A/N: this chapter's a bit long, but hopefully enjoyable enough for you to stick with it. I'd like to thank my two lovely reviewers for their encouragement. If you're the only two who are reading this that's fine with me. I hope you enjoy it.

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Chapter 2

"You're joking!" Aang laughs when Katara finishes telling them about the woman who keeps donating her cast-offs to the Cultural Heritage collection. The woman has been known to bring Katara a month old beaver-seal carcass as an example of a "modern artifact." She once donated a ripped parka and some five-year-old underwear, declaring it "authentic Southern Tribal Wear."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm working in 'waste management' rather than cultural heritage." Katara laughs.

"But you did use those casks of Demon Wine I confiscated from those drunken pirates, didn't you?" Sokka asks.

"They hold up some shelves in the storage room." Katara counters dryly.

"Those were treasures beyond price!" Sokka fumes before suddenly becoming concerned. "You didn't drink any of it did you?"

"No. Hali did and he didn't come back to work for a week. I wouldn't touch it. Nobody else would either when they saw Hali's hangover." Katara grinned. Hali is her over-zealous assistant who revels in the history of the tribe and the person without whom the collection would not even exist.

"That's why we were able to board the pirate's vessel and confiscate all their weapons and cargo without a single scrap. They woke up in the brig and didn't even care how they got there." Sokka chuckles. "It's good stuff."

"You were lucky. We've had some not so funny encounters with pirates recently." Zuko says, "they can be vicious when they're sober enough."

"True. We were prepared for battle, but it was nice not to need it all the same." Sokka agrees. To Katara he says, "I'll devise a drainage system so the leftover wine doesn't blow the collection sky high."

"I'd appreciate that. We thought about pouring it out but we were afraid we'd melt the ice caps." Katara laughs.

"You would." Sokka assures her.

"Iroh once told us those pirates with the waterbending scroll that we fought with were the ones that destroyed your ship." Katara turns to Zuko.

"Yeah. They were incompetent. Fortunately. For me anyway." Zuko says quietly.

"That's what Iroh said." Katara nods, taking another sip of her tea.

"I have a few things I need to attend to," Zuko suddenly rises from the conference table, "If you don't mind we'll meet up again at dinner."

"Okay... um ... see you later then." Katara speaks for the group, filling the awkward void.

They watch Zuko as he walks tall and straight from the room. It's as if he's already a king, his bearing is so regal. But every move seems rehearsed, almost as if he's counting his steps.

"He still gets a little sad when somebody mentions his uncle." Ty Lee explains lamely after the door closes behind Zuko.

"Of course he does! Oh I'm so sorry I brought him up! Iroh's only been gone a few weeks, of course Zuko's still feeling a little raw." Katara sighs, feeling terrible.

"One of the reasons we're here is to pay tribute to Iroh. I think the stories we share that include him are an important part of that. It's going to happen whether Zuko's ready for it or not." Sokka says sensibly. "But seriously Katara, can you get your foot any farther in your mouth?"

Katara fixes her brother with the iciest glare she can muster.

"I didn't mean to make him sad!" She grumbles.

"We know, Katara. It's just your way." Aang says feigning a comforting tone of voice and winking at Ty Lee who blushes.

"I'm going to kill both of you." Katara warns them between clenched teeth.

"I've got your back sister!" Ty Lee chimes in. "These two are beggin' for a beat-down."

Katara laughs out loud at Ty Lee's tough talk. She sounds like Sokka when he's trying to impress a girl.

"Let me show you to your rooms so you can rest before dinner." Ty Lee bounds off her cushion heading for the door to the hallway.

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The guest wing of the palace is newly remodeled and shines like a new coin. Dark, polished marble covers the floors, the walls, and every support pillar in sight. Sokka nervously looks up at the ceiling to make sure they haven't stupidly tried to put marble tiles up there as well. He relaxes when he sees it's just bolted metal plating -- not likely to fall and crush any of them.

"Sokka, did Zuko seem okay to you? I think he looks tired." Katara says, keeping her voice low in a palace where every nook and cranny can be sporting a pair of unsympathetic ears.

"Didn't notice. He's always sort of moody. He probably just doesn't like us." Sokka tosses it off, even though he had noticed the somberness of Zuko's mood as well.

