By the time Hakoda and Zuko arrived back at the warriors' barracks, the screaming had stopped. Katara and Jin stood near the doorway of the women's lodging wearing expressions of bewilderment, but neither appeared too concerned about anyone's safety.

"What happened?" Zuko leaned over with palms pressed into his thighs to catch his breath. He noticed the Chief was hardly panting at all, though.

Jin pointed a shaky finger in the direction of a nondescript building. "Well, Malina just ran out of our room screaming, but I think Suki was able to calm her down. They went in there."

Hakoda didn't wait around for further explanation.

Zuko straightened himself and looked questioningly at Katara. She just shrugged. "Some friends of mine are here from the South Pole. Suki was showing them where we're staying, and that's when Malina went all viper batshit."

As if on cue, Nutha and Niyok exited the barracks behind them.

The older frowned at him. "You didn't bring our stuff."

The younger elbowed her sister in the ribs. "Nutha, he's the Fire Lord, not your personal servant."

Nutha laced her fingers above her head and stretched her arms. "I know. I just wanted to change into something more comfortable."

Zuko had a sarcastic remark fired and ready about her choice in travel attire despite the risk he'd run in teasing a Water Tribe woman he just met. He smirked and cocked his head to the side—that's when he saw it. The crescent moon shape. And possibly the reason why Malina was screaming.

"What does the symbol mean?" he asked.

"Huh? What symbol?" Nutha covered her mouth as she yawned.

"On your—" Armor?

"Ugh. I told her not to wear it," Niyok replied. "It's our warrior uniforms. Nutha thought we'd need them to begin our training. I told her we'd wear Kyoshi stuff, not these old rags from the Water Tribe. Besides, we're not training now. It's dinnertime… right? I sure hope so, because I'm famished."

"But the moon shape… it's sideways… or pointed down…" Zuko quickly diverted his eyes when he realized exactly where he was staring.

Nutha raised an eyebrow at him and pointed at the emblem on her chest. "The crescent moon means bravery in the Water Tribe."

Zuko stood taller so he could focus on the top of her head instead. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, attempting to make a more lordly impression. "I knew that, actually. But it almost looks like the mark of the trusted to me."

"Oh, so the Fire Lord does know a little bit about Water Tribe culture. Good job with this one, Katara." Nutha shot his girlfriend a sideways glance, but she simply rolled her eyes in response.

Another snarky comment came to mind, but Zuko was trying to maintain some dignity here. Spirits knew he'd lost status completely while staying in the South Pole between Kanna's initial banishment of him and his ultimate imprisonment there. But with members of the White Lotus and other nationals expected at any minute, he needed to regain his composure and command respect.

Why he decided to do that with two impossible teenage girls was beyond anyone's guess, though. Perhaps because he had earned the mark of the brave. He certainly didn't make any claim for mark of the wise. But you can't have more than one mark anyway…

"So, which is it?" he asked. "The mark of the brave or the mark of the trusted?"

"It's both," Niyok interjected. "It's our father's mark. He says you can't have one without the other."

"But I thought you couldn't have more than one mark," Zuko challenged.

"He invented his own mark, OK?" Nutha snapped. "Because he's just… like that. He does things his own way. It's called the mark of loyalty… and I'm so… over it. I'd really like to change into something—"

"Here." Suki shuffled up next to the Water Tribe sisters and handed each of them a bundle. "The lightweight training gear should feel better after your long travels. But I will have you know that the Kyoshi Warrior uniform symbolizes loyalty, too. So, I hope you're just trying to shed clothing and not the notion entirely."

"No, of course not," Nutha grumbled. "Sorry, Sifu Suki, for my outburst. It won't happen again." And with that, she bowed and disappeared through the barracks doorway.

"I'm sorry about that." Niyok addressed Zuko as she spoke. "We didn't leave home—our father—on the best of terms."

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling less regal all of the sudden. "I understand. About fathers… I guess."

"Rrrrrright. So, I'll go get changed then," Niyok replied.

"I'll go check on dinner," Suki said.

"I'll go with you." Jin hooked elbows with Suki and nodded back at Katara. Then both of them were giving his girlfriend a pointed look before turning to leave.

Zuko knew what that meant. Katara must have something to say to him.

"Uhhh, we could go get Nutha and Niyok's stuff? It's a nice walk down to the docks?" he offered.

She nodded slowly and accepted his outstretched hand.

They walked for some time in silence, and Zuko relished the sounds of the island—birds singing, fresh earth crunching beneath their feet, the soft rustling of leaves in the wind. All the ice and snow in the South Pole did make the place seem pristine and peaceful, but also very remote. Alone.

Zuko had intended to let her speak first, but a question from earlier came to mind. "Is Gilak Nutha and Niyok's father?"

Katara released a drawn-out sigh as if she had been waiting for him to say something, anything. "Yes. Why? Did you meet Gilak?"

Zuko strained to remember. He didn't think so, though. And by the way Katara answered, it didn't seem like she was aware of this man's murderous agenda. "No. What do you know about him?" he asked.

