Disclaimer: The Avatar world and characters belong to Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

Thank you so much for the reviews and the support! I have re-written this chapter because I didn't like Hakoda's initial reaction, I hope you enjoy!


Two days earlier…

Katara woke up, noticing that the light in her room was different from its usual angles. As she pushed herself up Katara realised that, for the first time since Zuko had joined the group, she hadn't heard him waking Aang up. She had woken up naturally, and she suspected that she had majorly slept in.

Zuko must have woken Aang up quietly to spite her.

She would never admit it out loud, but Katara enjoyed getting up early. Because she had more time in the day; it was like time was something she could control by getting up earlier and making her days longer, which meant that the Comet's arrival was still far away in the future.

Katara walked into the courtyard and, to her surprise, found no one there. The boys weren't mediating or firebending like they usually were. Her stomach dropped, and Katara felt adrenaline surge through her veins as questions and concerns rushed through her mind.

Had she been right all along? Had Zuko kidnapped Aang?

Confused and panicked, Katara ran back to Aang's room, throwing open the door with unprecedented urgency. Aang lay in his bed, sleeping deeply, apparently also enjoying a lie in. Katara let out a sigh of relief.

Why had Zuko let them both sleep in? Where was he?

The sun had risen fully, and it was unlike Zuko to not be using this time to train. Even though she had needed those extra hours of sleep, Katara felt like something was wrong. She edged towards Zuko's room to find the door already open and his bed empty.

Had he snuck out? Had he left them?

Katara quickly woke Aang and the others to alert them of Zuko's disappearance. They discovered that Sokka was missing too, causing a sense of unease to spread through the group. They began to search the Air Temple until the Duke found a letter written in Zuko's hand. Katara plucked the letter from the Duke so that she could read it.

"Need meat. Gone fishing. Back in a few days. One more thing - Aang, practise your firebending, while I'm away. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badger-frog croak. Sokka and Zuko." Katara glared at the letter in her hands, and in that moment she wished she could firebend so that she could make Zuko's handwriting burn to ash.

Sokka and Zuko were gone for several days, and with each passing hour that they didn't return, Katara only grew more furious. They were supposed to be laying low, not gallivanting off without the group!

But her anger immediately dissipated when her father walked into the temple. Katara had been speechless, and immediately ran forward into his arms, crying with happiness and relief that both he and Suki were ok.

It had been a wonderful moment, reuniting with her father. After years of war and the craziness of the past few months, it had been a rare moment where the feeling surprise was a joyful one, and Katara wanted to cling to that happiness forever.

After eventually prying Katara away from her father, the group fell back into their routine. They had served up the rest of dinner for Sokka, Zuko, Hakoda and Suki, the group sitting around the fire in a circle with an undeniably upbeat atmosphere. Sokka and Zuko laughed while they recounted their adventure to the group, and after dinner, Zuko helped to brew tea for everyone.

As the boys told their story and the group laughed and listened in rapt attention, Katara could feel her own happiness slipping away. She kept glancing over to her father, hoping to feel the same rush of relief and joy she had earlier, but bitterness continued to creep into her head as she felt her mood turning sour.

Katara couldn't help but feel resentment boiling under her skin when she looked at Sokka. She just didn't understand - why hadn't he taken her with him? Why had he left her behind in the dark about what he was doing? Did Sokka think that he loved their dad more because he was the one willing to go save him? Katara was happy to be reunited with her father, was relieved that he was no longer suffering in a foreign prison, but she couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal. She would have thought that the one person in the world who would understand how much it hurt to be left behind, especially by family, would be Sokka. And yet he had left her, and Katara had spent days feeling anxious, weak and unsettled.

Remembering how stressed and defenceless she had felt brought those negative emotions forwards again; instead of feeling happy, Katara struggled to smother the quiet fury building up within.

Part of the problem was not just that Katara had been left behind, but that she had been given no warning to prepare for seeing her father again. Normally, there would be nothing to prepare for except joy and delight, but that had been before she'd mistakenly gotten married.

Katara assumed that Zuko and Sokka had kept their mouths shut about the situation to Hakoda, otherwise she was certain he would have mentioned it by now - or, at the very least, would be looking at Zuko very differently. Katara was going to have to admit to her father that she was married, and when she did he would no doubt be disappointed, or angry, or both. The thought of his reaction brought shame and guilt crashing down onto her. It would be like when she had had to tell Sokka, only ten times worse. Katara struggled to breathe under the tsunami of emotions that were threatening to suffocate her.

