Chapter 7: Understanding

Katara and Iroh followed the tracks left by the ostrich-horse. They went slow, allowing Zuko to remain ahead of them. He wouldn't appreciate them following him, Iroh reasoned. Zuko felt that he needed to find his path alone, and could view them following him as shameful, believing he didn't need help.

"We'll intervene only if we need to," Iroh had decided. "But I do think he may benefit from his time alone. It is his path."

"I just hope he doesn't get into trouble," Katara said, then she shook her head. "Not too much trouble, anyways. Knowing Zuko, something will happen."

So, they followed him, perhaps a day or half of a day behind him. Close enough that they could quickly catch up and help him if the need arose, but far enough that he didn't notice them.

Katara had spent a considerable amount of time with the two Fire Nation royals trying to ignore Zuko. But now, with him gone, she felt his absence. Arguing with him, of course, wasn't that great, but when they could get along, she found that they had gone pretty well together. They worked well together, when they needed to.

And Iroh clearly missed his nephew. He remained as calm as ever, and he did his best to reassure her, too, but she noticed the slight tension in his forehead, the tightness of his lips. He had, after all, lost his son before. While he was willing to let Zuko go, Katara knew that Iroh was also concerned about the many things which could go wrong, the many ways that he could now lose Zuko.

On their second day tracking Zuko, Katara decided that the anxious silence would drive them both crazy. As a distraction, she shared some of her adventures with Aang and Sokka. She told him about the time they met the Kyoshi Warriors, how the leader, Suki, had made Sokka wear the dress and makeup to learn from them. She talked about how King Bumi had made Aang go through several bizarre challenges, only to reveal that he was actually Aang's friend from a century before, and hadn't really intended to hurt her or Sokka anyways. She also told him about her experience with Master Pakku.

"He refused to teach me," she said, and even though he had later changed his mind, her voice was still tinged with frustration as she recounted the experience. "Just because I'm a girl. And then when Aang tried to teach me, he caught us, and then he refused to teach Aang, too!" She was frowning.

"He refused to teach the Avatar?" Iroh sounded surprised, and when Katara looked over, she saw that he looked slightly exasperated, shaking his head. "He should understand that the fate of the world depends on the Avatar mastering the elements. What was he thinking?"

"Tradition," Katara answered, irritation coloring her tone. "Apparently, the Northern Water Tribe is just flat-out sexist. And they had no interest in changing." She shook her head, then gave a small smirk. "I challenged him to a duel."

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "You challenged one of the greatest waterbending masters in the world to a duel?" He sounded both amused and impressed. He shook his head, smiling. "I told you before, you and Zuko are more similar than you realize."

Katara gave a small smile. "I didn't win," she told him. "But he did acknowledge that I'm a pretty good waterbender."

"So how did you convince him to train you?"

"My necklace. It's been passed down my family, but originally, it was my grandmother's. She was from the North Pole." Absently, she touched the stone of the necklace.

"Ah," Iroh nodded, understanding. "An engagement tradition of the Northern Water Tribe. But, she didn't marry her fiancé?"

"Nope. See, it was actually Master Pakku himself she was supposed to marry. But it was an arranged marriage."

"And she went to the Southern Water Tribe to escape it."

Katara nodded. "My necklace fell off during the duel. Pakku picked it up, and recognized it as the one he had made for Gran-Gran. I guess he finally realized what those stupid traditions had cost him, and he reconsidered." She smiled. "He said that I was one of the best students I ever had. And, since I was trained, I heard that they were thinking of going ahead and abolishing the restriction on girls learning actual waterbending." She was grinning. It was definitely something she was proud of.

"I'm glad you were able to convince him to train you," Iroh said. "It would have been a huge waste of talent if you hadn't been trained." He frowned. "The Fire Nation also used to have similar traditions. And while I'm reluctant to credit this war with anything good, I suppose it did result in our women gaining more power than they once had. With the men gone, the women of the Fire Nation have taken over many duties at home. They gained influence, and asserted their equality. Nowadays, women are viewed as men's equals. They're even recruited into our military, and can hold rank just as the men can."

Katara blinked. "Wow, never thought I'd actually prefer the Fire Nation's way of doing anything," she said. "My tribe is better with women than the north, but even our women don't usually go to fight with our men." There wasn't anything saying they couldn't, Katara supposed. But women weren't generally taught to fight, or asked to come along when the men went out to fight.

Iroh frowned. "From what I remember, your tribe is quite small. It seems to me that if any more of your people went to war, your tribe wouldn't have anyone in it." He shook his head. "Some people must remain behind, to keep life going. To survive, and rebuild."

