaching over the edge of the boat to watch them more closely. As she did, a roar came over the crowd, which was much bigger than she’d originally thought. 

She spotted a handful of people waving directly at her, a few whistling or pointing at her in surprise. It only then occurred to her they were all sort of celebrities around here. On Kyoshi she’d always just felt like one of the townspeople, she’d met them enough times. Even in Ba Sing Sei, they typically stayed in the Upper Ring and the nobles there saw themselves above oohing and ahhing at teenagers.

One of the warriors smiled at her and gave a signal to one of the sailors. He nodded in response, calling out an instruction she didn’t catch down to the brig.

Then, he turned to her warmly.

‘Feel free.’ He grumbled, motioning to the ramp.

Suddenly, she was quite warm. Her legs seemed to shake like pudding as she walked towards the ramp, it was all quite surreal.

As she forced herself down into the crowd, only controlled by the Kyoshi Warriors, she waved awkwardly, her cheeks burning as she heard people call out her name. The peripherals of her vision faded into a grey mush until she was finally cleared of the people, finding herself in front of a large wagon of sorts, led by two ostrich-horses.

‘Its a bit overwhelming.’ A man she had never seen before said quietly.

He climbed down from the wagon and stood next to it expectantly. Based on his uniform-like attire, she assumed he was a servant of some kind, maybe their driver?

‘Yeah…I didn’t expect that many people. Well, I didn’t really expect any people at all…’ She mumbled, her brain still trying to reboot itself.

The man smiled and fixed his collar.

‘People love the Fire Lord, what can I say.’

As he finished his sentence, the crowd behind her erupted into a violent concoction of screams, cries and cheers of both awe and excitement. 

She turned around, scared. Had the boat started sailing off again by mistake? 

Rather, she found a much more pleasant sight. 

Zuko strutted down the ramp with grace she had never seen in him outside of his bending. Maybe it was because his robes had been swapped out for the more typical Fire Lord regalia, but he had an air to him which screamed authority. 

His head was held high and firmly attached, his face both hardened and warmed. Where she had found herself awe-struck, he waved with poise, both rehearsed and genuine. 

He really did look royal. More than she’d ever seen him.

Finally, he approached her, the soldiers brought in to help control the crowd buckling as the Kyoshi Warriors stepped back to follow him. 

‘Big crowd.’ He shrugged, giving her an apologetic smile.

‘Yeah, no kidding.’ 

‘Your Highness, your chariot.’ The servant from before bowed, swinging the door to the carriage.

‘Thank you.’ He smiled, stepping into the car elegantly.

She stood in the open space feeling incredibly out of place. The racket of the crowd didn’t cease and it was starting to give her tired mind a headache.

As she waited aimlessly, Zuko stared down at her.

‘What?’ 

‘Are you coming?’ He asked, as if it were obvious what he had expected.

‘In there? Yeah, okay.’ She grinned and pulled herself up and into the cart with the help of the servant. 

It was spacious inside, the car itself holding at least four, with two padded benches lining either side of the cart. It looked as if it had once been roofed, the walls making up the doors looking slightly jagged when closely inspected, though it was now open-topped. In front, the servant jumped up and climbed onto a small seat, picking up the reins to one of the horses, next to him, another servant Katara had failed to notice before, did the same.

The Warriors spoke amongst themselves before breaking apart, spreading themselves around the cart like a barrier of sorts.

‘All set?’ One of the servants asked down to Ziyi.

She nodded curtly and the carriage began moving with a sudden jolt.

Beneath her, Katara felt the hooves of the horses digging into the stone road, the cart shaking every time they did.

Though she was starting to feel queasy, Zuko looked at total peace, smiling away as he waved to the lined streets and the faces popping out of windows, each one grinning from ear to ear. Meanwhile, Katara gripped the side of the car. Even flying on Appa had been easier on her stomach.

Buildings seemed to move by at a snail's pace, though really she knew they were moving quite fast. Dark roofs and light stones stood around her like strange faces of people she recognised but didn’t know. She looked up, unable to stop herself from staring at the lanterns which hung from the roofs of low-leaning houses and lampposts. Above them all, though, all she could focus on was the ever-looming presence of the palace, its high roofs towering over the rest of the city, with the even higher standing buildings behind it appearing like distant memories, engulfed in humid fog.

‘Enjoying the view?’ Zuko asked her, still waving as he turned to face her.

‘It's much nicer when I’m here for leisure and not battle.’ She smiled.

‘I’ll warn you that the palace will be pretty predictable. I haven’t had the time to change all of my father’s awful design choices. I asked Mai to do it originally but that was always a lost cause.’ His tone was annoyed as he mentioned her, though his face hardly slipped as he greeted passers-by, ‘When Fire Lording gets a bit easier it's the first thing on my list.’

She snorted slightly. Was he really worried that she’d find his palace too similar? Too fancy and opulent? 

‘What?’ His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinised her.

‘Nothing.’ She put her hands up defensively, ‘If it makes you feel any better, I think you’re doing a pretty good job all things considered.’

He looked at her like she had just confessed she thought he was the greatest man alive.

‘Seriously? You’re not just messing with me?’ 

She shook her head in disbelief. How low was this guy's self-esteem?

‘Yes! I mean, you looked like a king at the docks. I honestly feel like you should be more nervous, if anything.’ 

He smiled at her weakly. He still looked shocked she’d told him he was doing well.

All of a sudden, the carriage pulled to a halt, pulling her forward violently. Zuko somehow seemed unaffected. She didn’t like him being the graceful one so much anymore.

Again, she turned to see where they were and the palace, which had seemed miles ago a few minutes before, was now clear in view, the only thing keeping them from it being the staircase they had stood on during the coronation. Wow, they felt like so long ago, yet she also remembered it like it had happened last week.

‘Sorry, you’ll have to walk from here.’ He smiled at her before climbing down from the car.

Her door was swung open by the servant from earlier and carefully she let him help her down, making an effort to look cool rather than clumsy again.

As they walked up a few steps, the Kyoshi Warriors not far behind, the crowds behind them cheered, singing songs Katara didn’t recognise but she assumed were good.

‘I thought you said your people hated you.’ She asked Zuko, enthralled by the sight.

‘The ones who hate me don’t typically come to welcome me home.’

When they finally reached the top (Katara finding herself shockingly out of breath), Zuko turned and waved. She copied his example (with much less grace and a lot more panting) before all of them filed through the grand doors to the palace.

Zuko was out of her view almost immediately, heralded away by men in red with long grey beards and tight golden hair pieces. Suddenly, she found herself quite alone and quite awkwardly placed in the middle of a foyer. 

She scanned for Ziyi, though in the commotion of their entry she and the other Warriors seemed to have retired elsewhere, presumably to unpack or clean up. Maybe they followed Zuko, she hadn’t really had a chance to see where exactly he’d gone. 

She cursed herself in her head, she knew this would happen. 

‘You must be Master Katara, am I correct?’ An older woman with a tight ponytail and a sharp chin appeared in front of her.

Katara shook herself awake.

‘Uh- yes! That’s me, hi.’ She smiled awkwardly, though the woman didn’t react, only bowing and looking back at her with little expression.

‘Very good. My name is Monge, I’m what you may call the housekeeper of the palace.’ She looked Katara up and down, though she wasn’t sure if she was positively or negatively received.

‘I’ve been given specific instructions to introduce you to the palace: your room, your staff and so on, as well as give you a brief tour. Does that appease you?’

Katara stared at her blankly for a second before registering her words. 

‘Y-yes, that sounds perfect, thank you.’ She flailed her hands around in a panic only worsened as she realised she was horribly mutilating her first impression.

‘Right.’ The woman looked concerned, ‘Follow me.’

Monge toured the main sectors of the palace first, presenting the main areas she would need to visit (Dining rooms, libraries and meeting rooms mostly), briefly discussing when she would be required to use them. 

For the most part, Katara nodded along without response. If she was being totally honest, Monge both intimidated her and worried her. If she said the wrong thing she could easily come across as foolish or ignorant, maybe even downright rude. It was better to keep quiet until she was a bit more established, until she knew where she stood. 

Next, she followed Monge to the place she would be staying for the next week.

‘The Fire Lord has a room currently being renovated to more suit your needs.’ Monge recited, almost bored, ‘For now, you’ll stay here. I’m assuming you’re familiar?’ 

‘Oh, yes. I stayed here after uh…’ She suddenly lost her tongue.

What was the common opinion of the war, the Agni Kai even? Surely it was a victory, the Agni Kai at least, and many would view the war’s conclusion positively, but was it socially acceptable to bring up? Too fresh a wound?

‘Yes, you healed Fire Lord Zuko following his Agni Kai, a debt our nation forever owes to you.’ She said plainly.

Katara was finding her incredibly difficult to read. She had been known, in the past, to be too trusting, to make poor lapses in judgement of character. She decided to keep her distance for now, who knew this lady’s true motivations.

‘And these will be your handmaids.’ She signalled over to a group of girls who immediately ceased their gossiping to smile and bow. 

Each of them looked very alike. They all had that Zuko colouring, pale skin and dark hair. She could already see herself mixing them up, probably a grave offence.

‘Leave us now, girls. You will meet each of them in due time.’ Monge swished them away with a dash of her hand, the group scattering from the room swiftly.

That left only the two of them. They stood, admiring the room she had once cried herself to sleep in, silent.

‘Thank you.’ Katara tried to be polite and break the silence, ‘It's all lovely.’

Monge turned to look at her, her eyes still unreadable in their blank expression. She took a step towards Katara, the white hairs on her ageing head hardly swaying as she did. 

‘I warn you, Master Katara, not to get too comfortable.’

She wasn’t sure how to react to that, or how she was supposed to, so she just stayed quiet.

‘Many of us view you as you are, a kind, well-intentioned person to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. Many others don’t,’ Her eyes narrowed, ‘Don’t be foolish, I know you’re smarter than that.’

And with that, she left, abandoning Katara to the silence of her room, her only companion, the thundering heartbeat ringing in her ears.

Chapter Text

Grey clouds hung heavily over the docks as they stood by, waving and cheering. The entire village had shown out to see them off.

Katara felt herself on the verge of tears, the crowd's kindness the entire week had been incredible. Now, she felt the harsh breeze of the sea washing up and against her, the long braid which hung from the nape of her neck swishing violently back and forth across her back. 

Her brother smiled at her, his mouth wide and his little ponytail (or warrior's wolf tail, as he would prefer) swaying above his head in tune with her’s.

Beneath her, she felt the water swirl and swell with the start of a motor, the metallic hum under her feet suggesting it was finally time, she was leaving Kyoshi without Aang.

She reached as far over the barriers as she could, waving over to her brother and Suki with all the fury she could manage. Though her arm ached, a smile remained tight across her face. 

‘Step back now, Miss.’ One of the sailors instructed, reluctantly pulling her down from the railings.

‘Sorry.’ She smiled bashfully.

He nodded slightly before hurrying over to the tip of the deck.

‘Are you okay, Katara?’ A kind-faced Kyoshi Warrior asked her.

Suddenly she felt ashamed, she didn’t exactly know their names.

‘Yeah, kind of nervous but, yeah. Thank you…’ She replied.

‘Ziyi.’ The girl smiled with a nod, ‘It’ll be nice to have another girl around. It's pretty much just us and the princess with Mai gone.’

Katara almost found herself taken aback.

Azula

She hadn’t thought about her in years, Zuko barely mentioned her. In fact, she was only now realising she had no idea what had happened to her after the Agni Kai, she assumed Zuko had just thrown her in prison.

‘How is she doing these days…Azula I mean.’ Katara asked, though honestly she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

As much as she hated Azula, she was twice as bad as Zuko ever was, but if he could change who knew what she was capable of.

‘Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot outside of what Ty Lee lets slip.’ Ziyi shrugged, ‘Supposedly she’s being kept in some weird kind of asylum. It's like a normal apartment but she has constant supervision and she can’t leave. I’ve only ever been there when there’s security breaches.’ 

‘Woah.’ Katara wasn’t sure how to react to that news. 

When she’d decided to go with Zuko she hadn’t really factored his bizzaro family into the equation.

‘She’s not so bad these days, apparently. The Fire lord has her doing random office work according to Ty Lee, more effective than sedatives ever were.’ Ziyi continued before being called away and running off with a brief wave.

Now alone on the deck, Katara found the wind’s chill frigid and the sea’s rhythmic hum suffocating. She pictured herself like this, alone in the great halls of the Fire Nation palace, begging for her brother or her dad or Aang, sweltering with the heat and the crippling loneliness of being so far from everyone she loved.

Her muscles tensed up like she was freezing to death though her skin broke out into sweats. All in less than a minute she had gone from smiling to paralyzed. She needed to get her act together fast.

‘Are you not cold there, missy.’ An older man in a naval uniform came up behind her, freeing her from her paralysis. 

She pushed her fly aways out of her face with speed and gawk.

‘Uh- yeah, a bit. Maybe I should’ve packed some warmer coats.’ She tried to smile.

‘Why don’t you go down to the cabin with the rest of ‘em.’ He grunted, leaning down to turn a metal lever she hadn’t even noticed before.

‘Oh, I can do that?’ She said aloud, immediately embarrassed at the stupidity of that question, ‘Yeah…thank you.’ 

As swiftly as possible she scurried down to where she had seen the girls disappear off to just a few minutes ago.

The hallway she found herself in was certainly warmer than it had been on deck, though that wasn’t exactly hard to beat. She wandered along the dark, metallic space, inspecting every door as she passed them. She found two to be locked, two to be off-limits to non-personnel members and 3 to be unoccupied rooms she couldn’t categorise.

The final door was open, the room spelling over with voices, though before she was close enough to sneak a peek as to what was being discussed, the entire group of Kyoshi Warriors filled out, chatting amongst each other as they went.

‘Oh, hey Katara.’ Ziyi smiled before turning back to her friend.

Katara smiled, waiting for them to move into another room before inching her head forward to peak inside.

Zuko, sitting on a floor desk, was turning his neck to look at her. He smiled when he realised she’d spotted him. 

Her face blushed pink, she already looked like a weirdo and she hadn’t even got to the Fire Nation yet. Silently, she scolded herself and reminded her stupid internal monologue to stop convincing her to do stupid things. It was only Zuko this time, but who knows what could’ve been going on in there and she was just snooping around like an idiot. 

‘You can come in, you know.’ She heard Zuko say and she felt herself go warm all over again.

‘Sorry.’ She smiled awkwardly as she slipped out from behind the door frame and into the room.

‘How are you?’ He asked, ‘Want to go home yet?’ 

She glared at him, taking a seat to his left.

‘I’m okay. A bit cold.’ She mumbled.

