Chapter 24

Katara's POV

A few weeks later…

It's been a while since I last saw my friends. It didn't take us that long to make it to the South Pole, though of course it helps with a little waterbending, but it wasn't that long of a journey anyways. Sokka and Suki are due any day now to come with Queyue, so I'm pretty excited about that, but why else would I be when I live on a giant sheet of ice. Life seems to pretty much move on after our return from the Fire Nation. I don't know when Toph and Aang are supposed to come. They mentioned that they would visit, but I haven't heard from anyone except Suki.

My dad has been trying to keep me busy with learning about trading agreements between the nations, and some of the important customs and traditions of our culture. He said that it would be important for me to learn about these things as daughter of the Chief, but I didn't understand why he didn't have me learn about all of this before. I understand that he wanted me to become more involved in the more political and cultural side of being a princess, but still, I thought it was weird.

Yori has healed quite nicely since Zhao's attack, and I never leave her out of my sight, but she tends to get annoyed with me and brushes me off. Often times, Yori tells me that she is supposed to be taking care of me, not the other way around. However, I don't tell her that I feel incredibly guilty about the entire thing. If I had been with her and not with Zuko, this might not have happened…

Zuko…

I felt my heart swell inside of my chest as I thought about the fearless Fire Lord. While I know what his feelings for me are, I know that he also has a duty to his nation to provide stability, which means he would need to find a lady of the court that was suitable for the title of Fire Lady. Iroh told me that she would have to have dignity and grace, with a respectable reputation among the people of the Fire Nation, who shares a wealth of knowledge in the affairs of the nation, things such as trade, treaties, and current situations that must be dealt with. And, even though, I was more than a little reluctant to learn about the royal court given the circumstances at the time, I did enjoy myself with the dances and learning about their culture.

Sighing, I looked out of the balcony connecting to my room, and saw a small shape beginning to form out over the horizon. My heart did a flip as I ran out of my room and past all of the people milling about the palace. I could see my father at the dock, waving down the ship that was heading straight for us. Several of the warriors, went out to the sea to greet the ship that was several minutes out at sea. Some of them were beginning to bend the water to hurry along the process as it was starting to get darker and much colder for everyone.

I felt my face breaking out into a large grin as I saw my brother waving at us from the bow. He seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much, while Suki, I assumed, was below deck with Queyue to protect her from the cold winds. However, I felt my heart begin to soar when I saw a rather large bison move throughout the sky. I waved my arms and watched as Aang pulled Appa's reins so that he would go down. The disgruntled grumble could be sound all the way down here, and I watched as they began to descend.

The air began to shift as Appa landed in front of me, and my clothes began to bustle about me. I could definitely identify Aang with his tall frame and shiny, bald head.

"Hey, Katara!" The young monk yelled at the top of his lungs, reminding me of all of those times that we traveled together with Sokka and Toph.

"Hey!" I waved back, though not nearly as enthusiastically. I watched him move toward the back of the bison and help his girlfriend up and out of the saddle, "You're looking a little green there Toph."

"I'm not looking at all, Sugar Queen, but I get what you mean," she gave me a forced smile as she was helped down.

I gave her a look of understanding, but when I saw that Aang went up again, I thought it was a little weird, but waited, watching as he helped down another person on the other side. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest like a gong. It made me nervous, wondering if it could be who I hoped it would be.

But why would Aang need to help him down?

I tilted my head to the side, curious, biting my lip as I waited for what felt like years at this point.

Maybe it's all of the robes that he is wearing… Or maybe he hurt himself on the way here… Or what if there was an assassination attempt on his life…

A million things were going through my mind, but before I could get through them all, I saw the ever so jovial Iroh walking with Aang behind him, "Good evening, Princess Katara. You look lovely, as always."

I gave a small smile, hoping that it could pass for a blush as disappointment began to settle in my heart, "Thank you, General Iroh. You are much to kind to me."

The wise, old man gave me a knowing look, and placed a hand on my shoulder, as if to let me know that he was sorry. Not wanting to offend him, I let his hand sit there, paying no attention to it.

Wait…

Furrowing my brow, I asked him, trying to not let my voice crack, "What brings you to the South Pole?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Aang was smiling really wide, "Oh, there a few documents that need to be signed between the Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation. The council sent me as I seem to have more contact with your father than the rest of them."

I quirked my lips, but merely nodded, feeling my heart relax, wondering about what kind of documents needed to be signed, "Ah, well how is the Fire Nation faring?"

I didn't want to ask outright what I really wanted to know, but his eye twinkled in a knowing way, and he said, "Everyone back home is splendid and wonderful. Though it is not as it used to be when you were there."

Biting my lip, I didn't respond to what he said. From behind the large bison, I could hear the sound of my brother shouting in glee about everything. He visited for a very short amount of time during the reconstruction of the Southern Water Tribe. We were in the midst of rebuilding several of the homes, but he left to travel home with Suki soon after to help her with the Kyoshi Warriors. It wasn't much after that when he told dad that he was going to stay with Suki on Kyoshi Island. I was jealous that he had somewhere he needed to be at the time; he found someone to be with and could be with, regardless of the responsibilities that should have been his in the first place. I remember it wasn't too long ago that he was bragging that he would one day become chief, only to reject the offer when he found Suki.

For a while, I resented Sokka. I feel guilty thinking about it now, but back then I was so upset that he could leave behind everything and not have to deal with things like arranged marriages or formal mannerisms. He wasn't forced to give up something that was a part of him in exchange for a stupid title that you didn't want in the first place. My brother is a smart man, with integrity and honesty, but I resented him for leaving me to pick up the role that he wanted in the first place. I was so happy when he accepted his role in our society and when he told me that he would never allow for the future generations face decisions such as these.

I smiled at my brother's antics and took General Iroh's offered arm, walking with him toward the rest of the group.

Maybe… I don't know… But maybe this is where I need to be…