"Katara?"
Katara mumbled something as she turned over, away from the voice.
"Katara, wake up."
A hand shook her shoulder, prompting her to crack open her eyes.
"Hurry, Katara," the voice whispered urgently. "You'll miss it!"
Blinking her eyes, Katara looked around to see that it was still mostly dark, the sky barely beginning to lighten.
"Hurry," Zuko insisted again, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.
"What is it?" she asked, looking around for danger, her senses waking up as her heart rate began to increase.
"Just follow me," he told her.
The smile he gave her left Katara confused. Zuko would never smile if there was danger. Zuko hardly ever smiled as it was. She was left to wonder what was so important he'd needed to drag her from her sleep and begin dragging her through the forest.
He kept her hand clasped tightly, moving quickly but still taking the time to hold branches out of her way so that she wouldn't get hit. Despite his other hand being free most of the time, Zuko never lit a flame, his eyes going to the sky every once in a while, though Katara didn't believe there was anything he could see through the trees.
They reached the beach quickly, the sand shifting beneath Katara's feet as they left the treeline. Looking around, Katara still couldn't see anything unusual, prompting her frown to continue to grow.
"Wait," Zuko said, pulling her down to sit beside him in the sand. "Just a few more minutes."
Katara nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin against them, waiting to see what was important.
"Are you cold?"
Katara shook her head. Some movement from Zuko shifted the sand beside her. After a moment's hesitation, Katara's eyes widened in surprise as Zuko's arm wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest, his heartbeat steadily increasing to match her own as the warmth from his firebending ability washed over her.
"Is...is this ok?" he asked, his voice small.
Now it was Katara's turn to hesitate, but it only took her a moment before she was nodding her head, a soft smile growing on her face.
"Yeah," she whispered. "This is good."
"Look," Zuko mumbled into her ear, his breath brushing across her hair. "It's starting."
Katara lifted her eyes to the horizon where Zuko was pointing. She squinted a little, trying to see before she realized the clouds on the horizon were beginning to lighten ever so slightly. Eyes growing wide, Katara watched, curled up against Zuko as the sun began to peek out over the ocean, its orange and yellow glow entrancing her as it began lighting up the water below. The waves rolled across the sand further below her and Zuko, their slow and steady crawl up the shore matching the pace of the sun as the sky grew lighter with each second.
The sun made its full emergence a few minutes later, the clouds low across the horizon seeming grey as the sun lit them up from behind. Just beneath the sun, Katara's gaze was glued to the reflection the sun was casting in the water, golden light bouncing off the bright blue of the waves.
"It's almost as if the ocean was holding the sun," she breathed, awe lacing her voice.
"I'm sorry for waking you up," Zuko apologized. "I wanted to share it with you, I thought you'd like it."
"You were right," Katara admitted, eyes still locked onto the sun rising into the sky. "It's amazing. Thank you for waking me up."
Zuko nodded against her head, his other arm coming to wrap around her waist and pull her even closer against him. Katara sighed in contentment, the weak light of the morning beginning to add to the warmth she was already feeling. She felt a sort of fuzziness spreading throughout her, any thoughts of training or eating or even moving completely fleeing her mind as she sat with her back against Zuko's chest, his breathing in time with hers, watching as fire and water met in a beautiful masterpiece she wished could last a lifetime.
"Would it be so bad to stay here forever?" Zuko whispered.
Katara inhaled a bit sharper than she meant to, Zuko immediately beginning to pull away from her as he tried to apologize again. Grabbing his arms, Katara pulled him back, twisting so that she could see his face. Cupping his face with her hand, Katara looked at him in his eyes, hesitating a moment before pressing her lips against his cheek for a brief moment.
His eyes showed his shock as she pulled away, turning back so she could continue watching the rising sun and settle back into Zuko's warmth.
"If it could stay this way all the time, then no. No, I don't think it would be bad to stay here forever," Katara said softly. "But we both know this won't last. We're not satisfied here."
Katara looked up slightly to see how Zuko was reacting to her words. He had a small frown on his face as he looked out over the ocean, the sunlight bathing his face in a golden glow.
"Just for a moment," Zuko begged. "Just for a little bit, can we forget all of that?"
