Continuity Info: Set toward the end of Sozin's Comet. Major spoilers if you haven't seen that movie already, so reader beware.

The Answer

Katara waited patiently in the iron hall, arms folded, eyes closed in thought. She should have felt awkward or afraid, a Water Tribe girl in the heart of a Fire Nation prison, but she did not. The Fire Nation no longer scared Katara. Those ghosts had been faced down and, ultimately, defeated. That was why she was here, in fact. The one who had helped her conquer that shadow had a shadow of his own to conquer, and he had asked her to be there with him. She had accepted. The memory of that morning was still fresh in her thoughts...

The first thing she noticed as Zuko approached her was the slight peek of white under his shirt. A reminder of the sacrifice he had been wiling to make for her...she smiled. "All patched up, I see." Katara said as she looked over the wonderful green robes she had received, a gift from the now-liberated people of the Earth Kingdom.

"Thanks to you." was the Fire Bender's reply. "Katara...I have a favor to ask of you."

She looked up at him, fully ready for whatever he might ask. "And that is?"

His eyes trembled, searching for the right words to make the right phrases to ask the right question. "After the coronation...I'm going to visit my Father."

That caught Katara's attention immediately. Zuko paused, as if himself shocked by the idea. "I need...I need to know where my Mother is."

"I thought your Mother was...dead..." the Water Bender tried her best not to sound too awkward, but felt so anyway.

"I know, but...on the Day of Black Sun, he told me...she was still alive."

There was silence after that. It was hard...impossible...for Katara to hear those words and not think of her own mother...of how much she would give to have her back. To her own surprise, and Zuko's, she smiled. "That's wonderful..." she said sincerely. "I can't imagine how happy you must feel."

The boy smiled at her earnest response, but turned serious again quickly. "That's why...why I came to you." he said softly. "No one else know I'm planning this, not even Mai...I don't want them to worry. But...I want someone with me, someone I know can understand what this means to me..."



He looked her straight in the eyes. "That's why...I want you to come with me, Katara. I know I can trust you."

Katara did not know quite how to feel. Flattery was what she ultimately settled on, but something else rested beneath it. Regardless, she did not hesitate to respond, "Of course, Zuko."

The creak of steel came returned the Water Bender to the present, and Katara turned to see the opening door. "Well?" she asked softly. "What did he say?"

Zuko's eyes remained on the floor, and for a moment he did not answer. Katara stepped toward him. "...Zuko?"

"He lied."

The words were not spoken so much as coughed, rough and unwanted. Even garbed in the royal robes of the Fire Lord (and Katara had to remind herself THAT was his title now more often than she cared to admit), Zuko seemed remarkably small just then. With a deep, strong breath, the scarred boy lifted his head at last. His eyes were glassy and distant, weighted with sorrow. "On the Day of Black Sun...my father lied."

Katara's heart froze. "You mean..."

"He said he was desperate." Zuko explained. "Said he couldn't afford to have me join the Avatar, so he said the only thing he could think of that might make me stay."

That was what Katara had feared. Looking into the Fire Bender's eyes, she realized this was why he had wanted her: because deep down, he had known all along how real this outcome was, how possible it was that his mother was truly gone. He knew she would understand what it meant to have his mother offered back to him, only to be taken away again. "I am so, so sorry, Zuko." she whispered, offering her open arms to the Fire Lord without another thought.

He took that offer, and did not even notice when he finally began crying. They held each other like that for as long as they both needed, both two little children on the day of their mother's death all over again.

END