Katara

By the time we finally arrived back at the palace Azula had shown me so many fantastic places in her kingdom. But my favorite place we visited was a place the spirits called the tears of the mountain, a small secluded mountain spring that held mystical properties.

The moment I set foot in that water it felt like my entire spirit became more powerful. Azula told me that the water was created by one of the ancient spirits to strengthen the powers and abilities of any who bathed in it. As I bathed I got too distracted to notice her lack of clothes as she slipped in beside me, a fact I noticed when I opened my eyes after relaxing. To say I was surprised was an understatement. Sure I'd bathed with her once but back then we were separated by two different bathes and facing the opposite ways.

I tried to bolt in embarrassment but she grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down saying that it was no big deal. Unfortunately when she moved to pin me down she moved her entire body out of the water allowing me to see... everything. My embarrassment was made worse when she caught me gazing and asked if I liked what I saw. Even though it was clear she was teasing me I couldn't help but take in her slender and muscular body. There were a few faint scars but they were barely noticeable on her.

Wait was I just checking her out? By the spirits I was! For the longest time all I could do was sit there, my eyes refusing to look up knowing I wouldn't be able to look away.

"Uh Katara I don't know what the big deal is I mean we both have the exact same things. But I understand you looking. I am quite gorgeous."

I don't exactly know why I did what I did next, maybe it was some need to even the playing field or maybe I just wanted to know what it was like but before I could stop myself I had slipped out of my bindings and thrown them next to her own clothes, leaving me as exposed as she was.

It was by far the stupidest and most impulsive thing I'd even done but the fact that she could only stare wide-eyed in silence made me feel the smallest amount of satisfaction. That is until I realized that we were supposed to be on a date and now we were sitting completely exposed right in front of each other.

We no doubt would have sat there in silence forever but for some reason Azula burst into laughter which I soon joined in. We laughed and pointed until all the air in our lungs gave out and we had to take deep breaths to breathe right again, but when we finally did calm down we just decided to proceed with our date. So we started talking and asking questions each one trying to learn the most about the other. I learned that although Azula was cold and demanding toward her subjects and her council, it was only because she was okay with being scorned by them as long as she knew that at the end of the day she'd done everything possible to make sure they were safe.

"As long as I have people like you and Ty lee in my life it doesn't matter what a bunch of arrogant old dragons think about me."

"So you do care about me?" it was meant to come out as teasing but somehow wound up as a question.

"Katara I can honestly say that you are the most precious thing in my life and I would do anything to make you happy."

"But Ty lee..."

"Is my oldest friend and the closest thing to family I have and I can honestly say that I love you just as much as I love her."

My entire body froze when she said that.

Did she just say that she loved me? She did! But how do I feel about her. Well she kidnaped me... but it was for a good cause, she saved my life and then took me on an amazing date.

"I... I..." instead of allowing me to speak she put a finger to my lips to silence me.

"You don't have to answer right now, I just wanted you to know how I feel. Now come on we'd best get back to the palace so I can prepare for the duel." I could only nod as we got out and she used her fire to dry our clothes before she flew us back to the palace leaving me to wonder what my feelings were.

As soon as she landed guards came forth to escort her to her an undisclosed location until the duel. Apparently it was to make sure that the fighters couldn't be injured by their opponent's allies before the match. And as I was walking back through the hallways of the palace I ran into a rather jolly looking old man.

"Ah hello young lady"

"Hello" He seemed pretty nice, which was a nice change of pace. For some reason or another I sat down next to him and he poured me a cup of tea.

"I can tell that there's something on your mind and I've learned that at times like this it's better to talk to someone about them."

Maybe it was his kind nature or maybe just that I really needed to talk to someone about this but I somehow wound up telling him the entire story. Everything from the kidnaping to Azula confessing to me. To his credit he never once looked shocked or confused but only sat there with a gentle smile on his face as he drank his tea. When I finally told him that her confession was driving me crazy he spoke.

"If you can't get her confession out of your head then that means that you've already opened up to the idea of being in a relationship with her. It doesn't matter how you two started, all that matters is what you two do in the present."

"So you're saying that because I can't get her out of my head I must have feelings for her?"

"If you truly did hate her then I would have heard it in your voice when you talked about her. The only advice I can give you is to follow your heart and listen to what it says. If you do that then soon you'll know for certain."

"Thanks Mr?"

"Please call me Iroh, now if you allow me I'll escort you back to your room. It's not safe for you to be wandering the halls alone tonight."

"Why?"

"Azula was taken so that nobody could attack her before the match, but there are desperate people that would come after you to get her to throw the match or worse."

Which means I'll have to keep an eye out in case somebody decides to sneak into the room. Hopefully Mai was still around so that I could have a guard inside the room with me.

Whatever happens in the morning decided that I would give Azula an answer... that is if I could think long enough to figure out what it was.