DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last neither Airbender, nor am I in any way affiliated with Michael Dante DiMartino or Bryan Konietzko. This story is purely fan-made.

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Uncomfortable silence had descended on the table like the plague since Katara had ran from the room. After Zuko had dropped his unexpected bombshell, each person avoided the others' eyes awkwardly, except for Aang and Sokka who either glared murderously at Zuko, or in confusion at each other.

"Someone should probably go after her," Toph said quietly after five agonising minutes had passed. All eyes were laid on Toph, silently agreeing with her.

"I'll go." Zuko said, standing up quickly.

"No way," Sokka snarled menacingly, also standing up. "You are never going anywhere near my sister again, do you understand me?"

"That isn't your decision," Zuko snapped back, his eyes narrowing in hatred.

"Like hell," Sokka spat, and Akio sprang up next to Sokka, holding back his arm in case he decided to attack the Firebender. "I have spent all my life protecting Katara, and I'll be damned if I see her going off with someone like you."

"Someone like me? You mean a Firebender?" Zuko asked, taunting Sokka to outright insult him.

"I mean an asshole," Sokka corrected harshly, his fists clenched so tightly that his short nails began to bite into his palm. Making a low growling noise in the back of his throat, Zuko lunged for the other boy. However, before he had so much as come five paces near Sokka, he slammed into a large stone wall. Reeling from the force, yet managing to keep upright, Zuko turned to stare at Toph, the fire encircling his wrists dying down slightly. The young Earthbender had risen so quickly that no one had seen her do it, and now stood with her hands firmly in the air, in position with the stone wall in between Zuko and Sokka. The once smooth wooden floor beneath them was cracked and splintered where the wall had been summoned from the earth, and fragments of sharp wood were scattered on the floor and embedded into the walls.

"Enough." Toph hissed, her anger-filled voice so different from her normal sarcastic drawl. "Katara - who you both claim to love so much - is out there alone, upset and probably lost, and all you can do is fight each other like the pathetic little boys you are."

Zuko's stare turned into a glare as he realized that Toph wasn't going to help him. His breathing had become heavy through anger, and smoky tendrils began to seep through his fists.

"You dare…?"

"I dare." Toph confirmed in a tone that almost dared Zuko to disagree with her, or even attack her. "Now here's what's going to happen. Jia and Zuko will take the west of the town. Sokka and Aang will take the south. Iroh and I will take the north, which leaves Akio to take the east."

Toph's face was set, and there gradually became noises of grudging consent from the others.

"Shouldn't someone stay here in case she comes back?" Aang asked in a quiet, controlled voice.

"Our father should be back soon," Jia spoke up. "Or we could leave her a note."

"Okay. Everyone report back here in two hours. If we haven't found her by then, then we'll come up with an alternate solution." Toph commanded with authority. Again, there were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the group, and one by one they stood next to the person they had been assigned to.

"If anything happens to Katara, I'm holding you personally responsible," Sokka muttered under his breath to Zuko.

"If anything happens to her, my life won't be worth living," Zuko hissed back.

"Damn straight," Sokka agreed, although he had a feeling that Zuko wasn't talking about the ways his life wouldn't be worth living because Sokka would make his life hell. But before Sokka could even entertain the notion that this Firebender genuinely felt anything for Katara, Toph had walked out, and was now standing by the door, shouting that everyone should start looking.

One by one, the groups of people filed out silently and into the night. Soon, only Iroh, Toph, Jia and Zuko remained standing just outside the inn.

"Well congratulations Zuko," Toph said bitterly. "You've really screwed up this time."

The anger in her voice made Zuko remain silent. He had expected Katara to be happy that everyone finally knew…so why did she run crying from the room?

"It wasn't the best choice, nephew." Iroh agreed quietly. The disappointment in his tone was evident, and for some reason it made Zuko angry.

"I get it - I messed up. Again. You don't need to keep on telling me that," He snarled, then stormed off into the night. Jia, with an apologetic glance at Iroh and Toph, hurried after him.

"Well you were spectacularly wrong," Zuko hissed as Jia fell in step beside him.

"Hey, you were the one who decided to tell her," Jia replied sharply. "I just put the idea into your head. You have your own free will."

Zuko didn't saying for awhile, thinking over the past half an hour. Things had been going so well, he had even been on speaking terms with the Avatar and Katara's brother…then just one sentence had ruined it.

"Do you think she'll be able to forgive me, even though I did nothing wrong?" Zuko asked after a few minutes of walking along the road in silence. He had created a small ball of fire, which lit up the surrounding areas against the black night. The surrounding buildings looked threatening in the dim light, and Zuko averted his eyes.

"If you tell her that you didn't do anything wrong, then why should she forgive you?" Jia asked in return. Zuko kept quiet, grudgingly aware that Jia had a point.

"Although I think she might have overreacted a little, that doesn't change the fact that you hurt her," Jia continued, more gently now. "I don't know Katara as well as you do, so I don't know what you can say to make it better. I guess you'll just have to wing it when you next see her."

