Katara

Green, Part 1

It was summer in the South Pole. Brilliant sunshine filled every hour of the day. The blue glaciers turned frosty white. The days were filled with rebuilding efforts. Men who had been gone for years had returned home. The Northern Tribe, which had been cut off during the war, had joined their sister tribe. Everyone focused on rebuilding Kuya - the abandoned capital city.

Katara was swept up in the plans. Her idea to take some quiet weeks visiting with Grangran were overrun with activities days to night. As the last waterbender in the Southern Tribe, a master, and the companion of the Avatar, Katara found herself held in a place of reverence in both tribes. She could do without all of the bows and honorifics. It was inspiring though, helping to rebuild her home - to restore a glory that had been robbed before she was born.

It was almost enough of a distraction.

Nothing was more exciting than the day she lost her title. A young mother, whipped into an delighted frenzy, came to inform her that she was no longer the last waterbender in the Southern Tribe. Despite the late hour, Katara raced through her old village - past reinhabited buildings that had been abandoned for years, to see the newest miracle.

He was a young boy, four years old. Naru. At first, he was very shy and didn't want to show Katara what he could do. With his mother's encouragement, they all walked down to a small creek and Katara pulled drops of water out of it. Naru chased them and popped them, and at one point reached out for one. Katara transferred it to him and saw the sphere wobble and tremble. But Naru didn't drop it. He spun it, juggled it, lengthened it. Katara was overcome.

She visited Naru every day. They would go to the ocean or simply stay inside and bend together. Soon it became known throughout the tribe, and folks would drop by to see the tiny waterbender.

"It's coming back," said one elder, clasping Katara's hands. "The spirits left our tribe, it was the only way for us to survive. But their magic still lives in our veins. You and this young boy are our future. And they'll be more. Little waterbenders everywhere, making our tribe strong again."

Katara saw it happen. She stayed as the days began to get shorter. Buildings grew taller, markets more lively. In late autumn, when the Southern Lights began to dance again, there was a rash of small children who discovered their bending abilities. Their parents all brought them to Katara. Through the winter, she and Grangran, along with some of the benders from the Northern Tribe, led a daycare/bending school. The new benders, there were eleven in total, ranging from two to seven years old, were an honor and a terror to their parents. They filled Katara's days and every night she collapsed, exhausted.

Most nights she didn't even dream.

One morning, as the sun began to return to the South Pole, Grangran asked Katara to sit with her for a while, instead of rushing out to school.

"There's plenty of folks who want to be with the miracles." Gran smiled wryly. "Sit with an old woman for a while." They bundled up in furs and took steaming glasses of tea to sit in the star-filled morning. "I have loved having you home, Katara." Gran put a comforting gloved hand over Katara's.

"That makes it sound like I'm leaving."

"Aren't you?"

Katara was confused. What had made Grangran think that? She loved being home in the South Pole. The cool air cleared her head. For the first time in years, she was her own person. She had responsibility but it didn't threaten to crush her. She hadn't been attacked or imprisoned or slept on the hard ground in months. She was helping rebuild the culture of her people. The South Pole was where Katara was meant to be.

Of course, she missed her friends. Sokka had been with them briefly before making his way back to Suki at Kyoshi Island. Toph and Aang had gone their separate ways soon after the war ended. And Zuko… he had his own responsibilities. In a way it was fitting, she was rebuilding her country, he was rebuilding his. His letters had become more and more sparse, as she knew hers had as well. Maybe all of those intense, world-shattering feelings she had held for him were a product of the intense, world-shattering way she had been living. Now that they had been restored to normalcy, their emotions had returned to normal and drifted away…

Even as Katara rationalized to herself, her chest ached.

"I like being home, Grangran," Katara whispered.

"Mmm," Gran sighed. "But is it home? If your heart is abroad? Will you be at home with your heart scattered in different places across the globe?"

"You want me to leave?"

