He found her in the library. Her eyes were magnified by unshed tears and the poor scroll in her hand seemed to be taking the brunt of her emotions. She was staring vacantly at the wall. He slowly pried the scroll from her hands and rolled it up, methodically doing the same to each that was scattered across the table, noting silently that all of them were about past Avatars. He waited in silence for her to speak, and as she crossed her arms and slumped forward onto the table, she finally found words. "We can't stay together." Her voice cracked from disuse, but the words were unmistakable.

"I know." Her eyes slid sideways towards him, followed by her head. He could see how exhausted she was. "You know."

"I know that he loves you." She winced slightly and reached for his hand. "You've read these before."

"Two weeks ago." He doesn't say that these were his favorite stories at night, when father was gone and mother didn't have to worry.

"Has he?" Her tone implored him to lie, but he couldn't.

"He wanted to know if they were fact or myth. To the best of any scholar's knowledge, Sozin, Azulon and Ozai never touched these. No point to it, hardly anyone comes in here."

He knew what came next, but she said it out loud, as though to make herself accept it.

"Avatar's only fall in love once."

"Yeah."

"And this person is able to bring them out of the Avatar State, amongst other important duties."

"Yeah."

"And they are never able to fall in love again."

"Yeah."

"And he knows."

"Yeah." There's a beat of silence as he watched her. "I'm sorry."

The last two words finally broke her and she sobbed into her folded arms, her body heaving in pain. He leaned down and gathered her up in his arms, shifting so that she cried into his robe, which quickly became damp with tears and snot.

"I'm tired." She managed between sobs. "I'm so exhausted."

"I know." He held her even tighter now, blinking at rapid fire to hold back his own tears.

"I've been avoiding him since the invasion and hiding out in here and then I wanted to know more about Avatar's and all I found out was this and I can't keep pretending to love someone that I don't!"

"But?"

"But I'm it. He's already made that clear. He thinks that at fifteen and a hundred and thirteen we're old enough to court, and not too far from old enough to marry. I don't want to. There's too much to do and I just can't yet."

"Okay."

"I've spent the last year doing nothing but cooking and cleaning and fighting and everything else under Tui and La and he expects me to be ready to do it all over again in a couple days!"

"So?"

"So everyone would expect the Avatar's girlfriend to marry him, settle down and began popping out little airbenders! Never no mind that she might want waterbenders!"

There was a familiar vibration as Zuko chuckled. Rarely did he fully laugh, but the vibration in his chest and throat told her everything. Still cradling her, he slid down a bookshelf until they sat on the floor, the light from the sconces leaving them in near darkness.

How many times until the comet had he held her so, listening to her talk and laughing with her silently in the Air Temple, on Ember Island, and a dozen places in between? And here, between the mythology section and philosophy, he realized this was the last time this would ever happen. Could ever happen.

"I want my destiny back!" She breathed through a sob before continuing. "I didn't ask to become the Avatar's girlfriend or wife or anything else!"

"He didn't ask to become the Avatar." He said softly.

There was silence and she thought that his arms might never come undone around her, because there wasn't a breath of space between them and every muscle was standing out on his arms.

"Give him time." Zuko's voice was raspy. "You gave me time to become a better person. Give him time."

Katara's tears were silent, and she closed her eyes, nestling down further into his chest. Here, she laid her ear flat against his robe and heard his heartbeat.

The way legend spoke it, firebenders had two hearts, one like everyone else's, of blood, and one of fire. It was from the latter that they were able to summon fire. But when she listened, all she could hear was his single heartbeat, hammering away inside his chest. She could only feel one heart, conscious as she was of the blood that flowed around her. Not too far down from where her head rested was the splash of a scar that should have been her death.

"How long do you think he's willing to wait?" She whispered into the wet fabric. "How long before I become just a dusty scroll?"

Zuko impulsively kissed her forehead and buried his nose in her hair. "You are Katara. You will see and do and be many more things before you fade into legend. You will have a family that loves you and children that adore you. And you're only fifteen. You have years of life ahead of you."

She was silent after a long while. He had read the scrolls. The Avatar's companion's, although varied and different, were slightly better than a footnote on the summary of their lives.

"All things fade." She sighed deep at his last statement and for a long time he held her, as she listened to his heartbeat, slowing in time with his meditation.

They had danced like teenagers at first. It had been startling to realize they were still teenagers even. Somewhere along the way, they had started talking. Talking led to understanding and everything else seemed to follow. It wasn't easy. At times it didn't seem real. Katara was so busy, and when Zuko wasn't training Aang, he was ham-fistedly trying to help. They didn't have time for a normal courtship. They talked a lot. Mostly about their childhoods and plans after the war. He lit and extinguished the fire for her as often as she wished, even controlling the volume to make dinner cook faster. They discovered the only time alone was during housework. The first time he kissed her they were chopping vegetables. He wasn't used to doing chores, but he didn't think they were as much fun without her.

