"Agh!" A fireball flies wildly past a martial arts pole. The wooden pole wears char and dents from the days of training Zuko and Azula had as children. An inch closer and the whole thing would have been incinerated to dust.

"Zuko, I've been looking everywhere for you."

Mai leans against the doorway of their home and what was formerly known as Fire Lord Ozai's palace. Honestly, she knows where Zuko's been the entire time. She just assumed he wanted to skip the meetings he was required to go to now that he's become the new Fire Lord.

His back faces her, sweat dripping from his brow. Shame, disappointment, and frustration; he's an emotional mess. "I don't feel like talking right now."

"I know. So, I'll just do the talking for you. It wasn't your fault."

Zuko's fists clench. "You heard?"

"Duh," she places a hand on her hip, fixes him with a tinge of pity in her dark eyes. "The servants talk, you know."

"Well, it was my fault, regardless of what you've heard."

After the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai, some of his supporters remained. Underground networks, hidden alliances, and the possibility of another Combustion Man coming after the Avatar kept Aang shivering from the nightmares week after week. It kept everyone on edge for a little while after the instant relief of victory washed away, replaced with thoughts of the Dai Lee or Ozai supporters.

Every week, the Order of the White Lotus and members of the crew went out to investigate and clean up remaining threats, from tearing down their secret bases to scattering the loose bandit gangs around the world. No uprising could happen soon or all of their efforts would have been for nothing.

One of the last missions Zuko went on didn't end so well.

"So what, that the water tribe girl isn't awake yet? At least she's still alive." Typical Mai. Always downplaying his problems, makes him feel like he should be over it by now. But it's not that simple.

He turns so fast; sparks fly from his fingers. "It's been nearly a week! She should be awake by now! Everyone's worried sick about her and I'm the one who put in her that state!"

She raises a brow, unamused by another one of his dramatic antics. "Zuko. You're overthinking things. We have the best doctors in the entire world. They say she should be waking up any day now, so please come back to the meetings. You're still the Fire Lord, you know."

Mai walks over to him, rests her hands against his chest. His pulse beats quickly, almost like the hum of a dragonfly's wings. They've been together for so long now; he's the only one she'll openly show affection to. He's earned her trust, despite feeling like he isn't deserving of it at all some days. She kisses his cheek, once, twice. He places his hand over hers, allows her comfort to put him at ease. She's right.

But sometimes he wishes she wasn't.

Sunlight beams through the window in a crowded room.

"Shh, you're going to wake her!"

"I thought that was the point."

"Be quiet! We don't want to startle her when she wakes up!"

"Guys, I think she's already awake."

A pair of aqua eyes slowly opens. There are too many faces in front of her, two of which immediately bombard her with hugs.

"You're alive!" Sokka yells, too close to her ears. "Ah, I'm so glad! My sister is finally awake everybody!"

"Sokka?" Katara says, voice cracking from the lack of use. Her brother never hugged her like this, like she almost died or something. And who was this other kid with the blue arrow on his head?

"Katara!" the boy exclaims, a wide smile on his face. "I was so worried about you! When Toph told us what happened, I couldn't believe it. I was so angry I wasn't there to protect you."

Toph? "I'm sorry," Katara says, pulling away from the both of them. Her eyes scan the room, everyone's face an expression of relief but hers wears confusion. "Who are all of you people?"

"Haha, real funny, Katara," Sokka points at her, laughing despite himself. "You've only been out for a few days and have lost your mind already? Nice one."

"I don't," she says, wonders where she's at right now. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been out for how many days?"

"Uh, I think she's serious," says Toph. "She did get hit pretty hard in that fight. Aang knows how hard an earth bender hits."

"Enough to lose her memory though?" Aang asks. The thought seems almost absurd. He turns to her, brows furrowed. "Katara, I'm Aang. The Avatar?"

"I…" Katara says, unsure. She thought the Avatar had been missing for years. Doesn't understand what's going on. "I don't know. I don't know any of you, besides my brother."

Sokka's mouth hangs open. "No, no way, there's no way she could have been hit that hard! Katara's been in multiple fights, you think one good hit to the head would do this?"

Suki places her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sokka. I don't think she would pretend not to know anyone here."

The only person she recognizes in the room is Sokka and she's never seen him with any of his friends before. Wasn't even aware Sokka could make these many friends, actually. They argue back and forth, Sokka's voice rising multiple octaves as Suki tries to calm him down. Something about a bad accident, wrong timing during a fight. He looks almost hysterical, asks what could be done to fix this. Katara doesn't know what needs to be fixed, all she knows is that her body feels heavy and she has no idea where they are.

