Mom,

Wow.

Let me start with the trip here. I'm a little overwhelmed. This is just a lot.

I saw land! It was a small village and we didn't stop but basically after a point the ice melted and the ocean was just empty and the temperature was warmer. I didn't know it could get that warm and it only got better the closer that we got to Caldera City. The ice melted and it was just the ocean as far as my eyes could see and it was warm, and I could make it ice again when I bent it. I could get in the water, and I did! I've never submerged myself fully before, because of course I would freeze to death, but now I understand why people swim. It's so strange, Mom!

And land and earth. It's so warm and so different and people bend it! That's just . . . amazing. Dad let me go to it when we took a trade stop and I walked around barefoot! I don't think I've ever really done that but the ground was just that warm, and brown and sort of grainy? It was mushy but also solid. You know what I mean, you've seen it. And plants that aren't seaweed grow everywhere! Like trees and things. We were in Fire Nation territory, so there are lots of volcanoes.

I felt humidity too! Zuko is really terrible at explaining things. It's like the air gets wet. I had to take off my parka and just wear the silk clothes I made! I could actually see my stomach and stuff, which Dad wasn't that happy about. A man made a comment about me in the market and that was gross. But the air being wet was . . . weird. It actually felt sort of stifling, but I was able to bend most of it away.

Caldera City, seeing it from the boat . . . just, wow. Zuko actually lives in a PALACE. A palace. Like the princes from the stories, and I guess that does make sense because he's a prince, but . . . WOW. It's so big it could probably fit our entire tribe! And it fit all of us from the ship and I got a room all to myself! It's in a different wing than Zuko and Azula's, but it's SO BIG. It's like our entire house back home. You've probably lived in something like it. But he wasn't kidding, Mom. He has servants. Like, a ton of servants. More servants than we might have people in the tribe. And they're supposed to help with everything — even with getting dressed and stuff! They don't use them for those reasons, of course, the royal family can take care of themselves, but still. Wow. It's a PALACE. I can't express to you just how shocking it is. They're actual royalty. It didn't really hit me until now. Like we have a similar position but we live like everyone else. This is just incredible.

And the people. I'll start with Princess Ursa because Fire Lord Iroh (I think of him as Uncle Iroh now, and whenever I say that everyone looks scandalized but he says it's okay) is the same, he likes tea and proverbs. She reminds me a little of you, actually. She's incredibly kind, very much so. I can't reconcile her being with someone like Ozai in my mind from all the stories Zuko has told me about her. She hugged me when I came and told me that she missed you and your correspondence very much. I didn't know you used to write to her. I'm getting better about you now, but it looked like the pain was fresh in her eyes. I didn't know you guys were that close. Our first night we talked about you, and it started to hurt a little so we talked about less-serious things and she said thank you for being a friend to Zuko. I didn't realize that he didn't have many friends — I guess it must be hard if you're a prince. I didn't have those rigid court boundaries with him.

And then Lu Ten. Lu Ten is definitely what I thought after Zuko described the whole bad date affair. He's in his late twenties and he'll be an amazing Fire Lord. At our first dinner he started teasing me and Zuko but then he didn't because his dad pointed at Dad. But then the second day — well, today, he came out during breakfast and said that he's very happy to meet me. He'll be a good Fire Lord one day, I can tell already. He's kind.

I was expecting a sort of demon when I met Azula at dinner. I didn't talk to her until the afternoon today — it's nearing midnight right now, I just got back. I know I shouldn't have felt that way but it was just the impression I got. She seems more broken than anything else. All I could feel across the table last night was pity, although I wouldn't show it because I don't think she would appreciate it. She's as well-dressed as her mother but her hair is choppy and she just looks a little sad and lost, even with all of her makeup. We didn't really talk much at dinner, she just kept looking at me and Zuko like she was observing us.

But then we met in the afternoon and we started to talk. At first it was just about small things, like makeup, but then of course it turned into bending. I bent out a stream of water from the courtyard and she looked so sad, and then she snapped and said waterbenders are peasants, and then she looked horrified so I cut her some slack, but then she thought I was pitying her . . . it was complicated. It was a strange conversation for a bit but then she brought up her lack of bending like she was confiding in me, so I didn't tell her that Zuko's already told me.

I thought it would help if I looked at her blood so I sat her down and looked at her chi paths and her flow, and it all looked good if not a little dull. Normally a person's insides glow, but she looked like she was dead inside. Not that everything wasn't working fine, because it was, but it was . . . strange. And I told her that and she told me that's what everyone has been saying, all the physicians, just that she has something emotionally wrong with her. I think it was too early to talk about Ozai but I made some progress with her, definitely. I think that we're going to be friends. And that I'll be able to help her through this.

