A/N: Let the fireworks begin or in this case, let Zutara adorkableness begin. This is an extra long stars and stripes special treat to all of you fans, but especially to my new followers, favorites, and #1 fan: sgamez, Bubu30, and ML8991!

Disclaimer: I'm a very patriotic follower of Zutara, but must say that I own nothing Avatar the Last Airbender.


The sun is at its zenith in the sky. Hot rays blaze fiery intentions back upon the Royal Palace Gardens. The plants aren't wilting against the sun, but are hungrily drinking in the light. Zuko and Katara stroll along the bricks lanes, which meet at sharp angle junctures. The pathways follow conscripted lines which either meander through the gardens or toward one of the many sets of staircases leading to another level. The gardens graduate towards the main palace in five distinct tiers, designed in a manner to enhance the senses.

Colorful plants are cultivated with a visually planned precision. The blooming shrubberies have discernable shapes that emit fragrances that can alter moods or enhance emotions. Flowers in radiating pie wedges form circles within the green shrubbery squares. Open petals welcome nectar-loving birds and insects to sample the elixirs and then unknowingly flit off to spread the plants' seeds. Benches and gazebos provide utilitarian seating or shelter, adding another textural layer to the cultivated scenery.

Katara had initially exited the Royal Archives onto the lowest garden. Zuko and Katara's current odyssey has led them up through four of the gardens, broaching the uppermost tier. As the couple walk up another flight of stairs, drifting past a cluster of purple blossoms, Katara can barely blink in the heat. The strain of the temperature weighs upon her. Katara's thoughts churn toward the cooling pools of home. She can almost feel the waters lap upon her brow. Yet, it is the shade of a cherry oak which provides the respite from the sun; red fronds sweep back and forth with a careless idle, tossing shadows along the path.

Zuko's rigid bearing conducts Katara through the garden tiers, leading her to the Royal Infirmary via a circuitous route. He hoped it would give him time to muster up a proper interrogation. He didn't possess the finesse of catching someone off guard. He is used to the more direct method of questioning, applying the skill of coercion with the help of his broadswords. The dual swords didn't need to employ silken words to get answers.

The walk has been marked by a pronounced silence. Zuko and Katara hadn't spoken since they left Azula's company. Zuko wishes he hadn't stewed over Azula's antagonistic behavior. His sister has the ability to make his old wounds fester. After he had managed to squash his general agitation about Azula and her cohorts, Zuko spent his remaining time mulling over how to start a conversation with Katara. Zuko squashes the urge to round upon Katara and demand answers. He vainly searches for a more subtle interrogation course. His typical method of honesty has yet to produce positive results when caught in the mire of social banter, especially when engaged in small talk with girls. An individual has to manipulate a situation, and manipulation isn't Zuko's forte. It is Azula's. He outwardly huffs how it is just another way his sister manages to usurp him.

"Did you say something, Prince Zuko?" Katara's words sound dry. She licks her lips, and the small touch of moisture feels divine.

"What, no, did you want to say something to me?" Zuko hopes this will begin their conversation.

"No, I do not have anything to speak about?" Katara cringes over her stilted phrasing.

"If you would like to talk about something, I'm open to ideas." A joke told during last week's Warder's training break pops into his head. He blurts it out without contemplating its more bawdy nature. "A woman gets up from the grass and says, 'I need an electric torch," Zuko amends, "Sorry, a man gets up." Zuko shakes his head in frustration, "Or is it, the woman, doesn't matter, the woman says, 'Me too, you've been eating grass for the past ten minutes." Stopping suddenly, he notices Katara isn't raucously laughing. "Get it?"

"I…I'm..." Katara blinks up at Zuko. "No, I don't."

"It's a joke." Zuko went over the beats and then huffs. "It was very funny when Captain Vilran told it."

"Maybe that's because he knows the joke and told it correctly." Katara is tired of the endless gardens and the ever-encroaching heat index that is rising from uncomfortable to unbearable. The beauty of surroundings is contrived, which makes Katara feel ill at ease. "Prince Zuko, I'm tired and hot; I would really like to retire to our allotted apartments. If you could point me in the direction, then I can leave you to…" Katara has no idea what princes do when not being so obviously princely. She finishes lamely. "I can leave you to go about your normal royal business?" Katara ends questionably without meaning to and covers her naive blunder with a defiant uptilt to her chin.

Zuko doesn't hear Katara's parting. He is busily searching his mind for something that usually makes women swoon. Lu Ten manages to make most girls giggle. How does he get them to flutter and hide behind their fans?

