The Vicissitudes of Fate

Author's Note:

Shoutout to 'V for Vendetta' for the title. I cannot believe it took me this long to discover the 'Avatar' series. It's deplorable, really it is. I must've been living under a rock!

Zutara: do I ship it, or do I not? Who knows! *I* don't even know - all I know is I really needed to get this cathartic little oneshot out of my system and hopefully now I will come to my senses….. maybe.

Anyway, this scene takes place in an AU where the epic three way battle between Azula, Zuko, and the Gaang in 'The Chase' takes place at the bottom of a ravine, rather than that town lifted straight out of the Wild West. This is done - rather nebulously, I admit - because of Reasons which will very soon make themselves apparent, trust me.

He who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones first.

- Chinese proverb

Sokka didn't need telling twice. He scoffed, muttered something about serving the Fire Nation right anyway, turned around and started off, others following hesitantly after him, Katara most hesitant of all.

She couldn't push the memories of what had happened at the North Pole from her mind. He'd helped them, he'd fought against Zhao that day - admittedly not for their own cause, but against Zhao, and that had helped them all the same. He'd seemed to her… nice. Nothing like what she'd expect from a fire bender. The temptation was great indeed. Of course, they were Fire Nation, they'd tried to hurt and capture them over and over again, but... that old man hadn't. She set her jaw; she couldn't turn away from those who needed her help, whoever they happened to be. It just wasn't her. Sokka would understand, he was used to it by now! She turned around.

Zuko noticed long before the others did; when Katara knelt next to Iroh he looked up, still half-crazed with rage and grief.

"I thought I told you all to LEAVE!" he screamed, flame bursting from his raised arms, "Go away! GO AWAY!". Katara shrieked and fell forward, shielding Iroh and covering her head with her arms. When the heat, the shaking and the terrible noise subsided, she leapt up, in fighting stance and ready to fight Zuko if she had to, but there was no attack. He wasn't even looking at her, his back turned against her. And suddenly she wasn't looking at him either. She followed his gaze to the wall of fallen rocks across the ravine that hadn't been there only moments ago, and that now effectively cut her off from the others.

"Sokka!" she screamed, running towards it and scrabbling desperately and vainly against the rocks, "Sokka!"

A hand grabbed her roughly on her shoulder and jerked her away. "Stop that!" Zuko demanded, "Do you want it to cave in on us?"

She wrenched herself angrily from his grip, "Don't you dare touch me! This is all your fault, you did this! If you hadn't been such an absolute idiot, we wouldn't be trapped in here now! How do we get out? How do we even know if there is a way out?!" she shouted at him, fury mounting with every word.

"Well shouting won't help!" he looked around, "The walls are too high and unstable to climb, we'll have to double back and see if there's a way out further down. We need to be calm and sensible about this—"

"HAH! Calm and sensible? You? Have you met you? You couldn't be calm and sensible if your life depended on it! Oh, Sokka was right: I should never have helped you, you're Fire Nation, you're—"

A groan from the injured Iroh caught her attention. Remembering her reason for turning back in the first place, she whirled around and knelt at his side, examining the blackened flesh of the wound. And then she set to work. She shut her eyes and concentrated, her hands hovering over the wound, the water she carried on her person for this purpose swirling around them. Slowly, a dim blue light began to glow in the shadowy ravine, emanating from the water bender's hands as they flowed slowly back and forth, hovering over the burn.

Mesmerised by something he'd never seen before, Zuko came back and knelt opposite her, watching intently in silence. The blue glow rose and dimmed, surging back and forth like a glowing tide and slowly the blackness seemed to fade with it, never vanishing entirely, but looking a whole lot less frightening than it had when his sister had inflicted it, until at last the blue glow vanished altogether.

"He'll be alright," she said quietly, fishing in her bag for a bandage and unrolling it, "He'll sleep now, but he'll be OK. And you can shut your mouth now, Fire Boy."

Zuko hadn't been aware it'd been open. He obeyed nevertheless, and watched in silence whilst Katara bandaged his uncle's shoulder, assisted - ludicrously enough - by a strange monkey-like thing with enormous ears that had apparently been with her when they'd been trapped. He was still more or less in awe over what he'd just witnessed, the healing as well as the unexpected aid from someone who was not just his enemy, but whom he'd consciously set out to hurt again and again. The unexpectedness of the situation threw him off balance so badly that he actually forgot to forget his manners, and when she finished tying the final knot, he looked up - still wide eyed - and said with frank gratitude, "Thank you."