Katara frowned too. "I suppose," she admitted. "But I guess I just want to do my part to end this war. My father left a few years ago, leaving my brother and I to take care of the tribe." She shook her head. "I just don't think it's in my nature to hide out while the people I love are fighting."

"An understandable position," Iroh agreed. "But I worry about what this war is doing. While the equality granted to my nation's women is well-deserved, consider the consequences of sending so much of our population to war. Already, we have noticed that women outnumber the men in substantial numbers. Such was what motivated my father to allow women to go to fight with the men to begin with. My brother," Iroh continued, and Katara frowned at the mention of Firelord Ozai. "My brother has begun conscripting men, forcing them to fight. This practice mostly targets the poor men of our society. These men are sent to die at the frontlines, rarely able to rise through the ranks before meeting an untimely end. Within the past year, I have heard talk of conscripting women, too."

Katara blinked. "So…what? He's just going to send everyone to fight?"

"As many as possible, within a certain age." Iroh shook his head. "He will cripple an entire generation. If he continues this for much longer, I fear he will burn the world down, and destroy our own nation in the process."

Katara frowned.

It wasn't the first time Iroh had shown disapproval for his nation and his brother's actions. And, she realized, he was kinder to her than any enemy ought to be, from the beginning. She recalled Azula, how she had derided her as an 'inferior being.' But Iroh seemed to hold no such attitudes. He didn't seem to believe that the Fire Nation was superior. In fact, he even seemed to agree that this war needed to end. Katara recalled how, once, Iroh had talked about how elements worked together to sustain life.

It occurred to her for the first time that Iroh may be much more than he appeared to be.

A couple days later, Katara was laughing as Iroh sang The Girls from Ba Sing Se. She shook her head; it was a mixture of sweet and obnoxious, but Iroh clearly enjoyed singing it. He had been telling her about the Fire Nation again, and he had taken to singing some of the songs he knew. Most were from the Fire Nation, but others were ones he had encountered at various places in the world. He really had been around in the world, Katara noted.

As he finished singing, he took the tin tea kettle out from over the fire. Taking one of the cups, he put it in front of Katara and poured her some tea, before taking another cup and pouring some for himself.

"Thanks, Uncle Iroh," Katara said without thinking. Iroh was quiet for a moment, and Katara realized what she said. "Oh, I mean…sorry, I guess."

"It's fine," he reassured her. He smiled, and she smiled back.

"You've just been very easy to talk to," she admitted. "And I suppose it's been a while since I've really had an adult in my life who actually guides me in any way." Iroh had come to share a place with Gran-Gran and Master Pakku.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, and I assure you, I don't mind. Family, after all, is more than blood ties."

Katara nodded. After all, she had sworn to Aang that she and Sokka would be his family. And he really was like a little brother to her. And Master Pakku, in the weeks she had known him, had been much like she figured a grandfather would be. Katara smiled as she sipped her tea. Now, Iroh had joined the family—the honorary uncle, who happened to be Fire Nation.

The next day, he told her about his son, Lu Ten. Katara listened as he spoke of his dead son. He sounded like he had been a good person, even if he was loyal to the Fire Nation. She couldn't help but smile as Iroh talked about how much Lu Ten adored his cousins, treating them more like siblings than cousins. "Some days it would be impossible to pull him away from them," Iroh had told her. Iroh took a more somber note when he mentioned how he had decided to take Lu Ten with him when he went to conquer Ba Sing Se.

Katara quickly changed topics, telling him more about her adventures with Aang and Sokka. Iroh's smile returned as she spoke.

"I do have to ask," he said. "How did you find Aang? The Avatar has been missing for an entire century. How did you come to find him after all that time?"

"It's a bit of an embarrassing story, actually," she admitted. "My brother and I were out fishing. Our canoe got caught up in a strong current, and it pulled us through a lot of smaller chunks of ice. After a few minutes, we got stuck on one, and our canoe was crushed. We started arguing…" She blushed as she recalled the event. "Heh. See, my brother always left me to do all of the chores, and I kind of snapped. I got really mad at him, and I accidentally started waterbending while I yelled at him. I split open an iceberg. As it turned out Aang's iceberg was inside that one. I noticed it glowing, and I saw his figure, so I took Sokka's club and opened it. The rest is history."

Iroh's eyes were raised. "Who would have ever thought that the world would be saved by a pair of teenagers squabbling?"

Katara laughed a moment before frowning.

"Do you really support this war at all? I mean, maybe I'm just imagining it, but you don't seem to approve of anything your brother does. And you talk about how bad this war is for everyone. And you basically just said that Aang will save the world!" Katara blinked. "So…seriously? Are you…on our side?" Was it really possible, or was her attachment to him making her imagine things?