"Prince Zuko?" Katara steps in front of the stone-faced prince. He has a studied concentration on his face. Because of Zuko's inner reflection, it allows Katara to stare at him more openly. Each side of the prince's face is so disparate, dividing him into two very different people. When Katara glances at Zuko's unmarred side, she is struck by his handsomeness, looking to the scarred side makes her feel something that isn't quite revulsion but isn't pity either. She pushes aside the thought and says more loudly, "Prince Zuko!"

Zuko feels dismayed that the joke didn't give him the inroad into a more pointed conversation with Katara. How had he blundered the telling of a simple joke? He could try one of his uncle's poems. Yes, Uncle's poems! Those always get the noble ladies to hide behind their fans and sigh. Zuko isn't sure if he can recall the lines properly. He hears Katara speaking his name sharply but her interruption is making it harder for him to concentrate. Zuko mumbles absently, "Yes, yes, give me a moment, I'm thinking…"

A moment? Katara is affronted. Who does he think he is? Royalty, Katara thinks grimly, a prince of the Fire Nation, of course, the center of the universe, as if Katara had nothing better to do than wait for him. Katara crosses her arms. As she glares at the prince, she realizes technically, she doesn't have anything better to do and feels slightly guilty for being offended. The moment of reasoning is fleeting as she internally grumbles, it doesn't give him any fundamental rights to her time, though! Glancing at Zuko's damaged side, Katara concentrates on the permanent angry look on his face. Instead of solidifying her moral objections, Zuko's grim expression softens Katara's indignation. The sun bears down upon her a more pressing concern, how long is she supposed to stand in the sun and not wilt into a puddle? The thought of water makes Katara almost audibly moan.

Zuko fumbles through the only line of poetry he can recall with some remote semblance of structure. "Bats hum tonight and fly about." He hopes his recitation will more than make up for his approximation of Iroh's original wording.

Katara blinks in bewilderment. She wonders if she had succumbed to the heat after all. What do bats have to do with anything?

The crinkle between Katara's brows indicates that Zuko possibly hadn't spoken the poetry line correctly. He wants to slap his forehead in frustration. Uncle can make everything sound eloquent; poetry is obviously Uncle's thing, not mine.

The silence between them is amplified by the fact that even the normally buzzing insects have stopped their nectar drinking pursuits in light of Zuko's tangled recited verse. The prince's good cheek is tinged with a burgeoning redness. Katara concludes that Zuko must be the one that has heat stroke to utter such nonsense.

Zuko has to recover from his blunder, and it can't be by butchering more of his uncle's poetry. He notices they are standing by a cluster of plants that are almost shrinking beneath the sun. The corner of Zuko's mouth lifts with a smile. He points at a plant with the closed blooms. "That is a moon blossom; it opens at night for the humming-bats to drink."

Katara glances at the cluster of flowers, whose petals are shut. She concedes that Zuko's bizarre previous statement might be a convoluted attempt at small talk. She almost sighs over Lu Ten and Crown Prince Iroh, apparently, not everyone in the royal family has a way with words. Then she admonishes herself over her girlish fantasies and affirms, "I must come out this evening and see the moon blossoms bloom, then."

Zuko realizes he was tense while waiting for Katara's answer. His jaw relaxes, and he almost smiles. Zuko has to thank his mother for her foray into what he had considered before useless floral facts. "I would be happy to show you this evening."

The cool night makes Katara even more aware of the blazing afternoon heat. She cannot wait any longer; she must make a hasty retreat for the indoors immediately. "Perhaps I will take you up on your offer, Prince Zuko." She backs away from him, determined that being lost inside the palace is preferable to being under the sun's watchful eye. "I want to thank you for escorting me, but I must…" Katara doesn't bother finishing, as it seems her words are doing little to dissuade the prince from following her. Katara curtsies. "Good day, Prince Zuko"

"You must stay here with me!" Zuko deftly moves to block Katara's hasty exit.

"Pardon me!" Katara is taken aback by Zuko's arrogance. It is truly galling how royalty think their desires trump everyone else's. She isn't one of those typical fawning noble girls who feel privileged to have a prince look in their direction, much less speak to them. Katara ignores how minutes ago she had been besotted by Prince Lu Ten and Crown Prince Iroh. Katara straightens her back indignantly, silencing her inner self-ridicule. "Why can't I leave, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko paces a bit, clasping his hands behind his back, frantically thinking of a reason why Katara shouldn't leave. "Why?" Zuko wishes he had his swords right now. This would be a much easier conversation between the two of them, particularly for him, since it would be much less painfully awkward. "A good and proper question," Zuko stalls. If only he possessed Azula's skill in extracting information, the thought of his sister's machinations makes him almost smile with insight. Azula would be a perfect reason to not wander off from Zuko's protection. He stops and turns to Katara triumphantly. "Azula might come back."

Katara's eyes take in Zuko's little-satisfied grin. She can concede the Princess Azula is intimidating, but Katara isn't easily swayed. Besides, the heat is much more off-putting than Azula's petulant snipes. Katara fought a master waterbender on a regular basis; she has repeatedly proven that she can and will defend herself.

