Hi everyone! I'm sorry if you'll find more mistakes in this chapter as usual, but I'm too excited to post it, so I didn't do any editing...

I hope you'll still enjoy reading!

I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender.

This story is getting close to having one hundred reviews... I think it's just going to be a few more chapters, and then I'll have one hundred reviews! I can't believe it! When I first wrote this, I had the feeling I got one review per chapter (if I was lucky), and it took a while to get people interested in this, so I just want to thank all of you who have reviewed so far!:D I read every single review, and they always make my day brighter!:D


Chapter Twenty-Eight

Azula sat at her desk in her room. There was not much to see of her room, only that it was very light and only had modern furniture with edges.

She had her hair down but had pulled the upper part of it behind her head to a knot. Golden necklaces hung from her neck, and golden, filigree rings embellished her fingers which ended in long, red fingernails.

Her make-up was immaculate and the tight, red shirt that she wore showed off her slim shoulders and round breasts. She really knew how to present herself.

Katara took a deep breath and kicked on the video.

Azula started to move and smiled into the camera. "Hey, you guys! I'm coming to you today with something really special." Her smile turned a little sly. "I assume that all of you know about my brother and his new girlfriend. There was this video of my father arguing with a waiter because of them."

She leaned back a little. "So, it seems people like to make videos of my brother's girlfriend. Because there's a new one going around. If you haven't seen it yet, I uploaded it just a minute ago. But I'm also going to describe the video to you. So, it's set in a lecture Hall at Roku University. Katara, my brother's girlfriend, is studying there, you see. And then that other girl starts badmouthing Katara's relationship to Zuko. She says something very bad, then Katara just leaps from her seat and attacks the other girl. They fall onto the seats, hitting each other, until the other girl shoves Katara away and against the wall. So, they stand there, screaming at each other. Katara defends her relationship to my brother and is overly dramatic by telling everyone she's with him because she loves him. Not because of money or anything else. The other girl, though, doesn't believe Katara." Azula's voice drops with contempt, when she says 'the other girl'. She sneers now, clearly angry. "That girl says that Zuko's and Katara's relationship is disgusting, because of what their ancestors have done. Because Katara's a Southerner, and Zuko a Westerner."

Sighing, Azula leans back in her chair. "No one really won that fight. But Meng Guolang is surely going to be the loser. What she said is absolutely disgusting." She contorted her face. "No one can talk like this about my family."

Her eyes became steely. "First of all, I would like to thank Katara and offer my deepest respect for her. It was clear from the beginning that her relationship with Zuko was not going to be easy, but she fights for them. With her fists if necessary." She grins. "And second," Now her eyes narrow. "Let this be a warning to you. To anyone who wants to insult or harm my family, or Katara. You will regret this."

With that, Azula held three sheets of paper into the camera. "This is a detailed report about Meng Guolang, and her reason for shitting on my brother and his girlfriend. Her address is included. Her e-mail. The names of all her social media accounts. I will publish this on all my social media accounts. Read it, and then do something with that information." Her smile was positively evil. Then, the video stopped.

Katara gasped and quickly scrolled up. Azula had already published the report. And she had posted the video of the fight. "Probably my future sister-in-law defending my family. Isn't she amazing? Zuko, dear brother, if you don't marry her you're an idiot. You already have my blessing;)" is written below the video. Azula had even created a new hashtag: #MengHates.

Katara's eyes widened in panic, she searched for that hashtag. There already were hundreds of posts. Memes of people who shot on others with the name Meng on them. Katara recognised one of the children's series Heidi, in which Heidi pushes the wheelchair of her friend in the mountains. She was asking "Do you think people can make nice with the Westerners?". Her friend was answering "Sure. They are not responsible for their ancestors' crimes." Then Heidi was shown pushing the wheelchair over a gorge. "Meng" was written over Heidi's head.

Katara's hand covered her mouth. She was absolutely horrified.

Some memes even suggested to set Meng on fire. To kill her.

Azula had really exaggerated. She'd started a shit storm!

Katara even felt bad for Meng. No one deserved this. The problem had only been between Katara and Meng, now it was between Meng and half the country. Not only Westerners felt insulted. A lot of Northerners and Southerners did so, too. They felt angry on Katara's behalf.

Katara had received a lot of new followers, and she'd been marked on several posts, which depicted her in the light of a heroine.

She'd even been compared to Disney Princesses who saved their men from outside people.

It was eight in the morning, and Katara sat in a seminar, waiting for it to start. Everyone around her had stared at her, and no one had greeted her. Even the people she normally talked to hadn't said a word.