Her hand slipped from his, and her expression turned grim. "Not much. He went to war whenever Dad did. But before that, Nutha and Niyok always wanted to stay at our hut. To get away from their father, I think. And as soon as he came back from the war, that's when they left to go work in the Earth Kingdom."

"Ahh, OK." To Zuko's relief, this meant that the two sisters were not likely involved in their father's rebellion, then.

Katara suddenly stopped walking at almost the same spot where Hakoda had earlier. And Zuko had this same sense of everything else coming to a halt, too.

"Zuko, I'm sorry."

"I—uhh, OK." I should apologize, too... I think?

She bit her lip and wrung her hands, and Zuko saw it coming, like waves crashing—the crying, the confusion, the confession. And somehow he knew she needed to get this out, whatever it was, no matter how hard it would be to see her this way. And no matter how much he wanted to take the blame instead.

"I'm sorry for what I said on the ship. I didn't mean it. I'm really glad you're a part of my family, Zuko. That my dad—" She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

That's... it? He grazed her elbow with his fingertips and offered a small smile by way of comfort. "Thank you for sharing your family with me. I didn't mean to monopolize your dad's time during our visit. He just…" Helped me. A lot, actually.

"I know. He told me. I never knew all that about his father. And when I think about your father… or Gilak… it was so stupid for me to be mad at him. To be mad at you. I guess I was just… jealous or something. But he really is a good father. He was there for Nutha and Niyok when we were little, and now he's here for you. I should be grateful that he has so much love to give, but instead I—"

Zuko placed his index finger over her lips and then moved his hand to gently cup her cheek. "Hey. Just because you're not having problems, doesn't mean you don't still need your dad. One of his biggest fears is neglecting you and Sokka, so if you truly feel that way, you should talk to him about it. I know he would—"

She returned the gesture of shushing him. "No. That's just it. I don't feel neglected. But he still thinks I feel that way. Because I'm apparently pretty good at bringing out the worst fears in people. Just like I did with you. You were getting so much better on all that stuff with your dad, and I just threw it back in your face. I'm not supposed to do that to someone I care about—to someone I love."

"Katara. I love you, too."

The tears that she had been holding back flowed freely now. "I'm so sorry."

"Katara. I forgive you."

"I never want to hurt you again," she whispered as she laced her fingers behind his neck and pressed her forehead against his chin.

Zuko's hands settled at the small of her back, and he sighed deeply. "But you will, and that's OK."

"What!? No, Zuko." At this, she tried to push away, but he held her tight and pulled her closer.

"Ka-ta-ra, you're not perfect. And neither am I. If we expect that from each other, then we'll keep letting each other down. Master Piandao says seek partnership, not perfection."

"I know that, Zuko. I do. I just don't want to be like the other people who have hurt you."

"Trust me. You're not. And you don't bring out the worst fear in people, either. The fear itself does that. If anything, you give me hope."

Her brow knitted in confusion. "I… I don't understand."

"So, for people like your Dad and me—who have been hurt like we have—fear is always intertwined with our idea of love no matter how hard we try to overcome. Take your Dad for example. He was neglected by his own father, so he does everything in his power to not neglect his own kids. Yet, he still thinks he's failing you somehow. My father, he—"

Zuko gulped. He had intended to follow with a parallel statement about himself, but the feeling of dread in his stomach stole his words instead.

Pushing thoughts of Ozai aside, he redirected. "Katara, I never thought I'd be capable of loving someone like you. And worthy to be loved by someone like you. I'm not free from the fear, but it's more than I could have ever hoped for."

"I just wish you could be free of the pain, too. And I don't want to be the one to inflict it… if I can help it."

He laughed softly, thinking of how she wasn't much different than her father. So full of love to give and never satisfied that she's given enough. To reassure her, he said, "The difference is, their kind of pain leaves scars. Yours stings for a bit, but it doesn't leave a mark."

He wasn't surprised in the least when Katara reached up with a trembling hand to caress his scarred cheek. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, but he couldn't feel the coolness of her touch. He never could—not there.

It's a scar. It can't be healed.

Suddenly Kyoshi crashed in around him, and he plummeted into the caverns of Ba Sing Se. He found himself staring at Katara's face bathed in concern and a greenish glow from the crystals that surrounded them.

I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark.

And with Katara's hand positioned in the same way it was that day, he added, "I am free to love and be loved."

Maybe she did heal me after all?

Then Zuko was met with a new onslaught of sensations—the sound of waves lapping against the hull of a ship and seagulls flying overhead, the smell of salty sea and morning mist, the ocean breeze whipping at his hair.

Malina's voice clipped the air. "I can't heal someone's emotional pain. They can only do that for themselves."

He thought maybe he felt her lightly touch his forearm, but no one was there. "You are not unworthy of love like you think you are. When you forgive yourself and learn to let that go…" Her words faded from a whisper into nothingness.

