Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or LoK.

CHAPTER 7

Katara burst through the apartment door, still seething even after the brisk walk from the restaurant. This is what I get for trying to be civil.

"The nerve of that—ugh!" she exclaimed to no one in particular.

It was downright offensive that Zuko thought she would be stupid enough to allow him to manipulate her like that again. How could he be so foolish as to believe that it was still just about his nation—that his own betrayal hadn't nearly ruined everything? He was lucky that a little soup in his lap was all he got.

She made her way to the washroom, grumbling to herself as she went. In one fluid movement, she peeled off the uncomfortable dress she had forced herself to wear that morning and stepped into the tub. Deciding to forgo using the mechanism that made the water flow, she instead bent a stream from the unseen pipes into a cool glove around herself. Closing her eyes, she sighed as the healing water worked to soothe her tense muscles.

A part of her that she tried desperately to silence whispered that Zuko may have been right about one thing. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence that they ended up in this place together. But Katara didn't believe in destiny—at least not the way Zuko did. There were ways around destiny.

What a disaster. The day had nearly been a complete waste of time, save for her discovery of Google. Katara had watched the other girl—Meili—use it frequently throughout the day, seeming to conjure up any information she could possibly need, just by asking. Incredibly useful for someone stuck in a place where absolutely nothing makes sense. She had taken careful notes on that. Perhaps she could use it to find Aang. She had to, as she was otherwise no closer to a lead on his whereabouts.

She sent a silent apology to the other Katara, wherever she was. There was no reason to keep going to work, and only so much she could pretend to know or be. She had clearly alarmed her coworkers, and an absent Katara was probably better than a useless Katara. It was all getting to be a bit too much to process, and there could be no more distractions.

Letting the water splash back into a puddle around her, she stood to find something to cover up with in case Zuko had returned. As she glanced around the washroom, she couldn't help the feeling of intrusion, as if she was in someone else's home. She had a real, if irrational, fear of touching what did not belong to her, even if it technically did belong to her. Grimacing, she settled for a soft silk slip that had been haphazardly draped over a hook.

She had been right to put it on because Zuko was sitting at the table when she opened the door. His eyes briefly raked over her before settling a glower on her face. Part of her wanted to laugh. He was covered in soup.

"This conversation isn't over." He stated it like a demand. Katara felt her eyes roll.

"Yes, it is. I have nothing more to say to you," she spat, gesturing toward his stained clothing. "And I don't care what—"

"No, listen to me!" He stood as he said it, his voice shrill, but somehow still dangerous. Decidedly too exhausted to deal with a flare in his temper, Katara huffed out a sigh and waited.

"What happened in Ba Sing Se wasn't personal." Maybe she wasn't completely exhausted. She opened her mouth to say the first nasty thing she could think of, but he kept going.

"What did you expect me to do, turn on my sister—my family? Because you and I had one little heart to heart about our moms? Would you do that to Sokka?"

Katara bristled. "How can you possibly make that comparison? Sokka wasn't trying to kill Aang. Sokka isn't—he isn't evil!"

"That's exactly my point!"

Oh?

He had moved to stand in front of her. "You've never had to choose between your family and…" A brief pause. "I'd been banished for three years, and Azula gave me my only opportunity to go home. To not be in hiding anymore, to finally get my father's acceptance."

"What about your uncle? He's your family, too, is he not? Was betraying him 'not personal'?" Zuko blanched. That seemed to hit home. Instead of responding, he appeared to turn in on himself for a moment.

"Choose between my family and what?" Katara asserted, and Zuko snapped back to attention.

He screwed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You've never had to question your values. Because Sokka shares them. He's always been right there with you."

"Not everyone has the luxury of questioning their values! We don't get to be selfish and decide to overlook them if it means getting what we want. Our people have been slaughtered by your people. There is no questioning what we have to do to survive. There's no questioning that the war has to end!"

"You don't think I want the war to end? Of course, I do! It just—" he cut himself off, groaning in frustration. Oh, this is rich coming from the Fire Lord's son. She stared him down and waited.

He met her eyes before he spoke again. "What will Aang do to the Fire Nation if he defeats my father? What will become of my people? Say what you will about the Fire Lord, about Azula…about me. But I love my country, and its citizens don't deserve punishment for the royal family's actions."

