"You're not mad at me, are you?" Zuko asked as he and Katara strolled along the deck, arms loosely linked with each other's to keep up their charade.

"No," Katara replied somewhat stiffly, and Zuko rolled his eyes.

"You are."

"Well, it is in a husband's rights to drag his wife around and kiss her in front of her family, isn't it?" she muttered, her tone not the least bit understanding.

"Actually, yes," Zuko replied dryly, not looking at her. When he felt the heat of Katara's glare, he turned to face her with an amused smirk. He chucked her chin affectionately and then shook his head. "Sorry," he apologized, and Katara sighed.

"Apology accepted," she replied, more because she felt she had to than because she actually had forgiven him. "I still don't understand why you wouldn't let me shop!" she added after a moment, and Zuko shook his head, a slight smile beginning to play over the corner of his lips.

"We need to save our money."

Katara rolled her eyes. "We have plenty! A trinket or two wouldn't have done much damage."

"Perhaps. But you need to purchase Fire Nation trinkets, not Earth Kingdom ones. If we're going to live in my country, we're going to need to make you blend in," he reasoned, and Katara humphed out another sigh. She knew that she was being childish over the matter, but she truly couldn't help herself.

"Fine," she murmured, and this time, Zuko couldn't contain his smile. Impetuously, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Katara's temple. The girl turned and glowered at him but didn't protest his touch.

"Ah, Lee…so good I had the chance to catch you this morning!" Sokka's voice carried over the deck, and both Zuko and Katara cringed. The pair quickly put space between them, and turned to face the warrior headed their way.

Sokka had a smile plastered on his face, but his blue eyes were smoldering. "I believe that we have a lot to talk about," the boy said, coming to stand in front of Zuko, and the friendliness of the boy's voice did little to hide the undercurrent of anger in his words.

Zuko raised a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes?"

"Alone," the boy muttered between gritted teeth, casting a pointed look in Katara's direction. Zuko suppressed a shudder, but his pride made him refuse to give in to his desire to plead with Katara to stay.

"Don't be a jerk," Katara warned, pointing at her brother, and Sokka pasted on his best innocent smile. Katara cocked a brow, shook her head, and then walked away.

Once he was sure that Katara was out of earshot, the smile slipped off of Sokka's face and his expression changed into a deep scowl. "I thought we agreed that she was off limits," the boy hissed, his voice low to ensure that no unwelcome ears could hear their conversations.

"She is," Zuko agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "But we're supposed to be…"

"Married, I know. Don't give me that sack of hog monkey's dung! I see the way you look at her, and I don't like it. And you're using this…this…whatever it is…as an excuse to touch her! I thought you were better than that; really and truly, I…"

"Sheng!" Zuko interrupted Sokka quickly, realizing that the warrior's voice was rising and drawing unwanted attention. "Stop it, and listen to me. I would never intentionally hurt your sister. Never. I promised you that I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her honor, and I won't."

Sokka's eyes narrowed. "But you want to," he observed, his voice dark and his eyes darker.

Zuko said nothing for a while, and then he heaved out a sigh. "Sokka," he whispered the name so that no one could hear, even if they were trying to. "Your sister is…she…" Zuko sighed harshly, and then closed his eyes. "If you're asking me if I want her, the answer is yes." Sokka's eyes bugged out of his head, and he went to draw his boomerang.

"But she's my friend, and so are you," Zuko continued hastily, and Sokka paused. "Touching her would mean that I lose both of your friendships, and I'm not willing to let that happen. Believe me when I tell you that I agree that Katara is off limits."

Sokka drew a long breath and met Zuko's eyes for a full minute. The firebender was by La honest about the matter, and Sokka knew that he would be a fool to accuse him of otherwise. After hesitating a moment more, Sokka nodded and tucked his boomerang back into his belt.

"Sorry," Sokka apologized stiffly, and Zuko's good eye widened with surprise. "It's just that Katara's been looking at you differently lately, and I…I was worried that something might have happened," the young warrior admitted, and then took a seat on one of the barrels on the deck of the ship.