Katara had thought it had something to do with the fight with Meng. But she had thought these people hated her now. She'd been sure they would insult her and tell her she was an aggressive and violent bitch. Maybe some of them would. But now that she had seen Azula's post, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Sokka had written to her five minutes ago that she should check Azula's newest posts immediately. He'd been worried, but also kind of grateful to Azula that she had already settled how the Kasaishis saw Katara's actions. And for that Katara was grateful, too. She had been so worried about how Ozai would see this, but even if he didn't approve of her actions, at least he couldn't tell the public anymore.

But this was too much. A shit storm! Meng hadn't deserved this. She'd probably just been angry and jealous, and maybe she hadn't even meant what she'd said. Maybe this had all been about Aang.

Katara frowned. Well, that was unlikely. She believed that Meng really didn't like conservative Westerners, but then why did she even live in the capital?

Anyway, Meng didn't deserve this public hatred.

Katara asked Zuko to send her Azula's number, and please ask him to make Azula stop the shit storm on Meng, too.

Zuko's answer came immediately. He sent her Azula's contact and told her he's already asked Azula to do that.

Then you knew what'd happened. Why didn't you tell me?, she asked him.

I hoped you wouldn't find out.

Katara frowned. Why?

I thought it would upset you.

Katara bit on her lip, as she tried to calm her heart down. Okay, so Zuko had wanted to shield her from this. This didn't mean he had feelings for her.

I am upset!

Sorry.

Why are you apologising? It is not your fault.

No, but I was with Azula, when we watched the video first. And I kind of… shouted some foul stuff about this Meng. I was just angry. I think Azula took that as inspiration for her plan. She's pretty proud of how she managed to do this.

Katara narrowed her eyes. Of course, she would be. This was so Azula-ish. Evil, manipulative, and sadistic.

It's nice of her that she took my side, but this would have been enough. She doesn't have to destroy Meng's life like that. Imagine Meng trying to find a job after this!

Azula loves to destroy people's lives. But Father is pretty angry about this, actually. He's thinking about a way to make Azula apologise to Meng. So, all of this actually isn't about us anymore.

Katara looked at the other people in the room. They quickly averted their eyes. Not really. They were still watching her. She was still interesting to them.

December. The election would be in December. It would still be a long time, but after that, hopefully all of this would stop.

But if she really wanted to be with Zuko, then maybe this would never stop. Being in the public's eye.

She sighed deeply.

No one cares about that. The people still stare.

oOo

Zuko read Katara's answer, sitting at his desk in his room. This was positive attention, mostly, that Katara was getting. And she already hated that. How would she deal with all the negative attention that Ozai had planned for her?

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He would, at least, have to tell Katara about this plan.

Katara was great. She could stand the worst things if they were for the right reason.

But was this for the right reason?

He clenched his fists. Sure, Ozai would be a good president. He would make Elementia prosper.

But right now, Katara's happiness seemed more important to Zuko than the wellbeing of the country's people.

Besides, Katara already did everything she could to help Ozai. Making her look bad would only serve...

Further business.

Nothing more. Nothing else.

He closed his eyes, as something in him... seemed to hurt. He didn't want Katara to hurt.

Snarling, he typed an even more aggressive message to Azula about stopping the shit storm on Meng Guolang.

Then he got up and gathered his things to head out to the first interview he had scheduled for today. After the gala, the interviews bad seemed rather harmless and okay, easy to deal with, but now? Surely they would ask about Meng and Azula. On the other hand, the less questions they would ask about Katara and him, the better. He really didn't want to have to answer questions about them.

Zuko walked twenty minutes to the hotel, in which he would meet the journalist. Fire Lily was a hotel chain that belonged to his family, so he felt relatively safe there. His uncle had founded it over forty years ago, just with a normal hotel, but now it was a big five stars complex with grand suites, a wellness area, and the best chefs of Elementia.

The weather outside was nice, so Zuko had thought it would be okay to walk. It didn't take long, and it was warm outside anyway.

He waited in the hotel lobby, the personnel eager to serve him and bring him coffee with five different assortments of biscuits.

He only sipped his coffee and bit in one lemon biscuit. The journalist was not late; he was just early.

It didn't take long for her to arrive.

She was a tall and slender woman with long, jet black hair, and pale, but soft facial features. The woman was completely dressed in black apart from the red stone that hung on a necklace from her neck. She wore a black leather skirt with see-through black tights, a black, tight top and high heels.

She didn't seem fazed by Zuko's earliness.

