DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own the awesome-sauce that is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Much to my misfotune, I do not own Katara's adoration for Aang or Zuko delicious angst either. :(

The quiet was strange to Zuko. Since before he could remember, there had always been noise. Whether it was the Royal Guards pacing the hallways in the dead of night or the creaking of a ship's hull, something was always making a commotion. Literal noise aside, something had always been churning in his head as well. Even at his most calm, the wheels of regret and anger had always been turning in his mind, but now—without even trying—his mind was completely at peace. He had passed what would surely turn out to be the largest single challenge of his life. He had defeated his sister. He had taken the throne away from her and now the Fire Nation would be at peace with the rest of the world, like Zuko's silent mind was at peace. Zuko did not quite know how he felt about this silence.

In fact, the stillness made him question his sanity. He found his head buzzing with thoughts about the last time he had slept in this bed and how it hadn't been too small for him then. He wondered why the Fire Nation favored the color red if fire was orange and yellow. If his mind went quiet for a few moments just before sleep fell over him, his imagination would conjure up sound of his sister's demented laughter and then sounds of her agonized cries, and then the process would begin again.

After the cycle had passed several times, Zuko had finally had enough. Throwing the unnecessarily soft, silk sheets off, he swung his legs around and grabbed the equally as unnecessary robe off of its hook on his bedpost. His new injury evoked a disgruntled sound as he tried to put on the robe. Zuko had no idea where he was going or why but within moments he found himself looking up at the portrait of his father directly across from the doors of the throne room. He sighed. He didn't know how he could possible harbor an ounce of feeling for his monstrosity of a father but somehow as he wondered if he was still alive, he felt a stab of sadness.

Zuko didn't want to admit that he still cared about his father. He scoured his mind for reasons for his sorrow. He could find none except that the fourteen-year-old inside him who had been rejected by his own father still craved Ozai's approval. Zuko consciously realized how ridiculously illogical this was being that he had emerged as a better person than his father. Ozai should want Zuko's acceptance, not the other way around. The child in him refused to acknowledge Zuko's progress. No matter how successful he became, Zuko recognized he would probably never get over his childhood.

Zuko was pulled from his retreating reverie by a loud, feminine sigh in the foyer down the hall. Zuko could feel an eyebrow rise as he glanced at the clock. There was only one reason he could think of that Katara would still be awake at two-thirty in the morning and that reason was Aang.

Zuko reached for the door handle and quickly reconsidered. It was true that he and Katara had become much better friends lately and had bonded today, but Zuko didn't think it'd be uncharacteristic of her to revert to hating his guts while running on little to no sleep. He knocked quietly.

"Hey, can I come in?"

The door opened slowly after almost a whole minute of silence. Katara was looking down at the ground, trying to hide her tearful eyes, but Zuko could tell she'd been crying. Her face was blotchy and her nose was red. He stepped inside and sat down on a chair opposite of her. Katara sat quietly and crossed her arms. She occasionally closed her eyes very hard, trying to blink away her tears. They sat in companionable silence for at least ten minutes—Katara avoiding Zuko's gaze and Zuko trying to decide what he should say. Katara was finally the one to break the silence.

"How's your chest?" she asked in a small, fragile-sounding voice.

"Fine," Zuko said, and with a deep breath continued. "You should get some sleep. You haven't slept since Ba Sing Se."

"No," she replied fiercely. The tears in her eyes weren't present. "I need to be here when—"

"He probably won't get here until morning. Just go sleep for a couple hours."

Katara fell silent as if she were considering this. Zuko waited for her to speak. Another few moments of comfortable silence passed. When Katara looked up at Zuko again, tears were spilling down.

"You know, I never told him that I loved him—love him." She let one muffled sob shudder through her before regaining her composure.

"He knows that you love him," Zuko said awkwardly. He was trying to be reassuring but Katara's emotions were just overwhelming! It was making him uncomfortable.

"Zuko," She began hesitantly. She was frightened to even speak the words. "What if—what if he doesn't come back? Spirits, I don't even know how I could live with myself…"

"I know I haven't been around you guys that long but even I can see that if all else fails, you will be the reason he pulls through." Zuko was once again trying to be empathetic, but he didn't do well with counseling other people…especially not girls.

"What do you mean, Zuko?"

"He loves you. He'd do anything for you, including saving the world. I mean, I know he's doing it for the good of everyone but if it comes down to do or die, he'd rather die than fail you." Zuko paused. It was awkward to tell Katara how the entire world knew Aang felt about her, but it was true.

"I—I just hope you're right. If he doesn't make it I will never forgive myself for rejecting him," Katara resolved with ferocious certainty. Zuko started a litte. When had Katara rejected him?

"When was this?" He asked, clearly shocked.

"It was when we went to go see the play," she sighed remorsefully, "It's actually sort of a long story."

"I have time."

'Well, he kissed me during the invasion and we never even spoke about it until that night. He was angry because the actor in the play said I didn't have feelings for him and then, I told him I was confused," The tears that had welled in Katara's blue eyes spilled out. "And then he kissed me and I—I yelled at him and stormed off." Katara sobbed into her hands.

"Well, were you confused?" Was it just Zuko's imagination or was he starting to sound like a psychologist?

"Not about how I felt. I've known that I love him since he almost died. I just—I just didn't know what I wanted to do about my feelings," Katara said, "I should have just told him…"

"You can as soon as he gets back," Zuko mustered up a smile. "Now, seriously, you ought to sleep."

Katara smiled weakly. "I guess Aang would understand if I were sleeping but don't let me sleep for more than three hours!" She stood up, a flashed an expression of warning towards Zuko.

"No problem," Zuko stood up as well; ready to walk Katara back to her room.

Katara turned on her heel and started to leave. Before Zuko could make a move to follow, she turned back to him.

"Thanks," she said with a small but genuine smile that clashed with her red, swollen eyes.

"Uh…sure." Zuko froze as Katara's arms flung around his neck. She immediately turned and exited the foyer. Zuko turned and followed her into the hallway. As they walked sleepily past the portrait of Ozai, Zuko began to ponder his thoughts from earlier. The wheels had just begun turning when Katara stopped stiffly and suddenly.

"Did you hear that?" She practically shouted. Without waiting for an answer she bolted down the hallway in the direction they'd just come. She swung open the double doors so hard that you'd think they would have dented the wall. She gasped once and tears began pouring out of her eyes.

"Aang."

I was totally going to put this line in there but it'd be much too cheesy and out-of-character, not to mention too Zutara-y

Zuko: You fixed my heart. It's the least I can do to try and help you out with yours.

:D

I'm proud of myself. I wrote something moderately Zutara-y. :D This is as far as I'm going. Zutara friend hugs work. :)

I dig the platonic Zutara friendship thing. They both have issues so they make good friends. I don't get people who ship them romantically however. I mean…Zuko could hardly deal with Katara's emotions here. Imagine if he were obligated to be that empathetic all the time? Nah, Zuko can only deal with Katara's constant PMS'ing in small doses. Can you imagine "The Chase" if Zuko and Katara were together? lawlwat?

Should I continue or do you think this is good as is? Please review!