Katara's words echoed in Zuko's minda s he watched walk away. He felt a gut wrenching mix of disappointment and anger. A way he hadn't felt since his father was around. At first he was so dumbstruck and numb that just stood alone on an empty street for several minutes. He was shocked back into his body when a group of young men came around a bend further up the road laughing together. Not wanting to be seen and recognised Zuko quickly spun on his heel and stormed his way through the streets back to the palace. Now that he was moving, anger was taking over the hurt. He had half a mind to say screw it and send Katara and her crazy family home and out of his life forever. It would be so much easier he thought, he wouldn't have to try so hard with a Fire Nation girl. Mai's father would be thrilled to marry her off to the future Fire Lord. He chose to ignore the fact that Mai had only recently started talking to him again following that letter and she would never agree to such an idea. He also chose to ignore the sinking feeling he felt at the idea of a marriage like their relationship. Their brief attempt at dating had been a cycle of fighting, breaking up and getting back together. It had been exhausting. Zuko's heart sank at the thought of a future like that. Maybe he was better off alone. Zuko tried to push that thought away; he didn't want to think about that. All he wanted now was his bed and some peace and quiet; he should have known that was too much to ask.

"Zu Zu, where have you been? Sneaking back into the palace at this late hour?" Azula smirked as she leaned against one of the large pillars in the foyer. Zuko ground his teeth together trying to keep his temper in check. How did she manage to know exactly when and where to find him. He kept walking hoping Azula had just happened to be here and would let him pass. He should have known better. "You don't look so good, what's the matter? Wasn't your little water tribe girlfriend swept off her feet when you told her about your little gesture yesterday?" Zuko was not in the mood for his sister's mind games.

"What do you want, Azula?" Zuko growled stopping to face Azula across the large empty space.

"Why, I just want to comfort my brother." Azula put her hand to her heart feigning caring about Zuko. " It was humiliating to watch that pitiful attempt at a waltz last night. I can't imagine how you felt up there. And with all of the nobles there to see it as well."

"I know that was your doing Azula."

"Me? But Why would I do something like that?" Azula feigned a surprised look. She had always been good at pretending to have emotions but Zuko knew her too well and could see right through it.

"Drop the act!" He was on the verge of yelling at her and he didn't want to cause a scene in such a public space so clenched his fists and forced his next sentence to be back at a regular pitch. "It's exactly the kind of cruel trick you'd pull and besides that I saw you." Azula's fake smile dropped but she didn't look too bothered with being caught out.

"It was all in good fun."

"That's a lie!" he could help but yell. When it came to his sister she knew exactly how to get under his skin. "You were trying to humiliate Katara and me"

"Zu Zu I hardly had to try really. I barely had to do anything to show her for the water tribe peasant that she is." Azula flipped her hair and smirked at him. "You could have saved yourself but you didn't. Then you went and performed that silly little stunt with Chief what's his name from nowhere"

"Why would you bother Azula? What was to gain?" He asked, trying in vain to understand his sister's twisted logic. She just laughed.

"You mean apart from creating the only entertainment at that boring event?" Zuko has suspected she would try something before the wedding but even to him it seemed a bit extreme for her to directly attack Katara on her first day in the country. There must be something he was missing, he needed to figure out what she was really up to.

"What did you get out of something so petty and cruel?"

"Cruel ZuZu? I was just showing that little peasant for what she really is." He asked, more baffled than before.

"Everyone already knows Katara is from the Water Tribe."

"To stop the wedding of course." She said it so nonchalantly that Zuko though he misheard her for a second.

"Why do you care about my marriage? It's not like we're close, so it doesn't affect you?" Azula's mask finally cracked a little, her eyes grew hard and her voice dropped.