"No. I want to spend every day with you. But I know I won't get to. You changed while you were away. You grew up, you grew beautiful, you grew strong. Your home grew as well, I think. Your home is here, but it is also in the north, and at the Air Temple, and in Ba Sing Se, and all of those places you and your brother traveled in between. It was my biggest fear when you left with the nomad that you would inherit his way of life. But seeing you now, the confident and brave woman you became, I don't think I could ever make you stay."

"Gran… I have to stay. I'm needed here."

"I'm sure anywhere you go, the people will find a way to need you. You gave yourself to the world, Katara. Why do you hide from it now?"

Katara didn't know what to say.

Gran reached out for her again. "Katara, you've told me the story of your adventures over and over, but have you told me everything? What scared you?"

A burn. Blood-soaked bandages. Cries of anguish. An impenetrable boundary made of canvas. Her feet, unwilling to move forward. That was when the South Pole had called to her.

"Why're you kicking me out now? Finally getting tired of me?" Katara tried to joke.

"I am very wise. The right moment presents itself to me… Or a messenger hawk does." Gran winked and produced a letter from her furs. "You have a visitor."

Katara's face brightened as her heart leapt into her throat. Zuko? Toph? Aang? Grangran nodded to someone over Katara's shoulder. She whirled around.

"Hey, sis. We've gotta go. Things up north are looking pretty grim."

"What do you mean she's grounded?"

Katara leaned against Sokka and Suki's bunk in their cabin on a ship headed to the Earth Kingdom.

"I haven't heard from Toph in months. Have you?" Katara shook her head. "Exactly, there's only two people in the world who could have silenced her."

"Her parents."

"Yup. She's grounded. Grounded. Get it?"

"Yeah, Sokka. I get it."

"Good. Because this is our most dangerous mission yet!" Sokka began to pace. Their cabin had approximately three feet of floor space between two bunks, making Sokka whip back and forth. "We liberated you from your icy prison-"

"Our home."

"And now we go to free Toph. After that, we're going to track down Aang in the world-wide labyrinth. Then, we have to dethrone the Fire Lord."

Katara glanced at Suki. "Kyoshi Island got old real quick didn't it?"

"How did you keep him entertained on a glacier?" Suki asked.

The Bei Fong estate looked similar to the last time they had visited. The difference now was the guards posted at the gates. Two earthbending thugs shooed them away when they tried to enter the conventional way.

"We always knew that was a long shot," Sokka said as they walked away. "Now onto Plan B, which is really like Plan A if you think about it."

Plan B/A was to wait until nightfall and climb the garden wall. For three teenagers who had broken into and out of multiple prisons, castles, and cities, the invasion was something of a letdown. Nonetheless, it was fun to sneak through the manor and try to find Toph's room. It was past midnight and the house was dark and quiet. They found a door down the hall from the master bedroom that had one of Sokka's terrible drawings of Appa tacked to it. It was sweet until they realized that Toph had no idea what was on the piece of paper. That made it even sweeter. Suki eased open the sliding door and they crept into the room. Sokka motioned to a sleeping Toph, curled under her blankets, and shook her shoulder.

"Agh!" he gasped as Toph's body rolled in several different directions. Katara pulled her glowing green crystal from her bag and illuminated… seven watermelons.

The three exchanged curious looks until a voice at the window startled them all.

"I am the melon lord!" Toph declared, jumping down from the sill.

"Toph!" Katara whisper-yelled. She pulled the girl in for a tight hug. Toph had grown since they'd last been together. Now she was the age that Katara had been when they first met, and almost Katara's height.

"Hey Sugar Queen," she said.

Sokka lifted her up in a bear hug.

"Put me down! I can't see anything when you do that!"

When all greetings had been taken care of and the melons rolled away, Toph said, "So umm, what are you guys doing in my room in the middle of the night?"

"We came to rescue you!" Sokka announced.

"Rescue me?"

