"While it is always best to believe in oneself, a little help from others can be a great blessing." -Iroh

Then

"You all want me to what?"

Iroh had come in during the interlude and explained the situation, the suspicion to the rest of the gang. The time it took to heal and re-bandage Zuko's wounds was apparently also more than enough time to formulate a plan because they had one and it somehow involved Zuko and Katara getting married.

"Perhaps we should begin at the beginning," Iroh said, sipping his own tea. "Mm. This is quite good, Fire Lord Zuko."

"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko said, dipping his head respectfully though his hawk-eagle eyes were sharp on the old man. He'd said no to this particular suggestion, repeatedly, so how exactly was it that Sokka, Suki, Aang, and Toph now not only knew of it but were backing it?

Katara looked from Iroh to the others slowly, still more than a little confused. "Well, since all I know is that Zuko was slashed with a sword during a fight, I think we'd better start at the beginning."

Aang, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Zuko all started speaking at once.

"Obviously have to lure the conspirators-"

"...say no if you want to…"

"Can't wait to throw down with some…"

"..such an adorable couple, Sugar Queen…"

"...told him absolutely not…"

Katara's gaze bounced from one to the other, only catching phrases and unable to put anything together from the din. "Okay, stop. Wait. Could you just...Could just one of you…" Finally, frustrated and still baffled, she held up both hands and shouted, "STOP!"

The silence was immediate. Heads swiveled in her direction.

"That was dramatic," Sokka muttered.

"I'm dramatic? I come out of the washroom and you say you want me to marry Zuko and I'm the dramatic one?" The waterbender took a breath. "General Iroh," Katara began, her gaze finding him, pinpointing him as the calm in the chaos, "please explain."

As Iroh nodded, Zuko reached for Katara's hand and murmured, "You're going to want to sit down."

What she so obviously wanted to say was that she was fine standing and she didn't trust a single one of her obviously insane friends enough to sit near them, but after exchanging a long look with Zuko she edged a hip onto the arm of his chair and crossed her arms. "I'm sitting."

Iroh smiled briefly. He loved strong women and so did his nephew. "Katara, we've uncovered enough of this terrible plot to know that those who are behind it want Zuko off the throne because they see him as weak, as a traitor. They are not the majority of the Fire Nation at all but they are wounded by having to accept the truth of what we have wrought.

"And what we have wrought has consequences that cannot be undone, like the blended families of Earth and Fire." Iroh sat forward, putting his teacup on the low table before folding his hands together in the sleeves of his robe. "We have been on the defensive, but we think there is a way to draw them out. If we anger them enough, they will make a mistake, move too quickly."

Was that offensive? Should she be offended? "And I'm the way you want to make them angry?"

Now

Zuko wasn't expecting anyone to be awake the next morning when he rose for his sun salutation. In fact, he imagined they'd all be nursing heavy-heads and ginger stomachs when they did roll out of bed closer to noon. But, as he crept out of the house a low voice called hello. He whipped quickly only to find Katara curled up on a porch swing, watching the pre-dawn with a steaming mug in her hands.

He whispered, even though the bedrooms were too far away for him to disturb anyone with talking, "Katara, what are you doing up?"

"The moon didn't set that long ago."

"Oh." He walked closer, inspecting her in the pink light. "You don't look hungover.

She laughed and the low sound warmed him. "That's because I'm not. Full moon. Waterbender. Healer."

Right. Of course. Feeling a little foolish, he said, "Have you been up all night then?"

"No, but I didn't need much sleep. You should go start your practice before the sun gets any higher."

He hesitated for a moment, then offered a hand. "Care to join me?"

Then

Iroh bowed his head. "If they believed Fire Lord Zuko was interested in placing a Master Waterbender on the throne as Fire Lady, I believe they would be moved to strike."

"You want my sister as bait?" Sokka sounded a little less certain than he had when Katara and Zuko had come out of the washroom. Katara glanced at him with exasperated disbelief. Had he only been on board for the hilarity before?

"And bodyguard," Iroh confirmed.

"Won't they just try to kill me instead?" Katara offered.

"Perhaps," Iroh conceded with a dip of his head. "But this engagement will be further proof, to them, that Zuko is unfit for rule. Killing you would only temporarily delay the inevitable. And they must be rid of him before you have a chance to conceive an heir." It would have been difficult to tell who was more embarrassed, Zuko or Katara. Sokka was the sole party outraged at talk of 'conceiving heirs', but Iroh rolled right over all of these reactions. "Thus, I believe Zuko will remain the sole target."

Despite his keen embarrassment, Zuko gave his uncle a steady and disapproving look. "Uncle, I told you before I don't like this plan. We can't ask Katara to put herself in harm's way." He paused, glancing sidelong at the hot-faced woman at his side. "Besides, no one will believe it."

Katara glanced down at Zuko then, his obvious displeasure making her suddenly more open to the idea. Or was it the implied insult that no one would believe Fire Lord Zuko could possibly marry a nobody like her? "Why wouldn't anyone believe it?"

"I'm trying to unite the Fire Nation!" He tipped his head up to her, a fierce scowl on his face. "Of course I can't do that with a—-"

"Watertribe peasant," she finished his sentence in a too-sweet tone.

Zuko's fists curled. "With anyone who isn't Fire Nation and from one of the upper families."

Iroh said, in his considering way, "An argument could be made, Zuko, that this is one way to make amends for trying to wipe out the Water Tribe."

"We did wipe out the Air Nation and you aren't suggesting I court Aang!"

Aang choked on his tea but Iroh returned, complacently, "If he could provide you heirs, I might be."