Iroh waited a moment before sighing. "I was raised, like my brother and his children, to continue Sozin's vision for the world. And for much of my life, I was proud to 'spread the Fire Nation's greatness.'" He shook his head as he said those last words. "It was only when I lost Lu Ten that I realized what we were really doing. We were not spreading greatness, not helping as Sozin and my father claimed we were. No, we were only spreading destruction and death, and I had no desire to be a part of that. We were only killing other people's sons, just as my son had been killed. I called off the siege of Ba Sing Se, and had my men return to the Fire Nation. I had wondered if I could have convinced my father to end the war…"

"But he was dead," Katara recalled. "And Ozai was crowned Firelord."

"Yes," Iroh said grimly. "And he had little interest in what I had to say."

"Couldn't you have challenged him or anything?" Katara asked. The world would have been so much better off, she was certain now, if Iroh had become Firelord.

"I could have," Iroh acknowledged. "And there was a window of opportunity for me to do so. After all, more than a few people questioned Ozai's ascendance to the throne. It was too sudden, and it left much suspicion in the air. If I had wanted to, I could have challenged him. And I had other nobles who would have supported my claim, and even members of the military willing to fight for me if it came to a civil war." Iroh shook his head. "But I had no interest in the crown anymore, and no will left to fight for it."

"But you knew the war was wrong," Katara said. "You could have ended it."

"Perhaps I could have. But I was lost, broken at that time. I lost my son, to a war I suddenly understood shouldn't have been started, I lost my father, I lost my crown, I lost much respect as a general after pulling my men out of Ba Sing Se. I understood that the war was wrong, that I had been wrong to support it, but I did not know where to turn to instead. So I left."

Katara blinked. "You left? What do you mean?"

"I went on a journey of discovery, to find myself again, to find answers. To understand the world as it truly was, and how to fix it. To learn what my true destiny was. I even traveled to the Spirit World."

Katara's eyes widened. "I thought only the Avatar could travel between worlds." She thought of the time Hei bai had taken Sokka to the Spirit World. That time, at least, it had been a matter of being abducted by a spirit. But she hadn't realized that somebody could willingly go there.

"From my understanding, in a time long before any records being kept, the Spirit World and our world were one. At some point, they were separated, and the Avatar became the bridge between our worlds. But there are still ways for normal mortals to travel to the Spirit World, if they are willing to dedicate much time and patience to finding those ways."

"Wow." Katara's voice was awed. "That's amazing." She blinked. "Why were our worlds separated?"

Iroh shrugged. "I don't know everything," he told her. "All of this was thousands of years ago; any record which may have been kept is probably unreadable now. This is only what I've put together from what I learned while trying to get to the Spirit World, and what I heard there."

"So…after you went to the Spirit World, then what?"

"I learned," Iroh said plainly. "And I finally understood. I saw how our world was out of balance, how it would remain out of balance so long as the Fire Nation continues to attempt domination. I sought out others, other individuals who saw the problem of the world. I returned to the Fire Nation." Iroh frowned.

"And you still didn't want the crown?"

Iroh shook his head. "Even if I wanted it, my opportunity had passed. Ozai had solidified his grip on the throne. Things were even worse than when I left…I found that many of my colleagues were gone. Generals who loved their men, dead. Admirals who followed a code of honor, suddenly lost at sea. Other advisors, missing. The same occurred to virtually all of the nobles who had offered to support me if I challenged Ozai."

Katara's eyes widened and she suppressed a shiver. "He purged them," she realized. "He purged the Fire Nation of anyone who opposed him and had the power to do anything."

Iroh nodded. "I could hardly ask him if it were the case, but it does seem the most likely explanation to me. Still, I wasn't powerless. I understood that it wasn't the time. But, I knew where the future of the nation lied." He paused for a moment before a fond smile formed. "As you know, Ozai was no better a father than he is a Firelord."

"You took over raising his children."

"Tried," Iroh amended. "Azula had little interest in spending time with me, and I fear her father's influence had already grown too much. She had dismissed me as weak after I abandoned the siege of Ba Sing Se. Zuko, though, he was more open to a positive influence. And he has become like a son to me." Iroh smiled momentarily before shaking his head. "I have done my best to guide him over the past three years. Lead him to understand his part in this…I believe that it is his destiny to help the Avatar restore balance to the world."