"Yeah, we assumed that your parents were keeping you under guard or something…" Katara's explanation drifted off. Something wasn't right here. Clearly, Toph could get away from her parents and her house if she wanted to. "Hey Toph?"

"Yes, Katara."

"Why were there a bunch of melons in your bed?"

"In case anyone broke into my room in the middle of the night."

"Really?"

"No."

"Where were you?"

"Fighting giant muskrat-snakes in an illegal gambling ring on top of Mount Shin."

Suki, Katara, and Sokka exchanged a glance. Sokka shrugged. "I don't know. It could be true."

"So you're here to bust me out, huh?" Toph asked, leaning on the window.

"Unless you don't want to leave," Suki said.

Toph's lips twisted as she thought. "Well, on the one hand, I've kind of put down roots since coming home. On the other - it would really piss off my parents. Where are we going?"

"We have no idea," said Sokka. "It will be our most dangerous mission yet-"

"We're going to find Aang?"

"Yes, but it could take years. We have to search every corner of the globe-"

"I know where he is."

Sokka deflated.

"Before we go, Katara, I need your help writing a letter."

"Okay, who's it to?"

"That is an excellent question. But it would be way too distracting from this current story. We'll have to save it for next time."

Aang, as it turned out, wasn't far from Toph. He was in the mountains on the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom. He had stopped by the Bei Fong estate on his way. Being the Avatar, he hadn't been turned away by Toph's parents.

"You broke that kid's heart," Toph informed Katara, as they rode their ostrich-horses north.

"Thanks for the reminder."

"All's fair in love and war," Toph responded airily. "What were you going to do? Be with Aang on weekdays and Zuko on the weekends? You had to choose one or the other. You chose Zuko."

"Katara's not with Zuko," Sokka called over helpfully.

"Wait. What?"

"Yeah, she ran out of the coronation before it was over. They haven't seen each other since."

"Sokka!"

"Hey! You're the one who said there's no secrets in this family."

"Katara! What happened?"

A fiery crown. A heavy title. An offhand comment. The fresh air of the South Pole was easier to breath than the oppressive humidity of the Fire Nation capital.

"So… Aang ran away to the Se-Fu mountains for no reason?" Toph summarized.

"He never needed to run away."

When they tracked him down - to a bleak mountain valley with sparse vegetation and chilling rains - Aang insisted that he hadn't run away at all. "I'm doing my duty," he insisted. "There were malignant spirits terrorizing the clans here!" At that moment a giant, shimmering, cuddly-looking monkey-sloth spirit ambled up and nuzzled Aang's shoulder.

Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Katara said nothing.

"Fine." Aang frowned. "Let's go."

"Wait! We're on our way to get Zuko?" Aang asked in the morning.

Katara focused on the clothes that she was folding.

"We're getting Team Avatar back together! Zuko was a late addition but he counts," said Sokka.

"You want me to go get my ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend?" Aang asked.

"I'm not your ex-girlfriend," Katara muttered.

"And," added Toph, "Zuko isn't her current boyfriend."

Aang's demeanor and face changed in an instant - from defiant to hopeful. Katara could have strangled Toph.

"Um!" Suki's voice was high. She placed her hands on Toph's shoulders. "Maybe we should give these two a moment." Sokka, Suki, and Toph moved to Appa and began packing his saddle bags.

"You're not dating Zuko anymore?" Aang asked.

Katara sighed. "I don't know, Aang. I haven't seen him in months."

"That doesn't sound like dating."

"Hmm."

"If we were dating, I'd never let you be on your own for that long."

"What if I wanted to be alone?"

"Well… then, yeah, sure. I guess. I'd do whatever you wanted!"

It was so simple with Aang. Whatever others needed, that was what he did. Was that a bad thing? It didn't sound like it. It sounded like he would be a perfect, supportive boyfriend. It sounded like he would be cheerful and playful and easy. Not overly emotional, grouchy, and hard. Katara bit her lip and pictured, for a brief moment, charging across the campsite and laying one on him.

