Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers apply! Naturally any character that is not associated with the show belongs either to someone I have permission to use or to me. Please ask permission to use any character that I own should you desire to do so. Thank you. If there are any similarities between my work and another author's then I apologize. I suppose great minds DO think alike.

Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Title: Life

Author: Tiasha

Type: One-shot/Drabble

Word Count: 977

She had come to understand that life worked in strange, mysterious ways. For instance, tagging along with her brother that fateful day when they crashed their boat and were stranded in the middle of the ocean. If Sokka had not opened his big, sexist mouth, she would not have broke down and yelled at him in a fit of anger, breaking of a huge chunk of ice from a nearby iceberg in the process (she still had no idea exactly how she had accomplished that…); nor would they have found Aang sleeping inside that iceberg for what had been over a hundred years. Nope, none of that would have happened if she had decided to stay at home and help Gran-Gran.

Then there were all those mishaps and adventures leading up to their main goal; helping Aang master all the elements. All those little detours and fights and practice had led them to the North Pole—to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending. Then there had been the problem of getting Master Pakku to teach her. That had so not been kosher…period. Getting trapped in that ice had hurt! But, if she hadn't fought him, her necklace wouldn't have come off and Master Pakku wouldn't have changed his mind upon seeing it. So, it had all worked out in the end, despite her losing the initial fight.

Then during the invasion, she had had to fight against the exiled Fire Nation prince, who had looked a bit worse for wear when she thought back on it. He had always been determined to capture Aang…although for what reason, she had not known. But she still fought him, and she had been worried the moment she heard his voice, that she would freeze up and make a mistake. And she had, but at the time, she still had not known the workings of bending. She had just learned that waterbending depended on the Moon and the Ocean spirits…those koi fish… How was she to have known that firebending depended on the sun? Yet she had held her own and eventually got Aang back.

And then Sokka and Yue… Her heart still ached for her brother when she remembered the princess and how they had seemed so right for each other and how brave the elder girl had been. She couldn't imagine how terrible Sokka had felt when Yue just sacrificed herself like that. To have lost someone that you cared for that much? No…she was sure she never wanted to know that pain…but she still prayed for her brother to find another person that he could care for as deeply as he had for Yue.

Yes…life worked in strange and mysterious ways…and not always in a happy manner either.

But it always—always—managed to throw you for a loop. Like Prince Zuko requesting to join them not even a month after the attack on the Northern Water Tribe. Boy had that been a shock. They all had believed it to be a trap—well at least her and Sokka had… Aang had seemed more than willing to give the young prince a chance, and she had learned to trust Aang on some things…and she believed that there was something the young avatar was not telling her, but what could she do? He hadn't told her for good reason, and she would just have to accept that.

So they had given the young prince a chance and had learned that his father had most likely gone insane at this point. Really, to call your own brother a traitor when said brother was trying to save the entire balance of the world… That had been the last straw for the prince, or so the uncle presumed since the firebending boy had not seemed eager to discuss certain matters.

But eventually, the firebending prince began to open up…at least to her and Aang since Sokka was still hell-bent on seeing Prince Zuko as a threat—for the most part. Sokka didn't turn down the travel accommodations or food the Prince and retired General could gain due to their status and reputation, nor had she really expected her brother to.

But perhaps the most wonky result of Prince Zuko joining the three of them on there journey, was the attraction that started to grow between her and him. At first she couldn't understand it—she couldn't understand why her stomach would clench in anticipation when she was in his company, when it was just the two of them; nor could she understand why her face would flush occasionally or why she would catch herself staring at him—not at his scar, but at him. She had finally cajoled the story behind that scar from him, using his short-fuse of a temper to get a one up on him and from the moment she had learned the history of that scar, she had ceased to see it as such. It was no longer a scar to her, it was something else…

It defined him, his character, and the good in his heart that he had constantly overshadowed with his need for acceptance from his father and to gain back his 'honor.' It became somewhat endearing to her since she was the only one of her little trio to know the truth…and it still was. Life was strange, mysterious and unpredictable…

However, she had an inkling that with her luck, she'd fall for the troubled, short-tempered, firebending prince. And Zuko would insult her, Sokka would have a conniption fit, Aang would be hurt but happy for her and Iroh—he'd probably be urging for great nieces and nephews as soon as possible… Ugh…what a pain…

And with that train of thought, Katara came to another conclusion. Life was troublesome and love was even more troublesome than life. Now she'd have to decide if Zuko was worth the effort…