Chapter One: Not Yet, Not Ever
It was night, calm and quiet, the moon shining brightly over the gentle sea. Prince Zuko was on his way home, after the Fire Nation's victory in Ba Sing Se. So why did everything feel so... wrong?
No matter how he struggled, sleep never came easy. Even then, he was restless, and would often wake in terror, an unspoken cry on his lips.
He couldn't remember the dreams.
He didn't want to.
It didn't matter that the sea looked calm. Looking down into the still waters only made Zuko feel the turbulence within himself even more. What was it that was wrong?
Was something wrong with him?
In the water, below him, the moon's reflection was scattered by the gentle waves.
A sigh, unbidden, slipped away from him and into the night.
His heart held the answers. Somewhere, deep down, he knew that.
But he couldn't acknowledge them.
Not yet, certainly.
Maybe not ever.
(...)
It was almost dawn. Katara stood on the bow of the ship she and the group had commandeered, her cloak pulled about her in the cool air.
Something was wrong, and she knew it.
Her heart felt heavy, in a way that it hadn't since her mother had died. It hurt, and it kept her from finding any kind of peace and quiet, even in her sleep.
Was it because the war was lost?
Was it because Aang was badly hurt, had almost died?
Maybe.
Somewhere, deep down, she knew that wasn't it.
She knew it was Zuko's betrayal that had hurt worst of all. She hated him for it, she could never forgive him.
But that still didn't explain why it hurt so much.
Deep down, she knew why.
She just wouldn't admit it, not even to herself.
Not yet, certainly.
Maybe not ever.
