A few weeks passed and Hakoda had not been able to speak with the Fire Lord directly, just the Fire Nation's diplomat. So Hakoda and his crew decided to go to the Capitol, but he didn't like having to leave Katara here. However, he spoke to several of the guards and found only one he trusted. The guard was a father of three and he had a warm personality. He trusted that this guard could at least keep Katara out of trouble.
"Now, Katara, I'll be in the city for a few hours. Don't go anywhere else except for the bedroom and the courtyard," Hakoda explained. Katara nodded. He kissed her on the forehead.
Immediately after he left, Katara was bored. She walked to the courtyard and rushed over to the pond. She loved to stare at the weird animals floating on the surface of the water; she couldn't figure out what animal it was. She jumped every time it made that weird squawking sound.
"They're turtle ducks," Someone said behind her. She turned to face the dark haired boy.
"T-turtle ducks?" she asked.
"You've never seen one before?"
"Nope." Katara said, turning back to the ducks.
"Where are you from?"
"The Southern Water Tribe. My dad's here on 'business.'"
"Oh. My name is Zuko. What's yours?"
"Katara."
"That's a strange name," Zuko said. Katara stood up.
"Yours is stranger," Katara said as Zuko scowled.
"Zuzu your name is strange," A girl said from behind him. They looked alike—she must be Zuko's sister.
"So?" Zuko asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Just saying," She said with a smirk before walking away. Turning suddenly, she shot a flame at the back of Zuko's head. It wasn't hot enough to harm him, but the Water Tribe peasant didn't know that. Katara, acting on instinct, made a stream of water flow from the pond to block the fire. Steam was produced when they collided. Zuko's eyes widened.
"You're a water bender!" Zuko exclaimed. Azula walked off.
"A little bit of one," Katara replied.
"I didn't think there were any Waterbenders left in the South Pole." He said with astonishment.
"Just me," Katara responded sheepishly.
"That's so cool," He said.
"Not really, there's no one to help teach me Waterbending, so I have to learn on my own," She said. Zuko was surprisingly interested to hear the story. They sat underneath the tree, and talked.
"Life in the Water Tribe is nothing compared to this place," she said, looking around.
"Can I show you around?" Zuko asked.
"Yeah!" She said and they got up and began their journey around the palace.
"Well, this is the courtyard, but I guess you knew that all ready," Zuko began. He led her out of the open space and into the Palace. The hallways were huge here, walls lined with tapestries and ceilings that seemed to stretch on forever. They went down several flights of stairs. "This is the kitchen."
"You have a room just for cooking?"
"Yeah…that's why it's called the kitchen."
"We just cook our food over the big fire in the center of the village."
"You don't have much there, do you?"
"No. Once you see the South Pole, you'll understand."
"Don't think I'll be there anytime soon."
"Why not?"
"We're in war with your Nation and the Earth Kingdom, as well."
"Right."
"Here, you should try these." He offered a bag of red flakes to her.
Katara took a small handful. "What are they?"
"Fire flakes."
Katara put the handful in her mouth and nearly choked at the spicy heat. "La, it's hot! Give me some water!" Zuko went to the sink and poured Katara a glass of water. She drank it gratefully. "Thanks."
"I didn't realize you'd be unaccustomed to spicy foods. I should have warned you."
"It's all right."
"Come on, we still have to finish that tour."
Katara followed Zuko out of the kitchen and then back up the stairs. They went down several more hallways, finally coming up to the grandest door Katara had seen. Zuko quietly opened the door and only allowed enough space for them to barely fit through. He hurried over to some curtains to hide behind. "This is the throne room," he whispered. He snuck forward, still trying to stay hidden. He pointed to the wall of fire. "That's where my d—the Fire Lord, I mean—will sit when there's an important meeting."
"Do you live here?" Katara asked.
"Yeah."
"Really? That must be amazing!"
"Sh!" Zuko shushed her, not wanting to be heard. "But, yes, I live here."
"What do you do? Your not the Prince, are you?"
"N-No! Why would you think that?"
"I'm just making sure. Then why do you live here?"
"I'm the…um, I'm the cook's son."
"That's nice."
The two of them froze when the throne room's door opened. The ducked down closer to the floor, trying not to be seen. They relaxed a bit when they saw it was just a maid dusting, but relaxed fully when she left. They stood up and quickly ran out and into the hallway. They laughed as they ran, for no reason at all. Zuko took her hand and showed her the training grounds.
"This is where we spar," Zuko said.
"Spar?" Katara asked.
"It's when you fight with someone, but you're not really fighting," he said. "Like just trying to knock the other opponent to the ground or out of the ring. Want to try?" He asked.
"Let's do it," she said and they got into their sparring positions. Zuko created a flame, and shot it near her. Katara formed water and blocked it, then knocked him over by making the water grab his leg, and pulling. He fell to the ground with a thud, and a grunt. She didn't realize sheweasley this good!
"I was just letting you win," he said.
"Oh, sure," she said with a smirk. Zuko jumped up and faced her. "Want a re-match?"
"You're on," He said. After a few more times at sparring, Katara had won each one. She smiled. "Were you letting me win that time?" She asked with a smirk.
"Yes," he said and she smiled again. They made their way back to the courtyard, Katara teasing him the whole way.
"Looks like you got beat by a girl," she said.
"No I didn't! I let you win!" Zuko said.
"Whatever you want to believe," she said. As they turned the corner, they bumped into the guard that was supposed to be making sure Katara stayed out of trouble.
"Your father is looking for you Katara," he said and took her by the shoulder, and led her back to her room.
"Bye, Zuko! See you tomorrow!" She said, waving.
"Bye," Zuko said, waving back. He smiled when she didn't look. There was something special about the Waterbender that he liked, but he wasn't quite sure what it was.
(A/N from KK Renee:) Sorry for the confusion by having it posted on each of our accounts, but we feel like it'll reach more viewers this way. Like, the people who have her on author alert will get this and the people who have me on author alert can be notified I'm writing this. See? Anyway, I'm sorry we're posting it on both.