Hello again! Love goes out to all who read/review/favorite/follow! This is going to be a bit of a long chapter. Just gonna put that out there. But there will be a small lemon for you perverts that I love so much.

P.S. We think we're just gonna forgo the invasion. Call us crazy, or just plain stupid, but we don't know how that would work with Zuko on their side. And with the way things are going in this story, we don't think that it is too big of a plot element (we think that's what it is) to include within it. Love you all, once again.

-nksnow & Symphonic Madness

Katara

I wake up curled up to the person I least expected to be curled up to: Zuko. I don't know what it is about him. Ever since he opened up to me about his mother, I've just felt this connection with him. Then, when he carried me all the way to the hospital, I felt even closer to him. He doesn't seem to mind, thankfully.

Zuko wakes a moment or so later. We look at each other, and suddenly things are awkward. We mumble apologies and Iroh looks at us with a knowing smile.

"I need to talk to you alone when we land," I whisper in Zuko's ear.

"Okay," he says. "What about?"

"A lot of things. But not right now. Later."

"Guys, wake up," I hear Aang call from up front.

"We're already awake," Sokka replies.

"Oh, well, Appa is getting tired. We need to land," Aang says.

We do as he originally planned, and we begin the trek to the Western Air Temple. We'd been walking for quite a while when Toph speaks up.

"Wait! Somebody's coming," she says. "A lot of somebodies."

We ready ourselves in our fighting stances and wait for whoever Toph said was coming to do so. But suddenly, I feel something solid hit the back of my head. Then I'm being lifted up and thrown. I hear an explosion as a body lands on top of me and rolls me over so that he is on top of me. I recognize the familiar body as Zuko. He gets up off of me and begins to fight; shooting blasts of fire into the smoke.

But suddenly, in all the commotion and smoke, I'm struck in the back of my head and knocked unconscious.

Zuko

I'm fighting. I'm fighting with fire and the martial arts I've come to learn. I manage to beat a few soldiers, but not before I'm whacked in the head. Everything goes black, and I fight to keep myself from going unconscious, but to no avail. I collapse on the ground close by Katara, who I noticed earlier had suffered a head injury herself.

I wake up in a dark room; barely lit by a dim lantern hanging from the ceiling. I try to get up and out of my sitting position, and surprisingly enough, my head doesn't hurt in the process. I'm also not shackled. I create a flame in my hand and look around the room. I see a body move and I get into a fighting stance; ready to attack should whoever's in here decide to attack me.

"Who's there?" I ask.

The person, who I now realize is lying down, groans.

"Katara?"

She groans again, and I extinguish the flame in my hand before rushing over to her. I turn her over so is on her back. She isn't shackled. She sits up and rubs circles into her temples with her fingers.

"Zuko?" she says. "Is that you?"

"Yes," I say. "It's me."

"Where are we? It feels like we're rocking. Or is that just my head?" Katara asks.

"I feel it, but only slightly. You looked like you hit your head pretty hard," I say.

She tries to stand and ends up falling into me. She has a faint blush on her face.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"No need to be," I say. "Come on. Let's sit down."

We sit against the wall of the cell; Katara's head on my chest and my arms around her. I sigh against her head.

"What did you want to talk to me about in private?" I ask.

I look down at her and see that she's blushing. "I've got a confession to make."

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing. It's stupid," Katara says.

"Nothing you say is stupid, Katara," I say, making sure to look her in the eyes. "It never has been."

"I feel… connected to you. Since you opened up to me, and since you carried me to the infirmary, I haven't been able to stay away from you," she says.

"Wow," I say, with lack of a better word.

"See? I told you it was stupid," she says breaking eye contact with me to look away shyly.

"I thought I told you nothing you say is stupid," I say with an amused smile. "It's not like I mind the attention you're giving me anyway."

"Good. I didn't plan on stopping," she says with a small smile at me. "There's just something about you that tells me that despite all you've done, there is good in you."

