1. A Pair of Shoes and Mango Skins

**A/N** This is my first Zutara fic and I'm excited to get started! I've had this story in my head since watching the series in its entirety (rather than odd jumbled episodes on tv) and now I'm finally getting down to writing it. Please comment, review, criticise - whatever you like! If you enjoy my work pm me for any collaborations. Right, enjoy!

**Chapter 1: A Pair of Shoes and Mango Skins**

"Me and Katara are going to travel the world and rebuild the air nation!" cried an excited Aang.

The group of friends were sitting in the gardens of the fire palace discussing the future. A year had passed since defeating Fire Lord Ozai and they had travelled together to start the new alliances; they opened negotiations with the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, educating the new ambassadors to carry on their work. They had started talk of reparations, of long term relinquishment of the more recent colonies (the first ones had been Fire Nation for so long that they chose to remain that way), and had helped rebuild parts of various cities.

They had convinced Uncle Iroh to take up the role of Fire Lord, and he had promised that when things settled he would leave the position for Zuko. The last thing the nation needed was somebody as inexperienced as the Prince in all fire nation matters. Zuko would stay, observe, help, and slowly the responsibility and power would shift to him - when he was ready. Iroh still wanted his tea shop and was determined to break the family tradition and not 'die as Fire Lord'.

"I… I don't think we are Aang…" started a hesitant Katara. She chewed on her bottom lip and her bright blue eyes looked away from the young avatar. "I know you want to rebuild the air nation but I … thats not what I want to do."

There was a moment of silence as Aang processed this.

"But Katara! You know how important it is for balance in the world! You know we have to do this!" Aang looked put out and he was whining like a child. Then again, he was only thirteen.

"No, Aang, _you_ need to do this. _I_ don't. I have my own life to live." There was another complete silence where the young avatar blinked several times in confusion. "Alone Aang. Not you and me. You on your own, and me on mine…" she added quietly, her whole face turning red and desperately trying to stop herself shaking. Somehow letting down her friend was one of the hardest things she had had to do. Because thats exactly how she saw him; a friend. More of a son than anything else. Sure, they had kissed a few times but that did not mean that they were together. And if anything, those kisses were motivated by a happy confusion on her part. Besides, he was still so young! And she was now fifteen knowing far more about the world than most people, including Aang - she couldn't spend her life waiting for him to grow up holding on to the hope that she might eventually fall madly in love with him. Because that is what she wanted; when she eventually finds somebody she wanted it to be like_fire_, she wanted to fall madly in love - they type old folks sing about. She knew she was not ready for that right now, and neither was he.

"But… I love you." He said, a deadness in his tone. The others had realised something significant was going on and they stood slightly to the side, ready to intervene.

"I know Aang. I'm sorry." Katara hung her head, hoping to Yue that it was enough for him to understand.

"NO! YOU DON'T KNOW! I saved the world Katara! I saved it for you! And this is how you repay me?! That's not fair!" he shouted, making the whole group jump. Katara started to cry.

"Right Twinkletoes! That's enough!" said Toph in her stern voice. Stepping between them.

"Move Toph, this has nothing to do with you!" growled Aang, trying to look past her to Katara

"Actually yes it fucking does. You can't go around spreading bullshit like that - and whats worse, you can't actually be serious about thinking that shit!" she growled back. She was still as small as she had been a year ago, but had grown more fierce than ever.

"Toph! Don't swear!" Aang said, shocked by the language she was using and actually focusing on her and not Katara. Toph smirked; step one accomplished.

"Why not Twinkletoes? Does that offend you? I'll let you in on a secret; I'm not a little girl anymore - I can use whatever language I like." She stood, arms folded across her chest waiting for his next move.

"Toph you don't understand, this is between me and her! And I'm sorry but you are going to have to get out of the way…" He went to swipe at her with his glider but she preempted it; with a flick of her toe a rock jumped up from the ground and knocked the glider out of his hands. With a stamp of her foot he was covered to the head in stone, unable to move his arms or legs. He had no choice but to listen.

"Right you are going to listen now, and you are going to listen hard. Tell me, Aang, you saved the world - you seem to think that thats a reason for Katara to fall in love with you. But we also live in the world - surely we should all be head over fucking heels for you by that logic. Let me tell you sweet cheeks, that is not the case. Secondly, Don't you ever fucking say _you_ saved the world. You couldn't have done it without us - especially without Katara who babied you when you had nobody. She is the greatest water bender there ever was and she taught you and cooked and cleaned and organised and picked you up when you were down - She mothered you Aang! Where is the romance in that! Why would she commit to being with a kid who she sees as her own son? Thirdly, you can't earn people's love like that - they either are in love with you or they aren't. Fucking deal with it, that shit hurts. And lastly Katara has spent the best part of the last two years doing what _you_ needed to do. She isn't Air Nation - she is her own person and quite frankly its insulting to her that you just assume she will drop everything that makes her Katara so she can follow you around on your missions being nothing more than 'The Avatar's Girlfriend'." Toph finished, glaring at Aang who was now in tears. She whipped around to face Katara.

"And you! You fucking pressured Master Pakku to teach you, you travelled the world, you beat Zuko at the North Pole, you brought both Aang and Zuko back from death and you are incapable of standing your ground? What is the world coming to!" Toph threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Katara sobbed louder but threw herself onto Toph in a tight hug as a thank you.

In the meantime, Aang was pleading with Sokka, Suki and Zuko to make her see sense.

"Sorry man," muttered Sokka, coming closer to the avatar, "I'd prefer she be with you rather than on her own but she deserves her own life… she's spent it so far looking after me and then us… thats not really fair."

"Aang, try to understand," added Suki gently, "We are not the kind of people who are easily pushed over - we need to find our own path, we are all strong… and from what I understand, thats part of the reason you love her in the first place - how can you deny her freedom?"

"Zuko! You think this too?" pleaded Aang, as if Zuko held the answer he needed.

"You can't earn love. Believe me, I tried to earn my father's my whole life. Besides, Katara deserves her freedom, she's fought her whole life for it. Remember that Mai turned out to prefer Ty Lee to me - it hurts but it also passes." Zuko didn't move from where he was standing, arms crossed over his chest and leaning back against a pillar that surrounded the garden. He was trying to lighten the atmosphere and to calm himself down - he had suddenly realised how much more he respected Katara for standing up for herself. Staying with Aang was the easy option, the one they all thought she would take. But she was stronger than merely doing what people wanted her to do. She was, after all, one of them. It was the one trait that brought them together. Toph didn't want to be cooped up in her home treated like a dirty secret, Sokka didn't want to stay in a village without helping out in the war, Suki didn't want to be helpless and powerless in her island's struggle, and he… he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and destroy the world. They had all fought for their freedom, they all knew how important it was.

Aang dropped his head so his forehead rested on the rim of the stone prison. Toph released him. He slowly bent to pick up his glider and looked at his friends, avoiding Katara completely.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then." He nodded to himself and leaped up into the air, opening his glider and losing himself in the clouds.

The group stood, stunned at his immediate disappearance into the skies.

—

Night fell and Aang still had not returned. It dawned on them that maybe he meant it, that he really had gone off to start his missions immediately. Appa was gone when they checked in the stables that had been especially built for him.

Toph declared that Aang was a 'twat who didn't even say thank you'. Sokka and Suki were unnaturally sombre and Katara would silently brush away quiet tears. Zuko was the only one who was holding it together. He tried to explain to the others that it would take Aang some time to grow up, that he was still only thirteen - he was, after all, thirteen when he was banished. Plus, Aang was the avatar! He could take care of himself.

They all knew he was making sense but still they felt slightly betrayed at his extreme reaction. They all went to bed with heavy hearts.

—

Zuko couldn't sleep and kept tossing and turning. Thinking of his banishment had brought on all his old memories - things he had managed to keep more or less at bay for a year now. He sighed, realising he needed a distraction and snuck with all the stealth of the blue spirit down towards the kitchens to find some left over bread to gnaw on.

On his way down, flitting between the shadows of the pillars surrounding one of the many courtyards, he noticed a pair of shoes on the grass by the large fountain. Silently, keeping to the shadows cast by the full moon, he etched closer to look over the stone lip into the water.

Katara.

She was sitting, eyes closed, in the fountain. The moon seemed to flow all around her, reflecting off the water and onto her face. She was submerged to her shoulders, giving the odd impression of a disembodied head.

"Full moon huh," he said quietly, stepping into a shaft of moonlight. She opened her eyes, surprised but calm.

"It calls to me." Zuko moved over and sat on the stone wall that surrounded the fountain, bringing his knees up and hugging them as he looked down at the Waterbender.

"You're going to see Hama, aren't you?" he asked. A troubled look crossed her face.

"Yes."

"For what its worth, I think that is the right thing to do. Although, you know, sometimes I have a bit of a fucked up moral conscience!" They chuckled at the memories of the angry, banished prince who had chased them around the world.

"Thanks Zuko. That actually does mean a lot to me." He shrugged.

"Blood bending is part of you and like water bending you need to learn to master it. Otherwise it could reveal itself in the wrong circumstances. Iroh always told me that a bender who hasn't reached their full capacity is a bender ready to explode." There was a silence in which Katara had let her hands float to the surface and was playing with dipping them in just the right amount to maintain the surface tension around her fingers.

"You… you don't think it is … well…evil? You saw what I did to the Southern Raiders…" She did not look up from her fingers while she waited for his answer.

"I don't really think there is such a thing as evil. There are actions that are good and actions that are bad - those that help and those that hurt. You are in control of what you hurt and what you help Katara, you are strong enough to control it. You weren't locked up for years in a prison, insanity is not something that will touch you or it would have already with everything we've been through. But you cannot deny part of yourself."

"But Aang always said…"

"Yeah well fuck Aang! He is the embodiment of light in human form but he is just a kid. You know yourself Katara. Leave him behind and find your own path through this wild, overgrown jungle we live in! Following his footsteps only means you are lost when you can't see them anymore."

"Alright Uncle Iroh! When did you wise up so much?!" she laughed. He had cheered her up. They were all things she had been telling herself but she needed somebody else to share the feeling. She had resigned herself to doing this alone, but his encouragement meant that she wasn't really alone at all.

"Listen, I was going to the kitchens to steal some bread, would you like some?" he offered, unnaturally happy that she was laughing with him.

"That would be great actually! But its not stealing if its already yours Zuko!"

"Shhhh! It is far more exciting if I pretend that it is! I feel like I'm the blue spirit again…" he trailed off, standing up slowly and observing the shadows.

"Sometimes I miss it too," she told him quietly. He nodded and then disappeared into the darkness.

Katara sighed and let herself fall backwards into the water so that it was completely covering her. She could see the moon dancing on the water in front of her eyes and it reminded her of the reflection of the moon on the sea. She really did miss it sometimes.

When Zuko returned he held two mangos instead of bread. He was grinning from ear to ear with his treasure. Katara squealed in delight when she saw what he was holding and jumped out of the fountain to grab her share.

Zuko froze.

Katara's night gown - a fire nation tradition they had all become acquainted with - had been white. Now it was practically non existent, clinging to her body as she fashioned an ice knife and cut open the fruit.

She noticed him staring and giggled nervously.

"It isn't nice to stare Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation!" she said lightly, hiding a blush as she removed all the water from her clothes and hair with a swipe of her hand and sent it flying back into the fountain. They sat down on the fountain's rim to enjoy their snack.

"Its just, well, you're beautiful Katara," he muttered into his mango before realising what he had just let slip and turing bright red. She groaned.

"Don't say that! I don't have a good track record with people who tell me that!"

"Really? Like what?" he asked quickly, clearly trying to turn the conversation away from himself.

"Well first there was Jet," she heard Zuko clench his jaw and saw him narrow his eyes, "He told me that and then slept with me and then tried to convince me to murder a whole village of innocent people. Then, there was Haru who told me that and went off to war… and then of course Aang who told me that, stole a couple of kisses from me and assumed we would be together for ever. So what will it be Zuko?" Was she flirting? That caught them both by surprise but it was so effortless that it didn't really phase either of them.

"Can I take none of the above? But Jet! Seriously! Him?! Katara you must have better taste than that!"

"What! He was charming and brave and he actually paid attention to me! I grew up in a village where the only boy of around my age was my brother! And then Aang who I had to look after… I was smitten. I regret it but I guess what's done is done." She looked down at the empty mango skin remembering those secret nights.

"That's alright. My first was a girl who is a knife maniac. And she prefers girls." They both giggled and fell into a comfortable silence. Katara sighed.

"I guess we should probably go back to bed and get a few hours sleep before tomorrow."

"That is probably best. But at least we can make it fun… lets pretend we are being chased… one last time?"

Katara grinned.

"Lets do it Sparky!"

They faded into the darkness, keeping to the shadows and running on their tip toes, taking turns at being look out when they had to turn around corners. Everything was silent and there was no danger - but they had missed out on being children and had come to enjoy the sense of camaraderie that came with their little group and danger.

They arrived, breathless, in front of Katara's door. They looked at each other and laughed lightly, letting the sound echo down the empty corridors. Zuko sighed.

"I'll really miss you Katara," he admitted looking away. He meant it. More than any of the others they were the most similar. They had know each other through bad and good, thick and thin. They were the ones ready to make the hard decisions when it came to negotiations and they knew when to attack and when to protect. Besides, he would miss watching her dance with water - that kind of sheer power and delicate beauty was something he doubted he would ever see in anybody else.

"Zuko…" she said quietly, turning his attention back to her blue eyes. She lifted herself up to her tiptoes and gently pressed her lips to his. "I'm going to miss you too." She turned to go then stopped. "And just so we're clear, that does not mean we are engaged!" Zuko chuckled and held up his hands.

"None of the above. It just means that life's going to be a little less exciting when we're apart." Katara smiled and squeezed his hand before disappearing into her room. Zuko walked back to his own bed in a daze, a grin pasted stupidly to his face.


	2. Katara Returns Wearing Red

**A/N** Hey, its cool people are actually reading these things! Still feel like I'm talking to myself somewhat in these author's notes, but hey, that is the nature of things. This chapter reveals the main element to the story - namely what Katara learned on her travels. It will throw the friendship group into dark times and test their self control in a way war did not. I know the chapter is a bit long, but stick with it, the twist is worth it in the end!

**Chapter 2: Katara Returns Wearing Red**

—2 years later—

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation collapsed, starfish style, onto his bed and promptly fell asleep still in his royal garments. He'd had delegations from various ex-colonies at the palace all week discussing the change of power from fire nation back to earth kingdom - or as it happened for about half of them, no change at all. Each person and come with their own set of demands which seemed to be uniquely designed to oppose the next person's - and they all sought solutions from the Prince. Fire Lord Iroh was in the Northern Water Tribe discussing fishing boundaries and (Zuko suspected) playing multiple games of Pai Sho. So that left Zuko to step up and act as Fire Lord in his absence.

Now, at least, the delegations had all left, and Zuko had managed to stay awake through their farewell dinner. He was done! The next few months would be a breeze, comparatively speaking. But for now, sleep.

—

Three sharp knocks resounded through Zuko's room and, rather painfully, through his head. He groaned, stretching his cramped muscles but didn't get up.

Another three knocks, followed by a timid "Prince Zuko?"

"Go Away!" he shouted back, giving in to his childish reflexes. Why couldn't they damn well leave him alone?

"Apologies Prince Zuko but you have a visitor…" Zuko could hear the hesitation in the messenger's voice and immediately felt sorry for shouting. It wasn't his fault after all.

"Who is the visitor?" He asked, barely lifting his face off the pillow, eyes still cobwebbed in deep sleep.

"I… I don't know Sir, all she said was: 'Tell him not to keep Sweetness waiting'. Should I tell her to leave?" Zuko sat up as a smile slowly lit up his face. He jumped off the bed - vaguely recognising that he was still wearing his clothes from the night before - and ripped the door open. The messenger didn't realise what was happening and jumped back in shock at the disheveled Prince in crumpled clothes and messy hair that appeared in front of him.

"Run to the kitchens and get me two mangos. Then come back here and take me to her." The messenger blinked at Zuko in surprise at the odd request. The Prince rolled his eyes. "NOW!" he barked. Was it possible that any time he wanted to get something done quickly he had to shout?

As the messenger scurried away Zuko retreated to his room and peeled off his formal clothes, changing into maroon casual baggy trousers and matching shirt, with a black sash tied around his waist. His hair… well… it would have to do.

There was another timid knock at the door, and Zuko opened the door, grabbed the two mangos from the messenger's hands and ran off to the palace entrance, forgetting to wait for him to lead him.

He expected to find her seated in one of the waiting rooms surrounding the main Palace, but he checked all of them and found them completely empty. Confused he walked outside into the sun and saw five guards at the gates forming a human wall - and beyond them, Katara.

She was dressed in Fire Nation red, and looked much older than she had when she left two years before. She had lost weight and had a new determined set to her jawline. Her blue eyes were more guarded and icy than he remembered and her hair hung loose instead of that childish plait. She still had her hair loopies and her mother's necklace though, which contrasted the otherwise dangerous looking woman that stood before him.

She was more beautiful than ever. And red looked really good on her, he thought.

Katara noticed him approaching the gate and squealed in delight.

"Sparky you brought mangos!" she cried, smiling from ear to ear and clapping her hands. Ah. There was the old Katara.

"A peace offering for keeping you waiting in the hot sun," he replied, grinning as much as his scar would allow. The guards turned to look at him in shock and glanced at one another in confusion. "Guards, stand down. This is Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. She has free access to the Palace. Always. And for future reference, when people come to see me, take them to the waiting rooms, it is barbaric to have them waiting outside."

The younger guards' eyes widened - the legendary water bending master! But how was she so young?! They scrambled to get out of the way as she passed them and smiled, a little too sweetly at them. The two who had been making inappropriate comments at her gulped audibly, keeping their eyes trained to the ground.

Katara walked to Zuko and hugged him tightly. He returned it as well as he could still clutching his mangos. When she pulled away he saw that she had tears in her eyes.

"It is good to be back. I've missed everybody so much!" she said, her voice breaking half way through.

"Its good to see you again. Finally a friendly face that isn't threatening to bring down the Nation! Come, lets go get breakfast. Are you staying for a while?"

"Yes. If its not an issue of course.." Zuko smiled brilliantly.

"We might need to find some more mangos but apart from that, stay as long as you like. Oh Chan! Could you prepare the Personal Guest room please? And tell the kitchens to bring breakfast to my room." The servant bobbed her head and scurried away to fulfil the Prince's orders.

—

A while later, when they had both had time to wash and dress in casual clothes, they reconvened in Zuko's chambers, sitting around a table laden with fruits, tea and breads.

"So tell me, _Master_, what did you find in your travels? Did you learn much about water bending? And blood bending? Did you find Hama?" He tried to keep his tone light, but underneath there burned a powerful curiosity. What on Earth kept her away for two years? It must mean she found something very important.

"I… yes I did. But its a long story… and actually has to do with why I'm here," she said, fastidiously picking grapes from the bowl.

"I have time. Start from the beginning."

"Well, I tracked down Hama. Obviously it didn't take her long to escape from prison once again, and she had moved around and ended up in the Earth Kingdom. Thankfully she had shaken her obsession with locking people under mountains, but under a full moon she still toyed with people without them understanding what was happening. She didn't hurt them though, so at least that.

She was incredibly happy to see me even though last time we met it ended with her being taken to jail. But I think it was the thought of somebody else sharing the bloodbending she had discovered. Anyway under the full moon she taught me all she knew - including some pretty harrowing descriptions of what she did to the guards when she first broke out of jail. Did you know most of the human body is water? And just like we can extract water from the air, from the grass, from the trees - you can do that to a person. It kills them instantly and reduces them to ash apparently. Or, you know, if you don't feel like killing them you can always take all the water from their eyes - which apparently deflate and they go blind…"

She trailed off, taking a deep breath and pouring out some more tea.

"Hama had developed a bit of a taste for blood. But the more I learned, the more I started thinking that you didn't need to use bloodbending for harm. You could heal. You saw what I could do with water - but the body wants to heal itself! If I could use somebody's own blood to heal them, surely it would be more effective!"

"Did you manage to?" asked Zuko, leaning forward in fascination. Katara sighed.

"Will you let me show you? You shoulder is in pain, can I heal it for you?"

"How did you know my shoulder was in pain? Yes, yes of course…" Katara closed her eyes and Zuko felt the pain that he had been sporting in his right shoulder (in his opinion from writing too many reports) slowly fade, and in its place a pleasant warmth spread. He lifted his arm above his head with no issue.

"I have not been able to move it properly in weeks! How did you do that?"

"Well, soon after I started thinking about healing, a little girl's leg got trampled on by an ostrich-horse. I tried healing her with water but that made her scream in pain and I just couldn't make it right. So I tried to bloodbend. It was rudimentary compared to what I can do now, but it fixed her leg. You have to follow the flows of the blood and see where they are ruptured, then coax them to regain their usual path. Like your shoulder, you pulled something and that disrupted the flow of blood to that area, meaning it was dry and painful. By letting the blood back in I am basically speeding up the natural process.

I left Hama when I realised she couldn't teach me anything more. Unlike her I can blood bend at any time of the day or night, whereas she was only powerful enough during the full moon. I surpassed her quickly and moved on. I think she plans to return to the Water Tribe at some point even though her old brain is addled and confused.

I travelled North to the Northern Water Tribe. I knew they had a library of sorts about healing and wanted to look into it to see if there are any references to what you can do with blood. Of course I couldn't tell them what I wanted to do, I simply said I wanted to become a better healer. I studied a lot and learned about all the flows of the body - about the main bloodways and the minor ones, about how to calm an ulcer and to combat frostbite. I applied everything to bloodbending and I was immediately more successful and more powerful than any of the other healers. I was considering teaching them - and I might still go back and do that -, but then my father arrived.

Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe was on a formal visit to the North and was pretty shocked to find me there. He was acting strangely, but I was too absorbed in what I was learning to pay much attention to what was going on politically. After one of their meetings, he came to me and told me that they had finally reached an agreement and that I would be betrothed to one of the Northern Tribe men."

Zuko snorted.

"That must have been a fun conversation!"

"You would have enjoyed it I think. I had to inform dear father than I was a Southern Water Tribe girl and that it meant that I could choose whoever I wanted to marry. And that, under no circumstance was I going to marry into a culture that did not train women in combat, that would not respect what I wanted as equal to what my husband wanted! I told him he could forget it immediately. Nobody took that too well.

They forced me to go to a meet.

Which was very frustrating because I was learning about the heart - which is incredibly interesting by the way - and I had to talk to this council of old men who knew nothing about me. It was only when I reminded them rather… forcefully… that I was a master water bender, capable of taking out their entire army and that I would not hesitate to bring down the hall we stood in to prove my point."

Zuko laughed at Katara's dark expression.

"I mean come on! We ended a hundred year war, I'm the youngest and strongest water bender in both the tribes, I helped rebuild and negotiate peace, I trained the bloody avatar! And now that I'm definitely not going to marry Aang, they seem to think I'm fair game to decide my future. It is not happening. You would have thought they would have taken the hint when I forced Master Pakku to teach me, but no, apparently not.

