Here he goes! Zuko, prince of the fire nation, talks with his father, who is extremely ill. And after that, he sees Katara…

Let me say this again to prevent certain flames: 1.I'm from Belgium, where people speak Dutch, a language completely different from English, so do not flame about grammar mistakes! 2.This story is rated T, this is a warning! Do not flame if you notice sex in this story! And 3: It's a Zutara story. Do not flame if you don't like Zutara, because if you don't like this pairing, you really should read something else!

Chapter 1

Surprise

The sun rose, and Zuko woke up. He opened his eyes and saw the sealing of his room.

'Prince Zuko, prince Zuko?' a voice asked. Zuko stared at his door and sighed.

'I'm already awake!' he said. The voice opened the door and a man came inside. He bowed for Zuko and bit on his lip.

'Your majesty, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your father isn't doing well, he feels even worse today. We thought we had an improvement yesterday, but it seems like that the medication we gave only worked temporally.' he said, averting his eyes. Zuko sighed and stared at the floor. His father was having troubles with his health, he knew that, they didn't have to remind him about that every single day!

He crawled out of his bed and nodded.

'Thank you for telling me. I'll talk to him right away.'

The man bowed again and left the room. Zuko sighed deep and sat down on his bed. They had the best doctors on earth in the palace, and yet they couldn't heal his father. It seemed like his father wouldn't live for long anymore, knowing that made Zuko feel like his heart was ripped out.

He took on some clothes and ran to his fathers room, as fast as he could.

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Zuko opened the door slowly and peeked inside. In the huge bed lay his father, sounding to have troubles with breathing. Zuko swallowed something down his throat and walked inside.

'Who's dares to enter my room?' Ozai said. Zuko bowed for his father and stared at him.

'I do, father. Please forgive me, I wanted to know how you feel.'

Ozai sighed deeply and closed his eyes. 'I'm fine, Zuko. Not as fine as yesterday, but at least better than last week.'

Zuko averted his eyes. Last week his father nearly died. The medication they gave him didn't work, his heart nearly stopped beating. Fortunately one of their doctors gave him a hart massage just in time, this doctor had a promotion right away.

'Father,' Zuko whispered, 'you're not going to die, are you?' he asked. Ozai took a deep breath and coughed.

'No, Zuko, not yet. I thought I already told you I'd feel it once the time was there!'

Zuko nodded and sighed. 'Yes, father, I just don't want you to die already.'

'Zuko,' the fire lord said, 'I'll stay alive. I know that for sure.'

Zuko looked up at his father. 'Then why do I have to teach how to be a decent fire lord already? I'm only seventeen, usually the prince has those lessons once he's eighteen.'

Ozai closed his eyes, he seemed very tired. 'Nobody knows what will happen in the future, perhaps you will be needing those lessons.'

Zuko gasped. So there WAS a chance that he'd die. He walked to the door and opened it.

'Rest some more, father, you need your rest.' He left the room and ran to his room. Once he got there, he stared out of his window and smiled when he saw Iroh, sitting on the huge balcon. He went to the balcon, he felt like he had to talk to someone.

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Iroh smiled when he saw his nephew, running in his direction.

'Zuko, it's great to see you! I need you to keep an eye on my tea, warn me once it's ready, I have to do something.'

He stood up and left the balcon. Zuko sighed and smacked himself on the forehead. This happened every time he really needed his uncle.

He sat down on the chair his uncle sat on and stared at the tea. A few minutes later, he felt terribly bored.

Suddenly, he heard children screaming. He stood up and hung over the railing, so he could see the village better.

When he heard the screams came from the other side of the balcon, he turned around and gasped.

On the beach were some children, just playing. They screamed to make their game look more real. The children weren't what surprised Zuko, but the older girl with them was.

She had a beautiful blue dress, probably from the water tribe. The part around her neck was really wide, so the dress nearly fell off her shoulders. Her neck and a part of her chest were very prominent, because you almost saw her breasts. The dress was long enough to hide her legs and knees, so it made her body look even more beautiful. Her dark skin made her blue eyes even more prominent, and her long hair was probably the most beautiful hair in the entire village. She was playing along with the children, it seemed like the children really liked her.

He couldn't help to stare, even when his uncle returned.

Iroh stared at his cup of tea, at Zuko and he lifted and eyebrow. He followed Zuko's gaze and his eyes grew bigger when he saw what he was staring at.

He smiled and crossed his arms.

'Well, well, that watertribegirl turned out to be a beautiful woman.' he said. Zuko gasped and pointed at her.

'THAT's the girl that traveled with the Avatar?' he asked. Iroh nodded and sighed.

'Amazing how people can change in only one short year. I heard the Avatar is teaching how to firebend in the fire nation, and their father has a job here. So they had to move to this village.' Iroh said. Zuko's gaze turned back to the girl and Iroh smiled. The old man could read Zuko's thoughts just by seeing his gaze: the teenager was pleasantly surprised.

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Later that day, the sun was going down. Zuko was still on the balcon, staring at the girl. She was enjoying the sunset, while Zuko was enjoying her.

'She's beautiful…' he mumbled. It was a miracle: she lifted all his sorrows, though he never spoke to her. Since the moment he saw her, his mind was so busy observing her beauty, that he forgot all about his father.

Iroh came on the balcon again and gasped when he saw Zuko, still standing on the same place as hours ago. He came a few steps closer and smiled.

'You really seem to like her, prince Zuko.' he said. Zuko nodded and sighed.

'You bet I do! She's like the most beautiful girl on the world!' he said, nearly shouting. Iroh laughed and shook his head. He put his hands in his sleeves and stared at the girl as well.

'This is incredible, Zuko. You do know what this means, right?'

Zuko looked at his uncle quickly, but his gaze turned back to Katara automatically.

'What does it mean then?'

'Behold!' Iroh said. 'Our very own Zuko, prince of the fire nation, is in love.'

(I've been working on this idea for a while, but I never really wrote it down. So I guess this is good as a fourth story! Believe me: the plot will turn out interesting. It's based on the way people were separated in the Middle Ages, I saw a documentary on it last week. It gave me great inspiration for a fluffy Zutarastory! REVIEW!:D)