Zuko left on Appa the next morning to pick up the others. Katara was amazed at how light she felt—she was happier than she had been in ages. In fact, she felt positively buoyant.

And better than that was the thrill of excitement she felt when she thought that she loved Zuko and Zuko loved her back. All the anguish of the past months was finally over, and it had somehow turned out better than she'd imagined possible.

Her only disappointment was that they would have to hide their relationship for the time being. They agreed that they shouldn't tell the others yet, Aang's feelings being what they were. They didn't want to put that on his shoulders so close to his final showdown with the Fire Lord—when any small slip-up could cost him his life.

Katara wandered around the old deserted house, thinking about the events of the last twelve hours. She couldn't contain a huge goofy smile when she thought of what Zuko had said after they'd decided to keep themselves a secret: "I'll keep it to myself… for now. But trust me, waterbender, I'd love nothing more than to shout from the mountaintops that you're mine. And I will. When this is all over."

Knowing the others were due back soon, she adjusted her red one-strap Fire Nation halter top and her necklace to make sure all of the marks Zuko had sucked into her skin were hidden. She smiled again as she covered them up, thinking about how they had gotten there. She found that she liked the idea of having physical evidence of Zuko's love on her body. And she'd certainly left enough marks on him.

When the others arrived, Toph turned to Katara sharply as soon as she set foot in the same room. "Something is different about you."

"Wh—what?" Katara asked nervously.

"I dunno. Maybe you're just calmer now because you got some closure for your mom. Or maybe it's something else… either way, your heart rate is way more relaxed now, Sweetness."

From behind the group, Zuko's eyes widened. He gave Katara an exaggerated look of panic, and she had to cover her mouth and feign a cough to cover her laugh.

"That must be it," she said hastily.

"Mmhmm," said Toph, not sounding convinced.

The conversation soon shifted; Aang wanted to know all about how things had gone with her mother's killer. They had only heard the basics from Zuko, despite badgering him for details the whole trip. He claimed it was Katara's story to tell, not his.

Aang looked so proud when she said she hadn't had it in her to destroy the man. Proud but unsurprised, like he had assumed nothing less. Toph too, nodded her head like it was the obvious outcome. Sokka hugged her and told her that they'd found their closure.

O – O – O – O – O – O

Later that day, Katara was still thinking about her friends' reactions to her story of hunting down her mother's murderer. The buoyancy from the morning was gone, replaced with a growing sense of shame.

She hadn't told any of them that she'd used bloodbending. She hadn't told them how her rage has risen into her throat until she could taste it in her mouth. Or how close she had been to driving those shards of ice through the man's eyes and into the tender flesh of his brain. How much she wanted to. How much it would have felt like justice.

Or that she still wasn't sure if she made the right decision.

Feeling agitated, Katara paced through the halls. Although she felt aimless, she soon found herself standing outside of Zuko's room. He was inside, meditating in preparation for a training session with Aang in the afternoon.

Katara hesitated at the door. She didn't want to bother him when he was meditating. Plus, she wasn't sure she was ready for such a vulnerable conversation with him, given that they'd only just smoothed out the hurt that lay between them. And beyond that, if they were trying to keep their relationship a secret, it probably wasn't a good idea for her to be alone with him in his room. No need to give the others any reason to suspect anything.

Still… she wanted to talk to him. He was the one who had been there. And more than that, he knew her—really knew her. He'd even been on the receiving end of her temper for these past few weeks. He saw her, more clearly than anyone.

Taking a breath, she knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in."

Katara slipped into the room, finding Zuko sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of four gently flickering candles.

His face lit up at seeing who it was. "Katara?"

"I'm sorry to bother you while you're meditating."

"You are never bothering me."

She smiled a little at the sincerity in his voice, before her features became solemn again. "I know I shouldn't be in here, but I just wanted to talk to you."

Zuko's brow creased in concern. "What is it?"

"I—I feel like a fraud. Aang was so… so proud of me, when I told him that I let my mother's killer go. All of them were. And worse, they acted like it was nothing more than what they'd all expected." Katara walked back and forth in front of the door as she spoke.

Understanding flickered in his eyes. "You feel like a fraud because you wanted to hurt him."

