One Week Later

Katara

"Your highness, you have a visitor," a servant says as he comes up to Zuko with a bow.

"Can it wait until after my next meeting?" he asks.

"I don't think it's an unwanted visitor, sir," he says.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"My apologies, Master Katara, but he requested that his identity remain anonymous for the purpose of surprise," the servant says.

"Let him see us," Ursa says. "Zuko, you mustn't be so harsh."

"Mom, in the past two years, there has been three assassination attempts in an effort to get rid of me. Katara has already had one attempt on her life," Zuko says.

"Bring them in anyway," Ursa says. "Zuko, my son, you've already increased your patrolmen, and the amount of guards has doubled since the last attempt. It will be fine."

Zuko sighs. "Alright. Fine. Bring the mystery person in."

The servant bows. "Yes, your majesty."

A few minutes later, a couple of guards return with a smiling Makoto.

"Glad you decided to let me see you guys," he says with a chuckle.

"Excuse me, Makoto, but you will bow before the Fire Lord," a guard says.

"It is fine, soldier. Makoto is a longtime friend. His lack of formality with myself and Master Katara will go without scrutiny for as long as I see fit," Zuko says.

"Yes, sir," he says.

"Come, Makoto," I say. "Sit down."

"With pleasure," he says.

Makoto takes a seat beside me, and discussion begins.

"So what is it like to be an envoy for the Southern Water Tribe, and also its Fire Nation ambassador?" Makoto asks. "There must be some differences between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes."

"Well, for one thing, it's hard getting used to the heat. I'm used to parkas and furs and blizzards to wear them in. Here, we get heat waves that would give half my tribe heat stroke were they not used to it like I am," I admit.

Makoto and Zuko laugh. Ursa glares at the two men beside me.

"It's not funny, Makoto and Zuko," she says. "How would you like living in a place that is virtually opposite what you live in now, hmm?"

Zuko sighs. "She's right, Makoto."

"Yup. Moms are always right," she says. "Now, Zuko and Katara, why don't you talk with Makoto and I about what's been going on in the colonies? I'm very interested in hearing about how the Harmony Restoration Movement went."

"It was a bit rocky at first," Zuko admits. "After talking with my father about what I should do, I thought the idea was preposterous. But then, with the help of Aang and Katara, who were dating at the time, I accepted that the Harmony Restoration Movement was the best thing for the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and the rest of the world."

"That's great," Makoto says. "I heard about the Harmony Restoration Movement. The fighting in the colonies has died down quite a bit, from what I hear from my father."

"Makoto is right. With the exception of a few quarrels here and there between Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens every once in a while. But it's nothing the remaining soldiers from both nations that are still on duty there can't handle," I say.

"That's awesome," he says.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" I ask.

"Nah. I'm good. I ate at home," Makoto says. "So how have you guys been?"

"Pretty good. It's been nice having my mom here," I say.

"Oh yeah. My father told me all about that. And seeing as you held a ball to celebrate her return, you must be pretty happy," Makoto says.

"So what inspired you to stop by?" I ask.

"Well, I'm staying with my parents for the next few days, and my father has a meeting with you today, so I figured I'd tag along," he says.

"You were right to do so," I say.

"Unfortunately, though, this is a meeting where no one but the Fire Lord and his council is allowed in," Zuko. "The rebels would have a field day if I decided to abuse my power and let you both in."

"Don't worry about it Zuko. I was gonna sit out of this one anyway," I say. "I want to practice my waterbending anyway."

"Care to spar?" Makoto asks me.

I raise an eyebrow. "You're a firebender?"

He nods, and a smirk forms on my face. "They don't call me 'Master' Katara for just any reason."

"I didn't think anything less," he says.

"Well, I've got to get going. Have fun, you two," Zuko says. "Oh, and Makoto, I will unabashedly admit that she has beaten my ass in sparring matches before. I'd be careful before she freezes you to the wall."

"Will do, Zuko," Makoto says.

Makoto and I make our way to the training grounds, which have since been equipped with water for me to bend. Makoto removes his shirt and shoes, and I remove my own shoes. Makoto and I then proceed to get into our bending stances.

"Ready?" Makoto asks.

"I was born ready," I say.

"Ladies first," he says.

"In that case, the first blow is yours," I say with a smirk.

"Oh ha-ha. Very funny," he says.

He takes up my offer and shoots a blast of fire at me, which I effectively dodge. I retaliate with a water whip that hits him in the face and knocks him to the ground. Though he's quick to get back up and shoot a few balls of fire in my direction. I form a wall of water, and the two elements turn to steam. This continues on for quite some time before I find myself pinned to the ground. I laugh for a bit until I realize that Makoto has a look that speaks of anything but good intentions.

"Makoto, you can get off of me now," I say.

"I don't think so, Master Katara," he says. "You have quite a pretty face, you know? I doubt your boy toy takes as much advantage of it as he should. As I would."

"Get off, Makoto," I say.

But he doesn't. Instead, he puts his mouth on mine and grasps my wrists tighter than he was originally. I pull away and slap him across the face.