"Hi. You must be Zuko. I'm June," the woman introduced herself.

Zuko got up to bow in greeting. "Hello, June. It's nice to meet you," he said, although he felt a little disgruntled at how she just decided to call him Zuko. Kasaishi was also his family name, not only his father's.

The woman smiled, but it seemed more like a smirk in her face. "I hope you haven't waited here for long."

Zuko shook his head. "No. I was early." He shrugged.

June nodded, before gesturing at a waiter. She ordered a cup of black coffee without anything.

Then, she immediately got a notebook and a tablet out of her bag. "I hope you don't mind that I'll record this meeting."

Zuko shook his head. "No, of course not." It would, at least, mean that there was some proof of their conversation if June decided to write things in her article that he never said.

"Great." She clapped her hands together. "I'm just going to dive right in, alright? I did a little research and found out that you went to high school in Ba Sing Se. Why is that?"

Zuko frowned. "I lived with my Uncle back then. And he wanted to stay in Ba Sing Se."

"Why did you live with your Uncle?"

His frown deepened. He'd thought he would talk about his relationship with Katara, not about his past.

"I don't think you came here to learn something about an old man who likes to drink tea," Zuko said pointedly, raising an eyebrow, but trying to look amused. As if there was no big, ugly secret hiding on his back.

A corner of June's mouth tugged. "Yes, you're right. I'm just naturally curious, you know. It comes with the job. What I actually wanted to ask… You went to high school with your current girlfriend, right?"

He frowned at the word 'current', which seemed like a reminder of his father's plan. He nodded.

June wrote something into her notebook. "She was a year under you. Is that correct?"

He nodded again.

"And I found a picture of a school ball, in which she is shown with Jet Ling." June frowned at her notes. "Who is a good friend of yours. He went to the military academy with you."

He blinked. "Did you hack some data bank?"

June chuckled in an amused way, her voice deep and raspy. "No. It's all on your sister's Instagram page."

Zuko felt even more annoyed with Azula now.

"So, Katara was your friend's girlfriend first, is that right?" June smiled nicely.

But Zuko didn't feel at all as if this woman was nice. She was probably more like a snake, just waiting for him to make a mistake, and then she would bite.

"Yes. She got together with him seven years ago," Zuko said.

"And how did you feel about that? Did you already like her back then?"

He grimaced. "I wouldn't say that. We couldn't stand each other, actually."

June's eyes glinted. "Is that so? So, this unlikely relationship is a story of enemies who become lovers?" Now her smirk looked like a grin.

Zuko felt a little uncomfortable. "Yes…"

She tipped against her notebook. "What didn't you like about her?"

Oh. He tensed. This question was tricky. "She treated me like I wasn't worth her time." But that sounded too much like he was insulting Katara. He sighed. Better to admit that he had been a jerk. "I made her best friend cry once," he told June. When the reporter had a reason for Katara's behaviour towards him, it wouldn't make Katara look bad. She would look loyal, probably. And he would be the bad guy.

"She wanted me to apologise to him, and I refused. I was kind of an ass to her. The whole thing had annoyed me, so I lashed out at her." He shrugged. "From then on, we had this little, petty war."

"Tell me more about that."

He sighed. "We played pranks at each other. We said snarky things about each other to other people, when the other one was near enough to hear us. Er, her friends started to hate me, and yeah… We were teenagers." He shrugged again, rubbing his neck.

June licked her lips. "And all this annoying each other had never had anything to do with… sexual tension?"

He widened his eyes in horror. "NO! She was my best friend's girlfriend! I didn't think about her like that at all!"

She bit her lip as she raised an eyebrow. "Then how come you started to think like that about her?"

"It… It just was like that. When we met at the beginning of the year… It wasn't the same as it had been in high school," he lied. "We were different than before and got along. And I saw another side of her. Nice and funny." He smiled involuntarily. "Kind, adorable." Had he just said that? He felt the heat rising in his cheeks. Oh gods, he hoped he hadn't blushed! "Well, I got interested in her," he tried to end his answer.

June smirked. "What did Jet say?"

Zuko decided to bend the truth. "He saw what I felt for Katara, when we hadn't been together yet, and he urged me to tell her. I had held back because of their past, but it was alright for him. And she had been the one who'd broken up with him back then. They get along well now."

"Did you ever think she still has feelings for him?"

Zuko frowned deeply. No, he'd… Once. He had wondered about that once. But not since… For several weeks. And now, it seemed very laughable that she wanted Jet. Otherwise she wouldn't have come to Zuko's bed. Something in his chest widened, which felt weirdly a little like pride.

