Katara walked home elated at her triumph during her fight with Zuko. Spirits it had felt good to knock that stuck up prince down a peg or two. She practically bounded her way inside the house but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her friends and the rest of the tribe gearing up as if going into battle. "What's going on?" she asked shocked.

"Katara!" the group shouted at once, Aang and Suki rushing to embrace her.

"Where have you been Katara?" her father asked in a stern voice, his arms crossed forbiddingly.

"Yeah Katara," Aang said, finally releasing her from his tight embrace. "Where'd you run off too? We've been super worried about you." Guilt flared in Katara's heart. She had forgotten she had disappeared without warning for most the day.

"I'm sorry everyone," she said with a weak smile which nobody but Aang returned. "I shouldn't have run off like that."

"No you shouldn't have," Hakkoda agreed. "We had no clue where you'd gone. What if something had happened?" The tribes men and women all nodded solemnly. Katara felt guilty she had worried everyone but she didn't regret her actions. Without her running off she'd never have known about the makeshift hospital or the awful conditions the city was in. And besides she could look after herself.

"I'm a big girl Dad, I can protect myself."

"Your dad's right Katara," Aang chimed in. "Someone should have gone with you." Katara couldn't believe this. Even Aang couldn't trust her to take care of herself for one day?

"Like you Aang?" she asked.

"Well," he said, smiling his big goofy smile clearly missing the sarcasm in her voice. "I am the Avatar."

"Don't I know it." Katara said bitterly but the noise of the group voicing their own concerns covered it so Aang didn't hear. She loved him like family, but she had forgotten how exhausting it was to constantly have him hovering around trying to protect her- even when she didn't need it.

"Katara is a good fighter, she can look after herself just fine," Gran Gran said from the far back corner. Katara caught her grandmother's eye and threw her a grateful smile.

"Yeah," Toph loudly agreed, "Sugar queen may be soft on the outside but she can handle herself."

"With all due respect," Hakkoda replied. Not even turning to look at the little earth kingdom Girl. "I believe this should be a family matter. If you'd excuse us, all of you." Toph looked like she was ready to start a fight and the rest of the group was murmuring their disagreement with being dismissed. Katara beat them all to it.

"No dad, I don't have anything else to say." Forcing her way through the armoured tribe she grabbed Suki and Toph's hands and dragged them up the stairs without a further glance at the rest of the group. Slamming her door shut behind them Katara flopped down on her bed and let out a loud groan.

"Katara calm down," Suki said, sitting down gingerly next to her on the edge of the mattress.

"I'm sorry, they just really get on my nerves." Katara flopped onto her stomach, tired but too worked up for sleep. "I'm a master water bender - the only one in the Southern Water Tribe! - but my dad doesn't believe I can look after myself for one day."

"I'm sure your dad is just looking out for you," Suki said offering a weak smile. Katara tried to smile back at her friend but knew it looked as fake as she felt and gave up.

"He still sees me as the little girl he left behind,"

"Katara I am the champion of parents who underestimate their daughters okay? Get your own thing," Toph joked, building herself a throne of cushions. Katara cringed. She had completely overlooked how this little meltdown of hers would look to Toph who parents legitimately thought she was a helpless doll.

"Toph, I'm sorry" she began. "I didn't mean."

"Don't sweat it. It's a parent thing. At least it means they care, In their own sort of messed up way." It was difficult to tell sometimes if Toph was looking away because she was emotional or because she's blind. Katara hoped this time it was because she's blind. "So," the small earth bender continued cracking her usual wide smile "you'll just have to keep getting in trouble and show your dad that you're stronger than he thinks." Katara laughed, Toph's advice was always unexpected but somehow right.

"But maybe don't go running off on your own for hours at a time without any warning next time okay?"The girls all laughed. As their giggling finally subsided Katara couldn't help letting out a big yawn.

"Will you guys stay with me tonight? I miss sharing a bed as crazy as that sounds."

"Sure," Suki agreed immediately. "It'll be like a sleep over."

"Fine," Toph groaned but a wide smile. "But no gross girly talk alright?"

"Yeah alright" Katara agreed smirking as she slid into bed next to Suki. She extinguished all the candles in the room and threw a blanket at Toph's pillow fort laughing when it hit the young girl in the face.

"Hey no fair!" Toph called from under the fabric.

