"Dad and the others will come to join us in the morning," Sokka confirmed, sliding off Appa's back. Momo on his shoulder chittered happily and scurried into Katara's hair. Aang helped Iroh down off the bison's back and the older man went straight to Zuko, pulling him into a hug.

"Sokka told us what happened," Aang said quietly, tugging at Katara's elbow and guiding her towards Toph and Sokka. They headed up to the bridge where the signs of their battle were still too clear. Katara was a little dismayed at the sight of the scorched, blackened windows and the -for lack of a better word- trashed control panels of the ship.

"How is he?" Sokka asked.

"Pretty mad." Katara peered down at the deck where Iroh and Zuko were talking at the railing, Zuko leaning heavily over the water with his head down. Iroh's hand was steady on his back and they looked for all the world like a father and his son. "I don't think he was prepared to fight people he actually knew."

"It's a lot to ask." Aang agreed. "The question is-"

Katara glanced back to see Aang looking conflicted. "You don't trust him?" She challenged, ignoring her own tiny, tiny suspicion in favour of indignation. "He helped us capture the ship didn't he?"

Aang's hands were up in surrender. "I didn't say that."

"I trust him," Sokka said, and Toph nodded. "But I think we should keep an eye on him just in case." He looked down at the firebenders on deck with a shrug. "We do need them- not just because they know the enemy better than we do, but they can also teach Aang firebending."

Katara could have hit him. They'd deliberately not been mentioning firebending around Aang! He'd been so against it ever since they'd left Jeong Jeong's village.

"You're right." Aang simply said. "I'm not happy about it, but Guru Pathik forced me to face a few hard truths. I'm the Avatar and no matter how much I hate it, there are some things I have to face… head on."

"Sounds like Guru Pathik was really helpful, Aang." Katara smiled reassuringly, and Aang paused before giving her a slightly odd smile back.

"So we're settled then?"Toph checked. "Everyone's gonna trust Prince Sulky?"

"Unless he gives us a reason not to." Aang nodded.

They agreed and headed back downstairs. The rest of the evening was spent combing through the ship for replacement clothes and food. Katara hadn't really considered it before, but she realised when she found armour that fitted well- the Fire Nation was unusual in that it had women serving in its army alongside the men. She couldn't remember seeing women serving in the Earth Kingdom army, and the Kyoshi Warriors were an independent force. The Northern Water Tribe certainly didn't let women serve, and the Southern Water Tribe didn't have women take up traditional warrior roles unless they were waterbenders.

Perhaps that was simply the result of a whole country so focused on war; anyone who wanted to fight was allowed.

Katara found the ship's kitchen quite serviceable; there was plenty of meat, fish and vegetables, along with lots of spices and herbs that she didn't know well. There was also a rather good tea selection, which Iroh was sure to appreciate, and enough rooms in the ship for the girls to sleep separately to the boys (which always felt like a luxury) but the ship was in bad shape.

When Hakoda and the others arrived tomorrow, they would start work on the repairs to make it seaworthy again, but the expressions on Zuko and Iroh's faces when she told them the furnaces were out didn't fill her with hope.

"Can't you just… bend the water out of it?" Zuko asked, making a vague gesture that was supposed to be a waterbending move, presumably.

"Maybe…" Katara grimaced. "Would that be enough?"

"This is a problem for tomorrow's sun," Iroh said gently, sipping on a dark olive coloured tea. "You are tired, nephew, and have had a long day."

"I'm not tired. I just need to do something."

Katara watched as he paced. There were deep, dark bags under his eyes that hadn't been there before, and she hadn't thought it was possible for him to look any tenser than he had been after Ba Sing Se.

"You could help me cook dinner?" Katara suggested. "I could use the help, especially with the extra mouths to feed… and I don't know much about "

"That's…" Zuko's shoulders hunched defensively, before closing his eyes and exhaling slowly. "Sure. I'd be happy to help."

"That sounds like a very good idea, Master Katara." Iroh smiled gratefully at her, and she wondered what he thought of the captive soldiers downstairs. She didn't know much about how they had lived before Ba Sing Se, but something had clearly led them to that tea shop Ba Sing Se. When she'd spotted them, her instinct had been to run and warn the others. It couldn't have been a coincidence, their presence in the same city as her friends.

