The yell had been what had caught Katara's attention; it had brought her eyes up to see Zuko lunge at Jet only to be thrown back after he'd landed one hit and she'd been up and running before she'd thought to get Zhao to help her. And when it was all over, and Zuko was being taken away by Zhao to "discuss this", she stepped into the crowd of dispersing men and came to stand in front of the bloodied Jet, whose pride seemed to be hurt more than he was.

'SMACK'

The sound echoed through the shockingly silent dock yard and Zhao actually stopped to look back when he'd heard it; Katara brought her hand down as Jet looked away from her, his tanned cheek tinged a faint red where her palm had met. Some men had turned to see what the sound had been and while some of those men were laughing at Jet others were cheering for the young woman who'd slapped him. These men parted a pathway for her when she turned to leave.

"There's something wrong with you!", Jet called after her, when she was safe enough distance away where she wouldn't be able to slap him right away; Katara didn't lose a step but instead pretended not to hear him and continued on her way, giving Zuko a glance when she passed him.

Zhao pushed Zuko into his office ahead of him, the glare firmly set on his face as he closed the door behind him, the window that was usually open to the fresh sea air was also closed before he turned upon the asian.

"Mind telling me what that was all about?"

Katara was still sitting at her usual stoop when Zhao was through with Zuko, having not fired him but instead put him on suspension for a week. She looked up at him, at some point she'd packed the remains of his lunch back up, as well as her bag and was simply waiting instead of drawing.

"Zuko" Zhao now loomed over him. Zuko tore his gaze away from Katara and met his gaze defiantly. "I think it's time to meet in my office to…discuss this little incident,"

The older man attempted to put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, but was shrugged away. He moved on towards the small building Zhao used as his office. He got there before Zhao, and felt no guilt in slamming the door in the man's face. A moment later, Zhao, slightly peeved at having the door nearly slap him in the face, entered and sat at his desk. Zuko sat in a chair in front of the desk, slumping with arms crossed, glaring at his boss.

"You want to tell me what the hell that was? You and Jet are usually so chummy." Zhao said with his signature smug smile, the one he used when he was irritated with Zuko and wanted to push a few buttons.

"It wasn't anything," Zuko's glared continued.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with a certain young artist, would it?"

"It's none of your business, Zhao,"

"When two of my employees get into fights while on the job it becomes my problem!" Zhao slammed a fist down on his desk. "Tell me, Zuko. Do I need to take matters into my own hands?"

"I think I'm handling matters just fine." Zuko wanted to blame it all on Jet, but he'd been the one to give in to Jet's taunts. Plus, Jet would eventually convince Zhao that it wasn't his fault anyways. It didn't take much smooth-talking to get Zhao to punish the employee he already didn't like.

"Then your definition of fine must be different from mine," Zhao replied, "Tell me what happened,"

"Jet was just being a jack-ass, alright?" Zuko grumbled, "I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning cause I can usually ignore him well enough,"

"What reason would he have to antagonize you?" Zhao smirked again, "He only does that to people who are after the same girl as him. Which brings us back to Katar-"

"Leave Katara out of this," Zuko interrupted. Zhao just smirked again and then made a face like he was pretending to ponder something.

"Well, if you won't tell me what really happened, I'll just have to assume she's the issue." He shrugged, "I'll just have to make sure she doesn't come down here anymore. Her mother doesn't like her down here anyways,"

' From what Zhao says, this girl wants for nothing. What is it that the docks give her that she can't get anywhere else?' His Uncle's words ate at him again. They had a habit of doing that from time to time. Katara was down here everyday when she could stay at her nice, cool house where she probably had servants to obey her every whim. Why were the docks so important to her? Even though he hadn't figured that part out yet, he did know that he didn't want to be the reason why she couldn't do what she wanted. And if he told Zhao the truth, that they were fighting because of her, that would surely be the result.

"I started it," Zuko pretended to admit, "He made a comment about my scar without thinking, and I was cranky from lack of sleep. Not to mention I didn't have time to eat lunch; I had to run an errand for my Uncle. He had it coming, he should know better than to insult me on a bad day," He finished it off with a dissatisfied frown, almost as if he wished he could have beaten more 'sense' into Jet.