‘You? Cold?’ He looked at her as if that were the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard, ‘You can wear this if you want.’

He unwrapped a long, yet casual robe from his shoulders and placed it in her lap. A stinging feeling of guilt rose up in her.

‘It's fine, you keep it. I guess I should be used to the cold.’ She admitted, though she still gripped her arms with her hands in an effort to warm them up as soon as possible.

‘It's fine.’ He said, not even looking up from the document he was writing, ‘I’m warm blooded.’ 

Not wanting to be rude, she carefully slotted her arms into the flowy sleeves and smoothed the robe over her back. 

‘Thanks.’ 

‘No problem.’ He continued staring down at his piece of paper, now scrawled over with ink.

‘What’s that?’ She craned her neck to read it, though before she could he’d snatched it from her view.

‘Confidential.’ He side-eyed her aggressively.

‘I’m here to help you, surely I’m allowed to read it!’ She scoffed.

‘Not yet you’re not, right now you’re just regular old Katara.’ He dipped his brush in his ink and glared at her before continuing to write.

‘Whatever, I have things to do anyway.’ She stood up defiantly. 

‘Yeah? Like what?’ He smirked.

‘Lots of things!’ She huffed before trying to storm out.

‘Hey, wait.’ He yelled after her, forcing her to turn back (though she did it was an exaggerated annoyed face to show she was not happy about it).

‘What?’

‘Uh- well I haven’t really had time to sort out any arrangements for you. Are you fine with having a random guest room for now? I’m guessing you have clothes with you and stuff but if you need any just let one of the housekeepers know.’ He looked uncomfortable for some reason, ‘And I’ll write to Aang, tell him to send your stuff over.’

She smiled gently at his consideration. She had never really thought of him as one to care about small stuff like which room she stayed in or the clothes she had.

‘Don’t bother, I brought pretty much everything I own now with me.’ She shrugged, ‘Thank you, though, that all sounds…good.’

‘Good.’ 

They stayed awkwardly in silence before Katara smiled and left the room, immediately internally slapping herself for acting so weird again. She put it down to nerves but gave herself a warning, she needed to be on her best behaviour from now on; old council members wouldn't be as forgiving as Zuko.

Katara stared longing out into the sea, the only comfort to her being the hope of an adventure and the steady thrashing of the water against the ship's hull. She leaned against the barrier of the ship, silently creating fantasy scenarios, both nightmarish and dreamy, of what would happen were she to be summoned to a council meeting or cornered by a disapproving nobel.

She sighed, pushing herself up from the bannister.

It was less cold now, the sudden Rush of the Southern winds lessening as they approached Fire Nation territory. It felt weird to say that in a positive way, in her head the Fire Nation still carried undertones of danger, something to fear, to stay away from at all costs.

Yet, there she was, willingly walking straight into its clutches.

She supposed she’d ought to update that way of thinking in the next however long. Anyway, the last time she’d been to the palace it had been perfectly nice (aside from the Agni Kai and Zuko nearly dying, of course).

Still, it just felt wrong. She should be flying in on Appa with her brother and Aang, not watching the horizon for-

Land Ho!’ A sailor shouted behind her, sending her into a mild panic before twisting around to see for herself.

Sure enough, the Fire Nation capital was fading into view. It looked a lot friendlier without the flaming net and battalion of soldiers waiting for them.

As they pulled into dock, the Kyoshi Warriors were first onboard, each scouring the crowd before two of them made their way down and into the crowds, presumably checking for any signs of an assassin. 

The thought exhausted her. She suddenly pitied Zuko a lot more than she had, when was the last time he’d been truly free to do anything without a team of bodyguards watching his every move and a squad of assassins on the prowl for his head.

She shuddered at the thought before reaching over the edge of the boat to watch them more closely. As she did, a roar came over the crowd, which was much bigger than she’d originally thought. 

She spotted a handful of people waving directly at her, a few whistling or pointing at her in surprise. It only then occurred to her they were all sort of celebrities around here. On Kyoshi she’d always just felt like one of the townspeople, she’d met them enough times. Even in Ba Sing Sei, they typically stayed in the Upper Ring and the nobles there saw themselves above oohing and ahhing at teenagers.

One of the warriors smiled at her and gave a signal to one of the sailors. He nodded in response, calling out an instruction she didn’t catch down to the brig.

Then, he turned to her warmly.

‘Feel free.’ He grumbled, motioning to the ramp.

Suddenly, she was quite warm. Her legs seemed to shake like pudding as she walked towards the ramp, it was all quite surreal.

As she forced herself down into the crowd, only controlled by the Kyoshi Warriors, she waved awkwardly, her cheeks burning as she heard people call out her name. The peripherals of her vision faded into a grey mush until she was finally cleared of the people, finding herself in front of a large wagon of sorts, led by two ostrich-horses.

‘Its a bit overwhelming.’ A man she had never seen before said quietly.

He climbed down from the wagon and stood next to it expectantly. Based on his uniform-like attire, she assumed he was a servant of some kind, maybe their driver?

‘Yeah…I didn’t expect that many people. Well, I didn’t really expect any people at all…’ She mumbled, her brain still trying to reboot itself.

The man smiled and fixed his collar.

‘People love the Fire Lord, what can I say.’

As he finished his sentence, the crowd behind her erupted into a violent concoction of screams, cries and cheers of both awe and excitement. 

She turned around, scared. Had the boat started sailing off again by mistake? 

Rather, she found a much more pleasant sight. 

Zuko strutted down the ramp with grace she had never seen in him outside of his bending. Maybe it was because his robes had been swapped out for the more typical Fire Lord regalia, but he had an air to him which screamed authority. 

His head was held high and firmly attached, his face both hardened and warmed. Where she had found herself awe-struck, he waved with poise, both rehearsed and genuine. 

He really did look royal. More than she’d ever seen him.

Finally, he approached her, the soldiers brought in to help control the crowd buckling as the Kyoshi Warriors stepped back to follow him. 

‘Big crowd.’ He shrugged, giving her an apologetic smile.

‘Yeah, no kidding.’ 

‘Your Highness, your chariot.’ The servant from before bowed, swinging the door to the carriage.

‘Thank you.’ He smiled, stepping into the car elegantly.

She stood in the open space feeling incredibly out of place. The racket of the crowd didn’t cease and it was starting to give her tired mind a headache.

As she waited aimlessly, Zuko stared down at her.

‘What?’ 

‘Are you coming?’ He asked, as if it were obvious what he had expected.

‘In there? Yeah, okay.’ She grinned and pulled herself up and into the cart with the help of the servant. 

It was spacious inside, the car itself holding at least four, with two padded benches lining either side of the cart. It looked as if it had once been roofed, the walls making up the doors looking slightly jagged when closely inspected, though it was now open-topped. In front, the servant jumped up and climbed onto a small seat, picking up the reins to one of the horses, next to him, another servant Katara had failed to notice before, did the same.

The Warriors spoke amongst themselves before breaking apart, spreading themselves around the cart like a barrier of sorts.

‘All set?’ One of the servants asked down to Ziyi.

She nodded curtly and the carriage began moving with a sudden jolt.

Beneath her, Katara felt the hooves of the horses digging into the stone road, the cart shaking every time they did.

Though she was starting to feel queasy, Zuko looked at total peace, smiling away as he waved to the lined streets and the faces popping out of windows, each one grinning from ear to ear. Meanwhile, Katara gripped the side of the car. Even flying on Appa had been easier on her stomach.

Buildings seemed to move by at a snail's pace, though really she knew they were moving quite fast. Dark roofs and light stones stood around her like strange faces of people she recognised but didn’t know. She looked up, unable to stop herself from staring at the lanterns which hung from the roofs of low-leaning houses and lampposts. Above them all, though, all she could focus on was the ever-looming presence of the palace, its high roofs towering over the rest of the city, with the even higher standing buildings behind it appearing like distant memories, engulfed in humid fog.

‘Enjoying the view?’ Zuko asked her, still waving as he turned to face her.

‘It's much nicer when I’m here for leisure and not battle.’ She smiled.

‘I’ll warn you that the palace will be pretty predictable. I haven’t had the time to change all of my father’s awful design choices. I asked Mai to do it originally but that was always a lost cause.’ His tone was annoyed as he mentioned her, though his face hardly slipped as he greeted passers-by, ‘When Fire Lording gets a bit easier it's the first thing on my list.’

She snorted slightly. Was he really worried that she’d find his palace too similar? Too fancy and opulent? 

‘What?’ His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinised her.

‘Nothing.’ She put her hands up defensively, ‘If it makes you feel any better, I think you’re doing a pretty good job all things considered.’

He looked at her like she had just confessed she thought he was the greatest man alive.

‘Seriously? You’re not just messing with me?’ 

She shook her head in disbelief. How low was this guy's self-esteem?

‘Yes! I mean, you looked like a king at the docks. I honestly feel like you should be more nervous, if anything.’ 

He smiled at her weakly. He still looked shocked she’d told him he was doing well.

All of a sudden, the carriage pulled to a halt, pulling her forward violently. Zuko somehow seemed unaffected. She didn’t like him being the graceful one so much anymore.

Again, she turned to see where they were and the palace, which had seemed miles ago a few minutes before, was now clear in view, the only thing keeping them from it being the staircase they had stood on during the coronation. Wow, they felt like so long ago, yet she also remembered it like it had happened last week.

‘Sorry, you’ll have to walk from here.’ He smiled at her before climbing down from the car.

Her door was swung open by the servant from earlier and carefully she let him help her down, making an effort to look cool rather than clumsy again.

As they walked up a few steps, the Kyoshi Warriors not far behind, the crowds behind them cheered, singing songs Katara didn’t recognise but she assumed were good.

‘I thought you said your people hated you.’ She asked Zuko, enthralled by the sight.

‘The ones who hate me don’t typically come to welcome me home.’

When they finally reached the top (Katara finding herself shockingly out of breath), Zuko turned and waved. She copied his example (with much less grace and a lot more panting) before all of them filed through the grand doors to the palace.

Zuko was out of her view almost immediately, heralded away by men in red with long grey beards and tight golden hair pieces. Suddenly, she found herself quite alone and quite awkwardly placed in the middle of a foyer. 

She scanned for Ziyi, though in the commotion of their entry she and the other Warriors seemed to have retired elsewhere, presumably to unpack or clean up. Maybe they followed Zuko, she hadn’t really had a chance to see where exactly he’d gone. 

She cursed herself in her head, she knew this would happen. 

‘You must be Master Katara, am I correct?’ An older woman with a tight ponytail and a sharp chin appeared in front of her.

Katara shook herself awake.

‘Uh- yes! That’s me, hi.’ She smiled awkwardly, though the woman didn’t react, only bowing and looking back at her with little expression.

‘Very good. My name is Monge, I’m what you may call the housekeeper of the palace.’ She looked Katara up and down, though she wasn’t sure if she was positively or negatively received.

‘I’ve been given specific instructions to introduce you to the palace: your room, your staff and so on, as well as give you a brief tour. Does that appease you?’

Katara stared at her blankly for a second before registering her words. 

‘Y-yes, that sounds perfect, thank you.’ She flailed her hands around in a panic only worsened as she realised she was horribly mutilating her first impression.

‘Right.’ The woman looked concerned, ‘Follow me.’

Monge toured the main sectors of the palace first, presenting the main areas she would need to visit (Dining rooms, libraries and meeting rooms mostly), briefly discussing when she would be required to use them. 

For the most part, Katara nodded along without response. If she was being totally honest, Monge both intimidated her and worried her. If she said the wrong thing she could easily come across as foolish or ignorant, maybe even downright rude. It was better to keep quiet until she was a bit more established, until she knew where she stood. 

Next, she followed Monge to the place she would be staying for the next week.

‘The Fire Lord has a room currently being renovated to more suit your needs.’ Monge recited, almost bored, ‘For now, you’ll stay here. I’m assuming you’re familiar?’ 

‘Oh, yes. I stayed here after uh…’ She suddenly lost her tongue.

What was the common opinion of the war, the Agni Kai even? Surely it was a victory, the Agni Kai at least, and many would view the war’s conclusion positively, but was it socially acceptable to bring up? Too fresh a wound?

‘Yes, you healed Fire Lord Zuko following his Agni Kai, a debt our nation forever owes to you.’ She said plainly.

Katara was finding her incredibly difficult to read. She had been known, in the past, to be too trusting, to make poor lapses in judgement of character. She decided to keep her distance for now, who knew this lady’s true motivations.

‘And these will be your handmaids.’ She signalled over to a group of girls who immediately ceased their gossiping to smile and bow. 

Each of them looked very alike. They all had that Zuko colouring, pale skin and dark hair. She could already see herself mixing them up, probably a grave offence.

‘Leave us now, girls. You will meet each of them in due time.’ Monge swished them away with a dash of her hand, the group scattering from the room swiftly.

That left only the two of them. They stood, admiring the room she had once cried herself to sleep in, silent.

‘Thank you.’ Katara tried to be polite and break the silence, ‘It's all lovely.’

Monge turned to look at her, her eyes still unreadable in their blank expression. She took a step towards Katara, the white hairs on her ageing head hardly swaying as she did. 

‘I warn you, Master Katara, not to get too comfortable.’

She wasn’t sure how to react to that, or how she was supposed to, so she just stayed quiet.

‘Many of us view you as you are, a kind, well-intentioned person to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. Many others don’t,’ Her eyes narrowed, ‘Don’t be foolish, I know you’re smarter than that.’

And with that, she left, abandoning Katara to the silence of her room, her only companion, the thundering heartbeat ringing in her ears.

Katara hardly slept that night.

Many others don’t

Monge’s shrill rasp sanded down her ear drums as her words span around and around in her ceaseless mind. 

Don’t be foolish

When she opened her eyes, after what she had recalled to be a quick blink, light streamed into her room from beneath the blinds forcing it out. Her dark room felt suddenly warm, the cold shiver down her spine suddenly feeling less sinister in the daylight. 

She shoved herself from her (quite sweaty) silk sheets and found herself at a crossroads of what to do next. Her outfit from the day before was in a crumpled heap under her feet, sweaty and grimy from a day of travelling. Other than that, though, what was there to wear?

She tiptoed nervously over to the grand wardrobe sitting opposite her bed, its deep wood and tall built made it look right at home. Cautiously, she pulled it open to find the same clothes that had been there last time. All red and black. She wasn’t sure what else to expect, though, she was in the Fire Nation now; red and black were kind of their thing.

As she brushed her fingers along the rows of silks, cottons and harsh leathers, the sound of scattering fingernails brushed against her door.

‘Master Katara? Are you awake?’ A soft, youthful voice peeped from outside. 