Anyway, after that argument they pretty much left me alone and I absorbed all that I could from the information there. I think healing is much easier once you understand blood - I didn't need to memorise all the things the other students were learning - I can just feel it.

Then I found out that they had a whole other section dedicated to combat water bending. Of course, since I was accidentally born a girl they wouldn't let me in. Idiots. So I snuck in anyway and read to my hearts content every night. And it was actually fascinating - they have no idea what goldmine they are sitting on! There were all the old water bending fighting styles, as well as so much on meditation that I was never taught. The fighting won't do much good now apart from if you want to surprise somebody with something outdated, but you can take the same techniques and apply them to blood.

There is this one where you create a square of water and you sort of shoot it at somebody, the idea being that they get hit straight in the face so it stings and they have trouble seeing for a while. But the way in which you do it makes it so that from rest the movement is very quick - kind of like some of your fire bending moves. It basically sends a shock. But what if you can do that with blood? What if, when a heart stops, you can shock it into coming back by shooting the blood through it quickly? Or there is this other one where you take the water from the air and you basically make it implode to one point - it makes a noise, so it is only used as a distraction. But muscles are soaked in blood and what if you can contract a muscle like the heart to keep it working?

I'm rambling aren't I?"

"A bit, but it is interesting. Did you get to try any of this out?"

"Yes. I left the Water Tribe and travelled back into the Earth Kingdom. I volunteered in hospitals as a water healer - but used blood instead. I learned how to remove disease, how to coax out poison, how to not only redirect but build bloodways. I gave a child a functioning leg that had been lame since birth. Zuko, it was incredible!

Except people started noticing how much better than the normal healers I was and started asking questions. Mostly I diverted them, but it made me uneasy so I moved on.

I decided that it was not possible that only Hama and I could blood bend. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became. So I spent a long time each day in meditation like the scrolls from the North had described, and my control grew. At the same time I travelled to all the sites of ancient knowledge that I could possibly think of…"

"Even the Air Temples?"

Katara looked down with sad eyes.

"No. Not the Air Temples. They don't contain anything but air bending and meditation information - and most of it was burned. And I was scared of bumping into Aang."

There was a moment of silence while they both considered the day the avatar had run away from them all. Zuko had seen him since, but he had kept a stolid silence with Katara - not even answering her messenger hawks.

"Well, you were in the Earth Kingdom looking for these records…"

"Yes. Except there were none. In Ba Sing Se and Omashu I found some really interesting things but only referring to water bending, and water meditation. I'm still at a loss as to why the Water Tribes don't practice meditation anymore, it brings almost Toph levels of awareness of the world. But the rest were destroyed during the war.

So I was angry. As angry as sixteen-year-old-Zuko!"

"Hah! That is quite angry…"

"Yes, well I had good reason! I felt like ripping my hair out - there must be something, somewhere about bloodbending! And as I thought, I realised the only place likely to have anything would be Wan Xi Tong's library - but that is gone La knows where.

Eventually I decided that, although I didn't think there would be anything about water bending in general in the Fire Nation, I might as well look. After all, if there ever was something it would probably still be there - why would you destroy your own knowledge?

Most of the temples and libraries held nothing. Which, by the way, you might want to do something about - at least something updated, something recounting the final part of the war… There was a lot on Sozin but not much after that. Anyhow, I came across one Fire Temple, which apparently was one of the oldest. It was a pain to get to, on Ka'Bei Island. There is nothing else there apart from the temple and the sages who are crazy enough to live there - no wonder it hasn't been touched in centuries!

It is stunning though. In a very derelict way, eaten by the salt of the sea and looking all too fragile in the wind. But they assured me it was safe inside. Thankfully the sages took kindly to me - some of them had not been off the island since Ozai took power, and others had retreated there to escape the war. They were buried in meditations and exercises and seemed completely at peace. They invited me to stay as long as I pleased - knowledge is important and it is the least they could do to freely impart it when fire had caused the destruction of so much, they said.

For the first month I lost myself in a myriad of things, deciding to meditate with the sages at sunrise, feeling the tides of the sea pull me with them.

Then I came across a book that was completely unintelligible. Some of the others were old and the language was different to our own but not incomprehensible - just took some getting used to. This though, I understood nothing. It looked like a bunch of scribbles!

I asked the sages and they told me that it was an ancient tongue - they had yet to find out when it was used, but it grew in isolation at the poles of the world before the time of the first Avatar.

It took me another month to translate, using some of the references contained in other scrolls. They told me that this was not the original - the original resided in Wan Xi Tong's library and this was a copy that was made at the time when humans could freely pass the threshold. I have the whole translation here," she said, opening the bag she had on the floor and taking out a nondescript and quite worn black booklet.

"It talks about all the bending styles, but mostly about water bending. These were my ancestors Zuko! I don't know how they developed bending - here it says that they learned from meditating and being at one with the ocean and the dolphins. But I don't know how true that is. I can't create a picture in my mind of how the world must have been back then and I cannot understand if this was before or during the reign of the lion-turtle cities. Regardless, they could bend.

The whole text was written almost poetically. But I figured out what they were referring to. Blood is never called blood, but is called 'inner tide'. There were so many things you could do with your inner tide, and I spent a long time in meditation - except looking into myself instead of looking outwards. I found issues I didn't even know I had and smoothed them out. I let myself flow in my own bloodways for a while…

But then I came across a long passage about the 'inner moon' and about how the 'inner tide' and the 'inner moon' reflect the true tide and moon. It took me a long time to understand that the 'inner moon' is your chi. So it was suggesting that your chi controlled your blood. But that made no sense! I started looking for chi in myself and the sages and I realised that if I did think of it like the moon and if I looked for that glimmer of brightness in the darkness of blood, I could find it. I could not find how it controlled the blood though.

Then it struck me. It was a reflection of the original!"

"I don't get it."

"If I hold up my right hand, looking into a mirror, what happens?"

"Your reflection holds up their left hand?"

"Exactly! The reflection means the inverse. So whereas normally the moon controls the tides, here the 'inner tides' control the 'inner moon'. Blood controls your chi. And each type of person has a different chi flow - or 'moon orbit' as they put it. Fire benders, water benders, earth benders, air benders, non benders - they all have different chi flow. And it is that flow that determines what type of bender you are."

"So?"

"So, I can control blood. Blood controls chi. I can control chi and I can alter its flow so it does more than just one type of orbit… and… well…"

Katara held out her hand, palm up, and produced a flame.


	3. Old Letters and New Deals

**A/N **I'm really happy people are reading this! Hope you enjoyed the twist at the end of the last chapter - I wonder if any of you saw it coming? Anyhow, this chapter is pretty Katara-centric apart from the last part, but it looks at the development of their relationship. Zutara always needs a decent build up after all! Please feel free to comment, all types of criticism welcome!

**Chapter 3: Old Letters and New Deals**

Zuko stared at Katara's open palm for an eternal minute before looking back up at her face. It was worried, he registered distantly, but it seemed a world away from his thoughts right now. He took a few deep breaths.

"Katara… did you just fire bend?" he whispered, face paler than usual.

"Do you want me to do it again?" she said, trying a meek smile to cover her anxiety.

"How… how many people know you can do this?" he asked, already calculating how much damage the knowledge that this was possible would do to the world. Of course it was not as if there was some kind of law against it, but there was a sort of unspoken fear of such a thing. The fact that the Avatar was inhabited by the spirit of light somehow made it alright. But if somebody else could do the same things without being bound to do good, to bring balance, they could just as easily create chaos.

"Two. You and me. Do you think I would let anybody else know? I told the sages that the book was interesting but too obscure to really understand, and that I thought it meant meditation techniques. They bought it. And then I came straight here." She was looking down at the grapes again, nervously awaiting his judgement.

"So, let me get this straight: you control blood which controls your chi flow. By changing the chi flow you can bend different things. And now you can bend fire. Have I missed something?"

"No, you've got it." Zuko's mind was still whirling with all the possibilities this opened up, and trying hard to ignore the image of Katara - beautiful Katara - dressed in red and fire bending alongside him.

"Zuko.. Fire is, well its beautiful. Water is powerful, it consumes and recedes, it flows through life everywhere. But fire! Fire is a spark of energy - it creates and destroys in a second - it is colour and sun and freedom - it cannot be contained and it is as infinite as life itself. It is exhilarating! I love it Zuko."

Zuko looked at her with wide eyes. Of course she would understand his own element better than he had! It had taken him and Aang finding a lost civilisation and dancing to dragons to figure it out. But she had had to study it and learn it rather than having the ability innate. And Aang… well Aang was a scared kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders - finding the true meaning of fire was never going to come easily to him at that time. Katara wasn't taking fire for granted.

"The dragons would love you," he muttered, mind spinning.

"Zuko, I need somebody to teach me…"

They were interrupted by loud confident knocks at the door. They both visibly jumped, leaning back to their original positions - they hadn't noticed how closely they had been leaning into one another over the table.

Zuko glanced nervously at Katara and cleared his throat.

"Come in," he called, trying to compose himself.

"Prince Zuko," started the messenger - this one was far more sure of himself than the morning one. "The Youth Army representatives have arrived and are waiting for you in your office. How long should I tell them you'll be?"

Zuko groaned. He had forgotten he had this meeting, and undoubtedly it would go horribly.

"Don't, I'm coming now. Katara, this may take a while, I hope I can join you for dinner. In the meantime Messenger Wang will take you to your rooms." Zuko hated the fact that he had to talk to two grumpy old men while Katara was alone in the Palace. On the other hand, he did need time to think through things, so maybe he could zone out for a bit and process all that she had told him.

—

Katara was bored. She was bored because she refused to think about the conversation she had with Zuko earlier that day. She was so nervous but she knew that she had done the right thing by telling him. Honestly, who else could she tell? Sokka was going to freak out and do something irrational - or let it slip out of his big mouth - or both. Suki was probably a good option but Katara seriously doubted Suki's ability to keep things from Sokka. Plus, she probably wouldn't understand since she couldn't bend. Hakoda was absolutely out of the question! Although if he knew he would probably stop bugging her about taking a Northern Water Tribe husband; that little secret would get out and it would probably get very ugly. Aang would go on about what was right and natural and balance and blah blah blah and then either make her change her chi flow back or remove both her fire and water bending! Which would probably kill her.

Toph and Zuko were the only ones left. Toph was a very real possibility but she was La knows where on her own little missions - and besides, she couldn't fire bend. And Katara wanted to fire bend before earth bending….

Shit, when had she made the decision to learn earth bending?!

Zuko was her last option. And actually she was quite happy about that.

During her journeys, she had sent messenger hawks to all her friends from various locations, telling them she was alright and about the odd people she had come across. Leaving out, of course, what she was doing. Their replies had been predictable.

Toph's were sparse because she was travelling much too, and sometimes they would need to be sent on to Katara's next location from the last. And besides, Toph needed somebody to read them out to her and then write what she said down - which had the pleasant side effect of being exactly what Toph would say had she been there, sarcasm and all!

Sokka and Suki's were a clash of the two personalities (how did they end up together again?), and they eventually settled with writing separate letters on the same scroll and sending them both. Often they described the same things in entirely different ways - and Katara knew to trust Sukki over her brother.

Ty Lee and Mai always made Katara smile - Mai's cynicism was light hearted for once, and Ty Lee always drew something entertaining. At first Katara wasn't so sure about their friendship, but over the year that they had spent cleaning up after the war they had proved themselves worthy allies.

Mai knew politics inside out and her stern voice coupled with her impassable features made her indispensable in negotiations. And Ty Lee - well - she was good fun, although it still spooked everybody out when she did her acrobatics.

They both grew to respect Katara more than they originally had - unlike Azula, they respected their opponents - and Katara loved being around girls more or less her own age for once. They talked about boys and hair and music and make up… as well as chi blocking, knives, fans and water whips… but sometimes, when it was just Mai, Ty Lee, Suki and Katara, it almost resembled a group of girls in a normal town discussing normal things. It made Katara more confident in herself, in her looks, her dancing - she learned to flirt and chi block from Ty Lee, negotiate and knife throw from Mai, dance and manipulate fans from Suki. From her they learned how to cook and sew, how to hunt and gut, and how to really _really_ get on Zuko's nerves. In the end, Ty Lee had been serious about joining the Kyoshi warriors, and Mai had suddenly decided to do the same, after coming to the realisation that she loved Ty Lee as more than a friend.

To be honest, Katara could understand that. The two friends were the only people in the entire world that understood one another. Nobody else had been friends with Azula. Sure, people had worked with her, followed her orders, been around her a lot but nobody else had crossed that line into some semblance of _friendship_. Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko had been the only three crying after Azula's suicide. She had completely lost her mind and in a frenzy set herself on fire, screaming that fire was the most powerful element and it was the only thing that she would allow to consume her. Katara shuddered at the harrowing memory. So it was natural and unquestioned when Mai and Ty Lee took solace in one another's arms.

Aang. Well. Aang never replied. She knew he got the letters because the messenger hawks always came back, but never with any reply. Whether he actually read her letters she did not know. He might have burned them immediately for all she knew. But in the two years she never stopped sending them, hoping that one day he might grow out of his self imposed seclusion from his friends. That day hadn't come.

Zuko's were the ones she most anticipated though. They had a sort of unspoken agreement not to discuss their 'work'; letters could always be intercepted. Zuko's meetings were mostly confidential, and Katara didn't want anybody to know what she was doing. Instead they discussed people (whose names they replaced with numbers) they had each met - how annoying or obtuse or frustrating, lovely or kind or wise they were. Zuko told her about life at the Palace and she told him about all the places she was seeing. Eventually they started daydreaming in their letters - sharing little fantasies and dreams, stories they had come up with. What if everybody had wings? What if the Water Tribe had decided to dominate the world instead of the Fire Nation?

She loved these because when she was stressed or angry or alone she knew that in his letters she would find her same emotions mirrored or a complete distraction from the world they lived in. It turned out better than she had even expected - in the two years she had got to know Zuko in a way she doubted the others did. In person he was quick to anger and low in self confidence. He was always painfully aware of his tendency to say things in an odd way or not get his point across. In person, in the year after the war, she found him infuriating! He was constantly berating himself for his blunders and mistakes rather than taking the lead. To be fair, he had improved tenfold during that year, but she still saw it in him by the year's end. In letters, though, he could think about how he was phrasing things and the conversation was never interrupted by fits of frustration or anger from either of them. She knew that he took time in what he wrote and that he was proud of the things he sent her.

She kept all her letters, but she re-read Zuko's most often. In fact… she should have them just here…

Katara realised it was dark when she was struggling to read her letters. She sighed and lifted herself off of the silk-lined pillows, stretching her crumpled limbs and yawning loudly. She needed to do something else to distract her so she wouldn't think about fire bending.

Food! Kitchen!

She remembered where it was from the last time she was at the palace, two years ago. Bare foot, feeling the smooth coolness of the marble under her feet, she padded down to the kitchens. Before she had reached them, though, a short, port lady that reminded her of Uncle Iroh spotted her. Katara smiled, remembering Lin from last time.

"Master Katara! Welcome back! I was wondering when you would call for dinner. Would you like anything in particular?"

"Its just Katara, thank you Lin. I'm actually quite tired and just wanted a bowl of rice…" Well that was a lie, she wasn't tired at all, but she was nervous and she felt like throwing up as it was. "Oh and whatever Zuko is having, I will take it up to him."

Lin stared at her in horror.

"Master Katara, I -"

"Please, just Katara."

"Katara, I cannot let you do a servant's job! I can take him the food myself if you do not trust any of the other servers…" Katara resisted the urge to roll her eyes. As if she hadn't been cooking and cleaning and sewing and washing her whole life! Who did she think she was? Some spoilt upper class brat?! Plus she really only wanted an excuse to go and see Zuko and maybe put an end to this ridiculously long meeting. She calmed herself before replying.

"Oh no its fine Lin, really. I haven't really seen Zuko all day and I will be going to his office anyway…" Lin still did not look convinced. "And I would rather walk there alone." She added, hoping that it would close the conversation. Lin was still hesitant, but she bowed her head and went to fetch the food.

Katara sat down on the marble floor, leaning against the marble pillars. When Sozin, Azulon, Ozai and Azula ruled the palace, they had coated everything in red fabric so that it looked like even the stones were bleeding for the Fire Nation. It was one of the first things Zuko and Iroh dispensed with, tearing them down and ordering the palace seamstresses to make as many clothes as possible from them to give to the children and the families returning from the war.

It had turned out to be a good move - the poorer classes voiced their approval throughout the cities of the nation.

Now the marble stood in all its white brilliance, like fresh snow covering the slush underneath. She liked marble. It held all the coolness of water, even in the midday heat. Her thoughts turned to earth bending again - if she ever learned she would start with marble - she felt she understood it; the way it was consistent and steady, the way the ripples of brown flowed through the stone like small waves in a calm ocean or veins in a tree. Water helped create it, to shape it, and marble paid homage to the sea by sporting La's markings for eternity.

Her thoughts were distracted by Lin's reappearance. There was some exchange of words, a few reassurances, but Katara hardly remembered. Suddenly she could hear her heart beating quickly at the prospect of hearing how Zuko judged her.

When she arrived at his office, though, she could still hear voices coming from inside and she hesitated in the shadows a few feet from the door, second guessing her decision to barge in and interrupt what could be a very important meeting.

"NO! Absolutely NOT!" Oh, this was angry-Zuko. Katara froze, listening intently.

"Prince Zuko, we beg you to see sense! The Youth Army needs this or they will have to start after the dry season!" The voice was stiff and disapproving. She already disliked the owner.

"What part of NO do you not understand? You can't —"

"Prince Zuko you must listen —"

"No, you LISTEN TO ME! You would have me take food away from these villages to feed your precious Youth Army. What kind of message would that send? Oh, look, we are committed to peace but we are still starving our own people to build up our forces! And the villagers - many of them have fought in the war, they are just settling back in and producing for the economy and then you want to go and steal their food? No! I will never allow it! These people deserve to live in peace after a war that tore their families apart and that we shouldn't have started in the first place!" Katara could tell Zuko was fuming by his tone - she had heard it many times before. If this had been a few years ago, he probably would have blasted the men out of the room. But she was impressed by his eloquence. It had certainly improved if he could keep control of his words in his fits of anger.

"Prince Zuko, we need the army to keep building so we can protect our borders!"

"And why exactly do we need to protect our borders? We have signed peace treaties with all the nations." She could tell he was trying to calm himself down and keep a level head after his outburst.

"And you would trust them with the lives of all of the fire nation?"

"Almost every single village, town, city, island in this nation has people who fought in the war. It would hardly be an easy feat to sweep through the nation with that much resistance! Besides, you forget that we created more casualties than any other nation, meaning that their armies and depleted and in disarray - it would destroy both the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom economically, politically and physically to even try something like that right now. They want peace, they want to rebuild, they will not attack during the dry season. This can wait."

"But -"

"That is ENOUGH. This meeting is OVER."

There was a moment of silence and then the door banged open. Two middle aged men, walking rigidly with angry faces and chins held high in defiance walked out in complete silence, not bothering to close the door behind them. They didn't notice Katara, bare footed in the shadows. She sighed. There was no way she could talk to Zuko now that he had been put in such a fowl mood. But she still had to give him food.

Stealing herself, she padded into the room. It was a mess of scrolls and parchments and open bound books, maps and lists and letters stacked high and threatening to shower the floor in paper. There was a heavy wooden desk dominating the right hand wall - a rock to cling on to in the sea of letters. Large, ornate windows stood to attention opposite the door, revealing the blackness of a starless night as it gaped in at them. Zuko was standing, his fists on the desk, his back curved but his arms straight, taking all his weight. His head hung limp and eyes closed between his arms. Katara admired how his muscular shoulders were tensed, visible even under his formal robe. Wait, when did she start admiring Zuko's body? She quickly shook the thought out of her head and gently placed the tray she was holding on the desk in front of him.

"Thought you could use some food," she said quietly, stepping back from the table. Zuko opened his golden eyes, taking in the food in front of him and then Katara standing nervously in the middle of the room. He opened his mouth to speak but she held up her hand to stop him.

"I know, I know, we're in angry-Zuko mode - 'Get out Katara!'" she attempted to imitate his voice but hers would just not go deep enough so it sounded like a pathetic rumble instead. It pulled a meek smile onto his lips though so it was worth it. "For what its worth Zuko, I think what you did was right. Although sometimes I have a bit of a fucked up moral conscience…" she said, recalling the words he had said to her before she left. He remembered too because he made eye contact immediately as if just registering she was in the room. Katara nodded, picking up her bowl of rice and turning as if to leave.

"No wait, stay. Or erm stay if you like? Do you want to stay? If you don't want to that's alright, you are a guest, you can do what you want, but erm it would be nice, I mean I would like it if you sat with me for a bit and —" Katara stifled a laugh at his sudden embarrassment and inability to speak - where was the confident future Fire Lord she had heard through the door?

"Zuko, its ok, calm down, I will stay!" She took a chair and brought it close to the opposite side of the desk as he lowered himself into his own chair, one side of his face as red as the other. They ate in silence - she realised that he hadn't had lunch and so was carnivorously shovelling some chicken into his mouth. She registered, distantly, that although he was eating far too quickly, he was not making the type of mess Toph or Sokka made, and he still looked composed throughout his meal.

She however, couldn't finish her meagre bowl of rice for fear of throwing up all over his papers. Why was she so damn tense! She took deep breaths through her nose to calm herself.

"You are not eating?" he asked, finally breaking the silence, indicating her bowl of half-finished rice.

"I'm not really hungry," she answered simply. There was another silence. "So, tough meeting, huh?" he let out a whistle and leaned back on his chair.

"Next time I will tell them in a letter before they set foot in my palace, that whatever they want, they can't have. They only know how to navigate war, making them cooperate with peace is near impossible!" She was impressed by how calm he was. It was probably due to two years of this. Iroh was wise in slowly increasing Zuko's responsibility. If he had been thrown straight into being Fire Lord he would have exploded by now.

"At the end of the day Zuko, you are in charge. And from travelling in the Fire Nation, I think they like you and Iroh. Some still grumble about lost glory, but really there is no substitute for having the families back together - all the mothers know this. You will make a great Fire Lord," she offered smiling. And she meant it. If he could keep his head through his frustration, Zuko had the ingenuity and determination to get things done. That was something he learned from chasing the Avatar for three years.

"Thanks Katara, that actually means a lot to me," he said, grinning at the memory of her words that one night two years ago. Zuko glanced at the darkness frames by the decorated window. "You know I've been thinking of what you told me earlier…" he started, avoiding her gaze.

"Look Zuko, you don't need to answer straight away, you've had a long day and maybe you need to sleep on it for a while?" In her mind she was shouting _Please Don't Say No!_

"No, I have thought about it. During these discussions with those morons I realised something; It has been too long since something beautiful or exciting happened. I envy the fact that you could travel and find knowledge for yourself while I am stuck here doing the same old katas and sparring with the same people, constantly afraid of hurting them. What you said this morning about fire is true, and I had forgotten. The dragons taught me and I forgot because I settled into a routine, not really thinking about what I was doing - what I was actually creating in the palm of my hand…" he held out his palm and produced a small flame like the one she had made earlier, staring deeply into it as if it had the answers he was looking for. "I need beauty in my life, something unknown, something different from the ordinary day-to-day of the Fire Prince. I'm pretty sure the previous Fire Lords turned to prostitution, feasts and more recently, war, to give them a change. I'm not about to step into a brothel, times are hard so it is not appropriate to hold feasts and parties - not to mention war…" he trailed off, still mesmerised by the fire in his hand. He took a deep breath. Abruptly the flame disappeared and he looked Katara straight into those big blue eyes. Agni he wanted the attention of those eyes more often! "So I want to make you a deal: I'll teach you fire bending if you teach me water bending."

