HUGE shout out to Yin. I haven't gotten a review that has made me smile that much in a LONG time. I am so completely happy that you liked it, and thank you for taking the time to write such an awesome review. :)

No one had been hurt.

That was the important thing, and it was the only thought on Katara's mind. No one had been hurt.

But even as she said it, she sat shaking as she stared out over the turtle duck pond in the palace court yard. They were so carefree. They were calming. A warm breeze blew gently against her cool skin. She reached out a hand and bent a weak current that had the young ducklings swimming in a circle (relishing in the feeling that came from her element, from being in control of something so dear) and she sighed. Calm, that was all she needed.

But the calm didn't last. Like the calm in the center of a storm, it didn't last, and the comparison was nearly deafening.

Her head whipped to the side at the sudden outburst of voices. An entourage burst through the doors to the courtyard and if she'd been listening closer, she would have heard them coming for minutes, but she hadn't been listening. At the center of the six loud, frantic men was Zuko, his eyes zeroed in on her and his gait was fast and resolute. The men bustled around him, some of them waving their hands in the air, some of them walking in front of him as though it would deter him. However, everyone who bore witness to the scene knew better than to think it would really work.

"Hi, Zuko," Katara said before he had a chance to speak the first word. Her voice came out more as a grumbled resignation than a greeting, and the fact only spurred him on further.

"What—the—hell—Katara?" he halted not far from where she sat. He'd lost his nerve and threw his hands up, waving away the swarm of men that were only aggravating him further (they complied ever-so-quickly, given the deadly glint in his eye and the threatening set of his jaw). Katara didn't move from her spot, and she didn't look up at him (she didn't have to, to know he was literally steaming with rage).

Katara plucked the water from a small spot of grass in front of her and pressed her face into her knees. "I think you need to calm down, your highness." He couldn't get over the flat tone to her voice.

"Why didn't you come to me?" His voice was a deep growl, and he was straining to keep from shouting again. He couldn't believe her—he did not need to calm down. In fact, he thought that in the circumstance, he was under reacting. For her benefit, of course (he didn't even think about the idea that overreacting would reflect badly on his reputation as Fire Lord).

Katara sighed and pushed herself to her feet. His eyes scanned her face and his scowl depened. "I'm a big girl, Zuko. I can take care of myself."

"That isn't the point! You—"

"I'm a master waterbender. I can defend myself. I don't need you stepping in to fight my battles for me."

"That is not what I'm trying to do—"

"It sure looks like it from here." She crossed her arms tightly refusing to meet his gaze—but she still spoke fiercely, sure.

"Then you need to open your eyes." He took two brisk steps and suddenly was grabbing her arm, bringing it out to inspect. Her upper arm was shades of black and blue, a dark bruise that matched the ring around her eye and the protruding lump on her jaw. "My own general attacked you in your own home and you're telling me to calm down?"

Katara nodded her head once confident in her words. "I am. You're blowing this way out of proportion—"

"No—I—am—not."

The young woman sighed and this time, her voice was weaker and her shoulders slumped a fraction. "No one was hurt, Zuko. Just let it go."

He let her arm go. "How can you say that? You were hurt."

She rolled her eyes. "I've been worse. A few bruises are hardly worth the fuss you're making. It's nothing."

"You were violated." He said it as a whisper, but his tone was harsh and unforgiving.

Her heart clenched and she had to drop her gaze from his. "Shut up."

Zuko continued, his voice rising. "And not only that, but he struck you and then made an attempt on your life. How can you say that is nothing?"

She wanted to walk away. "Because it doesn't matter. No one was hurt."

It was her mantra. It was the sole thought on her mind.

He hated those words and every time she repeated it, he saw red. "How can you say that?"

Katara was trying hard to hold back the acrid taste in her throat, and her eyes were burning and bloodshot. No one was hurt. A tear slipped from her eye and she quickly brushed it away, immediately squaring her shoulders once more, her chin held high. "Why are you making such a big deal over this?" The more he talked about it, the less she could deny it had ever happened—and why didn't he understand that?

"Besides the obvious answer that you're a personal friend of mine and you were attacked?" Zuko let out a deep breath—as if he needed more reason than that to be upset. He pinched the bridge of his narrow nose and tried to remember what it was like to feel calm. She was looking up at him expectantly—as if she really needed to hear his reasons. "You are a foreign diplomat and an honoured guest in our Capitol City. It is expected that you are shown the same respect as any acting member of the Royal council, if not more. As the Fire Lord, how can I expect to ensure the safety of my people if my own acting generals cannot be trusted? His dishonour disgraces not only himself, but the entire Fire Nation and I cannot allow that."

She heard as clearly as day the words that he did not say: he must pay for his crimes.

Her memory whisked her away to a time years before when the two had spent days and nights under the cover of darkness hunting down another man who would never redeem his evil deeds that he had committed in her life. She could practically feel the magnetic pulse of his blood at her fingertips, she remembered every contortion of the wrong man's spine as her hatred twisted and mangled his form. The memory of his hard brown eyes burned at her heart, and now a second pair of eyes with just as much hatred beneath their dank surface burned as well. The combination was as though her soul was being razed from within her very body.

