Stomping through the vast and squishy swamp, Katara and Zuko advanced forward. Wanting to save their precious day light, they tried to move as quickly as possible and find a site to rest for the night.

Katara looked up at the sky. Calculating where the sun was, she turned to face Zuko, who stopped so she could see how much longer they had. "It looks like five after the Highest Sun. It'll set in two hours. What do you wanna do?" Zuko furrowed his brow and set his chin to rest on his palm. He looked ahead, to where they were going. "We've been working uphill all day. I think we should stop somewhere at the top of this mountain. Besides, no one wants to sleep at an angle," he added, smiling. Katara dipped her chin, indicating that she concurred. "We should be able to make it to the top in at least an hour. Then we have another hour for setting up camp."

Katara had used the word "camp" quite leniently, actually. Not wanting to slow themselves down, Katara and Zuko decided to leave the big heavy backpacks on the fire navy ship. All they had for camp was two blankets that fit into each of their small draw string bags.

…

They walked a little while longer until Katara noticed something.

"Wait!" She shouted towards Zuko who was leading the way. He turned around; a little scared of what she was so urgent about.

"Do you hear that?" She questioned. Zuko listened intently.

He heard the occasional caw of a bird and maybe the ribbit of a frog every now and then; but mostly, all Zuko could hear was the constant chirping of crickets and the wind running through the tops of the trees. "No," he said plainly.

Frustrated that he didn't hear it, she took the lead. "Well I do. Follow me," she ordered.

Although a little stunned at how she took control, Zuko had to admit: he sort of liked it.

They advanced on for several more minutes. Katara turned, but was faced with a dead end. She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought. Zuko was just hungry, tired, and wanted to make camp. "Great! We followed you're hearing and now we're lost!" He complained. Katara, too focused in her own thoughts, ignored him. Instead, she mumbled to herself, "It doesn't make sense." Zuko tried to talk to her again, "What doesn't make sense?" Being ignored for a second time, Zuko was getting even more frustrated. Katara hardly even noticed the heat radiating off of him. "It should've been…" her voice trailed off. Zuko flung his arms up in frustration. What was the meaning of her insaneness? Still not noticing Zuko's anger, Katara touched the trees that were in their way. Having done so, she quickly noticed that what looked like a thousand trees, was actually ten or so weeping willow trees.

Still not being paid attention to, Zuko started pacing back and forth, talking to himself and throwing his hands in the air. He stopped as Katara exclaimed, "Look!" He abruptly turned to see her as she pushed through the seemingly dense trees. Zuko's jaw dropped. How did she just disappear, literally, into the tree? Then he heard, "coming Scaredy-Cat?" coming from behind the trees. Although the voice sounded an awful lot like Katara, he couldn't tell where it was coming from. He searched but was utterly confused. That was when he found a tan, slender arm sticking out from a tree. It grabbed Zuko and yanked him into the tree. He flinched and closed his eyes, preparing for the blow, but it never came. When he opened them, he was facing a majestic, flowing river that rolled down the mountain they'd just climbed.

"Woah," Zuko whispered in awe. Katara was already laying her blanket down on the soft grass. He looked up. He could actually see a sky that wasn't hidden behind tall trees. The sunset was clearly visible, too, and it was a beautiful, hazy pink with hues of orange.

Looking down the river, he could see every defined twist and turn that it made. The water was clear, without a drop of pollution. The bottom wasn't mud, but looked like some sort of stone that was manually laid down. He looked back to Katara, who was giggling.

"I told you I heard something," she admitted. "I was right: the murmur of this river wasn't too far." Zuko, still amazed, said, "Well, I'm sorry I didn't have better faith in you. This place is amazing. It's like a blessed paradise inside this humid hellhole," he teased. Katara laughed and added, "Not only did we need water, but land next to a river is always fertile, which means–" "the ground will be softer!" Zuko exclaimed, interrupting. Katara didn't mind, she thought that Zuko was being so funny in his amazedness. Even she had to admit: she hadn't expected this.

