The ship was empty of cargo and crew men, except for Sokka and Zuko, there was no more reason to linger. Katara gave the deck of the ship a once over before finally sighing in resignation and climbing into the small landing boat. Zuko and Sokka climbed in after her, silently, lowered the boat to the water, and took up an oar each while Katara positioned herself at the rudder.

Both men had their backs towards shore as they rowed the small landing vessel through the choppy waves. Katara had a clear view of the small makeshift village that had been constructed on the shore. This was the closest to rebuilding their homeland that any of them had been capable of doing. With no woman (other than Katara) or children to shelter or provide for, what had been the point? Beyond the camp Katara could see the white mounds of snow that covered what had once been a bustling village. On a small peninsula the jutted into the bay lay the remnants of Sokka's watch tower. Every year he joked that he was going to rebuild it, but he never could bring himself to start the project.

Zuko watched Katara's face as she scanned the shore and saw the sadness in her clear blue eyes. His heart went out to her and he hoped that she sensed his remorse.

Eventually their boat scraped against the shore and the disembarked. Zuko stood a moment taking in his first step onto Water Tribe territory. The wind that blew was cold and his breath was visible as vapor before him. The beach looked as white and pristine as those on Ember Island but did not invite one to lay on the sand in soak up the sun. It was the roaring bonfires in front of the makeshift dwellings that drew a person. Sokka and Katara led the way to a fire that already had his uncle warming his hands over.

"I believe some tea is in order for this chilly afternoon," he said cheerfully as they approached.

Sokka chuckled, "I won't say no. The ocean is always freezing down here." Sokka stepped forward and helped himself to some of the warm liquid. As Zuko started to step forward Katara's voice stopped him.

"Zuko, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Zuko turned and looked at Katara through his good eye. She looked pensive as she studied him and gave a small half smile. This caused Zuko's heart to speed up a little as he grabbed two steaming mugs from his uncle and silently followed Katara up the beach. She led him to a ruined structure that was mostly covered in snow. She went over to one of the remaining walls and moved a piece of rubble unveiling a dry spot of dirt, the small remnants of a fire pit, and a pile of dry timber. He handed her the two steaming mugs of tea and quickly got to work lighting a small fire, a task of merely a moment for a master firebender.

"Never thought I would say this here, but having a firebender around is rather handy," Katara said as she situated herself, back against the wall.

Zuko sat next to her and chuckled, "I never thought I would hear that this far south." With the wall at their back and the fire in front of them the area quickly warmed up as they sat and sipped their tea. "What was this place?"

"This is what's left of mine and Sokka's childhood home. This fire pit is the last place I saw and spoke with my mother and gran-gran," Katara said sadly, "I always come here first when we make landfall."

Zuko looked around the small area sadly. He tried to picture a small Katara and Sokka chasing each other around the fire pit and a woman who looked like Katara chiding them and half-heartedly threatening them with a smack of her wooden spoon.

He placed a hand on Katara's shoulder and when she didn't jerk away he gave a small squeeze, "I'm sorry, Katara."

Katara shook her head, "No, don't be sorry. You had nothing to do with this. If anyone here needs to say sorry it's me. I've been pretty unfair to you these past few weeks. I shouldn't have made you think I was mad at you for as long as I did."

Zuko blinked in confusion, "Wait? You weren't mad at me all this time?"

Katara shook her head again, "At first I was furious but that passed. You see, I have a massive problem that Sokka is always lecturing me about, I have a tendency to tunnel vision."

Zuko, "Tunnel vision?"

"That's what Sokka calls it. When I'm faced with a difficult task I focus too much on completing that task. Everything else fades into the periphery and I become blind to them. This happens to me every year when we are getting ready to enter south artic waters. I literally got so caught up in preparing for our safe passage through the south artic waters that I forgot to stop being mad at you and tell you that I forgave you."

Zuko stared at Katara in disbelief not being able to comprehend that fact that she had literally forgotten to stop being mad at him. Sokka had been right up on the crow's nest

"But you were still mad at me?"

Katara sighed, "Yeah, but, that's my usual reaction around lords."

"You're not like that around me all the time," Zuko pointed out.

"Yeah, well, you don't always act like one," Katara said jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow. "It was your uncle who reminded me that you were raised to be a prince. It must be hard to set that part of your life aside."

Zuko shrugged, "It's getting easier the more time I spend around you, your brother, and the crew. Who knows, in a year I might even completely forget that I am a prince." He said this jokingly but when he turned to face Katara and found her looking at him seriously the joke died.

"You can't forget," Katara said seriously.

"Why not?"

"Because, one day I'm going to have to sail you to the Fire Nation, watch you disembark my ship, and watch you transform into the Fire Lord the second your feet touch land. You're going to bring honor and peace back to your people and I will hear all about it whenever we make port. Then I'll buy a round for my men and we'll toast and boast that we helped the Fire Lord end the war."

It was the level of certainty in her voice that terrified Zuko. Ever since he had been burned and banished the scenario she had just described never crossed his mind. He didn't want it to. He had hidden it deep inside and then had gleefully ran away from it as fast as he could. Even now, as he faced the one person, besides his sister, who had made him happy and who he could share anything with, he couldn't stand the thought of the image she had painted.

He found himself reaching out to her with both hands. He grabbed her face in his and looked fiercely into her eyes. Holding her gaze as strongly as he wished to hold her to him. "If you think I'm stepping off your ship without you, you're mistaken. You come with me or I don't step foot on dry land."

Katara smiled sadly and grabbing his hands gently, removed them from her face, but she didn't let them go. Instead she intertwined her fingers with his and leaned her forehead against his. Her cool brow against his warm one. "Let's find the Avatar and defeat your father first before we decide who the mistaken one in this conversation is. Deal?"

Zuko sighed, "Deal."

And as they both sat there, huddled from the cold, foreheads touching, their breath mingling and intertwining like their fingers they both had the same thought:

That's time for her/him to see that I'm right.