The season changes just as effortlessly as Katara and Zuko's relationship has. Stolen kisses in the hallways, right before he returns to too many Fire Lord meetings. A quick embrace in her room before Suki and Sokka take her out for combat practice, Sokka eyeballing the distance between the two until Suki intentionally drops her fan, Sokka quick to pick it up for her, the gentleman he is. At the market, the villagers gossip about them too, the older ladies fixing them with sneers behind their fans. The younger girls seem to love Katara though, she's friendlier than the last girl, they whisper, when Katara wears their gift of flowers in her hair.

Katara isn't brave enough to be seen leaving his room in the middle of the night though, not with disheveled hair, swollen lips, and hidden bruises along her collarbone. Makes sure he's careful about her neck, pulls her robe tight when she's in public, just to be on the safe side. She sleeps in his bed until early morning, his arm wrapped around her middle, the scent of her lingering in his bedsheets. Waits until he leaves first before sneaking out into the hall. They haven't gone very far physically though, not at all, just because Katara feels like it'd be wrong, considering she's not even sure what they are.

But Zuko seems to know what he wants, has told her in between kisses that he's felt this way for a long time about her. Isn't regretful at all about kissing her on his balcony at that party when she and Aang returned from their trip. After all, it led to this. Though he does hesitate when he kisses her neck, or when his hands rest on her waist, the thin fabric of her clothes the only thing keeping him in check.

"I don't want everyone to hate me," he said to her, when they were at the beach again, her head against his shoulder. It's pretty much their place now.

"Nobody hates you," she murmured. But his thoughts go straight to Aang, and she can sense it. "He's happy as long as I'm happy."

Aang isn't the type to hold grudges. Sure, he felt down about it, even confessed to Sokka that he thought maybe if she got her memories back, things would go back to the way they were. And as right as Aang could possibly be, Zuko can't ever see things going back to how it used to. Not even with him and Katara, but between Mai and him. Zuko knows he could easily lose Katara once this is all done and over with, but in the meantime, he gets to live a little. Gets to experience romance outside of the Fire Nation with someone he genuinely cares about.

It sounds selfish.

But despite their developing relationship, Zuko knows Katara's memory comes first. They've made little progress, but she doesn't seem entirely worried about it. Has maybe even come to accept it. She describes the Southern Water Tribe to Zuko the way Sokka has told her, cold and snowy. And that's it. When she presses for more, Sokka just explains penguin sledding and how fun it is, which doesn't really help her.

On a slow afternoon, Uncle Iroh tells Zuko an emotional event should trigger her memories, and then hands him a steaming cup of tea. Zuko has often held the thought that now is a good time to tell her what really happened in her accident, before it's too late, but burns his tongue anyway when he swallows down the hot drink.

Katara runs into Mai during a quick trip to the market.

Her basket is full, filled with an entrée of roast duck and fruit tarts. The sun was beginning to set, painting everything in an orange hue that Katara grew to love.

Mai takes one look at the basket on Katara's hip and the corner of her mouth turns down, a fraction of an inch. She waves her servant away.

"Those for Zuko?"

Katara planned to surprise Zuko with dinner tonight, so he didn't have to drag himself to the fancy feasts Fire Lords were expected to be at. She doesn't waver, even if she is caught off guard by Mai speaking to her. "This is for the both of us."

"He prefers the hot cakes over the fruit tarts, you know." Bored, almost, like this should be a well-known fact.

Katara is stunned, doesn't know what her motive is. Feels like she should get going soon, but her mouth keeps her there. "How do you know they're for him? Maybe I wanted them."

She shrugs. "If Zuko wants some, he'll have them," adopts some of Azula's hostility. "Until he grows tired of it, the same thing over and over, that is."

Katara isn't so sure they're talking about fruit tarts anymore. Zuko's hardly spoken much about Mai, prefers not to think about her and how she made him feel about his problems; like they weren't as important as say, how she was feeling at the time. Katara knows distance has changed the two, and they no longer hold similar feelings. Mai's not passionate about things, Zuko told her. And it wasn't a bad thing to him, that was just how she is.

"Well," Katara says, real slow. "I guess it's a good thing I bought them for myself then. I should get going."

"Has he said anything about me?"

Katara stops, mid-step. Feels sorry at the fact Mai was on the receiving end of their breakup, is almost positive she wasn't as neutral about it as Zuko made her out to be. "No. Very little."

When Mai stares at her, Katara adds, "He's never said anything bad about you."

She crosses her arms against her chest, says, "Of course he wouldn't. Not in front of you."

Mai moves beside Katara, as if they're friends, and begins walking. Katara has no choice but to follow since they're both heading in the direction of the palace.

"What girl would be with a guy who badmouths their ex?" Mai asks, more to the air in front of her than Katara. She cuts a glance down at the Water Tribe girl. The top of Katara's head just reaches shy of her own lips, and she's not nearly as slim. Hates the fact Katara has more curves, more meat on her bones needed for the chilly weather at the Water Tribes' homes. Even her brown skin, the opposite of Mai's pale, porcelain skin, glows in sunlight, something Mai has always secretly envied.

