"Please, Katara. I know that you don't trust me, and you have no reason to, but we don't have a lot of time. I must be gone by the time Zuko returns." The woman pleaded, seeking desperately to be heard.

Katara felt her body relax slowly from her fighting stance and moved wearily closer to the woman in the dark. Now that she took a closer look, Zuko did look an awful lot like the noble that sat in front of her; especially the eyes.

"What do you mean you're his mother? He said that she was killed." But even as she asked, her heart sank because she somehow knew that this women was telling the truth.

"He probably thinks I was. It has been a very long time since I have seen my son, but I could not be more proud of him." She said quietly with a sad smile on her face.

She felt her heart sinking. It was happening again. She was lied to again. Her fear and internal agony must have shown on her face because Zuko's mother stood slowly and approached her, taking her hands in her own.

"I know that this is going to be hard for you, Katara, but you need to remember that you need him. You can't do this alone and it's too late to turn back." Her voice had gone from kind to serious in a matter of moments, "You'll soon understand who I am and more importantly who he is, but you must know that what he means to do is for the greater of the world."

"I don't understand," she whispered tears brimming her eyes.

"Please, listen closely, we don't have much time." Katara nodded and swallowed her tears, "The closer you get the more you will see things for how they should have been instead of what you know them to be. It may have already started-"

"The boy with the scar," she thought to herself.

"-But you can't allow yourself to become distracted. You need to focus on your goal."The woman sighed deeply, staring seriously into her eyes, "Do you understand?" Katara nodded twice and the women smiled at her.

"Good. I'm honored to have met you, Katara, but we won't be meeting again."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused, "We could come find you after we've completed our mission. Zuko would love to have his mother back, I'm sure."

"You can't tell him," the woman said quickly, taking a step back, "If he knows that I'm alive and that I was here he won't stop looking until he finds me and the world is at stake, Katara. Once the world is fixed he will never see me again, but if he comes after me we lose our last chance to set things right."

Katara looked at her with horror, she was asking her to keep Zuko from seeing his mother ever again. His mother that he thought was dead; and what had she meant that he'd never see her again once they'd succeeded? Would them saving the world kill her? But of course. That was the cruel trick that fate played, and now this woman was asking her to keep the most horrible secret from the one who would want to hear it most.

The pain was overwhelming and she didn't know how she could possibly do such a thing to someone that she held so close to her heart, no matter what he'd lied about, but instead she nodded solemnly to this admirable person who stood before her. The gravity of the world outweighed this woman any day, but Katara would never say that because she knew that she'd sacrifice the world if she had a chance to see her mother again.

"I understand. I wish I didn't, but I do. I won't tell him, you have my word."

The women smiled and kissed her forehead as a kind of blessing, "Be safe, daughter of ice. You will understand soon."

And with that she was gone, disappearing into the shadows forever. She'd wanted so desperately to run after her, to beg her to say and at least say 'goodbye' to her son. But she had stayed rooted to the spot, tears slowly running down her face as she watched her fade from her sight, and then finally crumbled to the ground as she realized who this woman had been and what she'd done to help them.

These were the things she thought of now as they trekked uphill to her next emotional meeting of the day. She could feel the worried glances that he threw in her direction but she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, not after what she'd done to him.

His mother had been there, talking with her, alive and breathing. She'd said that it had been very long since she'd last seen him; he must have only been a child if he hadn't recognized her voice. And for him to believe that she was dead, she must have simply disappeared, never even having the chance for closure. She felt like a monster taking that away from him; she hadn't had the opportunity to say goodbye to her own mother before she died, but at least she had that certainty that she was truly gone instead of being left to wonder.

How that must haunt him.

She cast a quick glance his way and found him marching upward determinedly. Any other one of her troops would be panting and begging for a break for water, but there was only just a hint of sweat on his brow whereas even Sokka would have been dripping. He was in excellent shape, even for being nobility she suddenly noticed, and a very skilled fighter as well. She thought back to when they'd first met in the forest.

Not even Fire Nation assassins have ever surprised me. She thought to herself, the wheels turning.

"Katara," he said suddenly bringing her from her thoughts, "It just occurred to me, I know you said that the fastest way to get there would be through the forest, but how do you know if you've never been here before?"

They stopped walking and she looked as far up the mountain as she could, they'd be at the top before dark. She smiled slightly to herself.

"I have a friend who lives back in here somewhere who will give us a lift."

Yaaayyy I'm not dead! So so so so sorry for the VERY long absence. I just haven't been on the computer all Summer and now that school started up again I've realized how much I really miss you guys!

So I know that this is a short chapter but I'm just trying to get back into the flow a bit so I'm sorry if it's all over the place, if it if hard to understand or I just sound like I'm half awake or something let me know and I'll re-write it! After all you guys only deserve the best! ;)

So again, I'm sorry I disappeared, I've missed you guys, I'll update soon :)

You guys are ze best!