A week later, Zuko stood by the waterfront, sighing. Katara was all he could think about.
He felt a strong desire for her, but he knew it would be too awkward to ask her to the Lunar Eclipse Dance tomorrow night. She'd go with Aang, of course.
Suddenly, he saw Katara running down to the beach from the waterfront, crying. With no sign of the airbender, he walked down to the beach, to ask her what was wrong.
Katara sat curled up on the sand, crying softly with her face buried in her knees.
Zuko approached her carefully, sitting down quietly near her.
"Katara, is there something wrong?" He asked slowly and calmly. Katara continued to cry, shivering in the cold evening air. Zuko felt his hands warm up as he took Katara's in his own, while using his other hand to brush a strand of her soft brown hair from her shy face.
"Thanks, Zuko." She sniffed.
"Anyway, you want to tell me what happened?" Zuko asked, warming his hands more. Katara took a deep breath, and tried to hold back her tears.
"Aang tried to apologize by giving me a small ice sculpture, but it burnt my hands because the ice was too dry." She sniffed, sticking her hands into the water, letting them heal.
Zuko wanted to help her more, but he was afraid she would get angry if she made any suddenly movements she didn't like.
"I thought you and the avatar were…you know…together?" He said huskily. Katara shook her head.
"No! I'm NEVER speaking to that…that horrible monster AGAIN." She yelled, looking furious. Her anger died down quickly, though as she looked guilty to Zuko.
"Oh, Zuko. I-I'm sorry for yelling. I was just…so mad…and…"
"It's alright. Listen, it's late, and I'm just going to head off to bed. Here, do you want me to walk you to your room?" He asked, helping her up. Katara shrugged.
"Um, ok, I guess." She said, taking his hand as he walked with her back to her room. The 2 did not hold hands, nor show any signs of romantic actions. He simply walked into his connecting room, while lighting a candle nearby.
"Good night, Katara." Zuko whispered, seeing Katara crawl under her sheets as she smiled him a goodnight.
Later that night, Zuko was still awake. He rolled over on his bed, seeing Sokka's back instead of his face from his bed, but when he rolled over again, he heard a whisper.
"Zuko!" A voice whispered. Zuko turned and saw nobody. Closing his eyes, he felt himself quickly fall into a dream.
In his dream he couldn't see anything except his old bedroom, back at his palace. Nobody was in the bedroom, but suddenly, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned, and saw his mother.
"Mother?" He whispered. Princess Ursa smiled.
"Zuko, we don't have much time. Your sister has escaped from prison, and she is planning to kill you. You must find me. You need to find my location, so I may help Azula control her anger. I cannot risk losing you." She said in her usual soft, calm voice that Zuko could remember as he wrapped her arms around him.
"Mother, where are you? Tell me!" Zuko pleaded.
"Zuko, your father banished me to the mountains near the Bei Fong home in the earth kingdom." She whispered. Zuko felt confused.
"Mother, please, stay!" Zuko cried, but his mother had already nearly faded.
"MOM!" He yelled, his eyes snapping open as he sat up in bed. It was morning, and he could feel himself sweating. He had thrown his shirt to one side the night before, making his entire upper body sweaty, with his breath heavy.
"Zuko! I heard you yelling!" Katara said, kneeling beside Zuko's low-rise bed as she began bending water from a bucket and washing his face and body with the cool, refreshing liquid.
"Thanks, Katara." He murmured. Katara studied his face carefully.
"Zuko, What's wrong. I know you aren't usually like this after a nightmare…is there something I can help with?" She asked, trying to touch his face. Zuko grabbed her arm, and placed it back onto her lap again.
"No. There's nothing to talk about." He muttered, as he stood up, pulled on his torso, and exited the room in a huff.
"I think he likes you." Sokka said, grinning.
Fire lord Zuko walked to the plaza, where people were setting up decorations for the dance that night.
Aang was putting up streamers quietly, using his bending to assist him. One girl nearby, looking no older than 14, was also putting them up, but lost her balance on her stool, resulting in her falling to the ground. Aang tried to save her, but he, too, fell off. Zuko sprung into action, running to the girl and catching her just in time, while Aang fell on the hard floor, wincing in pain.
"Wow, thank you, fire lord Zuko." She said, smiling. Zuko shrugged as he continued to walk, but Aang caught up with him, looking slightly upset.
"Aang, something wrong?" Zuko asked, looking at the avatar.
"You know what's wrong. Keep away from Katara! She doesn't like you the way you think she does, OK? So just…LEAVE HER ALONE." Aang yelled furiously. Zuko glared at him.
"Aang! What are you talking about? I wish you'd calm down!" Zuko said, hinting a bit of anger in his voice. Aang began to turn red.
"That's it. You want to fight? Because you're really showing that you want to!" He yelled, poking Zuko's shoulder violently. Zuko began to get angry.
"FINE. I challenge you to an agni-kai!" Zuko yelled.
Minutes later, the 2 were lined up in a vacant spot of the plaza, facing each other meters apart.
Katara stood from the sidelines, frowning. Aang saw her, and smiled at her. Katara did not return the smile. Zuko ignored her, concentrating on Aang. As Paku yelled to start, Aang was already shooting fire from his fingertips, furiously.
Zuko dodged the attacks, trying not to hit Aang as much, but Aang, on the other hand, began to whip water at Zuko's direction, angry with the fire lord. Finally, after Zuko had fallen numerous times with cuts and bruises, he shot a large flaming blast at Aang, causing his sleeve to burn off while getting his skin a little burnt. Zuko then decided to get fierce, shooting a blast of lightning at Aang, but the airbender immediately redirected it back at Zuko, who barely dodged it, causing his arm to get shocked. He began to twitch, but sent a larger blast of fire at Aang, who flew away, but burnt his leg.
Minutes later, Aang was on the ground, while Zuko fell and slammed his head on a wall, causing himself to lose consciousness.
