Chapter Three

Arrival

A/N: Edit 30/12/17 Previously Chapter Five.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story unfortunately, and no matter how much I would love to practice fire bending with Zuko and Iroh followed by some jasmine tea I'm afraid I can't.

Zuko awoke early in anticipation of Katara and Aang's arrival, he wanted to savour his morning of peace before the guaranteed madness that the presence of the Avatar would cause. His advisers had made it clear they wanted to sit down with him and Katara before he left to outline the plans of their journey, there was also mention of a protective guard. Zuko had become so used to travelling in a small group who relied upon each other, forgetting what it was like to be treat as Fire Nation royalty, to be provided with vessels to travel the seas and all the protection needed to ensure one's safety.

Zuko had jook for breakfast that morning, this was a traditional rice porridge dish from the Earth Kingdom which he had often shared with his Uncle, he had requested many new dishes to be made in the kitchens instead of the traditional spicy food of the Fire Kingdom since his coronation, hoping to introduce acceptance of the other nations in all aspects of his life. Once Zuko had dressed and had his breakfast, he decided to go practice his fire bending stances, to be a master in one's element it was important to constantly train and develop the techniques passed on to you. He began with some basics, then moved into his lightning redirection movements, this is a skill he hoped to pass down to his own family just as his Uncle Iroh had taught him.

His peaceful practice session was cut short as he was called to the palace to attend his morning meeting, he sighed Zuko could not wait to begin taking a more proactive role once more, his past which was travelling the world, training with Aang and finally defeating his sister and father was a lot different than life his now.

It was late afternoon and Aang and Katara still had not arrived, Zuko had ate his lunch hurriedly so he could be prepared to greet them yet here he was hours later waiting and, though he wouldn't admit it, worrying. War had a way of making people expectant of the worst no matter how irrational the thought may be.

As night began to draw in Zuko had had enough "Where are they?!" he spat. Silence was his answer, which only frustrated him further.

The moon was high in the sky when Katara and Aang eventually started to drop down towards the palace, Appa yawned loudly "I know buddy I'm tired too" Aang responded.

"Well we would have been here a lot earlier if you had not been messing around Aang"

"But Katara there was flying dolphin fish!"

"Zuko was expecting us Aang it was impolite to keep him waiting all day"

"Remember the otter penguins we rode on?" Aang reminisced.

"Aang?! Are you even listening to me?"

Aang looked sheepish as he muttered an apology.

Katara smiled deciding to ignore it they would be apart for so long soon it wouldn't do to spoil their remaining time together "I do remember; it was fun" At that the grin returned to Aang's face.

Appa landed with a dull thud quite exhausted from the extended travelling of the day, Aang shot off the saddle leaving Katara to climb down by herself. A very flustered looking Zuko stormed out of the building across the courtyard.

"What time do you call this?"

"Zuko! We saw the flying dolphin fish!" Aang responded excitedly.

Zuko looked stumped, this was not the response he had expected "Well you're late, there were things to organise"

"Well we are here now" Katara snapped.

"I'm so tired can we go to sleep now" Aang cut in, not noticing the tension that had formed in the silence following Katara's words.

"I'll have someone show you to your rooms" Zuko replied courteously.

"I can't wait to explore properly tomorrow, we can go and get some mochi together"

"Aang we need to plan the journey tomorrow" Katara cut in.

"Oh yeah, well after that we will have to go see the city" Aang was always thrilled to explore and wanted to experience all the entertainment a place had to offer, it was childish sometimes but Katara loved how cheerful he was.

Zuko lead the way to the guest buildings and once they were there asked one of the guards to escort them to their individual rooms. "I will send someone to walk you both to breakfast tomorrow, after that we can meet with the palace advisers and finalise the plans for the trip, sleep well"

"Goodnight Zuko" Aang yawned.

"Goodnight Aang" Zuko paused before adding "And you too Katara"

Katara snapped her head towards him at the sound of her name, her expression was blank for a second before she collected herself "Goodnight Zuko, come on Aang let's get to sleep"

Katara strode off following the guard with Aang trudging behind her, it had been a very long day and she just wanted to sleep, she didn't appreciate Zuko's tone as they had arrived, sure they were late, and she did agree it was impolite of them but Zuko knew how Aang was, he was just having some fun, Zuko was always such a spoil sport. Katara did not notice the irony of such a thought, as many had said the same about her in the past.

Zuko stood and watched as Katara strode away "What was her problem?" He said aloud to himself, he never knew how that girl's mood would be, and he had even less of a clue what the cause of the mood was. He decided it was best he get some rest himself, he had to organise the journey with Katara in the morning he had also planned a meal with Mai to say goodbye before he left, he hoped to keep his friendship with her even if their relationship had ended.

Both Zuko and Katara found it hard to fall asleep that night, contemplating the journey to come.