The last week of her summer, Katara stopped working at the Ice Blossom. Her days would be spent packing everything up and getting her new apartment ready. The cable and internet needed to be switched over, and there was a problem moving over her electric bill. A Katara paced around her apartment - her steps confounded by partially filled boxes - she waited on hold with the electric company.

Stubbing her toe on the coffee table she had pushed out of the way of her cable box, Katara tried to keep her swearing under her breath.

When she heard knocking at her door, Katara wordlessly walked to it. Opening the door, she waved Zuko in before turning back toward her living room.

"Hello?" Katara asked when the hold music cut off. "Ah great, thanks."

Zuko raised his eyebrow at her and Katara shook her head, gesturing to the living room. She watched him close the door, crossing one arm over her chest and nodded as she listened to the man on the phone.

"Mmh hmm. Mmmh hmm. Yes I-." Katara rubbed her eyes. "Yes, I understand that. But I'm not, yes, I'm not cancelling my services. I'm just trying to remove one address and add another to my account."

Zuko walked to the living room and peered into a couple of boxes.

"No, that's where I live now. I need my account to be moved to the second street address." Katara said. Zuko watched her as she paced and she turned her back to him.

"Yes, exactly. Now wait." Katara said in a rush. "I don't need the switch made until the end of the month."

She listened intently, not turning as she felt Zuko walk up to stand next to her.

"That's perfect, thank you." She said and clicked her phone off.

"UGGGHHHHH." She groaned and rubbed her face vigorously.

"I am really glad I never have to deal with stuff like that." Zuko said. Katara blew a raspberry and walked over to a box in the living room.

"It's not always a pain. I can usually do it online, but they were having a problem with this move for some reason." She said.

"Well, what do you need me to do?" Zuko asked.

"I need to pack up a lot of the non-essentials, like my books, and start dismantling the furniture." Katara replied.

"Okay. Where should I start?"

Katara set him to work on the living room while she packed up her bedroom. In the South Pole and during the war, there was never a reason to accumulate a lot of stuff, so her packing was usually done fairly quickly. She left out a week's worth of clothes and folded everything else up into a box. Everything else was categorized as miscellaneous and she wrapped them if needed. Otherwise, she tossed everything into a box and moved on.

After a while, she went out and helped Zuko dismantle her bookshelf. As she started to vacuum up the formerly hidden dust, Zuko headed into her kitchen. She followed him and they started wrapping up her dishes in old newspaper.

"I really appreciate the help. This would normally take me all week and then we'd have to rush the move in one day so Sokka wouldn't take too much time." Katara said as she moved a stack of wrapped plates into a box.

"Not a problem. And if you wanted, I did bring the van. We could take some stuff over tonight if you wanted." Zuko said.

"We can't take the trolley through the center of the rings, we'd have to take the highway." Katara remarked.

"That's only a three hour drive to the opposite side of the ring." Zuko said. "I mean, we'd only be able to take one trip, but that's one less to do on the weekend."

Katara looked at her watch; it was five-thirty and she was starting to get hungry.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She rolled her head and stretched her arms out behind her. "Let's pause here and load up."

"Did you want to do any of the furniture?" Zuko asked hesitantly.

"The furniture is the easiest." Katara said with a smile. "Don't you remember the factory?"

Confused, Zuko watched as Katara turned on her sink. As the faucet opened, she pulled the thin rope of water. More and more pooled in the air, enough to easily fill a bathtub, and Zuko stepped back. When she judged she had enough, Katara used the water to shut off the faucet.

"You might want to head down first and open the van." She said. Zuko nodded and made a quick dash to the door. He looked back in time to see Katara envelope the couch in water.

In the parking lot, Zuko laughed quietly as Katara used her bending to slide the couch into the back of the van. When it was settled, she recalled the water and sent it shooting down a sewer drain. In awe, Zuko ran a hand over the back of the couch, feeling the dry fabric.

"We can't do that with the boxes because the initial grab would ruin some things." Katara said with a sigh.

"Guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned way." Zuko said.

The van was a delivery vehicle and so they weren't able to fit much more in the back. Zuko and Katara stepped up into the cabin of the van and she pulled up a map on her phone.

"Where do you want to eat?" He asked, turning over the engine.

"I don't care. Somewhere quick." Katara replied, fitting her phone into the holder on the dash.

"Fast food?" Zuko asked, sounding offended.

"Okay rich boy, calm down." Katara replied. Zuko smiled but didn't say anything. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed onto the main street.

They got food through the worst drive-thru Katara could find and Zuko demanded that she feed him his fries so he could keep both hands on the wheel. The interstate itself was fine, but they hit construction traffic about forty-five minutes in that made it a slog.

Zuko swore a blue streak under his breath as he flipped his turn signal on aggressively. He was trying to merge in front of a blue car for the third time since they had seen the orange construction signs.

"You're in a van," Katara said. "You're only just above semi-trucks in car hierarchy."

"So I just have to go for it?" Zuko asked. He shoved the front of the van into the tiny space the blue car was just about to lurch into and Zuko smiled triumphantly.

"I wanted to ask, how to manage to get around so freely as the crown prince?" Katara asked as Zuko straightened out the van and let out a breath.

