We all walked out into the late afternoon sunlight, stretching and yawning after being in one spot all day. Aang turned to us all and opened his mouth, but Zuko cut him off. "Don't say one word about any of us not going," he stated blankly. "We don't care about danger or anything, and you should know that by now. So don't try to argue, because the decision is final."

"That's the spirit!" Zuko jumped as General Hichoew came up behind him and slapped his hand down on his shoulder. "You're all very brave young men and women, and I'm glad you've decided to go." Zuko shook the general off of his shoulder, and skulked off, his hands in fists.

"What's his problem?" Sokka asked to nobody in particular. Toph shrugged.

"Anyway," General Hichoew continued, "I would like all of you to meet me after the feast tonight. You may go up to your rooms and get out of your formal clothes if you wish first. I'll be waiting for you right here, and we will go to a quiet place to discuss matters together." He waved at us and then continued down the stairs.

I was walking back to my room to get ready for the night (it was formal dress according to your nation or other organization of choice), when I heard some very loud coughing coming from a bathroom on the left side of the hallway. I walked closer, intending to knock, when Zuko came out and ran into me. "Sorry," we said together. He was shirtless, with his hair dripping and a towel around his waist. "Why are you walking around practically naked in the palace?" I asked, smirking at him.

"I just got out the shower, and my room is right there," he answered, pointing to a door at the end of the hall, which was right next to mine actually.

"Oh. Was that you coughing?"

"Yeah. I said I've been under the weather. Why?"

I shrugged. "Just asking. Maybe you should stay back and rest before we have to meet with Hichoew. Someone could bring you up dinner."

"Since when are you in charge of me or my head-colds?" he retorted jokingly. I lightly punched him in the arm. He walked into his room and I walked into mine.

I heard Sokka and Aang walk down the hall about a minute later and walk into Zuko's room, and then Sokka screamed, "ZUKO PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

"LEARN HOW TO KNOCK! THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIND!"

"Idiots," I muttered. Suki and Toph walked into my room then.

Toph turned her head towards me and stated, "I'm blind, so which are you picking: hair or makeup?"

"Hair," I said, smiling.

"I was gonna pick makeup anyway," Suki added.

There was a lot of banging, loud laughing, and other odd noises coming from the three boys next door. Lots of things were being slammed around on the walls. I got a dress out for Toph, and Suki got out a makeup pallet to fit with the color( lots of light pastel greens and pinks), and we got to work. "Why don't you ever wear your hair down?" I asked Toph. I was brushing it out, and her hair really was so beautiful.

"It gets in my way."

"But it's in your face all the time anyway."

"There's a difference."

Something next door crashed to the floor, and Aang, or someone who sounded like Aang, screeched. Suki rolled her eyes. "Pathetic."

As soon as Toph was done, Suki started getting dressed while I looked through my things for a dress to wear. Toph looked really beautiful actually, even if she didn't know it. Her dress was a very light pale green, with greenish-yellow designs on the bottom, shoulders, and up her neck, where the dress buttoned just below her chin. Hey eyes were colored with the same pale green, with a very light pale pink on her lips and cheeks.

Suki was going to do her usual Kyoshi makeup. Her dress was the same shade of green as her uniform, but much less bulky and more elegant, with a brown shawl over her shoulders. She left her hair a bit wavy, and didn't bother with the ponytail in the back.

I was throwing clothes around the room looking for something to put on when all of a sudden there was a huge thud from the other side of the wall, and Zuko yelled, "SOKKA LET GO! This isn't a toy! It's not something you can just yank around for no reason!" Then a more muffled cry from Aang, "Get him Sokka!" It sounded like he was under Zuko or Sokka, or a large object of sorts. Then another thud.

"Really?" Suki sighed. She walked next door, and we heard her yell, "What the hell are you three -" and then silence. She came back over with her hand over her eyes.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"You don't want to know."

I ended up picking out a lavender dress with the shoulders cut out, with swirling navy blue and white designs on the bottom and top. The sleeves were a very thin silk and transparent. Suki did my hair in a very intricate braided up-do. My makeup was simple, pale blue. The sun was going to set in about an hour, when Toph asked, "Wait ... don't all the women need an escort?"

"Well, ... technically yeah, I guess," I said.

"Who am I supposed to go with?"

"I don't think it'll really matter."

"Maybe ..."

Suki suggested, "Why not ask Zuko?"

"He has Mai, doesn't he?" I asked.

Suki smirked. "That's not what I heard. She dumped him as far as I know. Like, REALLY dumped him. Just left the palace one day with some other guy, didn't even give a reason, and hasn't talked to him since."

Toph's eyes widened as she stared at the floor. "Who told you that?"