"Not what you're thinking of," Zuko replied with a half hearted smile, and Sokka cringed before rubbing a hand over his forehead.

"It's too difficult to be both a parent and a brother to the same girl," the water tribe warrior muttered under his breath, and Zuko gave the boy a slight smile in sympathy. "I just…I need to know something," Sokka continued, and Zuko felt his stomach do a somersault.

"You admitted that you want her, but…" Sokka sighed, and then met Zuko's somewhat nervous gaze. "Are you in love with my sister?"

The question was so unexpected that Zuko felt his throat close and his mouth go dry. It had only been recently that he had begun to see Katara in a different light; to see her as a woman rather than a child. How could he know whether or not he loved her? He admired her strength and her courage; appreciated her kindness and beauty. He had known many women, but something about Katara made her rise above them all.

Zuko looked at the girl's brother, who seemed to be searching his face and body language for the answer to his question. "I…"

"Sheng! Lee!" Katara's voice interrupted whatever it was Zuko might have said, and both boys straightened before turning to her. "Come quickly!" she called, and Sokka's heart dropped at the trace of panic that he heard in his sister's voice.

The firebender and the warrior rushed over to the girl, who was standing by the rail amidst at least a crowd of other nervous passengers. "Look," she exclaimed when they had made their way through the press of bodies and pointed towards the horizon.

"Fire Nation," Sokka muttered grimly when he saw the ship heading towards them, and a brown hand moved to rest on the hilt of his boomerang.

Zuko squinted to block out the glare of the sun, and his breath caught in his throat at what he saw. The ship heading towards them was at once familiar and unmistakable. "Azula," his uncle supplied so that he wouldn't have to, and the members of the gang drew a collective gasp.

Azula. No, this isn't supposed to happen! She promised me that they would stay safe. She promised that she wouldn't hurt any of them! "Azula always lies," he muttered to himself, his voice low and his eyes closed. No one heard the comment save for Iroh and Toph, but the latter left the comment to sibling rivalry. Iroh, however, found a deeper meaning in the words.

"Are you sure?" Sokka demanded, his voice as hard as steel, and Zuko was forced to realize that this boy could one day be a formidable opponent to the Fire Nation, should he assume the mantle of Chieftain after his father.

"Certain," Iroh replied, his voice equally grim. "But we must not show any outward form of aggression; not without being attacked first. We are supposed to be Fire Nation natives who are devoted to our country's cause," Iroh added, his voice low pitched but loud enough for the gang to hear.

Sokka turned to Katara, careful to be as unobtrusive as possible. "Get ready. They're going to start shooting the fire balls soon. It'll be up to you and Aang to deflect them." Katara and Aang nodded briefly, their eyes never leaving the ship that was fast approaching.

For a moment or two, the ship fell silent, and the wind died down to nothing. The calm before the storm, Zuko noted absently with his gaze trained on the horizon. And then, the spell was broken. A fire bomb large enough to rend the ship in two hurtled towards them at a speed Zuko hadn't realized it was capable of traveling. Screams of terror broke out from the other passengers, and Zuko grit his teeth against the noise.

In a quick fluid motion of bent knees and lifted arms, Katara bent a wave from the ocean and lifted it high enough to deflect the fire. The steam that filled the air upon the explosion was so thick that the gang couldn't tell friend from foe, couldn't see just how close Azula's ship had come to them.

When the air cleared, another barrage of the bombs was launched towards them. Aang flicked open his glider and sailed out to meet them while Katara shifted her stance, going on the offensive rather than the defensive. As the wave she had summoned crashed towards Azula's ship, a row of fire benders assembled. In a joint motion, flames leapt from their hands and dissipated the brine.

Azula cursed when a thick curtain of steam descended again. So, Zuzu had won their loyalty, had he? That had been the plan, of course, but since he had double crossed her the situation had become far more fragile. As of that moment, nothing would have given her greater pleasure than for the Avatar to be equally against her brother.