"No. Katara is not like that. If she would feel something for Jet, she wouldn't be with me."

"Not even to get close to him?"

He shook his head, before he snarled "No! Katara is an honest person."

June smiled. "You must like her very much. Have you worried about your family's reaction to her or have you always known that your father doesn't believe in the prejudices against Southerners?"

He swallowed. This was a difficult question. Ozai had told him to get together with Katara, but he didn't want him to stay with her. He didn't even want 'someone like Katara' for Zuko. He wanted to make Katara look bad.

Zuko pressed his jaw together. "No. I didn't know how my father thinks about them. There aren't many of them here. But he never said something against the Northerners in the suburbs, so I didn't think he'd have something against a Southerner."

"What would you have done if he hadn't approved?" June wanted to know.

He would have probably ended it. He would have told Katara that they couldn't be together. And then he would have missed her. Just like he will when they would "break up" after the election.

"It's my decision. My father is important to me but being with Katara would have been more important." He stares at the table between himself and the reporter's legs. Could being with someone be more important than his family? Than their honour and reputation? Than the company?

He wanted to tear his brain out about this, but June already asked her next question.

oOo

Katara smiled at him, as she opened her door. "Hey!" she said and hugged him.

He blinked. This was a nice greeting.

Had they ever hugged? He knew a lot about her body, and he'd cuddled with her in his or her bed, but a hug? He couldn't remember.

Zuko laid his arms around her back. This felt good. She was warm and soft, her hair tickling his skin.

He stepped back and closed the door behind him. "I have news."

"Is Azula doing something to stop the shit war?" Katara asked hopefully.

He smiled sadly at her. She didn't like Meng, not one bit, but she didn't want the public to tear her apart. Katara was kind.

"No. It's about us."

She raised her eyebrows. "Other stupid rumours?"

He shook his head. "No. It's about how we should break up."

Her jaw went a little slack so that her lower lip lowered itself. Otherwise, she stood still.

He closed his eyes briefly, then grimaced. "Maybe we could sit down?"

Katara nodded quickly. They sat down on her bed, and she pulled her legs to herself, laying her chin on her knees.

Zuko's breathing hurt suddenly. He glanced at Katara. This was so weird. It almost felt like a real break-up.

He told her about his father's plan. His voice was hollow, but he just kept talking, while he felt like he was somewhere completely else.

Katara stared at the other side of the wall, not interrupting him once. At the end, there were tears shimmering in her eyes.

Zuko wished he could punch himself. "I know this is shit. I don't want this either!"

She blinked rapidly, then wiped her tears away. "No. No, this is perfectly fine. I…" Her voice choked.

Zuko hadn't felt this shitty since he's screamed at Uncle to piss off and never bother him again. This hurt. It hurt to see Katara hurt.

"We can do this," she said firmly. "I can act like an unreasonable, jealous, furious slut. I just… I didn't think your dad's plan would be so…" She seemed not to find an appropriate word.

"It's shit," Zuko said again. He swallowed. "I don't want to do this. You don't deserve that."

She sniffed but smiled at him. "That's nice of you, but I know that."

Zuko wanted to do something to comfort her. Tell her the right thing. Maybe hug her…

"I'm not saying this to comfort you," he said instead. "It's what I think. And I also think that we should come up with something else. I mean a lot of people have nice and easy break-ups. We don't need any of this drama shit."

She frowned. "But exactly this drama shit will raise the popularity of your family."

"Drama is shit. We can break up nicely and remain friends. This… could earn us respect. Not to do things pettily, but maturely."

"I'd like that," Katara said quietly. "But you wouldn't do this."

He frowned. "What? Of course, I would! It was my idea!"

She scoffed. "Please don't lie to yourself. Or me. This might be what you want, but you won't do it, because it's not what your father wants. You don't want to disappoint him."

Zuko froze. I… I don't… What do I want?

Was his father's approval really so important to make Katara suffer so much? If he didn't do exactly what his father wanted, but still broke up with Katara, it would still be okay, wouldn't it? Ozai couldn't be that mad.

Zuko's hands curled to fists. Even so, he was a man now. He was twenty-three years old, not a little, frightened thirteen-year-old who thought that parents don't hurt their children.

He bit his lip, before he looked back at Katara. "I don't want to disappoint him. But I can't ask you to do this for him."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't do it for him, you know."

He frowned. "Oh. Right. You want Elementia to have a good president."

She raised her eyebrows. "Yes, but that's also not the reason. I would do it for you," she said a little exasperatedly, as she pushed her shoulder against his.