Once the initial shock subsided, she realised it must be one of her handmaidens or whatever they were called. She closed the wardrobe as quietly as possible.

‘Um, yes! Come in.’ She tried to sound calm and collected, though the purple rings under her reddening eyes probably wouldn’t help her case.

She leaned cooly against her bedpost in an attempt to look normal. As the two young girls she recognised from yesterday’s lineup sauntered into her room they struggled to hide their shock.

‘Good morning…Master Katara.’ The older one smiled, looking back at her partner for some kind of reassurance.

Katara corrected her posture, embarrassed, and looked down at the ground.

‘So, um, Mrs Monge said you have a fitting with the seamstress this morning so you don’t need to be particularly well-dressed.’ The girl smiled awkwardly as she approached, placing a few towels on Katara’s unmade bed.

‘Oh, okay.’ Katara looked around, expecting them to take their leave. 

‘Did you want a bath, Master?’ The girl again prodded.

The use of the title was jarring, nobody had ever really called her Master Katara outside of formal greetings and Iroh. It felt weird more than it felt vindicating.

‘Oh yeah, but I can do that myself, don’t worry.’ She smiled, looking between them as the two girls exchanged confused glances.

‘But…Well, we can help, that’s what I meant, Master.’ 

‘Oh really, it's no trouble. Waterbending and all.’ She looked at them with a fading grin.

They looked back confused. What rule had she broken now?

‘Well, if you’re sure, Master.’ The girl who had been quiet before finally said, wandering over towards the bathroom.

‘No worries, I’ve used all this stuff before, last time I was here I mean.’ She nodded, though they didn’t look comforted.

‘Oh, my apologies.’ The girl bowed, her half-tied up hair flopping as she did.

‘Uh…no need. Please, enjoy the rest of your morning. I’ll be fine on my own until I have to go to see the seamstress, really.’ 

They glanced at each other with worried expressions before bowing and turning to leave.

‘Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask your names.’ She called out, bashful as they turned around. 

‘My name is Aso.’ The more confident girl said before gesturing to her quieter companion, ‘And this is Nasi.’ 

‘Aso and Nasi…okay, I think I’ve got it. Thank you, that’s all.’ She smiled, finally relenting her grins as they closed the door to the bathroom.

When she heard their pitter pattering feet go silent and the slam of her bedroom door, she finally relaxed, sighing at her immense ignorance to whatever social conventions she was clearly missing.

When she’d been to the palace last, she’d had handmaidens only for special occasions: helping with her hair or intricate outfits. Not for bathing. Was that really normal?

Decidedly, she did her best to ignore all of those thoughts for now. Maybe she would try to speak to Zuko about it later but for now she needed to focus on running a bath.

A metal barrel of water sat in the corner of the room, a fiery heat forming from a vent somewhere down below it. She felt its temperature briefly with her finger, finding it to be pleasant enough. Carefully, she bended the water from its container into the metal tub. Beside her, on a small wooden cabinet, she found a selection of dehydrated sponges, blends of fragrant petals and vials of liquids, each labelled with a specific ingredient or concoction of multiple.

Though she would prefer to play it safe, aiming not to break any more rules by the end of the day, she couldn’t resist the tempting scent of rose petals and the soft sweetness of honey. Eagerly, she poured a healthy amount of each into the steaming water, the honey dissolving until it was imperceivable. The aromatic flavour of rose flooded the room as steam enveloped her. Suddenly the events of the morning and the previous night felt like a distant dream.

Steadily, sure not to burn herself, Katara dipped herself down into the pool, her unwrapped body hissing at the feel of air. 

As she allowed herself to fall back, plunging deep into the water, she exhaled deeper than she had in a while, wiping the heavenly liquid over her hair and scrubbing her cheeks with her hands. 

For a minute or so, she just sat there bathing in the warmth of the room, her body feeling like it was floating in an abyss of bliss. A petal drifted to her hand and without thinking she held it to her face, brushing over its dampened surface with her sopping fingers. 

Whistling a tune she had picked up from one of Aang’s particularly loud acolytes, she scrubbed her entire body down with the sponge. She could practically feel the day at sea falling off of her as her replenished skin cried against the soft hum of the water. Elegantly, she pulled a string of water around her finger, playing with it as if it were a strand of hair. 

When she finally forced herself from the tub’s grips, she pulled her hair up into a quiff atop her head, wringing it of its water and allowing it to fall gracefully down her back like a waterfall. Her strong arms glistened as steam kissed her, though she hastily pulled it off of her and back into the tub. Her sponge was similarly sucked dry as her towels sat boredly on the chest of drawers, watching her bend with envy. 

Suddenly, she felt quite whimsical. The rough night seemed meaningless in comparison to how she felt now and as she danced back into her room, she noticed her dark circles were somewhat less prominent now. 

She pulled a bone comb from her bag, pulling its dull teeth through her hair. With the precision of a seasoned archer, she strung a bead onto two strands of hair, looping them back into a half-bu on the back of her head. She smiled as she appreciated her work in the mirror.

The matter of clothes now seemed trivial, though she still wanted to look polished (even if it was just for breakfast). She pulled a long robe from the wardrobe, layering under it with her own white shirt and brown trousers. She admired herself and felt almost confident. It suddenly felt like maybe the world wasn’t crashing down around her; maybe all this time she just needed a good bath. 

Her walk to the dining room diminished most of the confidence she had managed to convince herself of. 

Maybe it was the creepy vibe of the place she still hadn‘t managed to shake or the switch from the room her and her friends had eaten in last time she was there to the large formal dining room, but the palace seemed to suck the life out of her. The whispering servants didn‘t help. She assumed the best of them, they were curious rather than malicious, but it still made her skin crawl.

At the very least, the breakfast was delicious. Hot, sticky honey spotted with flaming fire flakes made her realise how much she had missed the Fire Nation‘s food. As much as she used to hate all the spice, she had to admit it beat the bland tofu she didn‘t know how to season in the Air Temples. She scarfed down a bowl of porridge and a side of sliced fruits as elegantly as she could. The room was empty other than her and a few maids, it was really rather awkward.

‘Master Katara.’ Aso bowed her head as she approached.

Katara smiled and stacked her bowls and plates. The maid who came to take them from her grimaced, immediately unstacking them with a calculated sigh. She hadn’t remembered it being an issue last time.

‘The seamstress has arrived for your fittings.’ Aso continued, ‘If you’re finished…’

‘Let's go.’ Katara smiled, trying to inject some cheeriness back into the day- she wasn’t about to let a few annoying mishaps ruin her entire day.

Her handmaid led her through a few corridors she sort of recognised, though she had come to realise they all looked remarkably similar.

When they arrived, the seamstress was laying a wide selection of fabrics down on the luxurious sofas which decorated the large space. In the center of them all was an elevated box. 

The large woman turned around as the pair wandered through the large doors, Aso closing them quietly behind them.

‘Ah, Master Katara, it has been a while since I last saw you.’ The woman gestured as though she were swooping in for a hug only to dart at the last moment, rather pulling Katara’s clothes judgmentally.

‘You too, Ma’am.’ She smiled awkwardly.

She inspected Katara for a moment longer before sighing.

‘Well, there’s no use dawdling. Take off your clothes.’ The woman took a step back and crossed her arms.

‘What?’ Katara looked at her surprised, though after a moment she realised she was the only one. Her handmaiden stood motionless as the seamstress glared at her expectantly.

With gritted teeth she peeled off her clothes and found herself feeling entirely exposed. Though her lower wrapping was permitted, her chest ones were… not.

‘Jore.’ The seamstress suddenly shouted, pushing Katara up onto the elevated step, ‘Measuring tape.’ 

A weedy girl with large-rimmed glasses and stringy hair pulled into a messy top-knot weaselled out from behind a pile of fabrics. Her glasses almost fell off her head as she struggled to yank a measuring tape from a large suitcase, placing it in the seamstress’s hand with a pant.

‘You’ve gotten skinny since I last saw you, darling.’ She snapped the band around Katara’s waist and hips before taking a step back, looking her up and down.

‘Yeah…I haven’t been bending much, I guess.’ Katara blushed.

Nobody had been so brash about her transformation-of-sorts yet, even though she knew everyone had noticed.

‘Bah!’ The woman cawed, Aso looking visibly disturbed at the outburst, ‘You must eat more, what use is a skinny girl!’ 

Katara was not sure what to make of that comment.

‘Jore, bring me the samples. The red ones!’ She yelled, poor Jore nearly being blown away by the pure force of her shout. 

Katara almost felt herself starting to burn up, she wanted to give the girl a hug and the seamstress a good slap, but she’d already had enough nasty looks for one morning. She bit her tongue.

The seamstress pushed the strips of red fabric against Katara’s chest, then her face, then her hair. Each sample was totally different: intricately detailed with miniscule golden embroidery, deep scarlet gems or black binding. One by one she watched as the seamstress discarded the strips, chucking them to the floor for her assistant to scrounge for. 

By the end she was left with around eight fabrics, each of which she found in their entirety and draped across Katara’s shoulders. Two more were discarded.

With every discard, Katara frowned slightly. Maybe she just didn’t suit red. That certainly wasn’t good news considering where she was currently living.

‘Jore? Blue.’ The woman barked, still admiring a reel of dark red silk she had draped across Katara’s chest.

She placed it in the ‘acceptable’ pile before flicking through the shades of blue fabric her assistant had brought.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I already have my old Water Tribe clothes.’ Katara attempted, her arms still clutching her chest desperately.

The seamstress shook her head, almost surprised at the complete heresy Katara had somehow managed. She smiled, almost condescendingly.

‘Darling, you are a lady in court now. Yes, your position is higher than a common wife, but rules still apply, you will not be seen in those rags you have been wearing for the past five years. As someone who has had the misfortune of seeing them up close, they will not get you far here. Training in the mud? Of course! Fire Nation palace? No, no.’ The woman pulled the strips up to Katara’s face.

Silently she fumed. 

Was she just having to get used to being disrespected? Suddenly her Water Tribe clothes weren’t good enough? Sure, even she could admit they weren’t in perfect condition. Everything but the stuff she’d bought at the market on Kyoshi was stained, ripped or scarred in some way but she thought that was a good thing. Her father had always praised scars, in fact, said they were a show of strength and life. 

She finished the session in a silent rage. Though she was angry, and she knew her younger self would have pulled her water sleeve out by now, she also recognised that she didn’t need another enemy in the palace. In her anger, however, her did not struggle to appreciate the designs in front of her. As the seamstress plucked out fabric samples, draping heavy fabrics and soft organzas over her still quite naked body, she peaked over at the woman’s parchments, each one uniquely identified by charcoal gowns that made her practically foam at the mouth.

It was a rare occasion she got to be so…feminine. As much as she loved her water tribe tunics and leggings, she had hardly had the opportunity to dress up since Zuko’s coronation and thinking about how long ago that was, made her head hurt.

When they had finally packed up, Katara ripped her ‘rags’ back over her head and sulked her way out, 

Aso tottered behind her, she sweated silently as she tried to keep up.

‘Master Katara, would you ask for me to run you a bath? Perhaps request a pedicure for you?’ She practically begged.

Katara smoothed out her tunic and pulled her hair back.

‘That’s just fine, thank you, I think I’ll go out and get some bending practice in.’ 

She turned a harsh corner, spotting a large door leading outdoors. 

‘Um well, I believe I should request a group to supervise you so-’ Aso attempted, her voice ripe with worry.

‘Really, Aso, there’s no need.’ Katara swished her ponytail around, adjusting it slightly, ‘I’m quite capable.’

‘Um well…’ Her handmaiden trailed off as Katara slammed through the door, out into the garden.

Katara looked around expectantly. 

The place wasn’t ideal for waterbending practice. For one it was a highly manicured garden, every edge was coated in colourful fits of roses and flowers Katara could not name if she tried. The only water was a small fountain, hardly enough to soak a lilypad.

She sighed and continued on, down the small stoney path leading down the lawn. 

‘Master Katara, truly, would you not prefer I located some guards? Perhaps you should prefer to lie down for a while?’ Aso pleaded.

Katara rolled her eyes slightly. What in spirit's name was she so concerned about? Was it suddenly illegal to waterbend in the fire nation? Perhaps they had taken after the Northern tribe in treating women like fragile china, though, based on their princess she found that hard to believe.

After a minute or so of stomping through the (rather lovely) palace gardens, she found a spot suitable enough. 

It wasn’t quite the Agni Kai battleground, she was beginning to realise how lucky she was that there had been water just lying around there, but it was good enough. The area was grassy, though clearly not as manicured as the garden’s she had just burst through. A stream ran down the center of the field, broken up onto by a small red bridge which arched over and down. The place was surrounded by tall shrubbery, with a modest marble pagoda standing silently in the far corner.

‘This will do.’ She mumbled to herself, pulling her arms above her head as a warmup stretch.

The sudden exhilaration that so often came with waterbending overtook her. Since sparring with Zuko on Kyoshi the call of the water had been practically deafening, there was no way she could go on without bending like she had been before, it was just unnatural.

She breathed in slowly, pulling her shoulder blades backwards in an effort to re-energise her ‘skinny’ muscles. They practically hummed back at her with excitement. 

Slowly, stretching out her hips as she did so, she moved towards the tepid stream. It was enough water for what she needed, she would hardly be doing more than a warm up. Buzzing, she pulled her breath in and brought a shallow tower of glistening water upwards and towards her, pushing it around herself like a ribbon dancer.

Behind her, she felt Aso’s eyes find her. Based on the exaggerated breathlessness, she would guess the girl only just caught up with her. She did nothing to stop Katara now she had started, she just stood there in awe. Honestly, Katara wished she would leave, she found it much easier to bend without people watching over her shoulder, though she couldn’t fault her. She doubted the maid had even seen waterbending in the flesh.

Trying her best to block out the girl’s penetrating gaze, Katara pushed and pulled the water around her in a delicate dance. On the count of five, she lunged down and pushed it with all her strength only to pull it back a second later, allowing it to once again circle around her. 

She continued her routine until she felt the first ache of fatigue in her biceps, letting the water fall to the floor before pulling the slight film of perspiration she had built up from her skin. 

Now, she stepped forward, dropping herself down into the shallow stream. The water hardly covered her feet, softly lapping at her ankles. 

A sudden shriek erupted from Aso’s direction as Katara felt the first small wave rush over her foot. She turned at record speeds, only to find Aso running towards her, worried.

‘Master Katara, are you feeling well? Are you hurt?’ The maid tried to help pull her up, though Katara swiftly shook her hand from her shoulder.

‘Aso! Seriously, I am fine! I took down Azula, I think I can handle a stream?’ Katara attempted to calm her, though she realised the moment after she spoke that perhaps that was not the best thing to say.