"Princess Azula doesn't scare me. I can handle myself quite well, thank you." Katara's politeness is a mere formality, not genuine gratitude. Counter to the palace's general consensus about the Southern Water Tribe, her people did not have barbaric manners.

Zuko's voice deepens with knowing experience. "You should be; Azula is a powerful bender with a very short temper."

Katara wants to sputter out that she's a pretty powerful bender herself, but bites back the urge. Zuko could pounce on any slip and use it as leverage against her. If she revealed she is a waterbender, that would cause her whole Tribe to freefall into a dangerous abyss. Katara smiles tightly and with as much control as possible as she begins to issue another attempt at a gracious exit.

Zuko can see by Katara's narrowed eyes that he had made another blunder by mentioning his sister's powerful bending status. Without thinking, he utters, "'My uncle desires for me to learn more about you."

"Me?" Katara is surprised and then eyes Zuko suspiciously, "But what could Crown Prince Iroh want to know about me?"

Zuko exhales his frustration while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm not sure; he just wants to know more about you, alright."

"Not sure," Dawning realization that Prince Zuko is coquetting with Katara gives her cheeks a rosy glow of flattery. "Are you sure that it is not, in fact, you, Prince Zuko, who is more interested in me, rather than the Crown Prince Iroh?"

Zuko rears back in embarrassed horror. "What?" He sputters, "No, I wouldn't…" How did she come up with the idea that he is interested in her romantically? He quickly reviews his previous statements. What could he have said to give that impression? Dumbfounded, he blurts, "Why would I be interested in the likes of you?"

The likes of me! Katara had begun to think it was rather cute that the prince had been awkwardly flirting with her this whole time. Now Katara realizes Zuko is just another noble jerk. She clasps her hands in front of her breast and states primly. "Prince Zuko, you might be a higher station than I, but your manners are considerably lower. In my country, whether high or low birth, we treat everyone with respect."

If Zuko loses her because of his idiot gaffe, then it will be more even more difficult to get to know Katara and find out the truth about the previous evening. Zuko stills his panic. One thing he knows how to do well and eloquently is to apologize.

These kinds of social eccentricities have been exhaustively drilled into Zuko. He is proficient with the language of royal protocol. Zuko's endless lessons in etiquette infuse him with confidence. He assumes a lofty princely bearing.

"Lady Katara, I beg your pardon for my inexcusable impropriety and especially my poor taste in phrasing earlier. I can assure you that I was only trying to ensure your safety and was not conducting some elaborate ruse in hopes of making unwanted advances upon you."

"Prince Zuko," Katara adds with an even loftier tone. "I have been taking care of myself for a long time. My safety shouldn't be of your concern." Katara knows the royal family doesn't care about anyone's safety. How could they?

With a silken, tutored tongue, Zuko bows while speaking. "Lady Katara, it would be most dishonorable of me to abandon you in your time of need."

Katara rebukes, "Prince Zuko, I'm not some damsel in distress. I'm perfectly fine. You're not abandoning me; I'm leaving of my own volition." Katara stares into Zuko's yellow eyes, trying to keep an edge out her words. "Therefore, you have done your princely duty by me. Your honor can remain intact."

"Yes, but you fell earlier," Zuko states the truth with relief. His honesty gives his words even more merited punch. "In fact, I have been conducting you to the Royal Infirmary this whole time, in order for your injuries to be properly tended."

Katara's only intention is to be out of this heat and lay down. "I do not need to go to the Infirmary." Katara places the back of her hand against her forehead. It feels clammy to touch.

"Royal Infirmary," Zuko corrects automatically.

Katara mutters the correction frustratingly, "Fine, Royal Infirmary, I only want out this infernal heat!" She shades her eyes, but the sun is too bright to even glance at its location in the sky.

Zuko can feel that the sun is directly above, but he isn't affected by it, even though he is wearing a fitted, three-piece suit. "You get used to it." He reaches for her arm. "Let me lead you to the Infirmary. The staff is well versed in healing your abrasions."

Katara bats Zuko's hand away, snapping, "Don't you mean the Royal Infirmary." She draws out the second to last word but then her energy dwindles as she tries quelling her stomach's queasiness.

"Yes, my mistake," Zuko almost laughs over Katara's quip. While simultaneously ushering Katara toward the stairs that lead into the palace, he persuades, "Lady Katara, you are not well. Let me help you."

"I said, I don't want your help." Katara tries swatting at Zuko's hands but the forceful intent results in pathetic taps. "I want to go back to my home." Katara shakes her head and retracts her slip, "I mean, the palace apartment."