"Yes. So, so badly." Katara's cheeks flushed with shame. "And you saw what I did… I used bloodbending. I promised myself I would never do it again, but I did. You saw me. It's monstrous. I'm monstrous."

Going to her, Zuko put a hand on her shoulder to stop her pacing. She turned to face him, her eyes quivering with suppressed emotion.

"If you're a monster, then so is any powerful bender."

"How can you say that? You saw what I did. It's not the same."

"Earthbenders can bury people alive. Aang could rip the air from someone's lungs. Every time I hold fire in my palm, it pulses with the potential for destruction, just waiting to be set loose. I could burn someone alive as easily as look at them. I know what it is to have dangerous bending. And how hard it is to control it—especially when it's fueled by anger. I fueled my bending with anger for years. I know how easy it is to use it to hurt others." He raised his hand to touch his scar lightly. "As benders, we make a choice, every time we bend. And as hard as we try, we can't be perfect. No one makes the perfect decision every time. It's just human. It doesn't make you a monster."

"That's just it. Everyone expects me to make the perfect decision every time. Like it's just so easy for me, how could I do anything else? They all think I'm this… infallible, perfect person." She resumed her pacing, and her words gained momentum as she spoke, "To Sokka, I'll always be his naïve kid sister who takes care of everyone. Toph thinks I'm this virtuous goody-goody. And Aang… well he's had me on an unreachable pedestal since the day we first met. The expectations only get higher and higher, and I wonder how I'll ever live up to them. None of them see the darkness in me. Or that I have other sides to me. It's like, they only see the parts of me that they want to see. It's too much pressure and I'm sick of it! And I can't help but wonder, will the darkness just break out of me one day? Like it did when I bloodbent that soldier."

When she finished speaking, Katara felt like all her strength just disappeared from her, gone into the air along with her words. She sat heavily on the bed, her head in her hands.

Sitting next to her, Zuko put his arm around her and pulled her against his chest. "I think we all have darkness in us, Katara. You. Me. Even Aang. I fought with my darkness for a long time. It almost won. But you know what I learned?"

She pulled away to look him in the eyes, tears running down her face. "What did you learn?"

Zuko gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking. "The darkness will always be there. But it's whether we choose to act on it that really matters. My uncle says that there's no such thing as courage without fear. It's not bravery if you don't have to overcome something within yourself to do it. I think, maybe, the same goes for being a good person."

He could see her considering what he'd said, but she didn't yet look convinced.

He continued, trying to put into words all the things he'd grappled with on his own for so long. "I think… without the darkness, then goodness just becomes the default, and is that really being good? It's only goodness if the capacity—even the desire—for darkness is there… it's there and we choose to turn away from it. And I've seen you, Katara. You choose, time and time again, to do the good thing. To help people. Not because you're some spirit of unfailing goodness, but because in your heart you care and you want to do what is right. You choose to be good… and the goodness lies in the choice."

"I don't know, Zuko…"

"You think you're a monster because you used bloodbending? Tell me, was that man hurt, when we left?"

"No."

"And how easy, how stupidly easy, would it have been for you to hurt him, or kill him, with that ability?

Katara's voice was hoarse. "So easy."

"But you didn't. Because you are a good person. Having the darkness doesn't make you a fraud. It makes you human. It makes you real. It makes the goodness shine even brighter. If my sister, or my father, had the ability to bloodbend, they wouldn't hesitate for one second to use it, as much as possible. They would hurt everyone they could with it. And the fact that you can and you don't is… well it makes me love you even more. More than I can find the words to say."

Katara's breath hitched as she felt the guilt she had been holding in begin to release.

He continued, "And you know what else? I love that you're stubborn. I love that you're passionate and determined. I love your temper. And I love your darkness. Without your darkness," his voice cracked a little, "how would you ever find it in you to understand mine?"

"Zuko—"

Zuko hurried on, "And none of those things cancel out your kindness, your compassion. Your strength and goodness. You wouldn't be who you are without all those things in you. All of it. The dark and the light. And the world is a better place with you in it, by far."

"So you don't… don't think I'm a bad person? Like I'm just hiding who I am behind some façade of goodness?" Her voice wavered.

Zuko tipped her chin up so she had to look him in the eyes. "Not for a second."