And then . . . Zuko. You know, Mom, some part of me had hope. I was like 'maybe he got really ugly and turned into a warrior douche'. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Zuko escaped the awkward puberty stage and is now incredibly attractive. You won't mind if I tell you about it, right? Just don't look at this if it makes you uncomfortable. I know it would have made me uncomfortable if you talked to me about Dad.

Okay, number one, the scar. How that guy managed to make a scar attractive, I don't know. It should be ugly, right? It's a scar. When I last saw it it was still healing, but now that it has finally healed it looks leathery against his skin and sort of smooth, like fire. It definitely looks more like a sign of honor than everything else. And it does give him a strange sort of bad-boy touch, which I know should not be a thing because he is literally not a bad guy, but in fact a really great guy, but it's nice to think about. And look at. He says that people find him ugly but I don't know who these people are, because they need a reality check.

And then just features. He looks like royalty, and the scar adds to it. His cheekbones are terrifying and his eyes are really piercing but also commanding but also soft? His face is just perfect!

. . . And, well, when I left the dock I ran and gave him a hug, which wasn't a big deal, I give people hugs all the time, but he went from being a few inches taller than me to like, a foot taller than me (I'm exaggerating, kind of? He's really tall). And he clearly practices with those swords and firebending is obviously very physical and punch-kick-hit based so yeshehasmuscles. And you can see them. Clearly, even though he's not bulky. And when I was in his arms they felt really nice. And safe. And just good. Oh Tui and La, Mom. I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet.

I know he's not perfect, pretty much abstractly, because he has a temper and he can be very mean to people. Not mean, but like abrasive, as he is to much of the staff. He shouldn't be that way. He has a quick temper. I know that. Just to make it clear that I know that he's not perfect!

But he's so nice to me, or kind, and just cute. He hugged me and then he walked by me through the market to the palace because I wanted to walk and not sit in a palanquin. He sat next to me from dinner and told me what every dish was and ignored all the stares we got. I think it's really obvious that I like him, because everyone from Lu Ten to Governor Shen-something was staring at us. Even Dad looked suspicious. Can't wait for that discussion. And then he helped me stand up and he walked me to my rooms, even though I'm pretty sure protocol should have had Ursa or Azula do that, because I overheard the maids talking in the morning. The maids.

So clearly he has manners. But he's also so kind and so awkward and just so Zuko. He wears his hair in a topknot here so it looked weird at first. I didn't see him until after I finished talking to Azula, who winked at me when I went to go see him after he finished his training and boring trade learning school stuff. Yes, Azula winked.

Lots of stuff is going wrong here. And I ended up seeing him right after he came out of the bath in the Fire Nation royal family's private courtyard, so there were no formalities, just him with his hair down. And spirits, Mom, we talked about everything. He wanted to hear the new stories I told the kids, especially the one about a secret good-hearted hero on the streets of Ba Sing Se. He told me more about Toph and his new earthbending-fire forms. And we talked about how scared he was to have so much responsibility (his role as ambassador will mean leaving the palace) and how I was so tired of being stuck at home. We had dinner and tea brought to us. I just came back to my room.

He listens, Mom. You and him are the only people who really listen. I wish I could tell Sokka but I can't, and I don't think I have any real friends in the tribe. He told me that he doesn't have any too. And just the way we talked, the way he stared into my eyes . . .

I'm almost fifteen and he's almost seventeen. We're not just kids anymore. I know that I'm not just a kid with a crush anymore. And the way he was looking at me . . . I feel like he noticed that, noticed that I'm no longer just a kid. I did see his eyes drop down to my stomach and above a few times, so I'll count that as a success.

The question then, I guess, is what could happen? Dad hates the idea of me being here anyway, and Zuko is Fire Nation royalty and I'm a chief's daughter. It's not the worst, in terms of diplomacy. Maybe . . . I'm getting too far ahead of myself. We're just friends.

I have a month here and I'm going to make the most out of this new world. And Zuko. If nothing happens now then it will never happen and I'll be engaged the next time I see him. I don't know how he feels but I don't exactly want regrets. I can't live out the rest of my life like that. Maybe one day I can tell a funny story to my grandkids about how I almost courted a Fire Nation Prince. I'm . . .

The way he looks at me, talks to me? I don't know, Mom. I don't know.

Missing you as always.

— Your daughter, Katara

A/N:

Okay, so clarifying: moving on, I will not be writing like regular fic. I thought about it but "i made a map of your stars" is supposed to be a letter-fic and I don't want to detract from that. They'll be communicating mainly through letters/notes to each other, their friends/family (Azula, Sokka, Hakoda, Ursa), diary entries (regular and to Kya/Ozai), and through recordings! Aka, some parts of this will be dialogue-only. I feel like that's the best way to showcase their important moments and also keep up the spirit of the story!

Let me know if you're okay with that or if you'd rather have me switch to full-on fic. I can do that too if it's more popular.