The idea held no appeal.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Aang. I love you so much. But…"

"Not like that," Aang finished bitterly, repeating what she had said last time.

"I'm sorry," Katara said again.

"Don't - stop saying that. It doesn't make anything better!"

"I'm-" Katara caught herself. "I know. I just wish it could. I don't like hurting you. Or… not being close to you. You're my best friend."

Aang's face twitched as he examined the ground. Finally he muttered, "You're my best friend too."

Katara wanted this to be the end, but she could tell that Aang wasn't done. His next question enraged her: "Do you feel 'like that' about Zuko?"

Sneaking out of the palace and through the empty capital city. Waterbending across the harbor until she found a tribe ship to bring her home. Crying the entire way. Sending a stupid letter. Getting an even stupider one back in response. And now, the boy she was trying not to hurt was begging her to hurt him. Was that what Aang wanted? To be absolutely devastated? Was that what it would take to finally back off?

"Yes!" Katara exclaimed. "Yes, I do. I did. But I fucked it all up so it doesn't matter. Everything that you felt for me, that you wanted me to feel back - that's what I felt for him. But I ran away when he needed me, so at least you can be happy that neither of us got what we wanted."

Aang was silent for a long time. Then he hoisted his rucksack over his shoulder and stomped towards Appa. "That doesn't make me happy. You're being a coward."

"Excuse me!"

Aang turned to face her. "You're the one who taught me to be brave and believe in myself. It's why I fell in love with you. But if you can't even do those things yourself, then what's the point?"

Katara really, really wanted to shove Aang's words back in his face. To make him feel as bad as he made her feel. Yet, there was nothing to say. She'd never been a very good liar.

Zuko

Green, Part 2

Zuko growled and bunched up the parchment. He threw it onto the growing pile of discarded sentiments on the floor. Iroh made his way through the crowded shop to the back table where Zuko sat and tried to write.

"Pressures of ruling?" Iroh asked.

"The Earth King wants all the Fire Nation citizens out of his lands by the summer. How do I tell him that's an incredibly stupid idea - nicely?"

"Probably not like that." Iroh sat down.

"Hmph. I can't convince anyone of anything in a letter."

"What an oddly specific comment."

"No it isn't."

"Does that comment have to do with a particular waterbender?"

"No."

"A waterbending master who returned home… suddenly?"

"No."

"Ah, my mistake."

"You left too," Zuko said, crossing his arms over his chest and slouching in his seat.

"People needed to see you as your own ruler," Iroh said. "Anyway, I'm much better suited to this environment than a war room." He raised his arms to the tea shop.

Zuko couldn't deny his uncle the tea shop or his dreams - his uncle had always helped Zuko realize his. Zuko disagreed with his statement; Iroh would be extremely helpful in a war room. But hopefully, Zuko could keep that room empty for some time longer. Getting his generals and dukes to agree to that idea was challenging. They had all lived their entire lives at war. They knew nothing else. Now they had a new Fire Lord, one who believed their country had been in the wrong for a century. It was like being pulled in two.

"But a ruler without someone to love is a lonely man indeed."

Zuko's eyes burned but he made himself shrug. "She left. Pretty clear message."

"Perhaps," Iroh allowed. "But people do odd things at times of great stress. Did I ever tell you about a young boy I met many years ago? He was forced to leave his home and decided that the best solution was to hunt an even younger boy, who had been dead for a hundred years, and take him away from his home." Iroh sipped his tea, impervious to the golden glare. Zuko stood, scraping his chair backwards.

"I have to go."

"It is always good to see you, nephew!" Iroh told Zuko's back. The guards that followed Zuko like twin shadows walked out behind him. Zuko understood the need for the guards. They weren't so much for protection, though they were capable. The Fire Lord, as well as all heads of state, were always putting on a show. An entourage was part of that show. Zuko had tried to rid himself of them while he was at his uncle's tea shop, a place where he could not be the Fire Lord for one afternoon, but they insisted.