"Because," Azula hissed, "I don't want you diminishing the Fire Nation like this. Not only did you end the war when we were on the cusp of the greatest glory possible then you bring that girl here to be Fire Lady - a water bender Zuko are you crazy? She's hardly better than marrying a lion-seal. I figured the nobles would never allow the wedding if they were reminded how stupid and backwards and dimwitted those people really are"

Zuko could stomach the nobles complaining about the war ending because of all manner of reasons - their money, their trade, their land - but not once had any of them actually suggested the war was justified because the Fire Nation was truly in the right about being superior to the other nations. Zuko was now furious. Katara may be annoying and stubborn and frustrating and her culture different and strange to him but neither she nor her people deserve the hatred Azula was showing. Zuko could feel his body temperature rising and he knew he was on the verge of throwing fire at his little sister in the middle of the palace. Clenching his fists so tight his nails dug deep into his palms he resisted the urge instead saying in his most serious voice "do not hurt Katara or her family, you may be family but there will be consequences if you go too far."

"Look at you Zuko making threats" Azula smiled at him in a way that was really more baring her teeth than a smile. "Dad might finally be proud of you, if you hadn't attacked him and given the throne to our useless uncle."

"Our father was the useless one."

"He was the greatest Fire Lord in history just because you were always weak Zuko. I would have been by his side as we finally won the war for good." She had a slightly crazed look in her eyes now and her mouth was twisted into a snarl and she kept flexing her hands threatening fire balls at any moment. Zuko began to worry about being alone with her.

"Do you honestly think he cared about you? He only kept you around because you were useful to him."

"Father loved me! I am everything you can never be Zuko." Azula screamed. Suddenly Zuko's anger was gone and all he saw before him was a sad lonely little girl who missed her father.

"He kept you around because you did what he wanted, Azula, he didn't love you. He wasn't capable of love. It took me a long time to figure that out." He said slowly walking towards her, his hands outstretched to not be a threat.

"No, you're wrong."

"Let me help Azula," he pleaded. She bent a blast of fire past his shoulder. He didn't even have to flinch for it to miss him.

"Watch your back Zuko." With that she was gone. Zuko ran his hands through his hair and groaned. This evening could not have gone any worse. He was too worked up for sleep now so he headed to the gym

Mercifully the gym was empty, Zuko felt he couldn't have stood talking to another person tonight without a physical fight. He hadn't expected to be training and was wearing more restrictive clothes than he would like so he stripped as much as he could; carelessly bundling the precious fabric and throwing in on the floor. He would feel bad for the servants when he remembered tomorrow morning but for now he had too much to think about. Taking a stance in the middle of the gym Zuko took a few deep breaths and tried to centre his mind. Even after a full hour of intense practice Zuko's mind was still troubled and his heart still hurt. Frustrated at himself and angry at the world Zuko let out a guttural scream and threw his right fist at the ground hoping it would hurt. As he sat on the floor with his hand throbbing he heard the distinct shuffling that preceded the arrival of his uncle. "Prince Zuko, it is late. Why are you training so hard? And dressed in such nice clothes?" Zuko turned away, avoiding the concerned eyes of his uncle. Schooling his face into a false calm he dressed and headed for the entrance where Iroh stood.

"I was just practicing Uncle, I'll walk you back up to your rooms." Iroh smiled gently but made no effort to leave.

"I may be old nephew but I'm not an invalid. I came here to see what was upsetting you so much"

"I'm not upset Uncle,"

"Then why is there such damage to the gymnasium floor? Have you moved on to attempting earth bending as well."

"Uncle…" Zuko couldn't look Iroh in the eyes, suddenly he was filled with shame. The feeling took him back to his time in exile. He had worked hard to change, to become better, but here he was back in the exact same place. Grunting with the effort Uncle Iroh made his way to the floor and tapped the floor next to him, indicating for Zuko to sit as well.

"I am a good listener as you know Prince Zuko, and as I always say a problem shared is a problem halved." Zuko took a deep breath and sat. His uncle was right, if he was to fix anything then he would need help.

"Azula confronted me in the foyer," Iroh said nothing in response, giving Zuko the space he needed to speak his problems at his own pace. "She confirmed she was the one who told the band to change the music at the party."

"Ah" Iroh said in his signature tone that made the noise sound wiser than it really was. "But we already knew that, so she must have said more to get to you so upset?"

"She got pretty crazy talking about how ending the war was bad and she said some pretty terrible things about Katara and the water tribe." Iroh nodded his head as he thought.

