The days past and Zuko tried to avoid Katara. But they were on the same ship; she had to talk to him sometime! There were 'hellos' but no conversation. He would quickly disappear or start shouting out orders to his men. Katara was very kind to the crew. They were like parents to her now. She had been on the ship for about two weeks and she had become close with Zuko's uncle. She would play Pai Sho with him and drink tea. The crew and Iroh had come to love Katara. Zuko, who was trying to avoid her, heard her praise everywhere. If she was not in the room, they were talking about how sweet a girl she was, how kind she was, how she reminded them of their own daughters, etc. Zuko would shut himself in his room only to be haunted by her in his thoughts. He had to clear his mind. One night, he escaped his room and went up to the deck. Everyone was sleeping. The moon shown bright and shined on the sea. The stars twinkled and Zuko sighed. It was so beautiful. Thoughts and memories flooded into his mind. He laughed at the memory of him and Katara. They entered the kitchen filled with curiosity. A special dessert was prepared for his father, the fire lord. Zuko had not wanted to, but Katara suggested they taste the treat. She persuaded him to taste it because an evil spy and assassin could have come and secretly poisoned it. They were simply the important taste testers. Zuko eventually gave in, and when they were done, there was no more of the dessert to be found. The two ran out of the kitchen just in time for the cook to enter and scream in disbelief that her creation was no longer there. Katara made Zuko swear to not tell anyone no matter what. Zuko chuckled out loud. He jumped at a voice behind him.

"What are you laughing about?"

Katara came and leaned against the rail next to him. Zuko knew he could not run away from her, he should stay.

"Nothing, just…memories"

Katara smiled. Now was not the time to talk about the subject she wanted to dive in to, she would talk about the happy past.

"Remember when we were playing safari and we accidentally broke Iroh's teapot?"

Zuko laughed.

"We told him the wind knocked it over."

"We! You did! I would have thought of something more believable."

"Or something very creative, but very unbelievable"

"I always came up with the ideas."

"You knew all of those different games; you took me away from my life of training. Uncle did not seem to mind."

"You trained a lot! I remember sitting and waiting for you to hurry up!"

"Oh, believe me; I trained a lot more before and after you left."

Katara was quiet. Then she laughed out loud. Zuko asked her why.

"Remember when we put honey in your sister's hair in the middle of the night?"

Zuko started laughing so hard that he cried, Katara joining.

"Or when we dropped that thing full of water on her head!"

They both broke down into a fit of giggles. Zuko brushed a tear from his eye.

"It's a good thing she did not know it was you with me. She would have been angry, she still would be angry."

Katara stopped laughing.

"Wait, so your sister is actually the fire princess?"

"Yep"

Katara turned toward the sea quickly, avoiding Zuko's stare.

"What is wrong?"

"Well, do you remember when we said goodbye?"

A wave of emotion swept into Zuko's mind, but he tried not to show it. He answered trying to seem nonchalant.

"Yes."

Katara raised one eyebrow as if to say 'give up the act'

"Well, instead of avoiding Azula, was that her name?"

"Yes."

"I did not heed your warning and after I said goodbye, I could not bear the thought of something happening to you. I thought maybe Azula would try."

Now it was Zuko's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What did you do?"

"Zuko, I went into little sister mode! I ran to Azula's room. She was just sitting there…

"Ah, my brother's little friend."

"I am leaving."

"Really, too bad, now I have Zuko all to myself."

Azula smirked and Katara sneered.

"Azula, if you ever do anything to hurt him mentally or physically, I will come after you…Or, he will come after you."

Katara's voice changed from anger to mystery. Azula looked at her.

"What are you talking about? Who is he?"

"Oh, never mind."

Azula immediately became worried.

"I command you to tell me!"

"Well, alright. You see that closet over there?"

Katara pointed to the closet. Azula scoffed.

"Yea I see it, I'm not blind!"

"Well, I and Zuko are friends with a dragon named Donghai."

Again Azula scoffed, but Katara continued, all of her imagination and creativity pouring out.

"Donghai is a giant dragon with green scales and sharp claws and fangs. His eyesight is keen. If you harm Zuko in anyway, he will come out of the closet in the middle of the night. He will enter your dreams and make them nightmares!"

"Stop!"

Azula was scared now.

"But if you are kind to your brother, Donghai will enter your dreams and make them more pleasing."

Azula was convinced.

"Fine, I will think about this, now leave me! I know you were the one who has been playing tricks on me all this time! Go!"

Katara stood up and as she left the room, she called back.

"Bye Azula, bye Donghai!"

With that, she was gone, and Azula called one of her servants to check the closet.

Zuko laughed.

"Hopefully, she forgot."

Zuko looked at Katara.

"Hopefully"

"You really stuck by me Katara."

"You too, you didn't tattle on me when I lost Iroh's lotus tile."

"We stuck to each other."

"Yea"

There was silence.

"Katara, I know you deserve an explanation why I am chasing your friend."

"I would like one."

"Let's just say that my life was not peaches and cream after you left."

Zuko told her his story and all of the misery he had gone through. He spoke of how his mother had disappeared and how he had received his scar. Zuko was really trying not to get emotional, but his voice shook. He said that if he captured the avatar, he would take back his honor. When his story was finished, Katara was shocked. Zuko looked away, he would not break down. He would be strong. But Katara saw his shoulders sag and her heart dropped. Sister mode broke in.

"It's alright Zuko."

Katara patted his shoulder and talked softly to him.

"I don't need pity."

"But you do need care."

Zuko let out an agitated sigh. Why was he letting her get to him? He was a prince, she was a peasant! She heard him mutter under his breath.

"Zuko, remember when we were kids? I did not view you as a prince and you did not view me as a peasant. We were friends, there was total innocence! But now, I feel like you have changed. Status matters to you now and it bothers me."

With that, she turned. Zuko grabbed her wrist.

"Katara…"

Katara waited for him to continue. But he didn't. He let go of her wrist and turned to look at the ocean. Katara sighed and walked off deck.

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Ha! I know I'm evil. Get ready for next chapter! Please review!

--Sahlili20