He leaned back in surprise. "For me? What?"

"Your father is important to you. And you're my friend, so I'd do this for you."

He blinked, feeling a little dumbfounded. But this… Katara agreed to be hated by their whole country. What if even the Southerners wouldn't like her anymore?

"No!" he said decidedly. "We won't do this!"

"Zuko. I'm okay. We can do it."

He shook his head again. "No, we won't! You… You're already giving up too much for this, and I…" He pressed his eyes closed. How could he express this jumbled mess in his head?

He didn't want any more weight on his conscience.

He didn't know if Ozai was worth this sacrifice of Katara's, because, clearly, Ozai didn't care about Katara at all.

Zuko didn't want other people to hate Katara, because Katara was wonderful, and everyone should love her.

It felt like his heart stopped beating for a moment. Then it clenched.

He slowly looked towards Katara, sitting next to him with her feet still on the bed, her hair hanging down in loose waves. She wore a t-shirt and jeans shorts, and the blue of her eyes looked questioningly at him.

His mouth was a little dry, as he felt this expanding, windy heat in his chest again. Stronger now. His heart quickened its beat.

He knew why he didn't want Katara to suffer. He swallowed.

This would only complicate everything.

Shit.

He swallowed and stared at the bathroom door.

He didn't know what to do! On the one hand, he felt this immediate urge to tell her, because he'd just found out. But on the other hand, he felt panic rise fast inside of him. He wanted to run away, scream, kick something, he felt the urge to cry, just do something to… process this.

Shit, had he actually been so dumb? Had he really not noticed for so long that he was in love with her? Why else would he feel the desire to kiss and touch her? This meant his body hadn't changed, after all.

But this meant that he had practically bribed the woman he was in love with. This meant he had used her. This meant he would deliberately cause her heartache!

He really wanted to scream.

"Er… I… I am not okay with this!" he said and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I don't want to come between you and your family," Katara said.

Zuko snorted. "You wouldn't. I just don't want to do this! It's not only because I don't want you to have to go through this, but this plan is just…"

Katara lowered her gaze. "Zuko… I know it was your father's plan to use me for his election from the beginning. I didn't ever think he would let us separate ways without making his family look good again."

Zuko shook his head again and again. He suddenly felt restless, with a lot of energy that needed an outlet. He felt trapped.

He was in love with Katara! With this wonderful, incredible, adorable woman who could make him feel so frustrated, annoyed, and even angry. But he also had started to feel safe with her. He let his guard down around her. He enjoyed his time with her, and he had come to admire her. Even her teasing felt good now. And Zuko was to give that up just because… Because his father didn't like it?

He suddenly felt stubborn. After Ozai became president, he couldn't want anything else from Zuko. Being president was the ultimate goal, wasn't it?

Zuko could still become friends with Song but stay with Katara.

That is if she wanted to.

It felt as if a sword was rammed through his chest. What if she didn't feel the same way? What if she would laugh at him, or feel so incredibly uncomfortable, or even tell him she didn't like him, but being nice to him had just been easier, but in reality she still hated him like in high school?!

He ran a hand through his hair.

"Katara…" His voice was husky. "I… I have to tell…"

She cocked her head to the side, still sitting on her bed, and looked at him with wide, curious eyes. The sun shone on her skin through the window, lighting her hair, and making her eyes sparkling like the ocean.

Zuko turned away. "I have to go. Another of these annoying interviews." He knew his voice was way too high, but he couldn't do this now. He just couldn't.

"O-okay," was Katara's answer, and Zuko heard her confusion, and he wanted to punch himself, because what would she think of him, now that he was just leaving after telling her something so bad and saying he didn't want to do it, but he was leaving now! He was leaving her alone! What would she think?

oOo

Zuko drove to the Volcano Club and practically ran through the park to the house, in which the martial arts classes were held. He ran up the stairs, unlocked the door to his dojo, ripped his clothes off to change into his black and blue gi, then grabbed the practice swords and ran through a few katas.

The moment he started to move all thoughts left his mind. He was calm and at peace.

There were only the swords, the movements of his body, and his breathing. He didn't need anything else. Just this moment of absolute concentration, in which everything else seemed unimportant.

But even so, a memory rose from his mind.

He practised kung fu in Uncle's garden. School had just ended, and Aang had grasped the new form faster than him again. Zuko bit his teeth together. He needed to get better!

"Zuko! Your friends are here!" Uncle called from the window kitchen.