Red walls surround her, and the curtains hold a deep burgundy hue. Everything seems a little too red in this room, she worries. There's a Fire Nation flag hanging on the wall above her. Fire Nation? Panic sets in and she flies out of the bed, a sad stream of water from a cup held in front of her as a poor defense.

"Katara?!"

"Sokka! We need to go! This is Fire Nation territory!" The stream of water trembles as she attempts to maintain a strong grip on it. Why is he just standing there so casually? And how could he let her stay in this room for so long? "This isn't safe, this is dangerous!"

He holds his hands up. "Woah, Katara, calm down. It's fine, this is fine."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!" He takes a few steps toward her and she eyes everyone around her suspiciously. They don't have the look of fire benders, but they do look strong. All eyes are on her with concerned expressions, but they make no move toward her. Makes her feel a little crazy, standing there wild-eyed. "These are our friends! And the Fire Nation has been defeated! Aang took Fire Lord Ozai down, remember?"

Katara glances at Aang, the boy who claimed to be the Avatar. Aang nods viciously, "It's true, I did! I took away his bending!"

"You… did what? No, that's not possible."

"It is when you're the Avatar!" He flashes a toothy grin at her. Suddenly, her head is pounding and the stream of water splashes onto the wood floor. This is too much. Fire Lord Ozai was taken down, being in Fire Nation territory, taking away someone's bending. For a second, she forgets where she came from. Where was home again? Black spots cloud her vision and the last thing she sees is them rushing over to catch her.

Voices. Two? No, three? Tense voices that sound a mile away.

One of them is Sokka. He hasn't been this angry since their father left for the war. "How could you let this happen to her?"

"It wasn't his fault!" A young girl's voice, an edge of defensiveness. "We were trapped!"

"What do you mean, it wasn't his fault?! If he hadn't shot his fireballs in such a confined space, then maybe they wouldn't have oh, I don't know, felt even more threatened? It was stupid!"

"You weren't even there," she retorts, "You may as well blame the whole team then!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I should!"

"I'm sorry." A deep and husky voice. "I should have known better."

Sokka's voice lowers. "Yeah. For someone who's supposed to be the new Fire Lord, you couldn't even keep my sister safe. How can you possibly protect your nation? Maybe you should just go back to being… being a lame… tea maker!"

"Hey!" the girl says. "There's nothing wrong with tea makers. Maybe you should go somewhere else with your bad insults."

"Fine! I will! I can't even stand to look at you!"

"Yeah, well, I can't either, and I can't even see!"

Silence. Footsteps stomp away in two opposite directions but Katara hears a chair scrape softly beside her. A deep sigh. She doesn't want to open her eyes right now, doesn't want to face reality. Sokka keeps arguing and it must be for a reason. Not like he doesn't argue any other day, but he normally reserves this tone for serious matters. She knows. She knows something is wrong with her and that these people should be familiar to her. But all she remembers is Sokka and who she is. She remembers how little her skills at water bending are, and she knows her name, but why can't she remember the place she grew up? She rakes her memory for it, but nothing comes to mind. What happened to her?

"Katara," the raspy voice from earlier softens. "I'm so, so sorry. I promise I'll make this right. I have to. I don't know how, but I will."

He sounds so sad. Regret drips from his tone. He sounds like he's carrying the weight of the world all by himself. It pulls at her heartstrings, suddenly reminds Katara of her mother having to take care of two children on her own. It's okay, she wants to tell him. Things happen and surely it wasn't truly his fault. And she was still alive, so it mustn't be all that bad.

Her consciousness slips away again and the memory of her mother humming when she fell and scraped her knee tugs at her mind. It feels like she can smell and hear her sitting beside her in a cot, healing her wounds. The water glowing with a bright essence that represents life. It was nice to finally recall something nostalgic in her past. She can't remember the last time she's felt this warmth, basks in it for maybe longer than necessary. Suddenly feels too warm. Fire. In a flash, the instant reality that her mother is dead hits her hard and the tears come rolling down her cheeks. The Fire Nation took her. She's never going to see her again. Hopeless dread suffocates her, makes it hard to breathe. Of everything she could remember, why this?

The grief makes her limbs heavy and she cannot bring herself to move.

Somebody wipes her tears gently away from her face. The memory of her mother's voice is soothing, tells her it will be okay. To suddenly relive her mother's death as though it's the first time she learns of it is cruel. She hopes it'll all be okay.