So I have no idea if people still read Zutara in 2020 but I guess this one-shot will see if they do or not.

Zuko P.O.V

Sleep has always been something that has alluded me, well, ever since I was banished that is. Nightmares filled what little sleep I did manage to get when my home was the ship I was chasing the Avatar on.

During my time in Ba Sing Se it was a number of things that kept sleep from me and then I did the worst thing I ever did in my life and is still my deepest regret. I betrayed my uncle.

Ever since then it's been nothing but guilt that has kept me from getting any sleep. Even now as I lay on a comfy bed, inside a comfy room I couldn't be more awake.

I decided to get up and make my way out of the summer house (careful not to wake up any of team Avatar) and headed down to the shore. The fire land nights were always warm so I didn't need to change from my baggy black pants and open black vest that I wore to bed.

I sat down on the beach, just at the point where the tide wouldn't touch me and just let my mind wonder. Flashes of multiple events that have happened to me in order for me to get where I am now started playing in my head like a clip show.

Rejoining my family, realizing what I should have been doing all along, confronting my father before I left…

"Everything ok?" a soft feminine voice says breaking me from my own personal life flashes.

I turn around and thanks to the moonlight I'm able to see Katara standing there and looking...worried? I notice she is wearing a red sleeveless top that exposes her stomach and is wearing red shorts. I suppose it would keep her cool at night.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just unable to sleep" I answer honestly.

She walks next to me and takes a seat next to me "Same here" she says.

It was then a comfortable silence between us and we both enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing on each other and the view of the ocean lit by moonlight.

"Anything on your mind?" I eventually ask turning my head to look at her. If I was being kept up by a restless mind then maybe she was too.

She sighs as she turns her head to look back at me "a few things" she answers. I give her a look that I hope would encourage her to talk more if she wanted too.

"It's about Aang" she says and I instantly feel my heart sink. I couldn't be sure when it happened exactly but I couldn't deny that I have developed feelings for the waterbender beside me. I had always found her attractive, even when we were doing battle over the Avatar but as I got to know her more and more. My feelings grew and grew.

"Oh?" I asked.

"His training is going well but he isn't focusing enough on what's to come" she states and I instantly feel like I know what she is talking about.

"You mean he is too caught up with you instead of what's to come and what might have to be done?" I ask.

"That obvious?" she asks chuckling a little.

I couldn't help but give a small smile "Well the way he stares at you is a dead give away but I can also see that sometimes in the meetings we have he is too busy trying to talk with you to concentrate on what others are saying"

"At least it's not just me who seems to notice," she says with a little relief in her voice.

"If it's bothering you so much, why don't you have a word with him and let him know everything will go back to normal after we take down my father?" I ask.

She then looked at me as if I had grown a second head "What do you mean go back to normal?" curiosity clear in her voice.

Uncomfortably I shift side to side without really going anywhere. This is not a conversation I wanted to have but since it was here "well...you and Aang...when all this is over you two can just be yourselves again?"

She was quiet for a second before she burst out in a fit of giggles. Needless to say, I had absolutely no idea what was so funny.

It must have shown on my face because when she finally stopped laughing she said "me and Aang aren't a couple" and even giggled a little after she said that?

"What?" I asked in disbelief. Ever since I have been following the Avatar those two had always been so close and the way they defended each other so I naturally thought..

Another amused giggle escaped her lips "me and Aang are just friends. Have you thought this whole time that me and Aang have been a couple?" she asked.

"Well… yeah" I may as well just be honest about it as I'm sure my blush from embarrassment was giving it away anyway "i mean you two are always together, we have already spoke about the way he looks at you and I even heard Sokka say you and Aang shared a dance together recently so naturally I just assumed" I confessed.

I was also momentarily wondering if I woke Toph up right now, would she let the ground open up and swallow me.

Her smile was still present as she shook her head slightly "It was a different dance than the kind you must be thinking of. But I see where you are coming from with your thinking and even though Aang seems to like me. I only see him as a little brother" she confidently said.

Many things went through my mind that I would have to sort out at some point when I was alone and had time to think.

"Have you told him that you don't feel the same way as him?" I ask curiously.

She nods her head "I have. I just hope that he accepts it soon so we can focus solely on taking down the fire lord. Be easier if I just felt the same way about him though" she said with a laugh.

"Unfortunately we can't choose who we fall for" I said looking into her eyes.

She replied with a soft look of her own "No, we can't" she said and then reached over and rested her hand on top on mine "Thank you for listening" I swear I sure her blushing a little.

Even though my heart was beating like crazy and I was sure I was blushing too, I moved two fingers out from under her hand and rested them on top of it "You're welcome"

so that was it. I am just obsessed with this couple at the moment so I just had to write something down for them. don't know if it was any good but there we go.

I DON'T own Avatar: the last air bender