However, when Katara mistakingly uttered 'home', she had meant it. She desperately wanted to be back at her true home, the tundra, near her family and friends, but that home was no longer a sanctuary either. There isn't any place left in the world which could be deemed safe.

Katara wishes she had never come to the Fire Nation. "I don't like it here."

Zuko takes Katara's arm and says with sincerity. "Lady Katara, if someone has hurt you, I promise you, they will suffer for it."

"No one has hurt me," Katara attempts to fabricate that she had been talking about the heat and nothing more, but the rest of her rebuke gets caught in her throat.

Zuko whispers urgently. "Tell me who hurt you!"

"I said no one." Katara ends weakly, "I have a couple of scratches, nothing that won't heal itself in time." She touches her clammy forehead. Her throat is parched. The desperation for a drink of water reverberates like a siren song.

Zuko whispers near Katara's ear. "I'm interested in knowing how you came about those scratches?"

"I'm clumsy." Katara leans against Zuko, dizzy from the waves of heat ribbons which dance a few feet in front of her.

"Do you fall a lot?" Zuko holds onto Katara. The weight of her body, sagging against him, ignites Zuko to push Katara further toward the truth.

Katara closes her eyes and tries to block out the buzzing in the ears. "No, I had a spill and got a little hurt."

Zuko can feel the heat encircling them. "Do you frequently get hurt?"

"No, I do not frequently get hurt," Katara sees dancing spots and holds tightly onto Zuko's arms. "being clumsy and being purposely hurt are two different things."

Zuko moves in front of Katara, holding onto her shoulders, pleading to her. "Lady Katara, I promise, you aren't alone, please tell me the truth."

Katara pierces Zuko with a blue stare and speaks with utter conviction. "You're right, I'm never alone as long as I have my family."

The horror she has tried to squash since Sokka was ultimately deemed to be sacrificed, suffocates her with despair. She bites her lip from crying out in pain over the whole tribe's, especially her family's, impending loss. The metallic taste manages to prevent her tears. Katara feels like she will burn up until nothing is left of her. Willing her chi, she rallies her strength and pushes free from Zuko's hold upon her. Panting slightly from the effort, she looks wildly about for a retreat. The gardens begin to tilt round her, swirling colors and sounds.

"Lady Katara, are you alright?" Zuko watches as Katara seems to wobble and stumble, manically reaching out in front of her.

Katara's dark coloring has turned ashen. Her dizziness consumes her. She groans and pitches forward.

Zuko reaches out and catches Katara before she can tumble onto the ground. "Lady Katara?" He tries shaking her but her body is limp. Lifting her, he cradles her to his chest. Her head slumps against him. He says more gently, "Katara, please answer me?"

"Zuko, at last, I have been searching everywhere for you."

With relief, Zuko turns around and sees his cousin. "Lu Ten, you've got to help me."

At the sight of his cousin clutching a young lady to his chest, Lu Ten Is bemused that Zuko is looking befuddled and confused. Lu Ten states without a hint of humor in his voice, though a smile is threatening to emerge with each spoken word. "It would seem you have this situation firmly under control."

Zuko shakes his head and looks down at Katara. "I honestly don't." Katara's breast is rising and falling against Zuko's own. He clutches her more firmly to him. "The only situation I was trying to control was extracting information from her, but then she goes and swoons."

Lu Ten reflects upon his own situation where catching ladies was almost a daily occurence. Since the conclusion of his bachelor days, fainting happenstances mostly crop up during his beach days on Emerald Island. Lu Ten commiserates, "Yes, noble ladies tend to do that, a hazard of the station."

Zuko steps forward irritated. "This is most inconvenient. I can see why you got married to avoid catching fainting ladies all the time."

Lu Ten's face softens at the mere thought of Narumi, his wife, that she chose him as a husband sends pride and love surge through him. His voice takes on a low and loving tone. "I didn't get married for that specific reason, but…" Lu Ten shrugs his shoulders. "I must say swooning ladies do become tiresome very quickly."

Zuko regards Katara. Her complexion is no longer ashen, but she is pale. "Yes, luckily, she isn't heavy." He looks up puzzled. "What do I do with her?"

Lu Ten is careful to not openly laugh, "Do with her? There isn't much to do until she comes to." He raises an eyebrow and a slight smirk is upon Lu Ten's lips. "What happened to get you in such a predicament?"

Zuko retraces his pathetic attempts at small talk. "I said nothing for a while, but she didn't say anything either, which wasn't helping me, so then I told a joke from Warder Training."

Lu Ten is aghast, knowing that the penchant for men's raunchy stories at most communal settings. "I'm sure that went over well."

