This one is definitely rated T for implied sexual situations, nothing graphic.

Disclaimer: ATLA is owned by Viacom and Nickelodeon. No profit will be made from this story.

Three years ago...

Katara watched as Mai helped Zuko into his coronation robes. He looked so happy to see her but when they kissed, she felt a little part of her heart harden into ice. Whatever feelings she might have had for Zuko had to disappear. He belonged with Mai who would be the perfect Fire Lady and she knew that Aang loved her. Turning around, as to not disturb the kissing couple, Katara made her way out of the Fire Palace.

Present Time …

The Fire Nation bustled with excitement. Tomorrow was the Fire Lord's engagement party and guests from all around the world, including the Avatar would be coming into the capital city. The palace had worked hard to clean up and rebuild the city and everything looked perfect.

Zuko on the balcony of his bedroom looking out over his country with a slight smile on his face. Tomorrow he and Mai would be celebratning their engagement and in three months, they would be married. After three long years of securing his reign, righting the wrongs of his father and finding a cabinet that was loyal to him had taken most of the energy out of the Fire Lord and he was more than ready to move onto this next stage in his life. He loved Mai. He had always loved Mai but even now, there was slight stirring in his heart; more of a what if than a stirring. What if things had ended differently? What if she had been the one to help him into his robes?

But Zuko was a realist and knew that he couldn't go down the trail of the what if. It would only bring him strife and heartache.

As he stood musing, taking in the setting sun, there was a knock at his door.

"Enter," he called out.

The door opened and Zuko immediately knew it wasn't a servant. He could smell the sweet scent of the ocean as she walked through the room to join him near the balcony.

A hand came up to touch his shoulder and he turned around to face the woman who had just been occupying his thoughts.

"Katara."

"Zuko."

"Hi."

"Hello." And with that awkward exchange over, she pulled him into a tight hug. He pulled back with a smile.

"It's been a long time since you've been back to the Fire Palace," Zuko said, leading her over to a set of chairs on the balcony.

"Mmm," Katara hummed. She hadn't been back since his coronation. Sure they had seen each other at different events over the years but she had never been able to come back here after the day of Sozin's comet.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

She turned and directed her blue eyes toward him. "I couldn't miss your engagement party. After all, it's going to be the shindig of the year, well at least until your wedding."

He continued to gaze at her, replying, "But you RSVP'd saying that you weren't going to make it for the engagement party, only the wedding so I repeat: why are you here, Katara?"

She turned her eyes away from him, looking into the setting sun. After a minute, she responded, "Aang and I called it quits about two months ago."

Zuko had known this because Sokka had arrived with a very inebriated Aang in tow about a week after the break and dropped the heartbroken Avatar at his literal doorstep, saying, "He's your problem now, Fire Lord."

Aang had confessed that things hadn't been great with Katara for some time. He knew she was unhappy with the nomad life and travelling all the time, never putting down roots but selfishly, he hadn't wanted to let her go and had guilt tripped her into one last trip to the Southern Air Temples where he had set up a home for them. He had promised to travel less and only when people really needed him and for awhile, she had been happy there. But as they lived together, Aang began to notice that Katara still tended to treat him as a child, doing everything for him and trying to protect him from making a mistake. Aang had never really known his mother but he would have guessed that she would probably treat him like Katara was treating him now. When he confronted her about it, the resulting blow up had knocked down two different sections of the air temple and Katara had left. Leading to him calling Sokka and going on a week long bender leading up to Sokka leaving him at the door of the Fire Palace.

Zuko stayed quiet, unsure what to say. Comforting upset girls had never been his strong suit.

She smiled a watery smile at him, "It's okay. I know he was here for awhile afterwards. I went home and devoted all of my time to developing the waterbenders at the Southern Water Tribe. When I got the invitation to your engagement party, I RSVP'd 'no' because I didn't want to have an awkward run in with him but after his week here with you, he came to visit and we straightened some things out."

