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The rest of the boat journey went without any trouble. Mai was talking to Zuko again and he had let Katara choose the meals for the rest of the journey, as thanks for the advice. Aang was the only one who really appreciated the increased number of vegetables. Sokka was complaining less about his leg each time the ship's physician and Katara looked at it, although he complained more about his boredom instead. Which resulted in a heated argument when Katara joked that he was starting to sound like Mai. Suki was teaching Aang about Kyoshi Island, its warriors and traditions. Now that the war was over, it was his duty to know all about the various cultures, so that he could help maintain the peace. Iroh often joined them out of interest, if he was not off playing Pai Sho. The water bender herself had finally caught up on her sleep. She wasn't sure if it was thanks to the time she'd spent with Zuko or the soothing tea that Iroh served every night. Maybe it was simply that Toph was right about getting away from the palace. The earth bender had certainly thought so when Katara had spoken to her.

As much as she adored being out on the ocean, Katara was glad to have her feet on the ground again when they reached the port in the Earth Kingdom. Perhaps not as glad as Toph, who had created an earth tent for herself to sit in while everyone else unloaded the ship. If she didn't already know how much her friend hated being on the ocean, Katara would have demanded that she help.

The atmosphere at this port was different to the one in the Fire Nation. Everyone that passed by was uneasy about a Fire Nation ship being docked. In the past, that had been a bad omen. However most of their spirits lifted when they heard it was the Avatar's transport, but there was still a nervous edge to their smiles. After a hundred years of war, no one could quite get used to the idea that the Fire Nation was no longer a threat. It made shopping for supplies difficult, but Zuko tried his best to get along with the locals and they seemed to appreciate his efforts. It helped that Aang went around telling everyone he met that they were going to meet the Earth King to negotiate the terms of the peace treaty. He told them about the plans for the meeting with all the leaders of the nations and let the rumours spread like wild fire. Hopefully word would travel faster than they did and they would avoid future awkwardness.

There was a bit of trouble with organisation once they got all the supplies off the ship. Who and what would fly across Serpent's Pass first? What would they do about Sokka's meteor? The Fire Nation guards insisted that Zuko didn't travel without them and Mai was reluctant to set up camp while waiting for everyone else and so refused to go across on the first trip. Eventually it was decided that the Fire Nation guards would stay behind with the ship. Zuko encouraged them to change out of their armour and go interact with the locals. It was not just the leaders that would have to get along in this new era of peace after all. They would also be leaving Sokka's rock and would talk to the Earth King about retrieving it once they reached Ba Sing Se. With that decided, Zuko and Aang then worked out the order in which they would all be flying.

It was decided that Aang would first fly Zuko and Katara across with the tents and everything they would need to start making dinner. The two of them would set up camp and start cooking while Aang went back to get Sokka, Suki, Mai and the rest of the supplies. Then he would make a final trip to pick up Toph, Iroh and whatever they had acquired at the market. All of them would eat and camp for the night, before heading to Ba Sing Se in the morning.

The trip across Serpent's Pass was uneventful. Zuko spent most of it leaning over Appa's saddle, hoping for a glimpse of the very creature they were trying to avoid. He didn't understand what was so terrifying about a simple sea serpent. Katara glanced at him every now and then over the top of the water bending scroll she was immersed in. Aang was concentrating on flying Appa, but turned every now and then to grab Katara's attention. When they finally landed on the other side of Serpent's Pass, Zuko and Katara climbed down from Appa and stared up at Aang, who had not moved from his seat.

"Aren't you going to help us get the supplies down from Appa before you leave?" Katara asked in her usual mother-like tone, putting her hands on her hips.

"Sure." Aang got to his feet and jumped, twirling himself in the air. Then the air twirled with him, creating a mini-tornado that lifted all the supplies from Appa's back. He then bent the air, so that it dropped all of the supplies at their feet. Satisfied, Aang grinned and sat back down, Appa's reins in his hands. "You're welcome! Appa, yip yip!" The bison launched himself into the air, turning and disappearing back the way they had came, leaving Katara and Zuko staring at the sky.

"Well… at least he got it all done for us," Zuko said carefully, noticing the less-than-amused look on the water bender's face. She sighed and picked up one of the packs.