Zhao looked at Zuko for a moment with a look that said he knew that the boy was lying, but then his dislike for Zuko came into play and he decided it would be more convenient to 'believe' the story. It was plausible, had the circumstances piled up the way they had been described, then Zuko probably would have taken a swing at anyone who'd looked at him wrong. Or, at least, Zhao wouldn't put it past him to do so.

"One week's suspension," He looked coolly at Zuko, standing to look out of the window at a rather stunned Jet, who appeared to be holding his cheek with one hand, with his hands behind his back in a rather military manner. "You and your Uncle can live off of the savings he no doubt has lying around for the next week."

Zuko closed his eyes and flinched as the declaration hit him, almost as if Jet had just hit him again. Uncle Iroh wouldn't be too happy about that one…

"Fine," Zuko spat out, "Can I go now?"

"By all means," Zhao sounded all too happy to say that.

Zuko was all too happy to get the heck out of Zhao's office. He slammed the door behind him and lingered outside for a moment and let out a frustrated cry. He wanted to hit something, but he'd gotten into enough trouble for one day. He looked over to Katara, who was sitting on her stoop with a worried look on her face with all of her things packed up. Was she waiting for him? That's right. They were supposed to walk to her archery practice after he was done with work today. Well, it wasn't like he would be working anymore that day anyways…

The Asian made his way over to her, and as he did so a strange anxiety began to build in him. He wasn't sure exactly why, but he didn't look forward to seeing her look at him with disappointment in her blue eyes.

"Uh, hey," Zuko rubbed the back of his head nervously as he spoke up, "Ready to go?"

"Uh, hey... Ready to go?" Katara stood as if on cue and handed him the bag that held his dishes from his lunch; his eye was slowly swelling and bruises were forming where it was evident that Jet had landed a few good hits; he'd lost the battle against the brunette and she wondered vaguely if he was upset about it. She could remember when she and Sokka had been little and Sokka had come home crying after losing a fight to one of the local boys, a kid named Haru who had become his best friend.

Her palm was starting to bruise a bit too, she'd broken a blood vessel when smacking Jet, but it would no doubt be something he wouldn't soon forget. Glancing at it, she tried to hide it from him and clutched it into the cloth of her satchel.

"I'm sorry..." she said gently, "I am sorry that he said all those things", she hadn't heard too much but what she had been able to hear weren't kind words. 'At least I'm not a disfigured loser!' Jet's voice echoed in her head, bouncing back at her and she wasn't sure why but it had stung to her...maybe that was because she sensed that Zuko was sensitive about that scar. "How did that happen?" she'd said it before she'd had time to think about it and one look at his expression was enough to make her change the subject.

Taking his hand in her bruised one, she winced slightly and started leading the way down the road.

"Jet can be a jerk, can't he...my brother can be the same way..." She could remember a time when Sokka had come home and beaten up a wall after losing a fight to a local boy by the name of Haru; Haru later on became his best friend, but they still got into fist fights. Maybe it was a boy thing.

They headed into town, turned when they got to about the middle of it, walked down the lane that eventually led to her house, it was a rather long walk to be taking every day, but she did it. Turning again when the lane forked she headed down another road that led up to Mei's family's training hall, their house was up the lane from it, in something of a miniature town in the middle of the city. She didn't know much about Mei's neighbors but from what Ty Lee said, they didn't sound very nice; the Agni family that lived next door to Mei and her family sounded particularly foul, the stories that Ty Lee could tell about their daughter would have kept anyone away.

"Ty Lee and Mei don't know you're coming but I don't think they will give you too much trouble..."

Katara stood and handed him the bag that has held his lunch; it was a lot lighter now, so she must've eaten most of the food. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but held it back, fidgeting with her satchel cloth.

"I'm sorry..." The words came out, "I am sorry that he said all those things"

Zuko looked away from her. Why was she apologizing for Jet? Yeah, he'd said some pretty horrible things, but he'd heard all of it before. He hadn't heard some of those since the last time he ran into his sister, but then he'd had Uncle with him. Besides, she was family, and she was a girl. Hitting her was not an option. This coment did bring something else to mind: if she was apologizing for Jet, that must mean she had heard what he said. Zuko felt bad for her having gotten so wrapped up in his own screwed up life.

"How did that happen?" Zuko did a double take before he realized that she wasn't asking about the fight. She wasn't looking at his bruises. She was looking at his scar, and asking questions abut his life again like she'd inadvertently done at lunch. He bit his lip and nearly considered going home right now. He really didn't want to deal with this today, and he was in no shape to be drawn anyways because of the bruises he could feel swelling his good eye closed.

