When she sees him again, for the first time since she fought him at the North Pole, she doesn't recognize him at first. The boy she sees is thin and almost frail, with dark circles under his eyes – well, his good one anyway – the beginnings of hair sprouting on his head, and his eyes are dull – nothing like the angry ponytailed monster she's come to know. It's the scar that eventually gives him away, but when she sees him attacking that crazy Fire Nation girl from Omashu – the one who looks quite a bit like him, now that she can really see her – and not Aang, she lets him be. He glances in her direction and nods once, and Katara realizes that they've finally come to a sort of understanding. She follows his lead almost subconsciously as they both, along with Aang, Toph, Sokka, and his uncle, corner the Fire Nation girl.

"Well, look at this," the girl sneers. "Enemies and traitors, all working together." Katara can't help but be relieved. They're all tired – even Zuko and Iroh. The girl raises her hands and closes her eyes. "I'm done. I know when I'm beaten. A princess surrenders with honor." Katara allows herself to finally relax. Maybe Zuko and Iroh can deal with her, since she's Fire Nation and they – why did she just shoot Iroh in the chest?

The old man cries out in pain, and the rest attack the girl immediately, but she escapes before they can cause any harm. Zuko runs to his fallen uncle, calling his name frantically, his voice breaking. It's then that Katara's healer's instincts take over and she crouches down next to the boy who used to be her enemy. She tears open the old man's shirt and opens her waterskin, bending water onto the wound on his chest. "What do you think you're doing?" Zuko demands. "Get away from him!"

"He's seriously injured!" Katara yells back. "You're not a doctor, and there's no one here who'll help Fire Nation people anyway!"

"Get out of here!" Zuko orders. "Leave!"

"No!" Katara snaps. "Not until I finish healing your uncle!" She pretends not to notice the way he's trembling now. He's trying to suppress it, but it's there; it's just like when Sokka tries to cover up sadness with jokes and puns, and Katara wants to laugh at how well she can read him now that the perpetual anger is gone.

As she heals the wound – it's a bad wound, and it'll probably scar – it occurs to her that Zuko's human too, no matter what he did in the past. He may not be the nicest person out there, but even he has loved ones he wants to protect. She'd like to think she's helping him out of the kindness of her heart, but, deep down, she know it's not true. He's in her debt, now that she's healed his uncle, and Zuko, honor-bound prince that he is, will no doubt fulfill his terms – she mentally kicks herself for thinking something so insensitive, even if it's about Zuko.

Zuko's not even making an effort to hide his trembling anymore – either that, or it's gotten a lot worse. At long last, Iroh opens his eyes, and Zuko immediately props him up with one arm. "Uncle?" he says almost immediately. "Are you okay? Say something!" He's still incredibly tense, and his voice is a bit higher than it was before, Katara notes.

"No need to yell, Prince Zuko," the old man responds, as if nothing is wrong. "I'm fine."

Zuko sighs in relief, and all tension leaves his body as he relaxes. "Thank the spirits." He jerks his head upward and finally stares at Katara with a mixture of embarrassment, happiness, and gratefulness. "Um… I mean… Thank you. You really didn't have to—"

"It's okay," Katara cuts him off, partly because she doesn't want to hear him struggle with his words anymore, partly because she can't wrap her head around the fact that Zuko, of all people, can be so awkward. This is Zuko, she realizes, when he doesn't have anything to worry about. A shy, awkward teenager – the real Zuko. And Katara can't tell if she wants him to act this way all the time or go back to his angry self for normalcy's sake.

It's only now that she finally takes in Zuko's changed appearance. He looks a lot younger now, and a lot less scary, and she's glad for the change. But now she's tired and she just wants to sleep now that the stupid Fire Nation girl – his sister? – is gone. Sleep comes so easily after the awkward goodbyes, but Katara can't figure out, for the life of her, why she can't stop thinking about the new, thinner, more somber Zuko with less hair and what could possibly have happened for him to change so dramatically.


I love Zutara. I really do. But I can't stand the way it's typically portrayed in the fandom. I don't care what anyone else says – "I'll save you from the pirates" is not romantic in any way, shape, or form (especially since he ties her to a tree shortly afterward). The way I see it, the possibility of a legitimate romance didn't even come up until Ba Sing Se, when they were stuck together in the crystal catacombs (there's a million things wrong with the scene in the first place, like why Katara goes from "Zuko, I can help you!" from "The Chase" to "Die, you traitor!" in "Crossroads of Destiny"), when Katara agrees to heal his scar. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE GOING TO START EATING EACH OTHER'S FACES RIGHT AWAY. REAL ROMANCE DOESN'T DEVELOP THAT QUICKLY. No, that comes AFTER Zuko joins the Gaang. I can't be the only one who thought it was really sweet that Zuko tried so hard to gain Katara's trust (even though he really didn't betray her because he was never on her side to begin with). Unfortunately, despite how appealing it is, Zutara can't work in canon… but I'll get to that later.

Whether you skipped that long ramble/drabble/rant or read it, PLEASE REVIEW!