Katara stepped onto the deck balancing two cups of tea, rice balls, meat and fruit on a large tray. As she suspected, Zuko was already up there, practicing his firebending forms - and spirits, he was shirtless. That was kind of distracting, even if he was doing it to soak up the sun's energy and not to show off his lean, and objectively very well-formed torso.

The move he was practicing- oblivious to the world around him - looked vaguely familiar. The fire blooming from his fists swirled like waves.

"Hey, are you stealing my moves?" Katara asked with mock indignation.

Zuko spun around, startled by the noise and lost the fire-wave. "My uncle invented some of his own moves studying waterbenders, so I thought I'd try something new," he explained a bit flustered.

"And does it work?" Katara asked, eyebrows arched.

Zuko showed her the fire-wave, moving his arms in a fluid motion. The fire curved gently, but it did not seem to have the force.

"Not bad..." Katara's eyes narrowed in professional interest. She placed the tray on the floorboard and stepped closer to him. "But you shift your stance too soon, and you don't tilt your hips enough. Also your wrist is too rigid - you need to do the flick at the end - you'll get a sharper curve."

As she explained, she stepped behind him, placing her hands on his hips, turning it slightly. His skin was hot and smooth, and the muscles felt firm under her hands. The contact made her tingle inside, but she shook off the feeling. She was in full teacher-mode; it had become second nature since she's been in charge of Aang's progress. She nudged Zuko's feet to a wider stance and when she was satisfied with his form, she stepped in front of him.

"Do it with me and pay attention to the timing."

Zuko nodded. Watching her intently, he moved perfectly in time with her, their identical waves of water and fire twisting at the same time, until they collided with a hiss and turned into steam.

"Thank you, Sifu Katara," Zuko gave her a half-serious, half-smiling bow, and turned to grab his towel.

"Wait, where are you going?" Katara asked with a frown.

"I thought we are having breakfast," Zuko pointed to the tray packed with food.

"Not yet. You owe me a move," said Katara. It was only fair. If firebenders could learn from waterbenders, it had to work the other way around too.

"And which move is that?" Zuko arched his good eyebrow.

"The hot-lips one?" Katara smirked, watching Zuko gape and blush. He was so easily flustered. It felt satisfying for once to be the one doing the flustering.

"Hot lips?" Zuko exclaimed flabbergasted. "You mean the ancient art of the breath of fire?"

"Lighten up, Zuko. I'm just teasing," Katara gave him a wink.

Zuko seemed skeptical. "Why don't you pick a different one? I am pretty sure that's a firebender-only move."

Katara shook her head. She was determined. Without her arms and legs, her bending was crippled. That was the move she wanted. "Aang can airbend just with his mouth. If there is breath of wind and breath of fire, there ought to be a breath of water too."

"I think what you are thinking of is commonly referred to as a spit," Zuko said sarcastically. Katara was surprised to discover that he actually possessed a sense of humour. Now that he was more at ease with her, she was finding new layers to him every day.

"Don't get smart with me. You know exactly what I mean. I should be able to melt or freeze water with my breath," she clarified.

"Well, I guess we can try," Zuko shrugged. He sat on his heels and Katara mirrored him. "Well, so all firebending is fuelled with the breath. You sort of have to guide the breath down your chi all the way to your stomach - it's where your spark is located, then guide it back up again on the exhale. That's all there is to it really," he explained with a demonstration, pointing with his finger to the path of the chi, just above his belly-button - he had a cute innie, she noted mentally, but Sokka probably wouldn't care about that - until a small flame bloomed at his lips to Katara's fascination.

It was Katara's turn. She inhaled, trying to follow her breath down to her stomach like he showed and exhaled. Nothing happened.

She furrowed her brows. "I don't feel anything. Can I feel it on you?"

"On me?" Zuko asked confused.

"When I was healing you, I could feel your chi better. Maybe if I use water…" Katara already encircled her hands in glowing water and looked at him waiting for permission.

"We can try, I guess," he nodded with a sigh.

Katara placed her hands against Zuko's chest and suppressed a smile as he yelped at the cold contact. She felt his strong and steady heartbeat under her palm.

"Ready?"

Zuko nodded and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. Katara felt the path of his chi humming gently, all the way down to his core. When the breath reached his chakra, it felt like it went up in a blaze. A flame detached from the roaring fire and travelled up the same path. This time Katara could feel it, all the way to his lips, as he let out a small flame, careful not to burn her. He opened his eyes, his irises shining brighter somehow.

"That was amazing!" Katara exclaimed with wonder. "Let me try again."

She inhaled trying to imagine her breath following the same path down to her stomach, but after it reached her chest, she lost her connection to it. "I don't understand - I can feel it for a while, but nothing happens."

