I've been up in the air, out of my head.

Stuck in a moment of emotion I've destroyed.

Is this the end I feel?

Up in the air, f***** up our life.

All of the laws I've broken, loves that I've sacrificed.

Is this the end?

"Up in the Air" by 30 Seconds to Mars

Zuko parked the Challenger in the parking lot at the base of the wall and killed the engine, letting his hands fall into his lap.

The lot was about half-full. There was a visitors' center that offered information on the history of the wall and Ba Sing Se. A long line stretched out from the food court, and crowds milled around the gift shop. Plenty of people were taking pictures of the wall, or stood in the line for the lift that would take them to the top.

"I haven't been this close to the wall since my brother dropped me off," Katara said. She peered over at Zuko. "Do you come here a lot?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, seeming almost embarrassed. "I do. But it's better at night."

"I can imagine," Katara murmured, and she could. She could picture Ba Sing Se's skyline, with all of the buildings glittering like stars under the moonlight, like a night sky in reverse.

Wordlessly, Zuko opened his door and got out of the car. He came around the hood to open her door. She grabbed her backpack, reluctant to leave it on the floorboard with her laptop inside of it.

"I can put that in the trunk for you, if you want," Zuko offered as he opened her door.

Katara smiled at him gratefully. "Sure. Thanks."

He took the bag from her and walked toward the end of the car. Katara followed him. He opened the trunk and carefully set her bag inside. Katara saw a gym bag tucked into one corner.

When he saw her looking at it, he shrugged. "I do MMA," Zuko explained.

"Me too." She smirked at him. "Well, not as much as I used to. I don't really have the time."

He appraised her, as if he just noticed her toned arms and muscled legs. "I think you mentioned that before." He offered her a wolfish smirk. "We should spar some time."

His offer sent her heart fluttering and she felt flustered. "That's not really fair. You're actively training, and it's been a while for me. I'm definitely out of practice."

He chuckled. "I'd go easy on you."

Without any warning, Zuko half-heartedly swung the back of his hand toward her face. Katara reflexively brought her arm up and deflected the light blow. She looked at Zuko with wide eyes, utterly shocked.

"What the hell?" she managed to say.

Zuko was all smiles. "Nice. Maybe you're not as out of practice as you think."

Katara narrowed her eyes at him, but it faltered as a half-smirk pulled at her lips. She gave herself a pat on the back for her reflexes. "Maybe."

Zuko shut the trunk and they started for the wall. There was quite a line for the lift, but it was too hot to climb the long flight of stairs so they joined the throng of people waiting. They stood for a few moments without saying anything. Katara was looking up at the wall, trying to comprehend its sheer magnitude. It reminded her of how small she was.

She also couldn't stop herself from side-eyeing Zuko, wondering if he was going to take any more mock-hits at her.

It did not escape Zuko's notice. He chuckled. "Don't worry, Katara. I won't swing at you again...yet." He looked down at her with a sly grin.

"Gee, thanks…" Katara arched her brow at him, half-playful and half-teasing. "You know, if you actually hit me it's totally going down, right?"

"That's fine with me. I'm always up for a challenge. Besides, I'm pretty sure that if you ended up fighting me, it would be because I deserved it." He met her playful stare with one of his own before he looked ahead again, sobering. "So, who was that guy you were with yesterday? Is he a friend?"

"Aww, is that a hint of jealousy I detect, Zuko?" Katara teased, looking up at him.

Color flushed in his cheeks. "Nope. Just making conversation." There was a brief pause before he looked back down at her, his playful smile that made her butterflies go wild on his lips. "Why? Did you want me to be jealous?"

She stared at him dumbly for a moment, wanting to look away but finding herself unable to. After what felt like a beat too long of staring at him, she finally managed to play it off by smirking back at him and ignoring his last comment.

"I actually met him at that mixer you spilled my drink on me at." She knew she was taking a risk ruining the pleasant atmosphere, but she wanted to gauge his reaction. His response would be another piece to the puzzle that was Zuko.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Are you ever going to let that go?" There was no irritation in his voice. In fact, he sounded amused himself. "Besides, don't forget that you also threw your drink on me. At least I did it by accident."

"I only did it because you deserved it," Katara retorted lightly.

"Yeah, yeah. I was being a jerk, I'll admit it." He smirked down at her.

"Yes, you were," Katara told him. "And yes, Aang is a friend. We met up to do homework yesterday."

"Ah. He looked a little…" Zuko trailed off, as if searching for the right word. He settled on one he found adequate. "Young."

"Well, he's in his first year of college. He's like, eighteen," Katara answered. What was this, twenty questions? But she would answer them, just to keep him talking, in an effort to figure him out.

He peered down at her. "You're what, second year? So that makes you nineteen?"

"Yeah." She looked up at him, suddenly realizing she had no idea how old Zuko was. "You?"

"Fourth year, technically," Zuko replied. "But I'll probably end up doing my MBA."

So that made him twenty-one or twenty-two, give or take. "In business information systems."

"Yeah."

Katara wanted to ask more questions, but she decided she should wait. He had started to open up to her, just a little bit, and she didn't want to scare him off by prying too much. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he didn't like personal questions.

Finally they reached the lift. Zuko paid for their tickets—Katara's protests fell on deaf ears—and a few moments later they were packed into the open-cage of the lift with a dozen other people. There was hardly any room to breathe. Katara found herself standing behind a man who smelled like a grotesque combination of bananas and onions, and she stepped back, wrinkling her nose against the offending odor.

She stepped right back into Zuko. His hand came up and caught her by the waist, but he withdrew almost immediately.

"Sorry," Katara muttered as she quickly stepped forward again, blushing furiously.

"It's okay."