The scene started to shift again. Zuko gritted his teeth, trying to will himself back to the present—back to Katara. But apparently his trip down memory lane had just begun. He was hurled into a gray abyss that looked very much like the fog from the Legend of Makenna—Smoke on the Water. Then, as if summoned to court to petition the Fire Lord, people emerged one by one, speaking their piece and disappearing as quickly as they came.

Dr. Jung spoke first. "Anger is what keeps you from being able to let go of the fear."

Next, came his mother, her words wrought with grief. "Pain can make you stronger, but fear will tear you down."

"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher!" Ozai's voice was forceful and anything but fatherly.

"We all endure pain and suffering. The difference is how we choose to respond to it," Hakoda offered in his calm, yet direct fatherly tone.

Wearing a fatherly expression, Iroh added, "In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength."

Ursa appeared again, still solemn, but more composed this time. "It's always darkest before the dawn"

Then Zuko saw himself standing beside his uncle looking in a mirror. Iroh swelled with pride as he proclaimed, "The dark days of the Fire Nation are over. It is the reign of Fire Lord Zuko. It is the dawn of a new era."

Hakoda's image joined theirs in the mirror. "You bear the mark of the brave. You stand up for what you believe to be right, you defend your loved ones and your people, and your inspire courage in others."

At last, it was only Zuko staring at his own reflection. The gray had faded to black, and he pinched his arm in another attempt to wake up from this—whatever this was. He saw himself wince in the mirror, and that's when he noticed—the scar was gone.

Hakoda's words echoed in his mind or maybe in the void, he couldn't be sure. "The mark is only a symbol. What matters is the lesson you learned today."

This must be the part where I face myself.

He cleared his throat, stood a little taller, but avoided eye contact with the figure in the mirror. "So, pain is about perception. And to overcome, I choose to find hope even in the darkest of situations. I have found hope, and I give hope to others. Maybe pain can make you stronger, but love… love can make you whole."

When nothing happened, Zuko dared not lose hope, not after making a statement like that.

He focused hard on the scarless face this time. "OK, umm. I am worthy. Worthy to love. And be loved. Worthy of my family and friends. Worthy to rule the Fire Nation."

No?

With clinched fists and boiling blood, he tried again. "I am not afraid! I bear no marks of shame! I uphold my honor! I AM NOT MY FATHER!"

He spun around and punched the air, yelling at whatever force he perceived was keeping him there. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

Then it struck him, a jolt, almost like lightening.

He turned slowly to face his reflection once more. He studied the chiseled contours of his flawless profile before pinning himself with a look of sheer determination.

"I… forgive you."

Fierce golden eyes were replaced with blue, and a canopy of trees entered his field of view. Zuko felt the rough ground beneath him and Katara's healing hands pulsing at his temples. It was only for the briefest of moments that he felt the sensation on both sides. Then, only the right side registered her touch, and that was his confirmation—the scar was still there.

What was that? A dream… or something?

"Zuko! You're awake!" Katara exclaimed. "You passed out! I thought you were unconscious again! Are you OK?"

"I—uhh, yeah?"

"Oh, Zuko! Stop doing that!" Her tone was scolding, but also a little breathy. She began peppering his face with soft, careful kisses, and his entire body thrummed in response.

"Mmmmm, Katara." The neediness in his voice was enough to encourage her to straddle him and claim his lips. Their insistence and desperation proved to be quite mutual.

Zuko lost all sense of where they were, what they had set out to do, and even what had just happened. All that mattered was this moment, this woman, and how wonderful they could make each other feel.

The moment lasted until they were both topless and shamelessly groping each other on the earthen floor. Zuko may have missed the sound of approaching footsteps, but he did not miss the growl.

Oh shit. The wolf.

He pushed them both to a seated position and grabbed the nearest piece of clothing to cover Katara's bare chest. She yelped at the sudden movement, but they'd been through something like this before, so she quickly tied the sash of his tunic across her waist. Zuko tucked his knees to his chest in an effort to hide the very obvious bulge in his pants.

That seemed to be the cue Hakoda was waiting for—so they would be somewhat decent before he approached. He cleared his throat, and Zuko thought the man still sounded like a wolf on the prowl.

"I was just on my way to the docks to get Nutha and Niyok's stuff. I could use a hand, Zuko. If you're not too busy."

"N-n-no sir. I mean… yes sir." Zuko glanced nervously at Katara. She looked about as red as he felt.

"Also, I'm told that dinner will be ready soon," Hakoda continued. "Katara, perhaps you should go see if Suki needs help with the food?"

"Yes sir," she squeaked.

Nobody moved.

Hakoda shrugged. "OK, meet me at the docks whenever you're ready."

Zuko thought he saw a smirk tugging at the corner of the Chief's mouth, but he wouldn't consider himself so lucky. He let out the breath he had been holding and cast Katara an apologetic look before falling in step behind her father.

Hakoda stopped abruptly and eyed Zuko's shirtlessness with an unreadable expression. He then called back over his shoulder. "Hey, Katara. I think red really suits you."