Zuko is staring at the young woman sitting across from him. He knows it's rude, but he really can't help it. And she either doesn't mind or doesn't notice, because she hasn't said anything about it even though he's been staring at her for a solid three minutes. Probably because she's too busy prattling on, something about her brother and his wife and their baby.

She's a talker, Zuko observed dryly. Great.

Katara. His soulmate. His fingers instinctively brush over the mark on his wrist, where a lunar eclipse had blossomed just after he broke his rule and touched someone. That someone had just happened to be her, one of his (favorite) customers at the tea shop.

That had been three days ago. Now they're here, sitting at a table at a restaurant's open patio looking like they're out on a date. This is definitely not a date. They had established that early on, as soon as Katara had suggested meeting up to...get to know each other.

This whole thing is just a nightmare. Zuko had been content to never meet his soulmate, ever. He knew that it meant never touching someone he hadn't before (before being mostly when he was younger and didn't really understand Soulmate Touches and what they mean), which hasn't been easy. Zuko had resigned himself to his fate of being lonely years ago, of never touching or being touched by anyone other than family or those who already had their own soulmate mark.

And then Katara had come along. When he'd seen her slip on the floor at his uncle's tea shop, he hadn't even thought it through before he was at her side, reaching out for her. And she'd been the one. Fate is a funny thing, as his Uncle would say.

"...and they're already thinking about having another baby even though Koda is only six months old, like a couple of absolute psychos."

Katara looks up at him then and stops talking as if she's just now realized she has been carrying on a one-sided conversation for the last fifteen minutes. Her cheeks turn pink before she gives him an awkward smile.

"Sorry," she says sheepishly. "I'm being a bit rude, huh?"

"No, no, you're fine," he tells her quickly. He clears his throat. "So, uh, you have a nephew then?"

"Just the one," she says with a touch of pride. "Though from the sounds of it, my brother and his wife will have a whole pack before they're done."

They both chuckle, and somehow it isn't awkward, like it should be since they're two people who barely know each other. Well, he kind of knows her; has known her for months, since she started coming into his uncle's tea shop about eight months ago. They've exchanged pleasantries and had polite conversations. She'd even asked him out to dinner once, before they found out that they were—found out about the Soulmate Marks.

"What about you?" Zuko says. "Do you want kids?"

He realizes a moment too late that maybe that question is too personal, and it's his turn to flush in embarrassment.

"Sorry," he mutters.

Katara waves him off. "No, it's fine. I mean, that's sort of the point of this, right?" Katara's face goes red as she realizes the other implication her statement makes. "That's not what I—to get to know each other, I mean. That's what I meant. We're having this dinner to get to know each other."

Great, now she's rambling again.

"I guess." Zuko wears a half-smirk on his face. He hasn't seen Katara blush before. And he thinks the rosy hue is pretty against her skin.

She beams a smile at him, and Zuko realizes that he likes her smile too. It's friendly and pretty, and it makes her even more beautiful than she already is.

"I want one or two, maybe," she says. She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear as she adds, "Once I'm done with med school and I've established my practice, of course."

"Right," Zuko says. He's suspected that that's her chosen career field, but he's never asked. He's seen the textbooks she buries her nose in while she's drinking her vanilla-chai-with-whip.

Katara picks up her water glass and takes a sip. "What about you? Do you plan on having any?"

Zuko suddenly feels like the air has been expelled forcefully from his lungs. He should have known that the question was coming, but it still takes him by surprise. Mostly because now Zuko doesn't know how to answer her question.

He knows what she wants. Katara wants to fall in love with him, to get married and have kids, to be soulmates. Zuko can't bring himself to tell her that he has never planned on any of that, and he still isn't sure he wants that now, even though he's found her.

"I've never really thought about it," he finally manages to say.

"Oh," Katara squeaks, as if she's a bit surprised. She recovers more gracefully than he does as she smiles again. "I mean, I didn't really start thinking about kids until Yue got pregnant. But even still, I want to wait a few more years."

Zuko nods, not quite able to meet her gaze. He feels guilty, and he tries to tell himself that he shouldn't feel that way. He doesn't owe this girl anything, even if they are soulmates. But he doesn't know how to tell her that he doesn't want to be anything more than friends, that he's afraid of embracing their marks and falling in love.

They fall into a semi-awkward silence for a few moments, but they're saved when the waitress finally comes back to take their orders. Zuko pays attention to what Katara orders—seaweed noodles and star-crab dumplings with a side of stewed sea prunes—and hates himself a little for paying attention. But it's like he's not even meaning to, like it's instinct or something. And if he's not mistaken, she pays attention to his order of komodo chicken and rice.

Then the waitress is gone and they're alone again. Zuko fiddles with his napkin, not sure what else to do or say to fill the silence. Then Katara speaks up.