Zuko ended his kata with a round house kick, then rolled his shoulders and tried to let his resentment towards Aang flow away. Jet didn't need to see that a thirteen-year-old kid was getting to him.

Bu when Zuko walked through the kitchen to the tea shop, he didn't see Jet standing there alone. Katara was with him.

Zuko scowled.

Uncle came up behind him. "Ah, is that Jet's lady friend?"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "It's 'girlfriend', Uncle!"

Uncle chuckled. "My apologies. Of course. My, my, Jet is one lucky boy." Then he turned around to Zuko. "When are you going to come home with a girl like her?"

Zuko recoiled, horror written across his face. "I don't like girls like her!"

Uncle's nice face turned serious. "Zuko. One day, you have to. You can't be alone forever. To share one's life with someone you truly love is the greatest feeling there is."

"Whatever," Zuko murmured in an annoyed tone, glancing at Jet and Katara. They hadn't even seen him yet. Jet was leaning down to Katara who laughed at something he'd said.

He looked closer at Katara. She was wearing a skirt and a tight blue t-shirt. She was horrible, but he liked the colour of her legs. That made him frown.

"Uncle?"

"Hm?"

"You really wouldn't mind a girl like Katara?"

Uncle raised his eyebrows. "No, of course not. She is friendly, witty, and doesn't hesitate to defend herself or the ones she loves. I wish you find someone like her."

"Even though… I mean, you know she's from the Southern Province…" Zuko cringed a little.

"Does it bother you?"

"No! But… In the capital… And Father…" He didn't know how he would end this sentence.

Iroh's face became a little more serious again. He laid a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "It was your great-grandfather who was the last one to fight against the Southern Province. It has nothing do with you, nor with me. When you find someone who makes you happy, Zuko, don't let anyone get in your way. It's not important where someone comes from, what language they speak, or to who they pray." Iroh pointed at Zuko's chest. "It's what you feel in there that's important. And if you really love somebody, then the opinions of others aren't important."

Zuko grimaced and tried to wiggle away. "I wasn't taking about love. Just… dating."

Iroh grinned. "I'd be so happy if you ever bring a girl over that I surely wouldn't care about the girl's origin."

Zuko scowled at his Uncle and puffed out his chest. "I can bring girls over!" he declared. "Hundreds of them, thousands even!"

Iroh laughed loudly now and held his big belly. "I don't need to see that. At least as you find one girl that makes you happy." He scratched his chin. "Or boy, that is. Or… well, whoever will make you happy."

Zuko sniffed. "I don't like boys!"

Iroh nodded. "I hope this means I will have grandchildren that actually look like you."

"Uncle!"

Zuko let his swords down slowly. He looked at himself in the large mirror. He was panting, his face flushed, and his eyes shone with heat.

He hadn't thought of Uncle for a long time. It had almost been a year, but it was still… It was annoying. No, it hurt.

Zuko knew what had happened later that day in Ba Sing Se. He'd gone over to Jet and Katara who had told him that they would meet with Smellerbee, Longshot, and Sneers for the cinema, and had asked him if he wanted to come. Zuko had nodded but regretted it soon enough. The seat number he'd got was right next to Katara. He had leaned away from her the most he could, but he had never forgotten who sat there next to him. Every one of her moves had stirred his senses. She'd eaten popcorn way too loudly and drunk her coke way too loudly, too.

Just as it had been with her two weeks ago, when they had been at the cinema. Just this time he hadn't leaned away. He'd glanced often at Katara, listening to her eating, drinking, laughing sometimes. And it had felt good.

He closed his eyes as he heard again what his Uncle had told him about finding someone who made him happy.

oOo

Katara just jumped out of her bathroom, trying to get her panties on underneath her bathrobe, while simultaneously slipping into her flip flops. It knocked on her door.

She cast the door an angry look.

After Zuko had left, she had cried. About his father's stupid plan, about knowing this would end soon, and because she had been so dumb to start feeling something for Zuko anyway.

Katara loved to shower when she was feeling miserable. The water helped her to clear her head and find out what she wanted.

She checked that her bathrobe was closed enough before she opened the door.

It was Zuko again. He looked as if he'd just taken a shower himself.

She frowned. "What do you want?"

He swallowed. "I have to tell you something."

"Again?" she asked, knowing she sounded pissed.

"It's something different," he just said.

Rolling her eyes, she stepped back to let him in.

He closed the door behind him and looked around. "Maybe we should si…"

"No!" Katara shouted. That was just how it had started earlier. With him asking that they should sit.

He blinked in surprise. "What? Why not?"

"I don't want to!"

