Katara ducked to avoid Zuko's fireblast before she came back with a deluge of water that would have knocked him off of his feet if he hadn't dropped and rolled out of the way. She looped her attack back around and sent it soaring through the air at him again, but he broke through it with a well-placed kick, the heel of his boot trailing flames. He flashed her a cocky grin, and Katara narrowed her eyes at him.

She was glad that he'd agreed to spar with her. After the events of the previous day, he had fallen into a bit of a funk. He'd been quiet as they rode all day, offering one-word answers or just grunts whenever she tried to draw him into conversation. She knew that what had happened was weighing heavily on him, but she hadn't been quite sure how to help.

Sparring seemed to break him out of his stupor. Katara could understand that. She always turned to her bending when she was stressed or upset. It was calming. And it was always better when there was a partner to spar with.

And she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't curious to see how this would play out. She hadn't fought Zuko since the North Pole. She knew her own skills had only improved. Katara wanted to see if he had improved, too.

She pulled her water back to her, her face set in grim determination. Katara lashed out at him with twin streams of water, hoping to catch him off guard. But Zuko punched through one stream with a flaming fist as he dodged the second. She could see the wicked gleam in his eyes as he punched fireblast after fireblast at her.

Katara was forced to play defense as she cut through his fast-paced attacks, never quite able to make a strike of her own. He was good, she'd give him that much. She found herself being pushed back as she deflected his assaults, losing more and more ground as he pressed closer.

As a last-ditch effort, Katara flung ice daggers at him. But of course, Zuko dodged it as he rolled forward. Then he pushed himself up onto his knees, using both hands to send a power jet of bright flames at her. Katara yelped as she threw up an ice wall to block it. His attack shattered her ice. She was knocked onto her back, the air leaving her lungs with a hard oomf.

Then Zuko was standing over her, a winning smirk on his face as he offered her his hand.

"Good match," he drawled smugly.

Katara put her hand in his. "Yeah, good match."

Then she pulled him down, throwing him off balance. Zuko toppled forward with a surprised yelp, and Katara quickly moved as he landed on his back in the dirt. Katara pinned him down with her knees on his shoulders, an ice dagger in her hand.

Zuko looked up at her, surprised. Then a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "I didn't take you for a sore loser, Katara."

He said her name teasingly, drawing out the syllables. The sound of her name with his husky voice sent a shiver down her spine. She could only blink down at him for a moment, stupefied, as she tried to understand why something as simple as him saying her name could have such an effect on her.

Zuko took advantage of her momentary freeze, and suddenly, Katara found herself on her back staring up at the stars. Then Zuko's face was above hers, his golden eyes gleaming in the light of their campfire, his taunting smirk back on his face. Katara decided that she both liked and hated that look on him.

"No one likes a cheater," Zuko told her, a laugh in his voice.

She scowled up at him. "We didn't call the match."

He rolled his eyes, a look that was far too attractive for his own good. "I'm pretty sure knocking you on your ass was a pretty clear win. I think you're just mad that I got the best of you."

Katara realized that he was still straddling her waist. He wasn't putting his weight on her, but she could feel his body heat everywhere they were touching. She swallowed hard as she met his gaze.

Zuko seemed to realize that he was still on top of her. Color rose in his face and he quickly shifted off of her, sitting down in the sand next to her. He offered her his hand and helped her sit upright.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, that was a good match."

"Um, yeah, it was." She peered over at him with a shy smile. "Want to go again?"

I'm screwed. I am so screwed, Zuko thought to himself later that night as he lay awake. He risked a glance over at Katara, and saw that she was sound asleep, leaning against Dusty's side. He let out a silent breath before he turned his eyes back up to the sky.

It was just supposed to be a sparring match. But then she'd pinned him down with an ice dagger over his throat and it was like Zuko saw her clearly for the first time. She was strong and fierce and...beautiful. To distract himself from that line of thinking, he'd turned the tables and pinned her down, which had not been any better.

The more time that he spent with her, the more complicated things became. Zuko wasn't sure how he felt about that. All of this was supposed to be temporary while he helped her find her friends. But so much had happened since he'd found her on the side of the road. Zuko knew that he could no longer look at her as an enemy. She'd become a friend. A friend that he was, slowly, grudgingly, becoming attracted to.

Shit. He was screwed.

And that led to a whole host of other issues that he wasn't quite ready to confront. Like what this meant. Would he continue hunting the Avatar? Would he finally let Katara offer him the thing she'd been wanting to for weeks now? Would he accept? Zuko didn't know. He wasn't quite sure that he wanted to know.

Part of him wished that he could keep wandering around the Earth Kingdom desert with her forever. No Avatar, no father, no sister. Nothing but him and Katara and Dusty. But Zuko knew that couldn't last. Katara had a mission, and she was determined to see it through to the end.

The fact that her mission directly conflicted with his own mission only made things more complicated. Zuko felt torn. On one hand, he had directly seen now what his forefathers' war was doing to people. But on the other hand, this was his family. All he had ever wanted was his father's approval. He wanted his honor back. He couldn't go home without it.

How could he reconcile that with Katara, and his growing feelings for her? He could never convince her that his path was right, that his father's war was justified. But could he turn his back on his father, his homeland, his throne, and go against everything he had ever known? Zuko didn't have an answer.

Instead, he turned his back to Katara. But he didn't fall asleep for a long, long while.