Katara's eyes widened at the declaration. "You really think he will?" He had said before that he thought Zuko's destiny, along with hers, was tied to the Avatar. She looked down to her feet as she walked. "I hope you're right. I don't want to fight him anymore." She furrowed her eyebrows. "He's so stubborn, though. And clueless sometimes. What if he doesn't ever see the truth?"

"Then I believe we would have a rather large problem," Iroh admitted. "But I have seen the good inside of him, and so have you. And now, I believe our new situation may force him to confront the true nature of this war. When the time comes, I believe that Zuko will make the right choice."

"When we meet up with Aang again," Katara brought up a few days later as they walked. "Do you think you could be his firebending master?" Hopefully, Aang would have found an earthbending master. Bumi might not be…available, given what happened to Omashu, but surely Aang would have been able to find someone else to teach him.

"Hmm," Iroh considered. "Perhaps, if that is where destiny leads us. I don't know that I am meant to be the one to teach him, but if that responsibility falls to me, then I would do my best."

"I can just imagine Aang and Zuko training together," Katara said, laughing a little. "I think Aang would drive him even crazier as a friend than he does as an enemy." After all, Aang, despite the huge responsibility on his shoulders, was still very much a child. He liked to play around, and joke, and sometimes didn't take things as seriously as he should.

Zuko, on the other hand, was always serious. He didn't joke, or goof around. Katara actually couldn't help but appreciate it a bit. After years of fulfilling the motherly role, and frequently being the one to remind Aang and Sokka to do their parts, it was nice to have someone else who was a bit more thoughtful about their life and responsibilities.

She really did miss him.

In another two days, Katara followed Iroh as he observed the tracks. He hesitated as he looked onwards, and Katara came to stand next to him.

"Is something wrong?"

Iroh frowned. "He's left the wooded area," he told her. He pointed forward, and Katara looked. It wasn't a very nice looking place, with a lot of sand and rock and large hills. There was little vegetation, and it didn't look like there was much water to be found. The sky was nearly cloudless in that direction, the sun shining almost too bright for Katara to even look near. "I worry that this may not be a safe direction. If the environment continues like it is here, food and water will not be plentiful."

Katara's eyes widened. "Do you think he'll be okay? Maybe we should go catch up to him now…"

But Iroh shook his head. "Not until we are absolutely certain he needs us."

Katara folded her arms, but went with Iroh.

She hoped Zuko would be okay.

The new terrain was far less pleasant than the previous area of the Earth Kingdom they had been traveling in. Much of the area Katara had traveled through before was fairly nice, with a decent amount of grass, and trees, and usually a fairly good amount of water nearby. Food was accessible, along with water. And there was usually a village or two close enough for anyone to find if they needed help.

But this place that Zuko had wandered into was different. It was arid, and devoid of life. Iroh and Katara found that they were running out of the food they had brought, and it was also difficult to find water. Katara found herself recalling how she and Iroh purified water on the raft, and recalled how it had been said that there was water in the air. At one point, while she and Iroh were resting, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to see if she could feel any water…there was, she felt, and she tried to bend it out of the air. It really was abysmally little, and after spending an hour to bend a mouthful of water into their water pouch, she gave up. All that effort for so little? It was hardly worth it, except in an emergency.

Maybe if they were on the brink of dying of dehydration, but otherwise…

What is Zuko thinking? This place is a death trap!

In another couple of days, she noticed that Iroh looked even more concerned than ever.

"From what I can tell," he told Katara. "Zuko hasn't been setting any campfires up. At least for the past couple days."

"What does that mean?" she asked. "He can warm himself with his breath of fire, can't he?" It was hot during the day, even more so due to the lack of shade, but during the night it could get fairly cool.

"Heat is not a problem," Iroh agreed. "But what else do you use fire for?"

Katara frowned as she thought for a moment. "Cooking. Zuko isn't cooking anything." Her eyebrows pulled in as she put together what it was Iroh was worried about. "You think he's run out of food."

He nodded. "I don't know how much food he took to begin with," he told her. "And I don't know how much money he has with him, either. Not to mention, this place isn't exactly overflowing with things he could eat."

"If he's run out of food, he's probably also run out of water by now." Katara glared at the water pouch she and Iroh had been using. "This place is basically a desert. There's nothing out here." She looked up at Iroh. "Now can we intervene?"

Iroh frowned. "Right now I'm not sure we could even help him," he admitted. "We're running out of food as well. And water."

Katara frowned. "I can bend more water," she told him. His eyes widened.

"From the air itself?" He sounded impressed. She nodded.

"Only a little bit," she admitted. "This place is so dry…but something is an improvement over nothing, right?"

"And if he really has run out of food," Iroh agreed. "Then even what we've got left should be helpful."