"How close are we?" she demanded to no one in particular as the haze began to clear.

"Within shooting range." Azula was surprised that it was Mai who answered her, but kept her expression neutral. She took in Mai's appearance for the briefest of moments, a practiced eye reading the girl's face and posture. To anyone else, the governor's daughter would have looked collected and nonchalant. Azula, however, took in the slight tremble of her hands, the barely discernable twitch of the girl's upper eyelids.

She was nervous.

"Good," Azula replied, whether to her thought or Mai's statement even the princess wasn't sure. "Launch your attacks!" Azula commanded the fire benders on deck, and they quickly complied. Fire met with water and air; steam and resounding booms echoed across the water.

Azula watched with a sort of calm detachment as the battle continued. The motley little gang was getting tired, Azula could tell. Their attacks were less fierce than they had been at the beginning of the fight, and even from a distance she could see their muscles tremble as they deflected the blows.

Their exhaustion made sense; her entire crew, save for Mai and Ty Lee, consisted of fire benders and a good half of them were participating in the battle. Over fifty seasoned soldiers against three children and one old man. The odds were surely stacked against the pathetic little band who was returning her ship's fire with fervor. It would only be a matter of time until the avatar and her double crossing, scheming, worthless excuse for a brother were in her hands.

"Azula!" Mai called, and the princess whirled to face her friend. "Are you sure Zuko betrayed us? He hasn't attacked us." Her tone was bored, but the veil of nonchalance couldn't fool Azula. Azula narrowed her eyes at the girl, and then turned to watch as her brother fought.

The boy moved with care and precision, carefully shielding the gang from the onslaught of fire, but never launching his own set of attacks. Every so often, he would turn his gaze towards Azula, as though attempting to tell her something. Azula squared her shoulders and narrowed her eyes. "He is hoping we will show him mercy," he replied to Mai's observation.

Mai's lips stretched into a thin line, and Azula knew that the girl's knuckles had turned white beneath her fingerless gloves. "Do you doubt me?" Azula asked, her anger masked by a friendly tone, and a slight smile flit across her lips.

"Never," Mai replied tonelessly, and Azula smirked. The princess was no fool. She knew that beneath Mai's plain exterior and apparently bland personality laid a keen and questioning mind. She had formulated her own opinion, one that suited her feelings towards the exiled prince. Azula knew that a streak of pride and stubbornness ran through her friend, and would keep her from truly admitting that she was wrong.

Azula turned back to watch the fighting, deciding to wait until her soldiers had exhausted her enemies before she went in for the kill. Her brother was adept evasive maneuvers, Azula noted with derision. He must have picked it up from the little Airbender. Shameless, really. Despite the cowardly movements, his power and mastering of his element was apparent, as was something slightly more…unorthodox.

"It appears that Zuzu has found himself a lady friend," Azula noted with a smirk. It was a cruel thing to point out to Mai, she knew, but her friend needed to be taught a lesson. And if Azula needed to be the girl's teacher, so be it. She watched with a mixture of sympathy and satisfaction as Mai turned her head towards Zuko a bit too quickly.

The boy fought close to the little waterbender. Although she never seemed to notice, he watched her closely, concern etched on his face. Although he was weakening, his blasts of fire grew stronger and his face more determined every time the girl got too close to an attack. Mai felt her heart stop beating, and she swallowed hard.

"Good for him," she said with all of her trademark tonelessness, although her throat rasped a bit at the implied lie.

"He has forgotten the both of us, it would appear," Azula noted with a slight smirk, twisting the knife in Mai's heart deeper.

"He has never had feelings for me," Mai replied, turning to meet Azula's eyes, pleading silently for her friend to stop. It was usually at her breaking point that Azula turned away, but not this time. This time her friend dropped all pretense and her eyes narrowed.

"He kissed you." Azula continued. "If you're telling me that he has no feelings for you, he used you like he would use a whore. Is that what you are, Mai? Zuko's little whore?" Azula's tone was dark, and the smirk had slipped from her features.

