AN: So, first things first, I am reeeeally sorry that this chapter has been so long in coming. At first, it was busyness, then writer's block, then trouble with that devil-program Microsoft Word, then my entire laptop bit the dust... meaning that I may have lost a lot of documents over which I shall cry later... But! Thanks to public computers, my local library, and google documents, I bring you THIS! ...it's experimental.

Secondly, woah! over 65 comments on *one* chapter! My head may have exploded a little when I realized how many were racking up. Thank you, everyone for your persistence, patience, and support and, again, I am *so* sorry that it took so long for this update to arrive. I hope it was worth it - enjoy!

The sky over the Capital was clear, but in the streets the air was still heavy with the previous night's rain. The moon hung low in the eastern sky, faintly yellow and no longer perfectly round. Still, it cast the grimy alley beside the Jade Cup in slanted light, leaving Katara and Zuko an entire wall of shadow against which to hide as they watched and waited.

Scorch Street was a busy place this early in the night. Despite being so narrow and winding, it was dotted with colorful paper lanterns and many of the shops kept their doors propped open, so the scents of roasted meat and spices gusted on the occasional breeze. A variety of people strolled past the mouth of the alley; a bedraggled poet loudly reciting his work, three streetwalkers with shockingly scant clothing, a patrol of alert city guards, a large man with a tattoo of a platypus-bear taking up the whole of one arm, and even a few grubby children all passed within moments of each other.

Katara let her back fall against the cool stone wall behind her and heaved a deep, silent breath, frowning under her improvised fukumen. The damp air carried a chill to it and all this crouching and stillness had drained the heat from her limbs. Her fingers, when she rubbed them together briskly, were nearly numb to the sensation. Beside her, Zuko's body burned with its invisible fire, but the waterbender maintained the inches between their hips and shoulders.

He hadn't spoken since they had crept from his chamber. This was normal. Normally, they didn't speak much when they were out. Quiet was important. Katara knew this. Tonight, though, Zuko's silence seemed different. It was as heavy as the water in the air and lingered in the space between them like a third companion, watching and waiting as they did.

"...but just how honorable do you plan to be when you're in my bed, tonight?"

For a long moment, she was too stunned to speak. Then, she swallowed, shrugged, and looked away from his measuring gaze, his faded smirk. "I... I didn't... plan... I saw a chance to get the scandal going and to make sneaking out easier and to-" She was blushing. She could feel it, hot and fast across her cheeks, her throat. "I saw a chance and I didn't see a reason to wait longer, so I took it."

Zuko raised his chin and frowned thoughtfully at her, his eyes narrowing to glittering slits. "Do you trust me, Katara?"

"What? Of course I trust you!"

"Are you sure?" He took a half-step closer, the candlelight casting his face in darkness. "Because you were pretty quick to refuse the second half of that… tea."

With another deep breath, Katara peered past Zuko's unmoving silhouette to Scorch Street. Now was not the time to think about it.

As if sensing her desperation for distraction, a familiar face strode into view - though it took Katara a second to recognize him. His clothes were not the dark, utilitarian garb of the previous night, but a simple red tunic and a white apron with strings a bit too long for his trim waist. His hair was tied back neatly and his face was very clean. In his arms, he carried a basket of jars, all full of dried herbs of some kind - likely tea.

Chu Tan pulled up short at Zuko's sharp whistle and, after only an instant's hesitation, he glanced around the passers-by and stepped into the alley. His approach was slow but deliberate and Katara realized the instant he recognized the mask of the Blue Spirit; he stopped, half-lit by the yellow moon, and his eyes widened. He fumbled with the basket a bit, as if trying to figure out how to bow properly without dropping it, but Zuko spoke before he could come up with something.

"I trust you remember our arrangement, Chu Tan?"

The boy finally dropped the basket to the cobblestones with a clatter and fell to his knees beside it. When he spoke, his voice was a little squeaky, but also muffled by the short distance between his face and the street. "Of course, Fire Lord! I am your humble servant."

"Quiet!" Katara peered back toward Scorch Street. No one seemed to be paying any attention, but that didn't mean their attention couldn't be drawn. She frowned at Chu Tan and went on. "What's your problem, kid? Do you want us to get caught? Did you know you were sending us into a trap last night?"