To her surprise he grabbed her arm and tugged her back beside him. There wasn't a lot of room, and she found herself pressed snugly beside him, shoulders and hips touching. She peeked at him from under her lashes, but his eyes were trained on something in the distance. Katara tried to breathe normally and ignore the hammering of her heart.

After ten torturous, glorious minutes of being pressed against him and making small talk about the sights, the lift finally made it to the top of the wall and the other passengers disembarked. Katara let out a quiet breath as she and Zuko stepped out onto the wall, but she was almost immediately breathless once again.

Before them, Ba Sing Se spread out like a sprawling map. Far below she could see the small shapes of people and cars moving through the streets. The roads and avenues were criss-crossed lines cutting through the city. The buildings rose up, tall and imposing, but from where she stood they looked like a child's toy blocks rather than an impressive city. Somewhere near the center of it all she could even see the gilded green roofs of the university.

"Oh my spirits," Katara exhaled. Before she could stop herself, she threaded her arm through Zuko's, dragging him with her to the parapet. A wide grin split her face. "This view is amazing."

She looked up at him, a little embarrassed at her boldness and unsure of what to expect from him. His arm was tense in hers, but there was a small smile on his mouth. Katara let him go but smiled back at him.

"I'm glad you like it," Zuko said, his voice huskier than usual. "But if you think this is impressive, you should turn around."

She did.

Zuko was right. The view behind them was somehow even more spectacular. Down below, rolling green hills and farmland stretched away from the inner wall until it reached the outer wall, so far away it was merely a sand-colored line on the horizon. There were patches of trees dotting the pastures, and she could see the large open-range zoo down below that she and Sokka had passed on the main road into town. Far off to the left she saw something shimmering.

"What's that?" Katara asked as she pointed to it.

Zuko followed her finger. "That's Lake Laogai. It's a popular tourist destination." He shrugged. "Lots of rich people have big houses on the lake."

"Have you been there before?"

"Yeah, I have."

Katara pursed her lips. "Is it pretty?"

"I guess so." Zuko shrugged again.

Katara squinted her eyes, trying to see it clearer. But it was too far away.

"Come on," Zuko said as he started along the top of the wall.

"Where are we going?"

"Away from the crowds."

Katara raised a brow at him. She wasn't sure if he simply wanted to get away from the crowds or if he wanted her alone. It took all of her willpower not to focus on the latter. Either way, she followed him as he led her away from the lift.

The crowd thinned out the further they went and Katara thought he would stop soon, but he pressed on. The sun was hot overhead and she could feel the sweat trickling down her back. If the heat was getting to him, Zuko didn't show it. But, being from the Fire Nation, it probably didn't.

After they had walked for twenty minutes without seeing another person, Zuko finally stopped at a bench and sat down. Katara dropped onto it gratefully. Her skin was hot and flushed, and she was not looking forward to the walk back to the lift. At least there was a cool breeze up here.

She hoped he was finally going to tell her why he'd been so adamantly against doing their report on Sozin's Corp. Katara was burning with curiosity, but she was going to let him bring it up on his own time.

"It really is beautiful up here," Katara told him. She looked over at him with a smile. "I can just imagine what it would look like at night."

"It's great," Zuko said. "It's really peaceful. It's a good place to come and clear your head."

Her lips twitched. "And to get away from jerky roommates, right?"

He snorted. "Right. That too." Zuko was quiet for a few minutes. Then he spoke. "So...about your topic idea. About Sozin's Corp."

"Yeah?" Katara prompted gently when he didn't say more for a moment.

He cleared his throat. His gaze was focused on the city below them. Katara waited patiently. "I didn't want to do the report on it because…" He let out a long sigh. "...that's my family's company."

Katara gaped at him. "What? Are you serious?"

That was not what she had been expecting him to say. Well, she wasn't exactly sure what she expected him to say, but that definitely would never have occurred to her.

Zuko nodded slowly, his eyes now concentrated out over the city. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, tenting his fingers together. He didn't say anything else.

"Wow. I...had no idea." Katara swallowed hard. She felt embarrassed. No wonder he was so against it...and I really flipped out on him about it. She cringed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. How could you know?" He turned his face toward her fractionally, just enough so that she could see the humorless smile on his lips. "I don't...I'm not affiliated with the company at all. That's a whole other story." He reached up, perhaps subconsciously, and brushed the tips of his fingers over the edge of his scar. Katara traced the movement with her eyes. She had never seen him acknowledge the scar before. He let out a breath. "But yeah. That's why I wanted a different topic."

"I'm sorry. It's understandable." Katara mumbled. She rolled her eyes, frustrated at herself. "Spirits, I-I don't even know what to say." She peeked over at him. "I'm sorry I yelled at you about it. I just thought it would make a good topic."

Zuko sighed. "It's okay, Katara. Really. I'm sure someone else in class will cover it." He huffed out a laugh. "I guess it's a good thing no one knows it's my family's company. I've definitely kept that to myself. I uh...would appreciate it if you did, too."

"Yeah, of course." She hesitated, chewing her bottom lip between her teeth. Katara watched him closely. She held her breath as she reached out and touched his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Zuko's head snapped to look at her, eyes wide with surprise. He swallowed. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Color had risen in his cheeks. "I'm good."

He stood up suddenly and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and took a few tentative steps forward, like he didn't know where he was going. He rocked on the balls of his feet.

"Are you hungry?" He smiled sheepishly as he turned back to face her. "I guess I should have asked you that before I dragged you up here."

"You didn't drag me up here. I came willingly enough." Katara cracked a grin as she got to her feet. He smirked back at her. "And yeah, I could eat."

His smile widened. "How do you feel about bacon cheeseburgers and milkshakes?"