Katara immediately began to scramble backward on her hands, and Zuko lurched toward her.
"I'm sorry!" He said, not knowing what else to say.
"Have you been spying on me? On my village?" Katara demanded, sounding almost hysterical. Zuko got to his feet before she did, and was able to lunge for her arm.
"No! Wait! Please." He pleaded just as Katara wrenched her arm away.
"You're going to take me back to the Fire Nation and kill me." She stated and Zuko flinched.
"No, Katara, it's nothing like that." Zuko said as Katara continued to speak.
"Sokka was right. Oh spirits, we're going to be executed." She backed slowly away from him but her eyes darted around.
"I'm from the future." Zuko blurted. Katara stopped and looked at him. They both froze and Zuko slapped both hands over his mouth. He didn't breathe, only watched her.
"What." She said finally, quietly. Zuko swallowed and then lowered his hands.
"Not just that, but this isn't my timeline. My life already went through this, but it was." He forcibly put his hands down by his sides. "Different."
Katara blinked rapidly and then shook her head.
"You're from the future?"
"Yes."
"But not this future?"
"No."
"And my mother-" Katara's throat closed and Zuko's shoulders slumped.
"Yes." He answered softly.
Katara turned back to the rail and grabbed hold of it. As if she were falling and needed to save herself.
"I'd ask you to prove it, but you knew my mother's name." She said. Zuko didn't say anything, but stood next to her and leaned against the railing.
"We ended this whole war already. We had moved on." He said and looked out across the water. For all of his paranoia, he felt relieved now.
"We won?" Katara asked.
"There was more of us. Toph and Suki and," Zuko paused and glanced over at Katara. She stared back at him, confused. "People we met." He looked away. "People we loved."
"How?"
Zuko looked back at Katara and was stunned by the steeled look in her eyes. He saw her face as it had been when she stopped the rain. It was this mix of determination and revenge, something altogether more human than Aang's mission to save the world. It was the exact same look, in the exact same face, and Zuko couldn't help himself from leaning toward her.
"It's too different. I don't think," Zuko shook his head and looked along the deck. A few guards were strolling past, hurrying away when Zuko noted them. He glared and let out a sigh.
"There was a different Fire Lord then. Battles fought here were yet to come for me at this time. I don't even know if the same ending is planned." He finished.
"But you came here to save us right?" Katara asked. A prickle fell down Zuko's spine and he shivered.
"I don't know why I'm here. Or even how this has come to be." He rubbed the back of his neck while he thought.
"Tell me one thing. One thing that you would only know if we were friends." Katara said. Zuko closed his eyes as his memory plucked up an instance, one that filled him with shame and regret.
"Your mother's necklace, that you always wear." He said and opened his eyes, looking right at her throat. "You lost her in a Fire Nation raid when they were looking for you. If you lost the necklace, it would hurt you immensely."
He glanced up at her eyes and looked away when he saw the pain there.
"I stole it from you." He blurted and felt Katara recoil.
"What?"
"I'm sorry. I don't want you to think I was some." He stopped, his mind sputtered, and he twisted his hands through the air as he thought. "I changed."
Katara sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, rubbing her eyes as she did.
"Okay." She said, her eyes still closed. Then again as she looked back at him. "Okay."
Zuko shifted uneasily on his feet as Katara examined him.
"We need to get Sokka on board." She said. Zuko nodded, a little too enthusiastically.
"I think I have an idea." He said.