Katara woke up the next morning in her own bed. She groaned, hiding her face in the blankets for a few minutes, trying to keep the sun out of her eyes. Suddenly she jerks up and gasped " oh shit!" She shouted, fumbling to look for her phone. It was nowhere to be found though. On her intable there was a piece of paper with Sokka's messy scrawl on it

' Iroh is allowing you personal time still. DO. NOT. CALL. I. WILL. NOT. GIVE. YOU. DETAILS.

There's some croissants on the table. Suki brought them over this morning, oh and Zuko is coming around 10. Take care of yourself.

Love, Sokka '

Katara shakes her head and folds the piece of paper in half. She pulled herself out of the bed and stumbled to the kitchen. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door.

" Katara it's Zuko."

" oh!" Katara blinked a bit and walked to the door, opening it to let him in.

" hi" she breathed

" hey" he said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder " are you okay?"

" yeah. I'm okay. Come on in. Did you eat yet?"

" I have. Have you?"

" not yet. I'm still feeling pretty crappy."

" you wanna sit and talk about it?"

Katara smiles. " I'd like that. Want a cup of tea?"

" yeah. Jasmine?"

" yeah. I'll go put the kettle on " she tugged on his wrist gently, letting him in.

Zuko closed the door behind him and smiled as he followed her to the kitchen.

Katara our the kettle on, then grabbed the croissants, heating two of them up. She sat down on one of the barstools and swung her feet back and fourth

" you don't have to say everything you know"

" I want to, Zuko. I kept it a secret for a long time. It's time to talk about it."

" how about I go first then?"

" oh." She blinked at him, popping a piece of croissant in her mouth. She nodded and held her hands in front of her " yeah, be my guest. Anything you want to reveal to me"

Zuko inhales. " well. My father is the one who gave me my scar."

" what?"

He flinched. " my father is not a good man.." he said softly. " he ran a business.. it.. uh.." he stammered, flushing as he noticed Katara giving him her undivided attention. He swallowed hard and then stared into her eyes. " he's a crime boss. We grew up in Caldera.. it's a capital full of crime as you'd seen.. well.. i uh was on a mission. I was a rookie cop back in Caldera and apparently one of my calls was to an area where my father was, and he found out that I was a cop. It was during the summer when a lot of people set bonfires and camped, you know?"

Katara nods again.

" well, we got into a scuffle and I was too chicken to shoot him, but he got the upper hand and shoved my face-" he touched his eye. " he shoved my face in a bonfire that was still going strong, practically melted my face off." He said sadly.

" oh my god." Katara covered her hand with her mouth " Zuko! That's.. that is awful, I can't believe-" she got off of her barstool and walked into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Zuko buried his face against her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. " it's okay. I'm over it, Katara."

" he's a monster. I hope he was caught"

" he wasn't caught. He's still out there somewhere"

" why isn't he coming after you?"

" because he thinks I'm dead, probably. Zhao was sent to kill me and he failed, but I assume that Zhao lied to save his ass. Somehow I guess he found out that I was alive and that's why Zhao was dead"

Katara stares at him, her stomach churning. " so, you knew him?"

" yeah. I did."

" do you know who killed him?"

" probably. I have my suspicions." He admits.

Katara pulled away from his arms after staying there in silence. She turned and headed to grab two mugs and filled them up with tea. She handed Zuko his mug and then took a sip of hers.

" are you gonna stay silent or..?" Zuko took the mug, blinking at her

" it's a lot to take in, I'm really sorry.. spirits, that is the worst thing I've ever heard " she said softly

" yeah. He wins shittiest father award. "

" what about your mother? She never stopped him?"

" my mother is dead"

Katara flinched. " I'm sorry. Mine is too."

" he killed her."

Katara's mouth opened wide again.

" my family is really shitty. I know. I have a little sister who's just as crazy as he is, if not worse" he wrinkled his nose

" you do?"

" her name is Azula. She's your age. "

" does she think you're dead too?"

" no. She knows I'm not dead. She texted me a few times."

" what? Zuko! You didn't tell anyone!"

