AN wow I actually wrote this chapter on Monday LOL I'm on a roll, though I'm sure all my LOTR fans are growling at me for writing this story when they've been bugging me to update Once on a Blue moon. I'm also writing the outline for my original story trilogy so I'm actually doing a LOT of writing today. The reason I'm trying to get this all done now is because I have an interview tomorrow and if I get that job my time to write will be cut in half if not less. So enjoy this chapter

I don't own Avatar or the characters

Pain

An Unknown Hearts Desire

Katara was outraged! She thought she would be free from suitors during the year anniversary celebration, but noooo, they had to follow her to the fire nation. True the celebration was for all the nations but she figured that they would give it a rest, instead every single one of her suitors found a way to the fire nation and hounded her every time she was outside of the palace. They had tried to get into the palace but after she ran to Zuko's room to hide he forbid them from entering the grounds. The fire nation palace was her safe haven. She was in mental pain even thinking about leaving the palace but she knew she had to go at least once a day for a few minutes, it was expected for the whole Gaang to make an appearance at the festival.

The waterbending suitors were refusing to give her any extra time, her father would have to pick her suitor within the next three days or the suitors would stop bothering him and start fighting over her. Every time she saw Suki and Sokka making lovey dovey faces at each other she would storm off growling. It was unfair, the males of her tribe could fall in love and get married but the girls were betrothed at 16 no matter if they were in love or not.

She couldn't even enjoy the festival that she had been looking forward to since it was announced nearly half a year ago. At least she wasn't alone in her pain, Zuko had every noble in the Fire Nation shoving their scantly clad daughters at him every time he walked out of the palace doors as well. So the two went out of the palace long enough to make an appearance then quickly return to the palace and spend their time together sparing or walking through one of the palaces many gardens.

Iroh, Kanna and Pakku had returned to the Palace earlier than most of the other residence. They were enjoying the festival but it was a very warm day out, both water benders were not use to such temperatures and had decided to come back, Iroh had volunteered to escort them simply because he had wanted to visit with Zuko for a few minutes. When they got to the Palace they saw the two benders sitting by the turtleduck pond feeding the small animals and laughing. All three elders stood quietly watching the pair sinking into their own painful memories.

Iroh watched them remembering doing something similar with his wife when he was about Zuko's age, it was a sweet but sad memory. Pakku watched and wished that he and Kanna had gotten along so well when they were younger. Kanna just watched and remembered Hakoda's father part of her wishing he was still alive while the other part was glad that she had reunited with Pakku. They all reminisced while they watched the young friends unknowingly flirt with each other. A crazy idea popped into Iroh's head and he quickly pulled the elder couple away from the two benders.

That night when Zuko and Katara went to the dining hall they were puzzled to only find Hakoda, Ursa Iroh, Pakku and Kanna. The rest of the Gaang were missing from the gathering. The two benders stopped at the door taking in the people in front of them. Ursa and Iroh seemed excited, Kanna seemed reluctantly happy, Hakoda seemed resigned but hopeful and Pakku seemed upset but resigned as well. Something was off and fear raced up both of their spines. They looked at each other curious as to what was about to happen but slowly walked forward greeting their elders.

"Sit down I think we have something to discuss" Hakoda was the one to speak and his voice seemed pained. Ursa gave them both a happy encouraging smile but it did nothing to ease the worry that both teens were feeling. They sat down watching the others the fear raising so much that it was causing them almost physical pain. The table was quiet for a moment before Iroh spoke up.

"For a while now the white lotus has been discussing ways to solidify the peace contracts between nations. Although the earth nation suffered greatly from the war it has been agreed that the Water tribes suffered the most, almost all of the southern tribe was illuminated and the northern tribe had to lose their princess and one of their spirit protectors during the war. Many ideas have come up over the past few months but today Master Pakku and I observed what we think might be the solution to begin the efforts to prove to the world that the Fire Nation is serious in their peace talks."