He frowned. "Katara, it would really be better if you would sit down."

"I'm not gonna sit," she said with gritted teeth.

His nostrils flared. "But it would be better!"

"I don't care!" she shouted. She would not sit. She didn't want to hear something equally as horrible again.

"Why, you are…"

"What?" she demanded. She was angry. So angry at him, but mostly at herself. "I am what, huh? Not good enough for Kasaishi Zuko? Just a means to the end?"

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to tell you something!" His cheeks flushed in anger, as he leaned forward to her.

His proximity still made her feel so warm. She felt the nice campfire in her stomach, as she drank in his features.

"No one's stopping you!" She threw her arms to the sides. "Come on, tell me!"

"I'm in love with you!"

Katara opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out. Her jaw went slack. Her body stopped working for a moment, she knew it. Everything stopped. It felt like time itself stopped, as her mind went blank.

Zuko's eyes had a desperate gleam to them, his eyebrows were furrowed, and all in all, he did not look like a person who was in love. He looked annoyed and fed up. But she believed him.

A husky sound escaped her lips. "What?"

He took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you," he said in a quieter voice. "And that's why we can't listen to my father's plan. The country is not going to hate you. We will… come up with another plan, but there is no way I will let you go through this."

Had he really said what she thought he'd said? He was talking about his father's plan again.

Her hands waved in front of his face. "Hold on. Wait a minute." Her heart beat so fast it could burst through her ribcage. Katara felt hot suddenly. "Did you just say that you're in love with me?"

Zuko blinked, then he nodded. "Yes. But anyway, we should really come up with another plan…"

Katara grabbed his face, pressed her palms against his cheeks and pulled him down to her, while she only wanted to lean up. She jumped up, though, and quickly wrapped her legs around Zuko's waist, as she crashed her lips to his.


:D We're finally here!

But this is not the end. The end is still far away...

Don't forget to review!:)

My original plan about how and when Zuko would finally notice that he's in love with Katara was actually quite different. And it would still have taken a few weeks or days. But when I let him tell Katara about his father's plan, I just couldn't see them go through this, so I had to act! (My plan was never to go through with all of Ozai's plan, just the showing to the public that Katara is unreasonably jealous part. Zuko and Katara would have written a dialogue, which they would have practised, and Zuko's part would have said to reassure Katara that he only loves her, and only wants her, and that he doesn't want anyone else, and while saying this he would have realised that this is the truth. But now, he realised it by asking himself how someone cannot love Katara.)

I hope this was still satisfying to you, and that you don't feel this moment was too small after all this build up.

The meme about Heidi from the children's series 'Heidi' wasn't invented by me. I have seen it, but with a different context before. It was a meme against Zutara (with the Zutarian being shoved off the mountain, when they answered that they favoured Zutara over Kataang) that made me pretty angry, but I never comment anything that I don't like or don't agree with (not even fanfictions, because there is the possibility of the creator getting offended or worked up), but I looked at all the other comments already made. And I don't know, I'm still thinking about this, even though that was a week ago, so it kind of went into this story. Because showing a person falling off a mountain because of which characters they ship is sick. It might not have been meant as a direct affront to Zutarians (the meme creator said it was meant as a joke), but it has to be obvious that most people would definitely see this as a direct insult! Ship wars are so unnecessary, and spreading hate in any way only makes this world a worse place. And as fans of Avatar, as united fandom of Avatar, how can we believe that more hate helps with anything?

And I really love Zutara, so I'm a total defender of this ship, but the shipping on social media really gets out of hand sometimes. I'm especially angry that most Kataangers think all Zutarians hate Aang. That is not true! I don't hate Aang, and I don't hate Mai, either! Both characters are great and beautifully written. There was clearly put much care into them. I just think that their love stories weren't well written, nor very reasonable. Zutara, even as friends, always seemed much more realistic to me.

But! Just to be clear, there also are very unfair Zutarians out there! I'm not saying that hating Aang or Mai is unfair, it's everyone's right to feel their feeling towards them. But I meant that some Zutarians are really desperate for Zutara scenes and ignore other important scenes of canon (not that Kataang is canon, but things that were said), or explanations, or change the order of events in the show, or photoshop Katara and Zuko to sit closer just to have 'proof' of Zutara. I just think that this is weird, and I also think that Zutara has so many wonderful things about it that it doesn't need any fabricated help.

Phew, okay, I know this didn't have anything to do with the story, but I had to get this out, and my roommates don't like it when I start lecturing them about Avatar, Zutara, or fandoms in general...