"If you're not...comfortable," she begins hesitantly. "Then...we don't have to do this again. See each other, I mean." She lets out a small sigh. "Really, I'm surprised you agreed to come out at all in the first place."

He blinks at her, surprised. She's worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and there's a delicate furrow in her brow. He's messing this up, making her doubt herself. The guilt gnaws at him again.

"It's—no, it's not like that at all," Zuko stammers out, not sure where he's going with this. "This is...it's nice. Really. It's nice."

Katara nods slowly and he can tell that she doesn't believe him.

"It's just that—I keep thinking about what you said, about you not dating people," Katara says.

She's looking somewhere over his shoulder as she says this, and suddenly it feels like his stomach is full of lead.

"It's...complicated," he murmurs, dropping his eyes to the table in front of him. "I wasn't lying though, if that's what you're thinking."

"It wasn't," she tells him quietly. "I'm just thinking…that if you didn't date because you didn't want to find your soulmate, it must be frustrating for you. Me, that is."

Finally, he dares to look up at her. She looks absolutely torn, conflicted, sad. Zuko knows that most people want nothing more than to find their soulmates. And this girl, this beautiful, kind woman, has to get stuck with a lousy soulmate like him. Fate is cruel.

"No, it's just…" Zuko takes a deep breath. "I meant it, what I told you. That I've seen the Marks do more harm than good."

"I totally respect that," Katara says quickly. "It's just—that doesn't mean it'll be the same for you, y'know?"

He shrugs as he looks away. "I never wanted to take that chance."

"I'm sorry then," she murmurs.

Zuko shakes his head before he looks at her. "Don't be. It's not your fault. And it's not like you got to choose your soulmate, or I'm sure you wouldn't have chosen someone like me."

He registers the way her eyes flicker to his scar and he turns his face away, towards the left side, to hide it. Her lips part as she lets out a soft gasp.

Then, to his surprise, she says, so gently, "It doesn't bother me. The scar."

He can't help but stare at her for a moment. He knows that he's not easy on the eyes, and truthfully, he's not even sure what Katara had seen in him when she asked him out before all of this. And a nasty part of himself thinks that the only reason she's here now is because he's her soulmate.

"Still," he rasps out after he recovers from his shock. "You don't have to pretend that you're here for any reason other than the fact that this happened." He holds up his arm, indicating the mark hidden beneath his sleeve.

Katara props her elbows on the table and leans a little closer to him, a soft smile curving her lips. "Do you forget that I asked you out months before this happened?" She pulls up her jacket sleeve until the mark is visible. "I liked you then, I like you now, and all I want to do is get to know you...and see where this thing goes."

Zuko blinks stupidly at her. He heard her, but it doesn't quite make sense to him.

"I never wanted this," he says.

Katara sighs. "I know. But finding your soulmate is supposed to be the most amazing thing that ever happens to you. I've envied every single person I know who finds their soulmate, because you can just see the devotion and adoration they have for one another. And I really want that." She presses her lips into a thin line and looks away from him for a moment. "But you don't."

Zuko leans towards her, tucking his hands beneath the table to fight the instinctive urge to reach out to her. "Katara, I do want that. I do. It's just—"

"Complicated," Katara supplies with a wry half-smile.

He huffs out a breath. "It is. And...it's hard to talk about. Because it's complicated." He drops his gaze. "It has to do with my parents, okay?"

Katara holds her hands up. "You don't owe me an explanation, Zuko."

"I feel like I do," Zuko says, frustration coloring his tone. He rakes a hand through his loose hair before dropping it onto the table. "Because it's not fair. You're right. People are supposed to be excited to find their soulmates and want to jump right into it. But you get stuck with me, and all I can say is it's complicated."

Katara reaches out then and puts a hand over his. It's only the second time they've touched, and Zuko's skin still tingles like it's been electrically charged. Her fingers twitch, and he knows that she felt it too.

"I'm not stuck with you," she tells him softly. "We're soulmates. And because we're soulmates, it means we'll get through this. Together. I know you don't really know me and I don't really know you, but it doesn't have to be like that. We can figure this out together."

Zuko's gaze flickers between her hand and her face, feeling uncertainty pooling in his belly. But as he looks into her soft blue eyes, he feels a certain sense of calmness come over him. Her touch is still sending shivers over his skin and he thinks for the first time in a long time that maybe having a soulmate isn't the worst thing that could happen.

Slowly, tentatively, Zuko places his other hand on top of hers, curling his fingers around her knuckles. She gives him a small smile, and he returns it.

"Maybe you're right," he says.

"So we'll just...take it slow," Katara murmurs. "And we'll get through it together."

"Together," he echoes.

Zuko thinks that he might like the sound of that.