"It is no surprise she still holds such misguided beliefs. The only time she was allowed out from under your father's control was when she was sent to bring us back here ourselves. I should have known she was planning something when she insisted on having a place on my personal council." Zuko just listened passively as his uncle spoke, thinking of the look on his sisters face when he told her father had just been using her. It was awful to see her like that despite how terrible she had always treated him

"And," he began hesitantly. He didn't want to talk about his father any more than he already had but Uncle was the only person who would understand "she also talked about father…"

"I have always suspected Azula of still harbouring attachment for your father, it makes her even more dangerous." While Zuko had always agreed that Azula was crazy he had never thought much about how being their father's favourite could have done as much to damage her as his dismissal had done to him. Sitting in the dark a small part of him said that she was like this because of him, that she was his little sister and he should have done something to protect her. "We will have to keep an eye on Azula, intervene even if she tries anything else." Zuko nodded his agreement that his sister might be hurting but she couldn't be allowed to take it out on anyone else.

"That is enough serious talk for now," Uncle said clapping his hands together and breaking into his usual smile. "Tell me Prince Zuko, how your date with the lovely Katara went." Zuko groaned, he had almost forgotten about that part of the evening

"It was not a date uncle."

"Ah I see you don't want to tell your old uncle about the romantic adventures of you young people" Uncle Iroh laughed heartily and slapped him on the shoulder. Zuko grit his teeth and did his best to not yell at his uncle.

"No uncle, I saw her for barely ten minutes and she yelled at me the whole time."

"Oh." The change in Iroh's face from knowing smirk to deadpan would have been funny if Zuko wasn't so miserable. "Yelled about what exactly?"

"Well about the city and how I'm doing a terrible job of being a leader, about how I'm spoilt, how she doesn't trust me." To Zuko's annoyance Uncle Iroh did not act offended on his behalf but in fact nodded.

"It is understandable Katara is still angry, she has personal experience with you as the villain in her story."

"I may have done some questionable things but I was never a villain." Zuko was angry that Uncle Iroh would say something so awful. He knew why Zuko had to do what he did. "She said I deserved to be banished." Zuko bit the inside of his cheek hard to stop himself getting teary. Even saying the words out loud hurt more than he expected.

"I understand your motives Prince Zuko but Katara and her friends do not. They don't know the whole truth. We must give her time."

"We don't have time uncle. Maybe we should just accept defeat and send them all home." Again Zuko couldn't look at his uncle directly, he knew Iroh would be disappointed in him.

"Prince Zuko I am surprised. When have you ever accepted defeat. You found the avatar when everyone else believed he was gone forever."

"That is different,"

"It isn't Prince Zuko. You simply just have to find a way to convince Katara and her friends of your change of heart."

"I think it's too late Uncle."

"Why don't you sleep on it Prince Zuko. Rash decisions are almost always the wrong choice." Reluctantly Zuko rose with his uncle and made his way finally to bed.

Despite being exhausted Zuko slept fitfully. Tossing and turning he was haunted by memories of attacking Katara and mixed with kneeling in front of his father begging for forgiveness. He woke in a cold sweat feeling no better than he had last night and perhaps even a little worse. Despite the dawn sun barely creeping above the hills there was soon a sharp knock on his door and Yuto entered carrying a tray of breakfast foods and paperwork that needed his attention. While Zuko groaned and internally took pleasure in picturing holding a flame to the large pile of paper he outwardly took the tray and thanked Yuto - it was not the young man's fault he was in a terrible mood and he had vowed to himself he would not treat the staff the way his father had.

As he chewed on the fresh rice and steamed fish he thought of all that had happened last night. While he knew objectively he should be more concerned about Azula and her potential plans for mayhem and chaos he couldn't help himself coming back again and again to his fight with Katara. While he had known Katara would not necessarily be happy to be in the Fire Nation he had not anticipated that there would be such intense animosity directed at himself personally. He didn't want to admit, even to himself, how much her words had hurt or why he cared so much that she thought badly of him. He played through Uncle Iroh's advice to see if it would be any less cryptic or frustrating in daylight but it was no use. He would just have to avoid Katara and her family for a while until he figured out what to do. With great reluctance he got out of bed and sat at his already overflowing desk to look at the new papers.