Katara noted that he didn't deny that his family was evil incarnate. That's the second time, now. "Aang will restore peace. You—"

"You said that capturing the Avatar meant capturing the world's last hope for peace, but what does 'peace' mean to you? I saw what Aang did at the Siege of the North—my people, slaughtered, in a matter of minutes. Death and destruction is peace, as long as the Fire Nation isn't the one inflicting it?" His hard gaze didn't leave hers.

Katara winced. "Aang would never kill anyone on purpose. He…are you forgetting what the Fire Nation did to the Air Nomads? He wouldn't wish that on anyone. He wouldn't stoop to that level."

Zuko frowned. "Well wouldn't that be the perfect revenge?"

She wasn't entirely surprised that he would come to that conclusion. "Not everyone is looking for revenge. Especially not Aang—it's his duty to restore balance."

Zuko said nothing, so Katara spoke again. "Tell me what the alternative is if Aang doesn't defeat the Fire Lord. Do we carry on in an endless war?" Still no response. His eyes were somewhere else, his expression grim. Maybe her message was sinking in.

But Katara was done with wasting time trying to untangle Zuko's mind. Google awaited.

Her eyes slid over to the computer that she knew to be Zuko's, resting on the arm of the futon. Zuko made no move to stop her as she made her way to it, so he must have received the hint that she was done talking.

As Sokka had done the day before, she unfolded the device and watched the display light up. Oh no. The other thing Sokka had mentioned: a password. Luckily, a piece of parchment at work had Katara's computer password written on it. Maybe the other Zuko had something like that somewhere.

"Did you forget my password again?" Zuko's smirking voice came from behind her, startling her.

"Um…what?"

Katara stiffened as he reached both arms around her, his breath hot against the side of her neck. His fingers flew across the buttons below the display, unlocking the computer with apparent ease. He straightened, smiling a genuine smile. Before Katara could react, he covered both of her hands with his, gave them a light squeeze, and moved away from the table.

Zuko froze halfway to the washroom. He turned around to look at Katara, who was gaping at him.

"What was that?" she asked in a tone of open shock.

"I…don't know." Something had inexplicably overtaken him for a moment. "It's like I was the other guy for a second."

She was silent for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "…Let's just add that to the list of reasons to get out of here." She gave him one last incredulous glance before her attention went back to the device.

Zuko continued toward the washroom in a daze. Once the door was shut behind him, he slumped against it. What just happened? He had been so confused and frustrated. Then he looked at Katara only briefly, and suddenly he was filled with…feelings…for her. Memories of her. It wasn't like with Mai. It was more intense, and more…comfortable? And then he had just instinctively approached her…and then it was over, almost as quickly as it began.

Agni. He could only handle so many bombshells.

His only distraction from that recent development was the equally infuriating conversation he had just finished having with Katara. How could he possibly explain his family dynamic to her when hers was so perfect?

Well, it would be. If the Fire Nation hadn't murdered her mother, he reminded himself with gritted teeth.

Thinking of what he did to Uncle hurt him more than she could possibly imagine. But Uncle had made his choice to turn his back on his family. Zuko was done with being a traitor. Going with Azula meant going back to some semblance of normalcy.

But then Azula attempted to murder the Avatar. I finally made it home, and it was nothing like I imagined. I betrayed the only person in the world who loved me—a fact that the journey home had all but confirmed.

Zuko knew that what he had with Azula and his father wasn't love, but loyalty in the Fire Nation couldn't simply be broken. He thought of the horrible sickness he had experienced in Ba Sing Se, the first time he had truly questioned his destiny. Would he even survive if he fully renounced his father?

Yes, that was a path he had been forced to consider. He shuddered, recalling the events of the last war meeting he had attended before he left the palace—the reason he hadn't been able to answer Katara's final question. If the Avatar didn't defeat the Fire Lord, well. Zuko didn't exactly agree with his father's plan.

But he couldn't tell her about any of that, not when her hatred of the Fire Nation was so absolute. In her mind, Ozai represented the goals and ideals of the entire country. There was good, and there was the Fire Nation. That's not how war works, you stubborn Water Tribe brat.