Katara resented the fact that she was so worried about what her father would think; even after her had left them to fight in the war, and after all she had achieved in the past year, he father was still in a position to judge her.

It wasn't fair. They had excluded her from helping, and created a situation that Katara wasn't ready to face. She stewed silently whilst the chatter carried on around her.

It pulled at Zuko's heartstrings to see Sokka and his family, to watch a father who so clearly loved his children. He thought of how dysfunctional his own family was in comparison, but pushed that sadness away and instead tried to focus on how he had helped the Water Tribe family come together again. Zuko quietly excused himself from the circle of people drinking tea by the fire and headed towards the Air Temple's bathrooms. He had pushed away the disappointment he felt for his own family, but Zuko still needed a minute to himself.

The past few days had been so intense that Zuko felt the need to take stock of what had changed and what had not. His friendship with Sokka had clearly improved. The group seemed more welcoming and trusting of him than they had since before he'd accidentally married Katara. Zuko even felt confident enough to attempt jokes about tea again. He had also helped to make Katara happy, but Zuko wasn't naïve enough to think that she would have accepted their marriage during their time apart, and he had little hope that she would be nicer to him despite helping Sokka free their father. Not that it mattered; Zuko hadn't helped Sokka to make Katara like him - he had helped because it was the right and honourable thing to do.

As he made his way back to the group, Zuko spotted Katara's figure in the dim corridor. She was leaning against a wall, clearly waiting for him. He approached hesitantly, hoping that maybe she was going to thank him. But as Zuko got closer, he noticed that she wasn't smiling. Slightly concerned for his safety, he stopped a few feet away from her.

"Are you ok?" Zuko asked. Katara glared at him, causing Zuko to scowl back in confusion.

"You're not to say a word to my dad about the marriage, understood?" Katara demanded.

"I wasn't going to say anything! I was waiting for you to tell him. I'd like to be there when you do though - tell him, I mean," Zuko replied hastily, scratching the back of his head. He knew Katara would want to be the one to break the news to Hakoda, but Zuko wanted to be there to explain himself to her father too. It would look dishonourable and cowardly if he hid away while he let her do all of the confessing.

"No, you don't get it," Katara growled. "I don't want him finding out at all, not yet at least. After the war… I'll tell him then."

"What!? You can't keep something like this from him," Zuko argued. He didn't want to hide a huge secret from her father in such a small group of people; he knew it would only look worse when the truth inevitably came out.

"Yes, I can," Katara hissed back at him. "He's my father. I'm grateful that you helped Sokka rescue him and Suki, but that doesn't mean you're entitled to tell him about the marriage, and it doesn't mean I have to act like your wife now!"

"Agh!" Zuko shouted. "I never said that it did! I didn't do it for those reasons. I just wish you would acknowledge what's already legally binding, and I don't think you should hide this from your father!"

"Well, he's my father, so it's none of your business!"

"I'm the one stuck married to you," Zuko snapped, "so of course it's my business! I don't think you should hide it from him because you're lucky to have a father like that. We're going to be facing some real battles when that comet arrives, and you can't go into them with unresolved secrets from your family."

"No way!" Katara yelled back. "I don't want to tell him! You and Sokka just saved him! You're all buddies now, and I don't want to be the problem-daughter who accidentally got married and disgraced her tribe traditions! I can't face that right now. I'll tell him when I'm ready!"

"Katara?" They heard Hakoda call in confusion from the courtyard, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Her father and brother appeared in the hallway.

"Uh, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but we could hear you yelling," Sokka admitted. Katara felt the colour drain from her face; it felt like the blood was draining right out of her head, she felt so dizzy with shame. In contrast, colour rushed to Zuko's cheeks as the two walked towards them.

Hakoda stared at the pair in shock. "Is this some sort of joke? You two are married?" His voice began to raise in volume as he spoke.

"Dad…" Was all Katara could manage in response, her voice suddenly a whisper.

"You are fifteen, how could you be married?" Hakoda growled, each word laced with fury. "And how could you marry someone from the Fire Nation? A member of the royal family no less? Because of his family, the world is at war! His family have destroyed our tribe and our family! They killed your mother! How could you marry him?"

Sokka stepped between his father and sister, holding a hand up to each side as a symbol of peace. Why did everyone have to shout in this corridor?