"What? No!" His narrow shoulders tensed and he rose enough to stare up at her, wide-eyed. "I... I did hear that there were royal guards in the Mid City last night..." Katara took a step toward him and he rushed to go on. "...but that was this morning! I had no idea there would be a trap! I was supposed to deliver the Blue Spirit to the nobleman by Ozai's Arch - that's all I knew! I swear it on my life!"

"Chu Tan, you said you didn't recognize the man who approached you... how did you know he was a noble?" At Zuko's low tone, Katara turned her analytical gaze to him. The mask betrayed nothing. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Chu Tan's face as it paled and dropped forward again. His voice was slightly muffled.

"He came in a royal palanquin, my Lord - the sort from the palace... with the Nation's insignia."

For a long moment, there was silence. Katara glanced back and forth between the other two, but neither Chu Tan's bowed back nor Zuko's rigid shoulders gave any hints as to their thoughts. Finally, she shook her head and shrugged.

"What's the big deal? Lo Wei could have used his connections to borrow a palanquin, couldn't he?"

"He was disgracefully dismissed from my service. Hau would never have allowed a palanquin to be borrowed by someone outside the palace, let alone someone in Lo Wei's position."

Katara persisted in a whisper to keep the details from Chu Tan, but she did not lean as close to the firebender as she had on other nights. "But what about Lord Bau Li? Doesn't he have his own palanquins?"

The mask turned as Zuko's gaze settled on her. She put another half-step between them. He hesitated before speaking, tone mildly impatient. "Most nobles do have their own palanquins, but they all bear house crests rather than the Fire Nation insignia."

Katara swallowed and blinked rapidly. "So... this means..." She trailed off and, after a moment, Zuko finished the thought for her.

"Lo Wei must have had an accomplice besides Bau Li. Someone inside the palace."

The alley was silent except for the distant sounds of the denizens of Scorch Street going about their business. Katara didn't hear them, though, focused as she was on drawing and releasing each breath. Lo Wei's panicky voice came back to her.

"...He lent the troops and the money to pay off the watch..."

But he hadn't payed for Chu Tan's services.

Someone inside the palace. Someone with power and money and, worst of all, anonymity. It had crossed Katara's mind that Lo Wei had financed the attack on her first night in the Fire Nation, until she realized that he didn't actually have the money for that. Had this unknown accomplice been behind that attempt on her life?

Zuko was talking and, after some rapid blinking, Katara began to pay attention.

"...would hunt the weasel down and squeeze it out of him, but he's half-way to the Earth Kingdom by now." He had stalked a few steps deeper into the alley and his hands were fisted and upraised in his frustration. "Stupid! I gave him the perfect excuse to flee the country."

"He really left?"

"Yes, Katara," Zuko snapped, flinging an arm out to one side. "You think he'd actually try to stay in the country after the way you threatened him last night? His name was at the top of the list of departing passengers. He is gone and so is our chance at catching his accomplice!"

"Alright!" The waterbender crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at him. "But I wasn't the only one threatening, if you'll remember, and you don't have to snarl at me over it. Being mad at me won't fix anything."

Zuko went on staring at her for a long moment before he heaved a deep sigh and his shoulders slumped. He raised a hand, perhaps to pinch the bridge of his nose, but his fingers bumped the mask and dropped back to his side. For a long while, he didn't speak. Katara just watched him, annoyed. How could he be mad at her when he was the one who had banished Lo Wei? Was he that irrational?

She raised her open palms at her sides, tone a bit indignant. "It was an assurance to Lin that nothing would happen – you know that."

"Are you sure that it wasn't an assurance to you, too?"

"Um..." Chu Tan cleared his throat and peered up at them, but he hesitated to speak.

Now was not the time. Katara uncrossed her arms and offered him a hand. "Stand up, Chu Tan. You're getting your apron all dirty."

As if fearing a trick, the young tea server sat up and accepted her hand, rising to his feet. He tried to brush the grime from the knees of his white apron, but the moisture on the ground made the dust smear into mud. His narrow shoulders rose and fell in a sigh. "Won Chi is going to choke me."

Katara opened her mouth to offer some consolation and wise words on stain removal, but the thoughts were driven from her mind when he spoke again.

"I might be able to help you identify that nobleman... he had a pretty distinctive voice."

Zuko's head snapped up, but Katara spoke. "Distinctive in what way?"