"Maybe, but knowing my luck her brother and the Avatar will find her before I do and drill something ridiculous about me into her head." Zuko said, voicing a fear that he had had ever since Toph had split them up into teams.

Jia seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Akio told me of his plans to make Katara feel more comfortable. He set up a place where she could Waterbend in private. If she's upset, then she may have gone there."

Zuko stopped walking suddenly and turned to Jia. The moonlight reflected off her chestnut hair in a way that would make other men fall at her feet. For Zuko, however, he had eyes for only one person. The person I hurt and betrayed…he finished off sadly.

"Tell me where it is," He commanded after a moment. "I can't risk Sokka or the Avatar finding her before I do."

Jia nodded once, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. "It's quite far from here, but it's secluded, so we'll find it before anyone else does," she promised, before swiftly walking in another direction.

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The tears mixed freely with the water Katara controlled in between her hands. After Zuko's announcement, she had allowed her legs to carry her to wherever they wanted, and she was surprised when she found herself at the secret area that Akio had shown her only a couple of hours previously. Raising her hands, every drop of water nearby flew into the sky and crashed furiously into each other as Katara repeatedly slammed her hands together. She made sure that the water wouldn't be visible to anyone else; she didn't want to be found just yet. Feeling nothing except the pain inside her and thinking nothing but of Zuko's betrayal, she continually smashed the water together, ignoring the droplets that fell on her. After a few minutes, she found she had grown tired. Expanding and decreasing the cool liquid in what was meant to be a soothing manner did nothing, so eventually she turned the water into ice daggers, hurling them at the nearby wall in rage. When the ice shattered, she fell to her knees, defeated and numb.

How could he? She repeatedly asked herself sadly. How could he betray me like this?

Bits of ice had scattered around her, some so close and sharp that if she moved even an inch her hand would be sliced open. The moonlight shone brightly on the ice, reflecting its beauty into the night. Katara ignored all these things and just tried to focus on anything but the cause of the tears now streaming down her cheeks.

"Katara," A voice whispered softly. Katara snapped her neck around quickly, her heart leaping as she tried to place the voice. When she saw it was only Akio, her heart returned to its sad, slow pace and she turned back around. Her neck was starting to ache slightly anyway. She heard Akio take a few nervous steps towards her, then the crunching of ice when he accidentally stood on one of the remains of the makeshift daggers. He cursed under his breath, before carrying on tentatively.

"Katara," He repeated, his voice like smooth velvet. "I'm so, so sorry."

Katara shrugged her shoulders. "It wasn't you who betrayed me to everyone," She replied, her nonchalant voice barely masking her underlying pain. She felt Akio's hand touch her shoulder gently, and she looked up. His emerald green eyes searched hers, an unsatisfied expression on his face. He stepped back - another crunch was heard as he again accidentally crushed some ice - and offered Katara his hand. She stared at it for a moment, before taking it and allowed herself to be hauled up. When she was on her feet, Akio enveloped her in a strong hug.

"I don't really know what to do when girls are upset," he confessed quietly, his breath tickling her ear. "I've heard hugging helps. Oh, and you can cry if you want to."

"I don't want to cry," Katara told him quietly. He released her with a quick smile.

"Good, because this is one of my favourite shirts and I'd hate for it to get ruined…"

Instead of smiling at his weak joke, Katara turned away. It was true that she didn't want to cry, but she feared that she wouldn't be able to elude crying for long. Already her eyes were prickling painfully with traitorous tears and the back of her throat was starting to burn. She blinked twice, trying to shake off the moisture that had almost completely taken over her eyes.

"Do you want to be alone?" Akio asked, his voice hesitant.

"I don't think love is supposed to be like this," Katara whispered, as though she hadn't heard Akio's question. "My mom used to tell me all these stories when I was younger about how a girl would fall in love with someone loyal and brave and strong…someone who would fight for her honor, no matter what."

"Zuko's never fought for your honor?" Akio asked, something akin to indignation in his tone.

"Well, he's fought me for his own honor, if that gets him any credit."

"It doesn't." Akio's voice was as icy as the scattered shards of frozen water around him.

"Yeah, I thought not." Katara laughed bitterly, her voice cracking as tears slid down her face. She remembered the times Zuko actually had fought for her honor, but she felt no guilt at lying. "Every time -" she cut herself off as fresh tears now streamed down her face. "Every time I've trusted him, he's thrown it back in my face somehow." She knew that her nose must be running and her voice was so muffled by tears that she must be making no sense to Akio, but she didn't care. Zuko had betrayed her again, and now Sokka and Aang probably hated her. She had seen the disgust in their eyes as they looked at her at the dinner table; it had been part of the reason that she had ran away, no longer able to bear their accusing looks.

"He's an idiot," Akio murmured, sounding as though he was right behind her. Katara turned around only to find herself within a pace of him. "You don't deserve to be treated like that."

Katara thought she heard something in the alley that served as an entrance to the secret little hideaway Akio had made for her. After a glance, she convinced herself that it was just a mouse and she looked back at the boy in front of her.

"I don't," she agreed, glad that someone else saw it this way. Her tears had subsided slightly, and as she raised her hand to wipe her eyes, Akio stepped forward and caught her hand gently.