"And you!" Hakoda pointed a finger at Zuko. "You had the nerve to look me in the eye when you secretly married my daughter?"

"I think that everyone needs to go sit down, take a breath, maybe have some tea, and then we can talk about this!" Sokka suggested firmly, causing three pairs of eyes to turn to him. With a begrudging nod, Hakoda spun around and headed back to the fire. Sokka placed his hand on Katara's shoulder before leading her in the same direction, Zuko following behind them.

The rest of the group, who had been staring in the direction of the corridor, all looked away when the four walked back into the courtyard. Hakoda stormed over to the camp fire, clearly desperate to hear some sort of explanation, whilst Sokka increased his pace to keep up with him, letting go of Katara as his footsteps sped up. Zuko walked at his own pace, his head held up higher than one would think comfortable, and Katara dragged herself into the courtyard, sulking.

"Uh, time for bed, I think," Suki said as she began to round everyone up. to the rest of the group awkwardly scuttled away from the courtyard as Zuko and the Water Tribe family reluctantly sat back down to talk.

Her father had never yelled at Katara like that before. She was still in shock from his reaction as she took a seat, and Katara couldn't help the tears dripping down her cheeks. She tried to sniff discreetly in the awkward silence that followed once the courtyard had cleared out.

Hakoda stared at where her mother's necklace hung around Katara's neck before glancing between her and Zuko. Katara could see it in his eyes: Hakoda felt betrayed by her, by the thought that Katara had betrayed her own tribe.

"I'm so sorry, Dad," Katara's voice wobbled with emotion, and she fought back a sob whilst she talked. "I didn't mean to let you down like this - it wasn't on purpose. It was an accident, a mistake. Neither of us want to be married."

Hakoda stared at them in confusion before his face became a stoic mask. Katara knew that look; it was the one he used when he was disappointed, and she didn't know whether the honest anger or the stony disappointment was worse.

"How did you accidentally get married?" Hakoda asked.

"We went to a Fire Nation bar," Katara replied sheepishly. "We drank, um, we drank a lot, and when we woke up, we found that we had gotten married."

"And why, in your intoxicated state, did you two decide to get married?" Hakoda asked, not making the connection between drinking and getting hitched.

"Well, we were encouraged by the Young Lovers Festival. It's a Fire Nation tradition that, uh, encourages pairs to get married," Zuko supplied.

"Hmm, I see. Prince Zuko, you're Fire Nation, did you know about the tradition in advance?" Hakoda questioned, levelling a hard stare at Zuko.

"No! Uh, no, Sir. I'd never heard of it before; it's a tradition specific to that small island," Zuko replied.

Despite the honesty of his answer, Zuko still felt shame at Hakoda's suspicion that he had tricked Katara into the marriage. Zuko wanted to feel angry - they were both victims in this situation - but he was too envious of Hakoda's protectiveness towards his children.

"He didn't know," Katara said in Zuko's defence; it was the first thing she had said with a firm voice.

Sokka cleared his throat, diverting his father's attention to him.

"And where were you during all of this?" Hakoda asked his son. Before Sokka could answer, Hakoda shook his head. "Never mind. How long have you been together since the marriage?" Hakoda turned back to Zuko and Katara, his expression still stoic.

Zuko and Katara's faces both flushed red. "No, Dad, it's not like that! We're not together. The wedding was nearly a month ago, but we're not a couple," Katara insisted.

The mask broke. Hakoda was leaning forwards in their direction, his elbows propped on his knees, his chin resting on his twined hands during the discussion. At Katara's words, he cradled his face in the palm of his hands, letting out a loud sigh.

"You're married but you're not upholding the marriage. I don't know which is worse. What does that even mean?" Hakoda muttered to himself.

He looked up from his hands sharply, glaring at Zuko. "And as Prince of the Fire Nation, if you ascend to the throne, what does that make Katara?" Zuko maintained the direct eye contact, but felt like he was looking into the eyes of a polar-wolf defending his pack.

"I, uh, honestly don't know what will happen if I become Fire Lord. It's up to my Fire Court to approve a marriage." Hakoda's eyes narrowed even more, but Zuko carried on hastily. "But, if they'll listen to me, then Katara would be Fire Lady. She would be my equal." Zuko looked over at her. "That is, if she would accept the role."

