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New chapter whoohoo!

"I was reading in my room, waiting anxiously for Zuko to tell me if my father agreed to let me stay here, instead of the South Pole. I was about to go find him, when my door slammed open, and Sakida stepped in. She closed the door behind her and grabbed one of my vases. She threw it at me, but I blocked it. That's when she started yelling at me." Katara closed her eyes, recalling the horrible memory. "She threw me to the ground, and told me she wouldn't let me live again. Then she took her knife and, well, you know the rest."

"I was just outside the door listening, waiting for Sakida to leave before-" I was cut off by Aang's temper issue.

"You heard Katara getting hurt and you didn't stop it?!" He yelled.

"Aang!" Katara scolded. "If he had, Sakida would have killed us both! He did that to protect us!"

Aang backed off, but he was still glaring at me.

"So what did you tell my dad to let her stay?" Sokka asked.

"I told him Katara was in danger, and that living in the palace with my many guards would be better for her than the South Pole." I answered.

"I guess that's not completely lying, since she kinda was in danger." Toph said, trying to lighten the mood.

It was a few minutes of silence, before Katara spoke again.

"Zuko, can you get me a glass of water?" She asked. I nodded, walking over to the sink, and filling it with water.

I walked back over to her and handed it to her. She took it, but didn't drink it. Instead, she waterbended some water out, and held it over her wound. The water glowed faintly, and then faded. She let out a huge sigh, and put the water back in the glass.

"That feels much better." She said. "Although it's not completely healed, I can still walk around and stuff."

It's been a few days since Hakoda and Sakida left for the Southern Water Tribe. Katara has been healing well, and everything is going fine. Sokka and Suki are currently in the training rooms, while Aang and Toph are preparing for their trips. Aang has been kind enough to drop of Toph at her metalbending school with Appa, and they were scheduled to leave in the morning. He's also bringing Mai to Omashu, and Ty Lee to the circus. I was in my study, undergoing many contracts for new schools in the Fire Nation.

I heard the door knock, and I was too tired to get up and answer it.

"Come in," I replied, signing my name for the hundredth time. I heard the door open, and someone step in.

"Hey, you look exhausted." Katara giggled, waddling over to my desk, still hurting form the wound.

"Gee, I wonder why." I replied sarcastically, looking up to meet her face. She sat on my desk, looking at the contracts I was dealing with.

"More schools in the Fire Nation?" She asked.

"Not just any schools, but bending schools, in case if anyone ever wants to live in the Fire Naaatiooon. . .what are you doing?" I asked her as she walked over to the window.

"It's too dark in here," She said, and ripped open the curtains.

"Ah!" I yelled as the bright light of the sunset burned my eyes. "Close those curtains! It's too bright!"

"Your joking, you've got one single candle lighting up the whole room." She retorted.

"That's good enough for me!" I complained, rubbing my eyes.

"Come on, you've got to get out of here," Katara said, coming up behind me and lifting me up from my chair.

"No!" I denied. "I've got a lot of paperwork I've got to finish and,-"

"And you need a break, I'm sure Iroh can finish the signings." She said, dragging me into the halls.

"Where are we going?" I asked after walking for two minutes.

"To relax, come on, we're practicing." She replied, opening up the doors to the training room.

We watched as Suki flipped Sokka over her shoulder, and Aang and Toph chucking rocks at each other. Mai and Ty Lee we're practicing chi-blocking.

"Hey guys," Toph said as we entered. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I thought you were signing paperwork." Mai added.

"Katara," I grumbled. "thought it was a good idea to 'take a break'."

"He needs it, and I thought sparring could be relaxing." Katara said, while I rolled my eyes.

"You guys are gunna spar?" Aang asked, dropping his jaw.

"Is that wrong?" Katara asked.

"No, it's just you two are really good. . ." Sokka trailed off. "and you've never sparred before. . . ."

"It would be a tough match to beat," Suki finished.

Katara smirked and went to change, and so did I. When we got back out, the others had set up a ring for us to brawl in. I stepped into one side, while she stepped into the other side. Aang and Toph brought out a big bucket of water for Katara. The others stood back to watch, eagerly. We both bowed, and raised slowly.

"Go Katara!" Sokka shouted, earning a smack in the head by Suki. I waited patiently, waiting for Katara to hit the first blow.

No P.O.V

The two waited in silence for the other one to strike. The two stared into each other's eyes, trying to find their moves and attacks. Katara was first to strike, bringing up a thin stream of water up and whacking Zuko in the face. He dodged, rolling onto one knee, dodging her attack. Katara brought more water up, and started splashing ice daggers at him. He melted them with firebending, but didn't strike at her.

"What's he doing?" Sokka asked, confused.

"He's waiting for the right moment to strike, when she's tired from fighting." Suki answered.

They stayed quiet and waited for one of them to fall. Katara brought some water underneath Zuko, and froze it. Zuko used that to his advantage and tripped Katara's feet from under her. She fell, and slid to the other side of the ring. She melted the water, and brought it up, shooting it all at Zuko. He dodged, again, and continued dodging.

Katara was getting really tired, really fast. She was also running out of water. Zuko used this moment to strike, just a single fireball to the stomach, knocking her down, and out of the ring.

Cheers started cheering for Zuko, as he stood straight, and smirked at the fallen waterbender. Katara got up, and waterbended all the fallen water around her, and placed it back in the bucket.

"Good match Zuko." Katara said, holding her hand out. He took it, and made a mistake. Katara turned, and flipped him over her shoulder.

"Ouch! I thought you said good match!" Zuko shouted.

"I did, and I flipped you." She said, laughing and letting go. Zuko got up, and walked over to get something to drink and cool off.

"Wow, you really do need protection Katara, you suck." Sokka said.

"Don't forget who stopped you from killing Aang with your sword." She retorted.

"Uh, yeah, whoops." Sokka chuckled.

I'll upload a new chapter tomorrow maybe. Please review.