This is a story line I thought up over the summer. I have to warn you that I don't feel happy with what I wrote...at all. It's a plot I may pursue, sometime...but for now, it's a oneshot. An unrevised oneshot. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading it, anyways.

"Consider the options you're giving him!" Aang exclaimed. "He's done nothing but help to end the war, imprison his sister, and end the tyranny his ancestors had started. Don't you think he deserves better than this?"

The Earth King, Kuei, set his hands on the table. "The Firelord needs to form some sort of unity with one of the other nations in order for peace to become a much more likely possibility. Trust between us and the Fire Nation was shattered over a hundred years ago. And as you said: he betrayed his own family. Who's to say he wouldn't go against the other nations and begin his attack with a new passion?" He pushed back, folding his fingers. "Our only choices are a union or imprisonment."

"But you've signed a treaty!"

"Trust cannot be given on a sheet of paper. The treaty could be broken anytime they so choose. This way there is no chance Sozin's bloodline would continue its reign of terror."

Katara's eyes flickered to where Zuko sat, impassive. Just the opposite reaction of what she would have expected from him. She had always considered him hot-headed and quick to decide—but maybe she had misjudged him. The unfamiliar world of politics left her unbalanced, while Zuko seemed unfazed by negotiations of trade and retribution that were so fiercely discussed within the small conference room.

It must have been his upbringing, she decided. Being raised in a palace where your grandfather and father conferred, consulted, and bartered for the good of the country, you'd think some of their practices would have rubbed off somehow.

"Unfortunately, my daughter sacrificed herself in the siege against the North Pole," Chief Arnook said quietly. Next to Katara, Sokka noticeably stiffened. "The only other eligible noble of the Water Tribe would be my older sister, Sialuk."

Katara had met the Chief's sister when they were staying in the North Pole. Frail and going deaf, she was descending into the final stages of her life. Just thinking of Zuko having to live his life caring for a dying wife made Katara's stomach twist in knots.

"There is another option," the Earth King said slowly. "My niece, Ia, could also be proposed for marriage." Katara breathed an inward sigh of relief. The niece of the Earth King couldn't be ancient. Zuko could be happy with her.

"Of course, you wouldn't be able to take her from her home until she reached the age of sixteen…," he continued.

Aang held up his hand. "Just howyoung is Ia?"

"Her sixth birthday is in a few months."

A child? Katara started to seethe. They'd have Zuko marry a baby? A child he couldn't even marry for ten years? Why were they so willing to provide these unsuitable matches? She again glanced in the Firelord's direction, but he was looking at his hands, clasped loosely on the table. They twitched minutely, and he seemed intensely focused on them. How could he not object to the negotiations that would change the rest of his life?

"There's no way this can happen," Katara heard herself say. The four leaders—the Earth King, the two chiefs of the Water Tribe, and the Firelord—looked over to her in surprise. "Firelord Zuko is seventeen. There has to be someone that he can marry that is his age."

"There is no one else of noble birth that he can unite himself with," Chief Arnook replied. "Unless, Sifu Katara, there is someone you can name."

She couldn't, of course. "But why does she have to be of noble birth? Why can't she be…a commoner?"

Kuei chuckled. "I very much doubt the Firelord would be willing to marry someone of such low rank in society…"

But Katara had turned her attention to Zuko, who was watching her intently. "Let me help you find someone," she said.

His eyes were agonizing for her to watch. Although they had appeared calm and unfeeling, they now searched hers for some sort of sign, something that he could hold on to. But she really had no clue how she could help. This was her last-ditch attempt at saving him.

"…Firelord?"

"Yes?" he replied, his golden eyes still locked on the waterbender.

"What do you say to Sifu Katara's offer?"

He broke away from her stare, leaning back. "I don't object to the idea. There is a considerable age difference between me and both Sialuk and Ia. So much so that it would be difficult to ever form a relationship with ties strong enough to keep the peace." The explanation hinted at the poorly hidden threat beneath. Katara was again amazed at the ability Zuko had for manipulating officials. When Zuko's gaze again fell to her, she stumbled over her words in her haste to explain herself.

"If-if you j-just gave us six months," she said. "I'm sure we could take Appa and—" And what? Pick up a young girl from off the street and introduce her to Zuko? She imagined how that would turn out:

"Hello, my name is Firelord Zuko, and I'm looking for a wife that's close enough to my age to allow me to form a unity between two nations but still give room for a romantic relationship."