Before she could rectify herself, the heavy sound of footsteps sounded from the adjacent garden. Three guards, one male and two female, hauled themselves around the corner with concerned faces.

‘Did someone scream?’ One asked, though all three were fast to hurry to the side of the stream.

‘No cause for concern, really. Just…practicing some waterbending.’ Katara sighed, agitated.

Was being free to do what she wanted not the only reason she’d gone with Zuko in the first place? At least she could waterbend in the air temple, even if it was to the dismay of the acolytes.

‘Ah, Master Katara.’ The three guards bowed slightly, ‘Do you need assistance?’ 

She sighed again and decided to just give up. She pushed herself up with a wave of the stream and smiled.

‘No, I think I will just go back to my room…and lie down.’ 

Aso breathed out a sigh of relief and the guards shrugged.

Inside she wanted to scream, though for now she let the handmaid guide her back towards her room, only leaving her in peace once she had lit every candle and fluffed her pillows to perfection.

As she lay in the dingy warmth of candle light, her blinds closed, Katara pondered on exactly what she was doing there at that very moment.

She hadn’t even been in the Fire Nation two full days and she had already committed some sin against dining staff, scared her handmaiden half to death and found herself practically banned from water bending at all. Some foreign ambassador she was, she was probably giving her tribe a worse name than it had before.

She rolled over onto her side and felt a silent tear roll down her nose bridge. Geez, how pathetic. That morning she’d been in that very room feeling so confident and it hadn't even been two hours before she’d given up. What was there to do? 

She supposed she should be trying more to fit in. She wouldn’t expect Zuko to come to the South and start fire bending all over the place, she guessed. But then what was the point? 

Zuko had convinced her to come in the hopes that she would be free to be herself, to do some good and find her purpose, or whatever it was that had inspired her so. What good could she do when everything she did was some mortal social faux pas? When everyone in the palace thought she was some sloppy, rag wearing peasant who was as fragile as glass?

She sat up and made her way to the door. Cracking it open she looked around cautiously. 

It looked like Aso had left and her other servants were nowhere around. She sealed the door once again and snagged a long, hooded cloak from a hanger in the large wardrobe, tugging it over her strikingly blue outfit. Quickly, she pulled her hair back behind her ears and pulled the hood firmly over her forehead.

Now concealed, she cracked her door and slipped out. 

She made a b-way for the nearest staircase. She wanted to get out, somewhere less populated by judgy servants and over-precautious guards. Really, she just needed a walk, that was what was missing. She’d spent the past however long in nature and now she was cramped up in a stuffy palace, that was the cause of the weird feeling bubbling in her stomach.

Dodging guards she made it to a semi-familiar door leading out to an engawa. Following its path she tried her best to live in the moment and appreciate the flowers but she knew she was just lying to herself, distracting herself from whatever it was that was making her head stuff up.

She sauntered down a series of covered paths, eventually diverging out into a wide garden area, following a stone path through a series of fountains and across a small bridge. Dragonflies in shades of fluorescent orange and peony pink darted by her as she wandered, butterflies too stopping to appreciate her dull, red cloak. Compared to the pure vividness of the spiky flowers around her, she supposed she did stand out. Each petal looked like a flame erupted from a center of pure gold, with tall stems standing as straight as a ruler. She appreciated them, stoking a petal, though she didn’t dare pick one. Spirits only knew what kind of forbidden practice that was, perhaps she would be socially exiled forever.

She chuckled at the absurdity for a moment before moving on down the path. Passing through an arch shaved into the dense bushes, Katara noticed a spotting of small buildings ahead of her. Silently she cursed, she had hoped to wander a while longer before being interrogated on her whereabouts. She wanted time, really. Time for what? She didn’t know, quite, though she knew she wanted to waste as much of it as possible. 

She contemplated whether she should continue for a moment, finding herself enchanted by a small, yellow bug scuttling across a nearby leaf. Eventually she decided to turn back, take another path hopefully to a more secluded area.

She spun on her heel, immediately yelping in shock and falling to the ground.

‘What the…’ She sat up, her eyes adjusting to the sun which now shone directly at her as she peered up.

A silhouette eclipsed her view.

‘Katara?’ A cheery voice asked.

Katara pulled her hand to block the sun from her face. The familiar face of a Kyoshi warrior was what greeted her.

‘Ty Lee.’ Katara both smiled and grimaced at the same time.

She wasn’t sure she had the energy for this.

‘What are you doing out here? In that ugly cloak too.’ She pulled Katara up from the path to her feet.

Katara rubbed her back, probably bruised, and took a moment to even consider what she had just been asked.

‘You’re not trying to run away are you?’ 

Katara’s eyes grew wide.

‘No? No! No…I was just going for a walk. I didn’t want my handmaiden spotting me.’ She confessed. 

No point in lying, she supposed, she doubted Ty Lee would be the type to snitch.

‘She’s that bad?’ The girl looked frightened.

‘Oh, no, she’s perfectly nice, it's just…’ She drifted off.

‘She’s just totally stalking you and not letting you do anything?’ Ty Lee pirked, her chirpy smile contrasting her tone dramatically.

‘Well…Yeah, actually.’ Katara smiled slightly.

‘Ugh, my handmaiden was totally obsessed with me when I first started working here, I mean, she wouldn’t let me breathe without asking for permission. It totally cramped my aura, like, suffocated it.’ She shook her head.

‘So that’s just…normal?’ Katara asked.

Ty Lee was the last person she expected to get this. She’s always read her as kind of…ditzy, but she was still Fire Nation. It wasn’t like she was going to accidentally waterbend a foreign diplomat into a stream or whatever it was that Aso was worried about.

‘Meh.’ Ty Lee shrugged, ‘I think they were kind of freaked out by me because of the whole circus thing. The rest of the girls were allowed to do whatever they wanted.’ 

‘Right…’

‘Maybe you should just talk to Zuko about it.’ Ty Lee smiled, ‘Anyways, I’ve gotta go. Azula hates waiting. It was nice seeing you, Katara.’ 

Ty Lee pranced off towards the buildings Katara had just turned away from. So that was where they were keeping Azula.

Katara shuddered to think she nearly just wandered in. Azula probably would’ve blown her head off if she’d seen her. She thanked whatever spirits were watching over her and scuttled in the opposite direction.

In the seemingly never-ending gardens, Katara found herself finally able to breathe. She could already imagine the chaos she’d probably caused for poor Aso but frankly she didn’t care. She was tired and homesick and bored yet also overwhelmed. It was like she had been thrown into a river. She was being thrashed about by a current she couldn’t even see and everyone who was supposed to be helping her out were just pushing her further and further in.

She decided she needed a game plan. Unfortunately, she was not sure what exactly that plan would entail.

Sokka had always been the planner, in their travelling days at least, and it had been a while since she had needed to scheme. The air temples were mundane, she cooked, she cleaned, she slept. There was nothing she could plan apart from the next day's lunch and occasional trip South. Even before that, though, she’d been content to follow her brother (as long as he wasn’t being overwhelmingly obtuse).

Most of her ‘plans’ had gone up in flames one way or another. She was very aware of her tendency to throw herself into ideas with little semblance of what would happen next. Immediately she thought of Haru or that little fire nation village on the water, but the more she thought the more she realised her being in the Fire Nation at all was just as much one of her ‘failed plans’ as either of those.

Annoyed, she kicked a rock and sighed.

If she wanted to be taken seriously, to really help her tribe in any meaningful way, she needed to decipher the Fire Nation’s secret code of rules and regulations. 

So far she knew not to stack her dishes and not to wear her (perfectly nice) water nation clothes. She no longer had the prestige of the Avatar or the chaos of Zuko’s coronation to mask her repugnance, she needed to be a suitable Fire Nation court member, for the South more than herself. She couldn’t care less if people hated her.

Mentally she formed an image of herself, decked in red, her hair swept into a top knot. It looked foreign, alien even, but she was sure she could get used to it. If wearing their clothes and hairstyles and adopting their strange culinary customs meant securing the balance of international affairs she supposed it was a fair enough deal. She’d always thought she looked quite nice in red anyway. 

With her new found confidence Katara found herself rounding back around towards the palace. The lawns grew more and more manicured as she grew closer, the expressive flowers being exchanged for delicate lilies and quiet peonies which matched more closely with the zen vibe of the place.

Wandering down the engawas she swept the dirt from her shoes onto the wooden planks beneath her, keen not to drag the exploits of her walk through the hallways with her. She swallowed a deep breath, as well as her pride, and condemned herself to learn from here on out, to focus all her attention on her main goal:

Understand how to be Fire Nation.

The hallways were relatively quiet as Katara slipped through a bamboo door, finding herself in an unfamiliar wing. Her footsteps echoed as she walked out into the main passageways, where the constant stream of servants and guards paraded like paper dolls.

Finding her way in their rhythmic currents, she slotted in amongst the ruckus, sure to watch intently their every movement. She examined maids’ postures and guards’ expressions. She made sure to memorise the hallway’s art too, she couldn’t keep getting lost if she wanted to look like a true councilwoman.

‘Master Katara!’ A high voice squeaked from behind her.

Katara turned, immediately recognising the girl as one of her handmaidens.

‘Ah, sorry, have you been looking for me?’ She sheepishly asked, stepping out of the line of maid traffic.

‘Aso has been ever so worried! She thought you’d run off!’ The girl exclaimed, her ruddy cheeks reddening with every syllable.

Katara laughed slightly.

‘No, I was just taking a walk. Who knew one place could have such expansive gardens.’ She muttered to herself.

‘Um, well I’m afraid you missed lunch, Master, would you like me to call on the kitchen for a meal?’ 

Katara looked at the girl, shocked.

‘It's that late?’ She glanced out an opposite window to find the sun a quarter way down the sky, ‘Wow…but um, no that's not necessary, thanks.’

The maid looked confused.

‘Actually, would you happen to know where a library is?’ Katara asked.

‘Um, well yes but are you sure there is nothing I can get you to eat-’ 

‘Really, I’m good.’ She smiled, ‘The library though…’

Katara found herself, once again, following a maid through the labyrinth of hallways. At least this time she felt somewhat aware of where she was. She spotted the medical wing for one, the smell alone transported her back and it was like she was 16 again sobbing over Zuko’s cold chest. The rest of the walk was a blur, though by the time they’d reached the library Katara felt mostly back to normal.

‘Did you want me to find a guide for you Master? Or perhaps request some tea?’ Her handmaiden asked and Katara suddenly felt incredibly guilty at forgetting the girl’s name.

‘Oh some tea would be great, thanks.’ She nodded with a smile and the girl hurried off and out of the grand doors.

The room itself was colossal, not quite to the scale of the desert library and this one certainly lacked the owl spirit, though it was by no means unimpressive.

Really, it was rather overwhelming. Suddenly the confidence she had managed to build up felt like it was draining from her feet. What on earth was she thinking?

‘Excuse me?’ 

Katara whipped around, physically recoiling at the sudden voice. It was gruff, hardened by age, quite the opposite of her handmaid’s.

‘Ah, hello! May I ask what it is you’re looking for?’ An old man asked her.

He was taller than her, though his frame appeared withered. A long wiry beard strung from his sallow cheeks, brushing against his scarlet robes as he hobbled over to her, his hands tucked into each other's long sleeves.

‘Uh…I was looking for a book about Fire Nation customs. Manners and social rules…’ Now she was saying it aloud she realised how foolish she sounded.

Here she was in the presence of, assumedly, an intelligent elder and she was asking him for books about manners. She was really just embarrassing herself.

‘You know what, never mind. I’ll just go.’ She turned, her cheeks heating up.

‘Wait just a moment, may I at least ask who you are? I don’t mean to sound rude but I don't believe I recognise you, Miss?’ The man placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back around gently.

‘Katara.’ She managed, now even more mortified.

She expected him to laugh at her, perhaps grimace upon hearing her very non-Fire Nation name.

‘Ah!’ He exclaimed, making her ears perk up, ‘You are our resident water bender then, I assume? Our new foreign ambassador for the South tribe?’ 

She nodded. At least he seemed positive, he hadn’t turned his nose up at her yet. 

‘Well please, Ambassador Katara, follow me. That is, assuming you still wanted those books?’ He peered at her with a sort of mischief in his eye. 

She shrugged slightly and followed in his lead. 

The library only seemed to grow the further in she clambered.

Midway through the grand hall of books the ceiling opened up to reveal a second floor, the floor similarly leading down to a lowered circle of shelves secured with metal chains. Shelves went on for what looked like an eternity and as the old man weaved through rows and rows of ancient tomes, strung together collections of parchment and shelves and shelves of scrolls she found herself utterly lost. His appearance was a Godsend, she never would’ve made it half as far without him.

‘Oh, how rude of me, I never introduced myself.’ He spoke suddenly, turning back to look at her as he hobbled slowly along a shelf.

Whatever it was she was looking for must be close by. 

‘I am Yo, librarian of this here establishment.’ He smiled, clearly proud of the place.

‘It is impressive. Honestly I wasn’t sure there even was a library here, nobody told me about one on my tour.’ She rubbed her arm.

‘Well I’m not surprised. The old Fire Lord had the place locked away to everyone but me and the Fire Sages. Only since Lord Zuko re-opened our doors were the servants even allowed to come into dust. You should’ve seen the state of some of these shelves.’ Yo continued on, pulling out of a few scrolls and throwing them into her arms.

‘Zuko opened this place again? I never saw him as much of a reader.’ She snarked.

‘The Fire Lord is mostly concerned with maintaining our history, I imagine.’ Yo gave her a look which made her re-think her tone, ‘Censorship had never been so bad before Azulon.’ 

‘Oh, right.’ She shuffled the scrolls around in her arms, embarrassed. 

Another rule broken already. She kicked herself mentally.

‘Do you have many libraries in the South Pole?’ Yo asked, changing the subject.

He dropped a leather-bound tome in her arms.

‘Uh, not that I’m aware of. We don’t tend to write so much nowadays. All our scrolls were stolen or sold amongst the raids.’ She admitted, though the mention of the raids seemed like a poor topic to bring up in hindsight.

‘It's a shame. So much history lost to cruelty.’ Yo placed a final scroll atop her pile before wiping his hands on a handkerchief, ‘That is the value these archives hold, after all. Even then, countless histories have been wiped out from even here.’

Images of scorched paper in the desert library came to mind.

‘Oh well, a topic for another day, maybe.’ He sighed, ‘I hope you find what you were looking for in one of those.’

The pile of parchment in her arms threatened to fall at any moment, though Katars still managed a smile.

‘Thank you so much, I’ll make sure to bring them back in perfect condition. You have my word.’ 