Hakoda looked back at his daughter, and it occurred to him that the prince's words had a double meaning; he was not just talking about the role as Fire Lady, but about the role as a wife as well. For the first time in the conversation Hakoda noticed how hostile Katara was being to her situation. He had initially thought she was angry about having to discuss it with him, but it was becoming clear that her anger ran deeper than their present conversation.

"Would you accept the role?" Hakoda asked his daughter, his tone softening slightly. Katara stared across the fire at him, swallowing visibly while she said nothing. After a moment, she shook her head and wiped at the tears staining her cheeks.

"We were going to wait for the war to be over before we made any decisions about it," she finally answered.

Zuko watched as Sokka yawned in an exaggerated fashion and began to stand up. Zuko sensed that he was running out of time to convince Katara's father not to hate him.

"Chief Hakoda, Sir, I'm sorry that we didn't go about this in a traditional manner. I'm sorry that because of our mistake, Katara is now linked to the Fire Nation. I didn't want this to happen, and I apologize for the trouble it's causing to your family. I mean no disrespect to your tribe or your customs. I'm sorry that we could not ask for your blessing or permission. But I would like you to know that, if Katara will agree, I will honour and uphold our marriage and will do everything in my power to protect your daughter for the rest of my life." Zuko stood and gave Hakoda a traditional Water Tribe bow as he finished his speech.

Katara watched as Hakoda slowly stood up and bowed back despite his initial surprise.

"Well, I think it's time we hit the hay and left these two alone, don't you buddy?" Sokka slung his arm around Zuko's shoulder and began to pull him away from the campfire.

Hakoda nodded at the pair; he had stopped glaring at Zuko, but still gave him a hard, assessing stare.

"Goodnight." Hakoda did not smile but, slowly, a menacing smirk spread across his face. "Perhaps in the morning we'll discuss plans for our hunting trip. It's a Water Tribe tradition for a son-in-law - well, normally a future son-in-law - to go hunting with the bride's family."

Zuko gulped. The words sounded simultaneously like a threat and a promise.

Sokka had a vice-like grip around Zuko which he wanted to fight but, reluctantly, Azuko allowed himself to be dragged away, giving Katara and her father a chance to properly talk. Once they were out of sight, Sokka released him.

"It was for your own good. They need to work this out alone," Sokka explained quietly. "Besides, it's been a long few days. Go get some proper rest."

Zuko let out an irritated sigh and gave Sokka a tight nod before walking towards his room. With every step he took, Zuko was fighting the urge to sneak back to eavesdrop.

Sokka wanted to yell after Zuko to tell him that it would somehow all work out in the end, but he knew that he couldn't promise that. They still had an entire war to end. He considered telling Zuko that he thought his Dad would eventually come around to the whole marriage thing, but he had no way of knowing that for sure either. Still, it was an opinion Sokka was fairly confident about. But even after the war, if they succeeded, it wouldn't matter if he and his father respected the marriage - it would be Katara's decision on how to handle it. Sokka knew that he and his father would respect Katara's decision either way, and whilst he could understand Zuko's frustration with Katara's attitude, he would still back his sister every time.

Figuring that it was probably smarter to remain quiet while Zuko walked away rather than yell this truth after him, Sokka headed into his room, forcing himself to close the door and collapse onto his bed rather than go back to listen in on his family's conversation.

Katara had moved to sit next to her father by the camp fire, and had been silently staring into the flames since. She had been trying so hard to live her life as if she had never married Zuko, but now she felt like that bubble of pretence had popped. Her father was like the last wall of defence against the truth; admitting her mistake to him made it all the more real, and Katara still hated to accept that.

"Dad," Katara started. "I know you must be so disappointed in me. I let you and the tribe down, and I'm sorry."

"No, Katara, I'm sorry," Hakoda replied. "I only want what's best for you, and I'm sorry I wasn't there to look after you, to protect you. I'm sorry I yelled at you as well. I know that didn't help anything. I just never imagined that you'd end up married to the Prince of the Fire Nation." Hakoda wrapped his arm around his daughter' shoulders as he spoke

"Really, Zuko's more of an ex-prince." Katara corrected.

"It's a father's worst nightmare that his daughter will grow up all too soon and suddenly be married," Hakoda continued. "I wish you weren't married. But what makes me sad is to see you so unhappy. I'm hurt that you didn't want to tell me about this. Is that because of how you two got married, or is it because it's Prince Zuko you married? Is there anything more I need to know about him?"