Katara decided for him. She took his hand gently and began to lead the way. Her hand was soft, save for some light callusing on her index and middle fingers. That was easily explained by her drawing and archery hobbies.

"Jet can be a jerk, can't he...my brother can be the same way..." Katara spoke up, but her tone was so endearing that Zuko figured that her brother couldn't be as much of a jerk as Jet. Katara like him too much.

They walked most of the remaining way into the upper class housing district in silence. The day was warm, and the heat felt good on his bruises. He took a mental tally of his injuries; a several big bruises around his waist, a black eye around his good eye, a bruise below his scar on his jaw bone, bruises on his knuckles, and a few scrapes here and there from being tossed around. By the time they'd gotten to a part of town that he recognized, he'd calmed down somewhat.

But that familiarity did nothing to calm him. He knew these houses, this setting. When someone grew up in a neighborhood they typically grew familiar with it. This anxiety grew when they took the turn that led to his ol-, er, his family's home. It didn't help that he'd finally realized why the address Katara had scrawled out for him earlier had looked so familiar: it was the address of the archery facility Mai's family owned.

"Ty Lee and Mei don't know you're coming but I don't think they will give you too much trouble..." Katara said as they approached the path up to on of the facility's entrances.

"Then you must not know Mei that well…" He stopped, eliciting a rather confused look from Katara. He figured he should stop to tell her about Mai before they went inside.

"What are you talking about, Zuko?"

"Katara? Is that you?" A perky voice sounded from the other side of the gate they had been approaching. "Mai! Katara's here, and it sounds like she brought someone with her!"

Zuko's palm collided with his face, an action he quickly regretted due to the instant response from his bruises. 'Would someone cut me some slack!'

From the look on Zuko's face, Katara immediately got the impression that she'd done something wrong, something about this was amiss and she wasn't sure how to fix it, immediately she ran to the gate and caught it before Ty Lee could come out it and see who the person with her was.

"Ty Lee!" she yelped, her friend nearly running into her as she caught the door and stood in the crack that had been made; the acrobat arched an eyebrow at her friend's strange behavior.

"It's about time you got here" she half scolded Mei was starting to think that you were going to ditch-" Katara cut her off as politely as possible.

"I just came by to tell you I won't be coming to practice, I have a previous engagement..." the acrobat gave her a confused look for a moment before a sly smile came across her lips.

"Why Ms. Katara, do you have a date?" the brunette fought down the urge to smack herself in the face and tried her best not to blush.

"No!"

"You do! Well you don't look too happy about it..." Ty Lee jumped immediately, "is it with Mr. Prissy pants? Because if it is he can't have you! He already gets you on the day of the we-" Katara's bruised hand came down so fast and hard on the young brunette's mouth that she had to bite her lip to fight the yelp of pain that tried to escape her.

"Ty Lee, if you trust me now, I will spend the next three nights at your house and let you tease me over it, but for now I have to go!" the brunette quickly nodded and the other took her hand back, hiding it behind her back, slightly worried that Zuko could see the purple and greening palm. "Don't tell Mai I was here ok?" she said in a lower voice, watching as the acrobat gave a confused look "pretty please?" she begged. Finally Ty Lee conceded and-giving her friend a mischievous smirk-headed back inside where Katara could hear her telling Mai that she'd been mistaken and that it was just a passerby.

She sagged in relief.

"Ty Lee!" Katara surprised Zuko by leaping forward to keep the gate shut.

"It's about time you got here" He heard Ty Lee chide, "Mai was starting to think that you were going to ditch-"

"I just came by to tell you I won't be coming to practice; I have a previous engagement..."

"Why Ms. Katara, do you have a date?" Zuko tensed up, wondering what Katara would do.

"No!" Zuko nearly face-palmed again, but stopped short because he managed to remember the bruises on his face. Why did girls always do that?

"You do! Well you don't look too happy about it...is it with Mr. Prissy pants? Because if it is he can't have you! He already gets you on the day of the we-"

Mr. Prissy Pants? Really? What the- Oh. Katara must've told her friends about his yelling at her yesterday. Nice to know that her friend knew him as 'Prissy Pants'. He vaguely wondered what Mai would think if she found out the identity of Mr. Prissy Pants. Heck, maybe she already knew; after all, she knew that he worked at the docks. It would be just like her to connect the dots.

