Hey guys! I promise this is the last one-shot I do so that I can continue "A Nomad's Journey". Anyway, this one-shot is basically about the obvious discomfort that Katara and Zuko display during the "Zutara" scene in the play at Ember Island. This takes place a little while after the play back at the vacation house they were staying in, and will basically explain why they were clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Also, I should mention this was suggested by schwinndamaris033 and akiraphoenix38. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading and I hope you all have a great day!

Quick responses to reviews:

Guest: Thanks! Glad to hear that you've been liking them. Thanks for reading.

Raccoon: Thanks! And I agree, I hate the thought of them being with anyone else like that, which is why you'll see that they're each other's firsts in a lot of my fics. Yeah, they probably do, but I'm not really a fan of realism. Fanfiction is supposed to be fun and creative, not like what the world actually is in real life. Yeah, I didn't like that about his story either. They both would have certainly saved their virginities for each other in a real-life scenario, or, real-situation scenario, anyway.

Ashley Barbosa: Thanks! Glad that I've finally earned your approval for them.

Airwaterclouds: Cool! Welcome to the account-having fandom! Don't worry, you'll figure it out. It's not that complicated. Let me know if you need help. Glad to hear that you like my work, and I'm glad that you really like "A Nomad's Journey". Sorry I keep putting it off, but I'll be going back to it after this, I promise. I won't, don't worry. Thanks for reading, mate!

Benoc2004: Thanks! Always happy to hear when people are enjoying my stories. Sorry, I had to get this idea out of my head and then I promise that I'll write the next chapter. Thanks for reading and for the reviews! I appreciate it.

Guest (The Case Against Zutara): Oh yeah, I completely agree with you. She was touching him all the time, and even when she didn't, like you mentioned in Zuko alone, she probably had to restrain herself from touching him. And you're right, there was no reason for her to correct his form like that in the Cave of Two Lovers episode, but she did it anyway. She always seemed to crave the feeling of being near him. I didn't know that about the Avatar movie, but I believe you. Truth be told, I actually agree with you. When I wrote this essay, I was somewhat new to the fanfiction community and had just jumped onto the bandwagon, so to speak. I didn't know any better, but after going through the comics again and rewatching the show, I decided against it. I understand well why Mai broke up with him, and I know that they weren't really toxic to each other. I've seen many toxic relationships, ones where they fight a lot both physically and verbally, and have some kind of abuse. No, Maiko isn't a toxic relationship. Sorry I misled you a bit with that old review, but I completely agree with you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Katara sighed as she sat down on the steps in the outer courtyard where Aang did his training. After the whole disaster of the night with Aang, she had decided that she needed some fresh air to clear her head. She hadn't meant to run out on him like that, but something about him kissing her had made her panic. She didn't understand why, as she had enjoyed his kiss, but the more he tried telling her how he felt, the more that she found herself wanting to run.

It also didn't help that she wasn't too happy that he had kissed her even though she told him that she was confused. But, she knew she couldn't really be upset with him for that. She knew that he had only kissed her in an attempt to help her decide if she felt the same or not. No, what really bothered her was that she had these conflicting feelings in her that made her head hurt and made her want to crawl up in her bed and sleep all day.

Prior to him kissing her on the submarine before what was supposed to be the biggest battle of his life, she had been certain that she loved him, but something had happened to her when he kissed her. She knew without a doubt that she had enjoyed the kiss, but something seemed to have messed her up when he did this and flew off to what might have been his death. She didn't know what exactly this was, but whatever it was, it was slowly tearing her apart as she struggled to figure out what was going on inside of her.

She remembered the sad look on his face as she had run away. Run away from him, from her feelings, from what she knew deep inside of her was true. No matter how much she attempted to deny how she felt about him, she knew in her heart that she loved him, but she wouldn't let herself admit it yet. Not until everything was finally over and he defeated the Fire Lord.