Everyone started speaking at once again and so only Zuko initially heard Katara's quiet, "I'll do it." He shut up, staring up at her as she continued looking steadily at Iroh. When the fighting crescendoed she sighed, tipped her head for a moment, then shouted, "I SAID I'll do it!"

The room hushed. "It's temporary, right?" They all continued staring so Katara continued talking "You just need the illusion that someone who isn't a firebender could end up as heir to the Fire Nation throne, right? You don't need actual heirs?"

"Of course we aren't making actual heirs!" Zuko burst out, his cheeks a hot wash of red.

His discomfort settled Katara again. So maybe she could be a little sadistic. She'd grown up with Sokka, after all. "Okay, darling. Then we have an agreement." She patted his arm and Zuko stared down at her hand in horror.

"No. No. Aang," he turned, imploring his friend, his friend who he was sure was still in love with the waterbender, to object. For the Avatar to object. "You can see this isn't a good idea."

Aang was serious as he considered them, Fire Lord and Katara sitting obstinately at his side. "Actually…." He trailed off, looking at the hand she'd rested on Zuko's shoulder. "Actually, I...could see it. Why it would be a good idea if it were real. Like Iroh said, the Fire Nation has a lot of amends to make to the world and showing that you thought highly enough of another nation to make a member your Fire Lady, that would...I think that would go a long way."

"Not," Zuko gritted between his teeth, "with the Fire Nation."

"No," Aang agreed slowly, "which makes it an even more powerful statement outside of the Fire Nation. Katara is the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Watertribe which makes her equal to your First Families. Plus," his grey eyes again slid from Zuko to Katara and back, "looking at you, I'd believe it. That you two were a couple."

"But they're not actually getting married." Sokka leaned forward, confirming, not liking the way Aang was looking at Zuko and Katara or talking about Zuko and Katara.

"No," Suki patted his hand. "But we'll have to make it all believable. Zuko's right about one thing: they won't believe he's doing it to make amends. They'll have to believe," she paused, correcting herself, "the Fire Nation will have to believe, these... dissenters will have to believe that he's in love."

Katara's hand slid from Zuko's shoulder and into her own lap. "What?"

Toph started laughing then and couldn't stop. "Princess Sparky and Sugar Queen. Oh, man. Oh, man!"

Iroh nodded his agreement. "I see what you mean. Zuko made a fine point."

"I—but I didn't mean…."

"Zuko, what you said was very wise. However, if the nation believes that you are in love with Katara, they might believe you would make her Fire Lady. They would understand that you used arguments of true acceptance and amends as your rationale though they would all know it was simply because you were in love."

"Doesn't that make me look weak?" Zuko protested, floundering at the prospect of having to convince people he was in love with Katara. No. Worse. That Katara was in love with him. For the longest time, she could barely tolerate him.

Iroh sipped his tea, obviously enjoying it-or perhaps enjoying his nephew's predicament, before saying, "I think it will make you look sympathetic. Many in the Fire Nation also fell in love with those from other nations."

Katara, feeling queasy and uncertain at the addition to their ruse, curled an arm over her waist. In love was...well, that was a lot to ask. And then, of course, there was Mai. She and Zuko weren't seeing each other, but she'd rather not get knifed because Mai still felt territorial. Also, what would pretending they were in love mean? Holding hands and hugging? She could do that. Or would it be State dinners and kissing? "Maybe, maybe we should throw out some other ideas. Sokka? Sokka you've always got a plan."

But Sokka failed her, his strategist mind unconcerned with his sister's insecurities and only seeing the potential. "I think this is a good one. Gives us all a good reason to be here too, if you start courting."

Katara and Zuko pointedly did not look at each other, but Katara was also avoiding looking at Aang who couldn't seem to stop studying them. She wished she'd sat anywhere else but at Zuko's side.

"How soon?" She eventually asked because it seemed that it was settled even though neither she nor Zuko was happy with the plan.

"We should start right away," Iroh answered. "Court gossip will only help. Only how will we make them believe you are in love?"

While the others stared at the two of them, wheel everyone but Toph who was piking her teeth, Suki sighed. "We should have brought Ty Lee, but," she smiled, "I think I've got this. Any big dinners coming up?"

"Tomorrow. To honor the arrival of the Avatar," Zuko mumbled, wanting to sulk in his chair but the wound in his side keeping him upright. That and pride.

"Perfect." Suki clapped her hands together. "It needs to be like a lightning strike. And it needs to be in public. Zuko how good are you at acting?"

Toph's laugh was quick and derisively delighted. "He's the worst liar. Azula could convince people, could convince me," a human lie detector was implied, "she was in love with Katara but Zuko? Ha!"

Suki's brow furrowed. "Hm. Then we'll just have to really surprise you, I guess. Katara, you're with me. Who else is in?"

"I'm with you all!" Aang shot up to his feet as Suki rose, but Iroh shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, young Avatar. There are official meetings we need you and Councilman Sokka to attend."

Toph leaned back, propping one foot on the opposite knee. "Guess that means I get to hang back and relax."

"Actually," this time it was Zuko, dragging his gaze from his Uncle to Toph, "we could use your help figuring out who we can trust. If…"

Toph sighed. "Sure thing, Sparky." She wiggled her bare toes in the air. "I'll figure out who's telling the truth and who ain't."

It didn't take long for everyone to rise and begin splintering off, Suki leading Katara...somewhere...very determinedly. "Where are we going, Suki?"

"To prepare for battle." She clamped her hand around Katara's and towed her out of the room, down the hall. Katara glanced back over her shoulder as she tripped along at her friend's side but there was no one to call to for help.

"I don't understand what that means."

Suki paused, grabbed Katara by the shoulders, and looked her dead in the eye. "We're going shopping and we're giving you," her mouth firmed in a grim line, "a makeover."