In his current mental state, he was utterly unprepared for the look of undiluted disgust in her eyes when she looked up at him. As he gaped at her, she shot to her feet.

"I didn't do it for you," she spat, before stalking off into the ravine.

It brought him to his senses as though he'd been slapped. By the time he'd recovered enough to retort, she was already too far away for a proper argument, and so he was forced to content himself with a muttered, "Well fine then! Stalk off and get lost, see if I care! Stupid water bender!"

Katara's commentary as she ventured further and further down the dim, twisting passages with their incredibly high walls was not much more elevated. "…should never have bothered… Sokka… right… stupid… lost in the middle of… fire bender… stupid… URGH!"

The final shout echoed around the walls and brought Momo scrabbling out of her bag and into her face, chittering nervously all the time. She laughed weakly and hugged the little critter. "I'm sorry, Momo. I was stupid, I should never have turned back, now look what's happened." She sighed, and sank down against the wall, "We're stuck."

Momo shivered, and fussed mournfully; the temperature was dropping rapidly. Katara still had her knapsack with her, but since they hadn't had a chance to pack up camp properly that morning, that was all she had. She didn't mind though, she was used to the cold. Momo, however, hailed from the tropics. She cuddled him close, both to keep him warm as well as for her own comfort.

"They'll come for us, Momo," she told him, "our friends'll come for us, you'll see. We'll be OK, I promise."

She must have dozed off, because when she looked up again, complete darkness had fallen in the almost-cave - and footsteps were echoing through it. Moments later, a dim yellow glow appeared, growing brighter as the footsteps approached. She sat up, flicked her hair out of her eyes, and assumed an airily disdainful expression; she didn't bother standing up, she had a pretty good idea who was coming.

She was looking at the wall opposite her when Zuko turned the last twist and came to a standstill. For a moment he said nothing, and she had to force herself to keep staring ahead, instead of scanning her peripheral vision for any hints as to what the hell he wanted.

She found out soon enough anyway.

"I made a fire," he announced. She didn't move. He shifted uncomfortably.

"It was getting cold and dark," he continued, "so I thought- look are you coming back or not?"

And now at last she turned to face him, fixing him with a clear icy stare. "I'm from the Southern Water Tribe," she announced, just as vaguely as his first sentence had been.

The irony passed right by him. He shrugged vaguely instead, "Yeah. I know."

"We live at the South Pole," she pointed out, "This isn't even close to cold."

He made a gesture of impatience, "And how am I supposed to know that?"

And now Katara got to her feet. "You've been there? Remember? When you destroyed my village? And tried to kill my friends? Or have you forgotten that as well as the cold?"

"I- I just came to tell you I'd made a fire! And to offer you to come back and share it! A simple thank you-"

He actually had to clamp down on the impulse to take a step back when she rounded on him for that, "Did you hear anything that I just said?" she shouted, "You tear villages - nations - apart, and you hurt people you kill them, and now I'm supposed to thank you? Because you made a fire?"

He huffed, speechless for a moment, and threw his arms in the air in exasperation, "Fine then! You want to sit back here in the dark and cold? Fine! Enjoy it!"

Katara glared after his retreating back, almost daring him to turn around and receive another well-earned piece of her mind, but the footsteps faded out of earshot just as they'd faded in. That was fine. So did the torchlight. That was less so. She sank back against the wall with a sigh. It wasn't that she was afraid of the dark - she just really hated the thought of sitting out the night in the blackness of the unknown, here, in this cave. Still, it was a matter of pride and principle. Some things you just couldn't compromise on.

Zuko threw the torch on the ground with a gesture of contempt. All that way there and now all that way back again, wasting him time and energy. He shouldn't have even bothered, he really shouldn't. He walked over to Iroh, snoring peacefully beside their roaring fire, and felt the anger subside somewhat. Iroh was alive, and he'd recover; that was the most important thing right now. No thanks to you. He sighed, picked up their bag and sank down in front of the fire, fighting again against the conscience that had been nagging him for hours now - loudly enough to make him trudge all the way down the catacombs to find that damn water tribe girl. You owed it to her to at least try; without her, Uncle Iroh might well be dead now.