" I can't, Katara. I just put your life in danger by telling you about my family. You don't understand! This is the worst thing that could happen. I don't want you to get hurt! Azula is malicious, and she won't be alone"

" what do you mean?"

" she has lackeys. Mai and Ty Lee. They're equally as dangerous. "

Katara looked at him, then sighed as she placed her head in her hands. " fuck. Well. I can't top that."

Zuko chuckled and sipped his tea a bit. " well, I told you my story, now I believe it's your turn"

" story for a story?"

" yeah. That's how it's gonna work now" Zuko smirked.

" okay." Katara inhales. " when I was in high school, I dated Jet."

Zuko wrinkled his nose in disgust.

" I know. I know. " she frowned. " anyways, I was with him for a few years and.. he ended up being really abusive to me" she murmured. " I found out I was pregnant my senior year of high school and I wanted to keep it a secret, but Jet was just.. I don't know.. I can't really explain what he was like" she sighed. " he had a lot of mood swings, you know? He was so angry one moment and then loving the next.. I thought that he loved me and that it was kind of normal, but I slowly realised it wasn't and I was scared for our child's life.. I was barely showing and I went to his apartment on day to tell him that I wanted to break up. Jet didn't like that and we got into a fight. He-" tears began to pool in her eyes. " he pushed me backwards and I fell down the stairs. I woke up a day later and I found out that I lost the baby"

" Katara..." Zuko swallowed hard. His heart ached for her. He pulled her into his lap gently and kissed her forehead lightly. " I am so sorry that you lost your baby, and I'm so sorry that he hurt you.. "

" we both have a bit of trauma in our lives, huh?" She tried to joke

Zuko smiled at her, although the smile was just for show. He began to wipe the tears from her eyes. " you know, I will never lay a hand on you like that, ever."

" I know, Zuko. You're nothing like him. Complete opposites. " she said softly, leaning into his touch more, placing her hands on top of his as she felt his thumb stroke her cheek.

" tell me not to worry?" Zuko whispered as he watched her.

Katara smiled and looked up at him " dont worry. I promise you I'm okay now. seeing him just kind of... you know?"

" yeah. I understand. Why was he so obsessed with you?"

" I don't know." She admits, placing her palm on his jaw gently. " I think that he never got over me, and.. he kinda didn't have a good home life, so i was one of the stable things in his life and.. " she sniffled a bit

" take your time. You don't have to."

" I know. I want to, Zuko."

" okay. " he nods.

" I think that he began to project all of that agression and hatred to me on people that looked like me.. he apparently stalked me too, at least, that's what he said he was doing. I don't know if I believe him. "

" believe me, Katara. He will never get near you again."

" I know. He's going to jail forever. I'm gonna make sure of that. "

Zuko chuckled and tilted her chin gently, kissing the corner of her mouth lightly.

" you're very strong, Katara. " he whispered

Katara melted into his touch, tilting her head as she kissed him tenderly. " you're strong too, Zuko."

He nuzzled his nose against hers lightly as he closed his eyes, feeling her warm breath against his skin.

" I want to stay like this" she murmured

" me too.."

The pair stayed in a loving embrace for a while, basking in each other's touch. Everything was so personal and so emotional that they knew their connection was even greater than before.

" Zuko?"

" yeah?"

" what's going on at work today?"

" Katara." He sighed and pulled away. " you're not supposed to be thinking abut work"

" I know, but I am.."

" I think they're just training new recruits. Nothing too big. They won't go on a mission without us, you know."

" so you took off too?"

" yeah. I had to make sure my best girl was okay." He chuckled

Katara shakes her head, placing her palm on his chest to feel his heartbeat. " you're driving me crazy."

" you think you don't do that to me?"

Katara's eyes twinkled in amusement.

Earlier this morning, Suki let herself into Katara and Sokka's apartment with a plate of croissants. Sokka walked lazily to the living room, rubbing his neck a bit. He had slept awfully since Katara slept on him all night.

" good morning. I brought sustenance " Suki offered him the plate.

Sokka grinned and grabbed a croissant, biting into it. " ugh. Thank you. This is amazing. Place it on the kitchen table for Katara later"

" how is she doing?"