The young man shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know... I'm not so sure how to describe it. He was old, though... and he had a real way with words."

The waterbender blinked and an image of curling gray-and-black sideburns flashed in her mind. Her lip drew up to reveal her teeth.

Zuko was nodding. "If you heard him speak again, would you recognize him?"

"Yes, Fire Lord."

"Then you won't be working in your cousin's tea shop tomorrow night."

Katara could barely hear the smirk tugging at Zuko's lips as he explained what Chu Tan would do instead of pouring tea, but the fierce excitement spreading over the archer's face was clear to be seen. She smiled beneath her fukumen; perhaps the boy was better off as a bounty hunter. Chu Tan could work all day and night in a tea shop, but his heart would always be on the hunt.

They returned to the palace early that night. In fact, it was so strangely early that there were many more people in the corridors than they had ever encountered before. Mostly, the halls were populated by servants rushing around, performing their various duties, but there were occasional groups of nobles who strolled by at a stately pace. Everyone, it seemed, was whispering.

Zuko and Katara were forced, time after time, to dodge into the narrow shadows of ornamental pillars or squeeze into nooks behind statues and potted plants. As a final close call, they had to scramble out a window and stand on the ledge outside with their backs pressed to the wind-chilled marble as Lady Lo Kang and a few other Ba Sing Se noblewomen meandered by.

"...heard those serving girls at dinner, didn't you?" It was that familiar, cultured voice, dancing between relish and boredom. Katara, who was closer to the window, bristled. Zuko's shoulder, pressed to hers, became even more noticeable. Lady Lo Kang went on, growing louder as she approached. "Apparently, the watery little harlot has won the game - or at least the first round."

"She's even simpler than she looks if she believes she can win the Fire Lady's seat just by seducing him," sighed another lyrical voice. "I'm actually rather embarrassed for the poor girl. A fool for a brother, a brute for a father, and now this... shameful lapse in judgement."

An older woman chimed in, her tone belying a shrug. "I would not be so quick to assume it was a lapse, Lady Li Wan. After all, the Fire Nation respects the power of passion and the Fire Lord is rather..." Katara could hear the smirk spreading her lips. "...young. Young men are notorious for confusing passion with love."

Lady Lo Kang's voice came next, the tiny upturning of her lips also obvious in her tone. "Oh, but if only the same could be said for her brutishly handsome father..."

The ensuing round of muffled giggles was just enough noise to cover the sound of Katara straining to leap back through the window. Zuko's grip on her elbow was sudden and firm, though, and he managed to keep her back long enough for reason to return. The warmth from the firebender's hand seeped through the fabric of her shirt and Katara became aware of the sound of his breathing, so close beside her.

The noblewomen continued down the corridor, making quietly obscene jokes, and they soon rounded a corner. Still, the waterbender remained outside the window, Zuko's hot hand on her arm. She turned her head and peered into the darkness of the mask's eyes.

"I… Alright! Fine! It was an assurance to me, too." She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning at the floor off to her right. Shame gnawed at her. "Can we just go, now?"

He peered at her for a long moment, but she never looked back at him. Finally, he stalked off to his dressing room and, when he emerged, he was darkly dressed and masked.

Katara felt vulnerable under the Blue Spirit's blank stare, as if he was silently judging her for her indiscretions, as if every failure of her self-control was laid out on a block in front of him. The words of the noblewomen swirled into the mix.

"...watery little harlot..."

"...shameful lapse in judgement..."

"...confusing passion with love..."

Katara's stomach clenched and she looked away. Zuko's hand jerked off of her arm and the cool air immediately replaced it. He made a tiny sound, like the beginnings of speech, but the waterbender shrugged off the chill and ducked back through the window.

He followed her through the corridor like a shadow and, occasionally, she would glance back to make sure that he was still there. Catching his dark shape on the edge of her vision was both reassuring and disconcerting and she released a relieved sigh as they slipped through the concealed door into his bedchamber.

No sooner had the door whispered shut behind them, Zuko crossed his arms and began staring at her, unmoving.

Katara, with a guilty shrug, shot a glance at the bathroom. She wanted to wash the paint from her face, but the sooner she did that, the sooner she would be in bed with him... and then what would she do?

"That door doesn't lock."

She blinked and looked back at the Blue Spirit mask. He sounded almost resentful, but it was hard to tell. "Why would I want it to?"