Yeah, well, he'd tried. He opened the bag and rummaged through it, more to distract himself, really, than anything else. It wasn't a very noble round-up. A few pieces of bread, some water, a blanket, and - why was he even still surprised? - a very large surfeit of tea and its accoutrements.

He did a few quick calculations. Hopefully, they'd find a way out in the morning. Iroh would be hungry when he woke. He was hungry now. He rationed himself half of their bread - and hesitated. She wasn't coming back, she'd made that much clear to him, but still it somehow didn't feel… right. Grudgingly, he changed his ration to a third. She could say what she liked and believe what she liked, but he was no callous thug. What she thought of him was her own business, all that he was responsible for was what he did.

He was still chewing away morosely at his stale dinner when he imagined he heard footsteps approaching. It could be the girl, or…? He had no idea what was all in this ravine, it could be nothing or anything at all. And Iroh was unconscious. He leapt to his feet, in fighting stance.

And that was exactly what Katara saw when she stepped into the circle of light. She squared her shoulders, misinterpreting his stance completely.

"I only came back because Momo was cold," she announced defiantly, and, when he stood at ease, added more cordially, "and to check on my patient."

Zuko stood aside and let her kneel down beside his uncle, "Is he OK?" he asked, "He's been asleep this whole time - at least, I think he's asleep - is that what's meant to happen?"

She nodded, inspecting the bandage, "Yes, it's a good sign he's sleeping. That's completely natural. He'll-" she jumped as Iroh gave a truly impressive snore. She frowned, and shot Zuko a worried glance, "But I don't know if…"

It had to have been a trick of the firelight; there was no way he could actually have smiled. "No, that's… that's normal, trust me," he told her wryly.

"Oh. Well then," she said, still uncertain, "I think everything should be alright."

He didn't reply, and she said nothing after that either. When the silence threatened to envelop them, he thought desperately for something to say to fill it with.

"Would you like to sit down and have something to eat? There's bread," he said, holding it out for her.

She accepted it with polite thanks, sitting down where he'd gestured.

"And I can make you some tea, if you want," he continued, "I know it's not much, but I'm afraid it's all we have."

She smiled at the awkward but honest attempt at hospitality, and unslung her pack. "No, it isn't," she said, fishing about in it and producing a few well-wrapped little parcels. She opened one to reveal some fruit. She held the open parcel out to him, "Would you like some?"

He eyed first the fruit, then Katara, cautiously. She sighed dramatically, and gave the parcel a little shake, "It's not poisonous, Fire Boy, we're not like that."

"No! That's not at all- I mean, thank you," he said, reaching out and taking care not to select any of the choicer pieces of fruit.

It turned out to be delicious. Whether it was actually the best fruit he'd ever tasted, or just really good in comparison to the dry, stale bread, he didn't know and neither did he care.

She selected and unwrapped another, revealing a wedge of cheese, "This should help the bread down a little," she said, digging in her bag again, "I just need to find…"

Zuko's hand went instinctively to his hip. He pulled out the knife Iroh had given him and held it out to her, "Here, use this."

She seemed almost surprised that he should be handing her a knife, but took it without comment and cut them each off a slice before handing it back. They ate in a silence that was strange but not uncomfortable, Zuko watching with fascination as Katara fed Momo with little pieces of fruit.

"What is he?" he asked at last, curiosity getting the better of him.

Katara laughed, "Momo? He's a lemur. He's actually really Aang's but he loves all of us, and we all love him. He's one of the family, really."

He's just a lemur. He thought the words, but was smart enough not to actually say them. Instead, he said, "Aang? The Avatar?" In hindsight he'd decide that was hardly a better choice.

Katara stiffened. "Yes, the Avatar. Don't worry, you'll have another chance at capturing him tomorrow when he comes for me. Doubt you'll get very far though, going from every other time you've tried the same thing. That is, though, unless that other firebender comes after us first."

Zuko grit his teeth, refusing to be baited into yet another fight. "Azula," he said instead.

"Huh?"

"Her name's Azula. She's my sister."

Zuko was glaring into the flames, so he didn't see Katara's jaw slacken. "Your sister?" she repeated incredulously, "But she tried to kill you!"