Zuko stood in the scorching heat of the palace courtyard and berated himself. How could he have been so stupid as to forget it was the arrival of The Earth King and his entourage today. He had planned on avoiding Katara for as long as possible but had forgotten that he had previously invited her and her family to join the welcoming party. So here they were; forced to be standing together for several hours to formally welcome numerous Earth Kingdom nobles and King Kuei himself for their wedding celebrations. Celebrations Zuko wasn't sure would still be happening. Hakoda was speaking pleasantly with Uncle and had given Zuko an almost apologetic smile when he and Katara had arrived but he had made no further efforts to interact or break the tension in the air. Zuko was not in the best mood to deal with this right now and it was clear Katara was less than impressed to be there, petulantly remaining silent despite his best attempts at small talk. It was infuriating they way she remained sullen and moody until approached by the Earth Kingdom nobles when she transformed into all smiles and politeness talking about being excited for the upcoming celebrations. Zuko couldn't help but scoff at her words the next time it happened. The look Katara shot him would have been frightening if Zuko hadn't been fighting to contain his own anger all day.

"Shut it Zuko," Katara hissed at him through her teeth doing her best to maintain a fake smile. Zuko, for once thankful for his own bad reputation as sullen and moody, replied

"I didn't say anything"

"You didn't have to." Her hair was done up elaborately again, this time with some sort of decorative hair pin with little dangling strings of beads. Zuko took a small pleasure that every time she tossed her head in that infuriating way she did when she thought she was right the beads whipped around and hit her on the back of her head.

"Look," he said facing forward so he could only just see her out of the corner of his good eye. "I'm just trying to get through this okay and then we can go our separate ways for the rest of the day."

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms like a child, "Then don't talk to me."

"Fine." Agni, this girl made him feel like a teenager again. The pair didn't say another word to each other until the arrival of King Kuei himself.

The king was as exuberant as ever bouncing along in a comical fashion. Followed closely behind as always by his pet bear Bosco."Prince Zuko!" he exclaimed, surprising Zuko by going for an enthusiastic handshake rather than the formal bows that were usual between royalty. "It is a pleasure to see you again." Before Zuko could even respond he had moved on. "And dearest Katara it is so nice to see you too. And where is the Avatar if you are here he can't be too far away?" Zuko thought he saw Katara roll her eyes at the question.

"Aang is great." She replied with a sweet smile plastered on her face. Of course he was mistaken. Katara and the Avatar were close. The spike of jealousy he felt at the thought was uncomfortable so he pushed it down. "He arrived yesterday," Katara continued.

"What? He did?" Zuko spluttered. "Why didn't you tell me? Or why didn't he come to the palace?"

"I don't know Zuko, I'm not his keeper." Katara's voice was still sweet but her eyes were hard once more.

"Ah haha" King Kuei laughed awkwardly. The two young people turned back to the monarch having forgotten all about him during their squabbles. "Well, ah uh, yes" the man scrambled for a topic of conversation other than the Avatar. "Katara you look most resplendent. The picture of a true princess." Katara beamed, she was once again dressed in formal robes stiff with beading and metallic threads. While beautiful Zuko secretly thought she had looked better last night in her work clothes and long braid. "And I see Prince Zuko knows his Water Tribe culture with such a beautiful betrothal necklace." The smile dropped instantly from Katara's face.

"That's her mother's"

"This belonged to my mother," they said at the same time. They locked eyes. Inexplicably to Zuko Katara blushed and looked away first. Coughing to cover his awkwardness Zuko looked back and the king and explained

"Katara wears my engagement gift as a bracelet" he said, reaching for her hand. To his delight she willingly gave it, gripping his hand tight in return. He raised it up intending to show off the expensive ribbon and the tiny golden fire lily but there was nothing there. He looked at Katara and she looked back at him with surprise on her face. The silence in the group stretched too long and King Kuei shuffled awkwardly. For some reason the fact that Katara wasn't wearing her bracelet hurt more than expected and that made Zuko furious. He dropped her hand and took a large step to the left to put more space between them. "You'll have to forgive my fiancée, she can be a bit forgetful" he said. Katara's face grew red

"And you'll have to excuse Prince Zuko," she said her voice trembling with anger. "He can be very presumptuous."