Zuko shrugged slightly. His tone was definitely resentful, now. "I don't want you to be surprised or feel like I tricked you - if you want to, I don't know, hide or something, I mean."

Katara scoffed. "Hide? From what? Everyone knows I'm here, already." She held her arms out to both sides, shaking her head. In an undertone, she went on. "Good job, Katara..."

He was quiet again and the mask turned briefly down towards the floor before raising back up to her. "I meant from me. In case you want to hide from me."

The waterbender could only stare at him. She was vaguely aware of her face screwing up in confusion, but her mind was too blown to process more than the softening of his voice.

Zuko shifted his weight from one foot to the other, but refused to break the silence. It wasn't fair that he could just hide behind that mask and watch her flounder. It wasn't fair at all.

Finally, Katara yanked the fukumen down her chin and shoved back her hood. "What is wrong with you? What in Yue's name could make you think that I would want to hide from you? And in your bathroom, of all places?"

"What's wrong with me? What about you?" His arms uncrossed so he could point at her as he growled. "You've made it obvious that you think I would take advantage of you."

"What?" She waved her arms widely. "Did we have a conversation that I don't know about or something? Did I black out? Because I don't remember saying anything like that!"

"Then explain!" His voice came through the mask as a slightly-muffled roar and his hands balled into fists, raising at his sides. "Explain why you needed to insure that nothing would happen, tonight! Explain why you don't trust me to behave honorably!"

"I do trust you! You're the one who doubts my honor, remember?" Katara jabbed herself in the chest with a thumb before crossing her arms tightly, trying to bundle herself in. She glared off at a corner of the floor. "Not without cause, I guess, but still..."

She did not see him take off the mask, but her head whipped around when she heard him drop it on the table where her possessions were arranged. Zuko was watching her with a furrowed brow, his expression lost between confusion and frustration. When he spoke, he shook his head slowly from side to side. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Katara huffed and shrugged, looking away. "If anybody isn't trustworthy, here, it's me, Zuko. I... seduced you in an alley and jumped you in your lounge and spent the night in your bed without even asking you – and now I'm about to do it again. I mean..." Her eyes turned briefly skyward and she waved a hand in a thoughtful gesture. "I did kind of pass out, last time... but, still, I can't tell you how many times I've touched you unnecessarily or rubbed up against you or... smelled you. I don't even think about it – it just kind of happens." Katara's face was burning. She flicked her gaze up to take in Zuko's wide yellow eyes for an instant before again looking away.

"I didn't drink the contraceptive for a few reasons... What you said about Lin... and the taste... but, mostly, I didn't want to have that excuse to lose control." Taking a deep breath, she raised her chin and met his eyes. "With this whole scandal thing, I'm not entirely sure that I would be able to look people in the eye if I knew that all the stories they're telling about us were... actually true." She gripped her elbow with the opposite hand and toyed with the hip of her tunic. "I... want to keep at least a little honor, you know?"

Zuko blinked and, after a second, nodded. "Yeah. I do know." He stepped slowly towards her, watching her closely. Katara held her head high and did not move except to glance down when he came close enough to reach for the hand that hung at her side. She let him raise it before him and watched the tender lift of his brow as he peered at her subtle knuckles, her nails that needed a trim. Those yellow eyes raised again to meet hers. "I never doubted your honor, Katara. I mean..." His gaze dropped back to her hand and his good cheek reddened. "...my culture reveres passion and I haven't exactly been chaste with you, either. That's... actually why I asked what I... I mean, since you're going to be... right there... I'll be pretty tempted to... do things..."

She blinked. His hands, cupping one of hers, felt hot and damp. Katara smiled and twisted her fingers through his, slid her free hand down from her elbow to rest over his knuckles. "Me too."

Zuko's eyes shot back up to hers, then dropped to her smiling lips. His eyebrow rose up his forehead and his mouth twitched into a near-smile. "So... when you say you want to keep a little honor, how much are you talking about, exactly?"

Katara's smile widened into a smirk. "Well, we are engaged and it is in accord with Southern Water Tribe tradition that a couple be certain that they share attraction before the vows are spoken..."

The firebender offered a mock-offended frown and he traced a finger along the base of her palm. The tickling sensation made Katara's lips part in a tiny, startled gasp. Zuko leaned over their joined hands and whispered into her ear. "You doubt that we share a spark?"