But in the cave, he'd been so different from how she remembered him. She'd touched his scar, and there'd been a strange intimacy in that moment. She could still feel the ghost of that curiously fragile skin beneath her fingers, even though it had long gone.

In the ship's kitchen, Zuko began grouping the spices into little groups of what went well together, and she watched with a curious smile, surprised at his capability. "So… you really ran a tea shop? It wasn't some sort of cover?"

He nearly dropped the bottle he was holding and stared at her, stunned. "How on earth do you know about that?"

"I saw you," She admitted with a lovely grin. "Before the caves… I was looking around and I saw you serving tea with your uncle."

"Ah. Yeah. We were." He looked embarrassed, but it wasn't the angry defensive embarrassment she might have expected. The mood was different here, on their own. There was calm amongst the pots, pans and dishes that was missing on deck with the others.

Something had been created between them in Ba Sing Se that made Katara feel comfortable with him, and the way he gave her a shy smile before turning away to look through some cupboards made her think he felt the same.

"So how did the Fire Nation prince and his uncle end up in Ba Sing Se running a tea shop?" She prodded, getting out a large, flat bottomed pot with a lid. "We hadn't seen you for a while."

Since Iroh had been struck by the princess's lightning. She had been sure Iroh would die without her healing and she'd offered but Zuko had reacted like a cornered animal, and they'd needed to escape.

"Uncle wanted a quieter life." He said eventually. "And he makes good tea. Apparently."

"I'm glad he's alright."

He paused, and eyed her warily. She wasn't sure why, and it struck her as a strange reaction to a fairly basic sentiment. "Yeah." He straightened. "These will go well in a stir fry, I think. Uncle always groups them together like this."

"Thanks." Katara allowed the change of subject. "I'm a bit lost in a Fire Nation kitchen, to be honest. I appreciate the help."

Zuko was collecting different brightly coloured vegetables from a large metal pantry. "I don't know much- I never had the patience for cooking really well but after my banishment, my uncle taught me the basics…" He avoided her eyes looking uncomfortable again. "The crew did too."

"You were with them a long time?" She knew he was in trouble with the fire nation, but the way he said 'banished' had caught her off guard.

He nodded. "It's really... strange to be their enemy."

"I'm sorry," Katara couldn't really help her reaction; the mood was too close to that of the caves. She reached up and touched the side of his face, where the scar had been. He stiffened and closed his eyes, nostrils flaring a little. "I'm glad you're with us. I can't imagine how hard it must be to fight against your friends."

His eyes snapped open and with a small tilt of his chin, he was out of her grasp. "They're not…" He reaches for the words but seemed unable to verbalise his thoughts.

Katara frowned, puzzled. "Three years is a long time to not have friends."

"Are you making fun of me?" He sounded annoyed but there was an undertone of frosty hurt. She could almost feel the wall between them.

"No, of course not." She grabbed his arm, fixing him in place. "I'm just saying… I think they were. They seemed really happy to see you. The older guy…"

"Jee." Zuko supplied. But he looked uncomfortable at the firebender's name, so Katara changed tactics.

"You were young, right? You must have been about my age or younger when you started travelling with them. It sounds lonely." She but her lip, contemplating how best to get him to relax, to feel comfortable and safe with them. She didn't know a lot about the Fire Nation but to send -what? A thirteen-year-old boy?- on a mission to find the avatar seemed so strange. It made her wonder what Zuko's life had been like- young and alone on a ship full of adults with no one his own age.

It didn't seem right.

So she tugged him into an awkward hug. Awkward, because he didn't seem quite sure what to do; he was stiff and his arms didn't really move but he didn't push her off either. "We're friends, Zuko. I promise that all of us have your back. I might not know a lot about you but we know the most important thing- you're one of us and we're going to restore balance to the world."

She held on a little longer, and he patted her back stiffly before clearing his throat a little and nodding. "Um, thanks."

"Right then." Katara stepped back. "You said these would be good for stir-fry? What's that and how do I make it?"