"And what if I don't want to be good, all the time? What if it's too hard?"

"Then you don't have to be. No one is good all the time. Spirits, I'm only good like, maybe a quarter of the time at best." That a drew a small smile from her and she nudged him with her shoulder. "I think if you let yourself off the hook, you'll be surprised at how accepting everyone will be, of every part of you. Everyone is selfish sometimes. Or angry. Or resentful. Everyone has flaws. But you love them anyway, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"You deserve that, just as much as anyone."

Katara took a steadying breath. "When did you get so wise?"

Zuko released a dark chuckle. "I spent a long time looking inside myself. Wrestling with my darkness, and the expectations other people had for me. It's fucking hard. I get it. I really get it." He took a deep breath of his own. "Ooor maybe it's just all that time I spent with my uncle. Some of his wisdom had to rub off on me eventually, right?"

Katara cupped Zuko's face with her hands and pulled him to her for a tender kiss. "You've seen me at my worst… and you still love me."

Zuko put his arms around her, a self-effacing smile crossing his lips. "You've seen me at my worst, too. More than once. And my worst… it's pretty bad." His voice grew softer, "I betrayed the people I cared about most of all."

Seeing the pain on his features, Katara traced her fingertips along his face. Zuko closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. Suddenly, her brows drew together in guilt as another thought occurred to her. She pulled away from his embrace. "Zuko."

His eyes opened, questioning. He looked wary, like he almost expected her to change her mind about him now that she'd been reminded of his worst self.

Her voice was small as she said, "I never even apologized to you for what happened. You apologized to me so many times, and I didn't even…"

Relief flooded his face. She wasn't changing her mind. "Katara, you don't have to—"

"You said you felt like I just dropped you the second Aang was back. The way you described it… you felt the same as I've felt, all this time. I'm sorry I hurt you, Zuko." Tears welled in her eyes.

Zuko wrapped her in his arms again and kissed her temple. "It's okay. It's okay. It doesn't matter now."

"I didn't know Aang was going to kiss me. I should have pushed him away faster."

Tightening his hold on her, he said, "It's okay, Katara. Please, please stop apologizing to me. I—I don't deserve it." Katara opened her mouth to protest but Zuko rushed on, "Whatever you did that day… what I did was so much worse."

Katara shook her head obstinately. "You do deserve it, don't say that. If I'm allowed to be flawed, then you're allowed to be hurt. And you deserve an apology. I was so mad that I forgot to consider your feelings too. But I won't treat you like that Zuko. I won't. I'm not… I'm not like your father. And I am sorry."

His hands found her hair, stroking it lightly like he had done on the beach. "It's okay, it's okay," he whispered. Then, almost to himself, "There are so many things I wish I'd done differently. And I still can't believe… after all that… you're here with me right now."

Katara nodded with a shuddering breath, then closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his. They were still, just resting in the closeness for a moment.

"Thank you," she murmured. She kissed him softly again.

Blinking the tears from her eyes, Katara reluctantly pulled herself away. She cleared her throat, then said, "Speaking of being here with you right now—I really shouldn't be. We're supposed to be keeping this a secret."

She stood, intending on heading to the door.

"Maybe." He caught her hand before she could leave. "But if you need anything, I'm here. There's no reason a "friend" can't come see another "friend" for advice or to talk something out. They won't think it's anything more than that."

"That's true. And Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. Again."

"Of course."

"Do you think I should tell them? I mean, tell Aang and the others what really happened out there?"

He squeezed her hand. "Only if you want to. You don't owe anything to anyone, Katara. But if you do want to tell them, I'll be right there to support you. I do think they'll understand, honestly, I do. I mean, Aang has gone into the Avatar state for less, hasn't he?"

"Yeah. You're right. Maybe I will…" Katara returned the hand squeeze, then walked to the door. "You've given me a lot to think about."

"If you want to talk about this again, just say the word."

"I will."

When Katara left the room, she felt a new feeling of peace settle over her. Then, the buoyancy of the morning returned, even stronger than before, and she was filled with a sense that, even though they had yet to face the Fire Lord, somehow everything was going to turn out okay.

As she made her way to the kitchen to make lunch, she hummed.