"W-what are you doing?!"

The outraged boy spluttered as he looked up at Katara. He had turned a brilliant shade of red, frantically trying to regain control of the situation as he stumbled through his words. Eyes wide and unsure of how to respond to his question, she took a step back and remained silent, trying to look away from the accusing eyes glaring at her.

"Answer me! Why were you running around without looking where you were going?"

"I-I'm sorry. I got lost and didn't know where to go," explained Katara, avoiding his eyes long enough to get out a reply.

A tense moment passed. "But why were you running?" the boy asked again, curiosity edging into his voice and tempering the anger emanating from his body.

Unsure how to say that she was running from guards, Katara poorly improvised a response. "Ahhhh…I couldn't find the opening to get back through to the other hallway…so I panicked and thought if I ran faster I would have more of a chance to find it."

It wasn't a good response and she could tell that the boy knew she was lying. The look of accusation reappeared on his face, lips pursing and dark eyebrows furrowing. Nervously, Katara held out a hand to him to help him up, hoping that the gesture might distract him from asking more questions. The boy seemed a little stunned, and he stared at her hand like it was an elaborate trap that he couldn't quite figure out.

Katara tried a reassuring smile which apparently confused the matter even further. What was going on? Who was this boy who couldn't even deal with a basic gesture of kindness? She decided it couldn't hurt things further to just treat him like she would if Sokka was in the boy's place.

"Do you want a hand or do you now just live on the floor?" she teased, raising an eyebrow as her smile broadened.

Stunned but still suspicious eyes trained on her face, but the boy gripped her hand and allowed Katara to help him to his feet. Strands of hair had fallen from his ponytail in the kerfuffle and once he had regained his footing and pulled his hand from hers, the boy hastily pushed the strands back out of his face and straightened his clothing. They observed each other quietly, neither knowing what to say.

"Your eyes are too big for your face," the boy blurted out, instantly reddening again as he realised what he had said.

"Pfft, at least I don't have a silly ponytail. It's not even a warrior's wolftail," Katara snapped back, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "Which would make sense, you don't look like much of a warrior."

Nothing but broken sounds escaped the boy's mouth for a few moments before he finally settled on a comeback. "I'm more of a warrior than you, you don't even look where you're going AND you are lost. Warriors don't get lost."

"I'm not a warrior. But neither are you, you're definitely too short."

"You can't speak to me like that," the boy responded indignantly.

"I can speak to you however I want to. You're not the boss of me!"

"Yes I am!"

"Gah, you are so frustrating!" Scowling, Katara stepped closer to the boy and thrust a finger in the direction of his face. "I was going to ask someone for help to point me in the right direction, but I guess it is impossible to find someone polite and helpful anywhere in this stupid building with its hallways that all look so-spirits-damned alike! And I definitely don't need help from a pompous, ponytailed, rude, little boy who likely doesn't even know where I am supposed to be either."

Katara spun on her heel and stormed off. She didn't need to throw a passing glance over her shoulder to know the boy was fuming, she could feel the glare bore into the back of her head. The air in the corridor felt warmer as she hastily turned the corner and thanked the spirits when she saw a curtain on her right. She was able to dash through the curtain into another corridor before she could even hear the apoplectic boy move from the spot he was frozen, mouth still gaping in shock.

Once in the next corridor, she quickly walked around the next corner and found herself running again. She ignored the voice in her head saying the boy had a point about looking where she was going. That voice was wrong. She could learn a lesson about running later. Now it was lunchtime and she needed to find her way back to Iroh before he came back and got worried. Or mad.

Bolting around another corner, she saw a man in the next corridor and halted. Uneasiness reared in her mind and she tried to calmly turn around and head back the way she came, nervousness coursing through her.

"Katara?"

The familiarity of the voice relaxed her and she peeked over her shoulder as Lieutenant Yao strolled down the corridor, smiling uncertainly down at her as he approached.

"What on earth are you doing all the way over here? I thought you were staying in General Iroh's wing while you adjusted?"

"I may have gotten a little lost," Katara replied sheepishly, looking at her feet. She tentatively gazed up at Yao to see that his smile appeared to be silently mocking her.

"Good to know that you have been here for less than two days and you have found yourself in a bit of trouble already," Yao's eyes twinkled down at her before turning more serious. "At least you appear to have listened to my advice for your introduction here."

