A/N: I'm not really a big Zuka x Katara fan, but I figured it would be fun to write. I know it's not an original plot for ZxK fics, and Zuko and Katara are kind of out of character, but I just wrote this for practice because I haven't written anything in a while. Enjoy. :-)

When Fire Met Water

by Fiyero

Katara woke with a start. Sitting up, she noticed the dark figure stamping out the fire, despite the cold of the night. "Sokka?" she murmured. "Sokka, is that you?" Sokka turned around to face her and she stood up out of her sleeping bag. " What are you doing?"

A fireball appeared in the figure's hand and Katara gasped as Zuko's face was illuminated, not Sokka's. A grin spread across the fire prince's face and Katara thought that for an instant he almost looked friendly. But then his eyes narrowed and he spoke: "Hello, waterbender." His voice was almost dripping with evil.

Katara's hand moved instinctively to her water flask. Her heart was racing - how would she alert the boys? "W-What do you want, Zuko?"

Zuko let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "What do I want? What do you think I want, waterbender?" Katara tried to speak, but had lost her voice. She silently slipped the cap off her flask and slipped her eyes shut. "I want the Avatar," Zuko continued, "I want the boy, the boy I've been pursuing for two years." Katara worked the water in her mind carefully, moving it toward Aang, struggling to move it without the help of her hands. "He's here, isn't he?" Katara shook her head slowly, her mind still focused on the water. She could feel it moving toward Aang, who was sleeping in the bushes behind her. "Ah, this is your brother, isn't it?"

Katara's eyes snapped open in time to see Zuko raise a knife over Sokka's sleeping form. "No!" she cried, and made a dive for Zuko. She shoved him out of the way, sending him flying backwards and the knife flying through the air. She felt the wound on her cheek, but wiped away the blood and tried to ignore the burn as her salty tears mingled in the open wound. Only after she saw that Sokka was all right did she realize that Zuko had broken her concentration and the water she had been controlling had fallen on Aang and woken him. The young airbender stood up from behind the bushes.

"What do you want and why do you have to wake me up with water?"

Zuko lunged for Aang, but Katara grabbed the knife and threw it at the firebender. He yelped in pain as it glided past his arm, slicing open the skin. He picked up the knife and whirled around, his eyes blazing. He began walking slowly toward Katara, a menacing look of disgust on his face. Katara backed up a few steps, then turn and ran. "Aang, get out!" she cried over her shoulder. She screamed as she realized Zuko was gaining on her, and turned her focus back to clearing the way ahead of her.

Through the forest she ran, ducking under branches and dodging trees, her eyes darting everywhere, searching for a place to hide. At last she came to a moss-covered log, hollowed out from years of rot. She dropped to the ground and wriggled her way in, holding her breath so she could listen for Zuko. After what felt like years of silent waiting, Katara carefully pushed herself back out of the log.

Katara carefully made her way back to the camp, constantly looking around for any sign of Zuko or his guards. She found herself in the clearing again at last - Aang, Appa, and Momo were gone, as she had expected; but the shock came at the sight of Sokka's body, lying face down in the river.

Running to her brother's side, she carefully turned him over. His chest and face had burns all over them, and the dagger was implanted in his stomach. Choking on her sob, she carefully pulled out the dagger. Sokka let out a moan and his eyes fluttered open. "Katara," he muttered, so softly Katara barely heard him. His eyes rolled up in his head and the lids fluttered closed again. A trickle of blood emerged from his mouth and flowed into the river water.

"NO!" Katara cried, and she hurled the dagger as far into the river water as she could. She fell over her brother's body, shaking from crying so hard.

Katara whirled around and grabbed Zuko's forearm as soon as she felt him touch her. She looked into his eyes with pure hatred and saw nothing but an emotionless black. Sobbing, she fell to her knees in front of him and didn't protest as he bound her hands behind her back, tied a rope around her neck, and led her toward his boat not far off.

Zuko called for his uncle to come hoist Katara into the boat, then lifted himself up with his right arm, the unwounded one. He showed Katara into the cabin, where she curled herself into a corner, then left her, still crying silently.

When Zuko emerged from the cabin, Uncle Iroh looked at him sternly. "What did you do this time, Zuko?"

Zuko scowled at his uncle and sat himself on a barrel. "The Avatar got away," he told Iroh. "Again."