Zuko reached into his travel bag and spread out his blanket a yard or so away from Katara. The sun was quickly setting, so both Zuko and Katara sat on their separate blankets, but facing each other. Zuko couldn't help but smile. Katara was a little skeptical at this.

"What?" She asked.

"What?"

"Why are you smiling?"

Zuko shrugged. "Honestly," he started. "I can't wait to see my mom. I know it sounds a little optimistic for me, but I mean it's been 5 years. I can feel that she's here, and whenever I think about it, I just get butterflies. I can't help it! It's just all so unbelievable!"

Katara smiled gently. "Well, she seems like a very nice lady. I honestly can't wait to meet her."

Zuko's smile was his only response. It felt good to have such a supporting friend like Katara.

The sun had finally set all the way and the illuminating moon was high in the sky. It reflected off the polished river and gave the appearance that it was glowing. It was just enough light that Zuko and Katara were able to see each other. Being able to see her, he noticed something.

"You're shivering," he stated with little emotion, but was still clearly concerned.

Katara shrugged it off, "It's just a little cold." True that when she had been packing the thought of warm clothes was absent since she figured that a certain fire bender could keep her warm if need be; still, she couldn't ask that.

"We could try to get a fire going. Have you actually tried–" Zuko's look cut Katara off. "Never mind," she muttered.

They were silent for a while. "No I haven't," Zuko finally responded. Katara grunted, but that's all she could think of to respond. Looking up, he noticed she was still shivering. He got up and stripped the blanket from under him. "Here: take mine," he insisted, even though he knew Katara was too nice for that. "No I–" she began. "Seriously. Take it." He cut her off.

"No it's fine," she lied, "I'll sleep on the grass and use the blanket as a cover." She began to lay down, but Zuko was faster.

"Fine," he said, "then I'll sleep with you."

Katara's eyes popped open and vermillion blood poured into her cheeks. She sat bolt upright and started, "What? No it's fine. I'm telling you I'm perfectly warm eno–" she began, again, but stopped because Zuko had already lain down next to her and put his cover over both of them. The hues of pink that was flooding her cheeks brightened as he laid down. "Relax," he joked, "I'll be the perfect gentleman." Although they both snickered at his humorless joke, Katara's laugh was all nerves.

…

Zuko woke up. When he opened his eyes it was still very dark outside, excluding the luminous river. He turned on his other side and looked at Katara. She was fast asleep and facing opposite him. Zuko thought for a moment and told himself that making her sleep next to him wasn't enough to get her back for her frustrating mixed signals, so he smiled and wrapped his warm, heavy arm around the young water bender. He smiled, closed his eyes, and was fast asleep again.

…

When Zuko said he'd sleep with her, Katara had to admit: it wasn't exactly a punishment. In fact, had she the courage to ask, that was supposed to be the plan all along. Not minding who asked, Katara did like the radiating heat that protruded from his body. It was warmer, but she was still on the verge of shivering. She looked behind her. Zuko was fast asleep. She considered nudging closer to him, and was about to do it, until she felt him rustle the blankets behind her. She immediately lay stone-still and pretending to be in a deep sleep. Still shivering, it was quite hard.

That was when the shivering stopped. She was instantly filled with a feeling of warmth that stretched to under her toes to the top of her head. It took a second to click in what had made it stop, but it occurred to her that Zuko had reached and put his arm around her small, curved waist. He hugged her snugly and their bodies were pressed up against one another. No fair Katara thought to herself, he got to make two moves in one night! For some reason, this infuriated her. Smiling, she considered an option besides being angry: revenge. Zuko was going to wake up with a special surprise from Katara. She turned to face him, so that the surprise would be easier to transmit. Yue, she asked her friend, please make sure I'm up before him.

Katara went to sleep smiling to herself. Not only was she inches away and breathing the same air as the gorgeous Firelord, but she had a special treat planned for tomorrow morning.

She painfully closed her eyes, not wanting to take her eyes off his beautiful, porcelain face, but nonetheless, drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.