Katara whispered the next bit, so the Asian only heard mumbles, but the perky girl soon left Katara slumping against the closed gate. Zuko gave her a thankful smile.

"Thank you, Katara. I'll explain once we get away from here," He glanced up the road, in the direction of that place. "If we stick around here, Mai will find out we really were here,"

"Mai! Katara's here, and it sounds like she brought someone with her!" Ty Lee was always a good alarm. Mai could hear her all the way from inside the training building, where it was cool. Rather than go out to meet her perky friend, she strolled over to a nearby drapery. It looked like part of the decoration in her room, but it really concealed a window. It had a nice view of anyone who came up to the side gate, which was usually where Katara entered when she was late.

Katara was at the gate talking to Ty Lee who was trying to open it. That didn't hold her attention for long, though. She recognized Katara's guest immediately, and shock seized her. What was he doing here? She didn't think he'd ever get this close to his old house ever again. And what was he doing with a girl like Katara? Being a dock hand, Katara was way out of his league! But Katara did like it down there; something about being a great place to draw people and life and stuff. Mai was in a rare state of shock.

Mai felt her cheeks grow hot and let out a slightly exasperated sigh. Her lips tightened as well and she just about got the nerve up to go out and confront Katara before Ty Lee's declaration that it was just some passersby forced her to abandon the window and replace the drapery that usually covered it. He'd told Katara something, because they were trying to leave now. Fine, she'd let him leave. He was good at running away from problems anyways. She took a deep breath to calm her voice before calling out to Ty Lee.

"If we wait for her any longer we might as well have not come," She shouted, headed for the door, "Let's just go practice"

They walked in silence almost all the way back to town, not because Katara didn't want to talk to the young man walking beside her, and not because she had questions but instead because she wasn't sure where to start with her questions. Every now and again she glanced at him, her eyes snagging gently on the slightly discolored flesh of his scar and looking past it, it was the scar that had made her want to draw him in the first place-though she would probably never tell him that in light of how sensitive he seemed about it-it was a uniqueness that had made him stick out. His eye for the most part didn't seem damaged and he hadn't made any inclination that it had impaired his vision at all.

She looked ahead of her when he turned to look at her, probably curious as to why she was staring at him; why was she staring at him? Why had she covered Ty Lee's mouth like that? It wasn't like it was a secret that she was getting married, but she didn't want Zuko to find out; it was an inevitability yet she wanted to pretend it would never come when she was with him. Ty Lee had started to say 'wedding' and she'd panicked, she hadn't wanted it to be said, hadn't wanted to be reminded that her freedom was only a fleeting dream that she would eventually wake from. A dream that she was more and more desperate to hold onto.

Glancing at the dock hand again out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly felt as though gravity had suddenly increased upon her and she slowed; her time with Zuko-no matter how frustrating or happy-was just a dream...

"What was that all about back there?", she asked, looking up at him with eyes that pleaded for something to get her mind away from the track it was already so dead set on. She was running away from the problem, but she didn't want to face it right now, maybe tonight when she was alone in her room and could cry about it until she finally fell asleep, but right now she didn't want to tarnish what little time she had with Zuko with feeling sorry for herself.

The walk back to town was much like its predecessor, silent. Katara didn't say anything, and Zuko didn't want to say anything until prompted. Talking about Mai opened a door into the more delicate subjects of his life, subjects he'd rather not talk about. He'd never talked to anyone besides his Uncle and Mai about it, and he regretted telling Mai.

Every so often, though, he caught Katara stealing glances at his face. They were curious and fascinated glances, hinted with concern. Some glances were longer than others, too. Finally, Zuko turned his head as if to ask her what was up. Like always, she turned her head forward and a light, rosy blush highlighted her cheeks. Zuko was used to that routine with girls. They would see his face, his scar, and either look away in disgust or stare at him like he was some wounded animal. Katara had proved different thus far, but she still had a fascination with it, a fascination that was more disappointing than expected.

He looked forward toward the horizon. It was impossible to see the ocean through the buildings, but he knew the ocean scene well enough to know what it would look like about now. The sun would be glittering off of its surface happily as if it knew that Zuko thought of it as the only pleasant thing at the docks. But now he was finding himself somewhat in expectation of seeing a certain young woman there…

"What was that all about back there?" He let out a sigh. Well, she was going to ask sooner or later. You did say you'd explain it to her.