Zuko didn't pick up on Lu Ten's blatant sarcasm. Instead, Zuko asserts as if Lu Ten is equally shocked that Katara hadn't liked the joke. "Captain Vilran told a really good one this past time; it was hilarious. Apparently, she doesn't know a good joke when she hears one, because she didn't think it was very funny. Fine then, Mai doesn't like jokes either."

"Does Mai like anything?" Lu Ten isn't being sarcastic this time. He seriously wants to know if anything moves a woman whose primary response is issuing laborous sighs.

Zuko responds without hesitating, "Mai likes dark poems, which leads me into that I tried reciting one of Uncle's poems, which always seem to work on the ladies, but that didn't go over well either."

"Maybe it got lost in the translation," Lu Ten is familiar with Zuko's recitations of his father's poems. While well spoken, Zuko interprets the poem rather than stays true to its original conception.

"She did like Mother's fauna facts." Zuko shrugs while nestling Katara closer to him. "This swooning isn't a permanent thing is it? I've got other plans today; though I wasn't up for helping mother judge the Widow's Quilting Bee, so maybe this is preferable..."

Lu Ten interrupts Zuko's panicked rambling. "Zuko, you need to calm down." Lu Ten examines the girl in Zuko's arms. Her dress isn't the typical elaborate, corsetted affair that most of the noble girls wear. Lu Ten tries to peer at Katara's face, but it is turned toward Zuko's breast.

"I am calm!" Zuko barks,

Lu Ten knows Zuko is self-conscious about his scar; however, Lu Ten has caught many girls eyeing his cousin with enchanted eyes and then turn to whisper in hushed huddles. "You are acting like this has never happened to you before."

Zuko's good cheek goes red. He defends himself, lying, embarrassed to reveal that it doesn't happen. "Of course, this happens to me plenty times, just…" He says quietly and knowing this is his biggest fib. "Not with this particular girl."

Lu Ten steps closer, concerned that the girl hasn't noticeably revived. "Does this girl have a name?"

"Lady Katara."

Lu Ten says shocked, "Of the Southern Water Tribe?" When Zuko nods, Lu Ten groans over the current strains among the nations. "Father was meeting with the Southern Water Tribe's Chief, Hakoda and his son, Sir Sokka earlier. If Chief Hakoda and Sir Sokka find you holding Lady Katara, this won't bode well with the current tensions between our countries." All of his amusement at Zuko's situation is replaced with noted concern. "Lady Katara should be awake by now. Zuko, think carefully, what could have caused her to faint?"

Zuko glances down at Katara's dry lips. She looks as if all the water has been drained from her. "Earlier, she complained of the heat."

Lu Ten forgoes normal propriety. He examines Katara's forehead. Heat is radiating off of her. "Zuko, she is burning up; we need to get her to the Royal Infirmary right away!"

A servant runs up to the two princes out of breath, not bothering to bow, as he gasps, "Prince Lu Ten, I have the requested information."

As Lu Ten whirls around to answer, Zuko doesn't issue any goodbyes but quickly takes the steps into the palace two at a time. He dashes down the corridors toward the Royal Infirmary. The best healers within the Fire Nation had been sent to solely work for the palace. They will make Katara well.

Katara rocks against him as he rushes through the hallways. The way she bumps against his chest is the same feeling that he had when he held her in his arms the other night. It feels right. He holds her closer. When Zuko had told Katara he would help her, he was serious. This overwhelming desire to crush anyone that would hurt her burns bright within him. He has never experienced a girl that knows how to volley back and forth: Azula strikes, Mai storms off in a huff of 'Zuko, you jerk!', and Ty Lee tends to say how cute something is while upside down, but Katara is different. She is strong, clever, and when he glances down to look at her, beautiful. Yet, right now, she is so vulnerable. She is like no one he has met before.

Katara opens her eyes and tries to sound forceful, "Water, I need water." It comes out weak and pathetic.

"Katara, I mean, Lady Katara, you're awake." Zuko is relieved. He quickened his pace, even more, frightened what Katara might do now awake. Zuko looks straight ahead to the double doors with metal scrolling and stain glass. "I'm taking you to the Royal Infirmary, whether you like it or not."

Katara closes her eyes. "Ok." Feeling the urge to throw up, she squashes it by keeping her mouth closed.

"Of course, I am!" Zuko had built up a great defense and felt rather defeated that he couldn't say it. "I thought you would have fought me more."

Katara glares at Zuko in response. Zuko ignores her irritated look by staring straight ahead. He bursts through the hospital doors.

Zuko calls out with all of his princely authority. "I demand you to look at Lady Katara right now."

The hospital is a sterile room with green leather chairs lining the walls. The wood floors gleam almost bronze with the level of polish. One man is lazily mopping back and forth. He stops in mid-motion, staring at Zuko. A high circular desk sits in the middle of the room which has the imperial signia on the front. The nurses look up from the desk dumbfounded.