It turned out that fire nation cooking was different to water Tribe food styles; although there were uses for the familiar flat-bottomed pots she'd taken out, they were primarily used for soups and larger quantities of rice. Zuko showed her a large pan called a wok, and how to quickly throw noodles and ingredients together to produce quick dishes that could be served within a few minutes. It was quicker than the stews and soups she'd been making for the group on the road, but required more ingredients. It suited Zuko's temperament, she supposed- he didn't seem like the sort of person who would sit and monitor a slow cooking dish when there were avatars to capture.

Zuko took a tray of meals up to the others in the bridge, and Katara took the dishes for the soldiers down to the hold. She hadn't really wanted Zuko to see them if he wasn't ready, and he'd not objected.

The low hum of conversation stopped as she got nearer to the door, and she passed the bowls through the bars to quiet, polite thanks from the soldiers. They didn't seem openly hostile, but they remained mostly silent as they passed the bowls around. The firebenders had their feet fixed to the floor and they all had their hands bound. It was surely quite uncomfortable, but there wasn't much Katara could do about that.

"Where is Prince Zuko?" Jee asked, shuffling a little closer to the bars. "Is he well?"

"Um…" Katara looked around the room. "He's ok." She nodded. "Iroh's here with him and they… they're both glad that all of you are alright too."

"General Iroh's alive?" Jee smiled. "I'm glad. The rumours were dire indeed. He was always a good man. Would you let him know that music night was never the same after they left us at the North Pole?"

"The North Pole?" The night the moon died. "Uh… sure. I'll let him know."

"It's funny." Jee went on, almost conversationally although he had a shrewd glint in his eye. "None of us would ever have imagined the Prince would betray his father this way, but perhaps it was inevitable. We're loyal to the Fire Nation, of course… but I could never do that to my own child."

He seemed to be waiting for her to ask, and Katara had an inkling that he was talking around Zuko's banishment and perhaps even his scar. It felt like forbidden information. She desperately wanted to know more, to understand her new friend but…

Would it hurt? If it wasn't him that told her? He may never tell her himself but she was so curious, and Jee was willing to talk.

"Ah, Lieutenant Jee. It is so good to see you." Iroh's voice was deceptively genial, and Katara jumped, turning to look at the older man. He had found some fire nation clothing, looking much smarter and better groomed than before. He smiled warmly and put a heavy, warm hand on Katara's shoulder. "Master Katara, if you would allow me,... It is one of life's greatest pleasures to catch up with old friends."

Logic told her that it was dangerous to leave Iroh with the soldiers, but the older man had helped them at the North Pole, and against Azula… he hadn't given them a reason to doubt him… So she went upstairs.

.

"Dad!" Katara beamed, tackling her father in a tight bear hug. "It's so good to see you!"

Her father smelled like the cold and sea prunes- and the feel of his returned hug took her right back to long summers where the sun never set and campfires with her mother and Gran Gran.

He was mumbling comforting things into her hair, and Katara clung to him like a child. It had been so, so long and being apart had hurt.

Sokka was helping pull bags and supplies off Appa, and Aang was chatting away to Bato, so Katara revelled in her own quiet reunion with her dad and beamed up at him. "How are you?"

"Not bad." Hakoda cupped her face. "But I've been adrift for too long and it's good to have you and your brother with me." He looked tired and paler than she remembered but he was still so tall, and broad and strong and so dad.

Sokka was at their father's shoulder with the widest grin and Katara pulled him in too so their too-small family was clutched together in a tangle of arms. "Dad we have so much to show you- with this ship we have access to the most up-to-date movements of other Fire Nation ships and we should be able to avoid them as far as maybe even Crescent Island… We have maps."

"That's amazing!" Hakoda grinned, pulling back. "Spirits, Katara- you're so big now! And a great Waterbending Master…" He beamed down at her and Katara felt a sting at the reminder of just how long it had been- and how much had changed.

"Come on." Sokka tugged at their dad's arm. "You have to meet the others properly." He pulled Hakoda towards the bridge, where Toph was supposed to be bending the distorted metal and making repairs, but instead it seemed she was practicing tearing stuff up even more.

