AN: Sorry it took me so long to update. I promise, I will finish this before I start the sequel to Brotherly Love, so I will have no distractions. Enjoy.

Chapter 17: The Change

Anzha stood alone on the deck, watching the sunrise over the horizon. The wind created by the ship's movements blew her loose hair back away from her face and the sea spray danced through it. A hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hello Sokka." The Water Tribe boy yelped in surprise before settling down to stand next to her.

"Hey Anzha."

She sighed after glancing the boy's way, and then returned her gaze to the sea. Dark circles showed beneath her eyes, and her once bright eyes were dimming. Sokka placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and her body betrayed her by sinking exhaustedly into his arms.

"You know, Anzha, Zuko will love you no less if you get some sleep."

"I won't be able to stand it if I miss some sign of him." She whispered and Sokka sighed.

"Alright, if you go and get some rest, I'll stay up here and keep a lookout for you."

"But I…"

"Anzha."

"Promise you won't leave for anything?"

"I give you my word."

"Not even food?"

"Not even food." Anzha sighed and got to her feet.

"Alright, I'll go rest. But you better not go anywhere." She turned and went below deck as Sokka took up her position.

"Besides," he said to the wind. "Wherever Zuko may be, Katara may be ."

Ozai cradled the piece of armor lightly as he sat on his bed next to Natalani. Her belly had just begun to swell, but the Fire Lord could not deter his thoughts from his only son. Where was he? What was he doing? Then something caught his eye. A small piece of blue cloth caught in the shoulder plate. He fingered it, the texture being the soft wool of the Water Tribes, and he rushed upstairs to tell the Avatar and his friend.

Katara was sleeping soundly after the night's events. The sun played softly on her face and she turned her head to ignore it when the most delicious smell caught her nose, as well as a strange sound. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Zuko sitting a little ways away. The smell was roasting rabbit. The sound was Zuko whistling. He glanced over at her and grinned.

"Do you realize that you sleep really late? I've already made a bow, several arrows, hunted and killed a couple of rabbits, skinned and cooked them, and cleaned up, and you've just woken up." She grinned back.

"Please tell me that's done cause if it's not I'll go insane." He looked back to one of the rabbits and used his dagger to cut into it.

"It's edible." He announced and Katara ran over to him as he cut off several slices of meat and left the rest to finish cooking.

It was slightly rare, but Katara would swear to her dying day nothing had ever tasted better than that first bite. She was on her third piece before she knew where the first two had gone. Then she noticed something. Zuko was acting just as ravenous as she was. He wasn't forcing himself to eat slowly as he usually did.

He was acting normal.

"Zuko, are you feeling okay?"

He glanced at her, a thin line of juice running down his chin. "Better than I have in a long time. Now hurry up and eat. Got something to show you."

This promise of something more intrigued Katara, and she hurried through the rest of her breakfast. She noticed him watching her and glanced up.

"What?" His brow furrowed and he looked more like the old Zuko.

"What happened to your hand?" She frowned and looked down at her hand, the one she'd burned the night before. It was still an angry red, but she didn't really want to bring the subject up. "Umm…last night I…"

He nodded, understanding, then got up and disappeared into the forest. He reappeared a moment later carrying a plant and sat down beside her, taking her hand and laying it palm up on his folded leg. Then slowly, gently, he massaged the goo excreted from the plant into the burn on her hand. The movement was gentle and Katara laid her head against his shoulder.

Zuko ripped a strip of cloth from the foot of his pants and wrapped her hand, as gently as before. When his fingers brushed the back of her hand, chills danced through her body. As he tied the finishing knot, she sighed.

"Don't stop."

They both froze, Katara in fear at her own words, and Zuko in surprise, but he was the first to react.

He finished tying the knot, kissed the back of her hand, and helped her up. She glanced up into his eyes, and they made a silent promise to forget what had happened just then.

Suddenly, Katara frowned at the mischievous glint in Zuko's eyes.

"What are you thinking Zuko?"

He tilted his head back and appeared to be thinking. "I'm…thinking…I'll race you."

Then, he took off running and Katara, not to be outdone, and chased after him.

Aang was walking up to the deck when he passed by Zuko's room. Anzha was in there, curled up on his bed, her knees tucked to her chest. He slipped in and pulled the blankets over her. When his hand brushed her shoulder, she whimpered and pulled away. She wouldn't admit it, but she was so scared something had happened to Zuko.

The ship slowed near an island and about twenty men went ashore to search. Ozai and Sokka were with them, as Iroh remained on the ship with Anzha, Natalani, and Aang. The search proved futile, as always.

Katara raced after Zuko, but he was always a step ahead.

"How can I race you somewhere when I don't know where we going?" she shouted after him.

"Got me!" he laughed out back at her.

They burst through the trees and Zuko stopped just before a drop-off. Katara stopped and bent over, her hands on her knees, and gasped. Zuko grinned.

"I win."

"I call a rematch. Back to camp."

"Okay. But first…" He trailed off and walked over to the edge of the cliff. Katara followed him and gasped.

A huge waterfall fell in front of them, and it fell into a large lake beneath them. The cliff walls surrounded the lake, and the water was perfectly clear, showing a smooth sandy bottom.

"It's beautiful Zuko."

"Well, we didn't come all this way just to look at it." With that, he jumped off the edge of the cliff. Katara leaned over the edge of the cliff and watched Zuko disappear beneath the water. When he surfaced, she called down to him.

"Zuko, are you all right?" He grinned.

"Never better! Come on!"

She sat back and slipped her shoes and leggings off. Then, the water-bender followed her friend's example and cannon-balled off the cliff.

They spent the entire day, swimming, laughing, splashing, and dunking each other.

Iroh and his men returned to the ship, and continued on. They didn't notice the Water Tribe ship sneaking past them to a particular island.

Zuko and Katara practically crawled out of the lake in exhaustion at the end of the day. It was hilarious in Katara's opinion. Both of them and their clothes were soaked through. Zuko didn't even bother using his bending to dry them.

That day, Katara had seen a completely different side of Zuko. He laughed, played, explored, and acted like a normal teenage boy. She smiled at him as he tied her dry clothes into a ball to make them easier to carry. He glanced up and returned her smile.

"Alright, Zuko, time for our rematch."

He looked confused. "What?"

But Katara was by now running. He chased after her, but they were evenly matched and she was already several feet ahead. The sun began to set as they ran. A pair of angry blue eyes watched the two friends, seeing only a fire-bender chasing a water-bender.

Crump...