"Let's just set up camp…" She moved away from the waters edge into the trees of the forest, until they reached a clearing with enough space to set up camp.

Neither of them really spoke as they worked. Unless it was for something as redundant as where the cooking pot was or who was going to collect firewood. Katara focused on getting everything ready for dinner. She washed out the cooking pot and set it up ready. She gathered the firewood to light underneath it and unpacked the food. Although she wouldn't be starting dinner until Sokka, Suki and Mai arrived. Otherwise it would be cold by the time Toph, Iroh and Aang finally completed the trip. Having left all the work of setting up tents and dragging logs for them to sit on to Zuko, Katara finished first. She turned to watch him set up the last of the tents. A small smile lit up her face when she saw that he had been putting all the rain covers over each of them.

"Let me help," she said, moving over to help him secure the last one.

"Thanks Katara," Zuko replied, getting to his feet. As he did, he winced and placed a hand on his chest. A movement that did not go unnoticed. When he looked up, Katara was glaring at him, hands on her hips. He tried shrugging it off by moving over to the firewood the water bender had prepared. He placed the sticks and self-lit the wood, letting the fire crackle as if it had been burning for hours. However Katara was determined not to let him go.

"How long has your injury been bothering you, Zuko?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. Why haven't you mentioned it to anyone?"

"I've been busy."

"Take off your shirt."

"What?"

"When Aang got struck by Azula's lightening, I had to give him healing sessions every day. And even then, it took weeks for it to feel better," Katara explained. She was too concerned about Zuko's pain to be embarrassed by the idea. "You've been so busy becoming Fire Lord that you haven't had any real treatment since the day it happened. It's not doing you any good, Zuko!"

"It's none of your business, Katara!"

"I'm making it my business! You wouldn't even have that injury if it wasn't for me!" There was a moment of silence. They both froze, as if they only just realised they had been yelling and were now unsure of what to do. Zuko looked down at the ground. Katara just sighed. "Please Zuko, let me heal you."

The Fire Lord looked back at her to argue, but stopped when he saw her face. Her sky blue eyes were shaking, the mixture of hurt and guilt apparent in the way she held herself. She felt almost too ashamed to meet his gaze. He'd never realised that his injury had affected her so much. Then everything shifted. As he sighed, a flash of hope crossed her face.

"Fine." Katara's face lit up with that one word. She joined Zuko by the fire, sitting at his side as he undid the tie from around his waist and shrugged off his tunic. Her eyes immediately focused on the mark just below his chest, in the centre. It didn't look any better than it had on the day of Sozin's comet. She mentally kicked herself for not noticing his pain earlier.

"Lie down," Katara ordered, giving his shoulder a gentle nudge. He silently complied, watching as she bent some water out of the pouch that hung on her back and covered her own hands with it. Even though she could have pulled water from the air around them, it was easier to have a supply ready. Very carefully, she placed her hands on the mark, the water glowing with her energy as she began to work. As her hands started moving continuously in a circular motion, she couldn't help remembering how he had saved her. It was such a risk. Her nightmares had shown more than once what could have happened if she hadn't defeated Azula and healed him in time. It had been a very brave and selfless move on Zuko's part. Yet no one knew about it. Katara paused and sighed softly.

"Katara?" Zuko lifted his head and gazed at her. The look in his eyes as soft as his voice had been. Apparently her water-healing was at least very relaxing. The water bender didn't say anything for a moment, going back to her healing while she considered whether or not to ask him the questions that had been gathering in her mind for the past few weeks.

"You haven't told anyone the truth about how you got this, Zuko," she said finally, glancing at his face. She noted that he suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable, the muscles under her palms becoming very tense, but she pressed on anyway, "Why? It's not anything for you to be ashamed of. So why haven't you told anyone?"