"Ah young love," the King sighed, moving past the young couple as they continued bickering. "Fire Lord Iroh so lovely to see you again." Kuei leaned in and wrapped Iroh up in a big bear hug. "And Chief Hakoda, it's a great honour to meet you." Hakoda bowed deeply before Kuei could envelop him for a hug as well. "Those two make a lovely couple don't they?" Kuei cooed glancing back at Katara and Zuko. Hakoda peaked around the large form of Bosco to see Zuko and Katara still in a heated but whispered argument.

"Ah, you think so?" He said, unsure if Kuei was being serious or making a bad joke. Thankfully Iroh stepped in saying,

"They do match each other well. With such similar temperaments and personalities."

"Yes ah," Hakoda added doing his best to distract the Earth King from the arguing pair and appear as if nothing was wrong, "with the stress of all that's going on it's no wonder tempers are flaring." King Kuei just nodded happily.

"King Kuei, won't you and your fascinating bear friend here join me for some tea. I believe Chief Hakoda needs to take his daughter back home for some much needed rest." As soon as the Earth King and the Fire Lord were well on their way inside the palace the smile dropped off Hakoda's face and he marched up to his daughter and future son-in-law. He must have been exuding disappointment and disapproval because they fell instantly silent at his approach and looked just like naughty school children instead of future leaders of a nation. Aware that they were still in public and being watched closely Hakoda smoothed his face into an outwardly neutral expression and spoke in a soft tone that did little to hide his anger.

"You two had better get your problems sorted out. I know you have your differences but you agreed to this arrangement and a lot hangs in the balance of this marriage being a success, okay."

"Dad I…"

"Katara you are a young woman now I don't need excuses I need you to be better"

"Chief Hakoda we were."

"You too Prince Zuko. I don't care how you do it but you two need to figure out how to be around each other because before long this will be official and the fate of the Fire Nation will be your responsibility." When they both looked sufficiently ashamed of their display he said in a kinder tone "It is okay if either of you want to back out now, we will all do what we can to help you, but you are running out of time to make that call." Zuko couldn't stand it anymore, he needed space to think uninterrupted and seriously about what was going to happen next. Looking anywhere but at Hakoda or his daughter he bowed and made an excuse to leave as quickly as possible.

Walking as fast as he could he ran through ideas of where to go. Anywhere in the palace was out, he didn't want to speak to any ministers, advisors, servants or his uncle and especially not Azula right now. Anywhere within the city would be too busy and there'd be a chance he'd be recognised. There was one place he could go. Making a sharp turn he altered his course and headed straight for the largest mountain bordering the capital. While it is a popular hiking spot in the cooler months being so late into summer he hoped it would be either deserted or easy to avoid any other people. As he climbed further and further away from the city his mind calmed. As he reached the top he found a flat rock with an impressive view of the harbour to sit on and he thought about what he should do.

But before long he heard sounds of rocks falling. Panicking he rushed towards the sound fearing there had been some kind of landslide and someone might have got hurt. What he found instead was a large statue of a girl in earth kingdom style clothing. Gaping at the rock formation Zuko walked around the statue until he came to the girl's face. "Wait" He gasped out loud think he was alone, "I know this girl," still confused about how and why this statue was here.

"Of course you do Prince Sparkyfingers" a voice called out just behind him. "We met not that long ago. And I'm hard to forget." Spinning around Zuko laid eyes on a short girl who looked exactly the same as the statue. He was pretty sure he'd never met anybody like this girl before.

"No offence but I've never met you before."

"That's a rude thing to say to someone when you've been inside their house."

"I've been to your house?"

"Well technically it's my parents house but I was staying with them at the time." The girl shrugged and flipped some stray hair off her face to reveal her eyes a milky white indicating she was blind. Then a memory flashed in Zuko's mind of a tiny little Earth Noble Lady with similar eyes who had asked him some very pointed questions on his last visit. His mouth dropped. There was no way this dirt covered, shoeless wild-child could be the same person.