In response, Katara turned her head again, breathing out another sigh as Zuko wrapped his arms more tightly around her, his chin coming down to rest against her shoulder. They stayed that way, curled up around each other as the morning began, the sun rising up into the clouds above them to keep them from being blinded.
When Zuko fell asleep against her, Katara couldn't hold back her smile. Her arms rested over his, her fingers fitting into the spaces left between his. Soft footsteps padding towards the two alerted her to Iroh having found them, her grin matching his as he stood in front of them.
"Good morning, Katara," he whispered, winking at her.
Katara inclined her head the barest inch, returning his kind greeting.
"Good morning," she whispered.
"Would you like me to move Zuko into a more comfortable position for you?"
"Thank you, but this is perfect for a little while longer," Katara told him honestly.
"Then I'll leave you to enjoy the morning," Iroh replied, flashing her a final smile.
Iroh walked off, his footprints left behind. Katara's eyes felt droopy as she began to slowly blink, fighting to stay awake. The warmth was pushing her to let her eyes close.
Twisting her head to the side to try and fight off the sleepiness, Katara spotted something coming towards the west side of the beach, a speck steadily growing larger. Her neck stiffened as she recognized the shape of a ship, straining to catch a glint of metal that would say it could be Zuko's.
A gasp fell from her lips.
Wood, not metal, formed the ship that was beginning to head away from her, searching for a place deep enough to dock at the island. Katara kept herself still, eyes following the ship that was so familiar to her as it slowly vanished from view. Jolting slightly once it had disappeared, Katara was stopped by the arms around her waist, her eyes blinking as she stared at Zuko from the corner of her eyes.
"Oh no," she muttered. "Not now."
As carefully as she could, Katara peeled Zuko's arms away from her, catching Zuko's head and twisting so that she could ease him down against the sand. She hesitated a moment, making sure he hadn't woken before edging away, slipping into the tree line so that he couldn't follow her footprints.
With a final look over her shoulder at the unmoving prince, Katara began making her way through the trees, heading in the direction she'd seen the ship going.
She remembered those ships from when she was a little girl, the men of the Southern watertribe working tirelessly to transform their fishing boats into war worthy vessels. Her dad had brought her and Sokka onto his ship once they were finished, pointing out at the horizon as he explained how he'd have to go defend their home in waters that had never held ice before. He'd asked Sokka to care for Katara, despite her brother's sobbing as he begged to go with their dad. Katara remembered being confused, looking out across the ocean as she tried to imagine a place without ice.
The blue sails blew in the wind as Katara left the trees once more, coming to the top of a cliff that looked down over the small inlet the Southern ship had claimed, men in blue unloading a few things onto the sand, some helping carry others off the ship. Katara squinted, getting down on her hands and knees to shuffle closer to the edge of the cliff as she tried to make out any of the warrior's faces.
"Hakoda!"
Katara's head snapped to one of the warriors on the beach who was waving at someone on the ship. She followed the man's line of sight to see someone jumping over the rail of the ship and splash into the water.
"Dad," she breathed, tears immediately filling her eyes as she saw that her father was alive and unharmed by the looks of it.
A lot of her dad's men looked to be sporting burns and other injuries as they gathered on the shore, those with less damage helping the others. There were about a dozen men in total, such a small portion of the force her dad had left the Southpole with, and much less than had attacked the ship the other night, striking Katara with fear about what had happened to the rest of the ships her father commanded. Her eyes watched her dad as he helped someone reach a spot in the sand to sit down. She could see him telling the man something before her dad leaned back and laughed, clapping the man on the shoulder.
That was a good sign, right?
If her dad was laughing so soon after the battle, maybe it wasn't as bad as she suspected. The warrior who had called her dad before, who Katara now recognized as Bato came up to her dad's side. They spoke for a moment, both of them looking over their surroundings. For just a moment, Katara thought her dad had seen her at the top of the cliff, but he simply nodded to something Bato said and continued his conversation with him.
"Dad," Katara said again, a smile growing on her face.
She hadn't seen him in so long. With high anticipation, Katara began to stand, lifting her arms to yell down so that he would see her. Just as she opened her mouth, drawing in a breath, sunlight broke through the clouds, lighting up her hands.
Katara hesitated.