Katara swallowed and met his gaze steadily. "No one was hurt."

And in her heart, she wanted to hope that it remained that way. But her bitterness gripped at the kind intentions and crushed them with her pain that the man had inflicted.

-/-/-

Zuko had given it three days. Three days was the acceptable time that one waited for a fair trial. Three days was the permitted time that a criminal had to admit their wrongs and turn themselves in before a fair trial was negated.

General Tsu had appeared before the Fire Lord on the second day of those three to request a brief vacation to celebrate his fifteenth anniversary with his wife. Zuko's face was illuminated by large orange flames, but they did not shroud his personage as they had when his father sat upon the throne. General Tsu, had he looked upon the young Fire Lord's face, would have wished that they were. Zuko's hands folded on his lap and his eyes tightened. He granted the man two weeks paid leave and dismissed him.

On the night of the third day, Zuko excused himself from his game of Pai Sho with Katara at sunset, claiming to have a surplus of reports still left unread. Since the day he confronted her, she had been staying as a guest in the palace—he wanted to point out to her that she was less a guest and more of a resident as her own home had mysteriously been burnt to the ground (but she didn't allow him to talk about the events of that night). She bid him a good night as he left, and he tried not to think about the drawn look to her eyes as he wished her the same. It was in vain, because he knew she had not slept since arriving at the palace guest house. She spent the nights in the court yard practicing her waterbending and he knew that he was not the only one who had noticed.

Though the doors to his suite were tightly locked, he still pushed a heavy chair in front of them. He walked through the adjoined rooms silently, his feet not making a sound against the floor. His dual dao swords hung above his bed, gleaming at him seductively.

He left, not for the first time, through the balcony. Dressed in all black with the swords strapped to his back, he pulled himself onto the roof and off the palace grounds without drawing the attention of a single guard.

It was unfathomable. Imagine the rumours, the scandal that would spread at the idea of the Fire Lord sneaking about under the cover of darkness, donning the mask of the Blue Spirit. But he didn't care one bit. It wasn't that he thought he wouldn't get caught (though with years of experience sneaking about, he was more than confident that he wouldn't) but rather his cause drove him despite the miniscule possibility. He knew the risks he took. But he would do it.

The house sat on a cliff beside the sea and the waves lapped loudly at the rock, spraying foam and mist up to the grassy ledge. The moon was bright and full in the sky and it illuminated the quaint house much better than he could have hoped for. The surroundings were so serene and breathtaking that Zuko almost wished he had asked Katara to accompany him, if only to show her the beauty that the Fire Nation could offer. (And if it weren't for the nature of his excursion, he would have brought her because he knew how much she would have loved the view.)

It had been too easy. The house hadn't made a single groan of protest as he climbed through the window and crept to the room in the back. Tsu's wife lay in the next room and never stirred. The general snored loudly, the sound like creaking trees bowing in a storm. The man didn't make a sound.

-/-/-

He hadn't told her.

Zuko returned to the palace as if nothing had happened and stowed the Blue Spirit mask in his hiding place. His dual dao swords were immaculately clean when he hung them back on the wall above his bed, shining like a polished plaque. He fell into his bed and slumber took him immediately, washing over the numb feeling that was gripping his stomach.

He awoke the next morning and dressed and moved the chair away from the doors. He strode down the hallways toward the dining hall and acknowledged each bow that he received. He was not in a particularly good mood, but neither was his mood foul. He entered the dining hall and took his seat at the head of the table and food was served before him. He ate silently, his eyes focused but his mind far away.

Katara watched him as he ate slowly and she barely picked at her breakfast. The dark circles under her eyes were intense, but the bruises that had marred her tan skin were beginning to wane. She sat straight and stared him down from across the table and she remained silent.

He hadn't told her anything. Their eyes met on one occasion during their meal and he did not look away. He didn't nod or give any indication of what he'd done. He looked to all the world that not a single thing was out of place, and he did not say anything.

But their eyes connected and deep within those blue pools, he knew that she'd figured him out long before.

-/-/-

That night when he retired to his rooms, he found a small vase on the table beside his bed. A single blue flower soaked in clear water, several buds blooming on the stem of the delicate bluebell. Zuko smiled at the flower. (He would have marveled that she had managed to sneak into his room unseen, but he knew her better than to be surprised by that.)

He hadn't told her, and he hadn't needed to.

The next morning, the palace was abuzz with gossip. The royal council was in a panic—some in an uproar—and the servants were walking about with ears too open and eyes too wide and feet more prone to stall than ever he could remember.

General Tsu had been found. Until that morning, no one had known he was missing. After all, the man was on leave celebrating his wedding anniversary. Or so they had thought. The council flitted about trying to sort out the ordeal—who would fill his position? What would they tell the troops under his command? How would they explain it to the Fire Lord? They had no idea who could have done it—his wife hadn't even noticed his absence, and when the fact had come to light, she'd fell into hysterics and hadn't been able to utter a coherent word since.

General Tsu had been found. No, General Tsu's body had been found.

His head, however, was a entirely different story.