Sokka sighs. " she's doing as okay as she can be right now. She's still asleep. Iroh's giving us a break from missions until she's ready to come back. Yesterday he told me there were some new recruits that we were gonna train"

Suki hummed and took a bite out of her own croissant. " well, I'm glad she's okay. Is anyone going to come over to hang with her?"

" Zuko offered to. I left a note on the table beside the bed. I had to carry her to bed. She slept on me the whole time"

Suki smiled. " that's cute, honey. Who knew you were so soft for your sister." She teased

Sokka rolls his eyes. " she's my baby sister, of course I'll take care of her even if she's annoying"

Suki snorted a bit " are you coming to work then?"

" yeah. If there's new recruits around today, I assume we're gonna do training instead of actual work"

" yeah. Business- Casual dress. Bring some workout clothes. We still have to go into the office"

" got it." He kissed her cheek and walked into his bedroom to get ready for work.

Sokka walked back out, messing with the sleeves of his navy button-up.

" all ready?"

Sokka nods and walked alongside her. They left the apartment and Sokka the door behind him. They got into Suki's car and quickly drove to work so they could help train the new recruits. They walked into the bureau.

" hey, you're finally here" Aang greets them, holding a mug full of jasmine tea

" yeah, sorry.. I was running a little late this morning, I had to take care of Katara"

" how is she?"

" she seems better. Not ready to come back yet. Suki said we got recruits?"

" yeah. Iroh is with the new recruit that will replace him once he retires"

Suki raised an eyebrow in confusion.

" her name is Asami. She's brilliant "

" as in Asami Sato?"

" yup. Of future industries "

" what is she doing in the bureau?"

" she hacked into our systems and got on the radar. Iroh interviewed her and apparently she was ready to turn her life around and offered her a position, so he's training her right now."

" oh. Can we meet Her?"

" maybe later. We're assigned to the other recruits. "

" names?"

" Mako, Bolin and Korra"

" ah. " Suki nodded and grabbed a file, reading up on their new recruits

" they aren't gonna join our team are they?"

" unless one of us retires no." Aang shakes his head " I just finished a little spar with Mako, Korra and Suki are going up next."

"Oh, " Sokka nods, grabbing another file. " okay. Thank you for the update. How do they seem?"

" pretty good for brand new recruits. They won't be on our team of course, but they seem like they'd work well together"

" guess the director will be the judge of that." Sokka mused

" yeah. " Aang shrugged again and headed back to the office to work on some paperwork. Sokka followed Aang and sat down at his desk, concentrating on reports for their past cases. He was more imbedded in Jet's case than of the others. He was going to make sure that sick fuck was locked up forever. He didn't want Jet to get anywhere near his sister ever again. He didn't even deserve to see daylight.

After Suki finished her session with Korra she headed to the shower

" you did good" she praised Korra

Korra grinned a bit " thank you, Agent Kiyoshi"

" just call me Suki" she shakes her head a bit

" oh. Yeah. Okay" she said awkwardly

" what are your goals, Korra?"

" I want to be on the force"

" yeah, but why?" She laughed, sliding on a clean shirt.

" because I want to make my family proud, you know? My parents did a lot for me, and Agent Iroh was a hero to me"

" well, the way you're going you'll make it in no time. You got a sick punch, by the way" she complemented

" thanks" Korra laughed, fixing her hair.

" and now I'm off to finish some paperwork. " Suki hummed, then left the locker room with Korra following behind.

Bolin sat at a table, staring admiringly at Toph who was sitting in an interrogation room, questioning Jet furiously.

" what are you doing?" Sokka snorted as he walked over

" oh!" Bolin jumped up a bit " I'm watching agent Toph- UH- Beifong interrogate.."

Sokka gritted his teeth as he stared into the window. " yeah. Well that guy is a piece of work. Are you ready for training?"

Bolin got up, accidentally hitting the table and then knocking two chairs over " oh shit I'm so sorry"

Sokka sighed. " just leave it. Come on." He beckoned Bolin to the gym