Katara felt someone gently shake her awake. She opened her eyes and saw Zuko's face above her. His skin was painted in golden sunlight, turning his scar into soft shades of pink and red and setting his honey-colored eyes on fire. Her lips parted in a silent gasp at how beautiful he looked. Then she blinked, shook her head, and looked up at him again.

"Morning," she mumbled.

"Morning," Zuko said. The corner of his lips twitched as if he was fighting a smile, and she felt heat rise in her cheeks. "We're stopping for breakfast."

Her stomach rumbled. "Mm, good. I'm hungry."

She was pleasantly surprised when he offered her his hand to help her up. Katara put her hand in his, feeling the calluses on his palm, and how warm his skin was. He pulled her to her feet, and Katara took a look around. They were still in the middle of the desert, with nothing but dunes for miles in any direction.

The sandbenders were sitting down and passing around fruit, bread, and water. She was hungry, but she was also stiff and sore, and she wanted to get some exercise.

"I'm gonna stretch my legs a bit before I eat," Katara said to Zuko before she climbed down from the sailer.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Zuko asked her.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not going far. Save me a mango, will you?"

"Of course."

The sand shifted beneath her feet as she walked. She could feel it pooling in her boots. Katara couldn't wait to be out of the desert. She hoped that things would be easier in Ba Sing Se. She hoped that she would be able to track down her friends and maybe reunite with them.

But that led to another question: what about Zuko? She found that the thought of leaving him was nearly painful. They had been through so much together over the last few weeks. He was someone that she considered a friend. But she knew that her friends would take a while to warm up to him, if he could even be coaxed to join them.

She hoped that Iroh could help convince him that joining her and her friends was the right thing to do. Iroh didn't seem to have the blind loyalty in the Fire Nation that so many firebenders did. She had first seen that in the North Pole, but the things he had talked about when he showed them lightning redirection had only solidified that for her.

Katara climbed to the top of a dune and looked out across the Si Wong Desert. It was beautiful in its own way. The early morning sun seemed to set the dunes on fire, turning the sand into shades of reddish gold. The sky was a pure shade of azure blue, nearly white near the horizons. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and it was quiet, with only the sound of the weak breeze blowing past her ears to break the silence.

After a few moments, she turned around and went back to the sand sailer. She sat down next to Zuko, who offered her a half-smile as he passed her a mango and a piece of bread.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome."

Once breakfast was over, everyone got back on the sand sailer. Then they were on their way again. Katara watched the sandbenders for a while. It was fascinating how they manipulated the sand to guide the sailer. The motions they made reminded her of waterbending.

After a while, she went back to where Zuko and Iroh were sitting and settled down next to Zuko. The sailer wasn't very big, and with all of the sandbenders on board, it was a little cramped. She found that her shoulder and knee brushed against his, and realized that even just a few weeks ago, she would have recoiled from the contact. But now, she was perfectly at ease. Comfortable.

"The sandbenders tell me that the city provides housing to the refugees in the Lower Ring of the city," Iroh said to them. "We can get an apartment and look for work." He leaned around Zuko to look at Katara. "The question now is if you want to stay with us, or if you would like to go your own way."

Katara bit her lip as she looked between them. That was what had led her to forge this alliance with Zuko in the first place, wasn't it? She hadn't wanted to be alone. She still didn't. She couldn't even fathom being alone in a place like Ba Sing Se.

"I'd like to stay with you guys, if that's okay," Katara answered quietly. "At least until I find my friends. If you'll have me."

"Of course," Iroh said with a kind smile.

Katara looked at Zuko hopefully. She wanted—no, needed—to hear him say it. He peeked up at her, his bottom lip caught between his teeth (a look that was way more attractive than it had any right to be), before he offered her a nod.

"Yeah," he said. "That's fine with me."

She offered him a kind smile. "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

They reached Full Moon Bay just after sundown, as promised. Katara was amazed by it. The refugee camp was in a massive underground cave that appeared to be a natural formation, although some of it had clearly been renovated by earthbenders.

