Hey! I'm back! One of my reviewers asked for more Zutara. This chapter's got it, but PLEASE READ THE AN at the end.

If you're reading this story, even though you don't like Zutara (you know who you are ;D) you don't really have to read this chapter. It is significant for Zutara, but not vital for the plot.

Sorry I didn't reply to everyone's reviews. I promise to for this chapter. I will also do dedications next chapter.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Katara stood nervously by her locker at the end of the day. She looked through the crowd of people that were rushing out of the school or to extracurricular activities. She began to tap her foot impatiently, feeling a bit self conscious just standing around. Where was Zuko?

"Katara!" she heard a voice call to her. She turned, smiling as she saw Suki walking towards her.

"Suki! What's up?" she asked eagerly. She was happy to have someone to talk to while she waited for the scarred teen to arrive.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go shopping. I've been dying to go!" Suki exclaimed, to Katara's dismay. After all the drama with Toph, she and Suki hadn't been able to spend much time together. The past few weeks she had hung out with Aang, Toph, and Sokka; the original gaang. She and Suki had met in the 7th grade while she had known the others pretty much her whole life. Suki was lovable and fun, but she still hasn't quite made her way into her and the others' liaison.

"Sorry, Suki. Wish I could, but I can't today." she answered regretfully. There was a pause. Suki was probably waiting for an explanation, but Katara didn't really want her to know that she was on her way to Zuko's house. She would never hear the end of it.

"Come on! We haven't hung out in forever." Suki pleaded, but Katara only shook her head.

"Sorry Suki, but I really can't go today. I-"

"Katara, you ready?" a new voice was heard, successfully cutting off the brunette's statement and causing Suki's grey-blue eyes to widen in realization.

"Way to interrupt me, Zuko." Katara scolded.

"Sorry that I don't magically know when you're in the middle of a sentence." Zuko retorted.

"It's common courtesy to excuse yourself before entering a conversation. Shouldn't you rich kids know about that?"

"I know more than you, peasant!"

"Alright, well I don't wanna interrupt anything." Suki said awkwardly before making her escape. "Call you later, Katara." she retreated with a wink, causing Katara to blush.

"We should get going." Zuko stated curtly before walking towards the school exit. Katara sighed.

'This is gonna be a long day.'

"No dad! It's just for a project!" Katara tried to explain.

"His uncle will be there. Nothing would happen anyway!" she rolled her eyes as more chatter was heard on the other end.

"I don't know how long it will take."

"Ok, fine. I'll be home by 10:00." she sighed before something her dad said made her blush. She gave Zuko a weary look before turning away with the phone.

"Yeah, love you too." she whispered before quickly hanging up and clearing her throat.

"Sorry about that." she apologized as they walked to Zuko's house. "My dad gets really annoying about these things." she explained as she rolled her cerulean eyes.

"Well its good to know he cares." Zuko stated absently, causing Katara to raise a curious eyebrow at his statement.

"Well every parent cares about their child to some extent, right?" She asked, blue eyes shining with naivety. Zuko turned to her in question, taking in her look of innocence. Did she really think that? Did she really believe that all family's were happy and smiley like hers? He scoffed at the idea, but still, he did have hope that maybe someday his father would accept him.

"Yeah... maybe..." Zuko said to himself, though the comment did not go unheard by the brunette at his side.

"Maybe? What does that mean?" she asked curiously. Zuko had always been a mystery to her. The more time she spent with him, the more questions she had about him. He stuck his hands in his pocket, looking up at the cloudy sky. Speaking before he could stop himself.

"It just means I think I have to regain something I lost before I can believe that."

"What did you lose?" she asked. The simple question throwing Zuko's mind into turmoil. He stared at her with thoughtful gold eyes. Why was he talking to her? What could he tell her? This girl who despised him? Her question was met with silence.

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure you can get it back... with a little bit of hope." she said with as smile as she remembered their argument over Maki's name, all those months ago.

"I have hope." he defended.

"Then maybe you're hoping for all the wrong things."

"Ugh!" Katara cried, pulling her hair in frustration. "This is impossible! How are we supposed to analyze this text and make a poster about it! It's like... three sentences!"she exclaimed. She sat on the floor of the living room of Zuko and his uncles' apartment. They lived above Iroh's teashop, surprisingly enough. Katara would've expected Zuko to be living it up in a mansion with his rich and successful father.