"Oh yes, thank you, thank you. I don't know what I would have done without Doctor Pang's and your advice," Katara replied. Flushing slightly, she continued. "Um, would you mind helping me find Iroh's wing? I was meant to meet him back there for lunch."

"Of course, I'm actually a little surprised you managed to stray so far from his part of the Palace, you clearly got more than a little lost," Yao winked at her, turned and waited for her to step in line with him before moving back down the hallway from the direction he had come from.

"You are definitely looking better, child. Have you seen Doctor Pang since you arrived here?"

"No, not yet. I think I saw Iroh's doctor on the first day after I was brought up from the cells," Katara noticed a slight flinch from Yao at the mention of cells but it was gone just as quickly. She didn't think too much of it as she tried to keep up with his longer stride. A thought crossed her mind and she perked up. "Have you seen your daughter yet?"

"Yes I have. A few of us are stationed here for the next month and so I have been able to spend some time with my family," Yao replied. "I told them about you. I think Liao may want to meet you."

"Oh I would love that!" Katara thought for a moment before adding, "Do you think I would be allowed to?"

"I'm not sure to be honest. I imagine after you have been here for a while and if General Iroh is happy with your progress, you may be allowed to meet her. I'll ask General Iroh closer to the time of my next deployment," Yao mused.

Each of the corridors blended into each other as they walked in companionable silence for a few minutes. Katara struggled to find any distinctive landmarks that could tell her where she was. She really needed to get her hands on a map. Eventually they approached a recognisable door and Yao turned to her, gesturing in the direction of the entrance.

"I figured you might not want it advertised that you had made it all the way across the Palace in your expedition," Yao raised an eyebrow as he teased her. "I'll see you around Katara, I'm glad you are here."

She beamed up at him, before slipping through the door and hurrying back to Iroh's room, nodding at the guards that shot sceptical glances at her as she passed them.

Iroh's room was empty when she entered and she was able to collapse into a chair on the balcony, pulling her knees to her chest while she watched the Fire Nation capital descend into the lunchtime chaos. It was still overwhelming to consider how many people lived in this city but from this vantage point, the view of the masses crowding the streets provided more entertainment than anxiety for Katara.

Sinking into her thoughts as she gazed out from the balcony, Katara tried to sort through her discoveries of the morning. Firstly, she really needed to find a way to gather her bearings in this Palace. There must be some way that visitors or guests could find their way around. Maybe she would ask Iroh in a day or two if she could be shown around some more of the Palace, hopefully without eliciting suspicions on her endeavours that morning, and try to learn it in sections.

Also, who was that arrogant boy? Katara didn't think that there could be too many children around the Palace. Maybe the boy was one of the servant's children. Or maybe he was a child of a soldier that lived here, rather than in the city like Yao's family. This Palace was gigantic, there must be room for lots of families to live here.

It didn't matter who his parents were though, that boy had terrible manners! If Sokka or Katara had spoken to a stranger like that, their mother would have given them a clip around the head or scrubbing pots for a week. Shaking her head, Katara tried to rid herself of the painful thoughts of her mother and her home. That left her with that frustrating, entitled boy. Ugh. No, while she was at it, his angry glare and babbling outrage could be put out of her thoughts too.

Iroh interrupted her sulking with the announcement that lunch was on its way up soon and the two chatted amicably over the food and accompanying tea. Both didn't elaborate on their mornings. As Iroh didn't tell her what the meeting was about, Katara figured it was ok to not go into any depth as to where she had ended up, skipping over the questions of what she had discovered in her explorations.

Lunch had been an anxious experience for Zuko.

By the time he had regained control of his feet and moved to follow that strange girl, it was too late and the next corridor had been empty. After he was able to calm down from his frustration in losing her, Zuko had started to feel embarrassed. He had been put in his place by a girl so small, he was beginning to believe she was standing on her toes when she shoved that accusatory finger in his face. Should he have told someone? Telling someone would seem like the appropriate thing to do having spotted a peculiar child running around the Palace. And yet, Zuko was hesitant. He didn't know who she was. And the girl didn't appear to be dangerous; it would be extremely difficult for someone that small to hurt someone. He scoffed to himself, his thoughts turning to his sister and reassessing the danger a small girl could pose. The truth was that Zuko was reluctant to tell anyone who may then ask how he had responded when he ran into her. Explaining that he had allowed a small girl to mock him before storming off and he had done nothing to stop her didn't seem like a conversation Zuko wanted to have with any of the guards.