Zuko barks. "What's taking you so long?" His voice crackles with a red flame of disgust.

"Prince Zuko?" Hama appears from the back room. She takes off her surgical gloves and deposits them in a respectable. "We do have other patients."

Zuko stands straighter and looks down at the little woman. "This is an important case, you do realize I am Prince Zuko, fourth in line to the throne and Commander of the Imperial Warders."

Hama looks at both nurses and tilts her head slightly toward a door. "Yes, of course, please bring her into this private room."

"Thank you," Zuko carries Katara into the room. Holding Katara to him, he can't believe the staff isn't buzzing around him. They stand by the empty bed, waiting with rigid attention. He roars, "Well, fix her!"

Hama clears her throat, "Prince Zuko, surely you are not expecting me to conduct the examination of the patient, while you are holding her.

Zuko feels a slight blush upon his good cheek, but he ignores it. Gently, he lays Katara on the examination table. Hama almost gasps at the sight of Katara's day dress. The longing for home fills her with such pain. However, her doctor training supersedes the realization that this patient is Southern Water Tribe and she immediately begins to asses the patient for ailments. Hama can see the immediate signs of heat exhaustion. Katara has the pinched look of someone who is desperate for water. There are minor scratches and abrasions but the primary ailment seems to be needing water.

Katara doesn't have the energy to wince over Zuko's loud orders which rumble in her ears. However, she is very grateful that he has taken charge, being too weak to advocate for herself. I haven't felt this sick since Sokka triple-sealed-dared-me to ride the roller ice-flow of death. Just thinking about the solid tubes that twisted and turned, sending you upside down five times all while clinging to the back of the seal, it makes Katara want to throw up.

Zuko rears back in surprise as he watches Katara's color change again. "Help her, she looks green."

Hama retrieves a glass and fills it with water from the nearby bronze sink. Holding Katara's head, Hama slowly pours some liquid into her mouth. The water coats Katara's lips like parched earth hungrily gulping in moisture. Katara's eyes flutter. She reaches out and hungrily gulps down the water. She can feel herself more awake, being inside, too, makes everything seem much more tolerable.

Katara notices nurses in long white dresses, standing at attention. Their hair is pinned back and under little white hats. The room is equally devoid of color. The only items present are constructed to help patients. The healers at home on the Tundra come to the sick or injured's homes. Besides getting excellent care, the patients are surrounded by the familiarity of home and the love of their family.

Everything feels off here, and it isn't because Katara is so thirsty. She hadn't been able to stop the strong pull of the chi at the pond earlier. Normally, she can compartmentalize her element; but it as if the moon is full and she has no control over her element. Yet, the full moon isn't due until the end of the month, when will this strangeness cease for her.

Hama asks slowly. "What is your name?"

Katara holds out the clear glass as a visual request for more water. Hama is dressed in a black bustle dress and a tight vest. The material whispers as she goes to refill the glass and hand it back to Katara. Katara drains it while Hama repeats her question again.

Zuko snaps, "I told you, her name is Lady Katara."

Hama's patience is evaporating for the prince. She is tolerant of all the royals up to a point. The presence of a royal, who has such an aversion to hospitals, heightens her irritability. Yet, her years of living among the nobles have made her skilled to say all things with a gentle voice that is laced with knowing condensation.

"Thank you, Prince Zuko, but I'm trying to check the vital signs of the patient. I need you to be silent while I deal with her." Hama didn't give her usual bark "or you can get out." "Do you understand?"

Zuko wants to bite back but doesn't want his temper to prevent Katara from getting healed. He nods and takes a step back.

"Thank you," Hama speaks in a tone with notes of soothing, usually reserved for hysterical patients. Returning her attention to the girl wearing the Southern Water Tribe day dress, Hama resists the urge to finger the fabric. It had been years since she had seen such a dress. "Now, who are you?"

Katara's voice is slightly hoarse as she replies. "I am Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, daughter of Chief Hakoda and grand-daughter to Kanna and younger sister to Sokka, warrior, and heir." The titles rolled off her tongue. The sounds of her family infuse her body. She holds out her glass for another refill.

Hama refills the glass again. The sound of the rushing water makes Katara almost tingle with delight. Hama places it back into Katara's eager hands. Hama's tight bun barely moves as she nods. "Yes, I could tell you were Southern Water Tribe from your day dress." Her finger touches it lightly. "I haven't seen one of these dresses in a very long time."

Katara is caught off-guard. "How do you know about our dresses?" The replenishing of fluids has brought Katara's caramel coloring to life. Brushing out the wrinkles and dirt from her dress, the material ripples. The creases shake out and the dried mud flake off, leaving a clean dress again.