He was nervous. She had every reason not to trust him - he had tried to kill her more times than he cared to count - and he had every intention of teaching her anyway even if she didn't give him water. That deep blue water that was contained in her bright, intelligent eyes. But he had to try. The way she moved with water was something that had always fascinated him, and he often fantasised about what it would feel like to be part of something so…so…beautiful.

A grin grew slowly on her face and she visibly relaxed her shoulders, exhaling the breath she had been keeping in.

"Deal."


	4. The Cycle of Sun and Moon

**A/N** So this chapter is slightly shorter than the others. Mostly because the next one is a particularly important one. This focuses more on the spiritual side of things, but we are getting to some action, so those of you who like a bit of drama rest assured you will get your fill! Would also like to thank my kind reviewers - keep them coming, always happy to receive any comments!

**Update: **for some reason the last section to this chapter didn't copy! It is pretty important though :S hope you can all read it!

* * *

**The Cycle of Sun and Moon**

The moon disappeared over the horizon as the sun started to ascend. The soft grey-blue light of dawn seeped through the streets of the caldera and pooled in the royal palace gardens. Zuko rose and stretched, pulling on his loose training trousers and a sleeveless black shirt. Drawing his curtains open, he glanced down at the gardens. He had chosen a different suite from that the Fire Prince traditionally occupied - remodelling it of course - but the important thing was that he could look out at the gardens, at the flowers that flourished in the sunlight and the insects that buzzed around, revelling in the sweet scents. And most importantly, he could see the pond where he and his mother would feed the turtle-ducks in the shade of the great willow. He had seen too much of destruction, he wanted to be reminded every day of the life that surrounded him.

Now he noticed something different about his gardens. There was a figure sitting on the grass in the sun in a half-lotus position. Her back was to him and her brown wavy locks blew around her back on the soft breeze. He smiled to himself, and hurried down to join her. He didn't usually meditate outside, but perhaps it would do him good. If this is what the fire sages had taught her, he would gladly learn more about his element.

As he walked silently over the grass to meet her, he heard her voice being carried to him on the wind.

"Good morning Zuko. Have you come to join me in meditation?" She had not moved at all but somehow she knew he was there.

"Yes," he replied simply, and sat down next to her, took a deep breath of the damp early morning air, and submerged himself in meditation.

They both seemed to come out of their thoughts the moment the morning sun touched their faces. Zuko hadn't felt so alive in a long time; without seeing the sun, without feeling its heat on his skin, he had focussed on its energy below the horizon. He had felt how the slowly growing heat was infiltrating his world, how the light awoke a new sliver of heat in the garden, how the plants responded to the wake up call of the sky. He had only started considering all these thoughts, when the immense power of the sun hit him full in the face. The immediate surge of energy he felt at the sun's presence was amplified tenfold by his state; he had opened himself so much that the thrill of the sun snapped him back to his own body and roused him from his mediation. He glanced over to where Katara sat and noticed that she too was blinking in the sunlight.

Catching her eye he saw her smile serenely, just like she used to on their travels. He noticed how it lit up her face and once again loved the fact that she was wearing red.

"Well, Sifu Sparky, shall we get started?" she asked quietly, so that she did not disrupt the calm of the garden. Zuko smiled.

* * *

"Right, since you can already produce a flame and I'm pretty sure you can handle control, I'm going to teach you the fireball. You need to spread your legs like this," Zuko instructed, keeping his legs wide and bending down into the stance, "and keep one hand at all times by your side, level with your stomach, ready to be used. The other will go from the same position on your other side to fully extended while you twist your torso to give it power," he demonstrated sending a small fireball from his fist.

They were practicing in the covered arena. Zuko had it built especially for his frequent practices. Initially, he had used the outdoor arena but could not stand the constant quips of the spectators - usually some of the older counsellors that he suspected still had sympathies for the war. This arena was still large enough so that he could practice all his moves without destroying anything, and it was made of metal so that it wouldn't burn. Air vents lining the top of the walls kept it cool and it could only be entered through one door so that he knew who was watching. Life at the palace was hardly private, and this was the one place that was completely his own. And now he could train Katara in there since he knew nobody would see what was going on.

On her fifth try, Katara produced a sliver of flame and shot it away from her body. Zuko frowned and told her to stay still. He circled her, correcting her stance - lifting her arm so it was completely perpendicular to her body, shifting her other arm closer to her torso, straightening her back, pushing down on her shoulders so she would squat lower. He did not notice Katara's uncomfortable flinching at the contact.

"Try again. But this time, put force into it. The fire comes from your centre - let it become hot and then feel it travel up your arm to pool at your fists. At that point - and only at that point - you can let it go." After a few more tries, Katara finally realised what she should be feeling and corrected her own stance to allow the fire to seep through her body. The results were still pitiful.

In frustration, she closed her eyes and remembered the power of the sun when it caressed her face during her meditation. It had stirred something in her core; let her feel a power that only the full moon had ever induced in her before. Focussing on that sensation, she let it pool inside her until it was coursing through her veins, until her whole being was heat.

Zuko watched as Katara became more and more frustrated with herself. She closed her eyes, he thought, to calm herself down. However, he started sensing more and more heat emanating from her body. Without opening her eyes, she went through the move he had taught her - but this time with an energy he hadn't seen in her before. It wasn't gentle and flowing like she was used to with water - like she had been trying to handle fire so far - it was sharp and exact, her arm whipping out and stopping at the right distance. A ball of flame, one that consumed almost the whole width of the room, erupted from her fist and shot towards the other end, hitting it and turning the metal walls a glowing red. There was the usual creaking from the metal expanding, but he knew that it would cool down soon enough.

Zuko turned to regard the water bender who had just created a fireball. She was immobile in her final position, eyes still closed and breathing heavily.

"Tell me that worked," she said quietly.

"Open your eyes and have a look at the wall opposite you," he replied, a chuckle in his voice.

Katara did so and was pleased to see the red wall the opposite end of the arena. She relaxed her stance and grinned at the Prince, who was standing, arms crossed, just behind her.

"You used the sun, didn't you?" he asked, raising his good eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes. I felt it here," she replied, indicating her stomach. "It is really hot," she added, frowning.

Zuko rolled his eyes.

"We are playing with fire Katara, I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting! This is why we usually train shirtless." With that, he removed his black, sleeveless shirt and tossed it behind him, as he thought of what to teach her next.

Katara couldn't help but notice his toned body. Sure, she had seen it before, and she had always admired it from a distance, but now it seemed to strike a chord within her somewhere deep down. She felt the urge to run her fingers over it and lightly trace the contours of his muscles. He lifted his arm to scratch his head in thought, absent mindedly running his fingers through his long, black hair. She watched the muscles in his arm and down the side of his torso flex with his movement, and noticed how his scruffy black hair framed his pensive face. Her eyes fell on the scar from Azula's lightening on his chest and she scowled. She could heal so much better now; if the incident had happened with her current knowledge, there would be no blemish on his perfect skin.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, not removing her eyes from the scar. Zuko blinked out of his thoughts and looked, confused, at Katara. He noticed she was staring at the scar on his chest, not looking happy. He suddenly felt ridiculously self-conscious and resented the fact that her expression was somewhat disgusted when she looked at him. Sure, he was used to people being disgusted by the sight of him, but it still hurt. And somehow, it hurt even more because this was Katara looking at him like that - Katara, the only one that hadn't been repulsed enough by the scar on his face to avoid touching it. The good half go his face burned red with embarrassment and annoyance, and he clenched his fists by his side, digging his nails into the palm of his hands to stop himself from snapping at her and leaving the arena. No, he needed to be able to deal with this.

To his surprise, she walked towards him instead of stepping away, and she placed one dark hand on the scar. He flinched at the contact, but then relaxed into the touch. Her hand was warm, and he was reminded of the sensations of her healing him after the lightening strike. She shifted her gaze up to his eyes, her anger clear in their blue depths. He noticed that she had grown quite a bit taller and now stood only slightly shorter than him, her nose reaching about the height of his lips.

"I'm so sorry Zuko, you shouldn't have taken that lightening for me. And I should have been able to heal you better. Please forgive me?" her eyes softened at the request and he detected no falsehood in her steady gaze. He was also very aware at how close she was to him. Relief spread through his body - she was angry at herself! She was disgusted with herself! Without thinking, he placed his hand on top of hers.

"There is nothing to forgive. The world couldn't lose you. And neither could I. I regret nothing Katara," he murmured softly, losing himself in her eyes. They stood immobile for a time - neither quite knew how long - until Katara flinched. Some thought had entered her head, he reasoned when looking back at the moment, because without warning she disentangled her hand from his and demanded they continue their lesson.

Zuko was puzzled but decided to let it go. The place where her hand had rested remained oddly cold for the rest of the session.

When it was time for him to wash up and start the day's paperwork Katara followed him out, revelling in the fresh breeze. He excused himself and started towards his rooms.

"Tonight," called Katara from behind him.

"Pardon?"

"We start your lessons tonight. It has to be tonight so be ready for it. Meet me by the pond at sundown." It wasn't a request, it was an order. If it had been about anything else it would have irritated Zuko no end that somebody was bossing him around, but he wanted to learn. And besides, this was Katara. He nodded in confirmation and set off to be the Fire Prince.

* * *

Katara stood by the pond watching the sunset as the deep red colours dissolved into a soft blue in the water. She was bracing herself for what was to come. As soon as she did this, she would not only be giving Zuko as much power as she had, but she was also giving away a part of herself. She had decided to postpone teaching any sort of blood bending for now - a part of her still did not trust Zuko's fits of anger, even though she was sure he would never intentionally use it for harm. The incident with Toph's burnt feet sprang to mind. She felt slightly guilty remembering those times - nobody could deny how much he had matured and how much more control he had of himself. But she could decide about blood later. For now, she had made a deal to teach him water bending. And since he had kept his part of the deal, so would she.

Zuko left the last advisor as the sun was already drowning below the horizon. He hurried to the gardens dressed in his usual training gear to meet Katara. Sure enough, she was standing with a very distant expression while gazing into the water. In the half light of late sunset, the shadows cast on her face accentuated her cheek bones on her too-thin face, and how her expression was drawn into an inexpressive mask. He found himself wondering, as he had since she returned, what had truly happened on her journey. He knew that she only mentioned the good parts, omitting any hardships she may have faced. She had mentioned anger and frustration, but those were easy emotions to talk about. And they were simple excuses for sadness.

Without warning, she turned her head and locked eyes with him, as if to find something in his gaze. She maintained her stoic face and betrayed no emotion. Zuko didn't like it. He had used the same mask since sadness and regret and shame had overrun his life and he knew how simple it was to hide behind indifference. He also knew how unhealthy it was. Masks do not solve true emotions, they simply bury them deeper, so that when they do eventually resurface, they are even uglier than before.

This emotionless-ness did not suit her at all. Katara was always one to wear her heart on her sleeve - to shout and cry and laugh at what was happening around her. It was one of the things that had warmed Zuko to her in the first place; he had relearned how to live in some semblance of normality. Strangely it was Katara who had helped him, not anybody else. She was gentle and kind (when she wasn't trying to kill him, he remembered ruefully) and she respected silence as well as words. He needed somebody like her to reach a helping hand out and pull him out of the hole he had been digging for himself since his mother's disappearance. Only then could he truly appreciate his uncle and his friends. He owed her so much.

So now that she was struggling with some silent demon of her own, he longed to help her, to prove that he had learned from her. He did not like to see her suffer, even if it was in silence. But how?

Katara broke eye contact and lifted her eyes to the darkening sky.

"Give me your hand, Zuko," she said, reaching out for him. He moved closer, wary of her mood, and laid his hand on hers. Once again he decided that he enjoyed the feel of her skin on his, but was distracted when he felt something in him shift inexplicably. He noticed that she had closed her eyes and was controlling her breathing - she must be altering his chi flow!

Suddenly, she ripped her hand away from his, as if the thought of their physical contact repulsed her. It couldn't be, he reasoned, she had touched his scar that morning. Or was she simply feeling guilty then? Maybe…

His thoughts were interrupted when she told him to sit down like they had in the morning at sunrise. The world was being plunged into that awkward darkness between sun and moon.

"We are going to meditate like we did with the sun. Only this time you need to look for something a bit different. Having now done some fire bending and having meditated with the sun I know the differences. With fire, you use exact, sharp moves because you are controlling heat and energy. Water is different although no less powerful. Water flows; even at its most destructive it is all connected. A wave doesn't occupy a sharp space, it leads from and into the rest of the water, and it doesn't just disappear. That is what you are trying to feel, this connectedness. The movement of water is always a push and a pull; you must feel the power of the moon and then channel that power through yourself, just like the moon pulls the tides. It is not something easy to detect - it is like the fact that everything falls to the ground, it is something you take for granted, but if you focus you can feel the force of the moon calling you. It is calling your blood. We had to start tonight because it is a full moon, when this feeling will be its most powerful. Come, let us feel the moon rising together."

* * *

They trained for a couple of hours after sundown, but it took a long time for Zuko to finally connect with the moon's power. When he finally did and managed to lift a sliver of water from the pond - reminding Katara of when she had first started - a bright light momentarily blinded them.

When vision came back, a familiar unearthly presence was floating on the water; a girl, beautiful and wild and translucent yet emitting all the power of the moon's light.

"Yue," breathed Katara, throwing herself on the ground in a deep kowtow to the moon spirit. Zuko did the same almost instinctually. He felt giddy with all the energy that was coursing through his body, but it was not like fire; fire grew and pooled in his stomach, but this seemed to pull him together and tear him apart from his heart.

"Come Katara, we were almost sisters, you do not need to bow to me! Rise Zuko of the Fire Nation," her voice seemed to be carried on the breeze.

"Yue, I'm sorry if I have disrespected you, I can take away the water bending if you wish it!" Katara had real fear and reverence in her voice, but Zuko felt something squeeze his heart; he did not want to lose this. It had been only a few hours but he felt so much more aware, so much more alive…

"No, I have come to warn you though. Not everybody is like the two of you, not everybody has your power, your strength and potential. Do you know what happened before the turtle-lion cities?" Katara and Zuko shook their heads, listening in awe, hoping that they could learn where the strange book had come from. However, Yue just smiled sweetly. "Then that story will have to wait for another time. Katara, a long time ago my children were scattered - those who knew most about the world you live in. They have been forgotten, but they continue to be drawn to one another, as I draw the tides. You will find them as some of your closest friends," she said, looking down at them affectionately.

"Learn well and learn fast Prince Zuko! The world has been thrown out of balance, but my students will always have the power to pull it back into place. I will be watching…" her voice drifted to them, fading with her image and returning them to a deeper darkness.

Zuko and Katara stared at the place Yue had just taken up and then at one another, completely bewildered.

"Well. I honestly don't think that could have been any more cryptic!" said Zuko softly, trying to relieve the tension. Katara grinned. She could relax; Yue had told her it was alright to teach Zuko! She had also told her many things she did not understand. She quickly pulled out her black notebook and started scribbling the words Yue had uttered, exactly as she had just said them. There was more to this, they had stumbled upon something significant here. Zuko watched her, occasionally correcting a word.

Katara looked up at him from where she was sitting on the ground, closing her little black notebook.

"I think that meant that you are welcome to the family," she said with a smile.


	5. Stoking the Embers of a Secret

**A/N: **This chapter was originally twice as long but I have decided to make it two chapters to keep the story flowing! Chapter 6 should be up tomorrow... although I am curious, before you read it, can you work out what happened to Katara?Comment and let me know, it would be useful to see how much has actually come through!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Stoking the Embers of a Secret**

Zuko and Katara settled into an easy routine. From their time on the run (ironically, from one another), they knew how to keep their heads low. Zuko had barrels of water placed in the covered arena and they would train every morning after meditation. The Palace thought they were simply sparring, but as nobody knew who was bending the water and who the fire, they were safe. They had taken to meditating just before dawn, when the moon was still in the sky, so that they could connect with both the moon and sun spirits. It felt exhilarating to be learning something new. He didn't even begrudge all the stately duties he had to attend to because he always knew that he needed to last a few more hours before dinner with Katara, meditation with Katara and training with Katara.

However, peace was not something that had ever favoured either of the teenagers.

Katara became increasingly frustrated with the heat from fire bending and decided to take a leaf out of Zuko's book and find some training clothes that kept her cool. She shopped in the capitol - trying hard to ignore the hostile glares - and found baggy training trousers made of a light material and a short top in a matching red. It reminded her of the outfit she wore when she was in the fire nation with Aang and Sokka. Boy, that was a long time ago!

The evident mistrust from the shop owner meant that she didn't even try the outfit on before buying it and retreating quickly to the Palace. To be honest, she was bored when Zuko wasn't around. She had spent so long being still and researching that she loved the fact that she was being active again. But she needed to exercise her mind too! She decided that the next morning at training she would ask Zuko if she could sit in on some of the meetings.

They met, as usual, in the pre-dawn darkness, the moon dipping towards the horizon. Sitting by the pond they submerged themselves in their meditation. It became easier and easier for both of them to access parts of both elements. And sometimes… sometimes they wouldn't feel different at all. Perhaps it was the garden; the plants needed both water and heat to thrive and as their senses became more in tune with the world, they felt how one flowed into the other and how they worked together. Heat was behaving like water sometimes, seeping slowly into every nook and cranny the world had to offer; likewise, water sometimes behaved like fire, rising up and reaching for the sky within the trees, and cutting paths though the undergrowth until nothing stood in its way.

That day in training, they started trying to combine fire and water bending moves; using moves originally created for one with the other. Iroh had been the main inspiration with his redirecting lightening inspired by the Water Tribes. However, it was only an idle idea until their meditations pulled them closer to it. Katara remembered something that Aang had told her about his lessons with Guru Pathik; separation is an illusion. Fire and water were two sides of the same thing - although what that thing was confused her. Life force, maybe?

As Katara tried to master another fire bending move - both with fire and with water - her hair whipped around her in a flurry, blocking her sight and causing her to trip, rather unceremoniously. Zuko rushed over to see if she was alright. To his relief, she started laughing. He looked down at her and realised something was not right.

The bottom of the short top Katara was wearing (and that Zuko was finding far too distracting for his own good) had risen up slightly as she skidded across the floor, and now rested, bunched up, just below her breasts. But in doing so, they revealed some marks on her otherwise smooth skin. Zuko knew exactly what kind of marks they were; they were burns. Burns that had been untreated.

His head started spinning with possibilities. They looked to new to have been from the war, and she didn't suffer any injuries during the year they had spent travelling together. It must have happened in these last two years, but Zuko would guess less than six months ago. Which meant that she was already a prolific bloodbender and healer - so why couldn't she heal her own wounds?

"Katara? Who gave you those burns?" he asked, tearing his eyes away from her body to look into her eyes.

Her face sobered. Her laughing cut short as she looked down at herself. Quickly, she stood up, pulling down the top so that it covered the scars again.

"I don't want to talk about it." Her voice was even and that insufferable mask was back on her face. Zuko wondered if this was anything like what Iroh went through with him all those years ago. He decided that he had probably been worse.

However, he _would_ figure out what was making her like this, and who had hurt her. As they continued, his bending was far more violent, while hers was subdued; he was angry and frustrated, she was suppressing her emotions. Neither ended the session well.

As the left the arena, Zuko made a split second decision.

"Hey Katara, could I ask you a favour?"

"Sure," she replied, still in her deadpan voice.

"Well I have a bunch of people arriving tomorrow - they will be here only a couple of days to discuss trade options and military placement so as to not intervene with it. Since you have been travelling for so long I was wondering if you could come to the meetings and give your opinion? I feel like I'm only ever hearing half of how the people are faring. And… well… I value your judgement."

Katara raised her eyebrows and her mask disintegrated into surprise. Hadn't she wanted to ask him the very same thing? Could he read her mind?

"Yeah, I'd like that. But first I need to know what the trade agreements are…"

Zuko looked relieved to have captured her attention.

"I have to sort out some stuff but if you like I could go over it with you over dinner? I'll be in the study." She noticed he looked apprehensive while he waited for her response. She nodded and smiled, even though the smile did not reach her eyes. The set off in different directions, lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

Lin hadn't even been surprised when Katara appeared once again at the kitchens to ask for her and Zuko's dinner. This time she didn't protest and handed Katara the laden tray, watching her walk away balancing everything with practiced ease. Lin shook her head to herself, unsure of what to make of the girl and of her proximity to the future Fire Lord.

Katara startled Zuko when she knocked and entered the study. He hadn't realised how late it was already getting! But he was reading the same document for the third time and a break was more than needed.

They ate as he explained some of the background, and then Katara moved to sit next to him in order to read through some things.

"So… the military want to be present when all trade with the Water Tribes is done?" she asked, completely absorbed in the latest intelligence report.

"Pretty much. They don't trust the Water Tribes at all. They think that they'll try to import weapons and stow people away on the ships to then overthrow the Fire Nation." He covered his face with his hands and sighed.

"Look, Zuko, I am not a huge fan of the Water Tribes," she started and he looked at her in shock. "Oh, don't look at me like that! Yes they are my people and I love them and care about them, but they are so stupidly set in their ways… I'm not in a good place with them right now. Actually, come to think about it, I dislike all the nations. The Water Tribes are holding on to their senseless traditions because they think that it is the traditions that makes them what they are. Which is bullshit by the way. Those traditions were created for different times, and their refusal to let them change, in order to 'assert their tribe after the war' is stifling the younger generations.

"As for the Earth Kingdom - there are so many people that it is difficult to keep track of who wants what and when! There are brutal mentalities like that of the Dai Li, and the old aristocratic families like the Bei Fongs are still in charge of everything. Since the Fire Nation pulled out, people have been grabbing power as much as they can. And King Kuei is a rubbish ruler who is almost inconsequential to the general population. Thank spirits Bumi knows what he is doing! Omashu and the areas around there are actually doing pretty well.

"The Air Nomads - even if they were still alive - do not involve themselves in politics, and trade with whoever offers it. The literally float on the currents the rest of the Nations are creating. What Aang is building is no different, but travelling is more of a challenge now than it used to be - people are less trustworthy and less inclined to help. So basically the air temples will be places of almost-seclusion soon.

"The Fire Nation is still ridden with power hungry monsters from families who believed in the war. They have not stopped believing, and are objectively making trade difficult for anybody external to the Fire Nation since they believe that all those resources should be theirs anyway.

"The only places that work - that really work - are the colonies. There, although there is some animosity between those who had been Fire Generals and locals, they have been living together for years. Things are levelling out in the places that have been allowed to elect their own representatives, and to be honest, you need one Fire and one Earth per colony. However, there have been mixes - and mixes of mixes - to the point that some people can neither identify with one nor the other. They call themselves Islanders.

