"Hey, Anika?" Anika looked up to find Zuko in the doorway. She was sitting on her bed, re-reading the Fire Nation copy of the peace and alliance scroll with the Northern Water Tribe. The two parties had drawn it up at the diplomatic meeting earlier today, and everything had gone off without a hitch. Anika had been too elated over the success of the trip to dwell on the kiss and sort through her feelings.

"Oh, um, hey. What's up?" Anika asked.

"I'm pretty tense from all the stress and expectations at the meeting today, and I thought I could get it out of my system with some sparring. Everyone else seemed too tired to ask, so I was wondering if you'd like to do a little firebending with me."

"Sure, I'm down. Just give me a sec," Anika said. She spoke casually even as her stomach did a little flip of nervous excitement.

"Cool, meet you down there." Zuko smiled and dissapeared from the doorway.

Anika rolled up the scroll and slid it into its case, then secured it in the drawer beside her bed. She left her parka where it lay on the floor, deciding that the skin-tight, long-sleeved shirt she had been wearing under her usual blue and gold tunic recently would suffice against the cold evening air for a quick sparring match.

She headed to the courtyard, which was empty except for the lone figure of Zuko shooting bursts of fire into the frigid atmosphere. As she made her way down the stairs, Anika regretted not throwing on her parka. To be fair, she had grown up in the Southern pole. She was used to dealing with much more extreme cold than this, but not without a warm coat swaddling her in.

Anika focused on the air entering and leaving her lungs and heated it with firebending energy to keep her warm from the inside out. She reached the bottom of the steps and breathed out an uneven patch of bright red fire.

"Not bad." Zuko was waiting for her, arms crossed. "Once you have a little more control of it, though, it might look more like this." He exhaled a flickering swirl of golden flames from his own mouth.

"Showoff," Anika muttered.

Zuko smiled. "Well, I have been training with this stuff a lot longer than you. I'll be sure to go easy when we spar."

Anika nodded solemnly. "You better. I don't any weird moves or tricks like this." She stooped down and swept one of her legs out, flames spewing from her foot. They fanned out close to the ground so that Zuko had to jump over them at the last second.

Zuko landed smoothly and raised his fists defensively. "So it's going to be like that, is it?" he called teasingly. He punched the air with each of his fists in quick succession, sending two fireballs flying toward her.

Anika dove beneath them and then leapt back to her feet. She lunged towards Zuko and lashed out with a high kick that he just barely managed to duck. Anika took advantage of his moment off balance and followed up with a small fire blast from her other foot directly to his chest.

The force of the fire sent Zuko onto his back, and Anika was over him in an instant. She held down his stomach with one knee and pinned his wrists to the ground on each side of his face with her hands. Anika grinned at his surprised face under hers. "I win."

"Do you?"

"Pretty sure, your majesty."

Zuko sighed. "Dang. I was so sure that-" there was a swift whirl of movement as Zuko wrenched his way out of her grip. Before Anika knew what was happening, she was a flat on her back and Zuko was pining her arms down. "...I'd win."

Anika squirmed for half a moment under his strong arms, searching for a weak spot to gain an advantage, but his grip was too firm. She relaxed and sighed, fighting back an amused smile. "Fine, you win this round. I was so proud, too."

"I'll let you go so we can have a rematch if you say, 'Zuko is the best firebender in the world'. "

Anika rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying that."

Zuko shook his head in mock-seriousness. "But you have to."

"Won't."

"Have to."

"Won't."

"Have to."

"How about this instead?" Anika lifted her head and planted a lingering kiss on his lips, smug grin and all.

When she pulled away, Zuko gently released her arms and backed off, sitting back onto his heels. His face was aglow with a kind of pleasant surprise. "Yeah, I'd say that's fair."

Anika sat up, feeling oddly warm despite the cold atmosphere. "So what now?"

"Well..." Zuko reached up to rub the back of his neck. "What you said about good not always being easy for you stuck with me all day. I feel like I didn't say enough." Zuko raised his gaze to meet Anika's. "You're beautiful, Anika. Beautiful and funny and open and kind. You don't deserve to doubt yourself like I doubt myself sometimes. But if that's the burden we both have to carry, then maybe that's okay. If you want to, we can figure it out. Together."