The prince of the Fire Nation has never been one to make boisterous jokes. His playful banter with Katara during their reunion is about as far as he'll ever go. His stoic countenance is something they're all used to, but he seems tired and lonely somehow, even as old friends are visiting. There's a sense in his demeanor that he's haunted by something rather than just grieving.

"Why don't you ask him what the problem is?" Sokka suggests.

"I already did." Aang says, "He just said he was tired from all the preparations for the coronation on top of his regular duties."

"See, that makes perfect sense," Sokka will almost always accept the first, most convenient explanation for something that might make him uncomfortable.

"It's probably just grief over Iroh." Katara says.

"It's more than that." Ty Lee says in a voice so quiet they can hardly hear it.

"What is it then?" Aang asks, concerned.

"I'm not sure. He was given a box of scrolls yesterday and he went to his office and when he came out he was like that." She explains. "I mean, he's been grieving for Iroh, but we were all prepared. Zuko spent the last three weeks of Iroh's life in his room sitting with him. He even had the room across the hall converted to a temporary conference room so he wouldn't have to go far to take meetings. We all knew it was coming. But something else is bothering him now. Poor guy. Can't even enjoy his own coronation without some new problem."

"Who gave him the box?" Sokka asks, not really wanting to know, figuring Zuko will snap out of it when he's ready.

"A sage." Ty Lee answers.

"Why couldn't it just be a messenger?" Sokka whines knowing this makes the information much more important and his sister's curiosity that much stronger.

"That means whatever was on the scrolls was archival." Katara says more to herself than to anyone else. "Well, we shouldn't push it. If you asked him and he gave you an excuse, Aang, he probably doesn't want to talk about it." Katara advises.

Sokka doesn't believe for a second she's going to let it drop.

"Here we are!" Ty Lee exclaims as if surprised by finally reaching their destination.

Their rooms are luxurious. Heavy maroon drapes accenting windows that look out on a courtyard of sublime, natural beauty. A pond in the center, red and gold trees shade the grassy setting, dappling the ground with their shadows mixing with the bright sunshine. Stone benches are placed here and there in locations conducive to viewing the nature, meditating and socializing. It's a peaceful place that calls to Katara as she stares out her window.

She looks back at the large bed with its luxurious coverlets, satin sheets and big, fluffy pillows and she's drawn to that too. She and Sokka are so exhausted from their journey she imagines she hears him snoring through the stone walls.

The tapestries in her room depict myths of the ocean, some with Water Tribe ships battling sea serpents and spirits. Katara wonders if they change them for each guest, appreciating the welcoming touch.

She turns back to the window where her attention is caught by a flash of crimson fabric at the other end of the courtyard. She hadn't noticed before but Zuko had been meditating outside of the palace. Well, trying to meditate, she realizes as she watches him wearily rise and go to a door, disappearing inside.

I'm going to see what's up. He'll tell me. Katara thinks as she makes a snap decision.

She heads down the hallway, seeking the inner door to the room that now holds Zuko.

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Sokka wants to be sleeping. He is laying in a luxurious bed, with a fluffy, feather pillow under his head and satin sheets against his skin. He should be dreaming. He should be snoring. But he's thinking, damn it and it's ticking him off.

How many times had Sokka tried to swallow his empathy where Zuko was concerned? He had even suggested once that they leave the prince to die in the wilds of the North Pole in a blizzard.

Sokka had known he was full of it at the North Pole and so had everyone else. He wouldn't have left another human being to freeze to death any more than he would ever fulfill his threat of eating Momo.

Well, he is likely to eat the lemur someday, but that's beside the point.

And when the group had set up camp miles from Ba Sing Se after Azula had "killed" Aang, Sokka should have been the first one to bury his machete in the prince's head. Just Zuko's proximity to his sister in the crystal cavern should have gotten him killed, but his alliance with the sadistic princess was tantamount to a plea for execution in Sokka's view. But the Water Tribe peasant had become the Fire Nation prince's advocate instead. It was not a role he was comfortable with at the time, and he still has trouble reconciling it with his current feelings.