"Having the military stationed wherever there is trade is only going to hark back to times of war. If you are truly worried about what is going in and out of the borders we need to find another way to keep control. It would be imprudent to trust any one group - and that includes the Fire Nation. You should post checks at the major docks - charge a small fee per cargo or something to pay the people who will be doing the work. They can check all items being shipped to and fro and for what price. If anything strange happens, you will be the first to know and take action preventing any harm done to any nation.

"They cannot be military though. I know that the military is marginally less inclined to bribery, but as I said, the reappearance of soldiers will only create idols for forces trying to reignite the war, or targets for those who hated it. I would suggest getting local people to do the checks - people who are trusted by their communities and who care about the place. They will be the ones who are least likely to accept bribery since it is consequential to them what happens to their home. Obviously you'd need to choose wisely, pick the peaceful ones or the ones that would be most grateful for the job."

As Katara spoke, she was collecting various papers to back up her claims from around the desk, occasionally leaning over Zuko in a very distracting way.

"You're right. I've been looking at this in completely the wrong way; I've still been considering 'us' and 'them'. But the Fire Nation is setting an example for the rest of the world because of the chaos we have caused so far. We need to consider trust and danger from all directions, ready to give a chance but intervene when things go wrong." Zuko sat back on his chair, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion.

Katara looked at him and smiled proudly. He knew that smile. Helping people had always made her happy - he remembered how she had stepped up to mother the group when there was nobody else. And now she was doing it again, although not in the same way. She was helping him again.

Their eyes met. He felt a tingle run down his spine. He hadn't felt this before with Katara - it seemed almost too intense. Suddenly he noticed things about he that he had never dwelled on before; how plump her lips were, how her her long eyelashes framed her eyes, how, even though her skin was dark, she still had a light smattering of freckles on her cheeks. He wanted to reach out and touch her lips, caress her face and her neck and…

Katara started moving closer, drawn in by a strange electricity that was held in his amber eyes. They seemed to be smouldering and unconsciously glancing down at her lips. She shouldn't be doing this, but maybe, just maybe, this time things would turn out alright. She saw the shock in his gaze ask she moved closer, and then his eyes softened and closed as their lips met.

It was as if his whole being had turned into warm water. This was not like the kiss she had hurriedly pressed to his lips before leaving last time; this was charged with some deep desire, and he felt like he was falling. His heart started racing and he instinctually deepened the kiss. He felt another thrill as she readily responded, opening her mouth against his.

Zuko reached up a hand and caressed her soft cheek before gently holding the back of her head, enjoying the feel of her hair through his fingers.

Katara froze against his lips. He blinked his eyes open in surprise as she disentangled his hand from her hair and moved away. She looked… frightened? Maybe? But the mask descended on her features once more.

"It is getting late. Good night," she said, monotonously and left the room without another word.

Zuko was bewildered. Did he scare her? No, but _she _kissed _him_! He wasn't even going to do anything, but she was the one who initiated things!

Zuko sat up for a long time trying to make sense of what had just happened, his brain fuzzy from lack of sleep. Perhaps she wanted to kiss somebody else and got carried away and remembered that she was kissing him. Could she have met somebody important on her travels? Possibly. But she hadn't mentioned anybody so far…

Maybe she still felt bad about rejecting Aang and thought it would be betrayal if something happened between the two of them? But that was ridiculous! That was over two years ago! And besides, he hadn't forgotten the kiss they shared before she left.

She could have actually been betrothed when she was at the Northern Water Tribe. No. She would never allow that - and besides she still wore her mother's necklace, not her own.

He reasoned that it must be somebody else after all. The last thing he remembered was thinking how strange it was that the thought of her with somebody else hurt him.

* * *

The advisors arrived the next evening. They had decided not to train and instead prepare some more.

Conversation was awkward between Zuko and Katara. It was prim and professional, neither one mentioning the kiss. Katara did not let her indifference mask slide once. Zuko was torn between interrogating her about what was going on and trying to keep things calm. He decided that they would talk once these meetings were over.

First, though, they had to get through a welcome dinner held in their honour. Zuko was always amused when outsiders stayed at the Palace. Suddenly, servants that he could hold casual conversations with normally, became stiff and formal - instead of one course eaten in his study, he had to sit through countless dishes and make pointless small talk with people who he really cared nothing for. Occasionally somebody really interesting would turn up, but by the nature of these things you could never talk to one person too long.

Zuko descended to the reception chamber in all his royal finery, the crown Prince's flame around his topknot. Again. He longed to be in his training gear, but, obviously, that was not polite. He wondered idly if when he became Fire Lord he could do away with all the pointlessness of these formalities.

Katara followed soon after, and it was all he could do not to gape at her. She wore a light blue dress made of silk that billowed out around her as she walked. But the sash around her waist was purple, and so were the trimmings around her neck and sleeves. As always, her mother's necklace was present, but her hair was tied in a Fire Nation style with purple ribbon. The material flowed around her, falling from her waist and accentuating her curves.

Now how was he supposed to pay attention to some boring advisors?

He tore his eyes away from her, trying to hide a blush, as he nodded to the porters to open the doors and let the guests arrive to be greeted.

People started to filter in - a small party, only about ten, and since they were staying for so short a time none of them had brought their families. Zuko skimmed over their faces as they took in the grand reception hall around them in wonder. He knew it would be about minute before any of them noticed him.

He heard a gasp from behind him, where Katara was standing. He turned around to look at her and reached out in alarm when he saw how pale her face was.

"Katara?" he asked, tentatively, as she stepped away from him.

"I don't feel well. I'm going to my room," she whispered, retreating quickly into the shadows and running away. Zuko stood, shocked and bewildered by her disappearance, and had just decided to follow her when the first of the guests came up to him to introduce themselves.

As soon as Zuko could, he ordered a maid to go and see if Master Katara was alright and if she needed anything. By the end of dinner, Zuko realised that he did not know one name of the people who were constantly talking at him, he was too busy thinking about Katara. Instead of staying for after dinner drinks, he excused himself and half walked- half ran to Katara's room.

"Katara?" he called when he received no answer to his frantic knocks. "Katara its me, Zuko! I'm worried about you… will you let me in?" Still there was no answer. He rested his forehead against the doors and said, more quietly "Please Katara. I know you're hurting but I don't know why and I want to help…" He was about to leave when he heard something heavy being moved on the other side of the doors and one pulled open just enough so he could slip through. She shut it immediately behind him and moved whatever was in front of the door back there, blocking anybody's entry. As his eyes accustomed to the darkness, he realised that it was the dressing table!

He frowned and produced a flame in order to see her. Katara screamed, a horrible, high pitched squeak and he felt water pelting him from all sides, dousing the flame. Zuko froze.

"No. Fire." She said, breathless.

"K-katara? You're scaring me…" he stammered into the darkness. His eyes were adjusting again and he could make out her form sitting on the large bed. Her hair was dishevelled and her face was shining. No, wait, her face was wet! He moved closer to her, and in the dim moonlight that crept through the cracks in the curtains, he saw that she had been crying - her makeup smudged down her cheeks, and she was still trembling. He reached out to hug her or comfort her but his hand froze.

With a jolt he realised she was bloodbending him in place.

"Zuko, please, don't touch me." She said quietly, releasing her hold on his arm.

"Katara… I… I don't know what to say! I don't know what's wrong and I don't know how to comfort you… Please tell me what I can do?" There was a moment of silence, where he stood in front of the bed, not touching her.

"You can go back to bed and forget any of this happened," she replied hanging her head and trying to smother a sob.

"That is not an option. I can't leave you when you are in this state." She looked up at him then, her big blue eyes filled with tears that she let fall as she stared.

"Thank you, Zuko. Thank you so," she sobbed "so much. Please don't leave. Please stay here… I'm so s-s-cared!" she cried.

Zuko felt helpless. For the first time in his life he felt completely helpless. He had always had a plan - whether it was capturing the Avatar or defeating his father, he was always doing something, there was always something he could do. But here he was, watching as his best friend in the entire world came apart before his eyes, and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't hold her, he couldn't solve the problem, he couldn't tell her it was going to be alright. He was just there.

He took a deep breath.

"Katara, please tell me what happened? I'm the the Fire Prince. I must be able to do something," he said through his gritted teeth and clenched jaw, tears of frustration welling in in his own eyes.

She observed him again and shook harder than she had been, but after about a minute, she groaned.

"I will tell you everything, as long as you promise two things," she whispered.

"Anything! Katara anything, just name it!"

"Do not interrupt me while I'm telling the story and please stay here tonight. I don't think I can be alone."

"Deal."


	6. Spilt Blood and Water

**WARNING:** VIOLENCE AND DESCRIPTIONS OF RAPE. If this will affect you please do not read!

**A/N **Told you this was a long chapter! Here we find out what happened to Katara and what she does about it to get revenge. Hopefully it should mirror parts of Zuko's past too, bringing them closer together. As usual, all and any comments or criticisms welcome! Thank you to those of you who have inboxed me or commented on my work so far! Much love!

**Chapter 6: Spilt Blood and Water**

Katara hugged her knees to her chest and tried to calm herself down. Zuko, unsure of what else to do, sat on the floor leaning against the wall and he waited for Katara to start. He was feeling nervous, and not a little frightened. If there was some danger he could see then it would have been simple; but he had a suspicion that everything was in her mind. A chill ran down his spine. Last time he had seen somebody lose their mind it was his little sister. He could not let something similar happen to Katara!

Katara took a deep breath and focussed on a patch of wall above Zuko's head so she wouldn't have to endure his reaction.

"I had recently arrived in the Fire Nation, intent on locating at least some sources of information. I took up rooms in an inn just over the border, and for a couple of days managed to gain my bearings," she started, her voice growing stronger as she lost herself in her memories.

"The inn was pretty busy, but I always got a little table in the corner for my dinner. One night I was eating, not paying attention to my surroundings, and this man bumps into my table, accidentally spilling my drink. He apologises profusely and looks genuinely worried that he had wasted my drink and insists on getting me another one. When he returns he insists on sitting with me and talks and talks and talks about nothing in particular. I remember thinking, as I was sipping my drink, that I would have to find a way to get rid of him soon or I might die of boredom." A bitter smile played on her lips before she continued.

"He must have slipped something in my drink. It didn't take long, but soon I could feel the control of my body going. My mind was hazy but present, but my limbs were harder and harder to move. When I finally collapsed on the table, unable to shout or run, he convinced the inn keeper that he was an old friend of mine - and since they had seen him buy me a drink and talk to me they didn't doubt it. He made it seem like I was drunk and he would put me in my room - so they let him take me upstairs." She paused to brush away some tears.

"I knew what was going to happen. Knew it the moment he pretended to be my friend in front of the inn keepers. And the lock clicking in the door was my sentence.

"He removed my clothes, dropping me a couple of times. I was horrified that I could still feel pain, I just couldn't react to it. I couldn't bend. Finally he placed me on my bed and said - " her voice broke "well… it doesn't matter what he said." She took a deep breath.

"By this point he had an erection - actually I think he had had it for a while. And he decided that… sticking it down my throat… would … anyway I choked. A lot. I thought I was going to die from all the gagging and the bile and I couldn't… just couldn't get away! I tried, really, really hard, to combine gagging with movement and managed to bite down." She smiled wistfully at her little victory.

"It wasn't hard, I doubt it hurt. But he wasn't taking any chances. That's when… he decided to burn me." Tears sprang to her eyes once more as she remembered the searing pain on her ribs and her inability to scream and heal herself - her complete helplessness and the way she prayed for unconsciousness, the smell of burning flesh turning her stomach. She didn't need to say that the burns she was referring to were the ones Zuko noticed while training.

"Then he - well - he was not gentle. It went on for so long. Every time he was close he would pull out and burn me some more and then continue." She took a shuddering breath.

"Finally he finished. I was in so much pain everywhere. But he just left and I still could not move. I thought - I thought I would never be able to move again. I couldn't even lift a finger - " she sobbed, but then seemed to recollect herself.

"It wore off the next day. Thankfully his seed hadn't - erm - implanted. I would have got rid of it if it had, but I've never done that before and I don't really know how… I healed myself all I could but much of the damage was done. I ran. Now that I could use my legs, I ran as far and as fast as I could. I avoided humanity for a long time, sleeping outdoors just like we used to when we were travelling. But that didn't help. Every twig, every scrape, every bird cry or wolf howl or frog chatter had me on edge. I could only sleep when I was too exhausted to stay awake, and I often forgot to eat. Sometimes I would go a few days or even a week without food, only my fearful exhaustion for company.

"I decided I needed towns - small ones with thin walls and people who all know one another. There I could secure my room and sleep. I would eat alone, I would talk to nobody, I would accept nothing from anybody. I had no direction, I just wondered for … I don't know … a long time. I had given up. On everything. I was a wreck of a person, I couldn't hold myself together. I let myself down by not being able to defend myself.

"In my angriest hours I knew that Hama and I were not that different. I could have unleashed everything Hama told me was possible ten fold on him at those times." She spread her hands out and all the vases in the room cracked, sending pieces of pottery and water flying in all directions. "If she went through anything like that - who am I kidding, she _did_ go through things like that - she endured for years, I can understand! I would do the same… well… birds of a feather I guess." She calmed herself from her violent outburst, and started again in a quieter tone.

"Eventually I heard of Ka'Bei, a little island with only Fire Sages on it. I reasoned that they would probably respect me enough to do me no harm - and even if they did, I would drown them and their temple with all the fury of the sea.

"I didn't have to. They saw I was broken and they helped me regain my calm, they helped me accept fire as not purely destructive. I did not tell them what had happened, but they sensed that I needed them. I stayed with them two and a half months - I managed to live a semblance of normality, threw myself into meditation and research so my mind would not return to my dark places.

"When I first created fire there was only joy. I felt like I understood it, I felt like I had defeated _him_! He made me fear my own campfire, abhor the flames heating tea, avoid red like the plague. But here I had mastered it and he was wrong. The way he used it was wrong! And he would never learn the true meaning of fire because he was not worthy of it - like a butcher using broadswords. He made me scream at the slightest sound, run from any sort of physical contact and become a stranger to peace. But there I was, surrounded by the fire sages who cared, able to hug and brush hands without feeling sick, and finding an inner peace in meditation.

"And I was getting so much better.

"Then tonight he walked into your reception room. I just couldn't contain it Zuko, please try to understand, please don't think of me as pathetic - although I probably would deserve that. Everything spiralled back," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry I'm like this, I'm sorry you had to see this… I promise that I will - I WILL get a grip … I just need time … and I _know_ he didn't see me but I'm terrified he will find me again, Zuko…" She lifted her head from her hands and forced herself to look at him. She thought she saw smoke coming from his nostrils.

Zuko slowly stood up, fists clenched, and turned towards the door.

"ZUKO? Where are you going?!" she cried, panicked at the thought that he would abandon her.

"To commit a very long and painful murder."

"No Zuko, you can't!"

"Yes, I can," he growled, turning to face her. "Tell me what he looks like."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to have his filthy blood on your hands! And you promised to stay here with me!" her voice was rising with panic again. Zuko winced.

"Katara, I will be able to cover it up - Ozai's guests had a tendency to disappear too… I can get rid of this problem!" Zuko was trying to keep his anger at bay before he set everything on fire.

"No. You are _not_ Ozai. And you promised to stay here with me. I won't tell you what he looks like." She was speaking softly. She didn't need to shout, she knew her voice would penetrate his conscience. He had promised, and if she knew one thing about Zuko, it was that he was a man of honour.

Zuko blew out more smoke and turned to look at Katara, and old anger ignited inside him on her behalf. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying hard to stay put. Katara watched him, having pulled up the bed covers to her chin, the silver moonlight catching in her deep blue eyes.

"Please, Zuko," she whispered again, her voice threatening to break.

She was the moon, and she commanded where he was pulled. Everything was water - all life was water, and right now, the water that surrounded him was caught in a current pulling him to her. With that voice and those eyes his will was irrelevant. He would do anything in that moment to please her and comfort her. For the first time, Zuko decided to do nothing.

He hung his head in submission and walked towards her, retaking his place by the wall so as not to scare her. Katara exhaled in relief.

"You don't need to stay on the floor, you can sleep on the bed - it is big enough for four. Just… please don't touch me…"

Zuko blinked at her in surprise. After all of that, she still offered him a place in her bed?

"Are you … are you sure?" he stammered.

"Zuko, I trust you. I know you wouldn't do anything. I'm not scared of you," she gave herself a pensive half smile, "at least, not anymore."

Zuko grimaced thinking of himself as the angry child who had chased them around the world. Various incidents entered his mind; when he crashed into her village, when he tied her to a tree, when he knocked her out in the North, when he had her alone under Ba Sing Se. In all of those situations there were people who would have taken advantage of her - but he would never have dared consider it. For the first time he realised how unbearably lucky they had all been to have found one another as enemies. Somehow they had scraped through, hardly hurt, from a war that could have taken so much more. How ironic was it that when she had been a helpless little girl she had been left alone, and now that she was the most powerful water bended and blood bender in the world she was hurt.

Zuko stood up, brushing ceramic bits from his clothes, and crawled into bed on the far side from her.

"You're safe with me," he whispered.

* * *

Neither slept well. Katara woke herself up screaming three times throughout the night, and eventually fell into an exhausted sleep towards morning. Zuko, however, could not get her screams out of his head, and they fused with the sounds of his own screams when his father had burned him in his dreams. He felt increasingly more useless as the night went on. In one nightmare he was watching it all happen, just as she had described it, except she could scream. He was running running towards her as fast as he could, but in front of him stood Ozai, with his hand gloved in flames held out before him. Zuko knew, he knew that to get to her he had to let Ozai destroy his face. He hesitated only a moment, but pushed forward and felt all the pain from the burns again.

He did not sleep after that.

Katara was sniffling and every so often her limbs would jerk out as if she were trying to break free of something, but at least she was sleeping. Zuko tiptoed to the door at first light and moved the dressing table as quietly as he could, and, by waiting for footsteps to pass by the room he ordered a servant to go to his rooms, fetch the clothes for the day and bring them here. By the time the servant returned, Katara was still not awake.

Zuko bit his lip. He did not want to leave her but he had to change. And wash. He could do everything in her bathroom, but she had to know where he was or she might panic when she woke up. Zuko returned the dressing table to its place guarding the door, and approached Katara. She was sleeping on her side, curled up in a now very crumpled light blue dress. Her hair stuck to her face in nighttime sweats, and dark bags blurred into smudged make up surrounded her eyes. Her face was more pale than he had ever seen, and had a greenish hue, as if she was going to be sick. But he had never felt so much affection for the girl lying before him.

"Katara?" he called softly.

Her eyes fluttered open, not quite focussing in front of her.

"Zuko?" she asked in a voice still muffled in sleep.

"Katara I'm going to wash in your bathroom. I am right here though, if you need me just shout. I'm not leaving you, alright?" She blinked at him, trying to make sense of the words he was saying in her confused mind. Slowly, she nodded and he walked towards the bathroom.

* * *

Zuko had not washed and dressed so quickly since he was in exile. He did not want to leave her on her own, and he hoped she was still asleep when he returned to her room.

However, he was surprised when he saw her changed, her hair brushed and her face powdered. The dressing table had been moved back to its original place and the ceramic pieces from the vases swept to one side. The bed had even been made! He stood, gaping at her from the doorway.

"When does the meeting start?" she asked. Her voice was brave and steady, but the red rims of her eyes betrayed her.

"There will be no meeting, there will be a hearing and then there will be a lifetime of jail for one man - that is unless you've changed your mind and you are willing to let me kill him." There was _no_ way Zuko was just going to ignore everything that had happened! Even if she wanted to pretend like nothing was the matter, he was most definitely not playing along.

"You are not killing him. There will be a hearing, but only after the meeting." Her voice remained steady and resolute.

"You… you're going to the meeting with the man who made your life a living hell? Katara! Absolutely not!" Was he going crazy? Was he hearing her correctly?

"Zuko… when your father burned you and banished you, you did everything in your power to go back to him. You thought it was to please him but that was not the real reason; he destroyed your self confidence. It had nothing to do with him, it had to do with yourself. You had to go back to prove to _yourself_ that you had not been destroyed. When you had proved that to yourself then there was no reason for you to stay.

"This is the same thing. I need to show myself I can continue, that I can function even if he is there. I will do it to spite him and because I need to believe in myself. Can you understand that?" She was so calm. She was too calm. It unnerved him.

"No. I won't allow it," he responded stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. How could he sit there with Katara and this monster and talk about trade? This was insane!

"You really don't have a choice Zuko. You don't even know who it was. And until the meeting is over I won't tell you." She lifted her chin in defiance and walked out the door towards the meeting chamber.

* * *

He saw how she was getting through the meeting. She was either staring at the papers laid out on the table or above the heads of the guests. She did not look at anybody's face throughout the whole thing, and resolutely ignored the snide comments made about having a woman in the meeting chamber. Zuko, however, found it near impossible to concentrate. He looked every man in the face with an anger hardly concealed behind his golden eyes, and, in retrospect, that was probably what made them concede to his and Katara's plans in the end. There was a lot of grumbling, and vows that they would regret not placing the army everywhere.

They all got up to go, leaving their empty lunch plates by their places. It was almost sunset. Zuko fixed his eyes on Katara. All he needed was the smallest sign of recognition and he would act. And he still wasn't sure if the man would make it to his hearing alive.

Katara, however, kept her expression neutral and started walking towards the doors. There were a few snide comments, but she reacted to none of them, keeping her head held high.

Then one grabbed her wrist. Zuko's eyes narrowed and he pushed though the throng of people to get to them.

"Let go of me right now." Katara's voice was icier than he had ever heard it before, but it brought him the greatest relief. All her calm and composure was unnatural, but this iciness was what he needed to hear. He stood, just behind a couple of people watching it play out. She was not drugged now and he dearly hoped she made all his blood drain from his eyes as Hama had described.

"Aw come on, its like fate has thrown us together once again. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy last time." His voice was low and slimy and Zuko made a mental note to cut off his tongue as well as his hands and his dick. If he didn't know how to use something, then as far as Zuko was concerned, this man didn't deserve to have them. The man stepped closer to her. He realised who it was; a Captain in the navy, the one that had been most condescending about their solution. Even his commanding Admiral had taken more of it on board! Zuko smirked as Katara didn't back away but glared at him straight in the eyes.

"If you don't let go of me right now, I will make you regret it," she said through her teeth. By now other people had realised that something was happening. The Admiral looked from one to the other and frowned.

"What could a little girl like you possibly do to me? As I remember it last time you didn't put up a fight," he said with a wicked smile snaking over his lips. He was still under the impression nobody was listening to him, but both Zuko and the Admiral were paying close attention.

"Agni Kai," she said quietly, eyes narrowed in determination.

"What?" he laughed.

"You heard me. Agni Kai. Right now, you and me. Or are you scared of water?" she mocked. By now the whole room could feel the tension between the two of them and they had formed a shambled circle around them. The man seemed to realise everybody had heard her and looked around him in a moment of fear before smiling.