They continued following the track left by the ostrich-horse, but now they walked a little faster, and a little longer than they had in previous days.

"He pushes himself," Iroh told her. "Ever since he was little, he wanted to show that he could be a great firebender, a great swordsman. Not always for the right reasons," Iroh admitted. "He wants to prove himself to his father." Iroh frowned. "Ozai should have loved him, but he did not. He denied his son his affection."

"He prefers Azula," Katara figured.

"My brother appreciates that she is useful to him, nothing more. He sees her as his weapon. Does he love her?" Iroh looked thoughtful. "To be honest, I doubt it. But perhaps I just can't see him loving any family member after what he did to Zuko."

Katara glared into the ground. "He's a monster," she muttered. She looked to Iroh. "You're more of a father to Zuko than Ozai. I hope he realizes that someday."

Iroh smiled. "Ozai and I never really had a close relationship," Iroh noted. "Even when I was younger, and followed in my father's footsteps, somehow Ozai and I never particularly cared for each other. Perhaps in part because of our age difference. I was old enough to be his father, so I suppose we didn't really ever get the chance to grow up together. While he was young and growing, I was busy starting my own family, as well as my career in the military. When I did try to bond with him, we never did succeed. We may as well have been strangers, speaking different languages for all that we really understood each other. Later, when I did spend time with his family, I actually spent more time with his wife and children than I did with him," Iroh admitted. "He had little interest in spending time with them. Until they started firebending."

"And since Azula's a prodigy, she took center stage." Katara frowned as she recalled her conversation with Zuko. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course," Iroh said, looking concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"A few weeks back, Zuko and I talked to each other. About bending, I mean. He said he feels like…like there's a wall, or something. Like he just can't firebend like he should." Katara frowned, unsure if she was explaining it properly. "Do you understand what I mean?"

"I do," Iroh told her.

"Have you ever heard of anything like this?" Katara asked him.

"I have," he confirmed. "What Zuko is experiencing is a failure to spiritually connect to his element."

Katara frowned. "How so?"

"Consider this: fire is unique among the elements in that we create it. In order to create our fire, we pull energy from within our own chi, and channel it using our passion, our drives." Iroh fingered his beard. "Over the past century or so, it has become the norm to use emotions such as frustration, anger, and hatred to produce our fire." Iroh shook his head. "Perhaps it isn't surprising that our nation has fallen to madness and ruin, that our nation has gone on a rampage of conquest and destruction."

Katara frowned. "No kidding. I mean, that just can't be good."

"This is how people in my nation are taught to bend nowadays," Iroh said sadly. "And it is also how Zuko was taught to bend."

"But it doesn't work for him," Katara concluded. "But he is really angry a lot. And frustrated. I wouldn't think it would be such a problem for his bending…"

"As angry as my nephew is, he lacks the ruthlessness required to follow through," Iroh explained. "Consider what happened with Zhao. He fought him, and Zuko was winning. But, when it all came down to it, when Zhao was taken by La, Zuko still tried to save him."

Katara nodded slowly. "It's not really in his nature to be cruel and hateful. He cares about people…so I guess that makes sense." She frowned. "There's another way to firebend, then? I mean, I'm guessing you don't use this method."

"There is another way," Iroh said. "I learned it when I was younger. And I've tried to slip some of its teachings in to Zuko. But the lesson, ultimately, needs to be taught by the Old Masters."

"The Old Masters?" Katara questioned.

Iroh nodded. "The lesson they have to teach is not one I could give. Zuko will have to go to them himself. And it is not yet the time for that," he concluded.

"But he's ashamed of not firebending as well as he should be able to."

"He's not ready," Iroh continued. "Not yet. But perhaps he will be soon enough. And we will all know when he is."

"These tracks are definitely more recently made," Iroh observed. "Perhaps a matter of hours old." He looked over to Katara. "If we wish, we could probably catch up to him by tomorrow."

"Well, we do want to catch up to him, don't we?" When Iroh hesitated, Katara nearly exploded. "Are you kidding me? He's alone out there, starving! Hasn't his little adventure gone far enough?!"

"I have done my best to guide him," Iroh said. "But right now he has to find his own way. If I intervene now, he may not be grateful."

"But if he's starving," Katara protested.

Iroh quickly shook his head. "You know how stubborn he can be, even to his own detriment. If I break his trust now, how can he know that he could trust me in the future?"

Katara frowned. She folded her arms.