Mai felt a chill run down her spine but she refused to back away. Her pride stung and her heart ached, but she would not allow the Princess of the Fire Nation to get the better of her. Not this time, at least. "I think we both know better than that," Mai replied, her tone equally dark and the boredom momentarily slipping from her voice.

Azula cocked a brow at her friend's temper. "Tell me, if my brother beckoned for you, how long would it take for him to bed you? How quickly would you give in to him?" Azula paused as though she were mulling over the answer. "Not very long, I'd assume." Azula continued, and the smirk widened when she saw Mai's face flush and her jaw clench.

Out of the corner of her eye, Azula caught sight of a flash of pink. She stepped back from Mai, pleased that she had gotten such a strong reaction out of the governor's daughter. "Well, I guess we'll never have the opportunity to find out, will we?" Azula concluded while Ty Lee was still out of earshot, gesturing towards the young waterbender.

"Find out what?" Ty Lee asked with a smile, and Mai turned away quickly, smoothing out her features and losing all expression once again.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Azula replied smoothly, and Ty Lee's smile slipped a fraction before she forced it back into place.

"Oh, okay," the acrobat replied with a shrug of her shoulders, her tone bright.

Azula turned from the two girls back towards the ship her brother sailed on. The civilians were long gone and their screams of terror no longer permeated the air. The children who fought were tired, that much was obvious. Their movements were slow, as though lead were attached to their arms and feet. Azula could see the white's of their eyes and could just barely make out the perspiration on their brows. Now was the time.

"Time to fight, girls," Azula announced, removing her outer robe and throwing it to the ground with all of the negligence of the very wealthy. Her armor was as stiff as the iron her country had invented, and the weight of it was comforting during the course of battle.

She settled into her fighting stance and Mai smoothly withdrew the daggers from her sleeves. Ty Lee stood behind them, useless when it came to long range fighting, but there to support her comrades and sisters in arms

With a crackle, Azula sent a fire bomb the size of a cannon ball towards the enemy ship. Her uncle turned and deflected it in the nick of time, and her brother turned to face her. She could see his face turn ashen at the sight of her, and he faltered. A quick cry from the girl in blue made him spin away and deflect a knife that Mai had sent hurtling towards him when he had been distracted.

Azula watched as her brother and her friend met each other's eyes, and even from a distance she could see the look that passed between the pair. Zuko withdrew his broadswords and Mai her knives. Whatever truce they had made between themselves was over during the course of battle. If either of them were to die by the other's hands, there would be no enmity, only compassion.

Azula's stomach clenched at the look, and she narrowed her eyes at the possibility that Mai could be loyal to both she and her brother. Suddenly, the satisfaction that she had achieved moments before sat like a dead weight in her gut and left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Her brows knit together, and she glared at Zuko, increasing the intensity of her attacks as she aimed for him and only him. He returned none of her fire, instead deflecting it with a combination of bending and Dao forms. Azula fought to maintain her composure, and struggled to remember the lesson's her father had taught her. Rage leads to destruction, destruction to failure, failure to death.

Her calm returned enough to see that the water bender was helping Zuko to deflect the attacks while attempting to fight the other fire benders with the help of Iroh and the avatar. She was spreading herself too thin, but she refused to leave Zuko's side. Azula sneered at the devotion the girl showed to her witless, failure of a brother. The pair obviously depended on each other… At the thought, Azula smiled.

Meanwhile, Zuko continued to fight, his arms leaden and his feet aching. The more they fought the more apparent it became that they were losing. "Get downstairs!" Zuko shouted for the thousandth time to a stubborn Toph. If Sokka wanted to stay aboard, that was his business. He could see, at least. The blind earthbender had no idea what was coming towards her and was becoming more and more of a liability.

"Since when do you think you can boss me around, Sparky?" the girl retorted, unconsciously slipping into a fighting stance.

"Suki! Get her out of here. Drag her down there if you have to!" Zuko shouted in exasperation as he deflected a knife with his broadswords at the same time that he spun away from a blast of fire. Katara put out the flames effectively, and Zuko nodded his thanks.