"You better start running little girl. This time I won't take mercy." He throw her arm back down by her side and looked around in grinning.

The Admiral hesitantly stepped forward.

"Lady Katara, I do not know what you understand of our customs, but it is unheard of to challenge somebody to an Agni Kai for merely touching you," the last thing he wanted was the girl's death on their heads. Katara's infuriated eyes locked onto his.

"Believe me, Admiral, I know much about your traditions. I challenge this vermin to an Agni Kai because he touched me without my permission, and because last time we met he drugged me, raped me and burned me when I was completely helpless. Unlike him, I give my victims a chance to fight back. I just hope he can swim." And with that she turned on her heel and stalked out the doors towards the outdoor arena.

Zuko stayed long enough to hear the Admiral's dismayed gasp and notice that the Captain's face had lost some of its smugness. He obviously had not been counting on her revealing what had happened. Zuko reasoned that a lesser being than Katara would never have had the courage to speak out or fight back. They would have self destructed. Zuko hurried out after Katara, instructing the guards of what was to happen and ordering them to escort the vile man to the arena immediately.

"Katara?"

"Don't even think of trying to stop me Zuko!" she snarled, turning on him. He raised his hands.

"Believe me, I only wish I could be in that arena with you. But… just don't do anything you regret, alright? And for the record, you are allowed to kill him in an Agni Kai," he said quietly. A wicked grin grew on her face.

"Don't worry, I will only bend water. But I don't think I will kill him. I don't know. We'll see."

* * *

Many of the palace staff heard of the Agni Kai taking place, and within a quarter of an hour the stands around the outdoor arena became almost half full. The captain of the guard at the palace was in control, and he stood in the middle, holding up his hands for silence. An eerie aura of expectation descended on the arena.

"The rules of the Agni Kai are thus; you may fight your opponent in the duration of the match using only physical blows or bending. Usually this takes place between two fire benders, but today we have fire versus water. Water comes from behind Lady Katara. The first to make their opponent kneel on the ground before them, or end the other's life, wins. If the opponent is still alive at the end, the winner chooses their fate." His eyes flicked from Katara to the Captain and back again. He walked to the edge of the arena and scrambled out. "Begin!"

The Captain immediately started on the offensive, throwing fireball after fireball at Katara's face. She parried with water with hardly a flick of her wrist. He moved to try and get other angles, growling with the effort he was putting into each shot, while she hardly moved from her spot. At most she shifted her weight slightly.

Without waring, her parries were coming closer and closer to him. The audience were confused as to how she knew where he was aiming - of course they were ignorant of her own fire bending training. All he needed to do was place a foot in one direction and she could tell where he was aiming. It was pathetic really. Zuko's lips turned up in the corners.

The Captain found himself surrounded by water and spun around, shooting fire from his palm until it all turned to steam and floated upwards. He grinned maliciously.

"Is that all you've got, little girl?" he snarled, igniting his fists once more. Her expression did not change at all as she condensed the steam that he himself had sent above his head into thick ice daggers the height of a man. The audience gasped as they saw them form above his head while he mocked her.

Suddenly, she dropped her wrists and they implanted all around him, trapping him in a circle made of six massive icicles. He growled and blasted at one until it melted, but he had forgotten that water does not disappear, and within seconds it returned to its position, thicker and taller than before as Katara fed more water into her prison.

He was too slow; she could create faster than he could destroy, and soon the walls were curving above his head.

The audience watched, shocked, as Katara brought her hands closer together as if they were holding a ball - and the ice responded by melting instantly to water and encasing him in a matching sphere. He could not retaliate from under the water, and in his shock let out the air he had in his lungs.

Katara lifted the ball of water encasing the Captain into the air, so that even if he were to escape he would fall a long way. The audience watched, horrified, as he started involuntarily breathing in water and thrashing about - they were watching him drown!

However, before he could drown, Katara released the imaginary ball she was holding, and accordingly the water ball ceased to exist; all the water and the man contained inside falling to the ground. There was a sickening crack as he hit the floor, but he rolled onto his hands and knees and started coughing up water from his near-drowning. He did not notice as the water around him rushed to cover his arms and legs and solidified to ice again.

Katara raised her gaze to the captain of the guard.

"I believe this means I win?" she asked calmly. The audience exploded in mutters as they realised what position she had frozen him in. He was kowtowing to her! The captain of the guard regarded her with not a little fear.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is Lady Katara!" he boomed as the crowd hushed.

"I think you will find her title is Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," said Zuko, standing up and projecting so nobody would misunderstand him.

"Of course! Apologies my Prince! Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, what do you wish to be this man's fate?"

Katara stared at the man still incased in her ice, her eyes narrowed in hate.

"I want him to be put in a place where he will never see sunlight or another woman again," she called so that all would hear her. She then released him from the ice with a flick of her wrist as members of the guard made their way into the arena to arrest the man.

However, as soon as he saw Katara start to turn her back, the Captain staggered to his feet and aimed a fire whip at her. Somehow, Katara sensed what was happening, and she dropped to the ground, balancing herself on her arms, and kicked out in a typical fire bending move. It was water, however, that responded; a pulse of the liquid that was still on the ground shot towards the unsuspecting man, battering him in the stomach and sending him to the floor a few feet back.

He emitted a sound akin to a roar and made to stand up and lash out again, but suddenly stopped. Something quick flew through the air in a blur of grey and implanted itself into the side of his neck. Instinctively he drew the dagger out of his skin - but that was the wrong thing to do. It had found its mark on his main artery, and within a few seconds he was surrounded in a pool of his own blood, his eyes glazing over and finally his breath ceasing.

Katara looked to her left, to the point where the knife had come from, and she found the Admiral standing, looking down on the scene unsympathetically. Catching her gaze, he bowed in her direction.

"Impressive aim, Admiral," she called out, nonchalantly.

"Thank you, Master Katara. Betraying his honour by not following the Agni Kai was the last mark against him. I could have waited to court marshall him afterwards, but I believe this fits both our purposes, does it not?" He turned his cold gaze to the people sitting around him. "I will draw up a report immediately recounting his crimes, if anybody is interested in reading it to justify my actions, please do not hesitate to ask." The members of the crowd glanced at one another and many shrugged. After hearing how he treated Master Katara and seeing how dishonourable his conduct was even when she had spared him his life, nobody really cared.

In the meantime, Zuko had made it down to the arena to get Katara. When he turned around he noticed all eyes trained on him. For a split second he remembered standing in the same spot refusing to fight years before. He shook the memory away.

"Let this be a lesson to all my citizens," he started, commanding everybody's attention. "What this man did made him a worthless excuse of a human being. The law thus far in our history has been lenient on the violence many men show towards women, or indeed towards other men, because it was somehow made excusable by war. I am telling you all now that this will change. There will be no mercy shown to anybody who treats another human being like that." He let his words sink in. "And I never want to hear protests again when a woman is present in any meeting. Judge a person on their intelligence, on their potential, on their achievements, but not on their gender. We have come out of a war badly damaged, and we all deserve, man and woman, to follow our own paths. If you miscalculate how you treat your fellow citizens - or foreign citizens alike - you might end up against somebody like Master Katara.

"Have a peaceful journey home. Do what you want with the body.

"Dismissed!"


	7. Springing from the Earth

**A/N: **I'm so sorry that its taken so long to get this chapter up! I've had guests over so couldn't finish it earlier! To make up for it though it is twice as long as the others - so enjoy! Also keep the comments and inboxes coming, really appreciate them! I've had a few questions about Katara's apparent experience and will include a detailed note with my next chapter about my views on this.

**Chapter 7: Springing from the Earth**

Although the days following the now-famous Agni Kai had been quiet and somber, both teenagers felt much closer to one another. Zuko had a newfound respect for Katara's strength and control - how she had managed to pull herself out of the darkest chapter of her life on her own, and yet did not give in to her instincts of revenge enough to kill the captain. Katara similarly saw Zuko in an entirely new light; He had done what she had asked him, he had respected her need for closure and hadn't tried to interfere. She felt proud that he believed in her skills enough to let her take care of herself. It was something Aang had ever trusted her with. But Zuko… Zuko understood and believed - even though she didn't miss his unwavering concentration, ready to intervene should anything go wrong. And that, in itself, made her heart swell in gratitude.

Katara started considering whether the trip they had taken years before to find her mother's killer had been more genuine on his part than she had originally thought. Perhaps it was motivated more by understanding and support than guilt for the betrayal under Ba Sing Se. The thought of it made her smile.

Slowly, things started returning to something like normality. They trained in the mornings, and there were no more protests when Katara walked into meetings. In fact, the counsellors eventually had to begrudgingly admit she was an important addition to their discussions, since she had most recently visited many of the areas they were analysing and she was the only one to have a firm grasp of Water Tribe traditions.

Zuko did notice, though, how every day the dark shadow that had inhabited Katara's features since she had returned was being slowly lifted. She smiled more - really smiled, up to her eyes - and her laughs were more genuine. There was a distinct bounce in her step as she walked around the palace, and in training sessions she was much lighter on her feet. It was as if an enormous weight had been literally lifted from her shoulders.

It was rare that the Fire Prince's schedule remained empty for any considerable period of time now that he was acting as Fire Lord. Rare - but not unheard of, he told Katara when he realised he had one of these precious days coming up.

The sun had awakened the earth by the time they finished training, having taken it slow instead of trying to cram as much as possible in a short amount of time. They tried to throw one another their own elements, so that they switched continuously between fire and water. It turned out beautifully when Katara conjured an intricate ship out of mist and Zuko managed to take it over seamlessly as it continued its journey across the room. Zuko then created a dragon out of fire, leaving it shimmering in front of them, containing a burning wisdom behind its amber eyes.

Katara grinned. The dragon was the creature from which fire was learned, so she would create her own counterpart. According to her text, it was the dolphins from which her people learned water - but Katara had seen very few in her life. Instead she gave a shape to the ocean, letting it free-form and become clouds and rain as the dragon and the sea danced around one another.

They ended the dance, painfully aware of how close they had become, chests heaving as they tried to breathe in enough air to fill their lungs once again. Their eyes met, continuing the dance of their elements, although there seemed to be fire in the depths of her blueness and a calm, growing tide behind his golden ones.

Katara was the first to look away and step backwards, breaking the spell they had fallen under.

"Maybe we should take a breath of fresh air?" she asked awkwardly. Zuko sighed quietly to himself, then nodded and they headed outside to the sun.

The light hit them in full force as soon as they stepped out of the door. Usually, the dim lighting inside was not far off from the early morning sun by the time they finished their training. However, since they had taken things easy today, the contrast was striking. They blinked away the first impact and appreciated how the golden autumnal light caressed the gardens. There weren't really extreme seasons in the Fire Nation, just slight accents to the warmth of the sun and the colour of the trees; a half-hearted impersonation of the outside world. In the most sparse islands, which included some of the colonies, there was no difference at all - merely more or less rain at different times of year. The gentle climate had allowed the Fire Nation to expand as much as it had, since it did not need to worry about the winter months - although the drier seasons meant that certain food was hard to come by.

Now, at the beginning of this pseudo-autumn, the sun had mellowed and the trees turned yellow and shed their leaves within a week in order to fertilise the ground at their feet. Shortly afterwards, they would grow some more, not needing to wait out the winter frost. The air was slightly more biting that usual, although still humid, with a cooler breeze ruffling the messy hair of the two teenagers.

They headed for the grassy slope that lead to their training area, and threw themselves down on the lawn to gaze at the clouds meandering through the blue.

There was silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts and enjoying the welcome cool of the wind.

"Zuko?" attempted Katara, breaking the enchanting quiet.

"Mmmm" he replied, not taking his eyes off the sky.

"I wanted to say thank you. For… the way you treated me when everything… happened."

"You've already thanked me Katara. And besides, there's no need. You would have done the same for me." Katara allowed herself a smile. Yes, she would have. It was something new that she held the same perspective as somebody else.

"No, I mean in the Agni Kai. You didn't hold me back or force me to stop. You just… believed in me I guess and let me do what I felt I had to do," she trailed off, returning her gaze to the clouds.

Zuko frowned.

"I'm not really sure what you expected. I took you to find your mother's killer and stood by you as you decided whether to spare him his life or not. This isn't really very different, is it?" Katara chewed her lip.

"This is going to sound really horrible but I thought when we went on that trip it was just because you felt guilty and wanted to be part of the group. I'm thinking that maybe I underestimated you, and that you may have done it not only for selfish reasons. So I guess, thank you for that too…"

Zuko's face fell. He had tried so hard to dispel the bad opinions people held about him and the idea that she still thought that about him until now was not a nice feeling. It brought back too many memories.

"Katara, I did want to make it up to you. I wanted to show you that I could be as supportive of you as you were being of everybody else. I felt dreadful about what happened under Ba Sing Se - you were so kind to me, you offered to heal this monstrosity," he indicated the burned side of his face, "and I could see that you needed some peace from the things that were tormenting you. I did hope it would heal the wound between us but I wanted to go with you even if it didn't help me…"

Katara felt tears spring to her eyes at the sadness in his tone.

"I'm sorry. I don't think about you like that anymore. I haven't for a while but this… well… thank you… again." They fell into silence once more, their minds drifting back to the times when first one, then the other, was so filled with hate and rage that they couldn't even be in the same room together. Now a day felt sad and empty if they didn't see one another.

"Hey Katara? Can I ask you something?" started Zuko screwing up his courage.

"Sure."

"Well… you know that night we were going over trade and military… uh… things in my study?" Katara stiffened. She had a very bad feeling of where this conversation was going.

"Yes, I remember," she said slowly.

"Well you kissed me…"

"You kissed me back!" she quipped immediately. Zuko was confused.

"Yes, I did. But you were the one who started it… and ended it. And I wanted to know, well, why?" The question hung in the air as Katara took a deep breath.

"Why what? Why did I start it or why did I end it?" her voice was steady. She owed it to him to be honest, after everything he had done for her.

"Uh… both?"

"I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you." Zuko couldn't conceal a small smile at that. Even though it was obvious; why would she kiss him if she hadn't wanted to kiss him?, it still made his heart flutter. He wondered how much emphasis she was putting on the fact that it was _him_.

"And you stopped because…? Am I a bad kisser or something?" Zuko regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. He was just trying to relieve the tension that had suddenly formed between them. Katara avoided eye contact, fixating a very wispy, non-descript cloud.

"No, Zuko, you are not a bad kisser," she started carefully. Despite himself, this made him smile again. "You put your hand behind my head to… pull me closer I think. But I… have not been good with physical contact… as you know. I was scared that I would break down so I left quickly," she glanced at him to gauge his reaction. "For what its worth, it triggered nothing bad. I didn't associate it with what… happened… at all."

Zuko stared at her in shock as he processed this. Of course! Obviously! He hadn't thought of it because he didn't know what had happened to her at the time.

"I'm so sorry Katara, I didn't know…"

"No, its alright. As I said, I enjoyed it. But don't worry, it won't happen again." Zuko inexplicably felt light headed at her words. Did that mean she regretted it? Maybe she _was _promised to somebody else after all!

"So… you regret it? Because I liked it you know…" _Oh yes Zuko _he thought _that is definitely the way to sweet-talk the ladies_! Zuko seriously needed to address the fact that his mind seemed to lack a filter when he was around Katara like this. He wasn't sure if the conversation could have been any more painfully awkward.

"Wait what? Regret it? No, of course not! But… wait… Zuko can you just be straightforward about things? Do you want something like that to happen again?" She had sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and looking down at Zuko who was rigidly lying on the ground trying to control the fierce blush that was taking over his features.

"I… well… yes. I thought that was pretty obvious?" he said, avoiding her gaze. Then quickly added "but you know, if you don't -uh- see me in that way thats fine too!"

Katara rested her head on her knees, squeezing her eyes shut.

"But don't you think of me as disgusting after what happened to me? I told you what he did to me…"

Zuko's eyes widened in disbelief. Katara thought that _he _found _her _repulsive! He sat up to face her.

"How could you even think something like that! Katara I think you are the bravest, kindest, strongest, most intelligent, most talented and … and most beautiful person I've ever met. I could never find you disgusting - not when we were mortal enemies and most definitely not now that you've proved how strong you can be!" _The filter problem really needs to be addressed,_ he thought distantly.

"So… you… don't mind the scars?" her voice was quiet, and she turned to him with wide blue eyes filled to the brim in tears. He gaped at her.

"What the HELL Katara!" he said angrily, moving towards her and pointing to his face, "have you forgotten that I have a scar that has fucking deformed my face? Given to me by my _father_? Or one decorating my chest given to me by my _sister_? What the hell is wrong with you?!" Now he was angry. If she thought he could dislike her because of a few scars when he himself was covered in wounds then she was thicker than he thought.

However, she shrank back a little and shook her head frantically.

"No, you don't understand," she choked out, "your scars, they add to your character; you got them by being kind and brave; they're a reminder of how … how … amazing you are! Mine, I had no choice in mine. Its not like I was on some grand mission to save anybody, or help anybody - it was an accident that I was put in that situation. It is a physical representation of my own stupidity and my own weakness. I… I can't even look at myself with them anymore!" By this point tears were streaming down her face, her eyes searching him imploring him to understand.

Zuko's expression softened. He shuffled over to where she was sitting and put his arms around her. She stiffened momentarily before relaxing in his hold.

"Don't tell yourself that Katara. That's what Ozai told me about mine, and that is more of a scar than anything physical. I didn't choose my scars either. I didn't know he was going to destroy my face, and I didn't know what Azula had in mind. Yes, I got mine having done, retrospectively, good things… but you got yours on a search for knowledge! You're the first person in … well … Yue knows how long to command more than one element! You have translated ancient texts and become the most powerful healer the world has to offer. A journey you easily could have ended with Hama by following in her footsteps, but you chose not to. To me, scars are just reminders of the times we have been through; and yours show how any obstacle can be overcome." He was stroking her hair and he felt his own throat close up at the words that were coming out of his mouth. He hadn't even planned to say them but as soon as he heard his own voice utter them he knew it to be true. He sniffed, holding back whatever emotion was threatening to overflow.

"Besides," he continued into her hair, "unlike some of us at least you have the looks to pull them off," he chuckled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Katara stirred from his arms and fixed him with an angry glare.

"Oh please Zuko, you are extremely attractive and don't even think of pretending you don't know that!"

Zuko looked at her as if she were crazy, and let her wriggle out of his arms. They felt slightly empty, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

"Oh, yeah, because you can see all the girls who are throwing themselves at me - and I'm not talking about the ones that want my position and money. I mean my last relationship ended up with her going off with another girl! Look, I don't need your sympathy Katara, I know what I look like," he grumbled bitterly looking away. Alright, bringing up looks was a bad idea. What was he thinking? She was far too pretty to be with him!

"ZUKO! Look at me!" she sounded mad. "I have travelled around the world. Twice. And I have seen fine men from all nations and all walks of life. From kings to chiefs to warriors to traders and shoeshiners. I can tell you that, honestly, hand over heart, you top them all," she reached out to squeeze his hand. _Well she looks genuine_, he thought, _maybe she hit her head very hard at some point. Regardless, not something to complain about!_

"Especially," she added with a weak smirk, "now that you've got rid of that weird bald-pony-tail-thing. That was not a good look for you!" He laughed in spite of himself.

They both seemed to realise they were still holding hands at about the same time. Katara blushed.

"Well, I guess if … we both … you know …"

Zuko rolled his eyes and leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and planted a soft kiss of Katara's lips. She was taken by surprise, but as he pulled away she followed him and captured his lips against hers, savouring the feeling and the shivers that involuntarily made their way up her spine.

* * *

She was suddenly very aware of the proximity of his still-shirtless body. He tentatively reached a hand up, as he had before, and cupped the back of her head, pulling her closer. She stiffened momentarily out of habit, but then relaxed into the touch. This was a lifetime away from the last man who touched her. There was no similarity at all.

He felt relief at her subtle encouragement; she moved towards him instead of away when he had entwined his hand in her hair. Maybe he could place one behind her back? Would that be going too far?

Katara broke the kiss and placed her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"Zuko, stop hesitating. If you do something I don't like, I will tell you - believe me." She looked serious, although there was a sparkle in her expression that made Zuko's stomach tighten in anticipation. He grinned.

He placed both his hands on her waist and lifted her onto his lap. She brushed away a strand of raven black hair that had fallen in front of his face and leaned forward into him.

This time Zuko could feel her body against his; the bulge of her breasts underneath her wrappings, her hips against his - but he was shocked when he came in contact with her exposed midriff. Her naked skin against his sent a buzz through his whole body and he found himself regarding the rest of her clothes bitterly.

Katara mentally groaned as his sculpted body came in contact with hers. The hardness of his muscles that encompassed her were rather distracting - and the fact he was being so gentle with her, his movements flowing like she had taught him to treat water, thrilled her even more.

Without warning, Zuko froze. Katara pulled away from him, worried, and noticed that he was blushing a shade of deep crimson. He awkwardly shifted his legs under her and gently lifted her back onto the ground next to him, away from his body. Katara pouted in protest, but then registered the bulge straining against his training trousers. Her breath hitched in her throat - she couldn't say she wasn't impressed. But she felt torn between an intense desire and a gut wrenching fear for what was contained underneath that deep red fabric. Her heart swelled at the realisation that he had anticipated her reaction and moved her away so as to not frighten her completely.

He changed position so as to be less obvious and looked away in embarrassment.

"I… eh … sorry about that - I guess I got a little… um… over excited," he mumbled, fixing a point to her left and trying to calm himself down. _Baby steps _he thought, _her last experience was horrendous!_ He had already decided that he needed to build her up to it - if _it_ was ever going to happen. Which he really, really hoped it would. He was mentally berating himself for having ruined such a perfect moment. _It has been a while though, _he reasoned to himself.

Katara took his hand from where it was nervously rubbing the back of his neck and squeezed it.

"Don't apologise Zuko. Please. I… I will get over this. It will take time…." He nodded, still staring at the air beside Katara. "I'm impressed though," she added with a lopsided, sheepish grin, trying to lighten the mood.

Zuko glanced at her in confusion, then took in her expression and glanced down at himself, his face reddening even more. He was flattered but had never been complimented before! He had no idea how to react.

Katara giggled at his apparent nervousness, leaned in, and kissed him again.

* * *

Their day of private respite from the pressures of the nation was far too short. After their moments on the grass they retreated to their separate rooms to bathe and dress for the day - although it was already almost lunch time, and the weather had soured, granting them one of the last rain storms of the season. They decided to spend the rest of the day in Zuko's grand sitting room with some tea and a game of Pai Sho. However, the game hardly started before the two were rather distracted by one another's lips.

It felt as if now that the first barrier was down a whole flood of emotions were pouring out of the two. Although they did nothing but kiss, neither had felt so passionate in their entire lives.

The sitting room was a wide open space with three large windows reaching from floor to ceiling on one side. The walls had recently been redecorated into ornate orange swirls on a cream background, reminiscent of a fire-dancer's moves. The floor was littered with intricately embroidered pillows of many colours, one more large and comfortable than the next. The cushions were loosely scattered around low wooden tables, each with a unique tea set ready to be used - no doubt Uncle Iroh's influence! The light, inoffensive colour scheme and the vast view of the grounds made it the best room to feel at ease in the entire palace.