Then they headed down to a room Iroh had referred to as the gymnasium, where Zuko, Iroh and Aang were meant to be rehearsing some basic firebending stances. As they entered Aang was chatting away to Zuko as though they'd been friends forever, with Iroh sat on the floor with a pot of tea, looking perfectly content and happy.

"Dad, this is Aang, the Avatar, and Zuko and Iroh, who are teaching him firebending." Sokka pointed to each of their friends in turn. "We found Aang in an iceberg, so he's like… 100 years old, Iroh really likes tea and Zuko is the crown prince of the Fire Nation- Iroh and Zuko used to try to kill us like, all the time, but now we're buds. Everyone, this is dad. He left to fight the Fire Nation years ago with the Southern Water Tribe Warriors and is basically the best chief ever."

Iroh stood slowly and gave a formal bow. "It is a great pleasure to meet you Chief… Dad."

"Hakoda." The younger man smiled, unable to resist responding to Iroh's kindly smile with anything less than a bow in return. "Uh… It's nice to meet you both too." He glanced at Zuko a little strangely. Zuko, for his part, looked like he very much wished the floor would swallow him bowed his head to Zuko before turning to Aang. "Avatar Aang, I have heard so much about you." Aang smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his freshly shaved head (the team had made good use of the bathroom facilities that morning, despite the cold water).

"It's great to meet you too sir." Aang straightened.

"So you're learning firebending?" Hakoda seemed determined to power through his discomfort at being faced with two members of Fire Nation royalty, and turned to Iroh and Zuko with a wider, more natural smile. "From royalty no less! What an opportunity."

Zuko glanced at Hakoda's face wary, searching for the sarcasm but Hakoda was already back to Katara and Sokka, eager to explore the rest of the Fire Nation ship. There was a tightness around his eyes that Katara understood, though it worried and… to be honest kind of irritated her.

He'd not been around when Zuko and Iroh had been pursuing them- what right did he have to worry about them now?

That wasn't fair. She knew that wasn't fair, but the thought snaked its way in and hardened her heart a little. She remained mostly quiet as Sokka gave Hakoda the tour of the boat, and slipped back up the the gymnasium when they joined the other warriors.

"How's it going?" She asked as she entered. All three were sat cross legged on the floor in a circle, and Aang grinned up at her.

"We're meditating!" He chirped. "Iroh's teaching us about our inner fire."

"Inner fire?"

"Firebenders create fire themselves, whereas the other types of bending use existing materials." Aang explained quickly, and Zuko demonstrated with a casual twist of his wrist, holding a tiny dancing flame in his palm. "Isn't it cool?"

"I hadn't thought about that before." Katara realised, and moved to look closer at Zuko's flame. It floated and danced just above his hand like a spirit, but he extinguished it before she could get a closer look. "Hey!"

"Fire's dangerous." He frowned severely. "It requires total focus to master and can cause massive damage if you're not careful." Aang's face paled at the harshness of Zuko's tone but the guilty glance to Katara didn't come as expected, he simply nodded. Katara wondered about Zuko's scar, and glanced quickly to the now-unmarred left side of his face (although, now that she looked, he seemed to have a slight shadow of stubble). How had it happened? She remembered the near-blinding, stinging pain of her burned hands keenly so what on earth must that have felt like?

"But nephew, fire is also life." Iroh interjected. "You never remember."

Zuko rolled his eyes and Katara exchanged a wicked grin with Aang. "Because it doesn't make sense!" Zuko dragged a hand through his hair and scowled when he spotted Katara and Aang's expressions. "What are you two laughing at?"

"Nothing." They chimed, and Zuko fell back onto the floor with a huff. He was so unintentionally dramatic about it that Katara couldn't help a small giggle.

Aang leaned towards Iroh with a furrowed brow. "What exactly do you mean by 'fire is life'? I've never heard that before."

"Perhaps one day I will be able to show you." Iroh smiled gently. "But for now, perhaps we should meditate on it."