"I don't know Katara." he said, sighing in exasperation at the girl's musings. He tried and failed to finish up his science lab, but concentrating in a room with an angry Katara was impossible. The girl was so loud!

"And you! You're just sitting there! You could come over here and try to help, you know!" she scolded, successfully wearing out Zuko's patience.

"I tried to help, but every time I tried to tell you what I thought the text meant, you just said 'that's stupid' and told me to leave you alone and let you handle it!" he shot back, angered by her accusations.

"Well, we're partners! You should've ignored what I said and insisted on helping!" was her refute.

"You're impossible! Girls are crazy!" he yelled in frustration. "Maybe if you shut up and listen to other people, you wouldn't be under so much stress right now."

"Oh, so I'm crazy now!" she screamed in outrage.

"Not just you, the entire female population!"

"Oh, so you're calling my mother crazy?"

"I said girls are crazy, not women are crazy!" he clenched his fists getting angrier and angrier as the argument continued.

"You just said the entire female population!"

"Katara! Just shut up! Yo-"

"Now nephew. I really hope you're not upsetting our lovely guest." Iroh said, appearing in the doorway with a frown, and two cups of tea.

"No, Uncle. She's upsetting me!" he explained in vein as his uncle only shook his head and gave Katara a smile as he sat the tea down on the floor beside them.

"Ms. Miyuki, I'm very sorry for my nephews lack of manners. I hope I can make it up to you with a delicious cup of tea."

"Thank you Mr. Iroh! I think your manners make up for the both of you." she said, sending a smirk Zuko's way before turning her eyes back to the kind, old man. "Also, you can just call me Katara."

"Well you can call me Iroh." he offered before walking away. "Enjoy the tea."

As Iroh left the room, the blue-eyed girl turned back to the fuming boy at her side.

"I think you could learn a thing or two from your uncle, Zuko." she stated with a smug smile. Her eyes widened in surprise, however, when she turned to see a smirk on the face of the dark-haired teen.

"Just remember," he said with a smirk, lifting up her evaluation sheet. "I still haven't written out your marital evaluation for Child Development." he said, successfully transforming the brunette's smug smile into a playful smirk.

"And so far, I'd say you've been a terrible wife." he claimglared glare only causing his smirk to grow.

"Oh so now we're blackmailing." Katara teased.

"If it'll get you to stop fighting with me."

"Well, I can blackmail too." she stated with a smirk, successfully flipping Zuko's own. "I've just been itching to tell people about how you'd do anything for your precious 'Master Katara'." she taunted, silently missing the adoring eyes of CactusJuice!Zuko.

"I was drugged! That doesn't count!"

"Well it counts to m-" she stopped herself when her eyes landed on something strange. It was a door, slightly ajar, and through the opening, she could faintly see colorful walls.

"What's in there?" she asked, already walking towards the mysterious colorful room. Her path was cut short, however, by a muscular arm stopping her in her tracks.

"Nothing you need to see." Zuko said, providing no explanation.

"Come on! What's the big secret, Zuko? I mean, you left the door open."

"Just drop it."

"Please! I wont be able to sleep tonight unless I know what's in that room!" she pleaded dramatically.

"No. Now just drop it." he ordered, sitting back on the ground to work on their project. Unfortunately, Katara took this as an opportunity to make a run for the door. Zuko's head shot up at the sound of the hyper brunette running in a direction he did not want her to run.

"Sorry Zuko, but I'm really curious!" she called behind her with a smile.

"Well curiosity killed the cat, you know?!" Zuko shot back, causing Katara to roll her eyes at the cheesiness of his statement. She grabbed the handle of the door and threw it open. Her excitement was peeked and Katara knew something great had to be behind this door, if Zuko's reaction was any indication. Her entire body froze with shock, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Nothing could've prepared her for what she saw.

"Katara..."

Katara walked into a colorful room, the plain white walls were adorned from top to bottom with beautiful artworks. Paintings, to drawing, to oil pastels, all outlined with beautiful golden frames.

"Zuko, did you do all this?" she asked, absolutely fascinated with the room of colors and people and scenery. She smiled at one that seemed to be a smiling toddler Azula.