Hama's eyes crease with happiness at the magical site of the dress. She often wishes her own surgical outfits possess such marvels of ingenuity. "A long time ago, I was Southern Water Tribe." The light fades from her eyes, but her expression doesn't alter as she continues. "I have lived so long in the Fire Nation. I identify myself as Fire Nation."

Zuko didn't realize that the head doctor of the Royal Infirmary was, in fact, Southern Water Tribe. He knew Dr. Hama had to be water tribe because of her skills. He assumed that she was half Fire Nation, born on the islands. As he looks around at the white plaster walls and sterile instruments, this place agitates his memories. He resists the desire to touch his damaged eye.

Katara's emotion well up inside her. A true kinsman right here within the royal palace. She reaches her hand out to Hama, clutching it. "It is an honor to be treated by you, may the moon always precede you."

Hama's tears for the loss of her country have dried up a long time ago. Yet, Katara's tender blessing make Hama ache with loss, she tamped down the urge to cry. She glances over at Prince Zuko and steels herself. Hama's homesickness retreats back into her watery soul. She distracts herself by checking Katara's vital signs. The nurses come to stand next to Hama and hold out a basin of water. She dips her hands into the liquid and they glow blue. She hovers them over Katara, starting at the patient's head and then moving down her body. Hama examines deeply, reaching into the girl. When passing one leg, she almost draws back. She puts her hands back into the water, letting the liquid return to the basin.

The sight of the blue glow of water makes Zuko swallow. He backs away and disguises his nervousness with arbitrary information. "Lady Katara passed out, and I caught her."

Hama doesn't indicate that she discovered something beyond a need of water. "It seems like Lady Katara is dehydrated, possibly low on electrolytes as well." She suggests gently without accusation, knowing the need for young women to squeeze their waists into impossibly tiny expectations. "Dear, when was the last time you ate?"

Katara looks down at her hands, blushing, "It has been a while, actually. I didn't have any breakfast. I slept late and had a rough night."

Zuko jumps in, elated by the chance to quiz Katara. "What happened to you last night?"

Katara inwardly groans. She keeps forgetting that the prince is desperate to fire kabob her for any information. She snaps at him. "Why are you still here?"

Zuko sputters a little embarrassed. "I saved you."

"You did not save me." Katara starts to get up but then falls back on the pillows.

Hama watches Katara carefully. "Lady Katara, how long will you be in the Fire Nation?"

Katara's face shutters and she replies quietly, "Only until the official presentation of the Tribute"

"I would advise while you are still within the Fire Nation to venture outside only in the morning hours and evening time. Your body isn't accustomed to the intense heat that happens during the afternoon." Hama steps away and pushes a buzzer below the examining table. Two more nurses appear. Hama directs her orders to Katara but speaks in a voice that the nurses understand the instructions are for them. "Lady Katara, I would like to sedate you during the transfusion process." The nurses quickly exit to retrieve the proper materials. Hama interjects with soothing confidence before Katara's protestations can be spoken,. "It is merely to make you more comfortable." Hama clears her throat and steps toward the leg that she had sensed something. "The transfusion can take a while."

Zuko bursts out, "Don't hurt her!" There are little sparks coming off the tips of Zuko's fingers.

Katara glances over at Zuko a little shocked. His normal stark exterior that is held in such rigid control looks slightly off, not to mention the fire that sizzling from his hands.

Hama puts on her best patronizing voice. "Prince Zuko, we will treat her like we treat everyone with the very best care."

"Yes, but" Zuko knows the healers are powerful. He asks quickly in a last appeal to discover the exact reason Katara had been within the pirate clutches. "Do you know how Lady Katara got hurt?"

"I'm not a mind reader, being a healer doesn't mean we can look into the past." Hama replies perturbed, "Did you ask her?" Hama flits a look to Katara's leg that had held the black mark.

The distraction of the conversation has Zuko lowering his anxiety about being in the Royal Infirmary. "I did, but she said that she fell."

Hama eyes Katara. "That seems perfectly reasonable, considering she is low on electrolytes."

"Yes, but could there be another reason?" The sight of the nurses arriving with additional medical equipment makes his scar begin to throb. He ignores the need to place his hand by it.

"Prince Zuko, you seem to know something. Would you care to elaborate on how Lady Katara got hurt, then?" Hama looks pointedly at Zuko.

"Yes, how did I get hurt, Prince Zuko." Katara asks very demurely, enjoying that the tables have been turned on the prince by the healer.

"I'm not sure." Zuko feels a cold sweat creep over him. He adjusts his neck collar.

"Prince Zuko, are you alright?" Hama moves over to Zuko.

Zuko backs away, warding off her approach. "I'm fine."

Hama decides to not push the issue. She returns to Katara, leaning over her. "Lady Katara, before we begin the transfusion, I think we first need to clean you up a bit, remove some of these bruises and cuts." The nurses have another clear porcelain bowl of clear water. Hama reaches into the liquid and fully coating her hands. The water vibrates blue as it heals Katara's various scratches. Katara becomes almost weak with a desire to manipulate her element.