"It's a long story," He found himself avoiding her gaze when he said this, "but Mai is my ex-girlfriend."

For some reason the thought of Zuko datin Mai was disheartening, she wasn't anything like Mai and the idea that he'd been connected to her made her wonder if-under different circumstances-was there a chance of them having been connected in the same way in light of that. Then her mind changed tracks and a memory came back to her, Mai had never been the divulging sort of girl that Ty Lee was, in fact she rather disliked talking about her love life in general, but Katara was sure she'd mentioned dating the son of the Agni family that had been kicked out of his house. She didn't know what the pretenses were, but she remembered thinking that it was a cruel thing to do.

At some point she'd stopped in her tracks and grabbed Zuko's hand to stop him, lost in thought as she mulled it over; this couldn't be the same person could it? But if it was then that would explain why he hadn't wanted to go into the training hall; if she remembered correctly it hadn't ended well. Her bruised hand knotted into the bag that held her sketch book.

"Mai and I have been friends our entire lives, her parents and my parents do business quite a lot so we've had quite a bit of time to spend together." looking up at him slightly, she wondered if it was a wise decision to tell him that Mai had mentioned him but decided that she had to now that she'd started the conversation. So she took a deep breath and continued, "Well a few years ago, she had a boyfriend who was forced to leave home, she didn't tell me why but I was wondering if that was...you?"

They walk a minute more in silence. Once again Katara took his hand, but this time it was to stop him. His gaze went from their hands to her face. Concern was all over her face, and Zuko knew what it meant. He looked away, but he couldn't make himself tear his hand away, not yet. But then Katara spoke.

"Mai and I have been friends our entire lives, her parents and my parents do business quite a lot so we've had quite a bit of time to spend together." Zuko was tempted to look back at her, but he kept his gaze downward, even as Katara paused. He hoped that she'd stop there, but it was a futile hope and she kept going.

"Well a few years ago, she had a boyfriend who was forced to leave home, she didn't tell me why but I was wondering if that was...you?"

Zuko jerked his hand away immediately. He knew that would come up. But how did one answer something so personal? He had only really known Katara for a little over a day, so why should he tell her anything. He clenched his fists as he thought. She didn't seem like the kind of girl to go about blabbing other peoples' secrets. She'd stood up for him against Zhao, and kept him from having to see Mai at a moment's notice…

"Yes," He replied. "My full name is Zuko Li Agni, though I abandoned that title when my father disowned me."

Katara winced as he wrenched away from her and cradled her injured hand slightly as he'd knocked the bruises about a little. He watched her for a long moment, as though caught on deciding fight or flight. Instead he chose admission.

"Yes...my full name is Zuko Li Agni, though I abandoned that title when my father disowned me." His voice was firm and even, it was a painful memory, and again she felt disheartened; this wedding was the only bad thing that had really befallen her in her life, already he had more pain than she knew how to empathize with. But this feeling didn't stand long against the wave of curiosity that overtook her.

Questions raced through her mind, 'why had be been kicked out?', 'Did he still stay in touch with his family?' 'What about his mother?', 'Did that have something to do with his scar?' and 'Who was he living with now?'; but she didn't want to push it, didn't want to push him away with asking too many questions, so instead she smiled gently.

"So what should I call you?", it was a joke that she was hoping he would understand that she meant no harm over; she didn't want him thinking that she thought less of him about it, if he wanted to tell her, he could but she wouldn't force it. After all he hadn't forced anything of herself out of her yet and she rather hoped he wouldn't, they had only known one another for a short time and already she seemed to be botching every encounter.

The moment what he said registered in her ears Katara's expression changed. He could see the shock in her eyes; the same shock he remembered seeing in Mai's eyes when he told her only more readable. Katara's expressions were much more colorful than Mai's ever were, and because of it he could almost read all of the questions that were going through her mind on her face. He was just waiting for one to male it out of her mouth.

But suddenly all of the activity calmed down and she smiled, taking Zuko by surprise.

"So what should I call you?" She asked playfully. He really didn't know how to respond to that. He'd fully been expecting her to being prying into why he was disowned. Taken aback, his eyes widened a bit (his good eye quite a bit more than the other).