Yo only smiled, guiding her back without another word. When they reached the grand doors again he seemed to have disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. She was starting to question if he was a spirit when her maid arrived with the tea.

Both girls crashed through Katara’s bedroom door, spewing their mountains of papers onto her bed. 

The maid carefully placed the teapot she had been balancing in her palm on her bedside before letting out a sigh of relief. Katara would’ve done the same were she not the one having to read said mountain of papers.

‘Is there anything else you require, Master?’ 

Katara smiled and dismissed her, only requesting she be sought before dinner started. As much as she had ignored the time earlier her stomach was beginning to feel the effects of skipping lunch.

In the meanwhile she had an attempt at tackling the avalanche of scrolls. To begin with she sorted them by title:  a few were manuals on manners expected of servants, others guides for burgeoning nobles. She placed them in a pile away from guides on holidays, events and culture, which she then divided into noble and servant expectations. She supposed it better to read both: maybe then the staff wouldn’t stare at her like a mutated hog monkey whenever she did anything.

She began with the basics. Manners.

For the most part she understood. Some were common sense: Wash hands before and after eating, wear clean clothes and appear publicly only with fresh hair and skin. The parts she struggled with were the strange specifics she had never even thought about before. 

Who knew there were three different types of fork used for dessert? 

A week of reading and falling asleep over dusty pages about etiquette seemed to fly by. Spirits only know how she kept sane, barely seeing light outside of her trusty candle and speaking to anyone but Aso who kindly brought her food.

It seemed like her mission to be polite was in fact making her less polite, but she supposed short term sacrifices were necessary here: if she wanted to make a good first (or more like third) impression, she needed to be completely ready.

It was probably day six of locking herself in her room to read and she felt like she’d hardly made progress.

By the time she was called to eat she suspected she had just about wrapped her head around chopstick vs spoon politics, though the thought of looking foolish again at the dining table made her feel nauseous.

She requested her meal in her room.

Then, she read and memorised until her eyes fluttered closed. When she woke up she hardly remembered reading a word, though the pile of ‘completed’ scrolls begged to differ. She’d hardly touched on meeting etiquette and yet she felt like she could master breakfast. Perhaps by the end the servants would be smiling, they’d look at her and think,

‘Wow those water tribe people are so thoughtful!’

With that thought she pulled herself out of the awkward contortion she’d fallen asleep in and changed into her best clothes. She forewent the bath, rather rinsing her face and re-styling her hair. By the time her handmaids arrived she was already fresh faced and ready to go.

Breakfast was delicious, though that wasn’t the part she was worried about. Even though it was porridge, hardly a favourite, the palace chefs sure knew a thing or two about spices and by now her tongue was just about adjusted enough to appreciate them rather than hate them.

She ate with the only reasonable sized spoon, pointed her pinkie when she drank from a cup and left her plates unstacked with her spoon placed centrally as a sign of enjoyment in her meal. She even remembered to place a napkin on her lap, although she wasn’t sure it was necessary considering she hadn’t spilled food down herself since she was five, and folded it briefly before placing it atop of her finished bowl. The servant from the week before snatched the bowl from in front of her without a glare though lacking the enthusiasm she had hoped for.

Perhaps it really wasn’t possible to learn an entire culture in one evening.

Katara tried to hide her disappointment in herself as she left, Aso and another maid trailing behind her. 

‘The Fire Lord sent a message whilst you were eating, he said he was sorry to have missed you at breakfast as he will be in and out of meetings all morning.’ Aso recited, ‘He wants you to be reassured that he will be available for dinner, though.’

Katara nodded to her curtly.

She hadn’t even realised Zuko was intending to eat with her. Realisation suddenly struck her that she hadn’t spoken to him since she’d arrived, in fact, she’d hardly thought about him. 

‘Oh and he also sent this note.’ Aso pulled a rolled piece of parchment from her sleeve.

Why bother leaving a message and a note? Katara wondered. Leave it to Zuko to overcomplicate things.

‘Oh, thanks.’ She smiled unenthusiastically, sliding the note into a side pocket of her leggings.

‘Is there anything you were planning to do today, Master?’ The other handmaid asked cheerfully.

She was much less timid than the others though she looked younger. Katara almost took pity, clearly whatever Monge was telling these girls made them lose any passion they did have.

‘Not really…’ Katara pondered, ‘I think I’ll read over a few things in my room if that’s okay?’

‘Of course, would you like me to bring you-’

‘Really it would be great to be left alone.’ Katara interrupted, immediately feeling a pang of embarrassment at her rudeness.

Aso seemed unfazed though, looking back at her fellow maids as if for reassurance that Katara’s unheard of request to be ‘left alone’ was acceptable.

Eventually, the girls agreed, bowing and leaving her be.

Katara wandered in, the room was stagnant with warm air. She sighed as she caught sight of the pile of parchments next to her desk. It looked like it had grown since that morning. 

As she sat down and began to select her next victim, she remembered Zuko’s note. The scroll was slim, tied and welded shut with Zuko’s familiar seal pressed into his scarlet wax. Memories of their correspondence over the past few years came back to her and she found herself feeling nostalgic, which was weird considering she was closer to him than ever. She supposed it wouldn’t be particularly ‘correct’ for her to barge in and demand to speak to the fire lord, though, so maybe letters would have to keep being enough.

She unraveled it and held the paper up to catch the little sunlight coming in through her small window.

To Katara,

The council have called a meeting for tomorrow to discuss foreign policy for the next season. I think you should come if you’re free. If you’re not free, come anyway.

-Zuko

At least it was to the point.

Katara wondered why he bothered. Of course she was free, this was her job now. It wasn’t like she could go anywhere without getting lost and apparently she couldn’t waterbend without an entire squadron watching over her either.

She rolled her eyes and tossed the note aside, picking up a scroll on proper sitting etiquette instead.

It was going to be a long day.

The room was boiling when Katara pulled her sticky face from her desk. It looked like her candle had worn itself out, remnants of wax decorating both her hair and the floor. 

Mindlessly she chipped the white stuff from her head, hardly making a dent in the mess it had made, and rubbed her eyes. She must’ve fallen asleep. In fairness, there’s only so much one can read about conversational dynamics before it becomes dangerous.

She felt under her arms, greeted by the dripping stink of sweat. Brilliant. 

As she tried to stand up she felt the world spin around her, desperately she clutched at the banister of her bed for safety. After a moment the dizziness wore off, leaving her slightly befuddled but mostly okay. She made a mental note to stop falling asleep at her desk, she’d been tired enough that morning and now her back was killing her. 

All of a sudden a timid drumming started from her door and Katara swore she nearly collapsed. She really needed to get a good night's sleep sometime soon.

‘Master Katara? Master Katara, are you okay?’ She heard Aso’s soft voice ringing through her ears.

She moved slowly towards the door. Each step felt like a thousand years, what between her bad back, the high pitched squeak banging around her eardrums and the agonising emptiness of her stomach. She suddenly regretted not asking for a second portion of breakfast in an effort to be polite.

Finally, though, she reached the door, pulling on the handle with all the vigour of an old crone.

‘Yes?’ She croaked, immediately clearing her throat.

‘Ah!’ Aso cried, jolting back.

A metal tray thundered to the floor, a small spoon and cup spilling off onto the hard floors. 

‘Oh spirits, sorry.’ Katara lunged to the floors to help.

‘Oh no, Master Katara, it's fine. Are you…are you feeling well?’ Aso looked positively pale, almost as if she’d seen a ghost.

‘Yeah? I mean I have a bit of a headache but I’m probably just dehydrated.’ She admitted sheepishly.

Honestly, though, she was looking forward to lunch. She’d heard mentions of roast duck somewhere and the void in her stomach was lurching at the thought.

‘Oh, yes of course! I’m sure you’re also hungry since you missed breakfast.’ Aso shook her head in embarrassment, finally scooping both the cup and spoon up onto her tray.

‘No, I had breakfast.’ Katara smiled, ‘You gave me that note from Zuko- sorry, the Fire Lord.’ 

She couldn’t keep making those mistakes.

‘Um, Master Katara, that was yesterday. You’ve been in your room ever since.’ Aso looked at Katara as though she had a second head.

‘What?’ She yelled, immediately averting her eyes in embarrassment.

‘Well you asked to be left alone so we assumed you were busy.’ The maid looked panicked, ‘And then well I thought you were a bit tired yesterday so I thought it best to let you have a lie in, I’m so sorry!’ 

Katara hardly heard a word. How on Earth had she managed to sleep through an entire day? Had she always been this lazy?

Then her entire demeanor changed.

‘Do you know what time the council meeting is?’ She urged, grabbing Aso by the shoulders in a sleep-deprivation fuelled mania.

‘Well that’s why I came to fetch you. I was told it starts in about fifteen min-’ 

Katara thought her eyes were about to fall out of her skull into the tea still strewn across the floor. Without a second thought she turned on her heel back into her room and b-lined for the bathroom. 

Even in the dim light of a single candle she looked unrecognisable in the mirror. Her hair was half-matted and half-coated in white candle wax, her eyebags looked about as deep as the great divide and her skin looked more similar to Gran Gran’s than her own. Aside from the fact her clothes were mere ‘rags’, they were also sweat through and stained with ink which seemed to have spilled from her brush at some point.

A steady stream of unbridled adrenaline flooded her and without being able to stop it a dam broke within her, leaving a flood of tears in its wake. Something about the Fire Nation seemed to make her very susceptible to fits of tears.

‘Oh, Master Katara, it's fine! We can fix this.’ Aso tried to sound reassuring though her face sent a different message.

‘I’m screwed.’ She wailed.

Katara always saw herself as one never willing to give up, but in that moment (still hardly awake, famished and running on a cumulative total of 12 hours of sleep over the past week) Katara was very close to curling up on the floor and letting herself starve to death.

She’d spent so long preparing for something only to mess it up when it really counted. It reminded her a bit of the day of black sun, how much had they killed themselves to get everything ready in time just for it to fail?

What were the chances she could miraculously bring herself back from the brink a second time though.

Aso attempted to comb out the chunky knots which had formed in her hair over the past two days whilst Katars stared aimlessly at her reflection.

Suddenly, Sokka appeared behind her with a stern look on his face.

‘Seriously?’ Was all he said before she blinked and he disappeared.

‘What the hell?’ She exclaimed.

She was seriously losing it.

‘What is it?’ Aso asked with a worried complexion.

‘Nothing….nothing.’

Either she was going insane or that was the spirit of Sokka coming to tell her to stop being such a baby. Maybe it was the fear of going crazy but suddenly Katara felt very compelled to prove his smug face wrong. In an instant she was on her feet, bending a stream of water into her hair in an attempt to free it from the wax.

‘Can you find me some clothes?’ She asked Aso.

Clearly her determination came across because even Aso seemed to have found a new hope. The maid smiled and dashed to the door, reappearing a second later.

‘A new one? From the seamstress?’ 

Katara pulled the largest chunk from her hair.

‘They’re done?’

Aso looked confused.

‘Yes…we brought them in here and put them away a few days ago…you were here.’ 

Katara’s face flushed and she immediately went back to combing. 

‘Oh right…yeah one of those sounds good.’

She needed to sleep desperately if she couldn’t remember something that…memorable. Spirits, she needed to go outside.

By the time her hair was (mostly) presentable, Katara yanked it back into a basic ponytail before dashing out to her room.

Aso stood across from her, dress in hand. 

The design was familiar, a long dress in a deep red with slight gold trim. Organza stips made up the sleeves (if they could even be called that) and the skirt was decorated primarily by a few belt things.

Any other time Katara would’ve fussed over it though she was too preoccupied to even look at the damn thing. It looked about summery and fancy enough for the time and place and she assumed Aso should really know more about this kind of thing than her. 

She slipped it on and strapped a pair of basic shoe-sandle hybrids to her feet before tumbling out the door. 

If she was going to look a mess either way she didn’t also need to be horrifically late.

Aso led her and the two hurdled down corridors and through large doors as quickly as social norms permitted two ladies. Wherever this meeting room appeared to be was the complete opposite side of the palace.

As much as she couldn’t blame him, she did blame Zuko a tiny bit for that.

By the time they arrived Katara had hardly had a spare second to appreciate the journey. The only thing she had managed to pick out was the honestly enormous door which separated her from the meeting room.

Each door was as tall as the walls, decorated around its perimeter with what looked to be real gold. Even so, she cared less about the damn doors and more about what lay behind them.

Chapter Text

‘Katara?’

Zuko was standing, reading off a scroll by the looks of things, his unexpectedly regal frame towering over the table in front of him. It was still strange seeing him in his Fire Lord regalia, even if she’d technically known him for longer with the title than without. At least she’d stopped associating the crown with Ozai, though, that had certainly been awkward at first.

‘Sorry, am I late?’ She exclaimed, scuttling into the room with all the cadence of a rabid platypus bear. 

The six or so older men cross-legged on the floor turned around to individually inspect the rude girl who dared turn up not just late but in such a state. 

She saw on each of their faces the subtle (or not so subtle for some) annoyance at her presence she had sensed since her very arrival.

‘Of course not. Take a seat.’ Zuko gave her a suspicious glance.

She returned his look with a flustered head shake, shrinking down to the floor. 

‘Okay, well as we were saying…General Mung, your plan for tackling the famine?’ Zuko introduced.

A man of around sixty straightened his back and cleared his throat slightly. As he did, Katara noticed his lengthy white beard swaying like a pendulum. His baggy skin seemed to both sag and pull at each of his features, leaving the general looking quite strange, almost like a walrus yak. With every tug of his flabby, skin coated mouth his beard seemed to become its own creature, chomping up and down as if he were chewing his words rather than speaking them. Its rhythm must have hypnotised her as by the time he resumed his previous posture she realised she had hardly heard a word of his supposed plan. 

‘If I may, I struggle to see how importing excess grain will be strategic? With all the exports we’ve been forced into I doubt the treasuries are overflowing with extra gold for trading with the Earth Kingdom.’ A grey man with a greyer top knot countered, crossing his arms with a smug grin.

‘The Fire Nation has a constant stream of economy from its factories, clearly my plan relies on their continued success, though I find it hard to believe each and everyone should yield nothing in the next quarter?’ The bearded man replied with an aggravated flare.

‘You know as well as I do that ninety percent of that economy is streamlined straight down the drain! Only when we have paid off each and every ridiculous debt we owe will we be free to spend relentlessly on imported grain.’ The top-knotted man rebutted with the anger of a 16 year old Zuko.

‘What do you offer as a solution then, General Shu?’ Zuko said calmly.

The man looked flustered at the question.

Katara found herself hardly listening to the rest of their riveting conversation, the constant thundering in her head making it hard to focus on anything else. Somewhere within the heated debate between General someone and Top-knot she found another chunk of wax embedded in her ponytail, immediately flicking it under the rug they were sitting on.