"We're not all like Zuko, you know," Akio told her softly, drawing her hand away from her face and down to her waist.

"That's why I only love him," Katara whispered in reply, another tear sliding down her already wet cheek.

"I meant that not everyone is out to hurt you. You've know Zuko - how long?" without waiting for an answer, Akio carried on, "A few months. In all that time, is there any point in which he wasn't chasing, fighting or lying to you?"

Katara wanted to speak out, to tell Akio that she loved Zuko and that he wasn't a bad person, but something stopped her. Maybe it was all the hurt and pain that Zuko had caused her in the last hour. Maybe it was because Akio's words had a ring of truth to them. Either way, Katara looked down, unable to meet Akio's gaze as tears filled her eyes again. Akio's soft fingertip placed itself under her chin and lightly lifted her head up until Katara had no choice but to look at him. To her mild alarm, she noticed that he was drawing closer.

"You're beautiful tonight, you know that?" He murmured, before sealing his lips over hers.

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Zuko's heart sank as he watched Akio kiss a motionless Katara. He had walked into the alley less than a minute ago, to see Akio take Katara's hand. He had wanted to storm in right there and then, but Jia held him back, whispering for him to wait until he saw Katara's reaction. To his dismay, she hadn't pulled her hand away. His disappointment had briefly turned to happiness when Katara told Akio that she loved Zuko, but this had quickly changed when Katara hadn't defended him. Watching Akio lean in to kiss her, Zuko had been frozen in shock. He was certain that Katara would pull away or even slap Akio, but that hadn't happened. Instead she stood there silently for a moment, which was all Zuko could deal to look at. Part of him told him to storm in there demanding what the hell was going on, but another, larger part, just told him to go. He could confront Akio and even Katara later, but first he needed to sort his head out. How could Katara betray him like this? It was an ironic thought, it was true, but it was a thought that nonetheless haunted him as he turned on his heel and swiftly and silently departed from the alley.

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He's kissing me, Katara thought dully. Why is he kissing me? Akio's kiss had taken her by surprise so much that she couldn't move for a moment or two. Then a thought flickered, a voice telling her that this was wrong, that she loved Zuko and would never do anything to hurt him. Unfortunately, Zuko didn't seem to feel the same way about the 'not hurting' thing, but still. After briefly flirting with the idea that she should cause Zuko as much pain as he caused her, Katara pulled away from Akio.

"I can't do this," she told him quietly, taking a few paces back to put some distance between them. "I love Zuko, no matter what he's done."

Akio regarded her silently, his expression one as though he was watching a less intelligent being who was vaguely entertaining. Katara crossed her arms self consciously and began to make her way to the alley, unable to deal with Akio's looks.

"He won't change," Akio called casually after her. "Whenever you trust him, he'll just abuse it."

She could see his eyes sparkling from where she stood and his features were as beautiful as though he was an angel. However, as the demonic words poured from his mouth, spreading mistrust and hate, Katara backed away, not taking her fearful eyes off him. As soon as she reached the alley she turned and ran, hurrying straight past Jia, who stood concealed in the shadows.

When Jia knew that Katara was out of earshot, she stepped forward into the moonlight, her brunette hair swishing as she walked. She carelessly flicked it over her shoulder as she reached her brother and gave him an appraising smile.

"If she doesn't believe that performance, then she won't believe anything," She told her brother appreciatively. Akio shrugged off this compliment.

"It was nothing. Are you sure Zuko saw?"

Jia smiled darkly, showing off her perfect white teeth. "It'll be a long time before he can get the image of you kissing his little princess out of his head," she promised.

"I'm impressed at your timing. It was more or less the exact time that I told you." Akio said indifferently. "Though your entrance was a little noisy."

"In case you hadn't noticed, it's kind of dark in that alley, so my visibility wasn't at its best." Jia replied snappily, narrowing her eyes. "Besides, Zuko saw the important part, Katara's unaware, and there's going to be one hell of an argument when they get back to the inn."

"As long as they don't break anything," Akio shrugged again. "I'm actually a little amazed at how well this is all going."

"That's because it's my plan," Jia laughed. "Well, most of it, anyway. Now are you coming back home to watch the fun?"

"We can't. We need to make sure the others don't go back to the inn. Zuko and Katara need to fight this out alone, so they only have each other to blame when it all goes wrong." Akio pointed out, heading towards the alley. "Are you coming or not?"

"Yes, you don't need to boss me about!" Jia replied crossly, daintily stepping over the ice shards in her path.

"I'm older than you," Akio called back from the darkness of the alley.

"By ten minutes!" Jia shouted, also disappearing into the gloom. "It barely counts."

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A/N:

Don't hate me! This chapter is kinda short by my normal standards, but it's a coursework-free night, so I wanted to update. Next chapter: the Zuko/Katara confrontation…

The title of this chapter comes from one of my favourite Within Temptation songs, "Angels". I recommend you listen to it if symphonic metal is your cup of tea (:

Thanks for your reviews last chapter, they all made me so happy :D Please review this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it.

- Momo