Katara and Toph had gone back to Ba Sing Se to rescue Iroh. Katara had described the battle below the city and how Iroh had sacrificed himself to allow her to escape with Aang and they felt it was their duty to help him. The added possibility that his gratitude on being freed might compel him to teach the Avatar firebending had only been a small incentive. Well, a medium incentive. Okay, a large incentive, but honor was the chief catalyst.

Sokka had agreed to stay with Aang. They had left the Earth King at an army outpost with his bear and there really was no one else to watch over the still unconscious avatar. Sokka had wanted Katara to stay in case Aang needed more healing, and also in case she was not up to the task after her ordeal in the catacombs, but ultimately he agreed that her bending skills would be an asset in this particular situation.

The two girls returned with the former General nearly 24 hours later. Sokka had been sick with worry and scolded them for taking so long, but they launched into the story of the rescue, distracting him quickly from his pique. They had had to make three passes at the palace the Dai Li were so numerous. When they finally located Iroh they'd had to fight their way out. Apparently there had been some bending of chamber pots involved and a certain Fire Nation princess had gotten in the way of some of the contents. They had not wasted time battling her, but grabbed Iroh and fled for their lives. The old man hadn't even had a chance to aid in his own rescue. He began good-naturedly referring to the event as his "kidnapping."

Two days later, Zuko showed up at their camp.

"Um…excuse me." He had said, appearing from a stand of trees.

Katara had gasped and immediately bended all of their wash water at the boy, freezing his legs to the ground. He hadn't fought back, only raised his arms in a gesture of surrender.

Katara was not satisfied, however. She ordered Toph to "rock cuff" him hand and foot, declaring Zuko their prisoner.

"If we let him leave he'll just go back to his sister and tell her where we are. He's her minion now," Katara had said, "We can't let him go."

"What are we supposed to do with him?" Sokka had asked.

"I don't know yet. I'll think of something." Katara had said in a voice that trembled with fury. Sokka had never seen her so filled with hatred and anger. He didn't like it and he blamed Zuko.

"I don't want to fight with you. I won't tell Azula where you are." Zuko had promised wearily.

"Like anyone could ever believe anything you say," Katara had hissed at him. "You've probably already lead her to us!"

"No, she has no idea I'm here." Her captive assured her.

"He can't be trusted." Katara had turned away from him, refusing to look at him, or address him again.

"I came to give you some information." Zuko explained.

"Shut up." Sokka told him, noticing his sister tense when she heard the prince's voice. "Katara, we can't really hold a prisoner." Sokka quietly tried to reason with her.

"We should have left him out in the blizzard like you said Sokka. It was a mistake to save his life." Katara said in a strangled voice. "He can't be trusted Sokka. We'll figure out something to do with him, but we can't just let him go. He's our enemy."

Sokka felt uncomfortable with the whole thing. The logistics were daunting. How do you immobilize a firebender? He wondered. The only way he knew was the rock cuffs and they couldn't stay on indefinitely. Incapacitating a person for a long period of time seemed inhumane, but Katara was adamant and he humored her.

"Katara is right, Sokka." Iroh finally interjected. "My nephew cannot be trusted. His goals are not yours."

Toph stood near the trussed up prince and launched an impromptu interrogation.

"Are you here working for Azula?" She barked at him.

"No." He answered calmly.

"Are you here to fight with us?"

"No."

"Are you here to hurt or recapture your uncle?"

"No!"

"He's telling the truth." She concluded.

"His truth will change." Iroh said sadly. "My nephew cannot be trusted. He is your enemy and you must treat him as such."

There was silence at that. Zuko, sitting against a tree with his legs rock-cuffed together and his wrists rock-cuffed behind his back, stared sadly at the ground.

Aang was thankfully not visible from that side of the campsite. He lay on the other side of Appa in a small rock hut of Toph's creation. He still had not regained consciousness, which added to Katara's ill temper.

It had been decided after a few hours that Sokka would guard Zuko. He had volunteered because he was afraid Katara might kill the prince and he didn't want that on her conscience. If there was any prince killing to be done, Sokka intended to do it himself and bear the burden of the deed.

Every time Zuko tried to say something to Sokka the Water Tribe boy would tell him to be quiet. He could feel Katara's trembling anger from where he sat and he wanted more than anything for her to simply forget her enemy was there. A ridiculous notion, but something to cling to nonetheless. When Zuko became insistent on speaking Sokka would put his hands over his ears and hum a cheerful tune. The prince finally lapsed into a brooding silence.