"Umm, just Zuko is fine," He gave a slight smile, still a bit thrown off by Katara's unexpected question. How she could have gone from concern to understanding so quickly was beyond him. From the look on her face before, she recognized that she couldn't comprehend what it felt like to be him. The difference between her and Mai is that she wasn't trying to understand; she wasn't pretending that she could ever understand. Most of all, she was respecting that this wasn't something to pry into. For changing the subject, he decided that he'd throw her a bone and tell her a bit more than necessary.

"But I started using 'Li' as my last name instead when I moved in with my Uncle Iroh. You can thank him for the great-tasting lunch. I've never been much of a cook." While he might not have been ready to tell her the gritty details, he didn't mind telling her about the man who was more of a father to him than his real father had ever been.

The girl grinned at the way he spoke of his uncle, there was more endearing in that voice than there had been before when he'd been speaking about his own family; Iroh must've been much more than just an uncle to the boy, more like a father, she could tell by the way he spoke about him. She smiled and nodded at his comment.

"I will be sure to if I ever meet him" she said lightly, "you're lucky to have him..." her voice took a down turn, letting out more of her own sadness than she wanted to; she quickly remedied that by bouncing to another subject. "Well where shall we go? I still owe you a drawing session to be paid for." She said it for mild conversation, distracting from her own plight, she was being selfish and didn't want this dream of hers to end. Honestly at this point she was sure that even if she never ended up drawing him and just ended up sitting and talking to him she would pay him anyway and probably end up giving him more than he expected to earn from this endeavor.

Sokka had always said she was bad with money, giving out tips that were sometimes equal to the original charge; he would complain and she would just tell him that she valued the every day person more than he did. Maybe that was true, but when it was pressed he would always bring in the "well this is why you're engaged to someone that will never have to worry about money..." But it wasn't about the money for her, she didn't want the money, she didn't want the recognition or the family status...she didn't want Aang...

Zuko's change in subject brought a grin to Katara's face. He was glad too; he didn't like to linger on the subject of his family.

"I will be sure to if I ever meet him" she said, "you're lucky to have him..." Her bright tone diminished for a moment, but only a moment. Her bubbly disposition then resumed.

"Well where shall we go? I still owe you a drawing session to be paid for." She had a point. Zuko couldn't help but wonder what continued to cloud her expression. Her change in subject seemed evasive; could she be avoiding something? Once again his uncle's words came to the front of his mind. But this time he had a guess: Maybe there was something at home she didn't want to return to. The question now was 'What could possibly be so bad that girl who wants for nothing would run from it?'

"Well, there's no use in heading back towards the lower districts; I'll have to walk you home anyways. We might as well find some place around here," Zuko thought aloud. It had been so long since he'd been to the richer districts of the city. It had been about a year and a half. He'd finally gotten up the courage to visit Mai at her house: Azula made sure that he regretted it. But there was one place…

"I know it's a bit awkward, but there's a place on the edge of the upper districts; past the turn towards Mai's house. It's an old herbalists' institute run by Old Lady Taku. She used to let Mai and me hang out there…" Zuko ran his fingers through the hair on the back of his head, kind of embarrassed to suggest such a place. But girls like gardens, didn't they?

Katara knew who Old-lady Taku was, she'd babysat her for a long time when Katara was little; that was until she'd outgrown the need for a babysitter, she still dropped by once in a while, but less and less as the garden wasn't a wonderful hiding spot from her mother. She could remember before she'd started going down to the docks, she would go to Ms. Taku's and draw all of the wonderful flowers that she grew, they used to fill her sketchbooks where people and ship scenes now did. One day her mother had found her and had scolded her for being around the old woman when she should have been spending time with the boy she was engaged to. Perhaps that was where her mother thought she was when she was at the docks.

"We will have to pass the lane to my house to get to Ms. Taku's..." she said lightly, "be ready for a run..." he knew she didn't know what she meant by this but she knew and as she took Zuko's hand in hers again and started leading him back up the lane that they'd just come from, she thought about it. If someone was leaving or coming in, they would be spotted; if someone came out or to the lane before they got around the bend in the road where the trees obstructed the view, they would be spotted; and if they were spotted, nothing good would come from it.

Depending on who it was that spotted them a number of bad outcomes were possible; if it was someone that worked with or for her father, they would probably tell her parents and they would send someone to get her and yell at her for it when she got home. If Sokka or Suki saw her, they would chase after her and probably drag her home before telling her parents. If it was her parents...nothing good would come if they were caught, so they would have to be quick and pray that it worked in their favor.

