Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta.

Zuko heard a noise downstairs and got out of bed. When he got to the kitchen, Katara was sitting there eating a cookie with a glass of milk by her. He sat down in the spot she'd prepared for him with a cookie and a glass of milk also.

"So, what did the shrink say?" he asked and then took a bite of the cookie.

"Apparently, I have a savior complex," she said and sighed. "Shocking, I know." She rolled her eyes at that. "It wasn't totally useless, though. I'm going back next week."

"I'm glad to hear you're sticking with it."

She shrugged, "As much as I hate it, you weren't wrong."

"Anything else?"

"She said I should quit my job and go to school full time. She doesn't think it's my job to keep the non-profit solvent. I don't know where she thinks the money would come from for school."

Zuko shook his head at her. "She had to have a better reason than that to suggest it."

"It's not important," she equivocated.

"That statement makes me think it is important, actually."

"She told me that being good at my job isn't going to get my father to pay attention to me." She fisted her hands.

"Hence the savior complex. You're trying to save your family."

"That's what she said."

He leaned forward, "Sokka loves you, Katara. You have your brother. Go to university with him."

She chuckled, "Isn't it beneath me to follow a boy to school?" She teased.

"It's your brother, so I think you're fine." He chuckled, "He won't decide he doesn't love you anymore."

She sighed, "Aang's there."

"And you broke up with him." He stared at his hands. "Will that be weird for you?"

"No. We'll be fine. I don't want to be known as the girl who broke up with Aang, though. Everyone loves him. I mean, how did you feel when you heard I broke it off?"

"Shit." He ran his hand through his hair. "Fair point. I wondered what was wrong with you. But now that I know you, that isn't true. You're… the two of you are an odd mix."

She abruptly changed the subject because she wanted to tell him the truth about her dream. "My father died in my dream this time."

"You couldn't have saved your mom." He guessed where it all was coming from.

"You don't know that!"

"If you were home, you would have been dead too. Then where would Sokka be? Your father has emotionally abandoned you both. But at least you have each other. If you died too, Sokka wouldn't be as… well, I can't say well adjusted," he teased, "but he's happy, and that's because of you."

Katara covered her face with her hands. "I don't want to be just another girl with daddy issues."

"So be the girl with daddy issues who's learning how to deal with them responsibly. Listen to the therapist and heal."

She dried her eyes. "She had some good points when I wasn't thinking about how much they pissed me off."

"Because she's right?" He chuckled and guessed, "You're mad because she won the discussion."

"It was a therapy session, not a discussion." She countered.

He laughed hard at that, "I just got to know you, and I already know it was a discussion at best. That, or you argued with her."

Katara blushed when she admitted, "I argued with her."

"You're not used to losing."

"No, but if I think about it, I don't know if I want to win this time; what she talks about sounds a lot like freedom to me. She said I'm not responsible for everyone. It's been exhausting."

"Then let her win."

"I haven't ever taken the easy way out before. It feels wrong."

"What happens when it's also the right thing?"

"I don't know!" She put her head in her hands and sighed. "I just really don't know."

"How's what you've been doing working for you?"

She looked up at him, "It hasn't."

"Then what have you got to lose?"

"Me! What am I if I'm not trying to keep everything together?!"

Zuko shrugged, "I don't know. But would it really hurt to find out? It could be amazing!"

"Or I could be nothing."

"That's not possible. You're smart and hot. What else does a college girl need to be, though?"

She started laughing, "Well adjusted?"

"Naw, that's overrated. If you're too perfect, it doesn't give guys like me a chance with you," he teased.

"Didn't you hear? I break up with the good guys."

"Aang's meditating with old men. He's a good guy with odd priorities. I don't blame you for that one."

"You didn't want to go with him?"

"No, your brother's crazy, but he knows how to have a good time."

"And pretend to suck at Call of Duty?"

"He had me there. He really commits to a prank."

Katara started laughing. "I can't believe you put up with how bad he pretended to be. No offense, but you don't seem to be the patient type."

He chuckled, "No, I'm not. But, I was the typical bully in school. The one who was an ass because his father beat him. I finally grew up, and your brother and Aang were my first real friends. Putting up with his terrible playing didn't seem like that big of a deal."

"And now?"

"Now, I have more fun playing than I ever did before. If I happen to lose, I don't get pissed off. And, I don't know if he did it on purpose or not. He's kinda an evil genius."

Katara smiled at him, "He does seem to understand you pretty well. It's possible he was trying to get you over your competitive bent."

"I'm not the only one, Katara. He knows about the false vent already."

"I know. I was trying to see if I could trust you, so I told you about it. I knew he figured it out. It isn't where I keep my main stash. I just keep a few cookies there. I figured if he felt like he found where I hid things, he'd quit looking."

Zuko shook his head, "You two crack me up." He then yawned. "Thank you for the milk and cookie. I better head back to bed."

"Thanks for the chat."

He smiled and took care of his dishes and Katara's then pushed his chair back in. "Goodnight, Katara. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Zuko."

Zuko headed back to his room, laid down in bed, and sighed to himself. He never felt so close to a woman before. He wondered what she saw when she looked at him. She was so in control and intelligent. Surely he looked like a buffoon.

He tried not to admit the truth. He had feelings for her. She was everything he could want in a woman, and there was that stubborn streak in her that he discovered was so attractive. She fought for everything she had with a tenaciousness that floored him.

He figured it was because she was so determined to make her own course through life and have everything work to the way she wanted. He felt like he was drifting since his father's death, and she had so much focus. He had to admit he was falling for his best friend's sister.