"You bitch!" he seethes. "You're gonna pay for that."

He punches me in the nose, causing it to bleed and tears to form in my eyes. I yelp at the sudden pain, but then I feel him punch me again, only this time, I feel it on my eye.

"Please stop!" I scream. "Help! Help!"

But then I feel Makoto being pulled off of me. I sit up to find Zuko shoving Makoto against one of the walls of the training room. Makoto is trying his best to fight his opponent off, but Zuko is too strong.

I then see two sets of hands helping me up. I look up to find that they belong to Ursa and to Councilman Lu Chen.

"Are you okay, Katara?" Ursa asks me frantically.

In reply, I just weep onto her shoulder.

"Forgive me, Lady Ursa and Master Katara, but I must take care of my son properly," Councilman Lu Chen says. "Alright, that's enough from both of you," he says as he walks over to a furious looking Zuko as he holds a struggling Makoto.

"That bitch hit me!" Makoto shouts.

"We saw what happened, boy," Lu Chen says. "You forced yourself upon this young woman, and then beat her when she tried to fight back."

"You don't deserve to live," Zuko seethes. "Don't you ever return to the palace. Ever. Do you hear me? And if I see you come near Katara again, I swear to the heavens above I'll make you pay."

"You can't blame me for wanting a piece of that," Makoto says with a suggestive look at me. "That's a hot piece of ass that I would've killed to get my mitts on."

"Get out of my sight," Zuko says. "If I ever see you come near me or Katara again, I swear you won't live to get another 'piece of ass' again."

Zuko lets Makoto go, and his father glares down at his son, who has fallen to the ground. "Come on, boy. You, your mother, and I are going to have a long talk about how you should treat women. Fire Lord Zuko, please forgive my son's behavior. His mother and I did not raise him to be this way. Please pay no heed to this scoundrel. Needless to say, if I have anything to say about it, he won't come near you or Master Katara again."

"You're forgiven," Zuko says. "But he's not."

"I understand," he says. "Thank you, sire."

Lu Chen bows to Zuko before bidding us all goodbye and dragging his son out of the palace. Zuko rushes over to me and takes me into his arms as a new wave of tears make their way down my face.

"Shhhh," he coos. "It's alright. I'm here now. He will never hurt you again. No one will."

I reply by just crying more. "Sorry. I know I shouldn't be crying this hard."

"No. What he did was wrong," Ursa says. "Come on, sweetie. Let's get you cleaned up."

"Tell my advisors that the meeting I have with them today is going to have to be rescheduled until further notie," Zuko tells a guard.

"Yes, sir," the guard says before she salutes him and then runs with two other men in the opposite direction.

"Zuko, would you mind if I took Katara to the restroom with me?" Ursa asks. "She might need a bit of help cleaning up and getting herself together."

"I don't have a problem with that," Zuko says. "I'm going to make arrangements to be free the rest of the day."

"Okay," Ursa says.

She takes me into the private chambers I share with Zuko, and sits me down on the edge of the tub. She leaves for a second, but comes back with a change of clothes and a set of towels shortly after. Ursa then cleans the blood and tears off my face.

"Here, change into these. Your clothes are soaked with blood from your nose," she says, handing me the clothes she retrieved in her brief absence.

I change into the red tunic and pants, along with a pair of sandals after Ursa turns the opposite way. "You can look now."

Ursa looks fondly at me before kissing my forehead. "Come on. Zuko is waiting."

"Thanks, Ursa," I say.

"It's no problem, sweetheart."

I hug her, and she hugs me back before we leave the washroom to find Zuko waiting for us in a tunic, pants, and boots. His hair, though, is still in its traditional topknot and he still wears his crown.

"I am so glad you're okay," he says. "What he could've done to you had I not been there…" he turns his head away in disgust. "It just makes me cringe."

"It's okay, Zuko," I say. "I promise. I'm here now, and I've got nothing but a black eye to prove that the encounter happened. And I can always heal the black eye."

"True," he says. "But listen, I've got a surprise for you."

"What is it?" I ask.

"I wanted to do this sooner, but I couldn't. I wanted to take a trip to the Southern Water Tribe. We won't leave for another eight weeks, unfortunately. As I said, if I avoided my duties as Fire Lord, and then abused my power, I would get overthrown. The people who are still loyal to my father are chomping at the bit to get me out of power," Zuko says. "I planned for the airship to begin its journey to the Southern Water Tribe two months from today."

I hug Zuko tightly. "Thank you, Zuko. It will be worth the wait. I know it. How long are we staying?"

"About six weeks. There's something more I've planned," he says with a grin.

"What more could you have planned?" I ask.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

I just want to smack that grin off of his face. "Oh come on."

"Oh please," he says. "You can wait."

"No I can't," I say.

Zuko chuckles. "Yes you can."

I pout, and he kisses my cheek. "Oh don't pout. You'll love what I'm planning."

I decide to live with that, and we spend the rest of the day talking, sparring, and just being near one another."