It was always a bit funny, how they didn't start to really understand each other until they were standing in each other's shoes.

A continuation of the AU set up in Royalty and continued in Caught.

In His/Her Shoes

"WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART?"

Zuko frowned. "Of what?"

Across from him, Katara sipped her own tea, the tea his uncle had made for them before suddenly making himself scarce. Just going to pop over to the local temple, Uncle had said, waggling his eyebrows and whistling a happy tune. I just realized that I haven't paid my respects to the gods for our good fortune. Uncle had chuckled, looking as sly as he was capable of. And I think I'll make an offering for the souls of those we have lost, among other things.

What other things, Uncle? Zuko had asked, while Katara settled herself onto the floor in the little apartment Zuko and his uncle were reduced to these days, the tiny flat that Zuko was beginning to find he liked more than he'd ever liked his room back home.

In reply, Uncle had just giggled like a schoolboy, ruffled Zuko's ever shaggier hair, and said something infuriatingly cryptic before all but twirling out of the room, leaving Zuko to fume at empty air, again.

Which doesn't answer Katara's question.

"Well," Katara said, setting down her tea cup and picking up one of the biscuits Uncle had specially bought that morning, as if Zuko wouldn't see what he was up to, we're just friends now, Uncle, just friends, we've had an insane year and we've come a long way and I'm just giving her etiquette lessons because she's the one living in a palace now, you're making mountains out of badger-mole hills, Uncle, just stop it, "you were telling me yesterday about how you and your uncle survived the past six months, since the North."

Zuko nodded, wincing at some of the memories. I'll make it up to you someday, Song, I promise. "Yeah…often in ways that I'm not proud of…"

Katara gave him one of what he was coming to recognize as her standard looks, as if to say, Stop being so hard on yourself, you silly turtle-duck. "So you stole an ostrich-horse. Did you do it to be mean or cruel?"

Zuko sighed, a hand wandering up to rub the back of his neck. "Well…no…it's just…Uncle was an idiot and accepted that invitation, and I knew we were being hunted, I needed to do something to make them hate us if someone ever followed our trail there…" He sighed. Even now, the excuse rang hollow and dull in his ears. "And we were hungry and Uncle was sick and I was pissed off at the world and selfish."

"So," Katara said, in a tone of voice that seemed to proclaim, that settles it, then, "you were desperate and tired and not thinking clearly, and you acted like hundreds-of-thousands of other refugees thronging the roads out there."

His frown deepened. Who's supposed to be teaching who here? Somewhere in the back of his mind, he vaguely recalled something his uncle had said, some pithy little saying out of one of the lesser known books by some lesser known Air Nomad guru, that probably covered such a situation, but for the life of him he couldn't recall it. Whatever. What is it Uncle keeps saying? Be yourself, boy.

"I acted like a normal human being, is what you're saying."

Katara nodded. "Pretty much. Was it the right thing to do? Of course not, but hindsight is…oh…what was that saying you taught me the other day? You know, from that book you had to memorize as a kid…"

"The Tao Te Ching?"

Katara snapped her fingers in the air. "That one. Something about…oh…"

"Well, he doesn't speak on hindsight, so much as he-"

Katara raised a hand, palm out. "I'm gonna stop you there. I still have a headache from trying to cram all that into my head."

"Has it been useful, though?"

Katara's face broke into a wide grin, and not for the first time, he found himself wanting very much to keep that smile there. "Immensely. There was this planning session day before yesterday, you know, for the invasion that's a horrible idea but everyone seems to think it's brilliant, and one of those sayings popped into my head, and I just blurted it out, and next thing I know, everyone is praising me for my wisdom and whatnot. Hell, I haven't been called an uncultured barbarian in a good week."

Zuko allowed himself a small smile and bowed his head. "Happy I could help. But, back to your question…"

"Right. Just…about…you were born into…" She paused, waving the still uneaten biscuit around in the air as she struggled for words. "You know…into that," she continued, pointing the biscuit in the general direction of the Imperial Palace. "And then, for the past six months or so, you've been on the very bottom. So…I mean…going from where I started to…you know…there…has been utterly exhausting, so…what was the hardest part for you, being at the bottom?"

He pondered that for a moment. "Honestly?"