Realizing he was still leaning against the door, Zuko quickly stripped away his soupy clothing and repeated the steps from that morning until he was standing once again under the calming rain. His mind continued to drift.

Uncle had taught him once that the Water Tribes valued community above all else. If the individual acted, the community stood behind them. If someone made a mistake, it reflected on the entire tribe. All things considered, it made sense for Katara to blame Zuko for his nation's wrongdoings, and he had only made it worse in Ba Sing Se.

Perhaps the best thing he could do was try to understand her, rather than convince her to abandon her beliefs. He had meant what he said in the restaurant, after all. For whatever reason, they were supposed to be here. Zuko still needed answers, and he was beginning to realize that without Katara, he would not find them.

As for the corresponding questions, one had become abundantly clear the moment he squeezed Katara's hands.

When he stepped back into the main room, she had not moved from her place at the table. The room was completely dark, save for the light of the device that lit her features in a soft glow. She didn't look up at his approach.

Resolving not to disturb her, Zuko wasted no time diving headfirst onto the futon, his fatigue finally catching up with him. Had it been only that morning that he started his second shift at the tea shop?

Sleep found him quickly, but it wasn't long before the pull of the dawn awoke him once again. He dully wished he could ignore the inner fire in favor of sleeping in, just once. He rolled his head lazily toward the window. Overcast. That explained it.

A noise from the kitchen area snapped him to attention. To his surprise, Katara was still sitting at the table with her back to him, tapping away at the device. She didn't seem to notice that he had woken up. Zuko decided to keep it that way, but his curiosity was beginning to get the better of him. He craned his neck to get a glimpse at what exactly she had spent so many hours looking at.

His eyes strained against the brightness, unable to make out the words flashing across the device. Though, he didn't have to wonder for much longer, because Katara gasped loud enough to wake the neighborhood, shutting the machine hastily. Her head was suddenly in her hands as she whispered, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no."

Zuko took that as his cue to 'wake up'—there was no more use in pretending. "Katara?" He approached her hesitantly. She jumped and stared up at him with wide, wet eyes.

"Katara, what's wrong?" he asked with more urgency. Shaking her head, she abruptly stood and began to pace, still mumbling to herself.

This was the first time Zuko had seen her truly panic since they had gotten here. He attempted to step in front of her, but she just snaked around him. He barely suppressed an indignant grunt.

"Please. You have to tell me what's going on. We have to help each other!" It felt wrong to plead with her, but he was out of ideas.

Hearing the desperation in his tone, she stopped, seeming to size him up. After a long minute, he could see in her eyes that a decision was made.

She took a steadying breath that heaved her entire body. "Aang is dead."

Zuko blinked, unsure if he had heard her correctly. "…What? How could you possibly know that?" Is she…? He gestured wildly at the device on the table. "Were you using that to communicate with him?!"

He could practically feel the frustration radiating from her. "No, no, no. He's dead here, not in our reality, despite your sister's best efforts." Her voice took on a hard edge at the mention of Azula.

Zuko chose not to mention the assassin.

"So…what's the problem? It's not the one you know. Why are you even surprised? Wouldn't he be 110 years old, or something like that?"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because she had reverted back to panicking. "You don't understand. Aang was my way out! I was going to find him, and he was going to open a spirit portal and—"

"That was your plan? You do realize that bending doesn't exist here, right? You should have seen the looks I got when you pulled that stunt at the restaurant…" he trailed off at the utterly defeated look on her face.

"I thought…maybe the Avatar would transcend all of that," she murmured.

Well, he could admit it wasn't entirely unsound logic. After all…wait. Katara seemed to come to the same realization that he had because her expression had shifted into something more hopeful.

She spoke first. "If bending doesn't exist here, why can you and I bend?"

Why, indeed? Zuko had subconsciously lit a small flame on his pointer finger. He nodded thoughtfully as he watched it dance in time with his breathing. "Point taken. Maybe there is a way to pull it out of someone…somehow."

There was a momentary silence as they both sat on that thought.

"Why don't we start with your uncle?" she asked, and Zuko could hear the hint of uncertainty underneath the question.