Iroh paused and both benders watched him holding their breath waiting in fear and anticipation for what they had decided upon. Hakoda took up where Iroh had left off, he had joined the white lotus after the war was over. "Iroh tells us that Zuko has been pressured by the fire sages to get married before the year is out, and Katara tribal tradition says in the next three days I am to pick your suitor or the eligible benders and warriors can fight for you. We don't want battles to break out during the festival so we had been debating on sending you home early, but Iroh and Pakku approached me today and suggested a different course of action. We have decided that the best way to solve all the problems is for you and Zuko to marry. This would stop the fighting, get the fire sages to back off of Zuko and it would show unity for the Fire Lord to marry someone outside of the Fire Nation."

Katara and Zuko sat silently blinking and processing what they had just been told. Katara had been resigned to being betrothed to a random waterbender for a while so she wasn't too upset, part of her was actually excited that she knew and liked the man she was going to marry. She looked over at Zuko wondering how he was going to take the news, he seemed furious and a pain jolted through her chest where her heart was. She let out a whimper and jumped up rushing out of the dining hall towards her room. Over the past two weeks she had actually started to have feelings for Zuko, she had done her best to ignore them knowing that soon she would be forced to marry some stranger no matter what she felt for him.

Zuko was furious with the people in front of him, not because they were forcing him to marry Katara but because they were forcing her to marry someone in general. Over the past two weeks he and Katara had gotten closer then ever. She had told him her deepest secret, her fear of an arranged marriage. He knew she hated it and had planned on talking to Iroh and Hakoda about it but they had all been so busy he hadn't gotten a chance. A small part of him was ecstatic about the arrangement though because he had liked Katara since the crystal caves but thought he would never have a chance with her, first she was 'in love' with Aang and then the whole betrothal thing had come up. He had never thought that HE could be in the running to marry her, he was from the fire nation and marriages between fire nation and water tribe were rare.

He was about to rip the elders a new one when Katara jumped up and ran off. He watched her go then glared at everyone "I'm ashamed of you! Kanna, you ran away from your home because of an arranged marriage and Uncle you got to fall in love and pick your wife, you would have never tolerated an arranged marriage! How could you do this to Katara. She's a hero for the world she should get a choice on who she wants to marry. The least you could have done is asked her what she wanted!"

He got up storming out of the dining hall to track down Katara and comfort her. He didn't realize until he was almost to her door that he never once said anything about what he wanted and how this affected him. He really hoped that no one else noticed his little slip up.

And they had, Ursa was beaming and Iroh, though upset that Zuko had pointed out the flaw in their plan was smiling because he knew Zuko was not upset about the betrothal because he didn't like Katara but because they had hurt Katara's feelings.

Hakoda was smiling slightly glad that he had picked the right suitor for his daughter, he wasn't happy to force a betrothal on his daughter but he had been dealing with that pain for months. Kanna was beaming, she could tell that Zuko was going to be a great Fire Lord and all her doubts about the boy vanished the moment that he had stuck up for Katara, she could tell he loved her granddaughter. Pakku was feeling very ashamed because he didn't want his stubborn step granddaughter to do what Kanna had done.

Zuko tentatively knocked on Katara's door, he didn't get an answer but slowly opened the heavy door. As soon as he opened it he heard her sobbing and a sharp pain hit him in his chest. He rushed in and sat down behind the crying Katara wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She jumped in shock but once she caught the familiar scent of spice and warm air she stiffened up. "Go away Zuko, I am sorry that you are being forced to get married but there is nothing I can do about it"

Zuko cringed at her harsh voice and just wrapped his arms tighter around her. "No I am sorry, I hate that you don't have a choice in who to marry. I scolded everyone like miss behaving children after you left. No one should force you to get married Katara, they should all know better. I am sorry that my uncle put this idea into everyone's head."

Katara sniffled and looked up at Zuko tear still running down her face. "You weren't angry that you would have to marry me?"

Zuko snorted and shook his head "No, I was angry that they were really going through with you being forced to marry. I would have been furious no matter who it was."