"Remember the first time we snuck away together?" She whispered. "At the Air Temple?"

"Toph kept Aang busy with earthbending and Suki was distracting Sokka." Zuko supplied. "The Duke almost caught us."

"Lucky the Blue Spirit was able to lend a hand."

Toph had figured it out at some point. She didn't say anything, because she didn't care that much, but Katara noticed that Toph started taking Aang off for earthbending before dinner, leaving them alone. "The moon's full tonight." Zuko commented before growing the fire a little more. "I know." Katara stirred the soup with one hand and directed the rinse water with the other. "I can feel it."
"I thought you'd like to be outside for it." His tone was deliberately light, but his ears and cheeks were red. "I'd like that." Katara colored as well and concentrated very hard on the soup. "After everyone's gone to bed."

She had brushed her hair and dusted her clothes off before going to meet him. He was silently waiting by Appa for her. Sokka and Suki were not so quietly staying up late too, but they dodged that room easily enough. "You look nice." He stuttered. "Thank you." They walked along the edge of the air temple, staying very quiet. She lifted her face to the moonlight, enjoying its unique power. She took his hand absently and smiled. "Is this how the sun feels?"

"Yes." Zuko stated. "It gives me strength." He stiffened suddenly and she bumped into him. "Someone's coming." He breathed. The footsteps were growing closer and there was nowhere to hide. "Hang on." Katara looped an arm around his neck. "Hold tight." He jumped and scaled the wall quickly, sliding into a large niche just before Duke wandered through. "Why do monks have such weird bathrooms." They heard him mutter. "Can't have em nearby, have to have them all the stupid way over here." Katara muffled her laugh under her hand and then turned to him. "How did you do that?"

He looked down. "It's a long story. You ever heard of the Blue Spirit?"

"Or Ember Island?" Zuko stroked her hair and back in long strokes with one hand, the other arm still pinning her tightly to him.

"We sat in the water and talked all night. Suki almost got us that time."

"But she was sneaking out to meet Sokka."

The moon wasn't full that night, but she loved the ocean. He only visited it, but she had grown up on it. To her, the ocean was home. She was fascinated by the way it was warm, even after the sun went down. The result was them sitting together just beyond the break in the surf, Katara curled into his arms, making shapes in the water between her fingers.

She was in the middle of a story about Gran-Gran when she stopped midsentence. "I thought I saw someone by the house." She had to speak in normal tones to be heard over the waves. He followed her stare and saw the movement. "It's Suki."

"Off to meet Sokka in the forest?"

"Most likely. Hold your breath." He took a deep breath, but was unprepared for the weight that shoved him onto his back beneath the water. She had fallen beside him, but her movement told him it wasn't an accident. When the water receded she bent more of it from his shirt. "Sorry. I panicked."

Just before sunrise, they went home, bending water and dusting sand from each other. "Good morning Zuko." She said at the door.

"Good morning Katara." He kissed her then, and headed around the porch to meditate in the rising sun, while she slipped in the front door to start breakfast.

They both fell silent after that. For a long time neither needed to speak, but Zuko cleared his throat and broke the silence. "So… this is goodbye?"

Katara bit her lip, trying desperately hard to not cry once more. "Yes. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."

Zuko tried to smile, but ended closer to a grimace. "It's not your fault. We drew the Pai Sho tiles and we have to play it out."

He started to shift as though to stand, but her hands stopped him, pushing against his chest. "Zuko?"

He looked down at her gorgeous head, ignoring the tear that fell into her hair. "Yes Katara?"

"I love you. I always will." Zuko closed his eyes and concentrated very hard on his breathing. In. Out. Patience. Calm.

In a dizzying cycle behind his eyelids he saw her, every moment since he had crashed into her life with all the grace of a Rough Rhino. Her capacity to love, her ability to hold these fractured children together through a war, her grace and smile and the way she smelled like the ocean and the hundred other tiny details that just made her so wonderful.

He had never intended to fall in love with her. He hadn't meant to kiss her over chopping vegetables or hold her hand while Sokka ranted and raved about plans and training. He hadn't dreamed that he would one day take lightning for her. He certainly never meant to take her away from Aang. He hadn't even fully known that she and Aang were going to be together then. Some very large part of him, that was still so in love with this angel in front of him, knew that he would do it all over again.

"I know. I love you too Katara." Some part of me will always love you, he didn't say. We could run away, become the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady all over again, he did his best not to think. You will never be able to make me smile again without hurting.