Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Katara watch Aang return to Toph, and she began to wonder at how tender his expression was and how Toph's face brightened when he walked towards her. She was so absorbed with watching them that she didn't notice Zuko come and join her.

"You shouldn't spy," he whispered into her ear. She looked up at him through the veil that hung from her wide hat and grinned.

"Having fun?"

"I've been trying to figure out who you are," he tilted his head to the side. "I don't think I recognize your costume at all." She was wearing a dark red dress with a ragged shawl to shield her from the cold. Her arms were twined with red paint and the lines seemed to creep up to her face and curl around her cheeks. Her eyes were outlined in the same red and a yellow crescent graced her brow. Her hair fell untied down her back and her head was covered by a wide straw-brimmed hat with netting trailing from it.

"I'm the Painted Lady. She was the patron spirit of one of the town we passed through before the solar eclipse." She looked up and smirked at him. "She's a fire nation spirit." She glanced at his costume and then glanced away with her cheeks turning pink. Water and fire - they were complimenting each other. Zuko's cheeks felt a little bit warm when he noticed this, but he was shaken out of those thoughts when a gong started to sound somewhere dead inside the palace. "The sun's reign has officially started, it's time for us to go out."

They joined the crowd flowing out of the palace. Zuko saw that they were the only ones walking. Everyone else had grabbed on to someone and started twirling and skipping to the music. Aang had grabbed Toph and was twirling her around and despite her grumbling, she looked like she might just crack a smile.

Zuko reached down and grabbed Katara's hand and for just a moment time stood still. His eyes behind the mask were free to stare deep into the blue orbs before him and they both seemed to hold their breath. She gave him a short nod and they were off. Zuko hadn't dance in years and when he had it had been formal dances that he had been taught for state dinners and royal balls. The dance Katara was dragging him into was wilder and just a bit fierce. It didn't deal in short jumps and block steps. The dance was a blend of spins and twirls and leaps that seemed to flow together. Katara started out leading, but when Zuko found the beat he took charge and the world around them seemed to fall away.

They spun through the crowd and skipped down the streets. Soon they were near the docks and had run out of space to travel, but they didn't seem to notice. Both of them continued dancing around each other and neither of them gave anyone space to cut in. Then, suddenly, the song stopped. When the musicians picked up their instruments again, the song was slower and the dancers moved closer to each other and began to sway rather than twirl. Katara slipped her hand out of Zuko's and waved for him to walk with her, away from the dancers.

They stood on the outskirts of the crowd, trying to catch their breath. They soon realized how close they were and they didn't know what to say to each other. Zuko saw Katara look down to ground and her fingers began to fidget. He could bear to see her move away and go back into herself. He grabbed two red drinks off one of the near trays and handed one to her and downed his own. He felt the drink burn as it slid down his throat and felt just a little bit of boldness enter his heart.

Katara took the drink and looked up into the mask's eyes hole. She could barely see his face and she missed the tilt of his eyebrows and the furrowing of his brows. She missed the quirk to his mouth and the way his nose wrinkled in thought. Her face burned even more at these thoughts and she gulped her drink down as well.

"So will you show me more of the festival, or were you planning on dancing me to death?" Zuko murmured.

"You started dancing, sir. You will not blame me," Katara shot back. "No one is working today, so there really aren't any vendors or events. Even the musicians take turns and play whatever they like." She paused and looked up to him with a mischievous grin. "I think you mentioned that you played the tsungi horn? Won't you entertain us?"

"I think you would be the only one being entertained. Everyone else would be running clutching their ears and screaming in pain. I'm tired of dancing, won't you take a walk with me?" Zuko stood up a bit straighter and offered her his arm. She grabbed onto it and they both moved along the outskirts of the crowd.

They watched their friends dance and gossiped about whether Sokka or Suki would break down first once they separated. Zuko wanted to go and help warm Toph, but Katara told him to allow Aang to keep her safe from the cold. They watched as he lay fur at her feet and started building her a little fire. Katara pointed out her friends to Zuko and even introduced him to her darling Gran-Gran, who had far too much fun teasing her granddaughter's handsome friend. Zuko pointed out the most annoying people in his retinue and regaled Katara with his impressions of his council. They were so busy watching and dissecting the crowd that they didn't notice the attention they were getting.

The entire party was watching the newly crowned Fire Lord and none of them had missed how quickly he latched on to the Lady Katara. Katara was a great war hero for the water tribe members and they were all happy to see how close she had gotten with Fire Lord. They smiled knowing smiles when thinking about how sad she had been in the last few weeks and watched to see if the Avatar was hurt that she had so obviously fallen for someone else. The members of the Fire Nation we not so thrilled by the attention the young water bender was receiving and they huddled into their furs and grumbled about their Lord's obsession.

Katara and Zuko weren't bothered. They just kept walking and wandering, they started to move further and further from the party and they soon found themselves strolling along the bay. Katara grumbled about the pride of all the politicians and Zuko made her laugh by describing how low his advisors would go to get on his side. They skipped pebbles and Zuko held a ball of flame aloft to warm them. Katara started twirling and skipping along as she talked, and she almost tripped, but Zuko grabbed her hand before she fell. He helped her stand back up, but he didn't release her hand and she chose to act like she didn't notice.