She smiled. "I like to think we've been nothing but honest with each other. It's…" She paused, giggled, then her head was tilting and she was tucking some stray hairs behind an ear and there was a strange blush spreading across her face and he felt a prickly heat in his chest and he was suddenly very glad his uncle wasn't there. "It's kind of one of the hallmarks of our relationship, you know?"

He coughed into his hand, hoping he wasn't blushing like she was, though why should she be blushing, I'm the doof here. "Well…true…though…we have a relationship?"

Her eyes went wide, though the smile and the blush remained. "Well…I mean…if you think about it…you know…just…um…yeah…you know what? Nevermind. Just…um…my question…"

"Oh…right…uh…yeah…but…actually, you know what the hardest part was? Admitting I was human."

That seemed to throw her for a loop. "Come again?"

"It's just…well…I was raised as royalty, right? Royalty are supposed to be…different, from everyone else. Better. Royalty don't complain, royalty don't get tired, royalty don't get hungry. Hurt? Walk it off. Sad? Get over it. Afraid? That's not possible, because normal people are afraid, and you're not normal. That was pounded into my head from…from birth, really, and then, there I was, adrift in a land full of people who would very much like to kill me if they knew who my father was, and…well…"

"You had to admit that you were human after all."

"Yeah…"

"And that was difficult."

"Incredibly so. It's like I was telling you, when you were talking about trying to tell Kuei that his people were hungry, and he looked confused, because it's quite possible that he doesn't know what hunger is."

"I'm still trying to recover from that revelation…it was an enormous help to me, too, but…just…living that way, being raised that way…it's exhausting, isn't it?"

"Yes," Zuko said, and it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, just the simple act of saying that, admitting to it, acknowledging it, I'm just a person, a normal human being, and that's okay. "Yes, exhausting is a good word for it. Don't you find it so, being up at the top of the hill, literally and figuratively?"

Katara sighed and nodded. "It's…it's dizzying. I don't know if I ever could've grown up that way."

Zuko found a smile coming, completely unbidden. "I dunno…I think you would've made an incredible princess."

Katara scoffed. "Screw that; I'd rather be a queen."

"That can be arranged."

"…come again?"

"Um…uh…so, back to Confucius…"

"Oh…um…right…um…but…I mean, seriously…how could I become a queen…?"

"Well…you could…um…I dunno…marry me?"

"…I can think of worse things to happen…"

"…what?"

"…I said that out loud, didn't I…"

"…um…maybe…?"

"So…uh…Confucius…right…?"

"Right…"

Later that night, back at the Palace, Sokka asked Katara why she'd been smiling all day. She pointed out that she smiled quite a bit. He admitted that was true, but observed that there was something…different…about her smile that night.

She just told him to mind his own business, before going right back to smiling.

Back in the Fire Quarter, about as far from the Earth Kingdom's Imperial Palace as it was possible to be, Uncle would not stop singing The Girls from Ba Sing Se, and, for once, Zuko didn't bother to stop him.

So, I could ramble on about what's going on here, but you know what? It's Christmas, and we should just enjoy the good feelings left by that cute little story. I'll suffice it to say that, basically, this is in the same AU as Day 14's Royalty and Day 15's Caught, and basically, Katara's been coming to Zuko for lessons in how to navigate the Earth Kingdom high society she's found herself in, and it's basically all about how, now that Zuko's the one on the bottom and she's the one on the top, they're really starting to get each other, because that's an episode I think even the Kataangers among us would've enjoyed seeing.

But like I said, fuck it, it's Christmas. The wife and I did a whole big Christmas Eve Thing yesterday with our families (a fun tidbit about Latino culture is that the big celebration is Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day), and today we've been lounging around, cuddling and being cute, and now I'm going to whip up my patented mac & cheese and we're going to crack open a few beers and watch some Clone Wars, because that show is awesome, and we're going to continue to cuddle and be cute and play with our dog, so nyah.

Seriously, I hope every single one of you is having a wonderful Christmas. So, Merry Christmas, and even if you're not religious, God bless. :-D

In tomorrow's episode, we pop over into the world of The Reporter Who Came in from the Cold, because why wouldn't we? You know you wanted a coda. Stay tuned!