Maybe he could bring it up to Uncle when he visited later today to ask about the weird atmosphere amongst the adults in the Palace. Zuko was sure he would have good advice for what to do about the girl. His uncle talked a lot, which could be exasperating, but did seem to have an uncanny ability to say exactly what Zuko needed to hear when he asked for advice. Sometimes it was a little hard to interpret, or a little wordy but most of the time it helped with whatever problems Zuko was having.

Stress was causing his stomach to tense up, affecting his appetite. By the time he had forced himself to finish half his lunch, Zuko had decided he needed to speak to his uncle as soon as possible. Reclaiming gardens and feeding turtleducks would have to wait. Pushing his plate away from him, Zuko stood suddenly, finally feeling confident of his decision to get some answers. Peculiarly, he felt a cup of tea would help reduce some of the anxiety he felt and that added to his determination to see his uncle as quickly as he could.

Resolutely, Zuko broke out in a run down one of the corridors leading to his Uncle's wing before the events of that morning returned to him and he slowed down to a brisk walk. It would be unbecoming for a prince to be found behaving in the same manner as disrespectful, undersized girls with ridiculous eyes and rude pointing fingers.

Reaching the doors to the wing his Uncle lived in, Zuko was unimpressed to see that the two guards did not immediately open the doors for him like usually occurred when he visited his uncle.

"What is going on? Why can I not pass?"

"We have been told to not let anyone through to see General Iroh without seeking his permission."

"Why?"

"We are sorry, Prince Zuko, but we are not at liberty to tell you."

Zuko stood there a little stunned for a few moments. Seriously, what was going on? Finally, he made up his mind, drew himself up as tall as he could and put on the most authorative tone of voice he could muster.

"I imagine my uncle would be incredibly displeased to hear that you have delayed his nephew from a scheduled Pai Sho lesson," Zuko knew he was dancing around the truth but since had already intended to use Pai Sho to draw information from his uncle, it appeared to be only a slight escalation from the original plan. He glared at them and continued assertively. "Let me in!"

Both guards looked at the defiant prince frowning up at them before glancing at each other uncertainly. Eventually, one of them nodded and they both opened the doors behind them, letting Zuko through with a bow and an apology.

He moved through the doors into his uncle's quarters before taking a deep breath as he celebrated the unexpected victory. Composing himself, Zuko headed towards the dining area, thinking that his uncle may still be eating lunch. Zuko hadn't been surprised to not see his uncle at lunch because he had heard that one of the war council meetings this morning had run late. He was surprised to find the dining area empty but nevertheless continued on towards his uncle's bedroom. This whole mission to talk to his uncle was making him feel far more nervous than he expected but he somehow felt that he must be on the right path to find some answers.

When he reached the doors, Zuko hesitated a moment before knocking and jumping back when a servant exited the room as he was lowering his hand. Zuko noticed a flicker of confusion pass over the servant's face when they noticed him, before they regained their composure, bowed deeply and opened the door for him, noting that his uncle was on the balcony as he passed them.

The indecision rising in him was starting to scare him. Zuko was accustomed to feeling a little uncertain when entering his father's quarters unannounced but had never felt this way about visiting his uncle. But he wanted to know and the pieces of the puzzle had clicked in Zuko's head. He hadn't seen his uncle for two days, the guards had been acting strangely and now even a servant had misplaced their usual poker face, even if only for a moment. Surely this meant that his uncle was at least somewhat involved in what was affecting everyone at the Palace. As nervous as it made him, Zuko felt compelled to know what that was.

With another deep breath to compose him, Zuko stepped into his uncle's bedroom and walked towards the pulled curtains blocking his view of the balcony. Pushing the curtains to the side, he was confronted with an unwelcome sight. Wide blue eyes blinked up at him as their owner was startled by the noise.

"You?! What – what are you doing here?" Zuko exclaimed in incomprehension of what was happening. Why was she here? Noticing his uncle was now looking back at him also with a surprised expression on his face from his own chair, Zuko continued completely stunned by this turn of events.

"Uncle! Who is this girl? Why is she here?"