"That's because there is, Katara. I thought my destiny was to find and capture the Avatar to appease my father. But now I realize it is to join Aang, you, and the rest of your group to fight against him," I say.

"Well, you've got to know their names, first of all," she says with a laugh. "The girl in green is Toph, and the one in blue is my brother, Sokka."

"I knew he had some relation to you. With the way you two look alike and all," I say.

Katara shudders. "Don't remind me."

We're silent but for a second or two, and then we're busting out laughing. I haven't laughed since… I shake my head of the thought.

"I've never heard you laugh," she says. "It's… interesting. But not at all a bad thing. I'd like to see more of it."

I smile, but then she gets a mischievous look in her eyes. She grins and all of a sudden, I'm on the floor. Katara straddles me. I hold back a groan. She begins tickling me, and I can't hold back my laughter as she tickles me senseless.

"Katara… stop… it…" I stammer in my laughter.

When she doesn't relent, I form an idea. I grab her wrists, wondering why I didn't do that earlier. I look at her with a devilish grin on my face and begin giving her the same treatment she gave me.

"So you're ticklish, too?" I tease. "Perfect."

I begin tickling her, and she's giggling and laughing and I could've sworn I heard a surprisingly attractive snort somewhere in the mix. I tickle her until she looks at me with a serious expression on her face. It's then I realize the position we're in. It's a very intimate position, and suddenly, I feel myself try to sit up and lean against the wall; still trying to keep the waterbender on my lap. She laces her hands in my hair, and moans as my breath tickles her neck.

She puts her forehead to mine, looks deep in my eyes, and kisses me. I kiss her back, wanting it just as bad as she does. Whatever "it" is, I have to have more of it. My fingers are in her hair as I pull her closer. She squirms on top of me, and I struggle to keep myself from going hard beneath her. I break the kiss, and she tries to go back in for more, but I stop her.

"I want to keep at least some of my self-control," I say. "I don't want to do this right now. We barely know each other."

"You're right," Katara says.

There's a moment of awkward silence as she crawls off of my lap and sits beside me. Eventually, though, she speaks up.

"They didn't confiscate my canteen," Katara says. "Let me check if it still has water in it."

Just as she opens her pack, we hear a banging, and then a tray of food is tossed at us from a small opening in the door. There are two bowls of rice, two sets of chopsticks, and two cups of water. Katara, unfazed, opens her pack and bends the few drops of water left. She then takes the water from one of the cups and bends it into her pack.

"I'm leaving some of the water for us to drink. One more cup of it, and we should be good to fight," Katara says.

"Well, we need to keep our strength up until then. Come on. Let's eat," I say.

Shortly after we finish eating, a masked guard comes in and takes the empty bowls and cups away. We're left alone once again, and Katara and I begin to talk. We talk for what feels like hours. I tell her about my mother, which is something I never thought I'd do with Katara. She listens, and when tears start to run down my face, she takes me into her arms and hugs me. She lets me tell her all the fun memories I had with the woman, and she reminisces about her life growing up. She talks about the day her mother died, and I let her cry it out when she gets to the part where she finds her lifeless body. I comfort her and kiss her head as she gets it out.

By the time the next meal comes around, we'd been talking, crying, and laughing to various stories we've told one another for so long it's like we're old friends. We eat, and Katara bends the water from one of the cups and fills her canteen completely.

She curls up against me and I wrap my arms around her as she nuzzles into my chest for warmth. I smile when she sighs; clearly in a state of bliss similar to that of the one I'm in. I kiss Katara's hair before resting my cheek on it and falling asleep.

Katara

We're both woken up suddenly by a banging noise, and then our door opens and a tray of food is shoved inside of our cell. Zuko and I, unfortunately, are too disoriented by our rude awakening to try and make our escape, though.

"Damn it!" Zuko curses. "We should have made our escape! We shouldn't have fallen asleep!"

"Hey," I say, trying to calm him down. "We need our rest. If we're gonna get out of here, we need as much energy and strength as possible."