"Fangirl wouldn't dare…" Toph began, but was stopped abruptly when Sokka lifted her and slung her over his shoulder. With her feet no longer in contact with the ground, Toph was at once truly blind and helpless. She screeched, slapping Sokka's back and kicking her little legs wildly.

"I'm getting them both out of here," Sokka informed Zuko, grabbing Suki's arm and dragging her away from the fight. When she too began to protest, Sokka shook her. "There's nothing we can do!" He shouted, shaking her harder.

"As a warrior, it is my duty to…"

"Protect your comrades. I know. But you're not protecting them. You're a liability." When Suki stared at him, eyes wide, Sokka took advantage of her shock to throw open to door that led to below decks and shoved her through. When Suki was taken care of, Sokka lifted Toph off of his shoulder and pushed her through the door in one motion. That done, he locked the door and ignored the screaming and pounding of both girls.

"You're going to be popular tonight," Zuko noted wryly using humor to conceal the fear that there might not be a tonight. Sokka chuckled.

"There's an extra bed in your cabin. Mind if I bunk with you until the girls cool down?" the boy asked, his stomach in knots as streams of fire rained down on Zuko, his baby sister, Aang, and Iroh. He could do nothing to deflect the fire, and Azula's ship was still too far away for him to put his boomerang to good use. Save for the time Aang had nearly died in Ba Seng Se Sokka had never felt so helpless.

"Not so sure if that's a good idea," Zuko replied through gritted teeth, the muscles in his arms straining as sweat trickled down his forehead. "The girls would get mad at me too. Besides, Uncle snores enough. The two of you in the same room would keep Katara and me up all night."

The boy heard Sokka's indignant yelp at the insult, but Zuko didn't say anything further. Azula's attacks had begun to lose their intensity, almost as though her mind was miles away as she fought. In all of the time he had known his sister, he had never seen her become unfocused without just cause. Her head turned speculatively to the left, and Zuko turned to follow her gaze.

Katara continued to fight, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye every so often, and Zuko could see her weariness. He wrenched his gaze back to Azula, who had suddenly took a fighting stance again. Her attention, however, was not focused on him.

Zuko's gut clenched when Azula's form shifted out of the normal firebending stances and into one far more sinister. A bubble of panic rose in his throat when he realized that his sister was about to shoot a bolt of lightening towards the girl who had come to mean so much to him. What was worse was that the said girl hadn't a clue of Azula's intent.

"Katara!" Zuko cried, dropping his broadswords in his haste to save the girl and allowing one of Mai's knives to slice through the outer edge of his bicep. At that moment, however, Zuko couldn't feel the wound. He ran to the young water bender, his blood pounding in his ears.

Katara dropped her when she heard the boy, and barely registered the wound in his arm when she became aware of a flash of blue crackling towards her. She stumbled backwards, her heart in her throat. She knew that water was just a conductor of electricity, and thus her bending would be unable to defend her against Azula's attacks. She closed her eyes and braced herself for impact without thinking.

Then, suddenly, Zuko was before her, his arms outstretched. Katara watched in horror, sure that the lightening would hit him as it had Aang. The static in the air became great and Katara could feel her hair stand on end as the bolt passed through one of Zuko's arms. He crouched and brought the hand through to the other side in a fluid motion and the lightening flew out of his other arm and was quickly returned to the enemy ship.

Katara's heart thudded in her chest as she stared at Zuko wide eyed, too terrified to smile or manage a thank you. The boy let out a deep breath and gave her a half grin before his face contorted and he fell to his knees. "Zuko!" she cried out, rushing forwards and throwing herself to the ground in order to catch him before his head hit the hard deck.

A spasm went through the boy's body and his face went beat red as it morphed into the most grotesque expression. His body jerked once more and then he slumped and became a dead weight in her arms. Katara shook the boy once, but his head lolled to the side and she received no response. The color slowly drained from his face, leaving his pale complexion gray and ashen.