"Beifong?" he said and the girl cackled.

"Correct! So you aren't as stupid as you look." She walked over to him with the grace of a homeless drunk.

"You're the sole heir to the Beiphong family?" he asked, incredulous again.

"Yep!" she said "Toph Beiphong at your service, but the surname is a bit pretentious so don't use it, I never bother."

"Why are you here? Did you come with the earth king?" He asked worried something terrible had happened and there was about to be a serious international incident.

"That guy? He's a cool dude but nope. I came to see you and Katara get hitched, she's one of my best friends."

"You're friends with Katara and the avatar?" Zuko exclaimed.

"Sure am!" the young girl said wiping her face and somehow managing to get more dirt on there."We had some crazy adventures. I wasn't around yet when you were obsessed with them but I was there for your crazy ass sister attacking us all the time."

"Ah well, I've already told Katara I'm sorry about all that"

"Hey no hard feelings, you were just doing what you had to do from what I can tell." Zuko gave her a hard stare before remembering that she couldn't see him.

"Really?"

"Trust me, fancy pants. I understand family obligation. I mean my parents didn't ask me to go kill anybody but your dad was a bit cuckoo so I assume you weren't really to blame overall."

"How can you trust me so easily?" Zuko asked incredulously that this girl he barely knew seemed to understand him so well.

"I'm an excellent lie detector" she grinned up at him somehow giving the impression of looking into his eyes even when that wasn't possible. "And I could tell you were genuinely apologetic talking about chasing my friends around."

"Could you tell Katara that please?" he said half jokingly.

"You guys didn't sort all this out before the wedding?" Toph replied quite shocked. "I'm surprised Katara agreed without having this out with you."

"Well we have talked about it," Toph gave him a look that said she could tell he wasn't being fully truthful but Zuko ignored her. But she seems to have changed her mind now. You came all this way for nothing I suspect."

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if it was Katara giving up on this crazy idea but you don't seem like the type to let things go." She slapped him on the lower back in what Zuko assumed she meant to be friendly but was actually quite violent.

"Yeah well, Katara hates the Fire Nation and she hates me so I don't see the point in pretending any longer. Neither of us would be happy." Toph laughed

"That's not true, she doesn't hate the Fire nation. We spent weeks here during the war before the invasion"

"You did?" How did nobody know that the avatar had been in the Fire Nation itself for weeks before the invasion?

"Yep and Katara really liked it. She even dressed up as a some painted spirit lady to help out a town being hurt by the war." Zuko instantly pictured her in the red dress and sheer veil of the painted lady, it was a disturbingly appealing image.

"So it's me personally she doesn't like?" he asked, coming back to himself.

"Seems that way sparky,"

"Whatever, I don't care." Zuko shrugged. It was looking more and more likely that the whole wedding should be called off.

"Yes you do" Toph teased.

"No, I don't"

"I can feel your heart rate and blood pressure spike when you think about her. There's no point lying to me" her grin so large her cheeks must seriously hurt.

"Well, even if I care what she thinks of me. There's nothing I can do"

"Sure there is." Toph said nonchalantly. "You just need to get the details about what's got Katara all worked up from Sokka"

"You want me to get personal information from Katara's brother?" Toph was crazy. He was officially talking to a mad woman.

"Sokka can be a butthead but he's got good instincts and he wants his sister to be happy. Just be honest with him and I'm sure he'll be able to come up with a plan." She was serious it seemed. Zuko was silent as he thought. It was either one final attempt to convince Katara that he was a changed man or give up on the whole thing. He thought back to the image he had all those months ago of Katara dressed as the Fire Lady smiling up at him and he knew he had to try.

"Well I'm going back into the city, you can either walk with me or you can mope here alone?" Zuko shook his head and steeled his nerves. He had made up his mind and he knew what he had to do.

"I'll come but you can't leave that statue of yourself there."

"That's fine I was just practicing to make sure it looks good for when I make one for real" Zuko decided it was best not to ask where she intended to build her real statue to herself. As they walked back down off the mountain he felt as if he and Toph Beifong may have just become real friends.