"Zuko." Zuko looked up into his uncle's knowing eyes. "What did you do to the girl?"

"Her brother did it to her!" he cried, standing and knocking the barrel over with his left arm, then wincing in pain. "He killed himself!" Iroh gave Zuko a stern look. "I chased her off into the woods," Zuko explained, "and I went back for the Avatar. He was gone, so I attacked the warrior boy instead. He managed to get the dagger from me and knocked me to the ground - he was about to kill me when I sent up my flames, burning his face - he stumbled backwards, tripped into the river, and fell on the knife. I didn't kill him, uncle, I swear."

Iroh looked at him silently. "You killed for no reason." His voice was filled with disappointment, his eyes with sadness.

"It was an accident, uncle!" But Iroh just shook his head and went into the cabin.

Frustrated, Zuko found a wooden bowl and dipped it into the water. He boiled it to rid it of salt and found an old rag and carefully dabbed the hot water on the wound on his left arm. The boy had killed himself... the boy had killed himself... Zuko kept telling himself that over and over, but eventually his thoughts wandered to the girl. She could make for a slave - but being a waterbender, it would be easier for her to defy him than an airbender or earthbender. Fire and water were natural enemies, just like air and earth, and that's why Zuko could never have her for his own. They were enemies. It would be against the laws of nature for Zuko and the girl -

Zuko caught himself mid-thought. He was thinking of the girl as an equal, as an ally, rather than as an enemy as he should. There should be no attraction to an enemy. It made no sense.

Zuko busied himself to get the girl off his mind. He found his cot and rolled it out, then removed his boots. Sitting on the cot, he pulled off his boots and shirt, then rolled over. Putting his hands behind his head, he looked up at the stars. The stars reminded him of the girl's eyes, how they shown with pride whenever the Avatar or that warrior boy did something right. He smiled. Her eyes were so clear, so blue, so pure.

Then Zuko hurriedly wiped the girl from his mind and forgot about her for the rest of the night.

Katara had wiped her eyes and pretended sleep when the old man came into the cabin. She watched him through slitted eyes as he picked up a Tersian blanket from the air nation and draped it over her, tucking her in just as her mother used to do. He patted her hair gently and smiled and turned to leave.

"Thank you," Katara whispered.

The old man turned back around. "You're very welcome," he said. "If you need anything, let me know. My name's Iroh."

Katara sat up. "I'm Katara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Iroh. Are you Zuko's slave?"

Iroh chuckled. "Well, I suppose you could say that. That's how Zuko tends to see me, anyway. But technically, no, I'm not Zuko's slave - I'm his uncle."

Katara's blue eyes went wide. "You mean you're a firebender too?" Iroh nodded. "I didn't know firebenders could be so... kind."

Iroh smiled knowingly and sat on the floor across from Katara. "Yes... between my vicious father, brother, his son Ozai, and Zuko, the rest of the world seems to have forgotten that the fire people are just as kind and forgiving and eager to receive forgiveness as the air people and the earth people and the water people. We only report to Ozai and Zuko because they demand it, and when they don't get their demands, well..." Iroh made a motion, sticking out his index finger and drawing it across his neck.

"That's horrible," Katara said.

"Yes, well, Zuko's not nearly as bad as Ozai. He doesn't normally kill unless it's absolutely necessary." Katara slumped and Iroh came to realization with what he just said. "Oh... oh, I'm so sorry, child, I never should - "

"No, it's fine," Katara said. "I offended you earlier."

A smile spread across Iroh's face. "You are wise beyond your years, young Katara." Iroh slapped his legs and worked to try to stand. "Well," he said as he pulled himself up with the help of a nearby table, "I'd best let you get some rest... you've had a long night. Good-night, Katara." Iroh smiled as he turned around and saw that Katara had already fallen asleep.

Zuko's memory had left him during the night, and he jumped when he found Katara sleeping in the corner of the cabin. Only the sight of her peaceful, sleeping face reminded him of the night's events, and a lump of guilt crawled into his throat. I killed her brother, he thought. I took the smile off of her face... He found his cloak and left the cabin hurriedly, slamming the door behind him.

Iroh had already dressed when Zuko came back out. "Sleep well?"

"Shut up." Zuko stomped his way up to the upper deck.

Iroh clicked his tongue. "Temper, temper," he murmured.

