Katara's POV

It was a peaceful day, nothing was happening; so, call me crazy, but I was restless. Don't get me wrong, I loved sleeping in a comfortable bed at night, eating real food made of real ingredients… but I missed that feeling of flying away, just barely making it out of bad situations, the feeling of adventure.

Sitting in the large common room upstairs from the Jasmine Dragon I was forced to admit that I was bored. Sokka and Suki had gone out shopping, and Toph had taken Aang to explore some old 'Earth Bender Only' tunnels. I was so used to taking care of everyone, that when there was no one to take care of I had nothing to do, I was bored.

I had already finished helping Mai pack, she was going back to the Fire Nation, for some unexplained reason I remembered exactly what had happened...

Mai stormed past me, shoving me roughly out of her way, into her room.

"Mai, what is it," I asked distressed, it took a lot to get this kind of emotional response from Mai. I followed Mai into her room to see what was wrong.

"Nothing," Mai said wiping away a few stray tears. "I don't want pity, least of all from you," she said icily. "I'm going back to the Fire Nation to be with my family and get a few things sorted out." Mai started to carefully fold everything neatly into a small bag of her possessions

It had been hard for me to accept Mai into the group, after all the times she had tried to kill us, but seeing her so torn down made my maternal side feel for her. "At least let me help you pack."

"Thank you Katara," Mai said, instantly she returned to her usual stoic self. When we finally finished packing Ty Lee and I bid Mai farewell outside the Dragon.

"I'll miss you Ty Lee, come a visit me soon," she said hugging Ty lee tightly. The she turned to me, from the look on her face she could have killed me then and there. "Take care of Zuko," she ordered then stepped quickly into the carriage a rod off.

Even after all the times she had chased and attacked us, when it the time came she helped us. But now she was just packing up and getting away from us as fast as she could, something was up!

"Katara," someone behind me called.

I figured it must be Sokka, he probably needed laundry. "What is it Sokka," I answered, sounding even more bored than I actually was.

"Wrong, it's Zuko," he said chuckling. Zuko was actually chuckling, he had been in a good mood since we got back to Ba Sing Se. I felt just the tiniest prick of some emotion running through me when I heard his laugh. I knew what it was, but I didn't want to admit it.

"Do you want to come downstairs and help in the kitchen," Zuko asked, "Uncle's a little short handed today and could use the help."

"Sure." Working in the kitchen certainly wasn't an adventure, but it would occupy my hands. Getting up I followed Zuko, who lead us quickly downstairs and through the kitchen's back entrance. Zuko had been in a better mood lately, but hadn't said a word about his mother. Part of me hoped he would still take me with him, but mostly I knew we would all wake up one morning and he would be gone.

I felt worried, worried that Zuko would leave without someone, worried that he would get hurt or worse, I was afraid of what he might find. What if his mother had died? What if he never found her? Then what would he do?

As we entered the kitchen I was shocked out of my ponderings by the cacophony of the cooks and tea masters working away. I don't know why I didn't come here more often, this was the perfect place for me to expand my knowledge of cooking.

"Gah," came a loud cry from amongst the tea masters, "this is nothing but hot leaf juice!" It was Iroh, of course, always trying to teach people how to properly prepare tea. Right now he was looking disgustedly a small cup of Ginseng.

"Uncle," Zuko called, drawing Iroh's attention.

"What is it nephew, as you can see I don't really have time to chat," Iroh motion to the chaos around him. Cooks were working double time, servers running back and forth furiously, dishes breaking, people shouting out new orders…

"I brought you some help," Zuko said. "The legendary cook Katara," Zuko motion back at me, smirking. ".., and me, I know how to make tea perfectly, and I'm sorry Uncle but it's nothing more than hot leaf juice." Iroh scowled sarcastically as his nephew said this, but didn't speak up.

"Alright, I could use the help, Katara why don't come with me," Iroh lead me to an area of the kitchen completely devoted to soups. "We don't have a set menu only a daily special, so feel free to make whatever you want. I have one of the largest collection of spices in all of Ba Sing Se, so use whatever you need!" Iroh looked at the racks which lined the walls, each brimming with every spice you could imagine. "Good luck," Iroh said as he walked away leaving me to cook.

It's seems stupid but cooking was one of the few things I really enjoyed, even after running from pirates, angry towns, and Zuko, I had always found time to cook. Sometimes I had to make stone soup, because that's all Sokka seemed to be able to find. But for a while there, especially when we were in the Fire Nation, I was able to come up with some great recipes. I decided I would try a flour soup. Unfortunately the flour was in a huge bag on the top shelf, the only way to get to it was to climb the lower shelves, so I did.

Making sure no one was watching, because if Toph found out she would never listen to me again, I started climbing up the shelves. My heart was racing as I reached my hand up to the top shelf and got a firm grip on the bottom of the flour sack, I knew if the slightest noise came I would…

"Katara," a voice behind me asked loudly.

"Ahhh," I yelled, falling off the shelves, causing flower to fly in every direction. "Hmph," I let out a groan as I hit the floor.

"I'm sorry," Zuko's laughter was joined by mine as I realized what I must look like. "Let me help you," Zuko ran over to me and put out a hand. I put my left hand in his, but with my right I showered him in the remainder of the flour. His shocked face was enough to start me rolling on the floor laughing!

"You should have seen your face," I laughed, holding my sides.

"It wasn't funny," Zuko moped.

"Yes it was," my laughter died when his expression didn't change. Zuko got up and walked to wards the shelves, leaving his back to me. "Oh, lighten up Zuko, it was just a joke," I tried to amend.

"You're right," he pulled one of the spice jars off the shelf and uncapped it. "But you know what would be even funnier?" I started to answer but was assaulted by paprika.