He sighs. "You're right. Let's eat."

We begin eating, and I start the conversation again with a question. "So what convinced you to join our side? I know it wasn't just your newfound knowledge of your destiny."

Zuko blushes, something I never thought he would do. "It was pretty much just that."

"I know you're lying," I say challengingly. "It was something else."

He sets the rice down on the tray and gets ready for an argument. "Nope. It was just that."

I set the rice down and before he can protest I'm straddling him and tickling him senseless. "Come on! Tell me or I won't stop!"

"Never!" Zuko says through his laughter.

"Have it your way then," I say with a shrug.

I tickle him and egg him on more and more until finally he tells me. "It's you, okay?! It's you who I decided to switch sides for!"

That stops me dead in my tracks. "What?"

"It's you," Zuko says. "It's you who convinced me somehow to abandon all I've ever known to join the Avatar and fight against my father."

"Why me?" is all I can say.

"There was always something about you. I could never kill you. Even when hunting down and killing the Avatar was my sole purpose. But when you touched my scar, I knew that it was more than that. I realized how beautiful and intelligent and kind you are," he admits. "But I've seen how he looks at you."

"Who?" I ask.

"The Avatar. Aang," Zuko tells me. "He loves you. I know it. But I know also that you must feel something for him. The way you look back at him tells a story I wish weren't true."

"Zuko," I say. "I feel something for him. But not what you think. I feel like a mother to him. I feel like a mother to Sokka and Toph as well. I know he wants something more, but he isn't my destiny. That I'm sure of."

"Who is your destiny, then?" Zuko asks me as our faces come closer somehow.

"I think I have an idea," I murmur just before our lips collide.

We kiss, and it's slow and passionate. I lick his bottom lip, and he welcomes my intruding tongue into his mouth with a moan. I fist my hands his hair and he flips us over. I don't protest like I normally would because it feels that good. I smile, but it turns into a breathy moan as his hand trails down from my hair to cup my right breast.

"Are you okay with this?" Zuko murmurs against my lips as he gently kneads the clothed flesh of my breast.

"Spirits, yes!" I gasp. "The only time I won't be okay with this is when and if you stop!"

He grins and goes back at it. I writhe against him and he lets out a deep groan of pleasure at my movement. We grind up against each other and soon enough, we're gasping and moaning as his hardness digs into me. He reaches underneath my dress and my underbindings and plays with my wet, hot heat and I come almost instantly. The sound of it sends him over the edge as well, and we silence each other's screams with a kiss.

We are panting, smiling, sweating messes as we get into a chaste position. But suddenly we hear shouting, and banging. The door bursts open and in comes Toph with her hand on the metal door. She throws it to the side of the cell.

"Come on, lovebirds! We're getting you out of here!" she shouts.

Zuko takes my hand and we dash out of the cell. We're on an airship. Azula doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight as the fighting progresses. Zuko, Toph, Aang, Sokka, Iroh, and I are all fighting our hardest and soon enough, we're making our escape on Appa.

Aang hugs me. "I'm so glad you're okay, Katara. Same goes to you, Zuko."

He glares at our hands and I blush.

"So where are we going now?" I ask.

"We're heading into the Fire Nation. We'll wait out there until the comet," Sokka says. "Aang and Katara, bend a cloud around us when we get close. We're gonna need the cover."

"Alright," Zuko says. "We're gonna have to hide out somewhere, though. It's not like we can just waltz in."

"Agreed," Aang says, breaking his stare on our entwined hands. "We'll need disguises."

"We'll find them when we get there," Iroh says. "But for now, let's focus on getting there safely."

"Yes," Zuko says. "Let's do that, and we'll sort everything out when we get there."

We fall into comfortable silence; with the occasional quiet conversation between Zuko and Iroh, or Zuko and I.

Nksnow and I would like to thank you for reading this chapter. We both greatly appreciate your support.

-Symphonic Madness and nksnow