A huge earthen platform spanned across the underground portion of the bay. It was filled with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of refugees. They were all dirty and ragged. Some had nothing; others had brought everything they could carry. Some were weak and sick, others were injured. It was awful.

Katara's heart pulled painfully at the sight. She could offer her healing skills, but if she did, she wasn't sure that she would be able to stop. They needed to get into the city. From there, Katara could help the refugees while she looked for her friends.

It was organized down there, at least. Long lines led up to the ticket master's booths, and security guards in crisp cream and green uniforms patrolled regularly. There were guards at the end of each line now, announcing that it had closed for the night.

"Perhaps we should find somewhere to sleep until morning," Iroh remarked. "Then we can get our tickets and be on our way."

Zuko and Katara nodded in agreement, and they went off to find some place to sleep. Finally, they found a small patch of ground not occupied by anyone else. They didn't have much between them, just some food and water that the sandbenders had left them with. Katara, Zuko, and Iroh settled down on the damp ground. Iroh divided their food between them, and they ate in silence for a while.

Katara noticed a young boy, no older than eight or nine, hanging around nearby, watching them. He was dirty, his clothing torn and ragged. He was skinny too, almost malnourished. She knew that there were dozens of kids here who probably looked the same as he did, but she couldn't bear it. If she could only help one, she would.

She caught the boy's eye and held out a banana. His eyes lit up, and he quickly scampered over to her and took it. He offered her a bow as he muttered an appreciative thanks before he disappeared into the crowd.

"Why did you do that? That's all the food we had," Zuko said, his brow furrowing.

Katara looked at him with a soft smile. "And that little boy probably didn't have any. He needed it more than we did."

"You've got a good head on such young shoulders, Master Katara," Iroh said sagely as he nodded.

She flushed warmly. "Thank you."

After they had eaten, they settled in to sleep. It wasn't exactly comfortable sleeping on the damp stone floor, and it was loud. Sounds echoed off of the cavernous ceiling, and with so many people, conversations seemed to become one big roar. And it was cold down here underground, so far away from the scorching heat of the desert. Katara tossed and turned a bit as she tried to settle, but it was useless.

Behind her, Zuko pushed himself up onto one elbow. "Are you okay?"

Katara rolled onto her back and looked over at him. "I'm fine. It's just a little hard to sleep." She looked past him and saw that Iroh was snoring. "I don't know how he does it."

Zuko glanced back at his uncle, a soft smile tugging up one side of his mouth, before he faced her again. "He's always been this way. He can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. I think it's the soldier in him. You get used to sleeping in shitty places, I guess."

"Even as a general?" Katara inquired, one eye arched.

One of his shoulders lifted in a shrug. "All soldiers start off in the trenches, even members of the royal family. It's a lesson in humility. A good leader is only as strong as his lowest footsoldier."

"I see." She tucked her hand behind her head and tried to get comfortable, but she sighed. "Ugh, this isn't working. It's loud and damp and cold."

"You're cold?" Zuko asked, and she nodded. He pursed his lips for a moment. "I can help with that."

She smiled gratefully at him. "I forgot about that."

"How can you forget? You couldn't stop complaining about it yesterday."

Heat rose in her cheeks and she flopped her arm over her eyes. "Can we agree to never speak about that again?"

"What, you calling me hot? Or saying that my body is hot—"

Katara pushed his shoulder playfully. "Oh my spirits, stop! That's it, I've decided I'm not cold anymore."

She rolled onto her side until her back was to him, but to her surprise he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. Katara let out a yelp. But she could already feel his heat at her back. Katara peeked back at him.

"Swallow your pride, waterbender," Zuko murmured with a chuckle in his voice.

She huffed out a breath. "Fine. But only because you're warm."

"Don't you mean hot?"

Katara dug her elbow into his ribs and he let out a soft oof. "Shut it, or I'll chuck you into the lake."

"Okay, okay." Zuko settled against her, his arm a comfortable weight around her middle. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Mm-hm."

She fell asleep a lot easier with his familiar warmth at her back.