Katara cleared her throat. "Could I join? I uh- I'd like to hang out here for a bit, if you don't mind." She shifted uncomfortably as all three of them eyed her oddly. "Obviously I'm not a firebender…"

"Of course you can stay, Master Katara." Iroh held out his hands in welcome, and nodded to the boys to make space in their circle. "I am a firm believer in learning techniques from all bending styles. We are all one people after all."

Zuko sat up with a sigh and shuffled along with Aang to let her in the circle. She sat between them with her legs crossed as theirs were. She had seen Aang meditate before, but waterbenders (as far as she'd seen) didn't require it to hone their abilities.

So she settled down and tried to focus on Iroh's instructions as he led the meditation session, but it didn't come to her easily. She sneaked a peek and deflated slightly when she realised the others all had their eyes closed and looked as calm and serene as can be. How annoying.

She was about to close her eyes again but found herself watching Zuko instead. She had seen Aang meditate a hundred times or more, and Iroh always had an unnaturally serene manner but their former enemy was transformed during meditation. His face was usually a flurry of emotion; his brow either up or down, eyes widened or narrowed, either frowning or… well, usually frowning.

Now, his brow was smooth and relaxed under straight, dark hair, eyes closed and long, dark lashes flickered against his cheeks. He looked so young and it was… weird.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Katara looked away and met Iroh's dark amber eyes. He was still guiding the meditation but had an odd smile on his face. Katara felt her face heat up and screwed her eyes shut quickly, attempting to block out the embarrassment. Her blood pounded in her ears and she tried to focus on the low, soothing sound of Iroh's voice, the way the boys were.

Instead, she found herself mulling over Zuko's appearance or, more specifically, the recent appearance of the stubble on his cheeks and chin. He had showered and washed the same as the rest of them that morning, but he hadn't shaved?

Were they out of razors? No, Aang had shaved, and Iroh had neatened his beard that morning. Maybe he was growing a beard? She suppressed a shudder at the idea of Zuko with a beard. No, absolutely not. He'd have to shave. Even if she had to force him to, herself.

.

After she and Zuko prepared lunch for everyone, Katara once again found herself with her family in their 'war room' along with Bato. Sokka was showing their dad the best route to the Fire Nation based on the existing planned Fire Nation Navy deployments. Sokka's recommendation was to go through the serpent's pass, which he reasoned was treacherous enough that few ships would follow them through even if they were detected. "We have like, five benders on this ship. No sea monster can defeat us!"

Hakoda listened to it all with a proud glint in his eye, and nodded where appropriate, asking questions and generally bonding with his son. His daughter, on the other hand, held back. She wasn't sure why but the more time she spent with Hakoda, the angrier she felt. It was like a cold vice on her heart and she knew it hurt him, but the irritation was enough to make her snappish and bad tempered.

"We need to get the furnaces up and running soon. This ship should make good time but I'd rather be a little early than risk being late." Hakoda waved a hand. "Could your firebender friends not just…"

"They're waterlogged." Sokka explained. "We need to let them dry first."

"Oh- Katara can't you pull the water out?" Hakoda turned to her and she flushed.

"No I can't just pull it out, dad." She snapped. "I have to do it in sessions. The water was dirty and that's making it complicated. Obviously." Bato looked up from the map, eyeing her with concern. Hakoda's eyes softened, looking hurt, which made Katara feel guilty for feeling angry, but also just made her angrier. He was the one who had left. "Iroh says the furnaces should be ready to go in a day or so. That's all. He actually understands how these ships work so I'm sure we'll be fine for time."

"That's great, Katara." Bato said soothingly. Sokka gave her a confused look, but she shrugged and walked over to the captain's desk, a little further back from the table of maps. She half-listened to Sokka's invasion plans for the day of Black Sun, and instead rifled through the drawers idly looking for something to calm her down.

A large, leather bound tome sat in the top left drawer, covered in inky smudges and with the binding peeling at the spine. She pulled it out and inspected it carefully. It was a captain's log book, with a faded gold Fire Nation insignia on the front cover. Inside, it had Lieutenant Jee's name and rank, along with a crew list. The names had little dates next to them, showing how long each crewmember had been with the ship. Ships, she realised. The names were listed under the names of the ships he'd commanded.