"Are you... are you asking me out?"

Zuko smiled shyly. "That was the idea."

Anika paused. Her, dating the Fire Lord? What if it lasted? Was becoming Fire Nation royalty something she could handle? She was from a small cluster of igloos in the Southern tribe, and she was probably the least qualified person to know Fire Nation customs and rules.

And yet-Anika looked over at Zuko, and a warm, happy feeling that had nothing to do with bending spread from her heart to the rest of her body. If she was being honest with herself, she had liked him since the day he had shown up begging to be allowed into team Avatar. It had frustrated and confused her at the time, (Way to go Anika, just start crushing on the evil Fire Nation prince who's done nothing but attack you and your friends since the day you first set eyes on him. 10/10 awesome decision) but now she understood why.

Zuko had proved that despite his rocky beginnings, he was a genuinely brave, selfless, and loving person. He wasn't perfect, and he didn't need to be. He tried his best to do the right thing. That was enough for her, slip-ups and all.

Not to mention how stupidly attractive he was. Anika found his features incredibly handsome, scar included. Also, she didn't want to bring Zuko's abs into this, but damn did he look good without a shirt.

"Is that a no?" Zuko's confused voice snapped Anika into reality, and she blushed as she realized that she had been sitting in silence for quite a bit.

"I was just thinking about how I'm hardly qualified to be dating the Fire Lord," Anika blurted. Not about your abs at all. Nope. Just that.

"Qualifications aren't important." Zuko edged closer to Anika and took one of her hands in his. Anika knew it was as cold as ice, and her heart swelled as she noticed that Zuko instantly adjusted the temperature of his hands to a toasty glow to warm it. "You make me smile when all I want to do is shout at the world. You keep me sane when I feel like I'm going crazy under pressure. It's like... it's like I'm a diamond and you're the world crushing me into shape."

Anika raised an eyebrow as Zuko winced. "That sounded a lot better in my head. Look, I'm not super good at this. What I'm trying to say is that I really like you, and I'd be honored if you'd like to be my girlfriend."

Anika bit her lip in a last bout of hesitation, then smiled. "Okay. Let's give this a shot." Zuko's hopeful face immediately took on a happy glow, and Anika couldn't bring herself to wait for his response to lean forward and kiss him. Zuko's soft breath tickled her lips in the instant before they made contact. Giddy happiness mingled with primal desire as her lips found his and moved passionately on their own accord. She felt one of Zuko's hands cup her jaw and slip down her neck as they-

"Fire Lord Zuko!" Zuko and Anika broke away from each other and gazed up at the Fire Nation guard that stood before them. The guard was red-faced and quivering slightly. "I-I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but there is a matter of utmost urgency."

Zuko stood from where he knelt on the ground and squared his shoulders as he rose up to his full height, in full Fire Lord mode. Anika stood as well, except more sheepishly and while wishing she could dissapear from the awkward situation.

When he spoke, Zuko's voice was sharp and serious. "Go on."

The guard wrung his hands anxiously. "I-its your father, sir. Ozai has escaped from prison."

Zuko inhaled sharply. He paused for a moment to process the news before barking, "How could this have happened?!"

"I d-don't know, your majesty."

Zuko slammed a fist into his open palm and growled out an oath under his breath. "Get everyone together. Ready the fleet. It should be prepared to depart within the hour."

"Yes, Fire Lord." The guard bowed before turning and hurrying away to spread the command.

Zuko turned towards Anika. The face that had been glowing with content moments before was now drawn, cloudy with anger and something like fear. "Anika, I need you to go to the Water Tribe officials and explain that we will be departing sooner than anticipated. Thank them for their understanding and hospitality."

Anika nodded and wordlessly pulled Zuko into a quick, reassuring embrace before practically flying up the steps to the ice palace. She had wanted to stay longer, but at least the treaty had accomplished what they had come to do.

There was a more important problem on their hands now. It was time to find the escaped phoenix.