She stared half-dead into the candle’s flame in front of her, the dancing flicker of its orange body seemingly the only thing able to capture the attention of her aching skull. Tui and La, how long could two people really argue about grain?

‘Master Katara?’ 

Katara ripped herself from the enchanting flame and found herself gawking at seven rather annoyed faces and one slightly sympathetic looking Zuko.

‘Sorry?’ She squeaked, suddenly realising she must’ve been asked something.

‘Ah, we’re boring her.’ General Shu half-rolled his eyes.

She felt her cheeks warm as two others snickered slightly under their breaths. Zuko looked less amused and more…concerned?

‘Katara, the Southern water tribe has already received their reimbursements this month, correct?’ Zuko asked her, though she could hardly focus on him with the other seven pairs of beady eyes hyper focused on her haggard appearance.

‘Um…I’m not sure, I can ask?’ She admitted.

Clearly that wasn’t the right answer. The generals continuing their amused giggles.

‘Is something funny?’ Zuko shouted.

All seven old men looked visibly startled, shuffling in their places like children being scolded by their mothers. Only General Mung spoke up, his face shifting briefly from embarrassment to anger.

‘Of course not, Fire Lord.’ 

‘Good.’ Zuko frowned deeply, ‘Then, General Mak, continue.’ 

The meeting dragged on for what felt like hours. Katara tried her best to blend into the background though her eyes often ran into the scornful glare of a councilman on their tour of the grand room. Adrenaline pumped through her at a rather alarming rate. She felt more like a wounded animal being circled by birds than an outstanding member of a major government council. 

She had just about managed to hold back a fresh set of tears when generals began standing up and filing out, each one allowing a moment for a final glance back at her.

Assuming the meeting was finally concluded she stood up in unison with her supposed equals and wobbled her way towards the doors, which seemed only taller than they had on the way in.

‘Katara, wait.’ She heard Zuko sigh.

She felt herself freeze in her tracks, all the resolve she had so carefully built up over the course of the morning melting away like day old snow.

After at least thirty seconds of total silence she turned to face him, her eyes watery but not crying per se (she counted that as a small victory).

‘What was that?’ He exclaimed.

She wasn’t even sure where to start. His face was a mix of confusion and annoyance that she could hardly bear looking at. In fact, she was afraid she might punch him if he didn’t stop glaring at her.

‘Have you even slept? You look like a mess.’ 

‘I’m aware.’ She mumbled.

‘Seriously, are you…okay?’ He looked at her with an awkward side glance.

Spirits was he still awful at emotional discussions.

‘I’m just tired and…yeah. I only woke up fifteen minutes before the meeting started.’ She admitted sheepishly.

‘Right.’ He sighed.

She felt a strange feeling of annoyance growing inside her gut. What right did he have to criticise her anyway? He’d shipped her over here and then chucked her in with the sharks her first week in with no guidance! 

‘You know, you could’ve warned me about some of this stuff. It's not like you sat me down and gave me a list of stuff I was supposed to know.’ She huffed, ‘Hey Katara! Everyone on the council already thinks you’re a pity hire and if you don’t know everything about everything they’ll laugh in your face!’ She mocked

‘Katara, I’m sorry but I just assumed you would- I don’t know, handle it? That is your job.’ He rolled his eyes slightly.

‘The job you haven’t trained me in?’ She raised her voice.

‘Sorry for expecting you to correspond with your own brother and/ or father? I mean, what have you been doing the past week?’ 

‘Not much, thanks. Not like I could do anything even if I wanted to.’ 

He looked offended.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

She rolled her eyes aggressively.

‘I don’t know, maybe the fact I can’t waterbend without an entire battalion watching over me?’

‘Since when?’ He looked shocked and mildly offended.

‘Since the first day I arrived. I don’t even know why I’m surprised, your entire staff clearly hate me anyway!’ The prickle of a rogue tear stung her inner eye.

‘They- they don’t hate you. And why didn’t you come to me? I could’ve spoken to whoever this battalion was.’ 

She supposed that was actually quite a good point. Still, the rising heat in her cheeks felt no penance in it.

‘Like you have time for that.’ She wiped her eyes as subtly as possible, ‘I’ve seen you, what? Twice? The whole time I’ve been here?’ 

He looked visibly angry now.

‘I always have time for you, you idiot! But I mean, what, you’ve just spent the last week sitting in your room not eating, not bending and not sleeping?’ 

‘Reading.’ Was all she managed.

‘Are you crying?’ He sounded slightly uncomfortable now.

‘No.’ She insisted, sniffling in the snot threatening to spew from her nose.

‘Katara, nothing is going to improve if you don’t talk to me. I’m sorry the council was rude today but…’ His voice was heated.

‘It doesn’t matter what you do.’ She sighed and gave up on stopping the tears, ‘The people here fundamentally hate me, your council will never respect me and quite honestly I’ll never fit in here. I’ve spent the last week trying to learn how to and clearly it hasn’t worked.’ 

Zuko rolled his eyes dramatically and pinched his nose.

‘What has happened to you in the past week? Why the hell would I want you to act like us? That’s the whole reason you’re here isn’t it?’ He huffed, speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

‘But-’ 

‘No buts! You’re here because I know you think differently to all those old grandpas and I thought you wouldn’t be afraid to kick their asses if they disrespected you.’ 

‘I’m sorry.’ She sighed.

‘Don’t be sorry. Go back to bed.’ His eyes suddenly lit up, ‘That reminds me, your room is nearly finished.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ Katara could not comprehend how her dingy, red room could possibly become anymore ‘finished’. Sure, it made her feel intense anger for a reason she couldn’t place, but it was hardly ugly (by Fire Nation standards at least).

‘I thought I told you I was having a room built for you?’ He looked at her confused.

She stared at him blankly.

Before he could continue the doors creaked open slightly.

‘Lord Zuko.’ A brash woman’s voice exclaimed, ‘Commander Yeoh from the colonies is here.’

Zuko closed his eyes as if to meditate for a half-second before reopening them in a scowl. He nodded to the woman before sighing and shaking his head.

‘Sorry.’ He started for the door, ‘Get some rest, anyway. I’ll tell the guards to let you waterbend, alright?’

Though that should’ve been good, the pure lifelessness in his voice gave Katara a more anxious feeling than an enthusiastic one.

‘Wait!’ She yelled and he stopped for a moment.

She kicked the air for a moment.

‘I need something to do. You said on Kyoshi I would help with your correspondence. Let me, I need something to focus on before I drive myself crazy.’ 

He seemed to mull it over for a second though the opening of the doors seemed to disrupt his train of thought. 

‘You do realise you haven’t even managed your own correspondence yet, right?’ He questioned.

‘Well I will now…I uh-’ She attempted

As he was practically pulled down the corridor by the woman from before he looked back at her.

‘You know what, fine, come find me after dinner.’ 

The rest of the day was a warm slog. 

She supposed that was the norm for the Fire Nation, the heat and all, but the day seemed to drag as she awaited dinner with Zuko.

Immediately after leaving the meeting room she’d practically sprinted back to her room (she only got lost like four times) and started scribbling a letter to her dearest brother. Once she’d started it seemed to flow out of her and suddenly her brush was just an extension of her arm; in an hour she’d managed to scrawl out four pages asking about any recent events she needed to know about and requesting detailed transcripts of all recent trade and exchanges. She made it clear that she was going to be taking the job seriously and he should reach out to her, not Zuko or General-Whats-His-Face who handles whatever, and he should arrange for their dad to start sending her transcripts every week if possible. 

Finally, she ended off with a personal letter from her as his sister, not the Water Tribe ambassador for the Fire Nation. She let him know that all was well (she may or may not have over emphasised the fun she’d been having) and added a few bits and bobs about the Kiyoshi Warriors to keep Suki happy. 

She sighed as she placed her final brush stroke and wiped the growing sweat from her forehead, noticing her headache seemed to have faded. 

With a smile, she reread her letter and folded it, sealing it with blue wax and her special seal. 

Wow. She’d forgotten how nice it felt to actually do stuff. Now the entirety of the previous week seemed a whole lot more depressing (if that was even possible). As she strutted down the hall, the light pouring through the large windows flooding the place with a white, cheery glow, goosebumps suddenly came over her, a shiver creeping down her spine. Hopefully that wasn’t a bad omen , she thought as she wandered into the mail room and gave over her letter. 

The rest of the day seemed to follow that shiver, though. Katara couldn’t seem to shake it. 

Maybe she had become too confident, writing a big girl letter like she wasn’t totally clueless still. Spirits, she felt so pathetic sometimes, especially now after seeing Zuko acting so…Fire Lordy. As in, he actually acted the part. She neither looked nor acted like a fine court lady, though she supposed that was why Zuko had come to her. Still, it was hard not to feel inferior when she’d been plunged into this weird political world where the strength of her bending meant nothing more than a title. 

Zuko surely couldn’t relate. He was brilliant in that meeting: commanding and confident yet civil. She couldn’t possibly imagine how he’d managed it all this past year. Iroh wasn’t even at the palace anymore, he was more or less alone, yet somehow he was the picture of a great Fire Lord. Surely it wasn’t genetic, based on his Father, though she guessed there was some regal gene he had that she didn’t.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

Only an hour or so until dinner, she didn’t exactly have time to go out and practice bending or commit to reading one of the fat tomes on ‘foreign policy’ she’d picked up from the library in exchange for the stacks on stacks of scrolls she’d taken on etiquette. Rather, she sat there unmoving, willing the time would go by quicker. 

Eventually she decided to take a bath, maybe she could actually look half presentable for once (not that Zuko cared, he would probably be too busy to even look at her) and honestly a bath didn’t sound bad. Her muscles were screaming with fatigue despite the massive lack of any exertion.

The calming warm water and slippery steam was a nice change from the sticky heat of the Fire Nation summer and by the time she managed to pull herself out her maids were practically begging to do her hair and get her dressed. 

They decided to leave her hair mostly alone, allowing her to pull her favourite hair loopies (Sokka’s annoying little sayings always seemed to stick) into a simple ponytail. It was far from what she’d been reading about, what a ‘good court lady’ should look like, but she was trying to convince herself she didn’t care and she knew for a fact Zuko didn’t. 

Her maids pulled her into one of the dresses the seamstress had crafted, a blue one this time. Most of the ones that had ended up as dresses, rather than the unfinished sketches Katara had seen in the seamstress’s room, had been blue, actually. At first Katara had found it slightly distressing, how was she supposed to fit in at all wearing blue constantly? But now she was grateful, if she wasn’t supposed to be a court lady it made no sense to dress like one. 

It was a beautiful garment that the maids picked, all of them were. The bodice was water tribe style with short sleeves and white, embroidered trim, though the fabric was much lighter than anything she would wear at home. The skirt was more Fire Nation, long and layered for appearances with multiple, overlapping sheer fabrics making her look almost like a rippling ocean anytime she moved. When her maids left the room for a moment she secretly swirled it around, spinning in circles like she was a little girl.

Eventually the time had come for dinner and Katara pretended like she hadn’t been waiting for it all day. Spirits, she was excited to talk to Zuko (though she told herself to keep her hopes down, chances are he would be too busy to even remember he had invited her), she was longing to just chat with him again. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed him before seeing him again on Kiyoshi but whenever they talked it just made sense. He just kind of got her in a way Toph or even Sokka didn’t. Maybe it was a feeling-guilty-about-your-mom-dying kind of thing that the others couldn’t understand.

As she was filed into the large dining room by wait staff, her handmaidens bowing before scuttling off, she suddenly realised how hungry she was. She barely noticed Zuko sitting there. She was so damn distracted by the food laid out in front of him.

‘Hey.’ He smiled at her with a twinge of concern. She may have looked like a ravenous feral child the way her mouth was watering.

‘Oh, hey.’ She smiled back as a servant tucked her into her seat, ‘Honestly I didn’t expect you to actually be here.’ 

He glanced at her, confused.

‘Uh. Why?’ 

‘I don’t know, you seemed pretty swamped earlier, I just assumed you’d be too busy to come chat with me over- Oh my gosh is that roasted duck?’ She felt herself lick her lips involuntarily. 

‘You’re acting like you haven’t eaten in a week.’ He looked at her half disgusted and half smirking.

She rolled her eyes and nabbed two (okay maybe five) slices and barely let them touch her plate before she started stuffing her face. 

‘You’re eating like Sokka.’ Zuko quipped as he placed two (actually two this time) slices on his plate. 

That caught her attention and she dabbed her lips gracefully before taking a purposefully delicate bite. Zuko only shook his head with a slight smile. His eye bags were strikingly obvious. 

Katara went to say something but the room felt oddly still, like she would be interrupting were she to start yapping. After a moment of chewing she realised it was probably the servants who stood around them, watching on like hawks. What even were their jobs? To catch her napkin if it were, Spirits forbid, to fall on the floor? It made her feel uneasy so she decided to just keep quiet until Zuko started a conversation. 

She caught his eye though he didn’t say anything. Gosh he could be dense sometimes. Maybe it was a boy thing, Sokka never seemed to be able to follow any of the subtle cues she gave him and Aang was even worse. She glared at him until he looked back up at her (still oblivious, of course) and then, rather unsubtly, nodded her head in the direction of the servants behind her. He looked at her like she was mad for a moment before realization dawned on him and his lips made an ‘o’. 

At least that confirmed that he did have eyes, he just didn’t like to use them. 

‘Um, Shu.’ He signalled over what looked to be the head servant, with a bald, shining head and low spectacles.

‘Yes, Fire Lord.’ The man enunciated every syllable. 

He whispered something imperceivable to Katara though she assumed it was something like ‘get these guys out of here, you’re making Katara uncomfortable’ because, with the wave of Shu’s hand, they filed out, one or two taking a brief look back at her as they left. 

Only as the door shut again did she breathe.

‘Yeah sorry, they can be kind of…’ Zuko started.

‘No, no. I’m just not used to…yeah.’ 

They sat in silence for a moment, the only noise coming as Zuko tapped a chopstick mindlessly on the table. 

‘Oh…right yeah. About helping you with your correspondence.’ She suddenly remembered the entire point of this dinner. 

Zuko sighed and put down his utensils. Katara took the opportunity to stuff another quick bite of slightly too spicy vegetables into her mouth before he turned his attention back to her.

‘I mean, if you really want to I guess you can, though I don’t see why on Earth you would rather read my boring letters than go out and do anything else.’ He lead his head on his palm with a slightly annoyed face. 

‘Like what, exactly?’ She pressed. 

All she had was waterbending and reading, neither of which were particularly helpful to anyone. 

