Zuko rose with the dawn as he always did, feeling Agni's call on his inner fire. He glanced up at the bed and saw that Katara was still sleeping. He had come to learn that the waterbender was not an early riser by any stretch of the imagination, and he usually had to rouse her. Her bright and optimistic personality usually didn't emerge until sometime after breakfast.

He sat up in his bedroll, still feeling tired since he'd only gotten a handful of hours of sleep, as he looked at the new additions to their supplies that he had pilfered the previous night. It wasn't much, just some more food and a few bags of coins taken from some careless rich merchant. But it would help them out at least, get them through the next few weeks.

Zuko didn't feel guilty for his thievery. He needed it, so he was going to take it. Zuko wasn't used to being hungry or broke, and he was a prince. He had no qualms about easing his own discomfort, and now there was Katara to think about too. Twice as much food and coin. It had been challenging enough when he was alone, so he was going to do what he had to do to make sure they were alright.

He quietly slipped out of his bedroll and ensured that his black clothes and blue mask were safely hidden beneath his spare change of clothes in his pack. Then he made his way into the washroom, gently shutting the door behind him.

When he was done, he opened the door again. He found Katara sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at his empty bedroll. She looked up when she heard the door. He saw the shock register on her face, but then her brow furrowed as her lips quirked downwards. Suddenly, she was on her feet and stomping towards him, jabbing an angry finger into his chest.

"Where have you been?" Katara demanded to know.

Zuko pointed his thumb behind him. "I was in the washroom—"

"No, you idiot! Last night," she snapped, her eyes sparking with fury. "I woke up and you weren't here!"

"I was—"

"If you say in the washroom, so help me La—"

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her. "I was out getting us some supplies, actually. You're welcome."

He brushed past her and stepped deeper into the room. He busied himself by grabbing his boots and sitting on the edge of the bed so that he could put them on. Katara took a few steps towards him and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, so you were out stealing?" she quipped incredulously.

"So stealing is only okay if you do it?" Zuko shot back hotly.

She stared hard at him for a moment, one eye slightly twitching. Zuko studied her for a moment. Katara wasn't just angry. She was...relieved? But no, that couldn't be right. There was no way that she'd been worried about him.

"No! It's just—" She dropped her gaze as her hands fell by her sides. "I woke up and you were gone, okay? I freaked out a little bit because I didn't know if you'd just left me here or what."

Zuko blinked stupidly at her, surprised. She was relieved that he was back, then. He felt...something about that knowledge, but he didn't quite dare to give it a name.

"I don't break deals, Katara," Zuko told her firmly. "I didn't think you'd wake up."

She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him, her bottom lip jutting out. "It's fine. It's not like I was worried about you or anything."

You're a bad liar, Zuko thought, but he didn't call her out on it. Instead, he stood up and went to her. He hesitated for a moment before he put his hand on her shoulder. Katara whipped her head around, her eyes falling first on his hand before she dragged them up to his face.

"I'm sorry," he told her softly.

Katara studied him for a moment, licking her lips. Then she stepped past him, heading for her pack.

"It doesn't matter," she muttered as she grabbed her comb and began to pull it through her hair. "But I can help, you know. You don't have to do stuff like that on your own."

"I don't think stealth is really your thing," Zuko told her, his voice a low rasp. He cleared his throat. "I'm better on my own. Quicker. Quieter."

She huffed out a breath. "Then just...let me know, okay? That way I don't think you've ditched me." She said that last part as she looked up at him, her lips pulling up in a thin smile.

Zuko snorted and rolled his eyes, feeling the corner of his lips tug up into a returning smirk of his own. "Like I'd ever ditch my fiancée."

Did a blush rise in her cheeks, or did he imagine it? No, he didn't think he did.

Asking around Gaoling about Aang and Sokka proved to be a fruitless endeavor. No one else seemed to know that the Avatar had even been in the city, and no one had heard of anyone named the Blind Bandit. Likewise, no one knew why Master Yu and Xin Fu had left, especially together, as the two were not known to run in the same social circles.

Katara was feeling decidedly dejected as she and Zuko sat down to dinner at a ramen shop, wondering what their next step was going to be now with no leads.

"I guess we could ask around some more tomorrow," Katara muttered as she leaned her head on her hand.

Zuko shook his head. "No. If anyone knew anything, we would have heard about it by now. I've spent enough time looking for the Avatar to know that people don't hold back information on him, either willingly or by force."

Katara looked up at him, surprised. She had somehow forgotten that Zuko had spent the last several months tracking Aang. How did I forget that? she scolded herself mentally. But then she huffed out a breath. He was right, as she was learning he often was.

"So what now, then?" Katara asked as she stirred her noodles listlessly.

Zuko considered it for a moment. "Well, he was looking for an earthbending teacher, right? Well, I'd bet my crown he found one with the Blind Bandit, whoever she is. So, my guess is that they went off somewhere private so he could learn earthbending." He looked up at her. "Does that sound about right?"

"I mean, yeah, I guess so," Katara mused. "So where do you think they'd go?"

"I don't know." Zuko looked out over the city, his brow furrowing thoughtfully. "Probably somewhere away from everything. Maybe towards the south. It's mostly desert down there, and not a lot of towns or villages."

"Okay, so that's where we'll go then," Katara said with an affirmative nod. Then she deflated. "But how are we going to find them? They're riding on a flying bison. That's not exactly easy to track."

Zuko arched his brow at her as if to say, are you sure about that?

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Then I guess I'll just leave it up to you."

"Well, I did follow you and your friends halfway around the world—"

"I guess that makes you the Avatar-tracking expert then," Katara quipped, half-teasing, half intending it to be a sarcastic remark.

He popped a crab puff into his mouth before his lips curved up in a lopsided smirk. "I guess so."

Katara blinked for a moment, taken aback by his smile. She'd rarely seen him smile, especially little more than a half-smile, barely a twitch of his lips. And now that she did, she realized that Zuko actually had a very nice smile. It made him...almost handsome.

His smirk fell away. "What?"

Katara realized that she was staring at him, and she quickly dropped her gaze as heat rose in her cheeks. She fiddled around with her chopsticks.

"Um, nothing," she muttered, embarrassed. "I'm just tired."

"Right, yeah." Zuko looked down at his plate. "We should probably get back to the inn. We can leave first thing in the morning. Then we can head southeast. See if we can pick up their trail."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

They finished their meal and made their way back to the inn. They packed up their belongings to save time in the morning before they settled down to go to sleep.

"No sneaking out without telling me," Katara told him with a teasing smile before she laid down.

"Eh, I think I've got the supplies covered anyway," Zuko replied. He tucked his hand behind his hand and used the other one to extinguish the candles. "Get some sleep."

Katara settled down, but she found herself staring up at the ceiling. She'd been grateful for Zuko all day (and how weird it was to feel that way about the firebender). He'd actually been incredibly helpful all day (all week, if she was being honest with herself). She'd also found herself incredibly relieved when he had been in their room that morning rather than having run off on her. She couldn't explain it to herself, not really.

She could tell from the rhythm of his breathing that he was still awake. She steeled her nerves.

"Hey, Zuko?"

A pause. "What's up?"

She chewed her bottom lip for a moment. "Um, I just want to say thank you. For, you know, sticking around."

"Oh." He sounded surprised. "Yeah, um...no problem."

"Good night."

"Yeah, good night."

She rolled onto her side and eventually drifted off to sleep.