Katara and Aang had been engaged for almost 2 years when they had their first fight.
"I mean it Aang, you need to accept that I can travel and fight with you! It's unfair that you insist on treating me like I'm helpless when I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I want to come with you." She wasn't yelling at him, but her voice was raised.
He immediately apologized. "I just want to make sure that you are safe. You are the most important thing to me. While I'm gone, I need to be focused." He came and tried to hug her, but she stepped outside of his grasp.
"You know that I would be perfectly safe with you." She came up to him.
"Katara," He said, coming close to her. "There's a lot of people coming after me."
"It's not just that, we've been engaged a long time because of this whole thing!"
"What do you mean?" He said, keeping his frustration in check.
"You know what I mean. Whenever we plan our wedding date, it gets interrupted by some uprising or a mad man trying to take over the world."
Aang sighed. "I know, but my duty as the Avatar comes first."
"Let me come with you."
"Katara, no."
"Well I hope you have fun in the Earth Kingdom, alone." She stomped out of the kitchen to her bedroom. Aang sighed and left her a letter on the counter. He hopped on Appa and went on his way.
She sat in her bedroom and tried to think of something to do. She was so upset and she couldn't just sit there and twiddle her thumbs till he came back. So she decided to visit one of her friends. That should occupy her time while Aang was away. Sokka was on a mission in the Southern Water Tribe. Apparently some of the rebuilding process had sparked issues between the two tribes and they were on the brink of an uprising. Toph was in the Earth Kingdom helping Aang. Zuko, as far as she knew, was staying in the Fire Nation taking care of his normal duties. It wasn't too far away, so she chose to visit him.
Katara cleaned up the house before she left and packed up some supplies for her trip. She went out to the docks and got onto the boat her father had given her as a present. She began to bend the water around the boat to get it out of the bay, then the currents and winds took over. The boat moved in harmony with the ocean. And though this methodic movement should have soothed Katara's anger, she was still fuming with emotion. Aang knows better, why would he leave me out of this? He even took Toph with him, but not me. How could he not want me with him? The boat jumped a bit out of the water from her emotions.
It didn't take her long to reach the Fire Nation. When she did, she was greeted by some friendly Fire-Navy ships. "Ambassador Katara! Are you here on business?" A smiling faced waved her down. It was one of the generals she had worked with in the past on her peaceful missions.
"Hello! No, I am just here to visit an old friend." She slowed down her pace.
"Fire Lord Zuko will be pleased to have a visitor, I'm sure. Go on ahead."
She easily navigated into the docks where she tied up her boat, after paying a ridiculous docking fee. She received many stares as she walked through the streets, which was to be expected.
For one, she was pretty well known throughout the world and for those who didn't know of her, blue sticks out blatantly among all the red. She had been to the Fire Nation enough to know her way to the palace. She headed quickly to it after buying some fruit at a stand in the market.
At the palace, a maidservant was waiting for Katara to greet her. "Madame Katara! Hello my name is June."
"How did you know I was coming?" Katara was expecting to just pop in unannounced.
"We received word from the watch tower about an hour ago. The Fire Lord sends his sincerest apologies for not being here to welcome you personally. He had an important council meeting to attend that could not be postponed. The governors can only travel out to the inner city so often." June smiled at her and guided her up the steps to the palace. "For now, I will be taking you to where you will be sleeping during your time here. How long will you be staying?"
"I was planning on staying for at least a month, but we will see how it all works out."
They continued to travel through the halls until they reached a courtyard where a tree had grown very large and a pond sat right by it. June took her through the passages and to a paper door. "These will be your accommodations." She opened the door and motioned for Katara to go in.
She found a very large room with an extravagant king-sized bed. The room was filled with all kinds of beautiful furniture. June followed her into the room. "Are they to your liking?"
Katara looked in the mirror to find her mouth gaping wide. "The room is amazing, Zuko gives me too much space."
June laughed. "He only wants the best for his friends. Also in the closet you will find a fine collection of fire nation clothing you are welcome to wear if you wish to. Do you have any questions for me?"
"When will the Fire Lord's meeting be done?"
"It should only be about ten minutes longer."
"Thank you very much." Katara told her. June left the room. Katara wandered around the space. She sat down at the vanity and began to brush her hair. She washed her face with water then changed out of her traveling clothes into something more sophisticated. The silk kimono reached just above her ankles. The darker blue complemented her skin and hair nicely.
Katara didn't like being cooped up, so she went out into the courtyard then began to practice some basic forms without bending water. This helped her calm down and center herself.
She didn't know how long she had been standing there when she heard Zuko's voice. "Ambassador Katara."
He startled her so badly that she jumped. She turned around and ran to hug him. "Zuko! Please don't call me that, it makes me uncomfortable."
He hugged her back and laughed. "Okay Katara! This visit was a little unexpected."
She made a silent decision to tell him a half truth. "Well, I just needed a break and I wanted to visit someone from the old gang, and everyone else was busy."
He chuckled. "So I'm your last resort."