And here the two teenagers were attempting to remember the rules Uncle Iroh had taught them about Pai Sho. Katara bit her bottom lip and she considered which of three paths to take to create the next harmony. No matter what she did she would lose a tile, but it was about weighing up which was least important to her. Glancing up at Zuko, she noticed how his eyes were not trained on the board, but instead were calmly observing her lips. She felt her heart beat quicken and an idea came to her.

She carefully let her bottom lip slide away from her teeth and smiled. Apparently spontaneously, she leaned across the table and kissed Zuko. He was surprised, but closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment, resentful that she pulled away.

Katara sighed.

"Come on, lets finish this game!" she said, making her move. Zuko gave her one last longing look before returning to the game.

He frowned.

He could have sworn that he had her cornered - that no matter what she did he would take her tile! Wait… didn't he have a tile on the left of…

Katara stifled a giggle at his confusion. He looked up to her barely concealed grin and narrowed his eyes.

"You took my tile!" he accused in mock anger.

"Which tile is that? Do you mean this one?" she asked innocently, holding it up between her thumb in forefinger.

"Precisely! Give it back," he growled, trying to snatch it back just as she pulled it out of his reach. Katara raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know… I kind of like it. But I guess if you really want it, you could always come and get it?" she said, as seductively as she could manage without laughing at herself. Zuko looked at her shocked, but loved the thrill of adrenaline spreading through his body, and reverted to his blue spirit persona as he leaped over the table to Katara and pinned her down against one of the cushions, holding her hands in his and kneeling either side of her. However, the tile was not there!

Katara giggled and half lifted herself so she could kiss him again. Suddenly the tile was extremely unimportant, and Katara's body under Zuko's was all he knew about the room. He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist, lowering himself down so he was on top of her but not crushing her. She wriggled under him and he realised she wanted him to turn onto his back. In doing so, though, he pulled her on top of him - which she seemed to enjoy as she pressed herself onto him even more. This time he let his hands roam all over her back, pleased by her small shivers as he did so. Somehow she was straddling him, their hips and lips pressed together mirroring the other.

"Katara," groaned Zuko, slowing their movement and trying to push her off him. He was far too excited again.

"I don't care, Zuko," she whispered, holding onto him more tightly and nibbling playfully at his ear, "I like it."

Something snapped inside Zuko at her words, and he gave in to instinct, moving with her, letting his hands rove over her bottom and pulling her closer. Her little gasps of pleasure against his lips and the way she tugged lightly at his hair sent him close to the edge already. He flipped them over so he was on top again, leaning on his elbows either side of her face as her legs wound around his hips and pulled him down closer. Both their hips seemed to follow a natural rhythm that made their muscles shake; that made his erection grow to a full strength in a way that felt completely new with Katara; that created a dampness between her legs Katara had forgotten the sensation of.

* * *

There was an urgent knock at the door. Neither acknowledged its presence, too absorbed in the small world they were creating on the cushions.

The knock came again, instantly shattering their bliss. Zuko groaned.

"What is it?" he called, bitterly.

"Fire Prince Zuko, an urgent message has just arrived from Fire Lord Iroh," called an uncertain voice from the other side of the door. Zuko shut his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Put it in my study. I will be there in five minutes."

"Yes, Fire Prince Zuko," called the voice, and they heard footsteps rushing away down the corridor.

Katara's lips were playfully kissing his neck in a tantalisingly slow way. Zuko leaned his head back so as to expose more of his neck to her caresses.

"I've changed my mind," he moaned, "Uncle's message can wait." However, Katara removed her legs from around him and gently brushed some of his hair away from his face. She reached under the cushion she was sitting on an pulled out the White Lotus tile she had stolen, placing it in his hand and wrapping his fingers around it.

"You know Iroh wouldn't write if it wasn't important," she chided gently, although she was dangerously close to agreeing with him.

Zuko sighed and buried his head in the crook of her neck as she played with his hair. He tried to calm himself down enough to be presentable and slowly lifted himself to his feet, looking down at Katara who was still lying on the floor, her soft wavy hair spread out on the cushions. He couldn't resist kneeling down and planting one last kiss on her lips before brushing out the creases in his clothes and leaving without a word.

* * *

Katara stayed where she lay for a long time, enjoying the warmth that still surrounded her, his scent left on the cushions around her. However, as time drew on it all faded and she was left to her thoughts. There was a strange fear in the pit of her stomach, entwined with a fierce pleasure and longing; what _was_ this thing they had? She told herself it was a fling - it had all happened today after all! Tomorrow was a new day, maybe things would not feel the same. Even as she told herself this she knew it had been coming much longer than a day and that it was already much more than just a fling.

Her imagination ran away with her and pictured herself as Fire Lady - would she even be allowed? Would they accept her? They already let her into important decisions - so it couldn't be that far from everybody's minds! Or would they insist he marry a fire nation noblewoman? Would he want to keep her as a whore?

No. She would never be that. She was a jealous person, thinking that he was sleeping with somebody else as well as her would hurt far too much.

Wait, when had she decided to sleep with him? What did she even _want_ to happen?

Katara groaned, clutching her head and went to bed early without any dinner.

* * *

The next day they meditated in silence as usual and made their way to their training area stealing calculating glances at one another but saying nothing. Both had been tormented with thoughts for the future and had tried to reassure themselves that it was nothing. Seeing one another again, though, was a complete contradiction to their self-assurances.

The metal door clanged shut behind them and Zuko removed his shirt as he always did, kicking it into a corner. When he turned around, Katara was already in a stance and sent a water whip his way. She wanted to fight, she wanted to let out her frustration with herself and the situation even though she already knew she could do nothing to change the way she felt.

He intercepted it easily and returned it in the form of ice spikes. She ducked out of the way and caught them before they could reach the ground, melting them into steam that filled the room. She sent the vapour to Zuko surrounding him and liquidised it simultaneously, drenching him in water.

Zuko couldn't help but joining in Katara's laugh as he stood spluttering in the middle of the arena before bending the water out of his clothes and hair.

"Wait Katara! Stop! I've had a thought… could you go outside and get a few sticks?" said Zuko, calming his breath and sporting a strange thoughtful look.

"Eh… sure?" she left to track down some bits of wood.

When she returned, her arms full of sticks of various sizes, he had not moved at all, and stood with his eyes closed in deep concentration.

"Right, lets hear this idea then?" she said, smiling and letting the wood clatter to the floor, kicking the door shut behind her. Zuko turned to regard her, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I'm not sure if this will work… but with water there are different things you can do; you can make mist, water or ice… and you can pull moisture from things around you all the time right? So basically you are concentrating all the water from the surroundings in one place - its like you are redistributing it. Water and fire - we know - are not as different as we thought they were, so what if I can do the same thing with fire? If mist or moisture can be condensed to create water, then can heat be condensed to create fire? One of the main problems with fire bending is that the fire we create runs out of fuel, so to hold anything stationary we have to continually feed it…"

Katara frowned. This was all important, but she wasn't sure where this was going.

"So I'm going to try and create an area of intense heat… and when I tell you to, could you throw some wood into the space?" Katara raised her eyebrows but nodded.

Zuko turned his back to her and concentrated once more, sinking into a low, stable stance and spreading his arms wide. He then slowly brought them in, rotating them as if compressing a ball in front of him. Katara felt the air around her grow very cold and started shivering. She tried to create some fire to warm herself up but swallowed a cry of surprise when she was unable to do so.

"Now Katara," called Zuko in a strained voice.

Shivering, Katara picked up a stick and threw it to the area of space in front of him. As soon as it made contact with the shimmering mass of heat in the centre of the arena it burst into flames, completely ash before even reaching the ground.

Katara forgot about the cold and threw more and more sticks into the heat until all that was left was a heap of ash on the floor. Zuko relaxed his stance and spread his arms out. Katara could feel the warmth coming back to her, flowing around her like a stream of water would. It gave her power and she instinctively produced a small flame in the palm of her hand, relieved she could do so again. They observed one another. Zuko frowned.

"Katara, your lips are blue!" he exclaimed, pinpointing what seemed off with her.

"You kind of took away all the heat in the room, Zuko," she said, shrugging. His eyes widened and he hurried over to her, instinctually hugging her in apology.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't think this through!" he murmured into her hair.

The feel of his arms surrounding her once again made Katara decide then and there that she wouldn't resist temptation anymore. The consequences would rear their ugly head eventually, but for now she had gone through too much sorrow to deny herself this.

As Zuko pulled away he noticed a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"It was really horrible," she said in a mock hurt tone, looking up at him with large, innocent eyes, "the least you could do is warm my lips up for me…"

A grin spread across Zuko's face, as he leaned down to obediently press his lips against hers.

Like the day before, the contact triggered something within both of them. Suddenly her arms were wrapped around his neck, her hands playing in his hair, while his held her waist tightly against him. Without thinking, he let his hands drop so they tugged at the back of her thighs, and sensing what he wanted, Katara jumped up and wrapped her legs just above his waist, feeling him growing beneath her. His strong arms held her weight easily, and her new position gave him access to her neck where he trailed kisses up and down.

"Maybe I should do this more often," he mumbled into the hollow underneath her ear.

* * *

Suddenly there was a deafening scraping sound and light flooded into the arena, before a matching sound and the light returning to normal. Zuko turned, still clutching Katara, towards the noise and was shocked to see Toph standing inside the arena, having just metal bent her way into it. Zuko's jaw dropped, and his face started burning in embarrassment as he lowered Katara gently to the floor.

As soon as her feet reached the ground, Toph's eyebrows raised inquisitively, then her eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh wow! Were you two just… do you even have clothes on? Might want to calm yourself down there Fire Prince - I might not be able to see, but I sure know what that kind of heartbeat means!"


	8. Finding the Right Path

**A/N: **I have put the promised note on an analysis of Katara (and Toph)'s sexualities at the end as I feel the chapter will probably explain as much as a note could. So here we go, Chapter 8! A bit more Zutara on the plate and the introduction to the next phase of the adventure! Keep those private messages and comments coming, always good to get feedback and suggestions!

**Chapter 8: Finding the Right Path**

"Aren't you a little young to know what that kind of heartbeat means?" retorted Katara with a nervous laugh, composing herself while Zuko was still opening and closing is mouth like a gaping fish. Toph had just metal bent her way into his private arena while he and Katara were getting more than comfortable in one another's arms.

Toph stood taller than either had seen her, and had lost much of her childish fat, leaving her much thinner and more shapely than before. Her figure could even be described as delicate when she wore some of her traditional dresses — but she was rarely seen to do so.

"Ha!" she replied, flicking her head so that some of her bangs moved from her face, "I'm fifteen…Tell me Sugar Queen, how old were you with Jet?" Toph grinned broadly. She already knew she had won this.

"I… That's beside the point! It was war, we could have died any day!" defended Katara, feeling her face redden.

"Yeah well, Sweetness, you weren't the only one who grew up during the war — we're all children of conflict here and we all grew up far too fast. But, whatcha gonna do about it - I was never going to get my kicks from normal things! Might as well enjoy what we've got - I see you two are taking that on board," she said nonchalantly but with a strange drawn expression hovering over her features.

It was true. All of them had been thrown into a world that adults found hard to navigate. They were all too young and too innocent — but somehow, against all odds, they had survived. But surviving had cost them their innocence and their childhood. There they stood, considering their lives and the way they had been affected. Toph, 15 years old, had fought against her parents' captivity and left home at 12. Katara, now 17, had taken her mother's place at far too young an age. Zuko, 19, had never felt his father's love and had been banished at the age of 13. The start of each of their journeys had thrown them together at the hardest of times. None of them could relate to a normal child's found solace in other people like themselves, but mostly in one another. There was no need for explanations for their sadness when they remembered the war, nor pity when they confessed what had happened to them. Simply understanding and camaraderie.

They snapped out of their reverie as Katara approached Toph and threw her arms around her. Surprisingly, Toph didn't squirm away as she usually did - instead she hugged her back tightly, feeling tears prickling behind her eyes. She had missed them. This was her true family after all.

"I'm glad you have clothes on Sweetness! Not that I would have minded…" she added. Katara considered the girl in front of her.

"Do you play for both sides Toph?" asked Katara, slightly surprised. She had never noticed this preference in her friend before.

"Mmmm you could say that. You want to watch out Fire Prince Sparky," she giggled, winking at him. "Right, well I will leave you to get decent and meet you in that room with all the cushions and tea," she said confidently. "I'll take my hug from you when you are less… ah… preoccupied with other things… Bye!" and with that she bent her way out the same way she came.

"I'm fine now!" Zuko called after her. He was still standing where he and Katara had been embraced, and looked stunned at the exchange that had just happened. Since when had these girls he had grown up with become so open and confident about their sexuality?

Katara walked back to him, apparently at ease now, and wrapped her arms around him for a quick kiss.

"Katara you know I can't stay long with you and Toph… I've got those reports from the colonies to get through," he said regretfully. Although he would have preferred it if Toph had not interrupted them, spending time with the two girls was second on his list of things he would rather be doing.

"No, I understand. At least stay for a cup of tea?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully. He kissed her nose gently.

"One cup," he promised. Katara smiled up at him. "Why do we _always_ get interrupted though!" he moaned as they walked out of the arena. "I build a fucking impenetrable metallic arena and of course the world's only metal bender has to arrive," he grumbled half to himself.

* * *

Zuko couldn't keep his one-cup-of-tea promise before being called away, leaving Toph and Katara alone to catch up.

"So, Sweetness, heard what happened with you and that general…" started Toph. She was never one to be subtle about hard conversations. Katara sighed, forcing down another gulp of tea.

"It was a captain. How did you hear about that?" she asked quietly. Toph shrugged.

"News spreads pretty quickly when you know what to listen for. Although I think the story may have been exaggerated somewhat… One version makes you some merciful saviour while the next tells of the bloodthirsty water bender! Did you really skewer him with an icicle eight feet long?" She was leaning forward now, all interest and excitement. Katara let out the breath she had been holding quietly - Toph wanted to talk about the Agni Kai, not the reason for it.

"No, I did not! I did trap him in a ball of water suspended in the air until he almost drowned…" Toph made an appreciative noise, "But I didn't kill him - I spared him his life. His admiral killed him when he had lost and still attacked me. You aren't supposed to do that in an Agni Kai and apparently its a big deal."

"You didn't kill him? Why? He fucking deserved it!" grumbled Toph, slightly put out by the lack of violence.

"It was supposed to be a political move; as in if he could rot in a deep, dark jail for the rest of his life then people might get the message that it is not alright and not pass it off as personal revenge… as it turned out, though, the admiral's finale brought much more attention to the situation. I hope it sends a message," she explained bitterly.

"I think it did. There are little girls all over wanting to be you! They were doing it all wrong though, I had to teach them to be more bossy!" Toph grinned as Katara punched her playfully in the arm.

"How are you though Toph? What have you been doing?"

"Eh, this and that. Mama and papa Bei Fong have finally accepted the fact that I'm my own person, so at least that is sorted out." Toph took a sip of her tea.

"That's wonderful Toph! Its good you can go back to your family. You really missed them," encouraged Katara, not without sadness at the thought of the split in her own family since she had met her father in the North Pole.

"They still need work, but I'm happy about it. Other than that I've just been travelling and rebuilding. I spent a lot of time in Omashu with Bumi - I love that guy! He's amazing! And… eh… yeah. I can't compete in the Earth Rumble anymore because apparently 'it isn't a competition if you always win'," Toph made a face, "Those stupid cowardly bastards! I'll tell you what though, I'm sort of craving something long to do. I've… I've not been happy recently. Maybe happy isn't the right word. Maybe 'content' is a better word. I just feel like there is something missing," she looked down at her hands, a sadness lining her features that made her look much, much older than she was.

"Oh Toph," said Katara quietly, reaching out and taking her hand.

"Its alright. I'm not the type to give in… I just… I guess I'm just a little lost," she admitted, a familiar lump rising in her throat. Somewhere in the back of Toph's mind a younger version of herself was horrified at her breaking down in front of Katara - but a wiser version told her that Katara was probably the only person who could help her. She had been more of a mother to her than her own mother, and she needed someone - anyone - to understand. Katara had gone through shit, so she would probably get it… right? "I just, I don't know if I can ever find a path again," she continued, letting tears slide out of her sightless eyes. "Its as if everything is dull - like I'm feeling everything through sand and I'm stumbling around in the middle of nowhere!" she choked out. She felt Katara shift and found herself wrapped in the older girl's arms.

"I know how it feels," she cooed into Toph's black hair, "everything is distant and you can't connect to reality. You feel like you've been swallowed up somewhere and you might never feel the sunlight on your skin again. You are cold even in the sweltering heat, and physical pain hardly affects you at all. You try everything to force some life back into your system but nothing works." Toph nodded into her shoulder, overcome by an intense gratefulness for Katara's understanding.

"But you are still here Toph, and you will get through this. It is horrible and affects every part of your life, but I'll help you. Stay here for a while? Zuko and I know very well how you are feeling. You shouldn't be alone right now," she continued gently, rocking Toph in her arms.

"Thank you K—Katara!" sobbed Toph, shaking in her arms.

"Hey, thats what we do for family," she whispered, her own throat closing at her words.

* * *

Toph had fallen asleep instantly after her exhausting day. Katara listened for her light snoring at her door before walking past and heading for Zuko's rooms. She knocked but received no answer, and so peaked in to find the room still dark and uninhabited. Quietly, she entered, shutting the door behind her and lighting the candles adorning the room.

It was late. Where was he?

She looked around his room and settled in one of the armchairs to wait. However, as time ticked on, she became uncomfortable and drifted to the large double bed. She lay down on it - just to see what it was like - she told herself. As soon as her head touched the soft pillow, though, she too fell asleep.

* * *

Zuko finished reading through the uselessly detailed reports very late into the night. He made a note to hire somebody to go through the reports for him and only hand him the ones that were worth reading. Sighing, he put out the lights and wondered towards his room. He frowned. There was light coming from under his door…

Slowly, he crept to the room and pushed the door ajar quietly to peak in. He relaxed as he took in the half melted candles and a sleeping Katara on his bed. He felt an inexplicable surge of pride at the sight of her in _his_ bed. Zuko hovered in the doorway, unsure whether to take her back to her room or to leave her sleeping as she was. He bit his lip. He should ask.

Gently, he tapped her shoulder and called her name. Her eyes cracked open, before she realised where she was and she sat up blinking away the cobwebs of sleep.

"I didn't mean to wake you completely - I just wanted to know if you wanted to stay here or if you wanted me to take you back to your room?" he asked, taking in the image of a sleepy, messy-haired Katara with amusement.

"I… We need to talk Zuko," she said, yawning.

"I think we should wait till tomorrow morning - you look like you're about to nod back off!" he said mockingly, taking off his outer robes and shoes.

Katara shook her head.

"No, we need to talk now while Toph is asleep!" she insisted. He sighed and sat cross legged across from her on the bed, waiting to hear what she had to say. A part of him was disappointed that she only wanted to talk, but he smothered that train of thought.

"Toph is depressed. Seriously depressed or she wouldn't have talked to me about it. I'm very worried about her Zuko. She was so young during the war!" Zuko sighed.

"We were all young during the war, Katara," he reminded her.

"Yes, I know. But we have all found some sort of a path; you as Fire Prince, Sokka as future Chief, Suki as Kyoshi Leader and future Cheifess, Aang as restorer of the Air Nation and me with this whole research thing. We've had our down times but we've all created something to keep ourselves occupied, to fill the void opened up during the fighting. Toph hasn't. All her projects were short term and she's lost, left to face her demons with no distractions. We need to do something!"

Zuko considered her words. She was right. Toph was possibly the most powerful and yet the most lost one of all of them. And she was still so young!

"She can stay here for as long as she likes, just to calm down and find her way?" he suggested. And Iroh would adore having her around.

"I was… see I was thinking, what if we - uh - taught her?" Zuko's eyes widened in realisation.

"Do you think that's wise? I mean its already a risk that there are two of us practicing fire and water every day!" _And _, he added mentally, _we wouldn't get to have fun on our own!_

"I've been thinking about it a lot. Yue said that not everybody is like us and that we are drawn to one another like the tides. Well, the tides are turning with everything I have discovered and everything we have learned. And suddenly Toph appears wanting some reason, some mission, some meaning to who she is. When I teach you blood bending you will be able to feel it too, but she is just as strong as either of us, you know. I've been observing and not everybody is like this; the other fire benders have sort of chi pooled in the areas typical of fire bending. That means that even if I were to redirect their chi flow, hardly any would reach the other patterns. You and I, though, we have equal amounts of chi flowing throughout - and so does Toph. I don't know why. I've been thinking about this since we spoke to Yue…" she trailed off, looking to him for his reaction.

Zuko considered it. To learn earth bending would be incredible. It would give Toph something about herself she never knew, and it would further whatever this was Yue was letting them do. On the other hand, the more people knew, the more people risked finding out. Although, Toph _was_ as tough as they came and would defend their secret to the end.

"Don't you think it is a little dangerous teaching a blind girl to shoot fire?" he asked. It wasn't an objection exactly - just a consideration. He had already accepted Katara's proposal.

"I've been thinking about that too; the way you felt the heat in the room today - it was like I feel the moisture. If there is anything Toph is good at it is feeling things she can't see. Maybe she wouldn't have to bend fire - she could learn to understand heat like she learned to understand earth."

"It would give her a new way to see," he said, half to himself. Katara nodded. Zuko sucked in a breath, screwing up his courage. They were walking a very thin, very dangerous line as it was.

"When do we start," he asked. Katara looked relieved at his acceptance.

"Well there is no point starting tomorrow - we would have hardly slept and we need all the concentration we can get! Maybe tomorrow we can talk to her about everything. She might not _want_ to be a part of this, after all. And then if she does we can start the day after?"

"You're right. She won't be responsive until lunch though, so we can talk her through things then?" he reasoned. Katara nodded in agreement and smiled at him.

Zuko frowned as something occurred to him. "You know its not actually that late right? We could still get enough sleep to do our routine…" he suggested. Secretly, he wanted to spend some time alone with her before Toph started interrupting everything.

"I know what the time is. I was kind of thinking that if I stayed here tonight we probably wouldn't end up getting so much sleep. But if you'd rather train, I can go now," she said lightly, turning as if to leave.

"No, no!" he cried, a little too quickly. _Ah yes, the good old show-her-how-desperate-you-are-trick. Well done, Zuko. You sound even more pathetic then usual! _He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I mean, who needs training right? I don't, in fact, I can function really well without any…"

He was cut off by Katara's laugh and the now-familiar sensation of her lips on his. Pulling her close and under the covers, he snuffed out the candles with a flick of his wrist and decided that his bed was far better with her in it.

* * *

Neither really remembered how they had got to their underwear, nor did they care where their discarded clothes had disappeared to. Zuko ran his hands all over her exposed skin, memorising the patterns of her body; the feel of her ribs through her skin, the arch of her back, the curves of her legs as they wrapped around him. He felt Katara doing the same, but she seemed to enjoy the feeling of his chest and stomach most of all. He rolled them so she was on top of him and she could have access as much as she liked. She seemed to enjoy it.