"So Katara," Suki said awkwardly avoiding eye contact. "Why did you go rushing off in such a hurry anyway?" Katara sighed. She supposed, out of everyone, she did owe Suki and Toph an explanation for her actions this morning.

"I'm sorry about that," she said. staring at the ceiling. "I just got really overwhelmed when you guys started talking about me being Fire Lady so soon and it was all a bit much"

"We're sorry for making you feel that way Katara but you're getting married in like a week. You can't just run off whenever you get scarred." Suki said reaching for her hand in the dark.

"Yeah sugar queen, or at least bring us with you."

"Toph!" Suki exclaimed, rolling her eyes despite nobody being able to see it.

"You love me Suki." Toph laughed.

"Look, I know it was stupid okay." Katara explained, still caught up in her own frustrations. "But I am capable of being in the city alone for a few hours. I'm not an idiot!" Her eyes were annoyingly blurry but it was just so frustrating they way everyone in her tribe refused to see her as anything but a young child in need of protection.

"Hey Katara don't get worked up okay?. I'm not sleepy right now. I'll go talk with Aang and Sokka and see if we can figure out a way to smooth things over with your dad and the rest of your Tribe okay?" Katara sniffed and reached for Toph's hands to squeeze it tight.

"Thanks Toph, you're the best."

"I know!" she called as she walked out the door. It must be nice Katara thought to not have to need the lights to find her way around. The room was weirdly silent with the young earth girl's departure.

"Katara," Suki said rolling onto her side. "I'm sorry you felt so terrible. But if you had that kind of reaction. Are you sure this is what you want? Getting married is a big deal, you need to be really ready." Katara turned over to so as to be face to face with her friend

"I know Suki, but with a little more time I hopefully won't be getting married at all." she confided.

"What do you mean?" Katara could see a faint outline of Suki's face scrunched up in confusion thanks to the door Toph left ajar. She took a deep breath a thought it was time to confide her plans

"Well," she began thinking how best to explain it. "I thought it was suspicious that Zuko just turned up and asked me to get married,"

"I'm sure it was quite unexpected," Suki nodded along, still looking unsure of where this was going.

"Yes it was," Katara agreed, glad Suki also thought it was suspicious. "So I thought to myself that there must be something more to this and that the Fire nation must be up to something." Now if Full story mode Katara sat up in bed so as to be able to really get into the retelling. "So I agreed to this whole wedding thing so that I could come to the Fire Nation, keep tabs on Zuko and the other nobles, find out what they're up to and put a stop to it." Katara gave a triumphant grin at her friend, expecting Suki to be thrilled with her deductions so far and her plan to catch them in the act. To her surprise Suki looked less than impressed.

"Katara that's crazy!" she exclaimed, sitting up herself frowning seriously.

"No, it's brilliant," she countered. "How else was I supposed to get close enough to find out what's going on?" Katara shook her head, wondering what was happening. Suki should be proud of her and asking how she could get involved..

"Do you have any proof?" Suki's tone was dismissive and put Katara on the defensive.

"Well not yet, but Sokka said he'd do some more digging at the palace while I keep Zuko and his uncle busy tomorrow."

"And what if nothing is going on?" Katara was getting annoyed now. It really seemed like Suki didn't believe her.

"I don't trust Zuko. Something is going on and I'll prove it."

"So you're days away from getting married and it's all a lie?"

"So what?" Katara shrugged.

"What do you mean so what? Does Zuko know."

"Know what? That I'm on to him?" Katara bragged still hoping Suki would come to her senses and see that she was right. Suki instead threw her hands up as she eyed Katara angrily.

"That you agreed to marry him in bad faith?" her voice was still low so as not to draw attention from anyone else in the house but her anger was unmistakable. Katara recoiled at the scalding.

"Well I…" She supposed it was a little deceitful what she was doing. But she had also agreed to do some good. "I also agreed so I could help people, like the ones I met today. You should have seen the state."

"That's noble of you Katara," Suki cut her off. "But you could have done that without lying and manipulating Zuko."

"Hey!" Katara was angry now too, "Zuko is the bad guy here not me." How could her friend forget that.

"Zuko may have been in the wrong in the past but he's trying to be good now." Katara jumped out of the bed. SHe couldn't be that close to someone defending Prince Zuko.

"Suki how can you forget everything he's done." She was shouting now. Who cares if anyone heard Suki was crazy.