"I am aware of that, yes," he said bitterly.

"Why would your sister try to kill you?"

"Because I'm a banished and disgraced outcast. Or maybe just because she's Azula. With her, you can never really be sure."

"I- when were you banished? Why?"

"A long time ago, more than two years now," he replied evasively, trying to end a conversation he really didn't want to be forced into having.

Katara was too astonished to take the hint, "But you've only been chasing us for a few months!?"

"Yes, and? Your point?"

She blinked, "Well… if you were banished, how come you're still…" her sentence trailed off; she wasn't even sure how to put those thoughts of hers into words that made sense.

He looked from the fire to her, and she almost wished he hadn't, "You mean, how come I still serve the Fire Nation after they banished me?"

"Uh…"

He'd started that sentence out with such force and purpose. He'd had a plan of what to say, he was sure of it, and yet now, having to actually say something, absolutely nothing came to mind. He sighed heavily, "What else am I supposed to do? Only if I bring back the Avatar will my father end my banishment and restore my honour. I'm nothing without it."

"But he's your father," Katara pressed, "he loves you. Avatar or not, surely he will allow you back!"

She shrank back when he laughed. She wasn't even sure she could call the sound by that name.

"You really don't understand fathers, do you?"

Her face darkened. "Oh, I understand fathers, all right. I'm starting to get the impression though that its you who doesn't. My father loves us, and we love him. He'd never hurt us, he'd do anything to keep us safe, and we'd do the same."

Zuko was glaring into the flames again. "My father isn't like that," he said. Was it Katara's imagination, or did his words sound choked?

She felt her anger fading, and shifted closer, "But surely your father wouldn't-"

"My father's the one who gave me this!" he raised his voice, rounding on her and gesturing at his scar as she scooted back in alarm, "There is nothing he wouldn't do. Nothing."

"What?!"

He relented, seeing how genuinely shocked and confused she was. "He challenged me to an agni-kai - a fire bender's duel," he explained quietly, "I was fourteen."

"But… why?" she gaped, thoroughly horrified.

Again, he stared intently into the flames, but they gave him none of the answers he searched for. "I was foolish. I spoke out of turn in a war meeting, and dishonoured my father. This was my punishment."

Katara knew she should just keep quiet. Asking all of these invasive questions was nothing short of rude and disrespectful, but the story this boy was laying out before her, in these painful little shards, was unlike anything she could have imagined was possible. It made her forget everything; not least of all her manners.

"What could you possibly have said that was so terrible?" she pressed, as gently as she could.

"They were discussing tactics. An attack on an Earth Kingdom stronghold. They knew the warriors were strong, and suggested sending new recruits against them as a diversion before the real attack. They were purposefully sending them to their deaths, and I was naïve and stupid enough to speak against it."

"But that's… that's not… it isn't…" What had she expected? She didn't know. Whatever it was, though, it wasn't this. She wished desperately for the right words, but the right words eluded her. His name was all she had left to say.

For a brief and truly horrible moment, she honestly thought he was going to cry.

"I… I'm so sorry," she said at last

"No more than I," he managed.

Neither said anything more after that.

"I should… I should check on Uncle," he said at last. She didn't have the heart to tell him he was still asleep and would certainly stay that way until morning. She hadn't realised until now that he must be the only good thing left in his life, perhaps the only good thing it had ever held. She'd thought of her friends many times since the cave in, all of those times angrily thinking about how much she was looking forward to them coming for her. She hadn't considered that, aside from his uncle, no-one would come for Zuko. At least, she thought, remembering his sister and shuddering, no-one with kind intentions.

Katara watched uncertainly as he knelt beside his uncle and draped a blanket over him, tucking him in carefully. He lingered at Iroh's side, and Katara fancied she could hear muffled words through the fire's crackle. Embarrassed by the thought of accidentally eavesdropping, she looked around for something to occupy herself with. Her eye fell on the bag Zuko had been carrying and she remembered what he'd said about the tea. She fished out the pots and set to work.

By the time he came back, the water was boiling merrily. She looked up at him from where she knelt over the pot, "You mentioned tea earlier, so I thought- I hope you don't mind."