Guarding the prisoner was no small task Sokka soon learned. By turns it was boring and demoralizing. The most annoying aspect was the fact that Sokka had to actually feed the other boy. He complained to Katara, but she would not be moved to allow Zuko the freedom to feed himself. So the Water Tribe warrior found himself forcing spoonfuls of fish soup into the mouth of the struggling prince. Since Zuko didn't like the situation either, he clenched his teeth and made the task as difficult as possible by turning his head from side to side evading the food. Sokka's only enjoyment came at realizing he'd gotten more soup on Zuko's fine clothes than he'd gotten down his gullet.

And then it came to Sokka that the other teenager may need at some point to relieve himself. He brought this up to Katara and declared that he would not have their prisoner sitting in a pool of his own bodily waste.

Katara's decision was to allow Zuko ten minutes to wash himself and see to his other needs, but during that time Iroh must be rock-cuffed. Sokka and Toph were appalled and said so, but Iroh said nothing. He didn't complain once as they secured his restraints, Zuko looking on in abject misery. It worked however, and the prince never tried to escape as long as his uncle was bound

When it came time for bedding down, she refused to allow Toph to remove the rock-cuffs from Zuko's wrists and place them in front, so he could sleep more comfortably. She was afraid he'd use them to smash Sokka in the head and make his escape. So Zuko was expected to sleep sitting against the tree with his arms pulled together uncomfortably behind him. Sokka really didn't like that as sleep was precious to him and he respected other people's right to enjoy it as well. Even a rotten, no-good, filth-spewing, black-hearted, conniving, arrogant, swine of a Fire Nation prince deserved a decent slumber.

The next morning Sokka awoke to Zuko nudging him with is feet.

"Hmmmph?" Sokka was not eloquent in the morning, particularly after a night of conscience-induced restlessness.

"I have to tell you something." Zuko whispered.

"What?" Sokka yawned back at him forgetting that he wanted the prince to shut up.

"I came here to tell you that you need to get further away. Azula is looking for you." Zuko confided in a hushed voice.

"Why?"

"The Avatar." Zuko said.

"But he's…" Sokka wanted to say Aang was dead to throw off the prince and allow that information to get back to Azula, but the words wouldn't go past his throat. He was afraid if he said it aloud, it might come true.

"He's alive, isn't he?" Zuko deduced. "Your sister used the water from the spirit oasis to heal him." He watched Sokka closely to see if he was correct.

"I won't be telling you one way or the other." Sokka stretched nonchalantly although he felt a slight chill down his spine.

"You don't have to. It doesn't matter. She still wants to find him." Zuko shrugged.

"Why?"

"She wants to make a gift of his remains to our father."

"What?!" Sokka nearly screeched with his shock.

"His head to be more specific. She wants to give our father the Avatar's head."

The scene plays itself out in Sokka's mind as he tries to rest in the luxury of the Fire Nation palace where he is the honored guest of the soon-to-be Fire Lord who at one time had been his prisoner. He still feels sorry for the guy and it rubs him the wrong way. He wants to hate him…no he wants to think nothing of him. He wants to feel no gratitude for his life, no kinship for battles fought and won together, and certainly no pity. If for no other reason than the fact that Zuko can never appreciate someone's pity and therefore it is a wasted emotion where the prince is concerned.

Sokka rolls over, plumps his pillow with his fist, imagining it is Zuko's face, and seriously gets down to the business of napping.

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Katara makes her way down one of the hallways that seem to be pointed in the direction she saw Zuko. Many turns and corridors later she is hopelessly lost.

It didn't look this big from the outside! She swallows the panic she's starting to feel as she imagines the rest of her life being a desperate search for the exit.

She finds herself in a wing that has not yet been refurbished. There are barricades to some of the hallways and most of the doors are boarded shut. She comes to the end of a hallway with barricades on both sides and turns around to go back the way she came. Straight ahead she sees Zuko leaving a room.

"Zuko!" She calls to him happy to find someone who might know how to lead her back to civilization.

"Katara! What are you doing over here? It's not safe in this wing." Zuko reprimands her.

"I didn't go past any barricades." She assures him. "I was looking for you and then I got lost and ... well, it's all pretty embarrassing." Katara blushes.

