Chapter one:
Zuko had just saved them from the assassin he had assigned to kill them. Now, he stood in front of them, awaiting their judgement. He should have been able to relax. The Avatar had allowed him to join their group. The water tribe boy and the blind Earthbender also accepted him, but his heart beat faster, his whole body on edge while he waited for her to pass judgement. In that moment he realized he didn't just want to be accepted into the group, he wanted to be accepted by the Waterbender. Her opinion matter most to him. She agreed reluctantly, and that reluctance stung Zuko. At least he was accepted into their group. He was shown a room, away from where they camped. Sokka awkwardly tried to welcome Zuko. As he left the room, his sister stalked right up to Zuko. She was right in his face, almost yelling as him. He stared wide eyed at her angry, and scared face. But there was something else there too. He made another realization. The girl in front of him, was the most dangerous girl he knew. Maybe the most dangerous person, except from his father. Zuko dated a girl with dangerous aim, and was the older brother to a girl who could summon lightening. But this girl in front him, the girl he had seen save lives, laugh, and be the first girl to show him compassion. This girl would do anything to help her friends. Anything. And that dedication made her dangerous. She ended with a threat towards him, and huffed from the room. He hung his head, the shame of all his mistakes rose in him again. Worse than ever. That made him angry. He was mad at himself, for needing her approval, for letting her cause him to feel even worse about himself. 'I don't need her, I don't need some water tribe girl liking me, I DON'T CARE WHAT SHE THINKS OF ME!' He wanted to yell, but even as he thought it, he knew it wasn't true. That made him even angrier. He wanted to scream and set the bed on fire. Instead he took a deep breath and climbed into bed. He laid awake, staring through the window at the moon. He thought about a cave. A place under Ba Sing Se. He thought of the underground river. He stood on one side, Katara on the other, and they fought. It felt like he was there again. Fighting Katara, but this time for her trust, not her death. He thought og how ashamed he was, and how ashamed she made him feel. He remembered his Uncle's face when he chose Azula over him. His Uncle that had always been there for him. No matter what. If his Uncle was here, he would be able to gain their trust easily, even Katara's. Zuko eventually slipped into sleep, where he dreamed of drowning. Drowning in his shame, in his failures. Drowning by the hand of Katara. He woke just as the sun broke the horizon, gasped and struggling for breath.
When Zuko had first approached them, Katara's first thought was to forgive, to let him join the group, maybe even hug him. But that feeling lasted less than a second. Instead, she refused. She hated him. She hated him more than his father. She remembered when they were trapped in a cave. He seemed so hurt and lost. He hadn't hurt her then. She remembered him say that the war took his mother too. After Toph returned with burned feet, Katara hated him even more. She felt betrayed by him, and she didn't want to feel that way ever again. After he saved their lives from Combustion man, the group accepted him, but she couldn't. 'This is a trap.' She thought. After he was in his room, she knew she had to scare him from betraying them. She stalked up to him and threatened him. He looked at her with fear and sadness and something else. As she left the room, she hesitated outside the door. He had looked so sad and lost and innocent. 'He's not innocent. He's tried to kill us!' She thought. After Ba Sing Se, she had felt betrayed, and she didn't know why. He had never promised the help them, he never promised he wouldn't try to kill them. He tried to kill them again. She shouldn't of been surprised, but she was. The pain of his not betrayal, hurt more than she let on. She never told Sokka, or Aang or Toph about how she offered to heal his scar, how she trusted him. It hurt even more than what his father has done to her, and the world. Katara raced to her room, and buried her face into the bed, the betrayal fresh. Hot tears threatened to fall. "Stop it." She chastised herself for almost crying over Zuko. Prince Zuko who had hunted Aang, who had tried to kill them. She took a deep breath. She wanted to trust him again, she wanted to believe he had changed. Oh! How badly she wanted him to have changed, and her want for that, how much she cared made her angry. 'I DON'T CARE ABOUT ZUKO, I ONLY CARE THAT HE DOESN'T HURT MY FAMILY!' She thought. Breathing deeply, she stared up at the moon. It's gentle light and power washing over her. 'Help me understand why I feel this way, feel this strongly when it comes to Zuko, please Yue. Help me.' The power she felt from the moon calmed her. She felt powerful enough to defeat Zuko if he tried anything. She slipped off into sleep. She dreamed of fire surrounding her, suffocating her, caressing her skin, and burning flesh away. She screamed as fire engulfed her, and pain overwhelmed her. She woke with a start late in the morning.