Katara heard a scream of agony, and goose bumps rose on her arms at the sound. She hadn't heard a noise so bone chilling since the raid that her mother had died in. It was only after a moment that she realized that she was the one who was screaming, that her arms had locked themselves tightly about Zuko as she rocked back and forth in her grief.

Sokka was at her side in an instant, tugging at her arms and attempting to see the damage done to the boy for himself. He was speaking to her, of that Katara was sure, but she couldn't hear the words that he spoke and could barely feel his hands on her skin. A sob caught in her throat, and it wasn't until she looked down and saw moisture on Zuko's face that she realized that tears were streaming down her face.

She glanced upwards and saw Iroh's pained face as he ran towards his fallen nephew, leaving Aang to fend of the attacks on his own. It was only when Iroh threw himself to his knees beside Katara and attempted to tug the boy he loved as a son into his arms that Katara released her death grip on the boy.

She stood slowly, now unaware that Iroh had pressed his hands against his nephew's chest and was breathing life into the boy's body. She didn't hear Sokka shouting her name, couldn't see Aang as he took on a ship of Fire Nation troops on his own. It was as though she were deaf and blind to the world around her, save for one thing.

The massive ship of iron that was so close to their own was where the attack had originated. Barely conscious of what she was doing, Katara slipped into her bending stance and lifted her arms with a strength and power she hadn't known she possessed. A wall of water lifted into the sky, soaring so high that the boat rocked precariously and the sun was dampened by the massive wave.

So this is what the avatar state is like, Katara thought with a strange sort of detachment as she released the wave and watched with a strange sort of horrified fascination as it sloshed over Azula's ship, carrying most of her men with it's powerful force and dragging them to the depths of the ocean.

The earsplitting noise of metal tearing and grinding against metal filled the air, and for the first time, Katara heard Fire Nation soldiers scream and wail with terror. Once the noise was gone and the air fell still, Katara released a great gust of breath and stumbled backwards, feeling faint. Aang quickly caught her in his arms, his eyes wide and scared as he stared down at the seemingly fragile warrior.

Katara slumped against the boy's form before turning to see the havoc that she had wreaked. The entire bow of the ship was gone, and most of it still flooded with water. The captain had continued traveling forwards, and so the ruins of Azula's once mighty warship laid far enough behind them so that she could barely make out who was on deck and who was not.

"It's okay," Aang murmured as he held her slumped, wide eyed form close against him. "It's okay," the boy repeated, resting his chin on her hair.

But nothing was alright. She had just killed spirits knew how many men because Zuko…Zuko! Katara broke free from Aang's grasp and rushed over to Iroh who had the boy nestled in his arms. Iroh looked up at her, the horror no longer apparent on his features.

"He's alive," the old man said softly, but the look of pain on his face and tears in his eyes did nothing to settle Katara's nerves. Not trusting what the man had said, Katara took in Zuko's appearance. His face was still gray, his lips tinged a light blue. He couldn't be alive looking like that. Iroh must have concocted the idea through his grief.

Katara pressed to fingers against Zuko's neck, trembling. When she felt his pulse, she found she couldn't breathe. It was slow and it was faint, but it was there. Katara bent low to the ground and rested her head against the boy's chest, relief filling her at the slow, shuddering rise and fall.

He was near death's door, to be sure, but he was alive for now.

For Katara, that was more than enough.

A/N: I haven't updated a chapter this long since chapter 7. Sorry it took so long, guys, but I have a lot of difficulty with battle scenes, and this entire chapter revolved around one. That meant a lot of procrastination, a lot of clicking onto to MSW and staring at the screen blankly for ten minutes before clicking back out.

This fic will be finished by September 21. Yes, it will be over before Season 3 premieres, which is why I've been updating once every couple days rather than once a week. Anyway, I just thought that you would like to know. Just a little over a month, guys!

REVIEW please. Due to the fact that fighting scenes are so difficult for me, I would love feedback to see how I did. Thank you so much to all of my dedicated readers. You mean the world to me.

Sandra