"No, Dad," Katara said against her father's shoulder. "I didn't want to tell you because I've been pretending that it's not true. Admitting it to you… makes it real." Katara took a deep breath, pushing away from her father's embrace. "Zuko's not evil or mean, not like his family. But he's misguided and troubled, and he can't be trusted - not with something as important as the fate of the world."

Hakoda watched his daughter sigh in frustration.

"It's like you said," she continued. "He's the prince of the Fire Nation. I'll never be fully Water Tribe again, and I just… I can't help rule a nation that thinks our culture is barbaric and savage."

"Well then," Hakoda said carefully, "you have a lot of decisions to make in the future."

Katara nodded.

"I know."

They stayed up most of the night and talked.

Hakoda talked about what a marriage meant, his voice catching as he brought up his own marriage to Kya. He emphasised that even though Katara had jumped the gun on getting married and not to a Water Tribe boy, she was still part of both the Water Tribe and their family, something which would never change.

Katara told her father that she didn't want to be married at all, least of all to Zuko, at this point in her life. She discussed her adventures with Aang, Sokka and Toph, noting how she much she had grown as a person in the last year and how she didn't want a marriage to get in the way of her dreams of flying around the world, helping people, and training the next generation of waterbenders; she wanted to be valued for her waterbending skills, not as somebody's wife.

"Katara," Hakoda said to his daughter as she told him her fears about how her marriage would impact her future, "I love you, and I don't want to see you forced into a marriage you hate - that goes against everything our Southern Water Tribe stands for. I understand how difficult it would be to ever forgive the Fire Nation for what they have done. But it is also a part of our tribe to respect the promises that we made. And even though you were drunk and it was a mistake, you still promised to be Zuko's partner in this life," Hakoda told her as he hugged her goodnight.

"Wait, you want me to accept the marriage?" Katara stared at him in confusion as she pulled away.

"No. I really wish you weren't married to him." Hakoda sighed. "I know that I'm not making much sense. I'm not encouraging the marriage, but I don't want to make your mind up for you. You're strong, Katara, and I know you can face anything. I will always support you, but I also want to remind you that we Watertribe folk don't run from our mistakes, or pretend that they don't exist- we face them head on. I'm not saying you need to make a decision instantly, - you're right, it's wise to wait 'till the war ends - but I want you to think about it more before coming to a final decision."

It hurt to hear the honesty of her father's opinion, that although he was disappointed that he might lose Katara to a foreign nation, he would also be disappointed if she ran away from her issues. It hurt to hear because Katara didn't want to be told what secretly she had already known: her marriage wasn't going to go away, and eventually she was going to have to make a decision about it.

But it did help to have talked thoroughly about it; Katara had gotten a lot off of her chest. She stumbled back to her bed, and for the first time in days, she slept peacefully.

In the morning, Zuko and Aang woke to start their meditation and firebending practise. Zuko knocked loudly as usual, but after he and Aang had been meditating for a while he, noticed that Katara had not joined them. He figured she was probably sleeping in after the eventful conversation of the previous night.

Nearly all of the group had filtered into the courtyard whilst Aang and Zuko practised. Hakoda had just walked in, talking to his son when Aang suddenly yelled in surprise.

While sparring with Zuko, Aang saws a canister fly out of the air and onto the ground in front him. He shouted, quickly bending it back away from the temple, and everyone watched as it exploded mid-air. They all ran towards each other, converging into a group as they saw several air ships appear from the mist across the canyon.

"We need to get out of here!" Aang yelled as more canisters began to rain down on the ancient temple structure, sending them flying with a flick of his staff.

"Where's Katara?" Sokka shouted as he took stock of the group.

"I think she's still sleeping," Toph answered, concerned.

"We have to go get h-"

Another round of bombs hit the ground, so many that Aang was struggled to keep them at bay singlehandedly. They needed more time if they were going to go get Katara, and the group couldn't just wait in plain sight like sitting armadillo-ducks. The pillars of the courtyard were reinforced with steel, and Aang used his staff to airbend and close the steel shutters around the square.

Zuko had already taken off before Sokka had finished his sentence. He dodged through the steel shutters as they began to close, sprinting down the corridor towards Katara's room. The shutters closed with a definitive thud, sealing the group off from the invaders, but also sealing them off from Zuko and Katara.