"I have a security detail, of course. But a lot of it just comes down to the fact that I live a very mundane life here. I'm a Firebender, so I can take care of myself in close quarters, and any larger attempt on my life is most likely going to get picked up by my babysitters." Zuko explained.

"Do you think I'll be able to finish medical school after my coronation then? I mean, it's pretty mundane." Katara asked. Zuko glanced over at her quickly, but she was able to see his pained face.

"Katara, again, you're going to be a ruling monarch. I doubt they're going to let you do anything other than that." He said. Katara huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and sinking down in her seat.

"I don't even know what being a queen means." She muttered.

"Well," Zuko paused as traffic started to clear up and he changed lanes again. "You're going to have a lot of ministers, and I'm sure Arnook is going to stick around."

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. All of the tribes have been self-governing for a very long time, and I don't see them unifying just because I'm a Waterbender." Katara said.

"Sure, but the tribes are small, and the war wasn't that long ago. Being united might seem pretty attractive right now, and with the Avatar being born in the Swamp, it might be that Arnook is trying to keep power in the North Pole." Zuko replied.

"So what?"

"So nothing. Really, it's because the Water Tribe will look bad if the head is some random person for a literal backwater place."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara jerked herself upright but Zuko stayed firm.

"You know I don't mean anything by that. The Swamp Tribe showed a lot of bravery in the final battle and I think working with a group that hasn't been part of global politics would actually be better right now." He said.

He looked at her and Katara turned her face away to look out the window. The sun was sinking behind the wall of the middle ring and the sky seemed brighter on that side.

"Does it actually bother you?" He asked. Katara sighed and rested her forehead against the glass.

"No. I know what people say. I just don't want to be queen." Katara said. "This wasn't supposed to be my reward."

"Reward?"

Katara closed her eyes, listening to the road underneath the tires. She could conjure the image in perfect detail, right down to the smell. The ocean spray was metallic; the sunken ships blooming like tea leaves under the waves. The sky was a blinding orange. Sozin's Comet ripped through the sky and burned up the oxygen, leaving Katara to gasp as she ran over the howling water.

Sky Pirates clashed overhead and sent more ships tumbling down, their hulls ablaze. Sokka and Suki had infiltrated the Fire Nation air force and Katara watched with her heart in her throat as the flagship went down.

She had to trust them, had to trust that they would be able to get out safely.

And so she ran, waves pushing her up over rocks that pierced the depths. It was after one massive swell that Katara found herself airborne. Flipping around, she dove into the water. It covered her and became her. La rose with her and they ripped ships out of the sky, dragging the seabound ones downward as they did.

The Firebenders were more powerful at that moment, but a fire could always be put out with a big enough wave.

When she landed on a boat, she ran over the deck, sheering it apart with her bending. The sailors that got in her way were forced to kneel when she used her knowledge from Hama. At the prow, Katara would jump again, and La would receive her.

It was only by chance that they were at the invasion site. They had just been trying to get home when Sokka had noticed the fleet.

"What do you know about the final battle?" Katara asked, opening her eyes and watching the reflective lines pass underneath the window.

"Only that two-thirds of our air force and navy was sunk." Zuko said. "I actually almost lost my father then."

"Yeah," Katara croaked. "Sorry about that."

"Were you," Zuko paused and Katara looked away. "There?"

"I was." She said.

"And La?"

Katara didn't answer and Zuko didn't say anything further. Silently, Katara rolled onto her back and stared up at the sky through the windshield.

"They only want me to use my power." She said.

"No one else knows about your connection to La though." Zuko pointed out. Katara groaned and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes.

"Can't you be upset?" She demanded.

"Why would I be upset?" Zuko asked.

Sitting up, Katara slammed her hands on the edge of her seat.

"You literally just told me that I almost killed your father in the war. It didn't bother you when I told you I drowned Zhao, but this? He's your father Zuko!" She said.

Zuko sighed, but he looked sad.

"What happened to your mother, Katara?" He asked. Shocked, Katara sat up.

"What?"

"She died in prison right? Protecting a horrible woman, or so Sokka told me." Zuko said. Katara faced forward again, her hands gripping her arms.

"My father ordered that the Water Tribe forces be captured and sent to POW camps. It's his fault she was there." Zuko said. Katara lowered her face as tears welled up hot in her eyes.

"He took my mother away too." He said.

With a gasp, Katara's head snapped up.

"What?" She asked.

"I don't know why, but my father is behind her disappearance. He told me as much. He also told me that I will never see her again." Zuko said. He turned his face to steer the van onto an exit ramp. His jaw was set but he still only looked sad.

"So, we have something in common." He added gently.

Katara started to cry and Zuko flipped up the center console, yanking a tissue out of a box and handing it to her. She took it and he kept his eyes on the road, occasionally looking at her phone for directions.

"Katara, you are an amazing woman and I think you'll be an amazing queen." Zuko said. He finally looked at her as they stopped at a stop sign and he smiled. "Want to get some ice cream?"

Sniffling, Katara nodded.

"I'm going to need you to find a place because I have never been here before." He said, pulling the van through the intersection. Katara chuckled and grabbed her phone.

"So, we should probably find out what else we have in common besides the mom thing." She said as she looked up an ice cream place.

"What kind of flavor do you like?" Zuko asked.

"Butter pecan."

"Well it's certainly not that."