Chapter Six: I Won't Tell

More time passed. After the event with the Southern Raiders, Katara finally found forgiveness in her heart for Zuko. He was... happy.

Maybe more than happy.

The play they watched on Ember Island had stirred his heart again, in a strange way.

How could the Ember Island Players have managed to screw up so badly... And hit, spot on, what he'd been trying to deny the whole time? What he was still trying to deny?

It scared him. It really did.

That is, until the intermission, when he'd been getting a drink and had seen Aang heading outside after Katara. Curious, he couldn't help but sneak a peek...

Just in time to see them kissing.

The way Katara pulled away, he was sure she'd been caught off guard.

Zuko walked away quickly, before they saw him.

"What's with the smirk?" Toph asked when he sat back down.
"Huh?" Zuko asked. "I wasn't smirking."

"You're lying." Toph said, grinning. "I won't tell."

The wink she shot him was too much. "Huh?"

"Lying isn't the only thing I can read, Zuko. Your heart's still beating like crazy."

Zuko felt his face growing hot.

"Shut up. It was nothing."

"Sure, it was."

(…)

So, time passed. Katara eventually had to accept the fact that she'd been dumping all her anger and pain on Zuko. To have that lifted from her... It made her happy.

Maybe more than happy.

The play they watched on Ember Island had opened her eyes, in a strange way.

It wasn't just their portrayal of her relationship with Zuko... Which was entirely off, but somehow felt right at the same time. She felt heat rising to her face several times during the cave scene, where the actors shared a rather passionate kiss. It was even worse, since Zuko was sitting right next to her.

It scared her. It really did.

Then came the intermission, when Aang had kissed her.

And she had pulled away.

It had not only caught her off-guard, but she was beginning to realize that she couldn't really love Aang. Not until she straightened her feelings out.

Walking back, they were almost back to the mansion when Toph elbowed her.

"So, what happened back there, anyway?"

"Huh?" Katara asked. "What do you mean, what happened?"

"Twinkletoes seemed pretty put-off about something." Toph said, grinning. "I won't tell."

The little chuckle was too much. "Huh?"

"Your heart's beating like crazy."

Katara felt her face growing hot.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, you don't."

...

Author: First of all, thanks so much to all my reviewers. It makes me really happy to get so many reviews for this:)

Now... Before you get mad at me for not going into the Southern Raiders episode, let me explain. There's so much good stuff to work with in that episode... It could be a huge fic on it's own. I started writing a chapter, but it got way too in depth. I'll probably just do a one-shot on that. So bear with me!

In fact, I feel rather tempted to do a story based on this idea, too- Toph getting them into funny situations, knowing how they feel. It would be funny, anyway.

Thanks again!