The dates gave her a strange, hollow feeling. Some of them were only brief, and a lot of names had their final dates down as the day of the battle in the North Pole. Zuko's crew must have been under Zhao that day, and had suffered for it. The Northern Water Tribe had suffered for it too. She spotted Iroh's name- he had left the crew the day of the battle too. It made sense, she supposed. He wasn't aligned with Zhao's ambition to kill the Moon spirit. Zuko's name was here too, but his end date was earlier by several days.

How strange. She didn't know he'd left the ship so early. How had he gotten to the North Pole, if it wasn't with his crew?

She scanned the pages for highlights. She found the day Zuko and Iroh had formed the crew… only brief notes, but they gave clues as to the general sequence of events. Banished Prince Zuko and General Iroh joined crew... Prince eager to pursue rumours of surviving airbenders…. Visit to Western Air Temple, no sign of Avatar… Weather mild… Due North… Possibility of Waterbender Avatar in South Pole- That would explain their appearance at her village. They'd been assuming the airbender avatar had died. It gave her a hollow, sick feeling as she thought back to her mother's pleading with the Fire Nation soldier who had killed her.

A lot had changed in less than a year.

Music night… Terrible Tsungi Horn player… Disagreement with Prince Zuko… Details of banishment by the Fire Lord…

She paused. There was no real detail, but that creeping feeling of invading Zuko's privacy had returned. So Zuko's father had banished him then. She'd logically known that must be the case. Who else could banish a crown prince but the king? But what father would banish his own son?

The feeling of intruding made her more irritable, and she snapped the log book closed before she could read further. She wasn't researching an enemy's movements. She was snooping on a friend.

Sokka, Bato and her dad were in deep discussion still, and Katara was in the mood for a sparring match, so she headed out onto deck and found Toph. She didn't spar with the earthbender often, but beggars couldn't be choosers and Toph was a determined fighter.

Katara had the advantage on the ship, the seawater was abundant and moved easily, crashing over the side of the ship and putting Toph on the defensive, testing her stance, but Toph was finding metalbending easier every day, and fixed her feet to the deck to weather the Katara's storm. This worked in Katara's favour though, as Toph's restricted leg movement meant she could only achieve limited bending stances.

Luckily Toph was a willing battering ram for Katara's frustration, and happily goaded her into increasingly aggressive attacks. "Come on Sugar Queen! What are you holding back for?" She cackled, armouring herself with the stairs to the bridge (much to the protests of the water tribe warriors now stranded up there) and sending nuts and bolts at Katara in short, sharp bursts.

Katara swiped the projectiles to the side, advancing on her firmly fixed opponent with a grin. With a triumphant shout she brought a water whip towards Toph, just as metal shackles caught her feet and wrapped themselves around her hands, bringing her to a deep bow at the metalbender's feet.

Panting, she grinned up at Toph, who stepped out of her armour with a matching grin. "Thanks." She breathed. "I needed that."

"Yeah, obviously." Toph did a little stamp of her feet and the shackles released. Katara sat up and looked up to the sky with a sigh. "What's up?"

"It's just-" Katara blew hair from her face. "Dad."

"Ah." Toph nodded knowingly. "Yeah- alright, I get it! Quit your whining." She replaced the stairs for the stranded Water Tribesmen and huffed. "Daddy issues."

"Right." Katara said flatly. "Says you."

Toph simply shrugged.

In search of more ways to keep herself occupied, she headed downstairs to the furnaces for another hard hour or so bending filthy water from the coals. She was grimy and sweating when Zuko eventually sought her out. He eyed her with a speculative smirk.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "The time of my life. Aren't you meant to be teaching Aang meditation techniques?"

He wrinkled his nose at her. "Aang knows meditation better than Uncle, I think. It's better I stay out of the way before Uncle tries more of that fire is life stuff."

"Come on." Katara grinned. "I need a wash and you need to shave."

He looked vaguely affronted. "No, I don't."

"You absolutely do." She headed through and pushed his shoulder, frog-marching him toward the bathroom. "Come on. You only just got your face back and you're looking terrible already."