She never thought she would miss Zuko this much, but she found that she did. They had bonded, admittedly. From being on the raft, to traveling the Earth Kingdom. She had come to understand that he wasn't what she had thought he was. He wasn't evil. He was actually an essentially good person, if somewhat confused about what was actually right or wrong. He was a teenager, desperate to earn his cruel father's approval. And she also couldn't help but hope that, someday, he would see past his father's vision of the world. That someday, maybe, they could fight on the same side. Iroh believed it was possible. And Katara found that she believed it, too. As Iroh had noted, she and Zuko were not as different as she had once believed. They were stubborn, passionate, and driven. They both refused to back down. They had made some of the same mistakes in the past. Katara thought of her compromise with him, how they had worked together for a day. It hadn't gone like she thought it would, of course, but they had worked well for that day. And he had bought her a hair tie, a peace offering as he saw it. A small gesture, but Katara appreciated the sentiment behind it.

"Then I'll go ahead without you," she told Iroh quietly. He looked momentarily surprised, so she quickly explained. "I'm sorry, but I can't wait anymore when I know he's in trouble. And maybe he won't be as upset if it's me. I mean any more than usual. It wouldn't be the first time we fought. And at least he wouldn't be mad at you. But I can't stand not knowing," she continued, shaking her head. "I care about him, and this…it's gone too far."

Iroh slowly nodded, smiling. "You know, I do think perhaps he wouldn't be as upset if it were you. If it were me, he could just see it as me trying to control his life. But you? I believe he has come to view you as an equal." He frowned. "You would be alone for a while," he pointed out as he separated their things. He gave her a small sack of food that they had left, keeping one for himself. "It won't be pleasant," he warned. "We have little food left. And water…"

"I can handle it," Katara assured him. She offered a smile. "I promise, I'll be careful."

They continued walking for the rest of the day, until night. Iroh made camp, and Katara took what little she had. Finally, she left.

"Good luck to you, Katara. Find Zuko, and be careful."

"I'll see you again," she promised. "And I promise I'll have Zuko with me. Bye, Uncle Iroh."

It was dusk the next day when Katara found a small village. The tracks had led there. It was an old looking town, with dusty streets, and small, plain buildings. The town seemed empty.

Except for the fight in the streets.

Zuko was fighting an earthbender. By the looks of it, the earthbender was in the Earth Kingdom army. He was hurling large stones at Zuko, who was fighting with his swords. Katara had never actually seen him using those, she noted, but he looked to be pretty good from what she was seeing. And it wasn't even a fair fight, considering that he also didn't seem to be in the best condition. Katara smiled as she heard townsfolk cheering Zuko on.

"What's going on?" she asked one of the locals.

He turned to her, blinking in surprise. "Another stranger? This must be a record." He turned back to the fight. "Those soldiers have been bullying us ever since they came," the man said. "They were going to force that kid," pointing to a young boy tied up in the middle of the street. "To go fight in the war. But then this guy came! He's actually standing up to them!" Katara grinned as she heard the story. She had heard of some of Zuko's more heroic moments before. Fighting Zhao, standing up to the general in the war-room, rescuing her. But this was the first time she was present and conscious for any of them.

The moment turned sour, however, after the earthbender successfully hit Zuko from the ground. It hit him hard in the stomach, and threw him back. Several long moments passed, and he didn't get up.

Katara's eyes widened. "No!" She moved forward, but several of the villagers pulled her back.

"They'll go after you, too!" she heard one saying to her.

"I don't care!" she whisper-shouted at them. She saw the earthbender walking towards Zuko, taking out his hammers. "Hey! Get away from him!" She wrested herself out of the villagers grasp, moving forward. The soldier turned back to face her.

"Run back home, little girl," he smirked at her. She wished she had more water. She really wanted to smack that smirk off of his face.

All at once, Zuko came back to consciousness, and he spun his swords around, releasing a swirl of fire, blasting the earthbender away.

Katara winced. Even if that jerk deserved it, Katara doubted this was going to turn out well.

Zuko blasted the earthbender again, knocking him into the side of a building.

"Who…who are you?" he asked Zuko. Please, please don't answer that, Zuko.

"My name is Zuko," he declared, and Katara pinched the bridge of her nose. "Son of Ursa and Firelord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne!" Whispers erupted among the villagers, and Katara shook her head.

She could only hope they wouldn't respond too badly…

"Liar!" one villager called out. "I've heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!"

It was even worse than Katara had thought. She thought of how Zuko had gotten his scar, and she was filled with fury. "Who're you to judge him?!" she shouted at the villager. "He just helped you people! And now you're just going to turn on him because of his parentage?!"

"It's his father's fault those soldiers were here to begin with! It's his people's fault we've lost our loved ones!"

"Yeah!"