"Well, they'd all make a big deal out of it…" Zuko replied, rather uneasily in a tone that was quite unlike his own. "They would ask questions." Ask questions? Surely, they would just praise him like they had her. Unless someone dared to ask the question that was now at the front of her mind. The question that held her curiosity so much that the words were slipping out before she had time to think them through.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you save me, Zuko? You could have died! And still you…" Katara paused, taking a breath. She would not cry over this again, like she had at the time, or like one of the many times she had woken from her nightmares. Not now, when he was watching her so silently, so intensely. "Why did you do it? Why did you take such a risk?" She'd stopped healing him now, letting go of the water and letting it run down his sides to the ground. Her hands were on the ground either side of him, so she was practically leaning over him as he stared up at her. He gave her the same look of uncertainty he'd had when he'd sat outside his Uncle's tent before the comet, gathering the strength to apologise. Just like then, Katara wanted to tell him that, whatever he said next, it would be okay. Zuko sighed and propped himself up on one arm, the other reaching slowly for her face.

"Katara…" There was a long pause as they stared into each other eyes. His heated amber eyes burned into the cooling pools of blue that threatened to wash over him. Katara become very aware of the water of the bay hitting the rock, of the wind whistling through the trees and of their shadows that stretched across the earth in the setting sun. It seemed like they each held their breath as moments passed, until Zuko finally opened his mouth to speak again.

"What are you two doing?"

Katara and Zuko both jumped like they had been shocked. Zuko's hand whipped back and Katara sat bolt upright so that she was no longer leaning over him. They looked up to see Aang and Mai staring at them. They hadn't even heard the pair making their way through the trees. It was Mai who had spoken. She had her arms crossed and was impatiently tapping her foot, waiting for some kind of explanation. Aang just stood with his mouth hanging open, his hand limply pointing at them as if he had forgotten about it.

"Zuko's injury was bothering him," Katara explained, avoiding looking at anyone as she got to her feet. It was Aang's expression that had made her realise exactly how her position with Zuko had looked. The thought brought a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks. Using her bending, she pulled the water that she'd spilt over him back into the animal skin case on her back.

"Ooooooh! You were giving him a healing session!" Aang said, slapping his forehead as if he thought it was stupid of him to think of anything else. "Katara gave me healing sessions almost every day after Azula shocked me. They really helped! Zuko is really lucky that Katara has such great healing abilities!" This explanation was definitely for Mai's benefit and the woman's expression certainly softened. She loved Zuko and was really beginning to like Katara. There was no real reason to doubt that was true. Of course, it was true. Healing was all Katara had intended on doing, even if they'd gotten a little too close.

"HEY!" Everyone was spared the thought of what to say next as Sokka shouted though the trees. He came into view with Suki, who was carrying several bags while he had just one slung over his back. Although he did have the issue of getting through the foliage with his crutch. "You guys can't just wander off and leave us to carry all the baggage! I'm injured! And Suki is just a g-"

"Just a WHAT, Sokka?" Suki asked, cutting him off and dumping the bags she'd carried onto the ground once they reached the campsite. She put her hands on her hips and stared him down, daring him to finish his sentence.

"Just a great warrior who has her hands full with making sure I don't trip and further injure myself?" Sokka amended with a huge smile and a look in his eyes that resembled a puppy-cat's.

"That's better," Suki replied with a smile, helping throw off the bag from his back and get a seat on one of the logs that Zuko had dragged over out of the forest. "We need to get the rest of the supplies from Appa." She started moving back the way they'd came, indicating that she was volunteering.

"I'll help you," Katara offered, eager to escape the awkward atmosphere that still lingered. Although she did feel slightly guilty that she was abandoning Zuko to his fate with Mai. She followed Suki, with Aang not far behind. He still had another trip to make after all. As she went, Mai moved past her and knelt down next to Zuko, exactly where Katara had been sitting moments ago.

"When did you stop bandaging this?" Katara didn't hear Zuko's reply as they left the campsite behind.

A/N: This chapter is shorter than the last one, which makes me kinda sad. I'm hoping for something much longer next time. This chapter took longer to write too, mostly because Mai was blocking me, making my mind wander off to ways of conveniently leaving her out of the story. The result of that will be on my deviantArt(account of the same name as this one) as soon as I get to a scanner. Also, I'm fairly certain that normal cats and dogs exist in Avatar, but the word 'puppy-cat' wouldn't leave me alone. Off to Ba Sing Se in the next chapter!