The idea was hard to swallow. "Please," she finished softly. "If there's no one at the end of six months, you can make your decision. But let him try to find someone."

After a minute in silence the Earth King stated that he had no issue with the option, and the two Water Tribe chiefs also murmured their assent. Katara turned to Aang—he was the only one who hadn't said anything—and waited for him to make the decision unanimous. But his face was contorted in worry.

"You'll let me come with you, right?" he asked her, reaching for her hand.

Katara sighed. "I can't let you do that, Aang. You have so much that you need to accomplish here that it would be wasteful to take you away for six months. You need to stand up for Zuko while he's gone. I'm sure that without his say, the Fire Nation would have already been divided up amongst them. You're what's keeping Zuko's future alive."

The Avatar looked down at their entwined hands. "But…six months is so long. I'll miss you. Can't Toph go with him instead?"

She was surprised at how selfish he seemed to be acting. Sure, the idea of being separated from Aang for so long was painful, but with Zuko's throne on the line it was a choice she had to make. "No, but Toph would be helpful. Maybe we'll stop by Omashu and see her."

The boy sighed, and she knew she had convinced him. "Okay. It's just that I thought you could help me. I'm going to visit the Southern Water Tribe soon and I hoped you would be able to help smooth things over. You know, since Zuko kind of stormed in and threatened them all."

Guilt hit her hard. He wasn't trying to be selfish; he was hoping she would help him in trying to strengthen the ties between her home and the other nations. "I-I can't. I wish I could, but this is too important to leave to someone else." Aang nodded slightly in understanding.

"Is that a consensus?" Chief Arnook asked. "It's settled, then. Firelord Zuko has six months to find a bride from either the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribe. We will return to this room in half a year to the day." He pushed back from his seat and exited the room. Kuei rose, and the wall opened to reveal a hall that he passed into before the stone swallowed him up.

Aang touched Katara's cheek. "Be safe. For me." He stretched up and kissed her sweetly before getting up himself. "Do you need help packing?"

She shook her head. "I won't need to bring much. After riding around on Appa for a year, running from the Fire Nation, and doing pretty much everything else along the way, I've learned to travel light." She hugged him. "Thank you. I'll miss you. Maybe if we find her early, we'll be able to come to the South Pole and help."

He beamed at her, but all she felt was an empty hollow in the pit of her stomach.

Zuko pulled his hands apart, running one through his shaggy hair. The flame he had been harboring went out and had left—to his satisfaction—a dark burn mark in the Earth King's wooden table.

She shouldn't have done that. She shouldn't have gone and suggested that he could fall in love in six months' time. Although he certainly could. He'd done it before. It was the time before, the time he had to take to fall out of love, that he knew would take more than six months.

At least with the other options he had he wouldn't have to lie to himself.

Just watching her with Aang made him sick. The way he doted on her—it was as if she was a fragile piece of glass that could break at any moment. But she wasn't. She was so much more. She was strong, intelligent, funny, caring, and beautiful beyond measure. She should be with someone who could give her everything she could want. The Avatar could give her that, but not if he went on treating her the way he was.

He rose carefully, making sure his emotions were in check, before leaving the conference room. The sun blazed down on Ba Sing Se, but he didn't notice. He made his way to the Jasmine Dragon on foot, ignoring the people who stared or whispered as he passed by. It took a while to navigate through the people and into the Middle Ring, where his uncle ran his shop. He slid open the door to the teahouse with a bang. The few customers that were sitting at the low tables looked up in surprise as the fuming Firelord stormed into the kitchen.

Iroh was pouring a fresh pot of tea into the small cups that were served to customers. "Why, Nephew!" he exclaimed. "Why have you returned in such a foul mood?"

"Everything is ruined, that's why!" he raged. "I could have easily maneuvered myself out of an engagement with a toddler, but not this! Not this…this mess that she's concocted!"

His uncle set the tea tray on the counter and settled himself into the stool behind it. "I have a strong sense that you are talking about a certain young waterbender friend of yours." Zuko glared at him.

"What she did was way beyond what she had the right to do!"

"Which was what, nephew? You haven't told me anything! What happened at the council meeting?"

"I—the other sovereigns think I either need to take a bride from one of their nations or be incarcerated. The options they gave me were an old woman and a baby. If she hadn't said anything, I would have—"

"Calm yourself, Zuko. Tell me what Katara did."

