Katara

Like Friends

"You all can't be serious!" Suki put herself in between her friends and the front door. She looked from one face to the next, trying to find a sane one among them. She appealed to Katara and Sokka, always the pragmatists. Sokka just shrugged. "This is a terrible idea! I know that you guys have been on the run for, like, years, but you all are famous. Everyone knows about the kid with the arrow tattoos, his two Water Tribe buddies, and their blind earthbending friend. We are in the middle of the Fire Nation! We are literally hiding out in the Fire Lord's summer home. You have to see why going out into the village is a terrible idea!"

"People on Ember Island are idiots," Zuko said. "They are totally removed from the Fire Nation and anything that's happening in the war. It's why this house was built here, it's supposed to be an escape from all of the politics in the capital."

"Zuko." She turned to face him "I'm sorry, but if you think people in the Fire Nation aren't talking about the prince, with a burn scar on his face I have news for you. No one is that removed." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"I know you're looking out for us," said Toph, "but honestly, fighting a bunch of Fire Nation tourists is more preferable to being trapped in this house for another day."

Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph, and Zuko moved towards the door.

"Fine!" Suki raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, I see your point. Let's go to the private beach, another game of footvolley sounds great!"

Katara stepped forward. "Suki, we need to get away from each other. We're the only people we've seen in weeks. If we're stuck with each other for much longer, we may kill each other. And that's not metaphorical. We are all capable of actually, literally killing one another."

Zuko laughed and Katara caught his gaze for a perfect millisecond.

"Okay," said Suki. She raised her hands in surrender. "We can go out. But please, please, please, you cannot want to go to a play about yourselves."

"How about this?" suggested Katara. "We go out, have a nice day, meet up at the playhouse and decide if we want to see the play then."

Suki shook her head but relented. "Fine. Have it your way. I guess I'll see whoever survives later."

"That's the spirit!" said Aang, pushing open the door.

"Wait!" Suki was back in front, blocking their progress.

"Babe!" Sokka exclaimed. "We've gone incognito in the Fire Nation before."

Suki smiled at her boyfriend and laid a hand on his cheek. "I just worry about you flashing those baby blues all over the place. Babe." Sokka nearly melted from the obvious flattery. It was revolting really, to have to see one's brother in such a state. Suki turned to the others with a triumphant grin. "We can still go out and be smart at the same time. We'll divide into pairs, that way no one has to be alone, and the Fire Nation is looking for a larger group anyways. Hmm," she took a step back and surveyed her friends.

"I'll go with Toph," she decided. "Two earth kingdom sisters, visiting the island. But no bending blind girl, that will be a dead give away. Emphasis on dead."

Toph groaned but agreed.

"Sokka, where's your beard? If you put that on, you can go with Aang. Father and son. It'll be perfect."

"Aang's too pale to be my son. On the other hand, I do love my beard."

"Katara and Zuko… I guess." Suki shrugged like it was no big deal, like Katara's heart wasn't dancing a jig in her rib cage. "Katara, don't make direct eye contact with anyone, and Zuko - have you ever tried makeup?"

"I am not putting on makeup," Zuko growled.

Suki rolled her eyes.

"Lighten up, tough guy," Katara said. "It's not going to make you any less of a man."

"Yeah!" said Sokka. "I wore makeup on Kyoshi island. It's not even a big deal."

Against his better judgement, Zuko's face was slathered in concealing paint and his hair put into a knot. He and Katara ventured out after everyone had left.

"Why does Aang get to wear a hat?" he grumbled. "I could just put my hair down over my eye, no one would see."

Katara laughed. "They would totally see. And I think you look better when you aren't hiding behind all that hair." Heat blossomed over her cheeks. Things like that were slipping out more and more since their expedition to the Southern Raiders. The trip felt like a physical presence that silently observed their every action. If she concentrated, she could feel the burn on his lips on her wrist. She didn't hate the heat.

When Zuko spoke, his voice was hard. "You think I look better without the scar."

"No." Katara stopped where she was. That wasn't what she meant at all. Zuko without the scar… wasn't Zuko. Zuko without the scar would still be prince of the Fire Nation, still brainwashed by his father and sister, still an enemy. Words started tumbling out of her mouth. "That's not what I meant. I meant… what I said. I mean, when you're hiding behind your hair, no one can see your eyes. Both of your eyes. I like being able to see your eyes."