"Sokka. He asked Zuko where Mai was, and he told him that."

I left the room, walked next door, and knocked. "It's Katara."

Zuko opened the door. His hair was in a ponytail, with his bangs hanging in his face. It was cute, actually, but completely lop-sided and messy. He was still shirtless, and the scar from where Azula has shot him was clearly visible. At least he'd managed to put pants on. "Yeah?"

"Go with Toph down to dinner, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good, thanks."

"Sure, yeah." He shut the door, and then I heard him yell, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU BEFORE, ASSHOLE?"

I rolled me eyes as I walked back into the room. "He said okay, Toph." She smiled a little. I really didn't see the big deal about her going alone, or why she was making a fuss about it. Oh well.

We met everyone else down at the entrance to the main hall of the palace. There was a large waterfall in front of us, that would be water bended apart to act as a door when everything was supposed to start. Sokka stood arm in arm with Suki in line, rolling his eyes and complaining. "The whole reason we're here was for the meeting, and instead of making THAT a big deal, they make the DINNER a big deal. This is so ridiculous."

"Just wait until we have to start dancing," Zuko added, equally exasperated.

"We have to do what?" Sokka and Toph gasped at the same time.

Zuko rolled his eyes and sighed, "The main guests have to start the dance tonight. That would basically be all of us. Couples go out one by one, so Aang and Katara will go first, then me and Toph, and then Sokka and Suki. It sucks but whatever."

I groaned. I can't dance. I turned around a little. The line of men and women arm in arm had gotten bigger behind us. I'm sure there were people already in the other room, but important people were coming in with a bang. Ridiculous.

Music started on the other side of the waterfall, and then it broke apart, and we all walked in, first me and Aang, then Zuko and Toph, then Sokka and Suki, and whoever else was behind us. All six of us had seats at the head table on the other side of the room, on the left side of the table (right side looking at it) next to my dad and General Hichoew. As soon as everyone was seated, servants in white suits immediately started sprinting around the room with trays of elegantly plated dishes from all over the world. Aang and Sokka immediately started grabbing at everything they could get their hands on (Aang avoided the meat dishes though), and within five seconds their plates looked like food mountains, and their cheeks were stuffed like chipmunk-bats. Pigs. Zuko, on the other hand, was taking nothing, and instead just sipping tea through pursed lips with a very seriously concentrated look on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked, taking a roll with green oily dip smeared on one half of it. He just shook his head. "Are you holding your breath?" He nodded. "Why?"

Zuko let out a mouthful of air and took a deep breath before answering. "I'm trying not to cough."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Just cough into your napkin or your elbow."

"It's not that kind of cough."

I rolled my eyes. "Just cough, will you?"

He turned his torso around to face the back wall, and coughed into his elbow. Sokka leaned over, and said with his mouth full, "Jeez, you offing up a ung ov there?"

"What?"

He swallowed. "Are you coughing up a lung over there or what?"

"No," Zuko answered. "I'm sick."

Dinner went on pretty much like that afterwards; Zuko trying not to cough, Toph punching him to make him cough involuntarily to get a laugh, Sokka and Aang stuffing their faces and then trying to talk without anyone understanding them, Suki and me talking about this and that over Sokka's head, and so on and so forth. Then it was time to dance before dessert was served. Great, haha, not.

Aang and I got up and walked down to the floor together as the band began to play. We bowed to one another, and then it was like being back in that cave in the Fire Nation again. It wasn't too bad after the first minute of moving around, and half way through the song Zuko and Toph joined up. Zuko looked like he was going to be sick. Was he really that bad of a dancer? Nope. He was better than anybody I'd ever seen. Toph actually put her head up in his direction. Then Sokka and Suki came out. At the end we all bowed to one another, and then everyone else joined us who wanted to dance. We did a couple more songs, and then someone called out, "Switch partners!" I got jostled around, and ended up in Zuko's arms. It was a slower waltz, and I kind of wished I was with Aang, but this was the next best thing. Better than getting stuck with two-left feet Sokka.

"So ... this is awkward," Zuko said, trying and failing to start an interesting conversation.

"Uhh, I guess."

"Umm ... you, uhh ... you look very beautiful tonight. I mean, so do Toph and Suki and everybody, but ... just saying ..."

"Thanks. Your uniform is ... quite spiffy."

He laughed a little. "Spiffy?"

"Well ..." I wanted to say what had been on my mind since that morning, but I didn't want to be rude. I decided to go ahead, and try not to sound overbearing or motherly. I failed. "So ... I'm sorry about your face and everything."

Zuko's smile fell. "Don't worry about it. I've been through worse."