They walk in silence, Katara unsure what else to say. Mai asks, "Do you really not remember anything, at all? Nothing?"

"No," Katara answers. "We've been at it for months now, but I just don't."

"I don't know if I believe you. Surely, something he must have said should have sparked a memory by now." Inspects her nails. "Unless he hasn't told you everything."

Katara straightens. "He's told me enough."

Mai stops and turns to face her, peers into her eyes with an intensity she's never seen. "No. He hasn't."

"I trust him." Katara looks right back at her, unwilling to be intimidated.

At this, Mai laughs, a mirthless sound. Continues walking. "Trust? Being in the Fire Nation, you learn not to trust anyone. It's all a charade, an act."

"Look, just because Zuko hurt you," Katara starts.

"So naïve," Mai stops her, with a wave of dismissal. "It has nothing to do with the fact he hurt me. I expected it. I'm telling you, your trust in him will only get you in trouble. Believe me. You don't want to be involved."

"And why should I trust you?"

They make it to his hallway, but he hasn't shown up yet. Mai says, "Doesn't it bother you that you don't know much about your accident, that no one's cared to tell you?"

"They said I got hit pretty hard," Katara says, her head suddenly beginning to pound. It's been doing that more and more lately.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't have if Zuko wasn't the one directly responsible for hitting you in the first place."

"What? An earth bender hit me, not Zuko."

Mai looks amused. "No. It was Zuko. Your team split up, Zuko got angry, and one of his fireballs hit a hanging rock ledge, sliding right into you."

"He said an earth bender did it," Katara says, feeling uneasy. That's what he told Sokka and Aang, even Suki and Toph were there and they didn't refuse it. But if what she's saying is true, then that means Zuko…

"Your team was split up," Mai emphasizes, growing frustrated with her naiveté. "How could the others have seen what happened? The earth blocked their view. Zuko lied. He lied because he was afraid, and because he knew it was his fault. Looks like you don't know him as well as you thought you did."

"Mai!"

Their heads turn sharply toward the sound of the voice. Zuko stands at the end of the hallway, only a few feet between them, but enough to see the despair on Katara's face. He knows Mai, knows her tricks and has always hated how often she hung around Azula. Often enough to pick up some bad habits. He storms up to Mai, "What did you tell her? What did you say?"

"Nothing," she slinks against the wall. "I just told her the truth because you were too much of a coward to."

His eyes widen. "I had every intention of telling her!" He says, voice booming in the hallway. Knowing Mai, her execution of the truth wasn't how it should have come out. They've barely talked in the last couple of months. She seemed to be doing fine since he's heard rumors about her new guy. There's no reason she should be here.

Mai shrugs, "Cat's out of the bag, what can you do about it now?"

Katara puts the basket down, and Zuko finally looks at her. Can't read her expression. Real quiet, "Is it true?"

Zuko pauses for a moment. "Katara, I was going to tell you."

"Why did you lie?" And when she looks at him, really looks at him, his heart feels like it's breaking. And he can hear her over the sound of crashing waves, on top of a cliff, telling him that she was the first person to trust him, and this feels like the universe's cruel way of retelling a joke that's no longer funny.

"I didn't exactly lie," he defends himself. "I just said you got hit by a boulder, and they just assumed it was from an earth bender."

"You didn't exactly deny it either," Mai slips in, appreciates the cold look he gives her. She can see the resemblance between Zuko and Azula. And she knows which buttons to push.

"Because I was ashamed!" Flames lick at his fingertips when he turns toward her, and Mai thinks he might want to use it on her. "It was completely my fault, and I was going to fix it! I just needed some time!"

"Think about it," Mai turns to Katara, who isn't looking at either of them. "If Zuko hadn't lied, you two wouldn't even be a thing. You never even liked him, never spared one glance toward him. Your old self was right not to trust him, and he didn't want you to know that."

"Mai," Zuko warns.

"He's being selfish, trust me. I've known him almost all his life, and betrayal runs deep in the family."

Flames burst around Zuko when he turns to her so quick. "You need to leave. Now."

"Is that you telling me yourself or is that an order from the new Fire Lord?"

"I'm telling you, to leave. Go home. You've done enough here."

Katara's eyes glisten as she glares directly at the wall in front of her, the food forgotten on the ground. She's spent nearly every waking moment with him, told him that she trusted him completely, and he was so vague about her accident. Something she needed to know. Maybe that would have helped her regain her memory quicker, or maybe it wouldn't, but it sure was important information to share. Zuko takes a step toward her, wants to pull her into his arms and explain, explain, explain. At least until she understands, but she's already taken a step back before his foot touches the ground. Thinks maybe Sokka was right all along.

"Katara," Zuko starts, but she only holds a hand up. Shakes her head at him.

"You lied to me. All I've given you was my trust; that's all I had to give. And you lied."

Before Mai leaves them to bicker and finally end whatever fragile bond they have between them, she says to Katara, "You'll learn fast being in the Fire Nation. It's all an act."