"He's their prince!"

"We shouldn't let him leave!"

"Give him to the Earth King!"

"Traitor!"

"How can you defend him!?"

Katara's eyes widened as people began shouting. Most were directed at Zuko, but a few were also directed at her. She shook her head, eyes tearing up slightly.

"Just because he's Fire Nation, doesn't mean he's evil!" she shouted. "How can there ever be peace in the world if we all hate each other based on the nation we're from?"

"Katara," Zuko's voice interrupted her tirade. Katara looked over her shoulder to see Zuko standing behind her.

"Zuko," she turned around. He didn't look good. Now that she was close to him, she could see that he seemed thinner than before, and he also looked completely worn out.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. Obviously."

He didn't respond, looking over to where the boy that had been tied up was with his mother. Katara noticed the mother glaring at Zuko.

Zuko walked to the ostrich-horse, getting up. He walked the ostrich-horse to Katara, offering her his hand to help her up. She took it, getting up on the ostrich-horse with him. She leant against him, slightly.

"Traitor!" another villager yelled. "How can you choose the prince of your people's enemies?!"

"Zuko is not my enemy!" she fired back.

"Ignore them," Zuko said quietly. "It…doesn't matter."

Katara frowned, but she didn't say anything else as they left the village. With the townspeople glaring at both of them, they rode into the sunset.

It was nighttime when they stopped and got off of the ostrich-horse. It had gotten fairly cool out again, as it tended to during the night. Zuko got off first and then wordlessly helped Katara down.

"Do you want a fire?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged. "I grew up in the South Pole, remember? This is almost warm to me." She sat down on the ground, near Zuko. "If you want a fire, though, go ahead and make one." Zuko just sat down across from Katara. He was quiet. It was actually the first time he had spoken since they had left the village. Katara hadn't pushed him, but she could tell he was troubled. "Zuko, about what happened in the village…"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But maybe you should talk about it," she suggested. "Sometimes, keeping things bottled up inside just makes them explode later." She frowned. "I know we aren't exactly best friends or anything, and half the time we can't even get along, but…I've come to care about you. You can talk to me."

He was silent for a moment, and Katara thought that he wasn't going to talk to her. Then, quietly, "The people of that village hated me because I'm Fire Nation."

"They did," Katara agreed. "And because you're the son of the Firelord, at that."

"Do you hate me?"

"I…used to." Katara considered her words. Zuko was clearly upset over the experience. She didn't want to make him feel worse. "Back before I knew you, I hated you. You were the prince of the Fire Nation, practically a personification of everything that went wrong in my life. Everything wrong with the world. And to top it all off, you were also chasing my friend around the world. And you tied me to a tree," she added.

Zuko blinked. "Right…did I ever apologize for that?"

"No."

"Oh…well, sorry."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Anyways, I did used to hate you. But then, I actually met you. And got to know you. And I've come to understand that you're more than just an enemy. You're a person, and a good person at that." Katara offered a smile. "I told you I care about you, and I do, Zuko. I don't hate you anymore."

Zuko looked to her, and in the dim light of the moon, Katara thought he seemed a bit relieved. But then he looked to the ground. "Those villagers clearly disagree. Even after I tried to help them. And the boy, Lee…we only knew each other for a day, but I thought we had bonded a bit. But the moment they knew who I really was, they hated me. They even hated you for defending me!"

"Zuko." Katara moved, resituating herself so that she was sitting on her feet right in front of Zuko. His face was close, and even in the dark, she could clearly see his eyes. "They don't know you. Not like I know you. They look at you, and all they see is the prince of the nation that has caused them so much pain. They don't understand that you are a good person, regardless of where you came from." She frowned. "It wasn't right of them to turn against you like that."

"Does everybody hate the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked her. "I never realized that people of other nations hated my people so much…"

"This war has unleashed so much havoc in this world," Katara told him. "The Air Nomads were completely wiped out. My tribe has been nearly so. And the Earth Kingdom has lost many people to this war. I hate to say it, but this village's view probably isn't a rare one." In fact, Katara thought, a lot of people probably have it. I used to. For a moment, Katara's mind wandered a couple months back, to when she, Sokka, and Aang had met Jet. Jet went too far in his hatred of the Fire Nation, but there were probably a lot of people who still hated everyone from the Fire Nation, regardless of who they were. "I lost my mother to this war," Katara said sadly.

Zuko was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I lost my mother, too."

Katara blinked. It occurred to her that she had never heard much about the Firelady. She had heard about Ozai, about Azula, and a little about Firelord Azulon from Iroh. She knew much more about Iroh and Zuko, but now she realized that all she had ever heard about Zuko's mother was that Love Amongst the Dragons was her favorite play. "I'm sorry," she finally told Zuko. "What happened to your mother?"