Once in the bathroom, she all but forced the razor into his hand. He kept his back to the wall and glared at her stubbornly. "What is your problem?"

She put her hands on her hips, glad to have someone to vent her frustrations at. "You'll never pass for a decent Fire Nation soldier with that stubble." She seethed. She began to fill the bathtub with cold water and grabbed a soap for him to use. He was standing stiffly in the middle of the room, looking slightly appalled.

It took her a moment to realise what he was doing. "Zuko…" she stepped closer. "Are you avoiding the mirror?"

Golden eyes flicked to the offending item behind him and back to her with a wince. "... don't be ridiculous."

"You are." She shook her head in confusion. "Why? What's wrong?"

He lifted his chin and glared at her. "It doesn't- ugh it's none of your business."

Katara crossed her arms, stunned. "Zuko…" She bit her lip, concerned. "Did I… Did I make a mistake? It looks like the other half of your face but… if I made a mistake when I healed you I'm really sorry…"

"It doesn't look like me." He said finally, with a shake of the head. "I know it is but… my face has been a reminder of my purpose… my destiny for so long and now when I look in the mirror it looks like someone else."

She wasn't sure how to respond to that. Iroh's reaction to Zuko's face had been simple joy, and the other soldiers had looked stunned. His face was… sure, it was different to how it looked with the burn scar, but it was a good face. Handsome, even, in a very Fire Nation kind of way.

"My own crew didn't recognise me." He said quietly, and Katara huffed to cover the strange guilt coiling in her belly.

"Sit down." She ordered, taking the mirror from the wall and firmly avoiding his gaze. "I don't understand it, but if you don't want to look- if you're not ready, then it's ok. But you can't go around growing a beard."

She pushed him into the chair and set about preparing a bowl of water.

"Do you even know how to shave?" He asked warily.

"Who do you think shaved Sokka's head as a kid? Here- Heat this up." She shoved the bowl into his hands and he obliged. The bowl began to steam in his hands with no flame needed. Handy, she thought. "You can heat my bath up afterwards, as thanks." She decided, and Zuko simply rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Thanks." He was probably aiming for sarcasm, but it came out far too relieved for the effect to really take hold. If he's not ready, she thought to herself, then he doesn't need to look. Not yet. She lathered the soap over his face and brought the blade close to the base of his neck.

She grinned. "You know how often I pictured this?"

"Shaving me?" Zuko muttered. "You're strange." She flushed and dragged the razor up towards his jaw.

"A knife at your neck." She laughed. "I suppose that's even stranger."

"Well…" He played along. "I frequently fantasised about having you guys on a Fire Nation Ship… so I'm glad we both got what we wanted."

"Fantasised?"

"Shut up." He flushed. "You started it." She laughed properly then; he just sounded like any of the other boys who got embarrassed and defensive when caught out.

"I did." She allowed. "There. All done." She patted his cheek in an overly-familiar gesture he clearly resented. "Now, heat the bathtub."

He sighed, but knelt by the metal tub and placed his hands on the side. He breathed in deeply, and the tub water began to move, agitated by heat. She held out one hand over the water with an incredulous smile. "Is that about right?" He checked.

"Perfect." She breathed. "That's a very useful bending technique."

"It's one of Uncle's favourites anyway." Zuko quirked his left eyebrow in an amused expression that would have been lost in the scar. "The rest of our family always thought it was fairly useless… or, rather, too domestic."

"Well, we all take on our fair share here." Katara stretched. "Now, get out of here. I need to wash."

"Oh, uh- of course." He dipped into an odd little bow before flushing at his own reaction. "Later."

Katara waved him off with a grin and turned to the tub as the door shut behind her. Yes, she thought as she quickly shed her clothes and sunk into the warm water, a useful skill indeed. And they would all take their fair share of each other's burdens here. That's what friends were for.


Yes, so there's a lot of just... chat in this chapter, but I wanted to get relationships a little more established before we start heading into Book 3 episodes. I also wanted to put in some cute fluffy moments along with some of the more emosh parts. I hope it was enjoyable! Reviews are the best! Thank you to those who have commented so far it's really nice. I know this isn't a very original concept but I'm hoping it adds something worthwhile!