"I haven't forgotten Katara." Suki held her hand up to stop Katara shouting anymore. Reluctantly Katara fell silent. Suki climbed out of the bed as well and came to stand in front of her. "Look I didn't want to tell you this. When the war ended I went home to Kyoshi Island. Not long after I got there a surprise arrived in the form of a Fire Nation ship"

"Ah ha" Katara couldn't help herself interjecting. She knew they were still up to no good.

"No just listen Katara. They were bringing supplies and workers to help us. Zuko was there but he asked me not to tell anyone. He helped rebuild the town." Katara scoffed, it was hard to believe.

"So one good deed erases all the bad?"

"No, it doesn't" Suki agreed. "But I heard he was also spotted in other Earth Kingdom towns helping out rebuilding - and there were rumours he was in The Northern Water Tribe."

"It doesn't matter if he did Suki. He's still bad person."

"He's trying Katara. You can't hold what he did as a child against him forever. He's changed.

"He killed my mother." She didn't want to cry but she was unable to keep the tears from pouring down her face.

"Katara," Suki's voice was softer now but it felt patronising. Like an adult speaking to a small child. "Zuko didn't kill your mum. He didn't even give the order. He was just a kid. Misguided and on the wrong side at first but he's doing his best now to change and be better."

"You don't understand Suki"

"I do, Katara."

"No you don't, my mother. I saw her."

"Katara you aren't the only person that lost somebody in the war." Katara clenched her jaw to stop herself from saying something she couldn't take back. "You can't use your pain as an excuse to treat people badly." Suki might have been able to rebuild her home and help her loved one's heal but Katara couldn't. And she wouldn't forgive the people who were responsible.

"Zuko and the rest of them might have fooled you into thinking they're good Suki but I will never forgive him for what happened." Suki stood and walked to the door. Without pausing she said

"I'm sure you're tired. I don't think it's a good idea for me to stay here tonight. See you tomorrow Katara."

Katara, unable to rest following her fight with Suki, filled up the large bathtub and fumed. Had she been a fire bender she would have been boiling the water she sat in by now. She was furious. At Zuko, her family, Suki and worse a little at herself. Suki's scalding played over and over again in her mind. While she was still distrustful of Zuko she was beginning to think maybe her own actions had not been as virtuous as she had first thought. Really since he had walked off his ship all those months ago the most suspicious thing he'd done is propose to her. Was that enough to justify all this lying she was doing? She giggled to herself remembering the way he had trudged through the snow as if every flake was a personal assault on his body heat. He had even apologised for his past actions when she'd confronted him. Why would he do that if he wasn't trying to be a good person now?

And besides, he did really put himself out there asking her to marry him. She remembered the outrage her tribe had shown at first when Iroh had made the proposal. He could have married some Fire Nation girl she supposed. Iit would have been much easier for him. The image of Zuko with some slim, pretty, pale Fire Nation girl caused a weird reaction in Katara's stomach that she did not want to deal with right now. So what if he had been nice a few times she thought bending a small wave across the large bathtub. It's no surprise he'd been politie to her when he was surrounded by her tribe in the South Pole. As soon as she'd arrived here he'd been embarrassed by her: pulling her up from her bow that she'd worked so hard on. Not to mention he didn't even look for her at the party after their disastrous dance attempt. Katara blushed at the memory of the heat that had spread through her body when he'd pulled her close. Shaking her head of those confusing thoughts she created a mini whirlpool to distract her thoughts from such dangerous places. Zuko had already betrayed her trust once in the crystal caves beneath Ba Sing Se, she would not let him do it again.

Determined to stick to her plan and catch Zuko red handed doing something nefarious, Katara stood from the bath that was now cold, bent the water from her skin and hair, dressed quickly and snuck down to the kitchen for a late night snack. In all the drama of the day she'd had barely anything to eat and her stomach was beginning to growl loudly enough she feared Sokka across the hall might hear. She crept down the stairs carefully to avoid the spots that might creak and tip toed lightly to the kitchen. Searching the packages and jars for something sweet she had just taken a bite out of some kind of red paste filled delight when there was a pointed cough from behind her. Katara nearly jumped out of her skin with the fright. Turning she made out the shadowy figure of her father standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "Oh, Dad. It's you," she gasped out in surprise before her mind caught on that his stance and crossed arms indicated this would not be a friendly late night chat.