Again, Zuko already knew this. He had convinced Aang that he couldn't just leave the relationship like that. He had to talk with Katara. During their talk, Katara revealed that her feelings for Aang had never developed beyond the crush stage and that while she loved him, she wasn't in love with him. Heartbroken, Aang had admitted the monogamy wasn't the Air Nomad way and that he had tried so hard to make it work, knowing that a happy ending wasn't in the books for them.

Zuko knew all of this because the Avatar had sent him a letter describing the events with a confusing postscript at the bottom: She's yours now.

Not knowing how to decrypt that message, and fearing what it might mean, Zuko had renewed his relationship with Mai and had proposed. Mai accepted his proposal with a shrug and said, "Sure. I don't have anything better to do."

Zuko decided he would embellish her reaction to his proposal.

Katara's warm hand touching his slightly pulled him from his thoughts.

She looked him straight in the eye when she said, "Zuko, I won't be at your party tomorrow but I have one thing to tell you. I tried and tried to push my feelings aside for three years but I knew that tomorrow I would lose my chance to tell you forever and I know you are probably going to hate me but I just have to say this to you once; Zuko, I love you."

He stared.

His mouth might have dropped open.

Literally, bugs could be flying into his open mouth and he wouldn't have noticed.

"What?!" He squawked..

She smiled wryly at him, "When you jumped in front of Azula and took the lightning for me, I realized that I never wanted to lost you. And I seriously wanted to kiss you. I was going to tell you about how I felt right before your coronation but then I saw you with Mai. You looked so happy to see her. The kiss you gave her made me realize that I was never going to be the right person for you, that I was not cut out to be the Fire Lady. That you needed someone like Mai, who knows the ins and the outs of court by your side. So I left."

Rubbing his hands over his face, Zuko asked, "And why are you telling me this now, Katara? Do you expect me to dump Mai for you? Tomorrow's the engagement party for Agni's sake!"

He hadn't meant to be mean but she had just confessed to loving him. The "what if" he had been focusing on earlier was quickly becoming a possible reality.

A tear ran down her cheek as she said, "I don't expect anything from you, Zuko. I know you love Mai and I know that you are happy and I know that we can never-"

She was cut off as Zuko lunged towards her, his lips closing over hers. Recovering from the shock of his sudden movement, she began to kiss him back urgently, loving the feel of his warm hands on her back and tangled into her long brown hair.

Zuko wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but it eventually dawned on him that they were outside where anyone, including his fiancee, could see them. Drawing back from the kiss, he stared into her eyes and only saw love for him, no regret. Standing up, he pulled her up from her chair and led her inside to his bedchamber.

Neither noticed the frozen figure that had been standing just inside his chamber doors who quickly left, shutting the doors behind them.

The next morning, Zuko woke up feeling more rested than he had felt in months. He reached over to tell his companion good morning but the sheets were cold. Pushing himself up, he looked all around the chamber but her clothes were gone and she was nowhere to be found. Laying on her pillow was a note:

My dearest Zuko,

Thank you for last night. When I came to tell you, I expected to be turned away. I know that you don't love me and I didn't want to put you in an uncomfortable situation with Mai so I left. She's good for you, Zuko. Much better than I could ever be. Love her well.

-Katara

Howling with frustration, Zuko sprang up from the bed, put on his robe and went to inform the guards that they needed to detain Lady Katara; only to be told that she had already left on the first ship out of port this morning.

An anger Zuko hadn't felt in years swelled up inside of him and before he knew what he was doing, he had lit the bed on fire. He would never be able to share it with Mai because it would always be a reminder of Katara. He had been right. What ifs only led to heartbreak.

Mai never said anything about the changing of the bed.

Three months later, Katara was standing beside her brother, Toph and Aang as they watched Zuko and Mai become husband and wife, Firelord and Fire Lady. While she didn't regret her decision, she once again felt her heart close and silently vowed to never step foot in the Fire Nation again. When Fire Lord Zuko and his new wife turned to face their waiting audience, Katara noticed the look of triumph on Mai's face that shot her way, and Katara knew that Mai knew.

AN: Here's another part of the saga of Katara and Zuko. Another update will probably be up tomorrow from Mai's point of view. Remember to leave a comment in a review if you'd like to see anything specific in a one-shot. Thank you for the reviews and follows!