But she did not know this yet, and instead had been trying in vain to sort through her emotions to figure out what was going on with her, but to no avail. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn't get over the strong feeling that was holding her back from admitting to what she already knew. And this inability to control it made her even more frustrated, but she eventually gave up with a sigh, knowing that at least for now, there was nothing she could do.

To her great surprise, she heard footsteps coming from across the courtyard and was surprised to see Zuko walking up. "Zuko?" she called to him in surprise with a raised brow. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Zuko shrugged a little as he walked over to talk to her. "That play kind of…. Messed me up."

Katara laughed bitterly and looked down at her feet. "Tell me about it." He looked at her in confusion, wondering why she seemed to be upset about something, but decided not to ask about it. Zuko had never been the kind of person to dig into one's personal life, least of all the waterbender who he knew could be angry at him if he said even one wrong thing.

Knowing that not asking her about it would be his best option, he sat down on the stairs and sighed as he looked up at the stars. And though he wasn't exactly a fan of talking to people about his issues, he felt that he needed to get this out, and knew that Katara would likely be the best person to talk to about this. "It's just that the play reminded me that we might not win this. My father is crazy. Aang's a good student, but I don't know for sure if he'll be able to take on my father." Katara winced as he said this, and seeing this, he thought about asking her why she didn't seem to like that, but then remembered how obviously the two had feelings for each other and decided against it.

"Yeah… I'm a little worried too," she finally responded after looking down at her feet with narrowed eyes. "I know that he can take him, but… I know that he won't want to kill him. What if he can't finish the job and it makes him…" her eyes squeezed shut, her mind not allowing her to finish the sentence as the great pain she felt from even thinking about that possibility flooded over her.

Seeing the pain on her face, Zuko decided that it would be best to not say anything else about that, and decided to try to think of something that would make her laugh. "Well… at least they didn't have a guy play your character," he attempted lamely.

Katara chuckled a little, but it was weak. "I appreciate that you're trying to make me laugh, Zuko, but I'd leave that to…" she trailed off and sighed. "Aang. He always knows how to make me laugh."

"So… what did you think about the play?" Zuko awkwardly asked as he attempted to move the conversation in another direction, hoping that Katara wouldn't hurt him for making her upset.

"It was… horrible," she grimaced as flashes of various scenes flashed through her mind. "They made me look like a crybaby, Toph actually liked the person who played her, and worst of all…" she shuddered a little. "The 'you and me' scene."

Zuko grimaced as well as he was reminded of that scene. He had been surprised when he saw that that was what the writer had chosen to make of that moment in their lives, and had not liked it very much. "Yeah, I didn't like that either," he agreed, though he couldn't help but raise a brow at her, feeling a little offended that she seemed repulsed at the idea. "Thanks, by the way. Glad to know that I'm repulsive."

Katara's face took on a look of surprise at this, and she tried to backtrack. "I'm sorry, Zuko. I didn't mean it like that."

"How did you mean it, then?" he sarcastically asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Don't take it personally," she tried to be as polite as possible. "You're a nice guy, Zuko, but I've only really known you for a few weeks. The rest of the time I saw you, you were the enemy. And frankly, you're not my type."

He really didn't care, but his curiosity got the best of him, and he couldn't help but ask. "You have a type?"

At this, Katara actually laughed a little. "Yeah, I do. You're a good guy, Zuko, but you're kind of… dull. The guys that I like are full of life. I don't want to just go through the motions and stay in one place for the rest of my life, I want to go around the world, see the things I've never seen before. See all the different cultures and find out who I really am. I want to be with someone who can always make me laugh when I'm sad and is always there for me. And frankly, you're not exactly the funniest guy around. Or the most caring."

"That's probably fair," he laughed a little, taking her honesty in stride and not letting it offend him. "Though I agree with you, I wouldn't be good for you. You know why I didn't like hearing about them putting the 'us' scene in the play?" She nodded, a curious look on her face.