Zuko couldn't help a small smile as he nodded. "That's actually not a bad idea." Katara's eyes narrowed.

"I'll discuss that with him over tea tomorrow. If it doesn't work, at least he can give us some insights about this madness," he continued, gesturing toward the window. He met Katara's still-watery gaze. "Will you come?"

She chewed her lip for a moment before nodding. "I suppose I don't have much choice now."

Sokka gawked at the massive fire breathing statue that loomed in the center of the city plaza. He could scarcely imagine the amount of war profiteering that allowed for precious resources to be put to use for such grandiosity. Given the sheer size of Fire Fountain City and the black smoke that curled above the many factory rooftops…well, maybe he could imagine.

From the corner of his eye, he could see that Aang suddenly perked up, pointing to a small noodle stall that stood in the shade of a large hawk post tower on a side street. "Maybe if I can get some real food in my system, I'll be able to get that spirit portal opened faster. No offense, Sokka."

Sokka shrugged. He would be the first to admit that they couldn't subsist forever on Katara's ocean kumquats, and he had been a bit too preoccupied to attempt to hunt down anything else. One problem, though. "I'm all for getting Katara back sooner rather than later. But where are we supposed to get the money to buy noodles?"

Toph snickered from Aang's other side, holding open a small sack of silver pieces for the two boys to see. "Way ahead of you, Snoozles."

Sokka and Aang both abruptly stopped walking, mouths agape. "Where did you get that?" asked Aang incredulously.

"While you two were busy moping about Katara, I decided to take improving our situation into my own hands."

That didn't answer the question, but the angry rumble in his stomach reminded Sokka that he didn't particularly care. He clapped the earthbender on the shoulder. "Sometimes I wonder what we would do without you in the group."

She smirked. "Let's go."

There was a small outdoor seating area in front of the stall, and only one other table was occupied. Sokka nodded to himself. They would be able to speak somewhat freely. Once orders were placed, the trio moved to sit at a table as far as possible from the other patrons. While they waited, Toph munched from a tin of fire flakes, which came free with her Helpless Blind Girl act.

"Okay, we need to talk about a backup invasion plan," Sokka began.

Aang tore his eyes from Toph's fire flakes to stare at him, eyes laced with confusion. "Backup plan?"

Toph sighed. "You know, in case we can't get Katara back in time."

Sokka nodded. "I know that time works differently in the Spirit World, so probably only a few minutes have gone by for her. Katara can take care of herself in there for a short amount of time. So if we have to wait—" He paused at the pained look on Aang's face. "What?"

The boy spoke hesitantly. "I don't know if that's necessarily true."

Sokka did not like where this was going. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

Aang began to fidget. "Well, Roku says that the Spirit World sort of has of mind of its own. It has…motives. You say that four days went by while I was there for what I thought was a few hours. That could be true for Katara, but if the spirits have other ideas…"

Toph winced. "So when you say that time moves differently in the Spirit World, you're saying it moves differently? The flow of time can change?"

Aang nodded, and Sokka blanched. "So we really have no way of guessing how long Katara has been in there with some Fire Nation clown?"

Toph shushed him. "Keep it down, Sokka. You're drawing some unwanted attention this way." He hadn't realized his voice had risen. He glanced toward the two well-dressed women that sat at the table closest to the noodle stall. They giggled and looked away when he met their stares.

At that moment, the stocky man at the stall called out that their order was ready. Sokka sighed with relief. Food would help him focus.

The boys made their way to the counter to grab their bowls and sets of chopsticks. Aang had already turned to take his and Toph's food back to the table when Sokka froze.

"Have you heard about Prince Zuko?" one of the women at the other table murmured to her companion.

"You mean the Fire Lord's boy? The banished prince?"

Sokka pretended to fumble and drop one of his chopsticks, leaning in a little closer to their conversation.

"Well, formally-banished. The word from the capital now is that he's missing." She paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. "Apparently, he went to visit General Iroh in prison in the middle of the night. Then he just vanished. No one has seen him in almost 24 hours, and no one has been able to get a word out of the General about where he might have gone."

Sokka did the mental math and nearly choked on his spit.

"So you mean to say, he ran away?" the other woman chirped, not bothering to hide her delight at this bit of juicy scandal.

