Every day, a fire lily keeps Katara company when she wakes up. She doesn't know who puts them there, but she appreciates how beautiful they are. Water glistens on the petals, meaning someone has also been taking care of them meticulously while she must be asleep.

Uncle Iroh, an old fire bender and tea maker, often takes walks with her around the palace's gardens. An abundance of fire lilies grows, despite the hot summer heat beating down on them. He entertains her with stories of his youth, teaches her about the history of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, about the Air Nomads, and he makes sure not to leave out the mistakes of the Fire Nation. When he brings up what they've done, she feels her skin crawl with fear and her legs itch to run. To run far away from this place and never come back. Her gut tells her she shouldn't be here, that maybe they're secretly keeping her hostage.

But Sokka is here with her, and that's all that matters. One night, he tried to restore her memories with a poorly drawn presentation. Appa looked like a poorly shaped potato. She didn't know if he was joking or being serious, but when she saw the flying bison in person, she had no choice but to believe him. Aang even took her on a ride and she'd never held on so tight to anything in her life when they first lifted off. Aang had placed his hand against hers, reassuring. And the way Aang looked at her… She doesn't remember how she should feel about it, but she smiled at him, nonetheless.

Slowly but surely, a person had to excuse themselves due to work, or some other matter that she never quite caught. They had tried everything they could think of. When they reminisce and tell her things she's done, things she can't even recognize herself doing, it's like looking into the lens of someone else. She's learned to paste a smile on her face, so as not to bring the mood down. But she hears the strain in Sokka's voice when he speaks to Suki, hushed tones outside of her door.

A month later and still no recollection. At one point, Toph got in her face about being no fun, but Katara only looked at her like she was crazy before Toph shrugged. Uncle Iroh advised them that time was all she needed and a cup of well-made jasmine tea. He seems to think tea is the cure for almost everything. And the new Fire Lord Zuko doesn't come around often but she's heard quite a bit about him. When everyone is in her room, she can see him just beyond the door, never coming in. Almost like he isn't allowed to be there. She doesn't know if it's by choice.

One early morning, when the sun has barely risen, Katara peeks an eye open when she hears the door open. She has her bets that it's Uncle Iroh coming in to water the flowers since they've admired the garden of fire lilies multiple times. Lately, though, he's been busy with the Order of the White Lotus, and she's been taking strolls alone. Even Sokka has become increasingly busy with helping those devastated by the war. She wants to come with, feels ready, but Sokka is quick to leave the room when she offers. Suki told her how upset he got when he found out she couldn't water bend or remember anyone else but him. They've only got each other, after all, so far from home.

It's a surprise when she finds out it's not Uncle Iroh.

"Fire Lord Zuko?"

He freezes, uncomfortable and caught red-handed. Katara's usually deeply asleep at this hour. She has no idea he's been sneaking into her room for the past month, every day. He knew he shouldn't have worn his heavy Fire Lord outfit so early but the meeting this morning was going to start sooner than usual. "Please, call me Zuko."

"My name's Katara. It's nice to finally meet you," she smiles and sits up. He flinches, as if she's punched him.

"I know who you are."

"Oh." That voice. She remembers it in the form of an apology from forever ago. Confused, she asks, "You're the one who's been taking care of the flower?"

Zuko debates lying to her, some made up story about how Uncle Iroh couldn't tend to it today but thinks better of it. Just because she lost her memory doesn't mean she'll take kindly to being lied to. Uncle Iroh and her have become close in the past month, and Zuko can't have her thanking his uncle for something he wouldn't know about.

"Uh, yeah," he says, stands there awkwardly. A long stretch of silence between them.

"Well, thanks. They look lovely."

"No problem."

Katara watches him fidget. According to the stories, Zuko used to be their enemy and stalker. And she used to hate him. Doesn't remember how she's supposed to feel about him now. He's done very bad things in his past but Toph, Aang, and Suki seem to be in favor of him despite Sokka's complaints. Uncle Iroh's even talked a great deal about his nephew; smiled proudly when he said Zuko had come a long way, and for the better.

Zuko finally takes a seat, elbows on his knees, rests his chin on his clasped hands. Looks less like a Fire Lord and more like a troubled guy. To her surprise, he's very handsome, but his face looks far too young to be a Fire Lord. The scar on his eye is jarring, and her hand aches to rest upon it. Uncle Iroh told her how Zuko received the scar and it had brought her to tears. How could his own father do that to him?

"Are you… feeling any better?"

"Yeah," she says, a little bashful at having stared for too long. "My body feels less heavy and the headaches have gone away. I still can't remember everyone, but I trust I'm in good hands."

"Good."

Another moment of silence. He's awfully quiet. They don't know what to say to each other, how to act. She doesn't remember what their relationship was like before all of this, so instead, Katara rambles the first thing that comes to mind, "I guess I was scared when I first woke up. I tried to water bend from a cup but that didn't go so well."

"You tried to water bend?"

"Yeah. But I could barely control the water and it spilled all over the floor… By the way, sorry about that."

Zuko jumps up, wonders why he didn't think of this sooner. "That must be it!" Feels like it should be obvious. "Maybe you can't remember anything because you don't remember water bending."

"Aang's been trying," she says, regretful. "I just can't seem to learn it fast enough."

Upon the realization that Katara couldn't water bend anymore, Aang had been reteaching her with the fountain's water in the garden. Little by little, she could make the water flow the direction she wanted but sometimes it would hit the water with a loud splash, and she would be done for the day. As the Avatar, Aang was very patient with her but she felt bad about him having to teach her when he had more important duties to tend to. She just couldn't learn as fast as she wanted to, and it was frustrating to hear how great she was before her accident.

The pain in her voice brings him to shame. Being able to bend was the core for many benders, it was who they are. It was vital to their very being, but he took it away from her. Without thinking, he takes both of her hands into his, eager to make up for what he's done. "We'll get you a teacher. Not that Aang isn't a good teacher… but maybe you need to learn it from your old mentor again."

She purses her lips. "I just don't see how that would make a difference. And besides, I don't even know who my old mentor is."

"I do," he says, a hint of shame at some faraway memory. "She only comes out at night. Lucky for us, she'll be here tomorrow night."

"I don't know if that's a smart thing to do. Sokka doesn't want me going out where it's not safe."

"I'll be with you. I'll keep you safe."

The look in his eyes is so fierce, her face heats up and he quickly realizes he's still got both of her hands in his own. He pulls away, doesn't want her to get the wrong idea. Doesn't really understand that logic himself. The wrong idea? It's not like anything is going on. But the guilt nips at him, Mai scolding him for not being more aware he's the Fire Lord and for being so reckless.

"The Fire Lord sneaking away from his palace?" Katara teases.

The corner of his mouth lifts, almost a smile. "Good thing I won't be coming here as the Fire Lord."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm coming as Zuko. Just… Zuko." A group of Fire Nation soldiers begin their march outside of the window. He's late for the meeting again, and this one was especially important. Mai would give him hell for it later. "Be ready to sneak out of here tomorrow night."

Katara laughs and his chest feels ten times lighter. A sweet sound, almost a melody. Doesn't remember her ever laughing at him like that before the accident. He must remind himself that it's not her though, this wasn't the same Katara who initially despised him, didn't trust him. When he leaves her room, he knows the real Katara would never forgive him for what he's done. She sees his faults, his mistakes, the bad in him. The real Katara sees him for who he is.