Chapter Sixteen

"Ok, is it just me or is there something different about Zuko?" Sokka whispered to Aang. They were lying on the cots in their room. Katara had went into her room across the hall and shut the door so they decided now was not the best time to ask questions.

"You really haven't figured it out by now?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Sokka frowned. "There is absolutely no way that you've figured out what's different before me because I haven't even figure-"

"His scar's gone."

"What! How- But-" Sokka sighed and glared at Aang. "Ok fine, you noticed first. But I would have if you hadn't been distracting me."

Aang grinned. "Whatever you say Sokka."

Across the hall Katara was lost in her own world. She was so confused. Part of her was glad to have rescued Aang and Sokka, yet, at the same time, a part of her was sad. She didn't understand it. She didn't want them to be prisoners and she didn't want to see Aang get hurt but at the same time she couldn't help but feel sad that her time alone with Zuko was over.

"You have to forget him Katara." She whispered to herself. "There's no future for the two of you, it isn't meant to be." She sighed and rolled over, brushing away a single tear that had slid down her cheek. She was too sad to cry anymore. She just wanted to go to sleep, where she could escape from the injustices of the world, if only for a few hours.

But no sooner had she closed her eyes then there was a knock at the door. She lifted her head and mumbled a soft "Come in."

The door swung open and Zuko walked in. Katara let her head fall back against the pillow; she was too tired to get up. Zuko sat down stiffly beside her, as if afraid that if he made a wrong move she would attack him. "Katara," he began, then hesitated. "I…I'm sorry. For everything. This whole mess and the fact that I'm from the Fire Nation and…and…just everything. I wish I could change things." He stood up and walked quickly towards the door to leave.

"Wait." Katara called after him, sitting up again. "We can't change any of that stuff, but you're here now, for the moment. Please stay and talk to me." She realized how dumb she probably sounded, but she wanted him to stay with her; who knew when she would see him again after this was over?

He turned back and just looked at her for a moment, his eyes tracing the outline of her body. He sat down beside her again on the bed, then to her surprise he lay down, pulling her against him. She let him and let her head rest against his chest, staring at the opposite wall as her thoughts spun around inside her head. She wished she could freeze time, she felt so safe in his arms, she never wanted to let him go. All the things that had happened in the past few months, dressing as a boy, getting caught, getting kissed, Sokka and Aang's capture, the rescue. She couldn't believe it had all happened and most of all she couldn't believe she had fallen in love with Prince Zuko. But she had. Absent mindedly her fingers traced the scar on her face from when she cut herself as part of her fire nation disguise. She felt Zuko's hand encircle her own and he ran the tip of his finger across the scar.

"Couldn't you heal that?" he asked. "Like you did mine?"

"I suppose I could." She said softly, closing her eyes as she felt the soothing warmth of his body against hers. "But I don't want to. I want to leave it there as a reminder of all that's happened."

He sighed softly and let his hand rest against her stomach. "If there was a way to keep you with me," he whispered in her ear, "I would do it in a heart beat and never let you go."

Katara smiled a sad smile. "I wish there was. Oh, how I wish there was."

"What ever happened to the rest of the soldiers you were training?" Katara asked after a while.

"They turned out to be working for Admiral Zhao." Zuko said bitterly. "Apparently you were the only one who was not sent by him to try and stop my getting to the temple."

"I'm sorry." Katara said softly.

"It doesn't matter. It looks like I don't need soldiers with me after all."

They lay in silence, each content to listen to the other one breath.

Katara didn't know how long they lay there. One minute she was lying on the bed thinking about how happy she was, if only for the moment, and the next she was waking up to the sounds of shouts on deck.

She felt movement and realized Zuko had fallen asleep and was waking up to. Shouts came from above and Katara realized they must have reached the temple. She yawned and felt Zuko's arms tighten around her. She knew she should be getting up but she didn't. She wanted this moment to last as long as possible.

Suddenly there was a THUD on the door.

"Katara! We've reached the temple! Now we can-" Sokka's voice filled the room but stopped abruptly as he realized what he was seeing. Katara and Zuko both jumped up and separated. Katara felt dread fill her. All she had wanted was to spend time with Zuko and now she had given her secret away.

Sokka stared at them in disbelief. "Katara?" he finally said, slowly, "What is going on?"

A/N: Ok guys, I need your input. Do you think the story is moving to slowly? I appreciate your opinions, no matter what they are. Thanks so much for all the reviews and interest in this story, you guys make it worth writing .And by the way, have I explained in detail about this thing that is at the temple? Im going to in the next chapter but I want to make sure I havent already and just forgot about it.