"I heard from someone in the palace that there was an important war council meeting. The rumor is, the prince didn't agree with whatever was decided during the meeting. Some say he followed his treacherous uncle's path and joined up with the Avatar's allies." She waggled her eyebrows conspiratorially.

The other woman gasped. "I did hear that the prince has been unhappy in the capital ever since his return from exile. Refusing help from servants, keeping to himself…banishment clearly didn't do wonders for his court manners. But would he go so far as to—"

Her companion interrupted her. "Can we help you?"

Sokka realized he had stood up to gape at the two women, and that her question was directed at him. Her eyes were narrowed.

"Oh. No, madam! I was just simply…" he tugged on his fake beard. "…contemplating how delicious this meal is going to be." He grinned toothily, and the woman grimaced in disgust. Sokka darted back to his table before either of the gossips could say anything else.

When he sat down, he noticed that Toph looked as tense as he felt. "You heard that, too?"

She nodded. Aang glanced between them, confused. "Heard what?"

"That wasn't just any Fire Nation war balloon on Roku's Island. It was Zuko," Sokka hissed.

Aang's eyes widened. "So, Katara—she's stuck in the Spirit World…with Zuko? How do you know?"

"Evidently, he's been missing for as long as Katara has. I know enough about Zuko by now to know that it probably isn't a coincidence."

Toph nodded soberly, and there was a rigid silence before she spoke. "I don't think coming up with a backup eclipse plan is an option anymore." Her brows knit together. "Twinkletoes, calm down."

Aang was on tilt. Sokka hadn't seen the kid that angry since…well, since Appa. Thank the spirits he can't go into the Avatar State. "I will open another spirit portal. I'll do it tonight, and when I get to Zuko I'll—"

Sokka put a firm hand on his shoulder. "As much as I'd love to see you blow Zuko off a spirit mountain, we have to think this through. We don't even know if you have enough strength to open another portal, and even if you do, we have no idea where they will be once it's opened. You saw what happened last time—we might not have much time to find them before it closes."

Aang turned to glare at Sokka but nodded curtly after a moment.

Toph threw her arms out in exasperation. "How are we supposed to find them? Isn't the Spirit World, you know, a world?"

Sokka had already been forming a plan in his mind but wasn't sure the other two would like it. He took a breath and placed his hands flat on the table. "I think we need to make a detour back to the Earth Kingdom."

Katara closed her eyes, feeling the cool mist on her face and letting the sounds of peculiar music and easygoing chatter fill her ears. The park was bustling with activity in the mid-afternoon sun. The large central fountain's bursting streams of her element were the only thing keeping her from overheating. Why couldn't she have been dropped in a reality dealing with an eternal winter? This place was hot.

She curled her fingers. If she could just—no one would notice…

A tremendous cheer interrupted the steady hum of noise, and she turned to watch a group of street performers dazzle a growing crowd. A man was pulling spectators from the audience to line them up back-to-back. As he did so, Katara noticed him take green bills from each of them. Thanks, Google.

Yes, Google had been a friend to her in her explorations over the last couple of days. As it turned out, the other Katara carried quite a bit of that paper currency that she had, at first, thought worthless. She tried not to think of it as stealing whenever she spent it on things like the edible cookie dough—whatever that was—that sat half-eaten in her left hand.

Once all six of the participants were properly lined up, each of the performers took turns jumping over the startled group. They flipped and twirled, whistling over the frozen figures as the audience 'ooo'ed and 'aww'ed. Six people, and not one of them so much as clipped! Katara couldn't help but wonder if there were, in fact, airbenders here, hiding in plain sight.

With a subtle hand movement, she pulled the cooling mist of the fountain closer to her body. If that was possible…

Katara needed some answers. She had sent a message to Meili that she wouldn't be coming into work for the rest of the week, ignored the concerned response, and spent the better part of two days looking. For what, exactly, she wasn't sure, but she needed a new lead.

She attempted in vain to ignore the ache in her heart for Aang. It's not real, she had repeated to herself over and over again. There had to be another way out. Maybe General Iroh was a jumping-off point, but she couldn't wait around like a sitting turtle duck for him to help. So, she searched.