The door swung open and the girl emerged from the cabin, wrapped in the Tersian blanket. A rush of excitement surged through Zuko. Iroh and Katara exchanged greetings. Zuko quickly shifted his eyes to the map he had unrolled when Katara turned around. He felt his cheeks grow hot as she stared at him. He looked at the maps without reading them, aware entirely of Katara's eyes fixed right on him. When he dared to sneak a look at the girl, she didn't look away. He snarled. "What?" he snapped. Her blue eyes filled with hurt, she turned back around to face Iroh.

"Did you sleep well?" Iroh asked.

"Not really," the girl replied. "But thank you for asking, Iroh."

So Uncle Iroh and the girl had talked during the night. Zuko wandered what a girl like her could possibly want to talk to an old man like Iroh for. Still, Zuko couldn't help but feel a bit jealous that Iroh had found a way to communicate with the girl and Zuko had not.

"Girl," he barked. "Get up here."

The blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, the girl climbed up to where Zuko stood. He could practically feel her presence next to him and he wanted to take her in his arms and -

"I have a name, you know."

"What?" Zuko was taken by surprise at the girl's direct comment toward him.

"My name's Katara."

"Oh." Zuko felt hot again. "I'm Zuko."

"I know."

"Oh." Silence. Zuko never hated silence like he did now.

"What do you want?"

"What?"

Katara - it had a lovely ring to it - let out an exasperated sigh. "Why did you call me up here?"

"Oh... ah... we're entering water tribe territory," he said, making up a lame excuse. "Where are we?" He pointed at the map.

"Well how do you know we're entering water tribe territory if you don't know where we are?" Katara asked.

"I... ah..."

"And if we're entering water tribe territory, why do you have a map of the eastern earth kingdom?"

"Well, I - "

Katara was looking around at the ocean. "Oh, I see... of course... the water boats."

"Huh?"

Katara gestured out at the ocean in front of them. "The water boats ahead - that's how you knew we were entering water territory, isn't it?"

"Oh, um, yes. Yes, of course." Zuko cursed himself inwardly for being a buffoon.

"Curse you, Zuko, you're a buffoon!"

"Thank you, Iroh," Zuko called down. He turned back to Katara. "Well?"

The waterbender began leafing through the maps. "It must be here somewhere," she muttered. "Ah, here we go." She pulled out a piece of parchment from the stack and placed it on top. "We're right..." She ran her finger over the map, studying it carefully. She looked around. "There's Silo Island, so we must be right here." She pointed at a spot in the water-earth boundary that surrounded the North Pole. "Oh my gosh," she said slowly. "The North Pole... if we're so close, then surely..." She trailed off, her eyes lit up brilliantly and a triumphant smile spread across her face. The blanket slipped to the floor.

"Surely what?" Zuko asked.

He wished he hadn't spoken. Katara's eyes lost their sparkle and her smile faded. She was brought back to reality. "Nothing," she said.

Zuko grabbed her wrist. "Tell me!" he demanded.

"Or what?" the girl spat. "You'll flame me? Water beats fire, Zuko, don't forget that." She pulled her wrist free and made her way back down to the lower deck, calling for Iroh.

Katara found Iroh quickly, as it was such a small boat. "Iroh," she said, "is Zuko always this... ridiculously stupid?"

Iroh chuckled. "I'm afraid so."

Zuko cursed himself again and stooped to pick up the blanket. Pushing his face into it, he got the aroma of waterlilies - she had left her scent in the blanket. Carefully folding it, Zuko stashed the Tersian blanket in the drawer that held Katara's necklace. Looking up, his eyes narrowed and he grabbed the steering wheel - they were approaching the first water ship.

"What's your business here?" called a man on the water ship.

"Let me pass or I'll light your ship on fire!" Zuko announced.

"Do so and I'll sink your boat," the man cried back. Zuko let out a shout as the boat lowered significantly into the water.

"Sorry, sorry," Zuko said. "My mistake."

"We're here for the Avatar," Katara said.

"What?" Iroh, Zuko, and the water man had spoken all at once.

"Trust me," Katara whispered to Iroh. She looked up at the water man. "My friend is the Avatar... he has come here on a flying bison to train for waterbending. Perhaps you've seen him?"

"Sorry, no," said the man, "but go on in." He sent up three large splashes of water in the air.