"Katara," he said in that deep disappointed tone that always made her heart heavy when it was directed at her. "Make some tea. I think we need to talk." Reluctantly Katara made a pot of tea. Despite being considered an adult in the Southern Water Tribe culture she knew it was pointless to ignore her father's request when it was made in that tone of voice. Placing the cups and Tea pot - made of finer china than she'd ever seen - on the low table and taking a seat across from her dad she waited for the loud yelling that she expected to come. It was somehow more off putting to see him calmly take a cup and sip gently at the chamomile tea. Refusing to be the first to break the silence she sat and held her own cup until it got cold. Eventually Hakkoda finished his tea and with a deep sigh looked at his only with a hard stare. "Katara, we have to discuss your behaviour these last few days,"

"Dad, let me explain," Katara tried but Hakkoda held up a hand to silence her.

"You convinced me to agree to this marriage. You told me it was what you wanted but now we have come all this way and you act like a spoilt child," Katara's mouth dropped,

"I'm acting like a child?" she asked incredulously. "From the second we got her Zuko was rude and dismissive of me. You saw what he did to me at the party last night!"

"Katara that incident was not Zuko's doing. We suspect his sister Azula was the one responsible." Azula? Katara thought. She supposed it could be possible that Zuko's crazy sister was behind it. But that didn't mean Zuko wasn't involved.

"Well, it might have been but I'm sure Zuko was involved somehow. He humiliated me in front of everybody," she could feel the tears building up again and she angrily wiped at her eyes to stop them falling. Her dad's voice softened at her upset.

"The boy handled the situation poorly I admit. But when I confronted him he was most apologetic and we worked hard to correct the situation."

"Oh he was apologetic was he? Funny I didn't hear any sort of apology from him." Katara said crossing her arms in a pose that would have infuriated her to know made her look just like her father.

"Katara, Zuko was looking for you when I found him first. We thought it best to nip the gossip and negative comments about you in the bud before they got too big to contain."

"You and Zuko worked together?" Katara was sceptical despite what her father said.

"Yes, I was reluctant at first too. But Prince Zuko convinced me and both Zuko and his uncle took the issue very seriously and came up with a plan to mitigate the repercussions of Azula's meddling."

"And what was this grand plan they came up with,"

"They learnt a water tribe dance"

"I'm sorry?" Katara's jaw was getting sore from dropping to the floor so much with all the revelations she had heard today.

"Katara you heard me. Fire Lord Iroh, Crown Prince Zuko and several lords and ladies of the Fire Nation learnt one of our non-ceremonial dances and performed it in front of the whole court."

"What?" Katara shook her head confused about what her dad meant, and why Zuko would agree to do something like that.

"Prince Zuko wanted to prove to all the nobility that it is no bearing on you as a leader or as a person that you are new to this country and their ways of life. He put himself out there to prove the Fire Nation too is capable of embarrassment in order to support you."

"No, he can't have"

"Darling I was there I saw it,"

"Well, maybe he did but it must have been some kind of trick. Some ploy to win you over." Katara racked her brains to think of some possible reason Zuko would do something like that for his own gain. He must have got something out of it.

"Katara, I know you have personal issues with Prince Zuko but he is really trying to be a good person and you are the one in the wrong here."

"Dad he may have fooled you. I'm sure he only did it to gain your trust for his own I won't let him trick me." Hakkoda sighed.

"Katara if you can't get over this then we should leave now. You can't go into a marriage with mistrust and dislike. It isn't fair to Zuko or the Fire Nation," Katara stood abruptly, anger once again boiling in her veins. Her dad just looked up at her sadly,

"It isn't fair to yourself. I want you to be happy, sweetheart."

"I will be dad. When I prove something fishy is going on here." She headed for the door without waiting for his response. "And when I'm right then you'll all be thanking me" she said not caring if her father heard her or not.

The next morning Katara sweltered under the hot sun. Dressed in heavy silks and elaborate jewellery she stood in her uncomfortable fancy shoes in the shadeless palace courtyard for hours as seemingly endless Earth Kingdom dignitaries arrived. Aware of her father's close eyes on her every move she did her best to be polite, smiling back and exchanging pleasantries as they each offered her the same comments on her wedding and marriage. She even did her best to ignore Zuko's attempts to provoke her, If it wasn't for Sokka sneaking into the palace again to find some proof she didn't know how she'd have managed such a calm attitude but for a brief few hours everything was going according to plan. That is until Zuko finally got under her skin with his loud scoffing and exaggerated frowning at her as she greeted Lady Lian enthusiastically.