It was slightly unfair that his chest was exposed and hers wasn't. No, unfair was the wrong expression. It was simply _annoying_. He wondered how far he could go before she asked him to stop. However, when she started kissing his jawline and letting her teeth graze his skin, he decided it was worth trying.

He ran his fingers all around her top wrappings, trying to find an opening, but cursed under his breath when he couldn't find it. Katara had stilled under his touch and was laughing slightly at his fumbling fingers. Gently, she took one of his hands and guided it to the middle of the front of the wrappings, letting him feel the slight bulge of the coiled cloth. He pinched it and pulled, letting the rest unravel and be pushed aside.

Zuko regretted having snuffed the candles. He wanted to see her! But there would be time for that, he hoped, at another point. The important thing now was that she was comfortable. Slowly, she lowered herself so she was once again lying on top of him, but this time instead of the rough cloth, he could feel her warm breasts pressed against him. He caressed them gently, savouring their softness on his fingertips. He decided to change their position again so she was below him and he could explore her with his tongue. Her nipples hardened under his kisses, and in a daring move he trailed his lips lower.

Suddenly, he encountered rough skin where there had been only smooth before. It took him a split second to realise these were her burns! He gently explored the whole area, ignoring her stiffening at his attention. There were lots, he realised with dismay. Many more than the ones he had half-glimpsed that day in training. They stretched across her whole width, just underneath her breasts - many were small, some were larger, but he knew they would all have burned just the same.

He carefully kissed as many burns as he could find, feeling her relaxing under his touch. It struck him as though this were destined to happen ever since she touched his scar underneath Ba Sing Se. She had offered to heal him and he was doing his best to heal her now.

She gently pull don his shoulders to signal to him to rise back up her body, and kissed him with a ferocity he had not felt from her before. He vaguely noticed that her face was slightly damp with salty tears as she caressed the burned side of his face.

They did not go any further together, not wanting to ruin the beauty of the moment with something that may turn out to be emotionally disastrous. That was more than fine though, this was far more than either had ever expected to experience.

Tired but more comfortable than either had been in a long time, they fell asleep curled in one another's arms.

* * *

**Ending Note**: I was asked if it was appropriate to assume Katara's sexual encounters with Jet and the ease with which she seems to present herself. Whether or not in the original cartoon she and Jet have sex is not really the point; children in war-torn areas grow up very fast - as Toph points out. They are adults mentally before they become adults physically. Katara had become a mother since her own mother died, and had not come across boys her own age for a long time. She was constantly organising and planning - and Jet was the first person who took that pressure off her shoulders and made her feel like her own person. I think it was the first time in the show where she really thought about herself as separate from her brother and the people around her. That kind of realisation is something very important for her character development, so I've chosen to believe that they did sleep together, since I think she would have been carried away by the new sensations and too scared that she would never experience something of that sort ever again to say no. It also means that his betrayal hit her very hard, which it did in the show too. I do not think that Katara can be considered innocent after everything they went through, though this is a popular line for many Zutara storied. At the very least she would know how things work in sex, verbally if not physically. There is no way she could have grown up so sheltered through their journeys.

Similarly, war-children have missed out on childhood and Toph finds herself in a similar situation at a similar age. Especially for those who have been separated or disappointed by those they love, like Toph was by her parents, they seek shelter in somebody else's arms. However, they never fully trust that person, never fully let themselves go to them in case they are hurt again. That means that there is sex, but no prolonged relationship to speak of. Sticking with Toph having become depressed, she would also have sought out sex in order to feel something like a thrill or excitement but would have found nothing, which probably prompted her experimentation with girls as well as boys.


	9. Badgermole Caught in the Sun

**A/N: **Sorry for the break in update schedule! I'm loving all the pms I'm getting, keep them coming! I'm incorporating all the suggestions I can. Here we see Toph's chi change, Katara's blood cycles and the promise of a full moon! I do also take into consideration those of you who have said that maybe less of the technical bending descriptions would be better since they tend to interrupt the flow, but they become kind of important later on! The next chapter will also focus on the bending aspect, but from then on there is ages before I go into it again, promised!

**Chapter 9: Badgermole Caught in the Sun**

Zuko decided that he rather liked waking up with Katara in his arms. They both slept late but woke up with the first rays of sunlight, stirring against the other's body. Neither spoke for a long while, simply enjoying their skin next to one another, the steady breathing and the comfort of the sheets. The grey dawn was racing towards daytime and they knew their respite wouldn't last, the chinks in the curtains allowing light to fall across their features in the stillness of the room.

As the morning sounds started up around the palace, they both knew they could hide no longer. Zuko sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawned. He looked back at Katara still lying down, the bed sheets pulled down to her hips by his movement. Zuko's breath hitched in his throat at the figure lying beside him. This was nothing like anything he had felt with the other girls he had woken up beside. In fact, he distinctly remembered being somewhat frustrated that there was somebody in his bed.

Katara yawned too and stretched, rolling over onto her side facing away from him.

"I don't want to get up," she grumbled into the pillow. Zuko chuckled.

"Hmmm. Well we could let the Fire Nation collapse today… I wouldn't mind," he teased, pulling her into a cuddle from behind. She sighed in resignation.

"Fine. I'm up! Wouldn't it be wonderful to be irresponsible for once? To just do what you want all the time instead of trying to fit it in around wars and meetings and families…" Katara sat up and tried to locate her clothes from the night before. Zuko managed to see her scars in the half-light creeping through the curtains. His stomach clenched at the sight and he ground his teeth in anger. Katara didn't notice Zuko's reaction as she scrambled around finding her things. She held up her clothes triumphantly and started pulling them on, clearly upset about the fact.

"Right. I will go back to my room and get washed and dressed. And I guess I will try to get Toph out of bed! Remember, we talk to her over lunch," she reminded him while she smoothed out some of the creases in her clothes. Zuko watched sadly as her body was covered up piece by piece. He held out his hand and beckoned her to him with pleading eyes.

When she stood in front of him, he pulled her into one last kiss, before brushing his lips against her forehead and letting her go. Her fingers lingered on his longer than they should have, but Katara straightened her back, took a deep breath and crept out of the room back to her own.

* * *

Toph had not been as stubborn as she used to be about getting up early. Katara suspected it had something to do with her general unfeelingness towards life; it would make no difference if she got up to if she stayed in bed. Katara knew depression. She had known it at various points throughout her life, and she could tell first hand how far gone Toph was. Her mocking comments were forced, her senses dulled, her expression eternally blank. The only feelings she would be experiencing were frustration and indifference - a combination that forms part of a vicious cycle of self-loathing and confusion.

Katara was glad that Zuko had agreed to teach Toph. It would not be immediate, but she hoped giving the girl some sort of a project to concentrate on and making her feel important might reignite some of the essence that was Toph. After all, when she had last lost her path it was the book in Ka' Bei and fire that sent her on her way once more. Zuko had been second guessing his position due to his own boredom and loneliness, and water brought him back to beauty. Perhaps Toph would be able to latch on to both water and fire to pull herself through back to stable rock.

Or at least, Katara hoped.

* * *

Lunch came and Zuko entered Toph's chambers where they were due to eat right on time. He was surprised at how diligently he had worked that morning, but he figured that the satisfaction of the previous night coupled with his excitement for the lunch time conversation must have given him enough motivation to finish on time.

"Right, what is this thing you two want to talk to me about?" started Toph, being the first to take a bowl of rice.

"Erm. I don't really know how to start… I guess the back story?" Katara wondered aloud, looking at Zuko for encouragement. He nodded, indicating that she should continue.

"Right. The back story - except I will shorten it, the details aren't important. When I was travelling I learned blood bending. Hama taught me but I was far more powerful than her and ended up teaching myself. I used it for healing - which is actually far more effective than water," Katara paused to sip some tea as Toph raised her eyebrows in appreciation.

"I stumbled across an old Fire Temple on Ka'Bei island in the Fire Nation. I stayed there a long time reading all their old records in search for any mention of blood bending. Eventually I found a copy of a very ancient text belonging to a population that inhabited the world at least during the times of the lion-turtle cities, if not before them. It took a while to translate it, but when I did I found many things about bending in general - as well as blood bending," Katara took a deep breath, feeling an odd sensation prickling over her body, as if she were about to jump off a very high cliff.

"Blood and chi are linked. By controlling blood you can also control chi - or more accurately chi flow. Every type of bending requires a different - eh - route of chi flow… but I can change this so that it encompasses more than one type of bending." Katara paused to let that sink in. Toph was sitting stock still, her rice forgotten in her lap.

"You can't do this with everybody, though. Yue came to us and told us that -"

"Wait," interrupted Toph, holding up her hand, "_Yue_ spoke to you?!" Katara and Zuko glanced at each other.

"Yes, she did. She told us that not everybody can have their chi flow - eh - altered, and those who can, have some connection to her. Since then I've been observing people's chi flows. Many people have sort of pools of chi in key areas connected with their bending style - which means that any redirecting would do nothing. Others though, have chi flowing in equal amounts all throughout the body and you can shift it so to bend more than one element. Zuko and I are two of those people. You are too." She let her words hang in the air, both her and Zuko waiting calmly for any sort of reaction.

Toph drank some tea. She placed her cup back on the table. She then picked it back up and drank some more. She placed it on the table again. She opened her mouth to speak twice before closing it again. Finally she spoke.

"So. Can you both bend fire and water?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Zuko simply.

"Can you bend earth?"

"No."

"So, since there is something weird about the three of us, you two want me to teach you to earth bend in exchange for fire and water?" she stated quietly.

"Er… well, yes. There is another thing though, when Yue spoke to us, she said that the world was out of balance and that her children (that would be people like us) would rise to set it in balance again. I don't know what that means exactly, but she was happy I was learning water bending. But why the world should be out of balance now that we have the Avatar I'm not sure," explained Zuko.

Toph pursed her lips in thought.

"Since Aang has returned he has ended the war, but then he disappeared to recreate his Air Nation. He has ignored the other three nations that are all in some sort of internal conflict. Bringing the elements together is distant from everybody's minds - if anything he has separated them more by disappearing with the air nation. Now that there is no war, not even the earth kingdom and water tribes have a common goal," said Toph to both Katara's and Zuko's surprise. When had the little, rude, master earth bender become so wise? Then again, she had always been the most perceptive of all of them.

"So maybe we are meant to fill in the gaps left by Aang?" reasoned Zuko. Katara rolled her eyes.

"You and your destiny Zuko! Look, I have no doubt now that Yue had something to do with all of this, but there is still so much we do not know. She did say though that people… people like us are drawn to one another and that we would find them among our closest friends," started Katara in her old authoritarian voice.

"And Toph is one of our closest friends _and_ has chi flowing throughout her body… so you _could _say that it was our destiny after all," teased Zuko with a small smile. He still found it incredible that he could find humour in her teasing. Rewind the clock a few years and when anybody questioned his destiny he would attempt to snap their necks.

Katara huffed in defeat.

"Alright, alright, quit with the flirting, its sickening," interrupted Toph, snapping out of her stupor. "I'm in. I'll teach you and you teach me and we do whatever it is we're _destined_ to do," Katara squealed in delight but was silenced by Toph's hand held up to stop her. "I hope you know, though, that it isn't going to be easy. I'm blind. I can only teach you the way I learned, and I don't think I can learn the way you did easily, if at all. Have you thought about how to get around that?"

"Meditation," said Zuko and Katara simultaneously.

* * *

"Really guys!" groaned a still very sleepy Toph when Zuko and Katara kicked her out of bed just before dawn the next morning.

"It is what it is, Toph," chuckled Zuko, leading them down to the gardens and their usual meditation spot. All three sat on the grass, facing east.

"What am I searching for exactly?" asked Toph, resigned to her early rising.

"When I change your chi flow, you will have a heightened connection with the sun. The light won't mean much to you but the heat will - the sun gives heat and life to all living things and you should be able to feel it seeping through as the sun rises. If you want to you can meditate on something familiar to you - the earth or the rocks or the marble of the palace, and try to feel how they change with the sun. It may be difficult but stick with it! Eventually you should feel a… a sort of power pooling in your stomach. But that may not happen yet. Are you ready?" explained Katara, calming herself in preparation of letting somebody else into her secret.

"Lets do it!" cried Toph, punching the air with a mocking enthusiasm.

Katara took Toph's hand and closed her eyes, willing herself to follow Toph's blood ways. She let herself drift along with the flow of chi, appreciating how the orbit was different to her own. When she reached the area around the torso, where the fire bending chi orbit focussed, she pushed gently so that Toph's flow would expand to encompass it too. She sighed in satisfaction. She would wait to do water when Toph started appreciating fire - otherwise it might confuse her.

"Dawn is starting," observed Zuko, making himself comfortable and focussing his breathing. Zuko and Katara lost themselves with practiced ease into the heat waves of the garden, loving how they became more and more enhanced by the rising of the sun.

Toph, however, felt nothing. Contrary to many people's belief about her, she was really very good at meditation. Sure, her brash personality and energetic character may seem opposed to the usually quiet and self-reflective stereotype, but it was only through meditation that she learned earth bending at all. She'd had to follow and focus on the badger moles, she had to learn to feel to the minutest degree everything that happened within the Earth. It hadn't been easy.

But this? This she wasn't getting anywhere with! She bit down her frustration and decided to take Katara's advice and meditate on rocks instead. She focussed a rock right in front of her, by the pond. She felt every vein, every crack than ran through it. She felt the quiet vibrations of the bugs that lived beneath it and a slight pressure from above - a frog maybe? She became the rock.

She decided that she needed to think of the changes that were happening. Of the exact position of the rock, of the pressures coming to the rock from around it. Toph lost track of all space and time apart from the rock. She noticed that it was becoming bigger. Not by very much, hardly anything, but it was growing. That was strange! What could it be? She explored the surface of the rock and felt that it was different to the inside. Not just in texture, but in activity. It was excited? Do rocks get excited?

She realised this much be heat! She moved in and out of the rock again; yes, the inside was cold, it felt solid, smooth, devoid of energy. The outside was different. It was vibrant, alive almost. Instinctively she followed the strange force that brought the rock alive and flowed with it throughout the garden. She realised that there were intense pockets of energy scurrying around, both near and far from the earth. The ones further away must be birds; the others animals. There were other objects that were less hot, but still warmer than rocks. These were very still and strong - she realised trees! Her excitement seemed to grow with time as more and more energy was being poured into her surroundings, more and more life was buzzing.

Then suddenly, when she felt actual, physical, tangible warmth hit her face, an energy seemed to explode within her. Her stomach felt giddy and she felt like recoiling from the sheer power she felt.

Toph opened her sightless eyes and broke her meditation position to curl up slightly and catch her breath. So this is what the sun felt like.

She realised that Katara and Zuko were moving as well.

"You found the sun," stated Zuko. It wasn't a question. Toph wondered what her face betrayed in that moment.

"Its … its pretty strong isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes. It is energy. Katara is still getting used to it," said Zuko, a smile in his voice. Toph imagined him being affectionate to Katara. It was disgusting.

"Well? Are you going to teach me or are we going to sit here like lame turtle-ducks all day?" quipped Toph sharply. They could be gooey if they wanted to be - as long as it was not around her. She discarded her initial plan of being very annoying and not letting them have any time together… she would most definitely be letting them have a lot of time together so they could get it all out of their damned system and be at one another's throats as they should be.

_Or maybe I'm just jealous, _she thought to herself. _Yeah, probably. But that doesn't change the fact that they are making me feel sick!_

* * *

Both Zuko and Katara expected Toph to be hesitant at best when it came to fire bending, given the fact that she couldn't see the flames and the memory of Zuko burning her feet. However, they once again had underestimated the girl; she was used to handling things she couldn't see. For a while all she did was play with heat - if she was going to learn this, she had to feel the heat flows like she felt the ground vibrations.

"Right, tell me when I make fire," she said finally. Katara was the only one left in the indoor arena - Zuko had had to see to some disgruntled guards.

"Alright, go ahead."

Toph took up the stance they had taught her and focussed her breathing. Up till this point she had pushed about heat, removing it from one side of the room and focusing it on another. Now she wanted to make it hotter until she achieved fire. But you need eyes to judge that!

She went through the punching move Zuko had demonstrated and felt heat moving away from her. She tried again. This time, it was hotter. Again, and hotter still. As she gradually increased the amount of energy she was putting into her punches, she noticed two things. First, like Katara, she found the same giddy, powerful sensation in her stomach that she had felt that morning with the sun. Secondly, she realised that the moment before she was punching, the heat surrounding her would rush to her, through her, and then out in a condensed form from her knuckles.

"Toph! You did it!" squealed Katara, clapping her hands. Toph repeated the same move to get used to the sensation of creating fire. Now that she knew how much power to put into it, she could feel the difference. This was more like an explosion rather than a push.

"Ok, now I understand why fire bending is so dangerous," she muttered, half to herself as she relaxed her stance.

"Because it burns?" asked Katara, regarding the girl in front of her.

"Well, yes. But also because its like an explosion; see if I scatter bits of rock everywhere, I have no control over where each little one goes. Thats kind of the same thing here - the heat of the fire is scattering as well as going where I want it to. So accidents are bound to happen…" she trailed off, thinking of Zuko when he burned her feet at his camp. He was probably just trying to defend himself, sending out a warning shot that a person with full eyesight would see… but of course she was blind. And at the time would not have known what was heading towards her.

She would make sure to talk to him about it later.

* * *

The three friends decided to have dinner in the sitting room. This seemed to be one of Toph's favourite places in the palace - she could lounge around on the cushions and there was all the tea anybody could ask for!

Zuko looked distracted though. Katara could see the worry creasing between his eyebrows, crinkling the edge of the scar in an odd way. Whenever she or Toph weren't directly addressing him, his eyes would wonder away and flick back and forth as if he was trying to make a decision. Katara frowned. She would have to ask him about it later.

At this moment they were going through the steps Toph had made in her lesson that day. She explained about the heat being drawn the the person bending.

"So I'm guessing that the highest security prisons in the Fire Nation are really really cold?" she asked. Zuko blinked.

"Yes. Yes they are. You can't bend when you are too cold…"

"Right, because you are drawing heat in and compressing it and shooting it out!" Toph grinned at herself.

"So… its sort of like water in the sense that it is always there," reasoned Katara. Zuko considered this.

"Yes. I guess it is! What I don't understand, though, is how that works with lightening? Uncle taught me how to redirect lightening - and that is like heat and water in the sense that you let it flow in and then out again. But how is it that we create it?" mused Zuko. Katara pursed her lips in thought.

"I don't know. But it has to be something to do with moving heat since it burns… right?" she considered.

"I guess we play around with it tomorrow? But not in the indoor arena," started Zuko.

"You know, Sparky, the floor of your arena is stone," pointed out Toph.

"And?"

"Well, if you shoot lightening at the metal walls it won't touch us. Lightening likes metal," she stated as if it were obvious. Katara and Zuko looked skeptical. Toph could feel their hesitation and rolled her eyes.

"Look, where I come from we have really really tall buildings, right? So what happens when there is a storm? The lightening hits the tall buildings, and they either crumble of burn or a bit of both. So, in order to protect said tall buildings we stick metal rods on the top that run all the way into the ground. That way the _building_ is not hit, but the _metal_ is. The metal takes it to the ground," explained Toph, in her best condescending voice.

"We could try," concluded Katara.

"So," started Toph again, arousing them from their thoughts on lightening, "will I be water bending tomorrow Sifu Sweetness?"

"No. We wait for the full moon to start your water lessons - which is next week. Tomorrow we earth bend," stated Katara simply. She was pleased nobody argued with her. She also wanted to teach Zuko blood bending under the full moon. He had picked up water as quickly as she had picked up fire - she thought because they had both mastered their own elements and watched one another bending for years. Also, combining the bending styles made the transition very simple. He might not be able to handle blood yet, but they could try.

* * *

Katara felt funny after dinner. She was more tired than usual and could feel the dark bags under her eyes eating into her skin. Her hair felt greasy even though she had already washed it that day, and she was unnaturally annoyed at Zuko for not telling her what was bothering him. When she started feeling pain in her lower abdomen, she knew for sure - it was _that_ time of the month. She groaned to herself and found the cloths she used to soak up the blood.

Of course! When she had arrived she had just finished… and then there was a full moon. The full moon always brought her relief from her cycles, and a calm after the storm of a very frustrating week.

She knew that if she didn't get herself some painkilling tea immediately, she would get no sleep at all that night. Having made sure she looked acceptable, she padded down to the kitchens to ask for the right kind of tea. They handed it to her without question, and watched her leave with sympathetic looks.

By the time the tea had brewed, she was already incapable of standing up straight. The cramps had her almost doubled over. She controlled her breathing as Yugoda had taught her to do, and kept one hand over her cramping muscles coated in water to ease the pain. Katara hated this time of the month. She could only relax muscles and heal wounds, redirect blood and move liquids - but she could not eliminate pain. Relaxing the muscles seemed to help somewhat, but never enough. It was as if her own body and her own element were turning against her. And she couldn't do anything about it! Once she had tried to blood bend all the blood out in one go so it would be over quickly, but soon found out that it was not as simple as a sack of blood that needed to come out. She learned from the healing scrolls in the Northern Water Tribe that it is the lining of the womb that is shed - blood is merely a by product. So trying to take out blood only left her weaker than before, and she kept bleeding where the lining was freshly separating itself from her.

She did not understand why she had to go through all of this, nor why some women hardly felt it at all while she was reduced to a pale, shivering corpse on her first day, and an aching, stroppy wreck the rest of the week.

The tea had started to take effect. She could feel her body's priorities swap from dealing with pain to dealing with tiredness. But she knew, from experience, that if she didn't finish all the tea she would be up in a few hours reduced to the same state. To sleep the whole night she needed the whole teapot.

There was a timid knock at the door, and a hesitant voice calling her name.

"Zuko?" she asked. "Zuko, come in!"

Zuko walked into the room, still looking very unsure about himself. He was in his night trousers, shirtless and shoeless as if he were about to go to bed. He bit his lip as he looked at Katara, and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Katara? Have I… have I done something?" Katara was confused. He thought she was mad at him? Well she was irritated, but she was irritated at the world in general, not just Zuko.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko looked away awkwardly again. "Oh for Agni's sake Zuko, spit it out!" she said a little too sharply. Zuko looked slightly frightened.

"Well you usually come and sleep in my bed… and well you didn't turn up so I… have I made you mad? Because if I have I'm sorry and I'm sure I didn't mean it…" he was looking at her with pleading eyes, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

Katara laughed. _Oh he is _so_ awkward!_ She thought. She stopped laughing as the movement triggered another spasm and she forced more tea down.

"No, Zuko. It is the wrong time of the month," she said, still smiling. However Zuko only looked confused. Katara sighed. "I'm riding the red tide, getting acquainted with death, trapped in the bloody torture chamber," she said listing off the most entertaining names for it.

Zuko's eyes widened in realisation, but his shoulders relaxed and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Oh! I thought you were angry at me!" he exclaimed, approaching her with a smile. "Are you feeling alright? Can I do something?" he asked worriedly, taking in the darkness under her eyes and her face drawn in pain.