Pausing for a moment when they were in sight of the bend, Katara bent and pulled the over skirt of her dress up to tie around her waist, leaving the petticoat like underskirt in place. The underskirt was much looser around the legs and would make for easier running. Raising her eyes to Zuko's face, she meant to ask him if he were ready but the blush that had seeped over his face caught her off guard for a moment and brought a blush to her cheeks as she for the first time felt subconscious about how unladylike she was being.

"Y-you ready?", her voice stuttered as she released his hand and she hated it, "let's go!" and she was off, not sure if Zuko was following her but realizing he was as he started to pull ahead of her. She grabbed his hand and forced herself to run faster, her mind set on just one slowly approaching goal, that bend of trees. Her legs started to ache, her lungs started to burn and she was almost sure that someone was going to catch them until they finally reached the bend and Katara collapsed against Zuko's chest panting.

"We will have to pass the lane to my house to get to Ms. Taku's..." Katara answered after thinking it over. It wasn't surprising that she knew who the old woman was; she was friends with Mai after all. "be ready for a run..."

Before Zuko could inquire as to why they'd need to run, Katara took his hand and led the back the way they had come. She'd said they'd have to pass the road to her house…would they have to run because she didn't want to be seen? That confirmed his theory that she was avoiding her home, but it just made him more confused as to why she seemed to hate the place. Of course, the reason right now was simple- she didn't want anyone to catch her with a guy like him.

Just a bend of trees came into sight, Katara stopped with a look of grim determination on her face. Much to his surprise, she lifted up her overskirt and tied it about her waist. He immediately averted his gaze even though the underskirt was still there, and he felt his cheeks grow hot. He'd never known a girl of Katara's stature to be so brazen; it just caught him off guard.

"Y-you ready?" Katara said, stuttering as if the reality of what she'd just done had just hit her, "let's go!"

With no more warning than that, she took off running. Zuko yelled out a 'Hey, Wait!' and dashed after her. Katara did not look back, so neither did he. The Asian soon passed Katara in their mad dash to cross the area unseen. Zuko slowed a bit when he felt Katara's hand brush his in an attempt to grab it. Allowing her to do so, he slowed his pace a just bit to make it easier for her to catch up.

He stopped when he was under the shade of the trees and turned to face the panting girl who still clung to his hand. She collapsed face first, breathing heavily, into his chest and lingered there a moment. Zuko's cheeks grew hot once more as he allowed her slightly shaking form to rest there. Without thinking, he spoke.

"Is what's waiting at your house really so bad?" He asked, "I mean, that you have to exert yourself like that just to avoid being seen. It seems like a bit much for someone like you."

Katara rested with her face in Zuko's chest, taking in what she could sense of him; his scent, his heartbeat, the rise and fall of his chest with his own panting breaths. It all seeped into her and synchronized with hers as they stood there hiding in the shade of the bend of trees, pressed together in a rather intimate way that she only half way registered. His voice came soon and the words he spoke hit something inside her, he had seen right through her when most anyone else she was around couldn't; was he really that intuitive? Or was she just that transparent?

She was still slightly panting as she pulled back and shook her head; she tried to stop but trying only hurt so she didn't bother to keep her breathing even.

"H-he's (pant) there, he's always (pant) there and I don't (pant) want to have to see him (pant pant) my mother will make me if she (pant) finds out I'm (pant) not at Mai's..." she knew that he had no idea who he was but at the moment her air deprived brain didn't compute that much. To her, home equaled Aang; home equaled the marriage; home equaled no more freedom and propriety and everything in the world that disagreed with her. Glancing up at him an odd thought occurred to her that stopped every gear in her mind from working, home also meant no more Zuko; home meant she could no longer see this fascinating puzzle of a boy that was slowly starting to fill up her mind after just a couple days of knowing him.

Realizing her over skirt was still tied around her waist though it had slightly fallen during her sprinting; she reached and started fumbling with the knot that was angled about at her belly button on the bodice, vaguely wondering what he thought of her for tying it up in the first place. The over skirt fell and she took his hand again.

"Come on...I'll explain at Ms. Taku's..."

Ten minutes of walking later they were sitting in the old herbalist's greenhouse, surrounded by rare flowers and herbs of all kinds; their sheer diversity had been one of the reasons that Katara had liked to draw them so much. Taking a deep breath, she started explaining, it was a long story; or rather a very complicated short one…