"Well, besides the reason that there's a girl I love in the Fire Nation," he began thoughtfully. "Then probably because you're a little too… emotional for me."

Katara looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you kind of… get very angry easily," he told her cautiously, knowing that she could erupt at him at any moment. "Don't get me wrong, I've been known to lose my temper, too, but it's different. You're a very emotional person, Katara. And I'm... not. That's what I love about Mai. She's not like any other girl in the world. She doesn't let her emotions get in her way. You? I haven't known you for very long, but I'd bet that you can go from being happy to sad in seconds."

The young waterbender frowned a little as she thought on this. "Well, I… I guess you're right," she sighed as she looked down at her feet in defeat. "I can't really help it. It's just who I am."

"Exactly. Just like I'm a little dull. It's just who we are," Zuko shrugged."It doesn't matter. We are who we are, and there's nothing we can do about it. But, honestly, even if you weren't emotional, I don't think I would like you that way, anyway. My people and your people have never really gotten along. Sometimes as friends, but almost never as anything more.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Katara laughed as she thought about the long history of the feud between their two nations.

"Besides. Even if I did have feelings for you, I wouldn't do anything," Zuko continued, making Katara raise an eyebrow at him as he decided to explain. "It's pretty obvious that the Avatar-"

"Aang," she cut him off with a fierce look in her eyes as she glared at him, instilling a bit of fear into him at this. "His name is Aang."

Zuko sat there in a mix of shock and fear for a second, but then remembered how she had threatened to personally end his life if he did anything to harm him, and knew why she was angry with him at the moment. "Aang," he corrected himself, becoming relieved as she seemed to relax a bit. "Aang obviously is crazy about you." He noticed as a frown covered her face as she looked back down to her feet, making him wonder what was going on. "Um… did I say something wrong?"

"No, you didn't," she sighed sadly as she looked down at her feet. "It's just… something happened tonight."

Despite not wanting to get involved in other people's personal business, his curiosity got the best of him as he found himself asking. "What happened?"

Katara glanced away from him, a clearly unhappy look on her face, and yet he got the sense it wasn't the young Avatar that she was unhappy with. "During one of the intermissions of the play, I noticed that Aang hadn't come back and got worried, so I went out and found him on the balcony. He was upset about the play. But more than that, he was upset about the 'you and me' scene." She took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. "He tried telling me how he felt. But, I didn't want to. I told him I was confused."

Zuko gave her a look of disbelief. "Confused?" She nodded while looking down at the ground, not wanting to look at him. "Katara, you do realize that telling a guy that you're 'confused' is basically saying 'get lost'?"

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. "What?!" He only nodded, making her start to panic a little. "I didn't mean it like that!" She groaned in frustration and put her hands in her hair before letting out a long sigh. "This whole stupid thing. I knew I loved him before, but then he just had to…" She sighed and slumped against the stairs, a look of agony on her face, making Zuko genuinely feel bad for her. He was glad that he didn't let his emotions get the best of him like she clearly did, though.

"You said you knew that you loved him before," he decided to speak up, watching as she nodded miserably in reply. "So what exactly happened?"

"I don't know," she told him honestly. "Look, I don't really want to go into details, but something happened on the day we invaded the Fire Nation, and ever since, I've felt this… doubt or something inside of me that makes me confused. On one hand, I feel like I really do love him, but on the other, there's something in my head that makes me doubt whether I actually do or not." She sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "It's been so hard, Zuko. I don't want to hurt him, but I can't seem to figure out what's going on in me."

