A/N: I do not own Avatar, just this story.
Read on…
Pacing up and down his private room, Zuko seethed with the need to thrust a fireball at something–anything at all!–that would preferably not burn down his study. Finding nothing that wouldn't catch on fire, or at the very least char, he continued to pace with tendrils of smoke escaping his nose. This is how Katara found him.
"Is there any particular reason you seem so cheerful?" she asked mildly, doing a pretty negligent job of hiding her concern. She leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed and bright blue eyes expectant.
Zuko turned to look at her. The concern in her eyes knocked his anger down a peg, allowing his voice to achieve a semblance of normalcy. After all, nothing of what happened was her fault, and it'd be abusive to yell at her for his incompetence.
The Fire Lord turned and pressed his fist into the smoky colored wall of cool stone. "I sent for the Avatar a week ago and haven't heard back."
Katara nodded as she felt the knot in her chest screw itself tighter. "I'm worried too." In a flash she was behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest so that her hands rested on his heart. "The Avatar and the Greatest Earth Bender in history…how much trouble can they get in?"
The whisper of a smile touched a corner of Zuko's lips. "You have met them, correct?" his fist was still clenched, his knuckles turning white.
Katara's embrace tensed the slightest bit. He brought his free hand to place above her cold hands, in an effort of comfort.
"If they were in trouble we would have heard it by now," she reasoned with plausible logic. After all, there wasn't much the Avatar could do without some sort of grape-vine catching wind of it. Though her sound logic perked up Zuko, she hid the discontent it stirred on the inside. No amount of logic could dissuade her from the worry – she hadn't even received a single letter or message from Toph of Aang! By now, two weeks passed with no word about their status on the secret mission prompted by one of Aang's many visions.
But she reigned in the worry. Zuko had too much on his mind already with the rebels. This worry was hers to keep.
"In the meantime, your Generals would like to speak with you-," she felt him tense and with more fervor than before she intoned, "They're coming back."
Zuko nodded, not altogether believing nor dismissing her. He'd believe her because he needed to.
With the issue hastily settled, he switched his mind over to the citizens of the Fire Nation. They needed a plan and a rapid execution of it as quickly as conceivably possible. He couldn't wait on the Avatar or his Field Marshal. The First and Second division under her command would just have to wait before being deployed. He'd rather break his wrist than deploy them under another General and if Toph ever found out she'd break more than just his wrist.
With a small shudder he hedged, "We'll be late," referring to the meeting.
Katara untangled herself from him. "Let's go," she said with conviction, holding firmly to his hand in a silent "together."