"I think waterbending is supposed to be connected to a different chakra then fire," Zuko scratched his head.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Katara asked surprised. She never really pegged him for the studious type.

"My Uncle. He liked to give lengthy explanations," Zuko gave her a lopsided grin, but his eyes were a bit sad. It was obvious how much he missed his uncle.

Katara was trying to recall Yugoda's explanations in the healing house about the paths inside the body. She was so eager to fight that she barely listened. "He's probably right. Waterbending comes from the pelvis rather than the stomach."

"So guide the breath all the way there."

Katara tried again, but the same thing happened; the elusive breath got lost on the pathway. She shook her head in frustration. "I keep losing it."

"It takes a lot of practice. Uncle had me sit on an iceberg shivering, until I could find the right path," smiled Zuko encouragingly, then he scratched his head. "Wait. If cold helped me to find the way, maybe heat can help you."

"Heat?"

"Can I?" he asked extending his palm towards her stomach that was exposed in the low-cut Fire Nation-style dress she was wearing. Katara sucked in a sharp breath at the contact. His hand was heavenly hot, just short of burning as he placed it right under her bellybutton. Katara felt the heat travel all the way to her toes and fingertips making them want to curl in pleasure. Her face felt on fire.

"Is this the right place?" he asked almost breathlessly. They were so close - she could see the fine beads of sweat moistening his forehead.

"Yes." Katara nodded, swallowing hard.

"Then try now."

She inhaled, and concentrated on her chi . She pictured it as a blue, cool stream trying to find its way in a hot desert. The breath travelled on the stream, cooling the fire in her chest, in her belly, until it got all the way to her pelvis, which felt like a deep well, bubbling with water. Then her breath travelled back the same way, leaving her lips, creating a thin film of frost on Zuko's forehead.

He looked at her in surprise and pulled his hand back. Katara mourned the loss of his touch, but felt elated at her success. She reached out to touch the frost on his skin, feeling it on her fingertips.

"I told you it would work," she smiled triumphantly.

"Fine. You win. Can we have breakfast now?" Zuko cocked his good eye-brow at her.

"Certainly, Sifu Hot-Lips," Katara giggled at him.

"Don't call me that," he growled, but his eyes were smiling.

-0-

Even in the swirling mist, Zuko recognized the peculiar rock formation that looked like a giant dragon.

"We are getting close." He hated how panicked he sounded.

"I don't see anything." Katara squinted. "How do you know? Have you been here before?"

"Yes. When I first started to search for the Avatar," Zuko replied, lost in the memory, touching his scar instinctively. It felt like a lifetime ago, when he first sailed this stretch of water trying desperately to keep it together. One foot in front of the other.

"When was that?" Katara asked curiously.

"Three years ago." Three tumultuous years. He had been through so much, though now he understood that without all that hardship, he might have turned out just another evil, spoilt, power-hungry prince. A monster like his father.

She frowned. "You were sent to chase the Avatar when you were 13? Why?"

Zuko licked his lips, realizing his mistake. He shouldn't have brought it up.

"It was a punishment…" he said evasively, hoping that Katara would let it drop. It was still a raw and painful memory, one he never shared with anyone. He certainly didn't want Katara to know about that.

As if . It wasn't like Katara to let anything go. "I don't understand… Weren't you the prince? Wasn't your father the Fire Lord?" she asked. Zuko just nodded in affirmation and her face turned to shock with the realization. "Your father sent you to search for the Avatar when you were just a kid? That's messed up."

"Yep." Zuko said, his voice flat. The worst thing was that back then he didn't even realize how messed up that whole thing was.

"But why?"

Agni , she was relentless. "Look, it's not a very interesting story," he deflected, and fiddled needlessly with the rope of their sail.

Katara stepped in front of him. "We are alone on a boat with nothing to do for another few hours," she said. "Unless you don't trust me," she added looking at Zuko questioningly.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her. He did, with his life. "It's not that. It's just I've never told it to anyone. It's not something I'm proud of."

"Zuko, trust is more than just fighting together, it's letting other people know you. The real you. It's how it works in our group."

Zuko sighed. He felt cornered. There were parts of him that he wanted to forget. He had a feeling she would not be too impressed with the real him , whatever that meant. He wanted to yell at her to leave him be, but a good person surely wouldn't do that. There was no way of escaping the conversation so he opted for the second best choice; keeping it short.

"Fine. I spoke in a meeting when I was not supposed to and didn't fight when I was supposed to. Happy now? I got punished for being a coward," he spat out bitterly, angry tears piercing the back of his eyeballs. Even if he understood now that his father was wrong that day, it didn't mean he didn't still feel it. All of it; the humiliation, the pain, the impotent rage.

"I've never known you to back out of a fight, Zuko. No matter the odds." Katara's face was skeptical.

"It's the truth. That time I did," he slumped on the deck, his voice barely a whisper. It bothered him more than he admitted that Katara would think he was weak.