Zuko was wrapped up in his own mind, retorts and regrets circling, or else he certainly would have recognized the voice that said: "-it'll be easy because the space sword is the only thing not burned." If Zuko had recognized that voice, he would have certainly deduced with whom the voice was speaking, and changed course immediately. But Zuko was too preoccupied, and he walked straight into a bald, thirteen year old boy.

Aang and Zuko collided and both jerked back awkwardly. For a silent moment, Zuko, flanked by his guards, stood opposite Aang, Sokka, Toph, Suki, and Katara. For that moment, all were too stunned or awkward to say a word. For that crazy moment, Zuko felt like he should be bracing for an attack. His battle-instincts kicked in, noticing things like the Avatar's relative distance from the rest of his friends, the fact that Sokka and Suki were unarmed, and the way that Katara shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. Fire burned in the unseen space, ready for Zuko to pull out and use. For one crazy moment it seemed worth it.

Then it all crashed away. His head sank forward. "Sorry," he muttered, surprised to hear the ragged quality of his voice.

"Hey." Aang's greeting was clouded.

"You guys going to my uncle's, Iroh's shop?"

"Yup," said Toph.

"That's good. I mean, he'll want to see you. I was going out. Bye."

Zuko pivoted ninety degrees and fast-walked down a nearby alley. He carefully kept his gaze fixed on the cobblestones and did not let himself look for a certain pair of blue eyes. His heart tried to jump into his throat - which was stupid. She didn't want to be with him. She didn't feel anything to see him. He needed to stop feeling something for her. What did he expect? That she would ditch her friends and chase-

"Zuko!"

He turned and saw Katara jogging down the alleyway after him. His heart grew wings and tried to fly away. His vision turned dark. He could feel the fire burning again and there was no way to separate the angry flames from the elated ones.

She came to a sudden halt several feet away. His guards took a respectful distance, one at each end of the alley. Katara followed them with her eyes.

"Umm. Hi." She twirled a stray lock of hair.

"What?" Zuko demanded.

"Oh. Umm. Nothing. I just thought-"

"What? What did you think?"

Katara only put up with hostility for so long, and she had suffered through two verbal jabs. Zuko watched her face change from open and uncertain to judging and defensive. It made him so happy he wanted to grin and take her hand. But he had started this conversation off on the wrong foot, and he didn't particularly feel like righting it. She was the one who owed him an apology anyway.

"Sorry if I intruded on your sulking time."

Zuko snorted. "Why would I be upset? Did a painful memory just walk through my path?"

Katara crossed her arms. "Hmm. I can relate."

They squared off, arms crossed, eyeing each other up and down. Zuko reflected that there must be something seriously wrong with him if the sight of Katara hating him made his day brighter. But he couldn't deny it, even being this close to her was electrifying.

"I have to go pick something up," he told her. She rolled her eyes in response and turned to go back to the tea shop. "Wanna come?" The question literally unbalanced her, and she did a little hop to catch herself. Zuko grinned, but not while Katara could see. She regarded him suspiciously, but nodded.

Together they moved through Ba Sing Se.

"Do you always have these guys?" she asked after a while.

"Yup."

He could sense her distaste, but she said nothing. She was probably checking off another box in her "glad I'm not dating this guy" list.

"You don't have any protection? Your people didn't try to - I dunno, guard you?"

"I don't need help," she said airly. "I'm plenty used to protecting myself."

Zuko could feel her veiled gibe. "Mm. I guess traveling with the Avatar is like having a guard dog."

A frustrated noise escaped Katara.

"Unless you're not traveling with him?"

Katara stopped in the middle of the street, forcing Zuko and his guards to halt and retrace their steps.

"Do you want to do this?" she demanded. "Because if you do, we can. But I'd rather you just came out with it instead of hiding behind stupid comments."

"Oh? I'm hiding? Sure. Still better than running away."

Katara's cheeks turned red. "I didn't run away."