The seemingly-endless city was still overwhelming, no doubt, but Katara was finding herself beginning to feel numb to it. There was a certain charm to the filth and the noise. She was learning not to be surprised by every tiny abnormality she stumbled across. Everything about this was abnormal. Water adapted. She had to adapt.

There were, of course, things that were impossible to overlook, like the building made entirely of glass which seemed to literally touch the sky, that she had stumbled upon yesterday afternoon. Or, the impossibly long bridge that she had walked across, only to find even more cityscape on its other side. That had been a particularly late night…

Her side trips aside, she was beginning to resign herself to Zuko's insistence on their cooperation. Mostly because she was running out of ideas. But there was something else, too.

Zuko seemed genuinely conflicted about his family's…tendency toward destruction. There was no denying that his uncle had rubbed off on him, if only slightly. Sure, she had gotten the same impression in Ba Sing Se. But, he was clearly still struggling, even after having gone home with his 'honor' intact. Perhaps she could use that struggle to her advantage.

That wasn't to say her feelings toward the firebender had changed—he had made his choice, and there was no excuse for it—but he seemed to care about people, and not just the way he cared for his uncle. Though, that was an entirely different thread to unravel.

Maybe there was hope for him yet.

She at least had gotten a better idea of where his priorities landed, and it was safe to assume that they were not in the same arrangement as those of his father. Though, she wasn't sure how much difference that made, at the end of the day. Zuko wasn't about to turn his back on the Fire Nation, whether he agreed with its actions or not. That said, the barest hint of humanity was a start.

Katara hadn't seen much of Zuko since accepting his invitation to tea. Both nights when she had returned to the apartment, she had found him already asleep. And both mornings, he awoke at dawn and was gone long before she felt the sun burn away the last remnants of her own slumber.

Whether he was actively avoiding her, she couldn't tell, but she was nonetheless grateful for space. She didn't imagine his—well, whatever that hand squeeze was—would be an isolated incident. She could only hope it wouldn't get worse, the longer they stayed in this place. La, don't let it happen to me, too.

Katara took another bite of cookie dough and rose from her place on the fountain's edge. Just as she did so, she felt a persistent buzz from the device in her pocket—a call from Sokka.

"Hi, Sokka."

"Hey, hey. Just calling to check on how that planning is going. Have you made any reservations for Thursday?"

A wince. She knew this was coming. "Ah, no. Still working on it. Work got busy."

"All good, no worries. I just needed something to tell Mom the next time she asks me."

She couldn't bring herself to plan this dinner with her parents, knowing that she wouldn't actually be there for it. Or, so she kept telling herself. The 'Aang died peacefully in his sleep of old age' revelation had undoubtedly thrown a wrench into her plans. But even if she was still stuck here when the dinner came around, how could she get through seeing her mom again, knowing it would be the last time—in a life that wasn't even hers?

"Hello? Katara?"

Traitorous tears were threatening to fall. "Oh, sorry. Um. Just tell her you've been looking on Google but haven't found a place yet."

"Ha, okay. Probably could've come up with that one on my own. Well, they get here tomorrow, so you should come up with something soon." A brief pause, then: "Is everything okay between you and Zuko? Things seemed a little…weird the other night."

Oh, Sokka. You have no idea. "Yup. Everything's fine."

"Huh. Well, that's good! Listen, I gotta go. Let me know when you make the dinner reservation."

He was gone before she could say anything else. Deep breaths. Don't get sidetracked. Focus on right now.

And right now, she realized, was when Zuko had told her to meet him at the tea shop. She pulled up Google. TranquiliTea, was it?

Deep breaths.

Steeling herself, she began the brisk walk toward a reluctant alliance.

AN: Truthfully, I planned to have them at tea with Iroh in this chapter. Sometimes my brain gets away from me! I also played around with the show's timeline a little bit, which may or may not have been intentional. A sincere thank you to everyone who has taken the time to click on this story, especially to those who have left reviews! The feedback and words of encouragement really do make this process so much more rewarding.

I'll be moving apartments in the coming weeks, so expect possible delays in updates. I'm also realizing I've made the rookie mistake of not backlogging chapters. As much as I want to update every week, I also want to make sure it's not garbage! Bear with me. :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!