"No of course not," he said quietly. He sounded distracted, so she went back to minding her own business whilst he sat back down again. A few minutes later, she was handing him a cup of steaming tea. Their fingers brushed as she did so; he hated noticing it, but he did all the same. The tea was good, not as good as Iroh's was, but good all the same. And it helped. Somehow over the years spent with Iroh, he'd come to associate the taste of tea with comfort, perhaps even a sort of peace. More likely it was because of Iroh himself, rather than the tea, but association or not, he felt a glimmer of it now.

There was enough in the pot for a second cup each. Then Katara stretched herself out from her cross-legged pose. "We should get some sleep," she said sensibly, "I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a long, busy day."

For absolutely no reason at all, the thought of 'tomorrow' filled him with a kind of dread. He forced the crazy notion from his mind. "You're right," he said instead, "we'll need our rest. Goodnight, Katara." And then without further ado, he proceeded to curl up in front of the fire with his back to her.

She was a little surprised by the abruptness, but supposed what else was he supposed to do? After all the impolite questions she'd been bothering him with all evening, she could hardly be surprised that he didn't want to spent the rest of the night chatting. And anyway, he was right.

"Yeah. Goodnight, Zuko." She didn't look behind her and he made no reply, but then she hadn't really expected one. Instead, she beckoned Momo closer and curled up with him. "Goodnight, Momo," she whispered, before closing her eyes.

Katara woke only once that night, with Aapa snoring peacefully over the crackle of the fire, and the full intention of elbowing Sokka out of her personal space. Before she'd done any more than open her eyes, it struck her that neither of these two things was entirely true. She froze; the realisation had caused a sudden and abrupt rethink of her plan. Keeping very, very still, she tallied up. Where before she would have elbowed Sokka without hesitation or regret, now she didn't dare move a muscle. In fact, she realised, she hadn't moved at all since falling asleep, she still had her back to Zuko, but he must have rolled over in his sleep - straight into her. She could feel the weight and warmth and steady breathing against her back.

Gut feeling crawled up and down the skin of her back, yelling at her to shove him off and be done with it, but logic stopped her. If she woke him, he'd know why… Nope, she really, really didn't want that; things were awkward enough already! She'd just have to grit her teeth and try her best to get back to sleep; problematic as it was, it was still by far the least problematic option available. In the end, it proved a surprisingly easy task, and when next she opened her eyes, the light of morning was filtering through into the ravine. And her back was cold.

She sat up with a start. The fire from the night before had burned out, but another smaller one was flickering underneath a tea pot. Next to it knelt Zuko. He looked up.

"Good morning, I hope you slept well?"

"Yes, thank you, I did," she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and clambering to her feet. She headed straight for Iroh and didn't see the look of relief that crossed his face. She'd never know just how very quickly he'd gotten up that morning - or how mortified he had been when he'd first woken up!

"That's good," he said, stirring the tea, "I've made some tea, would you like some?"

"I would, thank you."

This time, when he handed her the cup, their fingers didn't touch; he made sure of it.

"How is he?"

"He's doing fine. He'll wake up soon."

"That's good."

The daylight had done something to the atmosphere. Somehow, in the darkness and the flickering red of the firelight, it had seemed so easy to talk, as if none of this was really real, and the words spoken weren't actually being said. Daylight brought a more sobering truth as both of them remembered again who they were; and who the other was. They drank their tea in silence, and this time the silence was pained rather than companionable.

"Is that tea I smell?"

"Uncle!" Zuko leapt to his feet and over to where Iroh was busy sitting up. Katara followed behind him. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Much better than I thought I would, thank you, but… who are you? You seem familiar, yet I'm not sure we've met."

Katara decided to go for broke. What point would there be to lying at this stage anyway? "My name is Katara. I'm a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. I, er, I think we met at the North Pole? When Admiral Zhao killed the moon spirit?"

"Ah yes. I think I remember you now. You're friends with the Avatar, not so?"

"She saved your life, Uncle," Zuko cut in quickly.

"So it seems," Iroh continued, unperturbed, "I have heard of the healing abilities of certain water benders, but I have never seen it done before," he smiled at Katara, and inclined his head, "It is an honour. Thank you."

Katara smiled happily, "Oh! You're welcome. I was happy to help."

"You are very kind!"

Katara, still smiling and already deciding on the spot that - regardless of what she thought of his nephew - she liked Iroh a great deal, offered him tea. "And there's bread, cheese and fruit too. You should eat, you know, and recover your strength," she added.