Katara laughed, embarrassed. "Not exactly."
"Despite what choice I was, I'm glad to have you here. I'm only ever surrounded by politicians and it will be good to have a sane person in my company. Iroh will be happy that you are here. I'm sorry to say that you will be consuming unusual amounts of tea in the next few weeks."
"I will be okay with that, as long as it's shared with Iroh." They laughed together.
"Dinner is ready, would you like to eat now?"
"Of course."
They walked through the halls till they reached an extravagant dining room. A large mahogany table sat in the middle with a runner and multiple plates of food. A large fire burned on both sides of the room, providing a warm light. The gold dishes glowed in the dark light. The dark red contrasted well with the yellow tint to the room.
Zuko pulled out a chair for her. "You can sit here."
"Thank you." She sat down. Zuko seated himself across from her.
As soon as Zuko sat down, the Dragon of the West came bursting through the door. "I heard dinner was ready I am starving."
Katara and Zuko both stood up and bowed to greet him. "Uncle," Zuko said, "Katara will be with us for a few weeks."
Iroh smiled warmly at her. "Katara, I am so pleased you are here. It will be good for Zuko to have a friend here with him."
They sat down together. It had been about a year since Katara had seen them. She had been busy in Republic City with Aang, and Zuko had been tied up in his nation with politics. The conversation at the table flowed easily. It was comfortable. Zuko talked about how the Fire Nation was going through a time of unrest.
"So why hasn't the new fire lord found a wife yet?" Katara asked him.
"I guess he's just waiting for the right one to come along." Zuko said, reserved.
"What happened to that Mai girl?" She asked.
"It didn't end up working out." He stared at his plate like there was something more interesting there.
Iroh cut in. "And he hasn't been on a date since."
The plate was then not as important as he glared at his uncle from the embarrassment he had just caused him. Iroh looked at him like "What?" Katara started laughing.
"You know that it will be good for you to be around someone who isn't a war general or your old uncle." Iroh laughed at the Fire Lord's stiffness.
Zuko chuckled and relaxed. "It probably will." They continued to eat and chat.
Iroh suggested that the Fire Lord take the next day to relax and catch up more with Katara.
Zuko liked the idea. "What do you say Katara? Would you like to go to the festival show tomorrow?"
"Festival?"
"We are in the third day of the Summer Festival. It lasts a week. It's a part of my duties to open the festival. But, it's still good to be attend some of the events. Tomorrow, they are performing a play in the market square, it's said to be very entertaining."
"Sounds like fun. I'd love to go. Will you come with us Iroh?"
"I would if I could. I would much rather spend my day with you two than escorting the governors out of the city. But I said that I would take them to where the path splits, so I will keep my word."
They finished their dinner and Iroh excused himself. Zuko offered to escort her back to her room, she accepted his offer.
The palace was warm from the day's sun. There were torches adorning the walls, accentuating the glowing atmosphere of the night. Katara had to admit, next to the light of the moon, she loved the glow of fire best.
As they walked, there were very little people walking through the halls.
"I know this might be considered treason in the water tribe. But I have to admit, I really like Fire Nation food." They laughed together.
"I will be sure to let the chefs know. They will be happy to hear it."
They had to pass by the courtyard to reach her room. But as they were walking, a guard came up to the Fire Lord and told him he needed to speak with him for a moment. Katara walked away for a moment so they could speak privately.
The moon was a half-moon that night. Katara strayed from the path to go look at the sky. The stars were much brighter there than in Republic city. She walked over to the pond. It was calm and reflected the stars perfectly. At the side of the pond, a group of turtle ducks were resting. She bended a drop of water out of the pool then allowed it to fall and create a ripple.
Katara sat at the edge of the water. She closed her eyes and began to breathe slowly, methodically. She found that when she was silent, her mind was very loud. She was frustrated about the conflict in the Earth Kingdom, annoyed Aang wouldn't allow her to come with him, happy she could be in good company, but over all she was hurt. She was hurt that Aang didn't want her to come with him. It made her feel unwanted. What if he was having second thoughts, about them…
Tears began to form in Katara's eyes when Zuko came and kneeled beside her. She rubbed her eyes, making it seem like it was because she was tired.
"I used to spend a lot of time in this courtyard when I was a kid."
She cleared her throat to stop her voice from breaking. "It's beautiful out here. You can see all the stars."
"Yeah, I used to sit out here and watch the moon cross the sky."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the warm summer air, gazing at the stars.
Zuko stood up. "Come on. We should both turn in. Tomorrow will be a busy day."
"Aren't you supposed to be relaxing?"
"Well, any time the Fire Lord goes out in public, the people all tend to flock."
"Braving crowds? Sounds like a normal day out on the town." They laughed together as they travelled the halls. Zuko left her at the door of her room.
"But in an attempt to be avoid attention as much as possible, why don't you wear some Fire Nation clothing. Oh and June will come and wake you up in the morning. I'll see you tomorrow." He bowed out of habit.
She bowed in response. "Thank you."
Katara entered her room and collapsed on the bed.