"Oh so this is how it's gonna be," I bent soup from one of the cooled pots and flung across the room where it hit Zuko right across the chest.

"You're on," Zuko said, grabbing jar after jar and fling their contents at me, I blocked some of it… but the majority covered my skin and clothing. Zuko wasn't doing much better, he wasn't using his bending, just launching large amounts spices at me. I realized halfway through the fight that I was having fun, the kind of fun I hadn't had in a long time, since back when Aang and I went Penguin Sledding. I felt joy, not just the kind of joy I felt when someone told a joke, that might spark a few seconds laughter; pure, honest joy welled up in my chest, I was having so much fun!

By the end of the fight Zuko was soaked, his shirt clung to his body showing off his perfectly sculpted body. I was covered in a rainbow of spices. We were both breathing heavily, and I was actually tired from all the bending. Zuko sat down against the wall and smiled, "Well that was fun."

"Yes it was," I couldn't wipe the grin of my face. Zuko may not want to admit it, but I won.

"I won," he said, as if reading my thoughts.

"No way, you're soaked," I countered.

"Yes, but look at you," he motioned up and down my body, "you a walking rainbow." I had to concede, he was right I was covered.

"How about a tie," I compromised, holding out my hand.

"Deal," Zuko said, taking my hand and giving it one firm shake, then pulling back quickly.

"Hey Katara, Iroh told me I'd find you here… What the," Suki looked completely dumbstruck as she walked into the room. I hadn't noticed before, but it wasn't just Zuko and I that had sustained 'damage' during the fight, the whole room was a 'hot mess' as Toph would say. "What on earth were you two doing," Suki asked in an accusatory voice.

"It's not what it looks like," Zuko and I said together.

Suki gave us a disbelieving look, "it looks like extreme cooking."

"Yeah, pretty much," I said. "Oh no," my stomach fell.

"What is it,' Zuko asked with concern.

"The soup," I yelled, "the whole reason we are here is to help your Uncle!" I quickly ran back to the soup and began tasting the different flavours that had spontaneously formed as a product of Zuko and I's little duel.

"I should get back to the tea," Zuko said, excusing himself and leaving the small room; which left Suki and I alone to try and make awkward conversation.

Suki started to taste to soups as well, and her face was immediately shocked as she took her first sip. I felt terrible at the look on her face, I had managed to ruin eight pots of perfectly good soup. Iroh was never going to trust me again.

"Wow, can you teach me how to make this? It's actually really good," Suki said, taking another sip.

"Well, it's a very complicated recipe," I said sarcastically, "first you have to start cooking, then you and Sokka have to get into a good natured fight, then somehow this soup is the product," I finished. "Can you pass me some beef?"

"Why me and Sokka," Suki asked with mock innocence, handing me the beef.

"Well…" I started to answer.

"So… you and Zuko," Suki cut me off, drawing some strange conclusion from my answers. It wasn't that she was wrong, but she wasn't right either. And if I talked to Suki she would talk to Sokka, who would jump to conclusions… And everything would get blown out of proportion, and Aang would get hurt and I couldn't handle that.

"What," I asked feigning confusion. I began chopping beef and adding it to three of the eight pots as Suki explained her correct wild accusation.

"I'm not saying it's anything bad," Suki tried to ameliorate. "It's just that well you spent a lot of time with him, and he did save your life," Suki smiled as if that fact was her piece de résistance. What did it matter to me? Of course I was grateful, but he had save Sokka and Suki's lives as well, right? Maybe the difference was that this time he hadn't just broken someone out of prison, he had jumped directly in front of a lightning bolt for her, well me. "And didn't you tell me that that fortune teller lady told you, you would marry a powerful Bender? Zuko is an incredibly powerful Fire Bender," Suki was seemed to be trying to coax some form of answer out of me, but I couldn't speak. "And didn't Aang have to give up his attachment to you, so he could you know, master the Avatar State?" Suki looked at me as if I should understand some greater meaning in what she was saying. "Katara if Aang is going to be a good Avatar you can't be together."

"Suki, Zuko and I are just friends," Suki gave me a disbelieving look, "and good friends at that, but just friends."

"Oh really," she asked. Suki turned towards the door while I continued cooking "Hey Zuko," Suki said. Oh no, what if he had heard this entire conversation? I dropped my spoon into the pot. I looked around for Zuko, but he wasn't there. "Right, you don't like him at all," Suki said sarcastically, Sokka was really rubbing off on her.

"I was afraid he might have heard your ridiculous notions," honestly I had never really thought of him that way, not even when he begged for our forgiveness. Not until he had helped me find my mother's murderer, or brought my father back from prison, then I began to wonder if he really was so bad.

I had seen him at his very best, back in the catacombs. I had hoped that he would join us, that he would choose good. I had even started to believe in him, especially when he'd told me about his mother. And all my hopes came crashing down when he chose his sister, when he stood by and watched Azula shoot Aang down. I blamed myself for what happened in Ba Sing Se, if I hadn't have trusted Zuko then maybe Aang would have died, maybe we would have ended up in a fight for our lives. I hadn't felt so distraught since my mother had died, it was my fault Aang had died, I had let my guard down, I had trusted Zuko. Seeing Zuko so alone, so fragile, made me have hope for his good side. How wrong I had been.

"Katara, are you okay" Suki asked concerned, "I was just joking, I didn't mean to make you cry." Suki put her hand on my shoulder. "Katara," Suki asked.

I wiped away the tears that had appeared without my knowing. "Just a bad memory," I said.

"Katara you know you can tell me anything, right," Suki asked sincerely.

"Yeah," I said uncertainly, I was afraid she might tell Sokka, who would worry needlessly over me.

"And I won't tell Sokka," Suki said, as if reading my mind. "I promise."