"Shut it Zuko," she hissed through her teeth behind the Lady's back trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"I didn't say anything," he replied. Pouting in that stupid way he always did.

"You didn't have to." She retorted in turn. Spirits Zuko was so annoying. Tossing her head the beaded fringe on her hair pin smacked her in the side of the head for the millionth time that day and Katara seriously had to practice self-control to prevent a tidal wave over taking the whole courtyard. Taking some deep breaths she focused on Sokka and the proof he would find that would show her to be correct. She had just managed to fix her fake smile in place when King Kuei himself finally arrived. He was as exuberant as the last time she saw him, followed closely by his beloved pet bear Bosco. They embraced and Katara took pleasure in how uncomfortable the break with traditional greetings made Zuko. The smile turned back to fake just as quickly however, when the first question Kuei had for her was not to do with her own achievements, how her tribe was doing or even about her wedding but was about Aang. It hurt that even at her wedding to the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation she was still defined by her relationship with the Avatar. She would never tell Aang but it was one of the reasons she had chosen to return home despite him offering multiple times that she could stay and travel with him after the war. "Aang is great" she forced out eventually, "he arrived yesterday." That was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"What? He did?" Zuko spluttered. "Why didn't you tell me? Or why didn't he come to the palace?" Katara kept her voice sweet in front of the Earth King but her anger was beginning to flare again and she shot daggers at Zuko with her eyes as she pointedly said

"I don't know Zuko, I'm not his keeper." King Kuei laughed awkwardly to fill the silence that stretched between the two of them.

"Katara you look most resplendent. The picture of a true princess." Kuei eventually landed on saying. Katara beamed at him to try and ease his awkwardness, really it wasn't his fault. Of course everyone is interested in the Avatar and the last air bender in the world. Everything would have been fine if he had stopped there, but Kuei was never one to read a room well. "And I see Prince Zuko knows his Water Tribe culture with such a beautiful betrothal necklace." The smile dropped instantly from Katara's face.

"This belonged to my mother," she was quick to point out only to hear Zuko also say

"That's her mother's." They locked eyes and Zuko's cheeks flared red enough to almost match his scar. It was a strange moment shared between them and Katara chickened out first and looked away. Coughing to cover his own uncertainty Zuko attempted to explain

"Katara's mother passed away. She wears her betrothal necklace as a reminder so I suggested she wear my engagement gift as a bracelet," he reached for her hand to show off the expensive ribbon and the tiny golden fire lily. Katara thought back to the evening he had presented it to her and the compassion he had shown and willing rested her hand on his outstretched palm. But the bracelet was there. A million questions raced through Katara's mind as she processed that her betrothal necklace was indeed not on her wrist. Where was it? She didn't remember taking it off. But she did have a bath last night, so it must be in her room right? How did she not notice it missing? Zuko's face so open and honest the moment before was now closed and hard once more. He dropped her hand as if it were something disgusting and even stepped further away from her. "You'll have to forgive my fiancée, she can be a bit forgetful" he said with a pointed look. That was too far. It was just a trinket, they both knew it had just been a formality. There was no need for him to bad mouth her, let alone in front of the Earth King!

"And you'll have to excuse Prince Zuko," she said her voice trembling with anger. "He can be very presumptuous." Not her best insult but it would do.

"Ah young love," the King sighed, moving past the young couple but Katara was no longer paying him any attention. Her whole focus was now on Zuko and his smug face.

"How dare you?" she snarled moving towards him so he'd have no chance of ignoring her. To his credit Zuko looked to be pretty pissed too and ready for an argument himself.

"How dare I?" he scowled only just managing to keep his voice low enough to not draw a crowd. "You are the one who can't even wear a simple bracelet."

"Oh so I forgot the stupid ribbon you gave me to celebrate this fake wedding."

"Fake wedding?" His voice had changed, no longer angry but confused. She'd gone too far. Said too much. Katara panicked as she thought how to get out of her own mess.

"Well, it's not like it's a love match or anything" she stammered. Trying to cover her own mess up.

"No, it isn't but I had hoped we could at least be considerate of one another," Zuko replied deflating somehow. This week, defeatist man in front of her was wrong. Despite seeming to have won this round Katara did not enjoy it. She was riling herself up to attack him again to get him back to the angry belligerent prince she knew when she saw her father approaching. Despite his face appearing to be calm and serene Katara could tell her was angry beneath the surface.