Katara crouched down next to him. "Zuko. You have many faults - you are stubborn, reckless, terrible at shipbuilding, you can't remember a story to save your life and you make bad speeches to sea ravens…"

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" he grimanced.

She put her hand on his shoulder, her touch centering him, drawing him back to the present, where he was free of his father. "...but being a coward is not one them. You know that, right?"

Zuko looked into the gentle blue of her eyes and nodded hesitantly.

"So tell me what really happened," she said quietly putting her hand on his.

Zuko stared for a moment at their intertwined fingers, her dark skin contrasting his pale, trying to come to a decision. What would a good person do? He had no idea. This was a topic he avoided even with Iroh. They were both too close to it; it was a murky ground.

Then he looked into her eyes shining with compassion and the words started spilling out; first hesitant and rusty, but then like a dam broke inside his mind. He told her everything; the war meeting, the general's evil plan, his outburst, the agni kai, his panic when he realized he was supposed to fight his own father.

Katara listened silently, her hand holding onto his.

"I...I couldn't fight him. I was on my hands and knees begging for his forgiveness," he finished bitterly. "And he just put his palm against my face and burnt me, like… like I meant nothing to him."

"He's a monster," Katara's eyes flashed with outrage.

"I should have fought back," he whispered.

"Zuko - none of that was your fault," her voice was gentle and soothing."You were just a child."

Zuko shook his head. "No, it's not just that. I went to speak to him during the eclipse, to show him that he has no power over me anymore. I had my swords, and when he struck me with lightning I redirected it but I still couldn't hurt him. I could have ended the war right there and then. I told myself that it was the Avatar's destiny to take out the Fire Lord. But maybe I'm lying to myself. I think there is a part of me that can't stop loving him, and I know it's pathetic."

"Zuko, look at me," Katara said firmly. As Zuko looked up, he realized that she had tears running down her face. "Once you told me that this marked you as a banished prince cursed to chase the Avatar. But you know what I see?" she reached out and touched the scar like she did in Ba Sing Se, without disgust or hesitation. Her fingers were cool and soothing, and he leaned into the touch instinctively. "I see a badge of honour, of bravery and compassion. I see a survivor. I see the face of a friend."

Zuko closed his eyes and the tears started pooling. Katara wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face in her soft hair. She held him as he finally allowed himself to cry for the child he used to be, someone kind and brave, someone who knew without a doubt right from wrong. He buried that child for so long under the ash and soot of his soul trying to become the twisted monster his father wanted him to be, mistaking honour for violence. Finally, he realized the scar was not a mark binding him to a path, but a mark of his freedom. He earned that. It didn't matter anymore what his father thought of him. He was free to become that boy again and he wowed to give meaning to his suffering.

-0-

They left the ship down at the old abandoned pier and climbed the steep, cliffs to the air temple. It was slow going; section by section Zuko found his way up the impossible looking vertical rocks and pulled Katara up with a rope. It took a few hours to get to the top.

At first Katara thought annoyed that Zuko made a mistake and there was nothing there. But then she heard voices arguing, unmistakably belonging to Aang and Sokka right below their feet somewhere, under the clouds. Katara's heart was drumming faster. She found them, finally!

She gave Zuko a wide smile. He looked back at her with just a hint of panic in his eyes.

"Maybe it's best if I talk to them first," she offered. It couldn't hurt to soften the ground first. "Just stay out of sight and wait for my signal."

Zuko nodded, his whole body radiating tension.

"Wait, what is the signal?" he asked with a frown.

"You'll know…"

She descended the long narrow stairs Zuko pointed out and stepped out to the terrace, her heart beating quickly. Sokka and Aang were crouched over the rice-pot with matching confused expressions on their faces. Toph lounged a bit further back, her feet up, an achingly familiar sight.

Momo noticed Katara first and flew onto her shoulder chirping excitedly, giving her an enthusiastic groom-over.

Aang looked up, his face lit up in realization. "Katara," he ran to her, enveloping her in a fierce hug. Katara wrapped her arms around his skinny body. She worried about him so much, it was so good to see he was all right.

He looked at her with big, gray eyes. "We were going to go back for you," was the first thing he said, clearly worried that she had thought they would leave her behind.

"I know," Katara smiled at him reassuringly. Of course she knew that. It was part of her worries that they'd do something stupid trying to find her.

"We thought you got captured, we were just trying to make a plan to find the right prison. Good to see you, Sis," Sokka added throwing himself into the group hug, squeezing her hard. But Katara didn't mind. She missed his goofy big brother too.

"Sugar Queen, you are back," Toph's friendly punch made the welcome wagon complete.

Everyone gathered around her bombarding her with questions..

"What happened?" Sokka asked. "How are you here?"