Zuko glared at Katara, but called down to her. "What do those mean?"

"He's telling the other ships that we're safe," she informed him, "even though only two of us are trustworthy." Katara ducked into the cabin.

"She's got spunk," Iroh said, grinning. "If only you weren't so stupid when you were around her, you might be able to - "

"Uncle..." Zuko's tone had a warning written all over it. Iroh followed Katara into the cabin.

Katara found a chair in the cabin and dropped into it. Iroh came in after her. Without a word, he began spreading a large mat with a strange pattern on it on the floor. "You don't mind if I do some fire excercises, do you?"

"No, not at all," Katara responded. "Could I crack a window for a minute, just while you're getting ready?"

"Go on, go on," said Iroh, now setting a row of small bowls full of herbs along the end of the mat.

Katara opened the window and focused on the water. Some of the liquid came floating up through the window. Iroh stopped to watch with interest Katara as she carefully molded the water together to form a protective bubble around herself. When she finished, she carefully pushed her hand through the bubble's barrier and pulled the window shut. She grinned at Iroh. "Just in case," she said. Iroh nodded and continued setting up for his exercises.

"Iroh," Katara said, "why doesn't Zuko have any servants here?"

"Zuko was banished from the fire nation by his father," Iroh told her. "No one would follow him - I only came with him to ensure that he didn't burn down the world while chasing that Avatar boy."

Katara felt a pang of pity for Zuko. Banished from his own nation by his own father, and his own people wouldn't follow him. "What does the Avatar have to do with his banishment?" she asked.

"Zuko will be accepted back into the fire nation if he can present the Avatar to Lord Ozai, his father." Iroh squashed down into a sitting position on the floor. "Now, Katara, I'm going to need quiet while I do these exercises, or I might burn down the boat."

Katara nodded and became almost instantly absorbed in her own thoughts. So Zuko wasn't just a crazy, evil teenager trying to eliminate competition for being the greatest bender in the world, as Katara had always assumed. He had thoughts... he had motivation... he had emotion...

Iroh was tossing fireballs into each of the herb-filled bowls from the other side of the room. They would land and the herbs burned up into a cloud of smoke, each one a different color. Katara lost herself in the colored smoke and all thoughts of Zuko left her.

When Iroh had finished the exercise with the colored smoke and the herbs, he sat down on the floor to meditate. Katara burst the water bubble, cracked the window, and sent the water floating back outside. She smiled when she saw Iroh watching her with fascination through one eye, apologized for disturbing his peace, and slipped out onto the deck.

They had past the water ships and were now in open ocean. Because they had all been up so late the night before and slept in late, the sun was already a brilliant orange as it set toward the west. Zuko stood on the deck, shirtless, facing the darkening east, throwing fireballs into the ocean, muttering something. Katara cleared her throat and the fire prince looked up, startled. A smile flicked on his face, but he quickly returned to his emotionless, stone facial expression. "What?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"About what?"

"About your father." She kept her voice steady and gentle, watching as the hurt crawled into his eyes. "I... We didn't know. None of us. We could have helped you, Zuko. You didn't need to hunt Aang - if you had just told us of your banishment, of your pain, we could have helped you."

"Then you would left," he snapped, "off to save the world."

"Well... yes..." Katara took a step toward Zuko. "You don't want this, do you, Zuko? You don't want the world. You just want someone to love you. You just want your father. You don't care about taking over the world like Lord Ozai does, do you, Zuko? You - "

"Stop telling me what I do and do not want," Zuko snapped, turning and facing the setting sun. He stood firm for a moment, then put his arms on the side of the boat and leaned on it. At last his knees gave him and he crumpled to the ground, crying. "I... I can't," he murmured.

"Shh," Katara knelt beside the prince and slipped an arm around him. She shivered as she felt her hand on his bare skin. It felt so... wonderful. "It's okay, it's okay... you can."

"I can?" Zuko asked, facing Katara.

"You can."

"Then I will." Zuko leaned in and gently pressed his lips onto Katara's. When he pulled back, his face was red.

Katara smiled. "I like you, Zuko."

"I like you too, Katara."

FIN.

A/N: Not the best I've ever written, but hey, it was fun. As I said, I'm not really a big ZxK supporter as far as the show, but it was fun to write anyway. Please review! Thanks!