"And excellent piece of advice," said Iroh, "I will take it."

Their humble little breakfast was… Katara was amazed. A few hours ago when the rockslide had first trapped them, she would never have guessed things would end up like this. The strained atmosphere from earlier that morning was completely dispelled by Iroh's good cheer; it was unthinkable to be awkward in his presence. And so there they sat, two Fire Nation officers and a rebel water bender, laughing over tea together.

"What do we do now?" Katara asked, when breakfast was done and she finished changing Iroh's bandages whilst Zuko packed up their makeshift camp.

"We look for a way out," Zuko said firmly.

"But don't you think we should stay here?" Katara ventured uncertainly, "When the others come looking for us, we need to be where they'll find us."

"If your friends were coming for you through the cave in, they'd have been here by now." He waited for her to say something, an angry denial or a repeat of her previous case in favour of staying put, but when she said nothing, he continued, "We'll go down further into the rest of the ravine. Maybe there's a way out that way that they're trying."

Katara shouldered her knapsack wordlessly, prepared to go along with what did seem to be the most logical course of action, and then it happened.

The ground shook beneath them and through the tremors it seemed that all the walls were crumbling down as rocks tumbled, dust rose, and smaller stones pelted her from above. She raised her arms instinctively to protect her head, and then she was being grabbed round the waist and thrown to the floor. She never hit the ground. Zuko rolled, her still in his arms, and when they came to a standstill, she was face down in the dust, her arms over her head, his weight pinning her down.

It all happened and was over before she'd had time to draw a second breath. She did so now, and choked through the dust.

"Let her go!"

Zuko looked up, squinting through the haze of dust, at the wrong end of a boomerang, and then up the arm holding it into an angry face. He felt Katara twitch, trying to stand up, and shifted off of her.

"Sokka!" Katara collided with her brother, almost knocking him off his feet in the process, "You came back for me!"

He dropped the boomerang and held her close, "Of course we did! You didn't think we were gonna leave you with them, did you?" He lifted his head just enough to glare pointedly at Zuko, who glared right back.

He let go of her at last only for Aang to collide with her next. "We missed you SOOOO much!" he was saying, "I'm so glad you're OK! We would have come for you sooner, but Toph said if she moved the rocks before they settled, she could trigger a second rockslide, and Aapa couldn't land in the narrow ravine, and there's no other way in or out, and I missed you SOOO much!"

"Yeah, yeah, blame the blind girl," Toph gave Aang a friendly punch on the arm and hugged Katara, not bothering to wait for Aang to let go first, "I missed you too," she said, "It's good to have you back." Sokka, deciding not to be left out if there were group hugs going around, joined in.

Meanwhile, Zuko helped his uncle pick himself up out the dust, his expression black as thunder. So this was that nameless dread. She'd leave now, with her friends, with the Avatar, and then it would be as though none of this had ever happened. She'd forget, she'd move on. Why should she not? She had friends, people her age who cared about her, who'd come back for her. Why should a few hours spent in the forced company of the enemy mean anything to her at all.

"Come on," he said eventually, "the rockslide's gone. We should get moving."

Out of the corner of her eye, Katara watched them go. She wriggled free.

"Wait!"

They stopped, but only Iroh turned around. She hurried over while the rest of the gang watched from where they stood.

"Don't go without saying goodbye," she said.

Iroh smiled, "No, of course not. Goodbye, Katara. It was a pleasure meeting you, and thank you, again."

"Don't mention it. Just take it easy for a few days and keep the bandage clean, you'll be fine before the week's out." She glanced hesitantly at Zuko; his back was still turned.

Iroh followed her stare, "Zuko, don't be rude. Say goodbye."

He still didn't turn. "Goodbye."

She bit her lip; she'd been toying with the idea for a while now, she just wasn't sure if it was a good one, or how it would be received - by all parties concerned. Come with us. Three words. Three words which held the potential to change everything. Three words that just needed to be spoken; three words that stuck in her throat.

And while she hesitated, they started to move on. She could still have called after them, but found she couldn't bring herself to do it, though she wished she could. In the end, she gave up trying to will herself to.

"Goodbye, Fire Boy."

He didn't stop, didn't turn, but he paused for a moment; that was how she knew he'd heard.