"How, if you don't mind me asking, did you get back to the palace after Ozai left you?"

"I walked. I actually ended up collapsing at the gates. Your mouth has more blood than you think, and I lost a lot of it. For some reason nobody gave me an anesthetic when they were sewing my cheek back together. It hurt ... a lot."

"I'm sorry."

"Katara, really, it's okay." He looked down at his feet. I realized then that his hand was on my waist. I mean, it was part of the dance, but for some reason I felt bad about it being there, for Aang's sake anyway. But my arm was around his neck, so ... 'Stop thinking like that, Katara,' I told myself. 'He's a friend. Nothing else.' Luckily the song ended at that point.

Just then someone on stage with the band yelled, "ZUKO! Now?"

Zuko turned and gave the guy a thumbs up. He turned back to me and said, "I gotta go. Tell Toph I'll be right back if you see her, okay?"

"Okay." He smiled at me, and then ran up to the stage. I watched as he hugged the guy who had yelled. He took his hair down and shook his head back and forth a little, and then lifted the top section of his armer over his head. He looked like the old Zuko again, not the one chasing Aang but the one who'd changed his stars, except with longer hair that I was determined to get rid of, and I was glad to see him smile a little. Someone from the back came out and handed him a very odd looking thing. It looked like a guitar, but a weird one, with a longer neck and thinner body. The body wasn't round either, more like two circles but together with a big bite out of the top one from some creepy instrument eating monster of sorts.

Someone on stage who I couldn't see said, "Change partners!" again, and I ended up with Haru. He smiled at me. Then the music began to start. It was a funny tune, and I looked up at the stage. Zuko was playing by himself on the weird guitar, but he wasn't using a pick. He was using his fingers, which were laced with tiny flames I assumed he was bending, making the strings gleam as he plucked at them. After a repeat of the tune, the whole band came in. It was a good song. The other instruments died down a little, then Zuko started singing. He was really, really good, actually. I was really surprised at how good he was, standing up there singing and jamming on the guitar with a huge smile on his face.

"I never knew he was so talented," Haru commented, jerking his head a bit towards the stage.

"Neither did I."

Afterwards Zuko got off stage and carried his armer and hair ribbon back to the table. The servants in white started coming out from the back with desserts. We all got back in our places. Sokka clapped Zuko on the back a couple times while he was putting his hair back up. "You did good my friend, you did good."

"Thanks. But now my throat hurts more than it did before."

"Have some of that then," Aang said, pointing to a bowl of pink and green frozen custard with blue, purple, and yellow sprinkles on top.

Zuko took that and a spoon. "So who else thinks that this whole dinner was blown out of proportion and a waste of time?" he asked. We all raised our hands, and Toph said, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

General Hichoew leaned over and interjected, "Awwe, come on. This is one of the only times the nations can get together and enjoy themselves. Don't take this whole thing the wrong way. It's a very rare cultural event. Plus I like to help throw a party." He laughed at this, and then went back to his fruit tart.

Toph got up and said, "Well, I'm gonna get some air and take a walk around the city. See you guys later."

Zuko stood up too. "I'll go with you."

"I'm fine by myself."

"I'm supposed to be your escort."

Toph rolled her eyes and blew a puff of air through her teeth up at her hair. "Fine."

They walked out together, and Sokka leaned over and commented, "Don't you think they'd be a really cute couple?"

"Eww, no!" Suki said, scrunching up her face. "That would never work."

"Yeah, I don't know about that one, Sokka," I added. Aang laughed.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'."

People started heading off to bed after dessert, even though the band was playing again. They were playing slower songs this time though, so maybe it was putting people to sleep. Aang took my hand and we walked out onto the floor together. It was nice to slow dance with him. We never really had before. I laid my head on his shoulder (he'd grown, and was an inch or two taller than me now) as we moved in a small circle. Suki and Sokka followed suit, along with a few other couples. I actually saw Mai dancing with some buff guy in a Fire Navy uniform. She was glaring to her right, and I looked in the same direction. Zuko and Toph had gotten back. Zuko was holding Toph like one would hold a toddler, and dancing in a slow circle. Toph had her legs wrapped around the front of his waist, her arms around his neck, and her head was laying on his left shoulder. He had one hand supporting her in that position, and another around her back. They were talking, I could see their lips moving, but I couldn't hear the conversation. By the look of Mai's face, I was betting she could hear them perfectly. Maybe Sokka was right. I mean, they didn't look BAD together. Well ...

At the end of the night, once all the other guests had gone, we all made our way out to the front, Zuko still carrying Toph. General Hichoew came soon after, and together we all started walking to his quarters for our meeting. This night was everyone's last hoorah. No more fun from now on.