"Really? Really?!" Zuko was aware that he was raising his voice on a busy street, while dressed as the Fire Lord. But he didn't care. For the first time since his ascension to the throne, he didn't care what people thought. "Then what do you call leaving in the middle of the night without saying goodbye?!"

"You told me to leave!" Katara yelled back.

Zuko shook his head, unable to comprehend what she had just said. "What are you talking about? Why would I tell you to leave? I was falling in love with you!"

Katara took a literal step back, panic in her eyes. "Well. Clearly not enough."

"What does that mean?"

Katara's brow furrowed and she seemed to be losing steam. Zuko felt the opposite. He felt adrenaline seeping into his veins. He wanted to run, wanted to fight, wanted to take her into his arms…

"You told me that you'd never be accepted as Fire Lord with a Water Tribe girlfriend," said Katara in a voice that was deadly serious. A voice that was perched on on a tightwire, fire on one side, water on the other.

Zuko recoiled. He held up his hands. "No. I didn't."

"Yes you did!"

"When?"

"On our way to the capital! After you'd been bandaged by the White Lotus healers."

Zuko tried to think back. The journey from the capital and back was foggy. He'd been in so much pain from Azula's bolt. His chest had been ripped open. Even Katara couldn't fully heal him. He remembered being rushed into a white canvas medical tent and then everything went dark for a while. When he woke up, he was alone, strips of linen wrapped around his chest. Every breath was agony. But even worse than the pain, was the panic when he realized that he had been taken back to the Earth Kingdom. That was the last place he should have been. He needed to get back to the Fire Nation, needed to assume control before someone more dangerous did.

Suddenly the memory dislodged from the dark recesses of his mind. He had found Katara. They had borrowed Appa. They had flown through the night. He felt like he was going to puke. She told him to rest. But every time he closed his eyes, he pictured Fire Nation citizens, his citizens, hating him.

"I said they'd be confused," Zuko said slowly. "That they might not recognize me, especially if I landed with a waterbender."

Katara's face twisted, but she refused to drop his gaze.

"But," Zuko continued. "I didn't mean - I was in a lot of pain. I thought I wasn't going to make it, wasn't going to be a good Fire Lord. But I never meant that I didn't want you by my side. I would have done anything to have you there."

Katara stomped her foot and glared at the sky. The sun was setting, lighting up the clouds with purples and pinks.

"I know," she forced out.

"Huh? You know what?"

"I… I did run away. But-" suddenly her eyes were searing into his, begging him to understand. "I couldn't bear for you to leave me. And it seemed like you might. You had a country to deal with. And you were so hurt." A tear escaped her eye. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. "You don't remember Zuko, but you were really hurt. I didn't… it didn't seem like you were gonna make it. Halfway back you lost consciousness. I couldn't get you to wake up. And then when you did… you wanted to run right back."

"Hey," Zuko reached out to touch her shoulder.

Katara glanced at his guards. Then: "You were falling in love with me?"

Zuko's heart tattooed a furious beat on his ribcage. "Yes."

For one tense moment, they stayed, still as statues. Suddenly, Katara raised her arms and water - from who knows where - formed into a dense cloud of fog around them. She grabbed Zuko's hand and tore off down a nearby alley. Zuko could hear his guards yell for him, but he didn't respond. He ran faster, following Katara through a complex maze. Footsteps crashed behind them. He put his all into his legs. They darted down alleys, across streets, whipping around tight turns. At one alley, Katara took a sudden left and pulled them into a recessed doorway. They stood perfectly still, not daring to breathe, as they listened to the steel boots of his guards run past.

Zuko let out a gasp and chuckled. Since becoming Fire Lord, he never did anything irresponsible anymore. Neither moved out of the doorway, and it occurred to Zuko that he should say something. Katara had taken the big step to get them here, get them alone. He searched his brain for something to say. He finally landed on the perfect phrase, only three words, but before he could get it out, Katara's hand was on his cheek. She was pushing herself into him, pushing him against the door.