Although Zuko hadn't wanted to really get this involved in it, he supposed that he was this far, and that it was time for him to offer some advice. "Katara, you think you're… confused, but I can tell you right now that you're not." She looked up at him in surprise at this, but he knew that he had to get the rest out before he could stop himself. "I've seen the way you two are together. Even when I wasn't in your group, I already assumed that you were a couple. You both seemed to just be like that, even though you apparently weren't." He took a moment to choose his next words carefully, knowing that saying the wrong thing could mess something up that he didn't want to mess up for his friends who really needed some sense knocked into their heads. "I don't know what happened on the day of the invasion that made you get 'confused', but I know you love him, Katara." He chuckled a little. "You threatened to kill me if I hurt him, remember?" Katara blushed a little as she remembered that she had. "If I had been a spy sent by my father, Aang might have been the main target, but my father would have ordered me to kill you all. You could have threatened me in case everyone, including your brother, got hurt, but you were only worried about Aang." Now on a roll, he looked Katara straight in the eye. "You know that you love him, Katara. I don't know why you think that you're confused, but you're not." She looked down at her feet as she thought about it as he stood up. "Just think it over. I'm going to bed. Night," he bowed in respect to her before walking away, feeling a little proud of himself. Despite not wanting to get involved in their situation, he felt as if he had handled it well. His uncle would have been proud.

And as Katara sat there in silence, thinking about all he had said, she couldn't help but wonder… was he right? Was she really not confused? He had a point about her only threatening Aang. And it made sense, considering how she had known before the kiss at the invasion that she loved him. So what exactly made this doubt come in the first place?

Thinking back to that moment, her eyes widened as it hit her. Their talk about him not coming back.

What if… what if I don't come back? His voice came back to her from that moment. She remembered well the fear and hesitation in it, as he knew that there was a good chance that it could become true.

She remembered how she had tried to reassure him. After all, she had nothing but confidence in him. He was the Avatar, the master of all four elements. She had spent most of her life dreaming of the Avatar coming back to save them from the Fire Nation, and here he was. He could do this. The Avatar was unstoppable.

With this confidence in his abilities as the Avatar, she had tried to reassure him. Aang, don't say that. Of course you'll- she had been cut off when he had kissed her, taking her completely by surprise. Not that she hadn't enjoyed the kiss, as she had, but she hadn't expected him to do this. Not at all. But when she had finally gotten the sense to respond, she melted into the kiss. There had been a problem, however. With a lurch, she finally realized why she had been 'confused'.

She had had the utmost confidence in him, thinking that as the Avatar, he could defeat the Fire Lord no problem. But, when he had kissed her, it had reminded her that he wasn't just the Avatar. He was human, too, and as memories of his fall in Ba Sing Se had flooded her mind, she had realized that he could very well die in this battle, too.

The young waterbender had remembered well the pain she had gone through from seeing him die in those old caverns, and upon realizing that he very likely could have ended up dying again, her mind had started putting up barriers to protect herself. It had instilled a false doubt in her mind in an effort to protect herself in case he hadn't come back, and had still done it up to this point for his impending battle with the Fire Lord.

But now she knew, she knew without a doubt that she loved him. This was scary, as she knew that he still had his upcoming fight with Zuko's insane father, but she couldn't deny it any longer. Zuko had finally made her see some sense, and she had figured out that she wasn't really confused. No, but what it really was was fear.

She was still incredibly scared of losing him, but despite her mind's attempts to deceive her, she knew that she loved him. Though as she thought this all over, she wondered if she should tell him how she felt. As much as the idea sounded good to her so she could spend some time with him before he went off to fight Ozai, she also knew that it would be best to wait until after the war was over. If he survived, then she would tell him how she felt, and if he still wanted her, then they could finally be together.

What she didn't realize, however, was that by not telling him how she felt now, he might not ever know how she felt if he did die. This thought never crossed her mind, unfortunately, and she decided that she would spend what time she could with him without telling him how she felt.

With this resolve in mind, she let out a sigh of relief, finally feeling her inner turmoil start to ease a little. Even though she was still incredibly worried that he wouldn't come back to her alive, she felt better knowing for certain now that she did love him. And, hopefully, she would have the opportunity to tell him that after everything had settled down.

Feeling better than before, Katara made her way back to her room and fell asleep, dreaming of the young man that she knew without a doubt that she loved for the rest of the night.