"You two had better get your problems sorted out," he said in a low voice that did nothing to hide his emotions.

"Dad I…" she tried

"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," only a few days Katara thought. And then she really would be married. "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," her dad once again repeated. How many times would he give her the chance to get out of this mess? Katara cautiously looked at Zuko to see what his response might be to calling the whole thing off. He looked pale and confused. Before she could say anything he made some excuse about helping his uncle and ran off to who knows where.

Needless to say the palanquin ride back the house was silent and tense. Her dad's silence was getting on Katara's nerves. She was biting her lip to stop herself from saying something and getting into even more trouble so hard that it was starting to bleed. Thankfully it was only a short ride and she was soon dragging herself to the comfort of bed.

"Hey Katara," Aang's chipper voice called out behind her. She should have known better than to want a quiet afternoon to herself. Sighing. Katara smiled and turned to her friend.

"Hi Aang, what are you up to?"

"Nothing much" he shrugged. "Waiting for you to get back,"

"Me why?"

"Well since we didn't get to see the city much while we were here last time. You know the invasion and all" he laughed at his own joke but cut it short when she didn't laugh too "I thought we should check out the city."

"That sounds like a great idea Aang." Katara said. It would be nice to actually see the Fire Nation capital properly. "But you didn't have to wait for me. I could've caught up with the rest of you." Aang looked down at his feet.

"Well Sokka and Suki went out, they told me they needed some alone time," Katara nodded. Suki must have convinced Sokka to let her go with him to scope out the palace. Hopefully they found lots of proof of suspicious activity. It would do Suki good to not be so quick to judge she thought.

"And Toph" Aang continued unaware of Katara's inner monologue. "Well she said she needed to go practice something but she didn't want to tell me what." Hmm that was a surprise. Normally Toph and Aang were inseparable when they had an idea for wacky hijinks.

"But that's okay" Aang smiled down at her. Wait, when had Aang grown taller than her. She was used to him being her small little brother figure. "I'm happy it can be just the two of us."

"Well maybe we'll run into Toph or the other when we're out later." Katara suggested. It would be nice to spend some time with everyone like the old days.

"Oh" Aang rubbed his neck. "I guess maybe we could."

"Great," Katara said her mood rapidly improving. "Well give me a minute to get changed and we can go."

As they walked her and Aang talked easily she had forgotten what a joy he was to be around. As the afternoon wore on some of the stress and worry Katara had been carrying was lifted from her shoulders. With the sun set, lanterns started being lit and Katara had to admit to herself that the city was beautiful. The only strange thing was that Aang was doing this weird thing where he'd grab her hand to drag her across the street to look at something and forget to let go. The first time it was charming but the fourth time Katara began to suspect he might be doing it on purpose. But that was ridiculous she thought. She had known Aang had a crush on her years ago, even kissing her just before the invasion, but he had to be over it now. Right? He hadn't mentioned anything to her about it in years and had seemed to enjoy the attention of any number of girls after the war before she had decided to return home.

Crowds of people done with work for the day began to fill the streets looking for food and entertainment. Aang crowded close to Katara putting his arm around her to keep her close even though nobody they passed was aggressive. Katara soon began to notice that Aang even frowned at anybody that smiled at them as they squeezed through the crowd to find their own dinner. No she thought after a few minutes observing not just anybody, girls Aang was fine with even smiling back but if boys looked at them- no not at them, at her! Katara stopped dead in the middle of the street as it hit her: Aang was only annoyed when boys looked at her. Coupled with his repeated grabbing at her hand and the way he had seemed disappointed when she suggested they meet up with the others later that evening she knew what she had to do. When Aang realised she was no longer beside him he turned to find her,

"Katara?" he called. Confused as why she was just standing in the middle of the road.

"Aang," Katara said, unmoving from her spot. "I think we need to talk." She reached for him to pull him down a side street to find a more private spot. Mindful of what she was about to say she was careful to only grab his arm and not his hand. Turning a few corners she saw a quiet tea shop with few customers and pulled Aang inside. Finding an empty table she sat down and turned a serious look on him. "Look, Aang I…"

"Hi there guys, aren't you two a cute couple?" a server said, bustling over and busying herself placing menus on the table.

"We aren't," Katara tried to say

"Thanks!" Aang replied enthusiastically over the top of her.

