GeekForAang: Somehow, we managed to fit Zutara AND Kataang into one story. Wow. I'm truly impressed. Now, this first chapter was written by ShyGuy/theblackjay (feel free to call her one of those). She's a Zutarian while I'm a Kataanger. That's why this'll all work out in the end.

"Katara, sweetheart, we need to talk."

The words echoed ominously in the thick silence that followed.

Katara managed to compose herself. "About...about what?" She only stuttered once. Katara snuck a fearful glance at her fiancé.

He was running his hands through his thick, unruly black hair, something that he only did when he was nervous, frustrated, or angry. Or all three.

A heavy sigh escaped him as his hands paused and jammed themselves in his jean pockets.

"There's trouble brewing in the East. Adolf Hitler is gaining power, more than the U.S. government thought he would be able to. He's assembled an army now, and it's a strong one.

"He's killing off the Jews. Claims they're inferior to them, and that they don't deserve to live. His organization calls themselves 'Nazis'. He's capturing the Jews and sending them by the thousands to concentration camps. He's a twisted man, but a powerful one."

"So…what does this mean for us?" Katara asked.

A long silence followed.

"It might mean nothing, and it might mean everything. The U.S. is thinking about intervening. You know I'm in the volunteer corps. If we go to war on this, I will get drafted."

Katara stood waiting, tense as a coiled spring, for her fiancé to come back home. Zuko had left to report to the volunteer corps leader that he was fit for duty. The list of drafted men would also be there.

The U.S. had entered World War II.

She had begged him not to go, to stay home for her sake. He had shook his head solemnly and said, "It's my duty. If I don't go, I'll never be able to live with myself."

Zuko paused at the captain's door. It wasn't fair, he thought. After all this time, just when he was at his happiest, he would get sent off to war. He wanted to settle down, start a family with the love of his life.

She had changed, she really did. He was such an angry, broken man, before. The years of emotional and physical abuse from his father crippled him. He thought he would never be happy.

Then, Zuko met Katara. They hadn't hit it off the right way, at first, but there was an undeniable spark, an undeniable chemistry.

After years of keeping it bottled up inside, he opened up. The words burst out of him, and under her gentle guidance, he healed. Their first kiss sent him flying, and he experienced the happiness that he never thought he would feel.

He strove to be the man she deserved. Loving, strong, dutiful. When she accepted his proposal, Katara wasn't the only one sniffling.

To have to leave all this behind was nearly impossible. He knew what war did to men. He would see the horrors from his childhood again. The blood, the lack of humanity, the cold calculation of the enemy. And the even more terribly cold calculating ways of his own side. War was a brutal thing, caring not for the lives taken, nor the innocence destroyed, nor the way it brought out the cruelness in men.

He knew his name was on that list without even looking at it. Zuko's childhood had well prepared him for war. Zuko could be a cold, cruel, killing machine. He could be a brutal, devious strategist. He was a skilled fighter, perhaps one of the best out there.

They needed him.

General Iroh nodded in acknowledgement as Zuko saluted him. General Iroh watched Zuko take a seat on the couch in his living room and greet the others that had come to the meeting.

He hated to put Zuko's name on the list, but it was necessary. Zuko was one of the best fighters he had ever seen, and he had the rare ability to inspire men to follow him into battle. Anything battle-related, Zuko would find a way to succeed.

But General Iroh had to admit that he put Zuko on the list for more than that. General Iroh had to admit that he had his own selfish reasons for putting Zuko on that list.

He knew the troubled background that had traumatized Zuko. The cause of this childhood that Iroh wouldn't wish on even his worst enemy was Iroh's own brother. The thought of it filled him with shame and regret. General Iroh felt he should've done more to help little Zuko and Azula. Perhaps, if he had, Azula wouldn't have…

No, he didn't want to think about that now. He had a group of men to talk to, and these family matters brought tears to his eyes. And General Iroh would never live it down if he was seen crying in public.

You could feel the tension in the air as Zuko unlocked the front door and sat down to take off his shoes. Katara stood in the middle of the living room, watching him.

Finally, she spoke. "Well?"

Katara knew the answer before she spoke. Unbeknownst to Zuko, she had done a little research into his background and wasn't altogether surprised at what she found.

In a low, strained voice, he said, "I'm on the list."

But she couldn't stop herself from breaking down into sobs.

The following two weeks were spent in a quiet, desperate way. They tried to forget the departure date, tried to ignore it, but it simply couldn't be done. The date hung over their heads like an executioner's blade.

And, in a way, it was an execution. This war was the blade, obliterating the previous bliss of their relationship. It had killed off the innocence, the joy, and it had made their relationship a solemn thing, more mature and less whimsical.

In every free moment, Zuko and Katara clung to each other like they were drowning. They lay together in silence, drinking in the sight of each other, hoping to burn it into their memory.

"Let's get married."

It hit Zuko like a ton of bricks, sending him sending him physically staggering back. The words repeated again in his mind. "Let's get married."

He whispered it to his sleeping fiancé. "Let's get married."

She stirred slightly.

He liked the sound of it. Zuko and Katara Fung. It had a nice ring to it, he thought.

He whispered it to himself. "Zuko and Katara Fung."

Zuko's face broke out in the biggest smile since he found about the draft.

Quick question: What pairing should this story end with? Kataang or Zutara? Answer in a review, and also tell us what you think!