The Firelord closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose, a hint of smoke escaping from his nostrils. "She told them it was unacceptable. She wouldn't stand for me marrying either candidate. She promised to—to find me a wife in six months. She seemed absolutely determined. She even told Aang that she had to go with me instead of him. It's like she needs to be certain that I belong with someone else." His golden eyes opened again. "If I had just had a long-standing engagement to Ia, I could have made them see the problems with the union and I would have been free to marry whoever I wanted. This plan that Katara has come up with will ruin my life!"

Iroh sipped his tea thoughtfully. "You do not want to find a wife."

"I'm seventeen. No, I don't want a wife."

"What I mean is, you do not want to form a union with a woman you hardly know. A woman you have no feelings for."

Zuko looked away. "I have to. For the sake of my country."

"When are you going to do what you want? You always do what you do for the sake of your country."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not always. Sometimes you must put yourself and your needs first."

"Now isn't one of those times, Uncle. If I don't find someone, they'll put me in prison. There's no way they'll let me chose between the two inappropriate engagements again after my time is up."

"And why do you say that?"

Zuko explained his veiled threat against the rulers and the way it had unsettled them. Iroh set his teacup down on the table and sighed. "This is a very complicated situation. But perhaps it is not as complicated as you might think." He smiled mischievously. "You have shown great interest in Katara since you joined the Avatar's group."

The boy felt himself flush involuntarily. "She's a…good friend." By the look on his uncle's face, he had been caught in his lie. "What does it matter? She's with the Avatar. She thinks I'm a load of hot air." He paused. "No pun intended. What I meant was, she doesn't consider me anything more than a friend."

"With a little push in the right direction…a little encouragement…"

"You don't think I've tried?" Zuko asked. "Aang is her future. She chose him during Sozin's comet, she chose him when they visited the palace—"

"But she chose you now. Surely you don't think that is meaningless. Especially if the Avatar asked her to join him elsewhere."

The young Firelord stared at his uncle, who continued to sip his tea calmly. After a moment, he murmured, "Perhaps you're right." He took a cup from the tray and brought it to his lips.

And almost immediately spat it out.

"Uncle! What kind of tea is this?" he sputtered.

"It's a tea made from the leaves of the yellow lucca bush."

"It's foul!"

"It's bitter," Iroh corrected, replacing Zuko's cup in front of him. "Just because something seems terrible at first doesn't mean you can't acquire a taste for it over time."

Zuko's eyes lit up. "You're right. That's it, Uncle!"

"What's it, Zuko?"

"'Over time…' I have six months with Katara. Maybe in that time, I can convince her to change her mind…" He gaped at Iroh. "Your bizarre advice actually makes sense to me this time."

"I am glad I could help you, Nephew," the old man said, although he hadn't been trying to give Zuko any guidance at all. The Firelord swept out of the teahouse in hurried determination, though to where, the old general could not be certain.

Zuko barged back out onto the bustling streets of the capital city. Venders streaked by with their goods loaded up on mobile carts and stalls. They all took a wide berth around the elegantly dressed man, identifying the way his eyes darted around, unfocused, as a sign of agitation. Not wanting to upset him further—or more likely, not wanting their wares destroyed—the merchants steered clear of the firebender.

It took only a few minutes to walk from the Jasmine Dragon to the house that the city had provided for the Avatar. Its grand appearance made it obvious the building once was home to a wealthy diplomat.

He was about to knock when the door slid open and Suki stepped out, laughing over her shoulder. Zuko grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her from running into him. She whirled around, pulling her forearms up to break his hold on her, but he let go almost instantly.

"Sorry," he joked. "Old habits die hard, I guess."

Suki looked up at him, surprised. "Oh, Zuko! I'm sorry! I didn't even recognize you in your—Firelord Zuko, I should say! I would stay, but I'm needed at the palace… It was nice to see you!" She bounded down the path and disappeared along the crowded avenue before he had even a chance to say hello.

Rubbing at his temples, he entered into the house and called out tentatively. "Hello? Aang? Sokka? Katara?"

"Zuko?" Sokka's head appeared over the back of the sofa. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be having some meeting with the Earth King?"

"That was over an hour ago. I needed to discuss some things with Katara…is she here?"

"Out in the garden, I would think. There's a koi pond out there, and she said something about practicing her water…something. Anyway, she's out there with Aang."

Zuko was already halfway out the door when he finished. He hesitated for a few seconds, deliberating, before deciding he would rather to talk to her now than explain to Sokka why he didn't want Aang to hear their conversation.