Hama nods to the nurses, who lift up Katara's dress and expose her legs. The act makes Katara shrink in repulsion. It isn't from having her legs exposed in front of a man but somethign else, fear. Hama notes Katara's reaction and narrowed eye move to the leg that had been marked before, bending toward it, listening. She stands up, almost repealed from a dark sensation. She checks Katara's other leg. The sensation is clear. Katara seems to be shaking slightly. Hama assures. "No need to be frightened, I'm transposing the element into a more hydrating form. I promise you it won't hurt you."

Katara steels her voice, though beads of sweat appear on her brow. She smiles unconvincingly, "I'm not, it's just that I haven't seen a waterbender in a long time." Katara hopes her lie doesn't sound as obvious to Hama or the Prince Zuko as it does to Katara.

Hama avoids looking at Prince Zuko. "Yes, I would presume that would be so. Waterbenders are required to serve the Fire Nation in the hospitals and on the battle fronts. Our skills are much more efficient than traditional medicine."

Hama closes her eyes and lifts the water from the bowl, twirling it around, mixing it until the color changes into a seafoam green. Katara has that strong pull in her gut again, but what was uncomfortable sensation begins to burn as Hama gets closer to her leg until finally laying her hands upon her skin.

Katara cries out in agony "It's burning, burning!"

Zuko moves to Katara's side and demands. "What is happening?" He tries to lift Katara from the table. "Get your hands off of her her!"

Hama yells, "Nurses, get Prince Zuko out of here."

The nurses move around Zuko trying to block him from Katara. "You were supposed to help her!"

Lu Ten appears in the door way and rushes over to his distraught cousin. "Zuko, come with me." He grabs at Zuko.

Zuko shakes off Lu Ten's grip. "No, we're taking Katara out of here."

"Prince Lu Ten, get Prince Zuko out of here, immediately!" Hama yells, the water on her hands flashing blue.

Lu Ten drags Zuko from the room. "Come on, brother, you aren't helping. Let Dr. Hama do her job."

"Nurses!" Hama demands as one nurse shuttles the two princes out. Lu Ten dragging a protesting Zuko after him. The door to Katara's room closes. Hama pushes Katara down. "Nurses, the IV, stat!"

Katara can hear someone screaming but it can't be her. She can barely breathe through the pain. It is caught in her throat as the feeling of fire radiates through her. She thrusts and throws her fists, trying to break free from the pain. Nurses hold her down, four of them on top of her. Hama injects a shot into Katara's arm. She can feel a languidness to her limbs, and the screaming has stopped. The burning slowly evaporates into a cooling sensation. Katara's body drops back on the bed. She lets the soothing motions take over her limbs.

Hama slumps back when Katara relaxes under the dream sleep of the injection. She knows that a simple healing won't get rid of what has gripped Katara. It will take more subtle treatments. Hama pushes a lock of grey hair behind her ear and moves slowly to the door. She leans against the doorjam. "Nurses, please get an IV going with fluids for Lady Katara."

The nurses gather the supplies and begin the process of setting up the pole. After Hama has left the room, the four girls relax.

Katara waves of sleepiness crash over her. They wash over and retreat, allowing her to hear the conversation as she drifts in and out of consciousness.

"Have you ever seen such a thing?" One nurse inserts a needle into Katara's arm.

"It was like she was possessed." Another hangs a bag of blue liquid.

"Then for Prince Zuko, who would have thought he would actually come here of all places, especially after..." The sounds of water running in the basin drown out the rest of her comments.

Katara is desperate to hold onto her mind. Katara can hear the nurses moving around her, but she can't open her eyes or command her limbs. The voices are becoming fainter. She keeps telling herself to stay awake. Through the mist of sleep, the nurses' voices drifted in.

"Did you see his face? How he was being so demanding." The sounds of wheels moving. "I agree, I can't believe he brought her here. You know how he feels about healers. He must have been desperate."

"I know, he was being so princely," One nurse laughs, "He was almost attractive; I could forget about his scar. It was so gallant. Normally, we have to sedate him if anyone even mentioned coming to the Royal Infirmary."

One nurse gasps, "You weren't here for that shift, you don't know. Song had to go to him last night in his room. There was some wound on his leg. I honestly don't understand how he gets those things to happen to him?"

Katara pushes through the fog. Her brain processes wound on the leg? She wants to listen. Stay awake, please, stay awake! The gentle fog covers her finally in a dreamless sleep.


A/N: What's next? Stay tuned! Please keep up with the story follows, favorites, and reviews, it does an author good :) Those stateside fans, Happy 4th of July!