"Uhm, I got knocked out during the invasion, but then I got rescued. Except we, uhm… sort of crashed and got stuck on an island and fought a shark-squid. And stole an actual, real life pirate ship," she ended proudly. "You'll love it."

Annoyingly, Sokka did not focus on the long list of her amazing accomplishments, instead got stuck on the pronoun she used.

"We?" he asked suspiciously looking around.

Katara nodded with an uncertain smile. "Yeah. I brought a friend with me. Don't freak out - OK? He's good now. And he can teach Aang firebending," she added their main selling pitch in a hurry.

"Since when are firebenders your friends?" Sokka frowned.

Aang looked around nervously. "So where is this mystery teacher?"

"Hello, Zuko here!" the prince stepped out of his hiding place, smiling and waving his hands. Katara facepalmed. The idiot. This was not the signal, plus he forgot the eloquent apology they practiced and was back at his disaster sea-raven speech.

Aang, Sokka and Toph yelped in alarm, all assuming their fighting stances. Zuko held up his hands to show he meant no harm . Luckily, Appa came to the rescue. He gave Zuko an enthusiastic lick, covering him in sky bison slob. Aang and Sokka stared, jaws dropped. Toph frowned in confusion.

Katara gave Zuko an encouraging thumbs up - they were off to a promising start.

-0-

Zuko watched the sunset at one of the secluded terraces of the temple, listening to the enthusiastic chatter and laughter of the group that filtered from the main courtyard, thinking back to the first time when he came here with Uncle.

Iroh promised him he would find his destiny one day and Zuko felt it in his heart that, as unlikely as it was - this was it. A little ragtag group - a goofy bald kid, who happened to be the Avatar, a sarcastic water-tribe boy with a boomerang, a little blind, but very intimidating earthbender, a shaggy sky bison and a flighty lemur, and of course the amazing waterbender who had both storm and calming spring in her eyes.

It was nerve-wrecking to stand in front of them and ask for forgiveness, to be confronted with all his mistakes, but their initial resistance quickly eroded when both Katara and Appa vouched for him. And well, it didn't hurt that he had been the Blue Spirit.

There was still tension and awkward silences which is why he chose to get some distance. Their group deserved to catch up without interference. He smiled recalling how they all flocked to Katara like lost turtle-ducklings to the mother duck. They didn't fully trust him yet, but he had his foot in the door and that was all that mattered. He would do whatever it took to earn his place, his honour.

"That went well," Katara sat down next to him. There was relief in her voice.

"Better than you expected?" he cocked his good eyebrow.

"Why are you hiding here?" she asked.

"I'm not hiding. I guess it's still a bit awkward," he admitted.

Katara put her hand on his shoulder. "Give them time. They are good people."

"They are. It's me." Even if he was good now, he couldn't just forget all the bad things he had done, and he couldn't expect them to forget it either. He had to make it up to them.

Katara gave him a look. "Zuko, you are not bad. You sometimes have a hard time figuring out how to be good. But you are getting the hang of it. You'll be fine."

"How do you know?"

"Because you are here with us now. Where you are meant to be," she said with conviction.

There was lump in his throat. Destiny was a funny thing indeed. He was back here where his search began - having come a full circle. And she was right. It did feel like it was meant to be. All that struggle brought him here where he belonged. Katara believed it, and he'd prove her right.

"Thank you, Katara," he smiled at her shyly.

"You are an excellent addition to the group. No more spark rocks, a trained tea-maker, a walking warm blanket, a deep fountain of punchlines without beginning and misremembered snippets of wisdom. What's not to like?" she grinned.

"Now you are mocking me," he pouted.

"Teasing is how we show affection in the Water Tribe," she smiled.

"I'll try to remember," he replied lightly even if his chest squeezed at the word affection.

Katara stepped closer. "How do you show affection in the Fire Nation?" Her eyes glimmered playfully. Almost in challenge.

"We are kind of boring. We might hug or kiss…" he leaned closer.

Katara looked up at him expectantly, her face close. His heart beat wildly. Could he be misreading the situation? Was she really thinking what he thought she was thinking? He reached out to smooth her hair back, his hand slightly shaking.

"Is this all right?" He asked a bit breathless.

Katara nodded and leaned into his touch. "Not boring at all."

Zuko, watching her eyes intently, brushed his lips to hers. It was a brief, soft, almost reverent kiss, light like a caress but enough to imprint the way her lips opened slightly.

He enveloped her in an embrace, noticing how perfectly she fit against him. Her arms wrapped around his waist and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

The contact sent calming waves and electric vibrations through his veins. It didn't make any sense, except it did.

He sighed happily. Being good was hard, but it was the best thing ever.

Author's note:

That's it for this story. Thanks to all who joined me for the ride and left comments. Your little signs of appreciation means a lot to me.