"Of course not..." The waterbender slipped a hand up the side of his neck and held him in place as he attempted to withdraw. He yielded immediately to her light pressure and, as her fingers crept through his shagging hair, she heard him swallow. "...but there's no harm in making sure."

He stood still before her and, so close, she could smell the sweat he had worked up during the night's running. It was a warm, mildly animal smell that reminded her somewhat of the tents of her home, the intersection of wilderness with humanity. That scent called to Katara, tugged at some place behind her navel.

When she took the lobe of his ear between her lips, he grunted softly and his hands, still wrapped around one of hers, clenched and released. She traced the soft flesh with her tongue and listened closely to his elevated breathing, acutely aware of the way his skin heated against hers. Katara drew back and spoke to the space behind his ear.

"But I don't know if I'd call this a spark... it feels more like a slow boil to me."

"Actually..." Zuko had to clear his throat before going on. "...this is like a bed of embers. It takes air to bring a spark..." With that, he turned his head and breathed, hot and damp, against her neck, her jaw. The waterbender shuddered and turned her head to grant him better access and Zuko settled his mouth against her pulse in a languid kiss.

Katara swallowed and managed to gasp out words. "Point taken." Zuko seemed not to notice. His mouth trailed, soft and warm, against the tender flesh at the side of her neck. Her heavy exhales slipped into her throat but she only became aware of the low moan escaping her when Zuko answered her with a forward surge and the slide of his hands; one slipped around to the small of her back and the other, still gripping her hand, dragged up his chest to his shoulder. He planted her palm against the ridge of his collarbone before tracing her arm back to her body and trailing his fingers against her ribs on the way to her hip.

Katara squirmed and turned her head to peer at the firebender. He looked back at her with hooded eyes, once again sparkling darkly like honey from the comb. She ran her fingers through his hair, drawing it back from his pale face. Zuko dipped his chin and began leaning closer, his gaze again set on her lips.

"I need to bathe," she blurted.

He stopped, blinking, and his brow furrowed. "Right now?"

"Before bed." Katara's face reddened and she rushed on. "I won't sleep well if I don't."

"Oh..." Zuko cleared his throat and drew back slightly, though he didn't get far with her fingers tangled in his hair as they were. He frowned. "There's a basin in the bathroom... and soap... and towels."

"Yeah, that's good. Um..." The waterbender looked off to one side and bit her lip for a second, fighting a battle with herself. It was tradition among her people... but maybe it wouldn't be appealing to Zuko. He was Fire Nation royalty, after all, and she couldn't expect him to want to share every aspect of her culture, especially when she had made such a point of remaining distinct from his just hours before...

...and, oh, how embarrassing would it be if she asked and he refused?

"I guess I'll, uh... change back into my sleep clothes, then." He was still frowning at her and lifted his hands from her body, drawing further away. Katara released her grip on his hair.

"Right... yeah..."

While Zuko retreated to his dressing room again, the waterbender dug through her bag for her own sleep clothes and then scurried into the bathroom. As she was preparing to pull the door shut behind her, she paused with one hand resting on the knob. She could see her reflection dimly in the mirror over the vanity, dark in the threshold and outlined in the faint light of candles.

The blue shell beads in her braided locks glistened like her eyes in the half-light.

When Zuko pulled his sleep shirt on and tied the sash around his waist, he tugged the silk into place with the finality of a decision being made.

Honor. He would sleep beside Katara with honor. He might kiss her, perhaps touch her, but he would keep his distance, keep the fire burning low within him. He would remain under control. He would honor the trust she had for him.

He might lose his mind, but he would at least keep his honor.

Zuko took a deep breath before emerging from the dressing room, expecting to perhaps lay down and wait for Katara to finish bathing. He didn't make it two steps toward the bed before noticing that half the candles that had been arranged around the room were missing.

He stopped with his forward foot hovering when he realized where they had gone.

The waterbender had taken some candles... a lot of candles into the bathroom, as evinced by the flickering beam of light cast across the floor from that door... which stood slightly ajar.

AN: So... do any of my super-duper-smart readers have thoughts on the format of this chapter? Does it do anything for the content?

Also, updates won't be as frequent from here on, since I totally screwed up my computer and am vagabonding it for the now. XnX This makes me very, very sad and I will try to find an alternate arrangement... but we shall see...