Katara was knee-deep in the pond, her arms outstretched and trembling, as Aang tossed stones around her. With precision and speed, she forced jets of water to stream upwards and freeze around the pebbles. She grinned at the airbender and he gave her the thumbs-up.

"You missed one," Zuko said, interrupting their soundless conversation. Katara turned her head toward him, her cheeks pink. He silently pointed to the ripples going out from a point a few feet behind her. Her eyes fell on the spot, and then she turned and raised her eyebrows to Aang.

He shrugged. "What's one stone? You got almost all of them." His stomach rumbled loudly, and he pressed his hand against it to quiet it. He smiled sheepishly.

"We've been at this for a while—let me get you something to eat," the waterbender offered.

"I'm sure the Avatar can fend for himself," Zuko argued. "Do you want to try again?" He shrugged off his ornamental robe before he bent down and picked up a handful of rocks.

He knew just how to convince her. A slow smile spreading across her features, she again resumed her ready position. Zuko let his hand swing upwards, the stones sailing gently over Katara's head. As they descended, she reeled into motion, turning full circle in her attempt to catch all of them. A few bounced off the hard glassy surface she had formed too early and plunked into the water. She thawed the ice chunks and they disappeared.

Zuko tried to make light of it. "It's like Aang said; what are a few pebbles?"

"A few pebbles change everything," she snapped; he recoiled from her sharp retort. Her shoulders drooped. "I'm sorry. I'm still a bit raw after this morning."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that…," the Firelord said cautiously. "I don't understand how you plan to make me fall in love in six months."

Katara waded out of the pond and bended the moisture from her legs, dropping the floating orb with a splash. "If I know you like I think I do, you'll do whatever it takes to keep your country and your throne." She shook her head. "I honestly don't know how much love will be a factor, Zuko. But I want to give you a chance, at least. The choices those self-important—jerks—gave you were disgraceful!"

"They weren't—"

"Sialuk is past her childbearing years! And you're—you're seventeen!" She lowered her eyes, finishing softly, "You wouldn't be happy."

"No one said I would be," he replied, "but at least I could accept why I was unhappy." His mouth tightened. "Sozin's bloodline would end with me. I'd have no heir."

"Zuko…" He felt her place a hand on his shoulder, but his mind was already lost in this realization. This was the reason they had presented such unreasonable matches. Sialuk was too old, and Ia was young enough that even marriage to her seemed—to Zuko—immoral. That had been their plan all along, and he hadn't even grasped it until now.

He shook his head. That didn't matter. He wouldn't have had to marry either, had his plans worked out. "You shouldn't have offered up this idea, Katara. It's only going to hurt me in the end."

She pulled back, her temper flaring. "Hurt you? Zuko, I'm only trying to help you!"

"Yeah, well maybe I didn't want this."

"Are you crazy?"

His frustration broke through. "No! You don't understand. I don't want to—I don't want to marry for anything but love."

"That's what I'm trying to get you to do!"

"No, you're trying to force me to love someone else."

She blinked, her forehead crumpling as she comprehended his words. "Oh, Yue… So you're saying you're still in love with—"

"Yes, alright? I'm not saying I'm glad of it, but I can't help that—"

"But if you love Mai, why didn't you tell the counsel that you already had someone in mind back home?" Her azure eyes were wide, questioning.

Mai. He hadn't thought about her since he was made Firelord. That was the last time he had seen her, the last time he would hold her. Because even by then, he had moved on. Even then he had dreamt of the waterbender too many times.

But now he used her as an excuse. "Yes, Mai. I—I didn't tell them I still loved her because—"

Because I don't love her, his inner voice protested.

"—because I knew they wouldn't consider it. I have to marry outside of my nation to be able to win their trust. I have to be able to form ties with the other two nations."

"We could have found a better solution," Katara went on.

"If we could have, why didn't we?" he asked her bitterly. "It's not as if this would have been my first choice, otherwise." Zuko sighed. "I just came here to tell you that even though we have to go anyway, I'm almost positive we aren't going to find anyone."

She was quiet for a few moments, and then said, "What will happen when…?"

Zuko clutched is own wrist like a manacle instinctively, without thinking. "Prison. For me, and most likely my uncle."

Katara looked up at Zuko. "I…I didn't realize…"

"It's not your fault," he told her softly, picking his robe up off the ground. Straightening, he turned to leave. "If we're taking Appa, I suggest you pack light. I'll see you in the morning."

He stole one last look at her before he slipped away.

Any comments? Please review!