"Why!" the lady said peering at Aang. Noticing his distinctive tattoos her eyes widened. "Aren't you the Avatar?"

"Yep I am indeed." Aang grinned his wide goofy grin. Katara rolled her eyes. Even when she had specifically said she wanted to speak with him he couldn't help showing off.

"Oh my," the server gushed, blushing and batting her eyes at him. "The actual Avatar in my tea shop? Won't you show us some air bending?" By now everyone inside the shop had come closer and a small crowd had gathered.

"Alright" Aang said, standing up and stretching his arms and legs. "But I'll need some room!" The people closest to him quickly pushed back to give his space. Katara knew exactly what he was about to do and rolled her eyes. Sure enough when she looked back at Aang he was doing his stupid marble trick to unnecessarily enthusiastic oohs and aahs from the crowd. Spirits when would he grow up Katara thought. He can't keep acting like a twelve year old forever. Aang bowed and went to sit down again.

"More!" The crowd cheered. Aang looked at her but couldn't resist as the crowd picked up the chant. "More! More! More!." Now even people who had just been walking past were pushing in to get a look at the Avatar.

"Alright" he laughed. "One more." He bent some air into his signature spinning sphere and rode it around the tea shop to the great delight of those present.

"He's the avatar" a voice called out from the increasing crowd of onlookers. "Do some earth bending."

"No water next" a young child piped up.

"Well," Aang said, not even looking at Katara to see if she minded this time. "Water is easier in this small environment." And he bent the tea from a nearby cup and formed it into little dancing shapes in the air. The crowd erupted in applause. Katara fumed. She had taught him that!

"Katara" she could swear she heard her name being called. "Katara," there it was again. With everyone distracted by Aang's party tricks she stood on the table to try and get a better view over the crowd. As she scanned the crowd she saw a distinct flash of blue.

"Sokka!" she called. Sure enough it was her brother and Suki pushing their way through. Grinning at them she jumped down and grabbed the closest pot of tea that was still warm. She had just finished pouring three cups when they finally made it to her. "How did you find us?"

"It wasn't easy," Suki admitted.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, stuffing his mouth with some kind of pastry from the next table over. "Dad said you and Aang had gone out but didn't know where. And this is a big city."

"Luckily Aang tends to draw a crowd," Suki laughed. Katara rolled her eyes,

"He sure does," she replied but the other two didn't seem to catch the bitterness in her voice. She shook her head and focused on the more important issue. "So, what did you find in the palace?"

"Nothing," Sokka said, looking around for more abandoned food. Katara's mouth dropped. She turned to Suki who shrugged and back Sokka up.

"It's true. We went through the records for the last three years of official council meetings and we even snuck into the sealed section that held Iroh's private council notes and there was nothing there."

"How could there be nothing?" Katara's voice squeaked with surprise and she coughed to bring it back to normal.

"Well there was the usual stuff about running a nation. You taxes, crops blah blah blah but nothing sinister Katara" Sokka elaborated as if she was stupid.

"Well..." She paused. She didn't know what to say. How could this be. She was so sure. There had to be something. ".Did you check Zuko's rooms. What if he's working alone against his uncle? Then of course there'd be nothing in the council notes. I bet it's really well hidden. You guys didn't look hard enough."

"Hey!" Sokka said indignantly. "We were there all day Katara. If there's something going on then it's too well hidden for us to find. But honestly I'm starting to think we may have been wrong."

"I told you Katara." Suki joined in with a patronising smile. "You're letting your anger at past events control you and you can't see the truth." She reached across the table for Katara's hand. Katara stood instead.

"How could you, both of you. I trusted you to find out what's happening here and you give up after one day?"

"Look, Katara, Zuko sent a message to the house asking me to spar with him tomorrow. I'll go and grill him and see if we can find out anything. But you have to admit that there's a possibility that Zuko is not up to anything evil."

"Would it kill you to trust him on his word Katara?"

"I was the first one to trust him! Back in Ba Sing Se and it almost cost Aang his life; or don't you too remember." At least they had the idea to look a little ashamed. All three turned to look at their friend as he laughed and goofed around to the enjoyment of the crowd.

"Katara I,"

"I'm going home. You two stay with Aang."

"Katara, stay" Suki tried say.

"He won't even notice I'm gone. Have a good night."

"I'll let you know what happens tomorrow" Sokka called after her. She didn't respond. She knew her brother meant well but as always it was up to her to find out the truth.