"I don't know," Zuko told her quietly, grimly. "She just…disappeared the day my grandfather died."

Katara blinked. "Sounds like a busy time," she said slowly. "So, your cousin died, your grandfather died, you father became Firelord instead of his older brother, and your mother just disappeared?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"I know what you're suggesting," Zuko said quietly. He shook his head. "I don't know what happened that night, and I don't care to guess."

"But don't you want to know the truth of what happened to your mother?"

Zuko looked away for a moment. "The truth is that she disappeared almost six years ago, and I've never heard or seen her since then. I don't know if she's alive or dead. I wish I knew. But my father is the only one who knows anything, and even though I must have asked him a thousand times, he never told me."

"I'm sorry, Zuko."

"What happened to you mother?"

"Fire Nation raid," she said, and she could see Zuko wince. "They killed my mother. And then they left."

"What, they just came over, killed you mother, and then left without doing anything else?" Katara nodded. "That doesn't make any sense…unless…"

"What?" Katara asked. "Do you know anything?"

"Maybe…no," he finally settled. "I don't know. But I'm sorry you lost her."

Katara took a deep, slightly shuddering breath. "That day will haunt me forever," she told him. She moved her hand up to her necklace. "This necklace is all I have left from her."

"Oh." He moved his hand up and scratched his hair. "That…wouldn't happen to be the necklace I tried to bribe you with, would it? You know…when I tied you to that tree…"

"Yeah," she said, a bit of annoyance tinging her voice. "Same necklace."

"Great," he muttered, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't that the necklace meant that much to you."

"Would you have still used it if you did know?"

Zuko opened his mouth, and closed it. "I'm not sure. Maybe."

"At least I have it back now."

"I wasn't lying when I told you I didn't steal it," he told her. "I found it on a prison for earthbenders while tracing the Avatar's steps."

Katara nodded. "Right. That was when I lost it. Anyways…"

The two of them were silent again.

"Thank you," Zuko finally said. "For defending me, earlier, in the village."

She smiled. "Someone needed to stand up for you," she said. "And that guy was way out of line, the one talking about your scar."

Zuko was quiet for a moment. "Iroh told you how I got it."

"He did," Katara confirmed. She was looking straight into his eyes. "Look, Zuko. I knew you've been told you lost your honor. But…I've told you before, you're one of the most honorable people I know. Even if sometimes you make mistakes, I do believe you've got your heart in the right place." She took her hand, and slowly brought it up to his face. To his scar. She thought, maybe, he would stop her, but instead he allowed her to touch it.

It was tough. Almost similar to leather, she noted bitterly. It also felt almost scaly, and dry. There were small contractures in several places.

"Katara?"

Finally, she pulled her hand away, and instead pulled him into a tight hug, nearly knocking them both down from where they were sitting. He tensed, initially not returning the hug. After a few moments, he slowly put his hand on her back.

"You did the right thing that day," she told him quietly.

He was silent for a few moments, and as Katara felt drowsy, he repositioned her and himself so that she could lie where he had been.

"Thank you, Katara."

Zuko woke up at sunrise, as was habit for most firebenders. For a moment, he relaxed, his head against Katara's…

His eyes shot open, looking a few inches over. He blushed as he realized that he and Katara were no longer sleeping several feet apart, as they were originally, but had apparently tossed and rolled over so that Katara now had her head on his shoulder. They weren't exactly sleeping next to each other−by the looks of it, Katara had done more to roll over, and was actually sleeping somewhat diagonally compared to him.

Zuko's cheeks were both red as he comprehended the situation. He had never been this close to a girl−at least, not a teenage girl, when he was a teenager. Not to mention, it was completely by accident. Although they had, admittedly, grown closer, he doubted Katara would have wanted to be this close to him.

They were…friends, but they didn't have that sort of relationship.

Slowly, Zuko inched himself away from Katara. She took in a deep breath, and for a moment Zuko worried that he had woken her up by moving. Then she let it out, giving a small, sleepy smile. Zuko stood up, looking to the horizon.

It was a new day, and despite how things had gone with the Lee and the villagers the day before, Zuko found that he still had the drive to keep going. He had, at least, gotten to eat and drink a bit. He knew he was weakened from the past couple of weeks, but the day before had restored a bit of his strength, even if he was sore from his fight with the soldier.

And Katara was there with him.

Peering out at the horizon, he saw a small, familiar shape in the distance.

The Avatar's bison.