That Azula started a shit war... This is a rough topic, and I won't treat it lightly. There have been many people already doing something without thinking, without meaning any harm and have gotten hateful comments for it. In my opinion, you can say that you disagree, even tell someone else they're wrong and why (in a respectful way!), but when it comes to threats, this is really where to draw the line. Even Meng in this story doesn't deserve to be treated like this. All these people from social media don't even know the person they're shitting against. They know one thing about the person and assume it's all that's important to know. So, in this story, people know that Meng likes Aang who was with Katara and that she doesn't like Katara much. And then all the horrible things that she said. But maybe she just said them because she doesn't like Katara as a person? Because she's frustrated over Aang not noticing her? Because she's unsure of herself and thinks she's not pretty? Those are all not excuses for her behaviour, but explanations. And in my opinion, such shit storms say quite a lot about the people taking part in it, too.

Phew, I really hope I haven't offended any of you with this!

(There might be justified shit storms, when a person is bad and would deserve some hateful comments, but that's rarely, if ever the case, and then the commentators mostly don't know so much about that person. And with bad, I'm talking about Voldemort-like-bad. He's worse to me than Ozai, because Ozai still seems human.)

Zuko's gi is not red and gold, because the black and blue should stand for the Blue Spirit.

Answers to reviews:

To KatMora606: Oh. Well, this was a misunderstanding then. So, now I know what you mean, and I understand that. I never read fanfiction in my native language, so I've got to do a lot of translating, too:) Okay, well google translator... 'Exciting' makes much more sense than 'brutal'. Thanks, well, I really did want to know what you wrote to me! Yep. Ozai is cruel. But in this chapter, Zuko decided to do something against his father's plan, so that's good! Thank you:) Oh, that's funny. Maybe I'll have a look at it!:)

To ShainaCobra: Merci beaucoup pour ta critique passionée! J'ai du sourire quand je l'ai lu. Amour va vaincre á la fin et Katara et Zuko vont aller plus loin, ne t'inquiète pas. Je suis heureuse qu'il est si claire que Zuko et Katara sont amoureux, car je n'ai pas beaucoup d'expérience avec écrire la fan fiction. J'adore Zuko trop pour laisser le suivre son père comme ca. Je sais que Zuko est un bon homme et je ne ferai pas le faire quelquechose vraiment méchant. Je veux dire qu'il ne vas pas faire des choses plus graves que celles qu'il a déjà fait. Pardon pour toutes mes fautes, je n'ai pas parlé ou écrit beaucoup en francais depuis mon bac.

To Smckoy929: One part of your wish was fulfilled! And maybe I'll even let someone slap Ozai in the future...:D Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter, too!

To uchihaNaruto247: I think you didn't expect the admitting-their-feelings-part to happen this soon, did you? I just couldn't let Zuko actually feel okay with this plan. Not even for trying. He was never going to go through with it, but it was my plan for him to start working on his father's plan, at least. But that would have meant that Zuko would have accepted the plan, and that just didn't sit right with me when I wanted to write it. I always get so worked up when Zuko's more evil in some fanfictions than he ever is in canon (Without explanation! And in Zutara fanfiction, nonetheless), so I really didn't want this to happen here. Ozai is, unfortunately, not ready to go yet. Thanks for reviewing!:D

To Guest: Yes, it is. One of literature's favourite tropes about love stories...:) It mostly frustrates me, though. Thanks for youre review!:)

To Guest: You know, I actually think that Katara would have admitted her feelings already if this situation were normal. If Zuko was just a friend, or someone she knew. But with them pretending to be together and it all being for politics makes it quite complicated and difficult. I think if Katara thinks that the reason is right, she would sacrifice her own feelings for this. Which feels wrong to me, too, because she's essentially helping Ozai to rule her country! But she doesn't know yet that he's evil. This plan, however, clearly shows to Katara and Zuko both that Ozai is ruthless. I get what you mean about Zuko regretting helping Ozai, but I kind of wanted Zuko to find out on his own. Katara is definitely a reason why Zuko stops Ozai's plan, but I didn't want it to seem as if Zuko thought he had to love Katara just because she loved him. And I didn't see it in her character to be the first one to admit her feelings. Because Katara thinks about the situation first. She's aware of her feelings, but she can push them aside if that is necessary. Zuko, however, seems like someone who can't do that (when he's mentally healthy, at least, as in second part of book three). He would always express what he feels and tell people how he feels if he trusts them. I hope you still liked how this played out. Thank you for your review!:) (and Katara will admit her feelings, soon, too!)