"I'll show you the way back to the guest wing." He smiles. "Why were you looking for me?"

"I guess I wanted to see if you're okay." She tells him.

"Yes, I'm okay." He says, not very convincingly.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Katara offers.

Zuko stops and looks at her, a bemused expression on his face. Then the corner of his mouth turns up.

"No there isn't."

Is he laughing at me?

"Well, I just thought you seemed like you had something on your mind..." She nervously begins to explain, "and sometimes it helps to talk about it."

"I always have something on my mind. A million things really. Foremost right now is the coronation and more guests than I have rooms for. In addition to that I'll be leaving with a caravan to visit the outer provinces shortly after the celebrations so I have to plan for my absence from the capital. I've just lost my last remaining family member." He clears his throat. "And all that in addition to my usual bureaucratic marathon. You're right. I have a lot on my mind these days."

"I didn't mean to be condescending." She's says quietly, her words an accusation as well as an apology.

"I'm sorry Katara." Zuko says, taking the hint. "I guess I'm not used to baring my soul. And I certainly don't want to spend what little time I have with old friends complaining about my problems." Zuko takes her elbow and leads her down yet another hallway.

Katara is suddenly filled with sadness and tears come to her eyes. She stops walking and Zuko turns to look at her, concerned.

"What's the matter?" He asks.

"I just...I'm sorry. I didn't come looking for you for your sake. I came for my own. I'm sorry, it was stupid..." She shudders, fighting off the tears that threaten to spill down her cheeks.

Zuko leads her to a bench in a marbled alcove and sits down with her.

"I don't understand" He tells her calmly.

"It's just that I …" Her thoughts are jumbled and don't make sense even to her but she presses on, "It just seemed like you needed somebody to talk to and that made me feel like I used to. Like I had some purpose. It's hard to explain. And it's not like I want you to have a problem or be sad, it's just that I've been buried in my tribe's cultural heritage for more than three years, I haven't left the South Pole in nearly five and…." She takes a strangled breath. "I miss everything else. Not the war, of course, but ... the feeling that I knew my mission. That I was a part of something bigger than myself. That I was ... helpful." It all spills out between gulps and trembling breaths. "Everyone else has their place. Aang's the Avatar, you've got a country to run, Toph's a general in the Unified Army. Even Sokka's fulfilling his dream of captaining a ship -- meeting obstacles like pirates and storms and ... I don't know what I'm supposed to do." She stares helplessly down at her hands.

"Hmmm. Well, Sokka told me he's been trying to get you to be part of his crew. Wouldn't you like that?"

"No!" She says it so strongly that they both laugh.

"I don't know what to tell you Katara. I know it looks like you fulfilled your destiny with the end of the war and seeing the Avatar safely through his own mission, but maybe that was only a part of it. Uncle once told me to start with who I am and then what I am when I felt like everything was spinning out of control. It simplifies things and gives you perspective. You're Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. Start from there."

"Ugh, that's my problem. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe bores me to tears."

"Then what are you? You're a waterbending master. Start there." Zuko says patiently.

Katara takes a deep breath and holds it for a moment before she begins. "I'm daughter of an elder of the council of tribal chieftains. I'm sister to the captain of the Yue...friend of the Avatar..."

"That's what everybody else is, not what you are." Zuko's reminds her.

"I'm a waterbending master." She says.

"I already said that."

"I know, I'm just using it as a springboard...I'm a healer..."

"That's more like it."

"aaaaaaaannnnnd..." It's hard to think of anything else. "I'm a good listener." She smiles up at him.

Zuko cocks his eyebrow at her.

"Are you changing the subject?"

"Maybe."

"I'll show you how to get out of this maze if you promise never to ask me what's bothering me again." Zuko tells her, a grin in his voice.

"And if I don't promise that?"

"Have a nice life as the phantom of the Fire Nation palace." Zuko stands and starts to walk back the way they came.

"I promise!" She jumps up, wiping the unshed tears away from her eyes.

Zuko smirks and holds out his arm for her to take.

"I can't believe I just got advice from Prince Zuko." Katara mutters, taking his arm and letting him lead her down the hall.

"You are in trouble." He says soberly as he turns down another seemingly endless hallway.