Zuko turned back slowly, wearing a crooked grin. Katara's mouth dropped open and her entire face went beet red. "You're… so annoying!"

Zuko didn't respond, just kept grinning. Katara slapped his arm and strode off toward town.

"Oh, come on!" Zuko said running after her. Katara rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She was hideously embarrassed, yet simultaneously felt like she was hovering a foot off the ground. Zuko wanted her to say something nice about him, about his appearance. Stay calm.

Katara pushed ahead. "What's our cover story? Brother and sister?"

"We don't look anything alike."

"Okay… classmates? Or maybe, okay hear me out, we were on a cruise that got shipwrecked. We were the only survivors and we've just made it back to shore after six months-"

"Katara," Zuko interrupted. He bit his lip. "Kinda feels like you're jumping through hoops to avoid the obvious."

Katara stammered through her denial, completely undermining her assertion that she didn't know what he meant.

"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," Zuko said, getting down on one knee. "Will you be my fake girlfriend for an afternoon so that we aren't discovered by Fire Nation soldiers that will imprison us for the rest of our lives?"

The temperature of the warm day increased.

She laid a hand on his outstretched palm and put the other to her temple. "Prince Zuko, I literally, legitimately, never, ever, ever thought you would ask. I accept."

When they got into town, they continued the joke, loudly referring to one another as "sweetie" and "darling." It was marvelous to be out of the house, and pretending to be carefree was almost as good as actually being carefree. They walked around shops, got food at a local market, and queued up with a large group to watch a group of street performers. Katara felt insanely guilty and incredibly free - as if she were a hot air balloon whose sandbags had all been cut at once. Out by the ocean, Katara gifted Zuko a seashell, which he put behind his ear.

"Oh! Young love!" an incredibly old voice called out to them.

Katara and Zuko were startled. They turned to see a toothless old woman smiling at them. Zuko raised an eyebrow at Katara, which she answered with the smallest of shrugs.

"I was just about to pack up and go home, but you have to let me do your portrait!" the woman continued. "Totally free! I just love love."

"That's okay-" Zuko started to say.

"I insist! Today the world is full of war and destruction. Love existing in a world like that… it's the most powerful force out there."

"We're not in love." Katara giggled.

The old woman narrowed her eyes and smirked. "You didn't see the way he looked at you, dear. When you picked up the seashell. He had no idea what you were going to give him and he was already delighted."

Katara felt heat on her cheeks and glanced at Zuko. He was resolutely not looking at her.

"And you," the woman pointed at Katara. "You walk like every movement is a dance."

Katara could feel her heart inflating, lifting her whole being into the sky.

"We're just friends," said Zuko flatly. Crash. She was annoyed and annoyed that she was annoyed. This is exactly why she'd avoided Aang's attempts to be with her. There was no time for all of this nonsense.

"Yeah," Katara added. "Just friends having a nice day."

The old woman regarded them for a long moment. Then her face brightened again. "Okay! Then let an old woman paint a portrait of two friends."

Karata glanced at Zuko. He shrugged.

The woman set up a canvas and paintbrush. "Get closer together!" she ordered. "You're friends, not strangers on a dock. You, young man, put your arm around her… in a friendly way. And you, sweetheart, place your hand on his chest. Like friends."

When the woman was done it was clear that she did not think they were friends.

"What are we going to do with this?" Zuko asked. If they brought it back to the house, there would be no end to the teasing and the hurt feelings. They were days away from Sozin's comet. It couldn't be worse timing. Still, Katara looked at the painting wistfully. In it she saw a happy girl, held in loving arms. It was a fantasy for a girl who had been living on the run for the past year and a boy who had abandoned every he had ever had. She ached for it.

"I want to keep it," Katara decided.

"What? Why?"

"I dunno. We look happy. It's nice. And unlike some people, I don't have a lot of portraits of myself. Unless wanted posters count. Don't worry, I won't show anyone that you know how to smile."

"Hmph."

"There's just one detail missing." Katara leaned over and rubbed her thumb into the ground. She transferred the dirt onto the page, right over Zuko's left eye. She held up the finished product for him to see. Instead of seeing a random couple, Zuko saw himself, holding Katara in his arms. His heart sprouted wings.