They wandered a bit further, holding hands, when they came upon an old light house. It was a gorgeous, if slightly rundown, structure and they decided to duck in and explore. Katara climbed up to the light room and found a big room with gorgeous marble floors and tall glass windows as walls. Zuko climbed in after her and started the fire and Katara covered the mirrors. It wasn't long before the room grew warm and Zuko removed his mask.

"I figure the sun can't see me in here anyways, so I'll give up my disguise." The young couple sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"I can't believe how much I missed you, Zuko. I'm already dreading that you will have to leave again." Zuko didn't know how to respond to that and just continued to gaze at Katara who was staring out over the sea. "Do you remember our first civil discussion?"

"Of course," he whispered. "That conversation haunted me for months after that. I was finally reconciled with uncle and I had almost become your friend, and then I turned my back on all that progress that I had made." His voice had shrunk to a whisper and his eyes dropped to see his hands play with the mask in his hands. Katara spun around when she heard the pain in his voice and she rushed forward to sit in front of him.

"You didn't. You didn't go back to square one. You were tempted by your greatest wish. You wanted your father's approval. You wanted your honor back. You thought you were fulfilling your destiny." She tilted his chin back up, so that she could stare into his eyes. "None of that matters anymore. You didn't betray us when it mattered. You turned your back on them. You came back to me and proved that you were worthy of my trust. You helped bring balance back to the world. I would still be in hiding if it weren't for you. Actually, we would have all died without you."

Zuko didn't say anything to her, but the pain in his eyes receded and he was able to meet her gaze. She brushed the back of her fingers up past his chin and let her fingertips graze the angry scar that covered his eye.

"I made you an offer that day. There's a lot of sacred water very close by."

"Of course," Zuko thought. "She's gorgeous. Why should she like me. I'm sure she would love to fix me."

"I'm going to say no, if you don't mind," he said aloud. His words were just a bit bitter and Katara could hear that he was a little bit offended at her offer.
"Would you tell me why?"

"I don't want to run away from what my family was. My dad was a murderous villain and my sister has gone crazy chasing after his approval. I can't forget that that was my life. My father is responsible for so much suffering. I won't erase the scar that he placed on me. I have too many other scars to heal. People need to see that I know that he was wrong. They need to see that I'm going to be different."

Zuko looked back up to her after he was finished speaking and was shocked to see a huge smiling shining up at him.

"You are going to be such a great king," she whispered. "Your citizens, the whole world, is so lucky to have you. I can't wait to see what you do." She paused for a moment and then looked back up at him. "I would have healed it if you wanted me to, but I didn't really want to erase it either. I think I would miss it."

The breath hitched in Zuko's throat, and he couldn't hold back anymore. Her face had moved to just a hair away from his and her huge blue eyes were shining up at him.

He reached out and pulled her towards him and pressed his mouth over hers. Her lips were soft and she tasted like the fiery drinks they had gulped down earlier that day. He felt her relax into his arms and her fingers slipped into his hair. She couldn't believe what was happening, but she didn't want to fight it. She let his tongue break through her lips and she lost herself in his warmth and the strength of his arms. The fire was crackling behind them and they could both hear their heart hammering.

"He smells like sunshine," Katara thought.

"And you are of the moon," a voice in her head whispered. And that voice made her remember. She remembered how uncomfortable she had been in the Fire Nation. She could imagine those lords that he made fun of scoffing at her and he could hear Azula screaming "PEASANT" in her ears.

She screamed at herself not to. Katara could hear her heart crying. She knew that she was going to regret this. She knew that she was breaking her own heart. She opened her eyes, placed her hands on his chest and firmly pushed him away.

She watched him move away from her. She saw the confusion in his eyes as he looked back at her. When did I begin to love him. When did I begin to wait from word from him and breath a sigh of contentment when he appeared before me. He was still staring at her in bewilderment and she felt tears well up in her eyes. What wouldn't I give to stay by your side. I wish I could hold you close again and kiss you until the breath in my lungs left me and my heart stopped.

Zuko saw the tears fall from her eyes and he moved forward to soothe her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I… I don't know what I was thinking." She couldn't bear to be comforted by him. She was the one hurting herself. He had only given her joy. His arms dropped when she flinched away from him. "I won't do that again. I'm sorry."

"Please, don't," she whispered. "You didn't do anything wrong. We just can't."

"You… you don't mind that I kissed you? Then what's wrong?"

"What will people say?" she murmured.

"I don't care what they say. I don't care what they think."

"You don't mean that. I've made it very clear what I think about the Fire Nation, Zuko. They know that I used to hate them. They won't want me to live near them, let alone help rule them. You are a new king. You got your power by tearing down two other rulers .You need to be with someone to strengthen your status. Your children shouldn't have to deal with uprising or mumbles of illegitimacy."

"I don't care about any of that. Hang all of that. I love you!"

"I love you too," she whispered. "Which is why I can not allow you to do any of that. Good-bye." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him and then ran back to the palace. Zuko was left standing in shock, watching the woman he loved run away from him.

Hopefully you guys like this one! Please please please review this! I think this one is a bit longer than my other chapters.