‘I don’t know, go out and sing to sick kids or something.’ He shrugged.

She could hardly contain a chuckle. 

‘Oh I don’t know, okay? Surely there’s something you would rather do than read and respond to complaints all day.’ He exclaimed.

‘Well no offence but you look like you haven't slept in a week so I just wanted to-’ 

He interrupted her, ‘Well you don’t have to. Really. I can handle things myself and you don’t have to give up doing what you want to do just because I’m slacking.’ 

‘I wouldn’t call it slacking, you’re in your office or in meetings, like, constantly! It's not bad to ask for a little help, you know?’ She shrugged, a little annoyed.

He wiped his forehead and closed his eyes for a brief moment. 

‘I didn’t mean it like that, I just don’t want you to spend all your time worrying about me, you know? You’re here to help your tribe, not to start babysitting again.’ 

She looked at him with disgust.

‘What the hell does that mean? Babysitting?’ 

His eyes filled with panic, ‘Well you know…you kind of spent the entire pre-war babysitting your brother and then Aang. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to baby me too. I’m seriously fine, Katara.’ 

She snorted. Maybe some of that was true and maybe she had been leaning back into her motherly habits but it wasn’t exactly like there wasn’t just cause!

‘You’re fine? Yeah right. When was the last time you even stepped foot outside?’ She crossed her arms over her chest.

‘What kind of question is that? How should I know?’ He seemed offended.

‘And when did you last get a full night’s rest? You look like you haven’t slept in a month.’ She exclaimed.

‘That doesn’t matter! I know I’m busy but this country is basically falling into a sinkhole and if I give up now I’m never getting it back out, okay? I just need to focus for a while and things will get better.’ He yelled.

She was very glad that the servants were dismissed. She could already imagine the rumours spreading about her aggravating the King’s nerves with her evil peasant tongue. 

‘Isn’t that why I’m here though? To help your country not collapse?’ She asked.

He just sighed, clearly exhausted, and took an angry bite of duck.

‘Seriously, Zuko. I want to help and I want the Fire Nation to succeed! Honestly I liked reading your boring letters that time on Kiyoshi and for your information I don’t usually go around singing to sick kids. I would rather be here actually helping than out doing something useless.’ She smiled gently.

His anger seemed to fade, replaced only by greying under eyes and long, droopy eyelashes.

‘Thank you. Maybe…’ He tried to formulate something but the words just didn’t seem to come.

‘Maybe I can come to your office tomorrow and you, or one of your assistanty people, can give me some of your less important letters which I will read and maybe respond to if I feel it is within my jurisdiction?’ She smiled at him eagerly.

A tired laugh fell from his mouth as he looked over at her and the sun caught his eyes. Damn his eyelashes were long, it really wasn’t fair.

‘Sure.’ 

She stretched her arms out, hearing a few bones click. 

‘Finally. You don’t know how weird it feels to go from looking after a whole temple of monks everyday for a year to doing nothing.’

‘I guess neither of us are good at taking vacations.’ He said quietly, only expanding on it when she stared at him suspiciously.

‘I just mean anyone else in your position probably would’ve just treated this like a vacation and like…sunbathed or something. But no, you were reading every book about court lady etiquette in the library, you weirdo.’ 

‘How do you know about that?’ She said, alarmed.

He chuckled, ‘The librarian may have told me. He’s an old friend of my uncle’s.’ 

No surprise there, the only outwardly nice person she’d met thus far was a friend of Iroh. 

‘Katara, I seriously meant what I said about not having to fit in, you know? I get that the staff maybe aren’t the most inviting, and I’m sorry about that, remnants of my Father I guess, but I genuinely think you being yourself is the best thing you can do. I mean, if I kept doing what was expected of me we would’ve lost the war.’ 

That was a bit heavy, and only a bit surprising, though she supposed he was right. Maybe she was being a bit uncharacteristically shy. She chose to blame that on the heat.

‘Uh…so what I mean is…’ He kept going awkwardly and she realised she had been staring at him for the past 30 seconds unblinking.

‘No, I get it. Thanks, Zuko. Maybe I have been trying too hard to get everyone to like me, it never really stopped me before so I don’t know why I feel so compelled now.’ She looked down at her emptied plate. 

‘Those dumb, old generals in the meeting seriously pissed me off, though. If I see any of their smug faces again I’m scared I’ll waterbend a bowl of scalding water all over their sour little grins.’

He snorted at that.

‘Go for it, I mean, I remember Master Paku telling the story of how you totally kicked his ass for being sexist. It’s not like I’m going to reprimand you.’ He shrugged with a smile, slightly more life like now.

‘I guess everyone here is accustomed to the horrors of outspoken women. I imagine your sister was quite the handful.’ She smirked.

He thought for a moment.

‘Well they were all terrified of her, I guess, but there was always the threat that my father would burn off half her face too if she stepped too far out of line.’ 

Yikes. Not a nice thought. Katara wasn’t sure whether she should console him or try to steer the conversation far, far away from wherever it was going.

‘Either way,’ He started before she had the chance to, ‘I’d pay to see any of those old bone-bags get upstaged by a waterbender. I could do it but I think it would sting twice as hard coming from you.’ 

She smiled at the thought. He knew her well, she was a fan of putting saggy, old people in their place.

‘That was the biggest thing I loathed about the air temple, everyone was so damn nice to my face so I never had a reason to kick their ass with a water whip or anything. Aang would probably never speak to me again if I did that in his oh-so-sacred courtyards but you know, the temptation was there.’ 

He nodded as if he understood how she felt.

‘Have you heard from Aang at all?’ He asked and the air seemed to get even more humid.

Almost subconsciously she started playing with her hair. Some kind of nervous tick.

‘No, not really. I guess I should really write to update him but I don’t want to overstep, you know, rub salt in the wound.’ 

‘Fair enough. I got a note saying he got home safe but that’s about it.’

‘At least Sokka said he would go over and check on him every now and then. I’d probably worry myself to death if he didn’t.’ She flicked her hair between her fingers, ‘As much as we grew apart…I don’t know, I still worry like the Fire Nation is chasing us.’

Zuko went slightly pink.

‘Sorry about that…again.’ 

She shook her head and exhaled a sharp laugh. 

‘That reminds me.’ Zuko looked like he had just had an epiphany, his embarrassed blush evaporating. 

‘Oh Spirits, what now?’ She melodramatically teased.

Her spirits felt slightly dimmed now, probably bringing up Aang didn’t help. She’d managed to keep him out of her thoughts pretty consistently so far but she supposed he would be mentioned eventually.

‘No you’ll like it, I promise. I totally forgot to tell you but we’re having a ball thing next month.’

‘A ball thing? Like a party ball with dancing and stuff?’ She clarified. 

‘Yeah. I mean it's mostly just for political reasons, an excuse to get everyone together and show off our amazing hosting skills, but hopefully your family and Toph and Aang should be coming. Fun reunion.’ 

He smiled at her expectantly but her face remained unchanged. His smile faltered and he looked back at his plate.

‘No that is good.’ She suddenly registered that they were indeed having a conversation, ‘It’ll be nice to see Sokka and my Dad and the rest of the gang.’ 

‘You don’t look all that excited.’ He sounded slightly annoyed again. 

‘No, really, I am. It’ll just be weird I guess, everyone being together again…here.’ She muttered. 

Last time they were all in the palace Zuko had nearly died and she had uncomfortably accepted Aang’s love confession. She tried to avoid those memories as much as possible.

‘Yeah…uncle should be coming over for it though, that should be uh- nice.’ He blushed slightly.

‘Definitely.’ She smiled. 

For such an emotionally charged guy Zuko got embarrassed so easily, it was almost endearing. 

‘And you’re planning this ball on top of all your regularly scheduled Fire Lording? Sounds fun.’ She asked with playful eyes.

He dropped his shoulders, still pretending to pick at the scraps on his plate.

‘No, thank Agni. Usually the Fire Lady would handle this kind of thing but since I don’t have one and the closest thing I do have is Mai I decided to let Monge handle it.’ 

‘Hm, fair enough.’ She shrugged.

She hadn’t thought much about Mai since she’d seen her last but the more she considered it the more she realised Mai would’ve made an awful Fire Lady. I mean, what would a Mai-organised party even look like? All black decor with no music and no food because she couldn’t be bothered to source any? 

What a nightmare. She was almost glad Zuko had broken up with her, he was honestly too good for her. That was rare, Katara genuinely siding with the man in the situation, but whenever she was around she just seemed to suck all his weird, dramatic energy out and replace it with anger. It was sad to see. 

Even so, Katara could hardly picture Zuko with anyone. Maybe it was all the work that made her forget that he could actually be a human when he wanted to, but she just couldn’t see some ordinary Fire Nation lady sitting on the throne beside him, it just seemed wrong. He was far from normal (and she meant that in the most loving way possible) so what good would some court-trained princess-in-training be to him?

She decided to push that thought out of her mind. Like it was any of her business anyway.

‘So…’ Zuko glanced up at the windows covering the far end of the room, the bright sky simmering down to a dusky purple as the evening grew older.

‘Oh shoot, sorry, I guess I’ve been keeping you for a while. Sort of lost track of time there, I guess. I mean time does fly when you’re having fun, I mean, that’s what hey say, right? Haha’ She awkwardly rambled.

Where had that come from? Totally weird. She cleared her throat and averted her eyes from his confused stare.

‘Um…yeah. So I guess I’ll see you sometime tomorrow if you’re serious about-’ 

‘I’m totally serious. First thing tomorrow, I promise.’ She eagerly sputtered.

He smiled.

‘Cool. Well, good night, Katara. Hope the food was up to your standards.’ 

‘Are you kidding? I ate like a whole duck myself.’ She smiled back.

‘Good night.’ he repeated as he turned to leave, servats magically appearing to open the doors for him and clear the table.

She awkwardly stood in the middle of the room.

‘Good night, Zuko. Actually sleep tonight if you can!’ She yelled after him.

She imagined he rolled his eyes but by the time she could remember what words she knew how to say he was gone.

Chapter Text

‘Well, I think this is it, Master Katara.’ Aso smiled slightly as they approached a medium sized door.

‘Shall we take a look then?’ Katara nervously shrugged, trying her best to look confident.

In truth, she’d forgotten entirely that Zuko had promised her a room of her own, which, supposedly, he had had completely customised. Now it was finally done she was honestly more worried than excited.

What on Earth did Zuko think she would want in a bedroom? 

Really, she supposed Monge or one of the other high ranking house staff members would’ve been given the task, Zuko being so swamped he barely remembered to eat half the time, though she wasn’t sure how much better that was.

Aso pulled open the doors and before she could even peak inside her other two handmaidens were shimmying around her to see for themselves. 

Katara could only roll her eyes playfully. Over the past few weeks she’d grown to know her little gaggle of maids better and better and she now realised they were more glorified teenage gossips than scary court people who wanted her head on a stick.

The two younger ones gossiped relentlessly, often letting Katara in on all the rumours about people she had never heard of. Aso was about as stoic as always but even she seemed to have warmed up a little. At the very least they no longer looked like frightened puppies readying themselves to be struck whenever she pointed out a minor mistake. She thought of them less as servants and more as strange little children who followed her around, even if they were only a year or two junior to her. She’d known plenty of that back home during the war, all those kids and so few hands to help out. 

Even despite their newly budding friendship, she wanted to see this damn room too, so she pushed them out of her way (with decorum) and was positively…shocked at the room.

It was far from what she’d expected. For one, it wasn’t red…or black. In fact it was blue! 

Maybe that wasn’t such a shock. 

Water Tribe. Bedroom. 

 She supposed it was sort of the obvious choice. Even so, it was a sweet gesture considering how much she complained about all the reds and blacks of the palace. 

The rest of the room was even better. The furniture was dark brown wood, though still lighter than the black mahogany that crowded up her current room, with beige and blue quilts and table runners for decoration. As she approached she noted the embroidery stitched into the quilt on the bed and immediately suspected the seamstress who had been making her clothes thus far; nobody else had such an eye for detail or such a knowledge of Southern fashions. 

The bed was large with a canopy above it (as seemed to be the norm in the palace) though the red, sheer curtains had been replaced with a thicker, more sturdy material, more equipped for blocking out light than being purely decoration. 

Next to the bed were two small tables, and nearby a dresser with an ornate Fire Nation mirror, a towering wardrobe with fancy metal handles, and a desk with a remarkably comfortable looking chair. The desk was more similar to an Earth Kingdom one than the low desks found in the Fire Nation (which always made her back ache) and was littered with fancy china brush holders and a full ink pot. 

They were really spoiling her today.

‘Wow! This is much nicer than the other room.’ She heard Nasi giggle to Shee. 

Katara chuckled under her breath. 

They certainly weren’t wrong. Whoever had masterminded the design had really thought it through and at least tried to make it more like home, even if most of the details were more style than substance. 

She made a mental note to thank Zuko next time she saw him.

‘The bathroom looks the same as the old one though.’ Shee sighed before immediately blushing sheepishly as she realised Katara had heard. 

In fairness, it was practically the same exact design, if not slightly larger, with the only stark difference being the switch from red decor to the blues and beiges of the rest of her bedroom.

‘I think it's nice.’ She commented quietly. 

‘I would hope so. It took weeks getting all the fabrics together.’ A familiar voice sighed from the doorway.

Katara had hardly seen Monge since her slightly sinister warning upon her arrival to the palace. Even so, whenever she did show herself she was entirely pleasant, only rude to the extent that she was often cutting talks short to rush off somewhere. Katara could hardly blame her, the palace was probably twice the size of her village.

‘I’m guessing this was more to your credit than the Fire Lord’s then?’ Katara joked with a smile. 

The old woman allowed herself a rare grin. Usually she remained straight faced when she could help it.

‘Well of course! I hope it's to your standards, Master Katara.’ 

‘It’s lovely, Monge. Honestly, I’m so grateful I don’t know how I can make it up to you.’ Katara tried not to gush too much.

All the work she’d been doing lately had left her partially starved for human connection and at least 90% sleep deprived. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn’t started crying yet.

‘How about you start by asking the Fire Lord to finally give me a raise. Agni knows I’ve been here long enough.’ She shook her head dismissively, ‘Anyway, you two come with me.’

She pointed a bony finger at Nasi and Shee, both looking equally frightened at the command.

‘It's hardly a bedroom with empty wardrobes. Plus there’s all those scrolls and letters you insist on hoarding in there.’ Monge turned on her heel and signalled the two maids to follow.

‘Thanks guys.’ Katara attempted as they shuffled off.

Silently she moved over towards her new bed and sat down. She brushed a tired hand over the soft material of the sheets. Definitely lighter than anything you would find back home; usually they lent more towards animal pelts than airy cottons. Still, it was remarkably soft and a nice change of pace from the glaring red of her old room. 

