A/N: A meeting of Ursa and Katara in an interesting situation… and yes, I made Zuko cheerful because who wouldn't be after finding their mom they thought dead for a long time?! By the way this is probably six or seven years into the future.

WARNING: Zutara fluff. Hahaahaha. I never write that, I'm always with the angst.

Disclaimer: Bryke's.

The In-Law

"How do I look?"

"Fine."

"Zuko! This is your mother! I can't just look fine; a pet rabbitdog looks fine—"

"Calm down, will you? She's not going to attack you."

"Well, considering the rest of your family—"

"Katara."

She blinked up at him and saw the exasperated look in his face. She let out a small breath. "Okay. Okay. I'm fine. Really." She wasn't. Her knees were shaking and her fingers were twitching like she needed to hold onto something or else she would scream.

"No you're not." He knew her too well by that point. Smirking, he tugged on a stand of her hair. Hastily she pulled it back out of his reach. "I can tell you're nervous. Why?" he looked curious.

Katara glanced up the walkway and noted how modest it looked. A little comfortable home on the outskirts of a very mundane village in the middle of nowhere, Earth Kingdom. There was a small garden at the front just underneath the shuttered window. The flowers were beginning to bloom in the late spring. It looked too normal to be the home of the Fire Lord's mother.

"I really want you to meet her," he said softly. Katara glance up at the door again nervously, as if Ursa would be watching next time she looked over. "I mean, I just found her! It's amazing, it's been such a change…" Katara had heard this speech numerous times. How Zuko had been searching for Ursa ever since he'd gotten his throne, and five months ago he'd finally discovered her. He usually glazed over the details of their first meeting, but ever since he'd visited her at least three times a month, and apparently on his last visit he'd let it slip he was engaged.

"Okay, okay," she conceded. "Fine. I will. But I'm scared." She placed a hand on his arm. "Remember that."

He looked too pleased to really listen. Zuko had officially won this argument. "It'll be fine," he reassured her. Katara wasn't so sure.

They walked up the quaint cobblestone path. "I'm going to faint," Katara choked out. Annoyance creased Zuko's face.

"This isn't going to make a very good first impression, you know," he whispered back heatedly. Both of them were still staring at the little wooden door looming in front of them, not looking at one another.

"Well if you hadn't accidentally informed her I could've been more prepared—"

"A month is much more time than necessary to prepare, whatever that means. She's family, Katara. When I met Hakoda I wasn't crying."

Katara was tempted to snap back, but instead fell quiet. Deflated. In the end arguing with Zuko was just a defence mechanism.

They stood in front of the door. Zuko knocked.

Ursa answered with a small smile. She looked normal: brown hair, age lines in her face, the loose skin that comes with being older. And yet her eyes still flashed like royalty, and that smile on her face was not all that comforting.

"He—Hello," Katara whispered, smiling feebly. Zuko was beaming, Katara noticed out of the corner of her eye. That made her feel a bit better.

"Mother," Zuko greeted. He stepped up to embrace her. Ursa smiled at him and then glanced over at Katara.

"Come in, won't you?" She turned around led the way into her small cottage. "It isn't much, I'm afraid…"

"It's perfect," Katara said quietly. It was a cute little home. Ursa gave her another tight smile and Katara felt her hands trembling more. She gripped Zuko's hand tightly with her left. He squeezed it reassuringly.

As the three sat down at the table for tea and talking, Katara kept noticing Ursa's eyes watching her. Every so often the old woman would ask a question that would throw Katara off: something about her family, her brother, about Aang or about her future plans. It made her feel like she was being interrogated at the Boiling Rock (not that she'd ever been, but she'd heard stories from Sokka).

Katara had never had problems with herself. But at that moment, with Ursa's cool judging eyes, Katara felt small. She felt that she, a mere Waterbender, was not good enough for the Fire Lord; that she would not bring him happiness; that her dowry was not enough to bring contentment to the Fire Nation palace (which was true… it consisted of nothing). Rather than Ursa being the kind-hearted woman she'd always heard Zuko coo of in memory, she seemed hardened by age and regret. She watched Katara like an enemy or a competitor. For Zuko's affection? Katara didn't understand. She gripped her teacup tighter as the time wore on. Took several dainty sips and tried not to cough.

"Is that a betrothal necklace?" asked Ursa suddenly, cutting Zuko off in mid-sentence (which Katara could sort of understand… the story had been about the cost of rice in the Fire Nation, not the most stimulating topic). Katara touched her necklace nervously.

"Um, sort of…" In truth, it wasn't the one her mother had given her. Katara had packed that away in a trunk of prized possessions for her future children she hoped to have someday. The one she wore was on a dark red ribbon rather than blue, and the small, carved circle of stone was a mixture of flame and water. "Zuko made it for me." She flickered a warm smile at Zuko, and he grinned bashfully.

"I tried, you mean," he corrected it. "One of my flames is pretty straight for a flame, and it's not very elegant… or shiny, I wasn't sure how they polish their stones. It was the best I could do under the circumstances." Katara was still getting used to seeing that smile of his, the smile that seemed to appear a lot more ever since he'd found Ursa. Katara felt a small pang of jealousy.

Finally, Ursa's face smiled a real beam, and Katara could sort of see the kind woman Zuko talked about all of the time. "That's sweet of you, Zuko," she teased. Zuko blushed under her thoughtful gaze.

"Yes, it really was," Katara said hurriedly, ruining the light banter between mother and son. Both looked over at her with questioning looks, but she decided to ignore them and sip her tea again.

Finally, an entire afternoon later, Ursa proclaimed that the time had flown by and that Zuko's young fiancée must be tired. Katara could only mutter a noncommittal noise. She was scared of giving the wrong answer in front of this powerful woman, disguised as a peasant.

After the two left (hugs between all three of them, although Ursa and Katara's had been rather chilly and distant), Katara gripped onto Zuko's arm desperately.

"It wasn't that bad," he moaned, his voice tinted with wariness.

"That---bad?!" Katara whispered. The two were still walking down the small path; the sun was setting to their left. "I was horrible! I was panicking and weak and pathetic, and I'm not like that! I'm never like that! How is this fair?" her fear had turned to frustration, until she felt Zuko kiss the top of her head lightly as they walked down the small dirt road that led to their camp.

"My mother is a formidable woman," he said with a hint of admiration.

"You always said she was sweet. I was imagining a woman with lots of desserts and knitted clothes, or something."

Zuko had to laugh. "Katara, she was married to Ozai. She's tough." And Katara knew that that was precisely why Zuko loved his mother so much. Because she was tough.

"Well she's scary," admitted Katara in a whisper, annoyed with herself. She didn't get scared. Not fair.

"That's who I inherit it from," joked Zuko, and Katara had to let out a quick burst of laughter. Zuko was in a light mood that day, and Katara decided it was best to take while she could.

"Even though she's frightening… I'm happier for you than I am scared for me," she clarified, looking up at him. "So you know."

Zuko nodded at her words. She couldn't comprehend his expression with his scar facing her. "I know."

A quiet descended as they walked. "I really love the necklace." She'd already said it many times, but decided it needed to be said again.

Zuko smiled again. "I know."