There were so many artworks, it was overwhelming, but every single drawing was surrounding a giant painting of a very beautiful woman.

And then it hit her.

"Is that..."

"Yeah," Zuko replied with a solemn nod of his head. "That's my mother." he said, immediately feeling uncomfortable after the confession, and deciding it best to change the subject.

"Remember when I was at your house, and I told you I could play piano." Zuko started, smirking when Katara took the bait.

"And you played Mary had a Little Lamb?" she said with a roll of her eyes. "How could I forget."

"Well I wasn't lying, I really can play." he said pointing to a grand piano in the corner. The brunette's eyes lit up at the sight of it. How had she possibly overlooked that?

"Oh my God!" her blue eyes lit up as she ran over to it, running her fingers over its smooth, black surface. "I've always wanted to play piano." she stated with a smile. "My dad tried to teach me when I was younger, but..." she laughed at memories of her getting distracted by Sokka or the TV. "I guess I just didn't have the attention span required to learn an instrument."

"Do you still wanna learn?" asked the golden eyed boy in curiosity. Katara stopped for a few moments, just staring at the shiny wood tracing her slender fingers along the smooth black and white keys before finally shaking her head.

"Nah. Its not really my thing, you know? If I want to hear, I just ask my dad to play it for me."

"Whatever." he said with a shrug, waiting for what he knew was coming. There were a few moments of silence before Katara finally spoke up, saying the exact words the teenage boy had predicted she would.

"Do you think... you could play something? I am a bit curious about how good you are." she finally mustered up the confidence to ask.

"Curiosity killed the cat." he taunted with a smirk, but made his way to the piano bench anyway. "Any song in particular?" Katara started to shake her head, but stopped as a song did pop up in her mind.

"Actually, do you know Pachelbell's Canon in D?" she asked, confused when she received a sad smile from the scarred teen.

"That was her favorite." placing his hands mechanically on the keys, no sheet music required.

His hand seemed to glide across the keys as his melodic tune filled the colorful room with beautiful music. Katara was in awe. She closed her eyes, taking in his music transporting herself to the beautiful world she saw portrayed in his pictures. Her tan hand sat on top of the piano and she felt the light vibration of each note on her palm. Everything was peaceful, everything was happy, everything was perfect...until...

One wrong note.

Zuko slammed his fist on the keys, frustrated with his mistake. He glared at the keys before quickly shutting the piano and stomping away from the small black bench. Katara was so shocked by the sudden change in atmosphere she could barely move. She could feel Zuko's anger fill the room, causing the air to feel heavy and suffocating.

"Azula was always better at piano than me anyway." he stated bitterly looking up at his self-made painting of his mother. "I never could play that song perfectly for her."

Katara was surprised by his words. She gazed at the boy through new eyes. He... understood. He went through the same pain she did. She had someone she could talk to, someone she could relate. She finally felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Empathy.

She suddenly frowned. Her perfect world came crashing down when she realized who she was just thinking about. Could she really share that pain, that relation, that understanding... with Zuko? What if his mother was perfectly fine and he just wanted to draw a picture of her? How could she ever relate to him? This boy she hated? And before she could think, she spoke.

"...What happened to your mother?" his soft golden eyes hardened. His body tensed up as he fixed her with a cold stare that sent chills up and down her spine. She felt like she could see him putting a wall up to her. He didn't want to talk. He didn't trust her.

"I think it's about time we got back to the project."

Meh. It might just be that I'm insecure about everything I write, but I think this chapter was just... Meh. Please feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, or tell me if you agree in a review. Constructive Criticism is very much welcome! Hope I didn't disappoint too much. Also, I just want to remind you that Zutara will be VERY slow in this story. Slower than you've ever seen it. This story's main focus is not Zutara, but since I love the ship so much, I will definitely include a lot of Zutara development. It's coming... eventually. Please just be patient with me ;D!

Sokka Dating Poll Results!

Sukka- 9 votes

Yukka- 6 votes

Sokkla- 4 votes

Ty Lokka- 3 votes

Maikka- 1 vote

Remember to vote for your favorite Sokka ship!

I really hope you enjoyed my Zutara chapter.

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