Instinctively, he locked his arms around her back, held her face, felt her hair. Fire burned. He twisted them so that her back was pressed against the doorway, the rest of her pushed against him. Zuko gripped her hips and she looped a leg around his as if she could tie them together. Out of breath, Katara shifted her lips to his neck. He closed his eyes to enjoy that exquisite feeling. Her top was cropped in the style of a Fire Nation outfit. His index fingers rested on her bare skin, that warm brown skin that had so hypnotized him. Shaking, he raised his hands to graze her waist. Katara shivered. One of her hands slipped in between them, tracing the muscles of his chest. When her fingers grazed the hard knot of scar tissue, she broke away.

"It's fine," he whispered. "All healed." To prove his point, Zuko held her hand in place, pressed it down on the scar. He wondered if she could feel his heart going wild.

"Sorry I ditched your guards," she said.

Zuko laughed and fell forward to lean on her shoulder. He kissed the soft skin between her neck and collarbone. She hugged him tightly, keeping him in place.

"Literally anytime you want to do that, it's fine with me," he mumbled.

"We should probably go back," Katara whispered.

"No."

"They're gonna worry about you."

"I'm just fine."

Katara plucked one of Zuko's hands from her waist and raised his wrist to her lips.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away from you."

"It's okay. I forgive you."

She laughed. "That was easy."

"You're very convincing."

Zuko raised his head and took her face in his hands. The pair stayed in the doorway until night had truly fallen. Stars winked in the sky and the smell of dozens of dinners being prepared wafted through the air. Neither Katara nor Zuko noticed these things. They inhabited a happy bubble separate from the world. Both would have happily stayed there all night, except the door they were leaning up suddenly sprang open.

An old noodle shop owner beheld the scene that had been happening against her backdoor and squwaked at the two teenagers, shooing them away. She didn't recognize the Fire Lord or the Waterbending master. She only saw two kids hiding out in her alley. It was enormously freeing.

Zuko took Katara's hand as they wandered down the alley, back to the main street.

"Back to the tea shop?"

"Umm. Weren't you in the middle of an errand?"

"It's funny that you should mention that… Still wanna come?"

They walked hand in hand through Be Sing Se as it transitioned from day to night. Cafes spilled out onto the streets. Street musicians filled the air with a strange blend of music. Lanterns added to the starlight. It all seemed like magic to Zuko.

When they got to the jeweler, he was closing his shop. At first the man was annoyed to be bothered by customers, but after Zuko stated who he was, the shopkeeper jumped to open his store for the Fire Lord. The jeweler ran to the back and retrieved what Zuko had bought months and months ago. Zuko thanked him and led Katara back outside. A warm summer breeze tingled against his skin.

He held the package out to her. "It's for you."

Though she smiled, she was confused. "I don't know that I earned a present."

Zuko shrugged. "I got it a while ago. But he just finished it. Open it."

Katara unwrapped the plain brown paper and revealed a ring. It was entirely made from green stone, cut and polished to sparkle. But it wasn't an emerald, or any other typical gem. Zuko was glad they had arrived after dark. It made it clear where the stone was from. In the dark street, it glowed with its own light. Katara turned to him.

"Is this…"

"Yeah. The caverns underneath the city. I kept a stone from when…" Zuko trailed off. "I know that might seem like a weird symbol, since we didn't exactly leave those caves as friends." He scratched his head. "But… without our time together down there, I don't know if I would have found the courage to leave the Fire Nation at all. You made me brave enough. So I thought-"

Zuko didn't get to tell her what he thought. Katara wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again. It wasn't as long or as intimate as before, but there was plenty of time for that. He was just ecstatic to be close to her.

Katara slipped the ring onto her middle finger. It was too small to light up a room, or even read by, but it was just bright enough to attract the eye. She glanced up at him, her blue eyes reflecting the green light. He didn't know that, to Katara, his golden irises looked exactly the same.