She gave him a weak smile and turned slightly tucking her head against his chest. They sat there quietly for a while and Zuko thought that Katara had fallen asleep until he heard her talk "I'm actually glad it was you they chose. At least he chose someone that I care for and not some strange bender that I've only met in passing."

Zuko's heart skipped a beat and he looked down at Katara "I care for you as well Katara, you are my best friend and I think I started falling in love with you back in the crystal caves."

Katara was shocked at his confession and removed her head from his chest searching his face to see if he was telling the truth. When she saw no lie she reached up letting her thumb run across his scar. "I think I started falling in love with you helped Sokka rescue my father. Either that or when you took me to find my mother's killer."

The two searched each other's face for a minute then tentatively leaned forward sharing a brief kiss. They were interrupted by a knock on the door and they pulled apart quickly. Everyone from the dining room walked in with their heads lowered in shame. They seemed surprised to find Zuko holding Katara but finished walking into the room. "Katara, Zuko, we came to apologize for not asking you what you thought about the idea before we decided on it. If you want I can find you a different suitor Katara but we can not ignore tradition."

Zuko went to protest but Katara spoke up looking directly at her father. "No, as long as it is ok with Zuko then I accept the betrothal. My biggest fear about the betrothal was that you would chose someone I didn't know or couldn't stand. Zuko is my best friend and I like spending time with him."

Zuko looked down at Katara for a moment before nodding "I am fine with it"

Iroh, Ursa and Kanna beamed at the couple, Hakoda seemed happy and Pakku seemed content but still a bit upset that she would be marrying fire nation. Iroh cleared his throat and nodded "We can make the announcement tomorrow at the festival."

Katara blanched but Zuko nodded and slowly got up from the bed where they had been sitting. "Then we best go make preparations uncle, Hakoda. We'll have some servants bring us some food in my office while we sort out the details. Mother would you make sure that everyone gets something to eat. Katara, I hate to leave this to you but the others should know before the announcement is made. I'll do my best to make it to breakfast in the morning so we can tell them together but if I don't you probably should tell them before everyone heads to the festival."

Katara blinked and nodded watching as they left. Ursa walked over giving her a brief hug, followed by Kanna and Pakku then she was alone in her room. A few minutes later a servant brought her some dinner and she noticed that it had some of the meat she had stolen from Zuko's plate the first night they were there and that made her smile. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day so she ate and went to bed.

Zuko, Iroh and Hakoda stayed up half the night talking about traditions from each culture. He knew about the betrothal necklace but I the fire nation they gave rings. Both nations had a dowry though in the fire nation it was monetary in the water tribes it was usually furs and food. Hakoda had not brought any furs and had little money so they decided to use the trade agreements as a dowry instead. The water tribe didn't have any allotted time between the betrothal and the wedding but the fire nation was strange in that they usually were married with in a month. This tradition came from the fact most marriages were arranged between nobility and the need for heirs. They figured the sooner they married the sooner they could get to work on the heir. They decided to set a date at a later time when Katara could have a say in it.

By the time they broke up the meeting it was well after midnight, Hakoda went to bed and Iroh was about to follow his lead but Zuko stopped him "Uncle, I want to get Katara a betrothal necklace before the announcement is made. Do you know any jewelry makers that do quality work?"

Iroh thought for a moment then nodded "I do, why don't you start working on the design and I'll go get the man who helped me make your aunts engagement and wedding rings, he does very beautiful work."

Zuko smiled and nodded before finding a pin and paper to start sketching ideas for Katara's betrothal necklace.

AN

Here you go, not much pain in this one but some pain of longing, pain of unknown, pain of fear and some heart pains… but there is pain… and Happiness! Read and Review please!

Gotta give my shout out to my reviewers!

FanFiction

AnnaAza Thanks for being my first reviewer!

Densharr Thanks for the review!

Sokkantylee thanks for the review!

Deviantart

Replies are on the website