Katara held up her tea cup.

"Painkilling tea. There isn't really much more to do," she explained. He sat down next to her on the bed and kissed her forehead affectionately.

How was Zuko - the Zuko who had knocked her out in the North - how was he so gentle and caring? Katara found herself wondering more and more if this was a side to him that was always present but buried, or if it was something he developed when he was surrounded by people who cared about him. Right now, she didn't care. She was so moved by his affection that she felt tears spring to her eyes.

Somewhere in the back of her mind there was a small panicked voice telling her that she should be scared of such an attachment, that she was better off alone. But she suffocated it and leant on his shoulder, brushing away her tears.

"Katara? What's happening? Are you still in pain?" asked a panicked Zuko, noticing the tears. He forced her to look at him in the face. She shook her head.

"No, I'm just happy!" she croaked, reaching for some more tea.

"Generally speaking, you don't tend to cry when you are happy," started Zuko uncertainly.

"You don't understand. I'm happy you're here and not hiding from me," she explained with a logic that escaped him completely.

"Um. Why would I be hiding from you? You're not making much sense right now," he said, teasing her gently. She shrugged. She didn't care if he understood or not.

"Do - uh - do you want me to stay here tonight? Uncle always told me that it is better if women stay warm when they are bleeding because it hurts less…" Katara looked at him to see if he was in earnest, but she didn't detect any reservedness behind his words - on the contrary, there seemed to be a hope in his eyes.

Katara nodded.

"I'd like that."


	10. Seeing Without Eyes

**A/N: This was hard to write because the next one is super exciting, so this is more of a transitory chapter. Hopefully I've built on the advice you guys have given me (keep it coming)... but still, I'm not too happy with it. The next update will be quick though! Promise!**

**Chapter 10 – Seeing without Eyes**

Zuko jolted awake from a disturbing dream just before dawn, the last dregs of which were quickly dissipating into the lightening room. He replayed the scene from last night and considered how to approach the new day. Since they were earth bending he didn't think he should wake Katara for meditation. Besides, Toph being in charge meant there was no chance of starting early.

However, as the grey light of early dawn infiltrated the room, Zuko started to worry. Katara had hardly moved the whole night. He had to place a hand on her stomach just to feel her breathing, otherwise she may as well have been dead. She must have been in a very deep sleep and he was torn as to whether to wake her or not. Finally he decided that she would probably be mad if he didn't give her the choice - she was not one to look sympathetically at anybody who made decisions for her.

He kissed her gently on the cheek and called her name, drawing her out of her comatose sleep. Katara's eyes opened slowly - differently to her usual confused fluttering. This was weary, tired, and her gaze was still distant.

"Hey, its dawn, and we're meant to earth bend today," he explained softly. Katara's eyes closed with the same slow, deliberate movement she had used before. They stayed closed a few seconds before opening again to consider him. She reached up a hand and caressed his cheek, before letting it drop back onto the sheets.

"I'm… not… leaving… this… bed," she breathed. Zuko nodded. He didn't think he should argue with her - she seemed to be exhausted. There was only one problem though…

"Then we'll leave Toph to sleep - I bet she will be happy," he said, trying to conceal his disappointment. He had been looking forward to learning earth bending - he loved the strength it gave those who wielded it. Katara closed her eyes.

"You should learn," she said from somewhere very distant.

"You're the only one who can blood bend," he reminded her. She sighed and reached for his hand.

From her fuzzy state she didn't need to try to block out anything; it was already gone. She found his blood easily and followed a very bright chi flow in the darkness of her incomprehensibility. Katara had studied Toph's chi flow the day before, memorising the points where it differed from hers. She wasn't surprised to find earth bending focussed in the legs and feet. It made sense. In the back of her mind it reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite place it.

When she had altered Zuko's chi, she did her own.

"There, now we're both earth benders," she said. She hadn't moved or opened her eyes - Zuko had thought she had fallen asleep again. He kissed her again and quietly left to wake an undoubtedly grumpy Toph.

* * *

The sun rose just before six o'clock. Nothing official happened before nine o'clock, which meant that meditation, training, washing and eating took place in those three hours. Katara woke from her stupor at about eight, and decided to find her friends. She didn't bother hiding the black under her eyes, and she tied her hair up so it wouldn't look dirty. Going into her bathroom, she sighed in relief at her ability to blood bend. For all of the uses blood bending had, the most mundane was also the most useful. No longer did she have to soak her cycle cloths in boiling water for hours; she could soak them for five minutes or so and bend the blood off. It was amazing. If she ever lost the ability to blood bend this would probably be one of her main regrets.

Having washed herself and thrown on some clothes, Katara hurried to the indoor arena so see if Toph and Zuko were still in there. She opened the door quietly and slipped in, almost laughing at what she saw; Toph had riddled the stone floor with holes and dips, sharp spikes, inclines, and steps of all kinds. Zuko stood, looking somewhat weary, blindfolded in the middle of the maze.

"Hey Katara," called Toph from the other side of the arena.

"What? Katara's here?" asked Zuko, jerking his head about and trying to work out where the damned door was.

"What is wrong with you Zuko!" cried Toph, "You are a _fire bender_, that means you can _feel heat_! You should be able to sense her in the room with your own element!" She threw up her hands in frustration.

"Yeah well I'm too damned concentrated on trying to sense the fucking death traps you've set out for me!" he cried back, a glimmer of his old-Zuko anger in his voice. However, he didn't remove the blind fold. Toph growled.

"I do not understand _why_ it is so hard to teach earth bending! With Aang what he needed was a forceful push, and I think you need the same. We are going to duel," she said definitively.

"Duel!" exclaimed Katara. "Isn't it a bit early for that?" She did not like the idea of a blind Zuko going up against Toph. With his eyesight they may have been equally matched, but he was at a distinct disadvantage here.

"Stay out of this Sugar Queen. This is between me and Sparky. Actually, you can play doctor when he gets his butt kicked. Right, Sparky, you can use any element you like - I will only use earth bending. But we are both blind. And you better start paying attention to the earth pretty soon because it will, quite literally, slap you in the face if you don't. Ready?"

"Toph I think this is a really bad idea," started Katara pleadingly. However, Zuko interrupted her.

"Please Katara! If this is what it takes I'll do it. But you shouldn't get hurt - wait outside till this is over."

"Absolutely not," she said forcefully, crossing her arms and not a little irritated that he was trying to tell her what to do, "I can defend myself, Fire Prince Zuko, and if I have to beat your arse again to prove it, believe me, I will!" And with that she leaned against the door, staring at the back of Zuko's head angrily.

He gulped. An angry Katara was far worse than a playful Toph. He would have to deal with that later.

"Wahey! Sweetness is getting Spicy!" laughed Toph. _This is more like it,_ she thought to herself.

"Don't you dare make light of this Toph - I'm furious with you for doing this. You two are going to seriously hurt each other and _I'm_ the one who is going to have to pick up the fucking pieces as usual!" she snarled, switching her cold stare from one blind person to another.

"Shesh! Calm down Spicy! Hey… Spicy and Sparky… I like it… although Sweetness and Sparky is like sweetness and light which is a lovely saying. Except I don't know what light is," mused Toph, completely unperturbed by Katara's outburst. She was more than used to it, but sensed that it had put Zuko on edge… maybe she should go easy on him after all. "Well, lets get to it!" she announced, stomping her foot on the ground and changing the landscape to something completely unfamiliar. Zuko didn't know it but it was actually easier to navigate than the previous one.

Zuko froze at the sound of grinding rock.

"You fucking changed everything again didn't you?" he growled.

"Yup!" replied Toph lightly.

He spun around in the direction of her voice and shot a fireball at her. However, he heard the usual creaking of the expanding metal as it collided with the wall.

"Yeah, how are you supposed to get me if you don't know in which direction I'm going? You are aiming for the past Sparky, get with it!" she instructed, leaping around and changing direction. Zuko tried to aim a few more fireballs but without success. "Not even close!" mocked Toph from yet another position.

Zuko could feel his frustration growing into anger. Anger at himself, at his damned inability to pick this up. He felt like a scolded child again, the worst one at fire bending, with his sister showing off to his father and grandfather moves that he still hadn't mastered. The familiar rage that he had harboured for three long years on his ship returned full force, contorting his body into well rehearsed moves. He growled through his teeth as he drew on as much power as he could and shot a sheet of fire, spinning as he did so, in order to make it reach every corner of the room.

He was left panting from his sudden outburst. After a few deep breaths things started clearing in his mind as he realised what he had done.

"Katara? Toph? Are you ok? I'm so sorry…" he reached behind his head to undo the blindfold and rush to the aid of his friends. He was resisting breaking down into sobs of self loathing.

"Don't you dare Sparky!" called Toph from a long way away, "This isn't over!"

"We're fine Zuko," said Katara from somewhere closer to his side of the arena, a softness in her voice that indicated that she at least partially understood what had prompted his rash gesture.

Zuko suddenly felt something hit him square in the forehead. Then something else. They were hard. Stones! Toph was throwing stones at him - he had just whipped out enough fire to destroy a palace and she retaliated by throwing stones. It almost made him laugh.

Almost.

Because she defended herself from his attack and he was incapable of defending himself from hers.

Right. He needed to find cover. Getting low to the ground, he moved along with his hands spread wide until he found a large rock jutting out. He moved so that it was between him and the rock-throwing Toph. It wouldn't take long for her to adjust her position to come at him again, but she had been the other side of the arena, so she would have to move quite a bit. At the very least it bought him some time.

A memory presented itself to him; a memory of himself as the blue spirit, living in the shadows and being impossibly quiet - breaking into the highest security prisons and freeing the highest security prisoners. Sneaking around wasn't going to fool Toph, and there was no wood to dampen his steps. He silently cursed himself for not having brought water in this morning - at the very least it might create some confusion!

But along with these memories came the less pleasant ones; being locked in cupboards, waiting in vents, sneaking through barracks, finding his way down the tunnels of Lake Laogai. In none of those situations did he have any light. He had done it by not _searching_ for light - by instead focussing on what he did know and translating that into images. He remembered sitting very still, hardly even breathing, and listening with all his might to what was happening around him.

Marching boots: soldiers. The paces even: bored. Two, in practiced time: regular partners. No hesitations: knew the land to perfection - they were lookouts on duty.

Now he had more than his ears, though. He had heat. He had water. He had earth.

He relaxed and opened his mind to the arena. There. He could feel Toph not too far from him. She wasn't moving. So she must have been waiting for him to emerge.

Katara stood somewhere behind him. She was much warmer than Toph.

This didn't help though. As soon as Toph picks up a rock, and the rock leaves her hand, he would have no idea where it was. He might hope that the contact with her skin would make it slightly warmer than the surroundings, but hat was a vain hope. Besides, was she even picking them up? Wouldn't she just bend them towards him?

He needed to go deeper than heat and water. He needed to focus on where he was in relation to the room. He needed to feel, through his skin, what was going on. _Everything is connected_ he told himself. _I am on the earth, I am touching it, I am part of it._ He repeated this mantra in his head over and over as he ran his fingers and toes along the surroundings, paying attention to every nook and cranny he passed over. There was no movement in the room, nor was there any noise; it seemed the girls had decided to leave him to his own explorations.

He felt a dip under his feet as he inched forward. A dip meant a rise though. Where was the rise?

There. The rise was very close - the dip was not wide. But the rise seemed to be higher than where he was standing. That would mean another dip perhaps. It would be annoying to have to climb it though. But moving to the right should give him some space. Instinctively, with the speed yet caution of the blue spirit, he headed towards the easier path. There was something blocking his way though and he ducked just in time, feeling an overhang graze the top of his head. Toph would be standing to the left - stationary - a heartbeat - a more intense vibration. Carefully positioning himself, he shot a simple fireball directly at the direction of the more intense vibrations. The vibrations faded for a split second - she had stepped out of the way - and he felt a presence moving closer - too fast to be Toph - no Toph had not moved from her spot.

Something small and hard hit him on the chest. Oh. Another rock. _So that's what a rock feels like_ he thought to himself, too fascinated to be irritated.

"Nice one Sparky, you are finally _feeling_. Now quit with the fire, do it with rock," instructed Toph.

"Hmmm thanks for the details Sifu," grumbled Zuko, momentarily distracted from his study of the ground.

"You'll work it out," she replied. Zuko imagined a smirk playing on her lips underneath her black bangs.

He returned to the state he had been in while observing the stone beneath his feet. Right. _Stone MOVE_ he mentally shouted. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. He returned to the overhang and, standing in front of it, he placed one hand on the lip, concentrating on how the stone was shaped - not so much on the surface, but underneath it. There he exerted a force, and to his immense pleasure it shifted. Not much, just an inch. But he could do it again - and with more power. The overhang lifted so that he could pass under it without ducking.

Now he needed a stone to throw. He reached up and touched the overhang once more. Instead of pushing inside, he pulled, and a part came away easily in his hand.

Now where was Toph? Ah! There. He threw the stone but it fell short - he felt it hit the ground a few metres in front of her. He took another part of the overhang, and this time, he pushed it from inside. Not enough to separate it, but enough to control its direction. There!

The vibrations coming from Toph changed and the stone stopped. Ah. She must have lifted her hand and caught it.

"I like it Sparky! But I'm afraid we are going to have to continue this another time - your advisors are hesitating outside the arena - I think you might be late for something…" said Toph.

Zuko gasped and tore off the blindfold, ignoring the tears that sprang to his eyes from the suddenly very intense light. He ran to the door and ripped it open.

"What time is it?" he asked urgently to the advisors who stood nervously outside.

"Ten o'clock, my prince," answered one of them.

"Shit. Prepare the meeting room, I will be there shortly," he ordered, watching them scurry away towards the palace. Zuko turned to the two girls in the room.

He took in the terrain Toph had created. It had seemed so much more threatening without his eyes - in the daylight he could have manoeuvred it with hardly a thought! Toph had created a seat of stone and was picking at her feet, just as she used to when she was younger. Katara had also seated herself on a boulder, her legs dangling down. She seemed much calmer than before.

"We've only got half an hour to prepare but I reckon we can do it," she said serenely. Zuko regarded her gratefully. He was worried she wouldn't be there at the meeting today - but she knew so much about what was going on that she would grasp anything he happened to miss. And besides, her insights into how the normal people lived were exactly what he needed. The memories of his life as a refugee in the lower rings of Ba Sing Se were forever fresh in his mind.

Katara slid off her boulder.

"What, Sugar Queen is wussing out of her lesson?" mocked Toph, seemingly unbothered by their disappearance.

"Sorry Toph, if you like I can come back this afternoon after lunch? I had an idea I would like to try with you," she said, still the image of composure. Toph yawned.

"Yeah alright. I'm going to go and take a mid-morning nap now. Wake me when you want to learn?" the tone in her voice was almost too hopeful, betraying how much she needed this distraction - this reminder that she could be in control of _something_. Katara smiled.

"Of course," she promised, before taking Zuko's hand and heading back to the palace with him.

* * *

The meeting had been surprisingly simple. People seemed to be on more or less the same page - which was an event in itself. Zuko had some letters to write, but Katara hurried to wake Toph and they headed to the arena. She was determined not to be put through the same thing as Zuko - that had taken hours, and to be honest, she did not have the patience to deal with it today. She had another idea though.

"What's this plan of yours then?" asked Toph once the door had clanged shut definitively.

"Well you know how you play with metal? Its kind of like how I water bend - as in it is almost liquid - or it behaves like a liquid. So I wanted to try that," she explained confidently.

"You want to _start_ with metal?" asked Toph incredulously.

"Well, yes. It might not work, but if it did I think it would be easier for me to attack it that way around," explained Katara, suddenly not so sure of herself. Toph raised an eyebrow and flicked the hair out of her face with a familiar jerk of the head.

"We might as well try," conceded Toph. She wouldn't admit it, but angry Katara was not something she wanted to run into twice in the course of a day. She reached out and summoned a chuck of metal from high up on one of the walls, bringing it down between her hands. She couldn't resist playing with it for just a bit, letting it circle her hands and splay out in different patterns.

"I don't really know how to teach you this because I learned it _from _earth bending. And with that you need to find the earth within the metal. It is there, it just feels slightly different, you know?"

"Like blood feels to a water bender," compared Katara.

"I guess," reasoned Toph, "if you can start to place it in space first you would get a feel for what it is?" She was guessing. She actually had no idea how to approach this. She solidified the metal again and handed it to Katara, who sat on the ground holding it between her hands contemplatively.

_Treat it like ice,_ she thought.

"I think," she spoke out loud, "that solid metal is kind of like ice, liquid metal like water. I don't know what vapour would be… but anyway, so if this _is_ like ice, then what I would need to do is sort of… break it apart from the inside, but all over at the same time. Does that sound right to you?" she asked Toph.

"Yeah, sort of. But you need to keep the whole together so it doesn't splatter… the edges kind of feel different." Toph sat down opposite Katara and waited. Katara didn't move. She didn't move for a long time.

Toph focussed on sensing the metal in her hands, and was surprised at how easily she fell _into_ it. She could feel how there was a growing pressure inside, a tentative movement. But it was going in the wrong direction - or rather it was going in all directions at once. That is not how metal is structured, she registered, there needed to be more of a sliding and jostling to it. She murmured this instruction to Katara, careful not to break the concentration of either.

Slowly but surely, she felt Katara's hold on the metal increase and the right action take place. The metal was more malleable, and then eventually liquid. She imagined Katara would be smiling.

"Fuck. Yes," breathed Katara, playing with the liquid metal. She was right. She could treat it like water in a way, although it was less similar than she had expected.

Toph grinned.

"Nice one sugar-cake. Now can we get on with real Earth Bending?" quipped Toph, not quite managing to hide her awe for what Katara had just achieved. She wondered if she would be able to use the same technique in reverse when Katara kept up her side of the bargain.

* * *

A couple of days had passed and Katara had managed some earth bending - Zuko some metal bending. Both realised that the more they learned about any element made picking up the next one ever easier. So many things were similar that sometimes in the depth of their meditations they stated fusing the boundaries.

Toph liked fire too - she used it to sense what she could not feel through her feet. And carefully, with much caution, she learned to manipulate it. Since it was not solid it took many hours of concentration to keep hold of the shapes she created - they were not bounded by everything, but she saw it as _her_ job to bind it to a shape.

When it came to her turn to learn water, she could hardly wait. Katara had also decided that she would attempt to teach Zuko blood bending at the same time; full moons only came around once a month and she wasn't sure what the future would hold.

The three met by the little lake, much to the annoyance of the turtle ducks, just before sunset. Katara talked Toph through everything she had done with Zuko, and decided it would be a good idea if she kept her feet in the water. Although Toph had eventually learned to swim, she still feared the power of water, and so keeping the most sensitive part of her body connected with it might help bridge that distrust.

Katara and Zuko left her in meditation as the sun set, knowing that, at this point, it was highly unlikely she wouldn't experience the surge of power that came with the moon. It seemed strange yet oddly logical that they were all picking up one another's elements so quickly.

"Blood," started Katara, "feels slightly different to water. It is harder to move, since it pulls everything else that is in the blood with it. It is heavy in that sense. And besides, there is something blocking your direct access to it. The way I like to look at it is as a reaching past a barrier rather than a _going inside_."

Zuko looked around, distracted from her words by a thought that had just occurred to him. He was feeling uneasy.

"Katara, don't you have some animal I can practice on?"

Katara stared at him hard.

"No. Blood bending takes away the freedom of whatever you are practicing on. Therefore you will _only_ blood bend practice on willing subjects."

Zuko sucked in a breath. He had a really bad feeling this might happen.

"Katara there is no way I am blood bending on you!" he seethed.

"Yes, you are," she replied calmly.

"I won't learn then," he matched, folding his arms across his chest in defiance.

"Yes, you will. What happens if I go crazy with all this power? What happens if I need to be stopped and Aang can't do it? What happens if people find out about this and torture me until I make them as powerful as we are?" Katara had tears in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. This was why she had to teach him. How could she trust herself with something so destructive without any way out. "You need to learn Zuko, you need to be able to control me and my chi like I can control you and yours. That way you can take away from me what might one day harm so many people…"

Zuko's arms had fallen to his sides as her arguments computed in his mind. Out of all of them, she was the only one who could not be stopped. If he or Toph abused their power, Katara would be there to take it away. Aang had still not managed to return to the Avatar state since they had split up two years earlier and so would be incapable of doing so. But if she lost her mind, if she was used and tortured, nobody would be able to help her.

"Katara, don't think like that," he whispered unconvincingly. He pulled her into his arms, well aware that she was right. He was both moved by her trust in him and terrified of misusing it. An image of his father flashed in his head. What atrocities could he have achieved if he had known how to blood bend? Zuko didn't want to imagine.

"Look, Zuko, this is important. I know you are as strong as I am, and you feel the water in the same way I do. Blood is not hard, its just as shift in how you see the element - like lightening is for you and metal is for Toph…" she pushed him away gently and collected herself before starting her instruction.

* * *

Zuko was used to observing the mass of water that was Katara. But now he needed to concentrate on overcoming the resistance provided by her skin and moving behind it. He could understand how somebody who struggled with water would find this near impossible, but by this point shifting his perspective was becoming a way of life. The constant re-analysis was opening his eyes - metaphorically - to a way of _feeling _ that was completely foreign to him.

It took a while, but the power of the moon was coursing through his body, and all the water in the world seemed to be at his fingertips. He reached forward with his hands and his mind, and concentrated on what was behind the skin. His fingers curled in order to take control of her body - a rigid, awkward movement, like a puppeteer. He had the distinct feeling that if he softened his stance control over her would slip. Slowly, he moved her arms around, getting a feel for how it felt.

Zuko had expected to be repulsed by the sensation of blood bending another person - especially Katara, but actually he felt very calm, just like when he was water bending. In retrospect, he didn't really know why he had anticipated repulsion - he hardly felt repulsed by the creation of lightening, and he doubted Toph disliked metal bending.

"Alright Zuko, now I'm going to start resisting," said Katara. She, too, looked relatively calm.

"What do you mean resist?" he asked, dropping his hold and letting her arms flop to her sides.

"Well, I've been letting you do what you want, but that is hardly ever going to happen. I will try to resist and you will need to use more force to control my body. Are you ready?"

Zuko gritted his teeth but nodded, retaking his stance. He hoped that he didn't hurt her.

This time was more difficult, he needed to focus all his attention on maintaining his hold and bending her to his will. In the back of his mind he could understand how people could become addicted to such power, but he pushed that thought away.

Eventually Katara's face contorted in pain and she gave over control. Zuko dropped his stance.

They both stood staring at one another, breathing heavily. Katara nodded and forced a smile.

"I think thats enough for tonight," she murmured, turning towards where Toph sat in the distance.

Zuko caught her arm.

"Katara, wait. There is something I've been meaning to tell you. Uncle made me promise not to but I think you have a right to know," he started hesitantly.

"Spit it out Zuko!"

"Your family is coming here. To the palace. They are arriving with Iroh." He was looking away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Katara exhaled audibly.

"Thank you for telling me," she said cordially, controlling her rising panic. "How long to I have to prepare for this?"

"Erm… they arrive tomorrow."


End file.