‘Master Katara, I should remind you of the meeting later today.’ Aso said from somewhere across the room.

Inside, Katara sighed and rolled her eyes, but she didn’t need it being spread around that she was some lazy bum who hated her job so she kept it to herself. As much as she trusted Aso she also wasn’t born yesterday. Rumours seemed to shoot around the palace before the words had even left their victims' mouths. 

‘Oh yeah, thank you. I guess I’d better double check for any messages. I don’t need to get caught out like last time again.’ 

Last time there had been a meeting of this calibre, the generals who met were vehemently discussing Water Tribe politics like they had grown up there themselves. As much as Katara wasn’t one to defend all the North’s policies, she would rather be dead than let some old fire fleas trample over its name in her presence. 

Since her first meeting she had certainly improved in her ambassadorship, her and her family corresponded weekly with lengthy accounts of recent events and any changes in trade, though it seemed she hadn’t quite prepared enough for this meeting in particular. Taking it upon herself to defend her fellow tribes people, she made herself look quite the fool. She’d been halfway through her whole routine, defending them with her life, only to realise she had zero clue what she was talking about; she’d never bothered learning the North’s politics inside and out, she was a Southern ambassador after all.

Either way, she was practically shunned from the meeting after that. Even Zuko couldn’t save her from herself.

This time she was eager not to make the same mistake twice. In the two or so weeks since she’d read up on as much Northern stuff as she could and had handled at least half of the correspondence from there. At this point she felt like she could run the place herself, even if she knew she still had ways to go.

‘Good idea.’ Aso agreed, curtly bowing before leaving her alone in the room.

As much as she wanted to soak in the newness of the room, admire the intricate stitching of the quilt and examine the detailed wood carvings surrounding the mirror, she saw no point in dawdling around now. The room would still be there after this meeting and if she really wanted to prove herself as a half competent ambassador she was going to have to do it sooner rather than later. With the stupid ball coming up she suspected they were all about to get a lot busier in terms of prepping for the incoming ambassadors and politicians set to attend.

Without wasting a moment she pulled herself from the bed and marched straight to the bookkeeping room, where new and old scrolls, letters and other general correspondence passed through on its way to Zuko’s desk. Usually she appreciated the calmness of her walk over, her old room being a good few minutes away from the place, but her new place of residence has been conveniently placed only a hall away from it. She supposed it made perfect sense, closer to the place she most often needed to go as well as Zuko’s office (not that she saw a huge deal of him still). 

Even so, she mourned slightly for the loss of her walk. Now all the chaos of the bookkeepers was so near by it almost stressed her out by sheer proximity.

The room was relatively large though you would never guess it with all the shelves and stacks upon stacks of paper which cluttered the space. 

Desks holding small, sallow assistants and consultants filled any remaining space so that even popping in for a moment made your head spin with all the crammed bodies. People in official uniforms were constantly pushing past one another in a hurry or hastily stamping down on forms with a goliath thud which makes the whole place jitter for a moment after it happens. 

She pitied the poor fools who dedicated themselves to working there, though whenever she had the rare opportunity to speak to one of them she was often (ever so rudely) hushed or shoved away without a second thought. That just about crumbled any sympathy she could truly hold on to.

Today was no exception. 

Every nook and cranny of the place was stuffed with toppling piles of scrolls and spilling ink. Luckily she only needed to check her cubby and dip. 

Often times an assistant would drop her work off for her, acting as the middle man between her and Zuko so they hardly had the chance to see each other and get distracted, but she also often found herself popping in to check for any extra letters which had come in the time between the assistants visits (which there very often were). 

Today she found nothing, unfortunately, though she had plenty to get on with. 

When she returned she found a neat pile of scrolls arranged on her new desk and a pair of handmaidens attempting to hang a heap of clothes in the colossal wardrobe, both of them too short to manage. 

‘Just leave them on the bed for now.’ Katara yawned as she wandered in, ‘I’ll find someone taller to sort it out later.’ 

‘A-Are you sure Master Katara?’ Shee strained as she reached on her tip toes for the rail, only to miss it again by several inches.

‘Yep, really, don’t worry about it. I have these scrolls to look over before my meeting anyway so I’d appreciate some quiet.’ 

The two girls dumped the various dresses and skirts with a dueted sigh and left with a quick bow each. Katara could only chuckle and shake her head at them. 

She unrolled a scrolls and scanned over it, repeating over and over again until her eyes hurt and the candle she had lit ran cold.

With a sigh she wiped her eyes and decided it probably wasn’t long until the meeting, she may as well get ready now. 

Her handmaids had grown accustomed to her dismissing them quickly, not permitting them to help her dress or spend hours folding her hair in various ways. Unless it was a special occasion she had decided to stop worrying about how she looked. As long as she was clean and tidy, she wasn’t worried about looking appropriately ‘Fire Nation’ anymore. In fact Zuko seemed to prefer it whenever she showed up in blue with hair loopies rather than in red with a gold encrusted top knot. 

Not that she minded, she’d had enough of trying hard to fit in knowing it would never be enough. She would never have papery skin or golden eyes, no matter how many etiquette books she forced into her skull. 

For today she landed on a plain navy tunic and a slightly more decorated, pale blue undershirt, embroidered with navy wave designs and pearl detailing. She picked out poofy trousers with a navy skirt overtop, allowing the trousers to show out the sides of the skirt’s slits. 

Hastily she dragged a comb through her hair and braided it down her back, looping her hair through to create her signature loopies. She selected some delicately hand-carved beads she had picked up in Ba Sing Sei, securing one carved white one and one smaller blue one onto each loop. After fiddling around with it for a second, she smiled at her handiwork. 

She wandered out into her room again. She supposed she’d better wait for Aso to come collect her, though she didn’t see much point in waiting around with nothing to do.

Rather, she collected up a few scrolls into a leather bag Gran Gran had sent her about a month ago, and set off for the meeting room. 

The walk was quicker than usual, though still long enough to let her build up a sheen of anxious sweat across her forehead. 

Sure, she’d prepared about as much as she could, but the constant itch that lived in her brain was always there, ready to remind her just how out of place she was. 

A seventeen year old waterbender trying to compete with seasoned generals on their home turf? Who did she think she was? 

As much as she tried to brush it off, it was hard because, honestly, it was right. 

When she finally reached the meeting hall she was greeted by a familiar face. A nice surprise since she was expecting a sour old general or a mean, entitled servant who thought himself below her.

‘Katara! You’re… early.’ Zuko smiled as he led her into the room.

Seemed like they were the first ones there. That was a first. 

‘I’ll have you know I’ve been on time for every meeting…other than that first one but that doesn’t count.’ She shrugged.

‘Right…’ He smirked at her.

‘Are you feeling prepared?’ She asked.

A bit dull but honestly she’d hardly seen the guy in a week, things were bound to be a little cold at first.

He shrugged.

‘About as prepared as I can be, though honestly I’m hoping to get this over with quickly. I’ve got about a million things to get done before this weekend.’ 

Katara felt herself dim slightly. She hadn’t realised until then but she’d honestly been quite excited about seeing Zuko again after the hectic week they’d had. The nerves of the meeting managed to distract her but she was truthfully pretty mad she’d seen so little of him. Whenever they had a second to themselves it was the highlight of her week.

‘Yeah I get that. This gala thing has really snuck up on me.’ She wiped her forehead as she sat down.

‘True. It’ll be nice to see everyone again though. At least there’s that to look forward to. Before we get back to work of course. Yay!’ He weakly attempted.

She chuckled slightly.

‘Fire Lord.’ A gaggle of white haired, sagging bags of flesh appeared in the doorway, bowing down before shuffling to their places.

‘Oh, well I guess that’s that then. Today we’re here to discuss…’ 

Katara found herself zoning out the first half of the so called ‘meeting’, which appeared to be code word for ‘argument’ since all that was happening were Generals Mung and Shu yelling back and forth with various insults and jabs at the other’s intelligence (or lack thereof).

She only tuned in when she heard Zuko mention the Water Tribe.

‘Well it's to be expected, Northern and Southern relations have never been great.’ One of the less boisterous generals commented.

‘What we need is to maintain neutrality and continue our payments as usual. No use us getting tied up in a war with two allies .’ Mung stated, adding an odd emphasis on the final word.

In fairness, today they were actually correct about their Water Tribe knowledge. From what she could infer from Sokka’s babbling, the tribes had found themselves at a standstill regarding a minor trade dispute. Neither were willing to compromise with the South feeling they had hardly enough to warrant compromising for and the North feeling as though they were being ripped off. Katara suspected it would work itself out soon enough, plenty of Northerners had come over to help the South rebuild and from what she could tell their relationship was otherwise cordial. 

‘And if that’s not an option? I agree, it's best we steer clear of taking sides for now but should anything take a turn for the worst, do we have a plan B? Master Katara, do you have any ideas?’ Zuko turned to her.

It was still so weird hearing him call her that. Master Katara . She hardly called him ‘Fire Lord Zuko’ unless it was to make fun of him, to him she was just plain old Katara. Still, she appreciated the title here, even if it was weird. The last thing she needed was for these generals to see her as even more of a target.

‘Honestly I don’t think it's anything to worry about. Issues like this have come up a few times since the treaty was written up and they’ve all worked themselves out in a matter of weeks. Worst case scenario a few bridges get burned before things go back to normal.’ She said, confident yet casual. 

Nailed it, she thought to herself as she sat back down. 

‘Okay, thank you Master-’ Zuko attempted.

‘So that’s our plan B then?’ A man with beady brown eyes glared at her, ‘Hope it all works out?’ 

Katara felt her face warm. 

‘It seems sensible to me.’ General Mak commented, bushing some lint from his shoulder, ‘Why bother wasting time on the hypothetical.’ 

‘Agreed. General Ro, unless you have anything else to say?’ Zuko looked up from a sheet of paper he was reading. 

‘Well, I just find it foolish, or am I not allowed to say that? Come on, we’re not living in fairy land where everything works itself out through the magic of friendship and harmony for Agni’s sake! Why let our guard down now because a peasant thinks it wise? Should we start asking our Moo-Sow what temperature we should cook them at and listen when they tell us not to bother?’ General Ro spat.

A few haggard chuckles are released before being indiscreetly covered by coughs and ashamed looks.

‘General Ro, I will not have you speak to our ambassador that way!’ Zuko yelled, more heated than he usually was when scolding his generals.

‘I apologise, Fire Lord, but is Ro not correct? Why should we listen to this girl when for all we know she just wants to ensure her Tribe gets the better half of the deal? What happens when the Northerners want answers as to why they have no ambassador at our table?’ A whiskered man sitting next to Ro added.

‘Precisely, and is it truly wise to just let the Tribe battle it out? I mean, what do a bunch of barbarians know about diplomacy when all they’ve known is clubbing seals to death?’ Ro smiled.

Katara felt her blood boil. She was just about ready to swipe that smirk off his bastard face and a good deal of that ghastly, sagging skin too. 

Zuko looked about a second away from snapping, but she had already reached eruption point. There was no sitting back and waiting for things to work themselves out here. 

‘I don’t see how you’re one to talk, General. Weren’t you a leader of the battalion who were sent in to reinforce Zhou in the destruction of the North? Tell me, who were the barbarians there? The warships firing on civilians or the people defending their city?’ She leaned across the table, her voice explosive.

‘Calm down, girl.’ He smirked and crossed his arms, ‘Don’t you see what I mean? She can barely control her temper at such a simple criticism!’ 

That nearly made her lunge at him, though she had enough rational thinking left to deduce that would not be a smart idea at this point.

‘Ro!’ Zuko bellowed, though Katara hardly heard him.

‘Trust me, my temper is plenty controlled and for you, you who can hardly call himself a general, to call my people barbaric-’ 

‘And what on Earth is that supposed to mean, girl?’ He stood up to meet her, his eyes suddenly inflamed with annoyance.

Ego troubles, she’d dealt with these before plenty.

‘Well it's not like you’ve offered a single original idea since I’ve been here? What do you do all day? Sit about, soaking up the sun in that leathery old skin whilst bathing in the riches of your tithed village? Or, let me guess, crying that your wife ran off with an Admiral half your age. Be real general Faux you’re less of a general than I am!’ She smiled at him with a glimmer of cockiness that sent his skin from tanned to scarlet. 

‘You little- Right, well you think you’re so brilliant because you sucked up to the avatar enough to get yourself a fancy title and a nice little job. Some of us actually had to work to get into this room!’ 

Katara gritted her teeth.

‘What, you mean through corruption? Was it killing off your competition or just blackmailing them this time?’

‘You speak as though you aren’t the prime painting of nepotism, you insolent peasant. Were your father not the chief of some backwater little town we are now inexplicably tied to, you would be freezing down South with the rest of your pathetic lot. You can speak as much as you like about the way we do things here, but there is a common law: take what is rightfully yours. Not that such a simple creature like you could understand the concept, clubbing anyone to death who looks at you wrong.’ Ro seethed, though he appeared suddenly calmer.

Katara was subtly aware of Zuko’s attempts at a ceasefire, though her ears were alive with the rushing of adrenaline so she only caught every fifth word at best.

‘Right, I get it. So all that murdering you did was just fine then? Since you were just taking what was yours? Sure, tell yourself that so you can sleep better at night, old man.’ It was a weak insult but she wasn’t sure how else to argue when her opponent believed that murdering people was perfectly just, ‘What does it matter anyway, I guess. It’s not like there’s anyone out there who loves you enough to feel ashamed of you.’ 

That seemed to have hit a nerve for a moment, though the general's face suddenly shifted to a cruel grimace.

‘I’m sure you can relate, little girl. How would your mommy feel about you sleeping warm and tight in the Fire Lord’s palace?’ He spat as he finished his sentence, his eyes burning holes into hers.

She was practically frozen in place, unable to react or hear whatever was being said around her. Maybe they were all silent and frozen but to her the world was suddenly a blur. 

It felt like an hour, just sitting there motionless, though it was probably more like seconds. In a crash the world was back in focus and she could hear plenty of yelling.

Without staying to hear what was being said she stood up and left, moving as fast as her legs would carry her without running. 

As she slammed the huge doors behind her she felt the wells of tears, which appeared to have built up in those dragging few seconds, flow from her eyes and fall heavily down her cheeks onto her heaving chest.

She kept moving, paying no heed to the menagerie of servants attempting to catch her or comfort her. There was no being comforted in this moment, what she needed was to be away from here. 

‘Katara!’ She was faintly aware of someone shouting at her from far down the corridor behind her, though she paid it no mind and shot out the nearest door leading to the outside.