A/N: Oh stars. Guys, I am so sorry. I literally have no explanation as to why this is so late. Someone feel free to Gibbs-slap me. I totally deserve it.

On the other hand, you guys rock, and I love you all. So because you totally deserve it, I'm writing oneshots for my first three reviewers. Anyone you want set in this universe doing almost anything you want. If it's going to interfere with the plot, then I'll figure something else out.

To answer a few questions:

-No, Toph is not blind. But don't quit the story yet, because someone else is, and it's super-important to Toph's development. Plus blind!- is a cutie.

-Yes, there will be romance. I'm just not going to say who I'm shipping yet. That's also important to the plot.

-Yes, there is a reason Haru is a slimeball besides the fact that I don't like his mustache. That thing is weird…

If you gave any other questions, leave me a review. I tried to find all of them, but my mailbox is such a mess I can't find squat. Oh, and let me know if anyone seems OOC. I was having trouble; I'm not terribly excellent at writing either of these characters. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own my writing, nothing else.

The gentle splashing of waves licking the side of a canoe filled the quiet of the icy landscape. The craft pulled to a stop alongside one of the glaciers littered about the bay, and the rower exited onto the ice. Katara surveyed her surroundings. Snow and sea filled the landscape for miles; she was completely isolated. She smiled. It was perfect.
Standing by the edge of the ice, Katara took a deep breath and stretched her hands above the water licking below. Hesitantly, she motioned her hands, pushing and pulling at the water until it moved with her. One good yank tugged a blob of water loose from the waves.

It was absolutely thrilling. Katara whipped the water through the air aimlessly, reveling in her control over the liquid. After a moment, she focused herself again, letting the saltwater drop back to its source. She had come out to find something big to work with, something out of the ordinary. She wanted a challenge.
Katara's eyes locked on the iceberg in front of her. It wasn't huge, at least not compared to some of the glaciers in the vicinity; nevertheless, it was safe to say that Katara had yet to manage bending something that large. The waterbender grinned and raised her hands in front of her.

As she reached out, Katara could feel the iceberg. The cold silence of the ice and the throbbing seawater underneath were tangible, calling to her, begging to be bent, and she had to oblige. She wrenched up her arms and pulled, tugging the water around it farther and farther up. As the water rose, so did the iceberg, revealing an unnaturally rounded underside. Katara continued to draw it out of the water, letting the berg-bulb crash onto a floe even larger than it. She pulled and pulled, struggling to retain control and yet still gritting her teeth and refusing to give in. She tried to push herself into strength, thinking of Sokka and his mocking remarks of magic; her father leaving her and the tribe and setting out for the Air Temples; the hard green eyes that came in the last memories of her mother. Katara thought herself into a fury, and suddenly the iceberg was out of the ocean and she was on her hands and knees, panting. She glanced up at her handiwork, and despite her weariness, pride blossomed in her chest. Ha, she mulled tiredly, if only Sokka could see me now-

But her satisfaction was short lived as some part of the ice sphere cracked, and Katara found herself shielding her eyes from the sudden explosion of blue power that erupted from within. She blinked as the light began to fade, lowering her hand and squinting at the sight before her. A male figure lay encased in the ice and she paused for a moment, stunned. Then she unfroze and scrambled over the ice, pounding on the ice to try and break it. "Come on, Katara, think," she whispered to herself. "What would a master do?" She racked her brain for a moment. Then, summoning every ounce of concentration she had, raised her arms and lifted some water with them. Swirling the water above her head with a look of utter focus on her face, she slammed the liquid into the glacier. The remaining ice shattered, and Katara leapt forward to catch the boy as he slumped to the ground. She stared down at him for a moment. Shaggy black hair fell into his closed eyes from a half-done topknot, but the bangs couldn't hide the seared skin that marked his face. Katara's eyes widened a fraction. Then he shot up, eyes suddenly open, and she scrambled back.

"Eek!"

Katara grabbed the closest thing she could find, which happened to be a largish piece of ice, ad gripped it like a knife in her hand. Her knees bent into a crouch and she clutched the shard as she watched the boy, ready to attack. The boy blinked a few times before turning to look at her. He noticed her fighting stance, but simply stood, surprisingly calm, and intoned in a raspy voice, "Put down the ice."

She didn't answer but to shift her position and clenched her weapon tighter. The boy sighed. He had the nerve to sound annoyed. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh really?" Katara found her voice. "Who are you? Why were you frozen in the ice?" And then, as an afterthought: "And how are you not dead?"

"From what, the ice or the look you're giving me?" Katara's dirty glare intensified. The boy held up his hands. "Fine, fine." He shrugged, hands still raised, but said nothing else. Not too surprising; he already didn't strike her as the talkative type. But his eyes- eye- widened, and he suddenly clambered to his feet.

"ROKU!" He called. "Roku, where are you?"

The waterbender wondered ever-so-briefly if he was mad, but the thought was interrupted by a snuffling, growly sound that rose from behind a ridge. The boy skidded down out of sight, and Katara followed with the practiced ease of one well-accustomed to the ice. When she reached the bottom, she found herself gaping and contemplating her own sanity instead.

It was a dragon.

A massive, crimson-scaled monstrosity, curled up in a hollow of ice. The scarred boy had run up to its side, muttering concernedly. The dragon answered to whatever he said with an affirmative snort, minute jets of flame spurting from its nostrils. Katara stared in disbelief.

"It's a- a-"

"Dragon, yes." The boy didn't bother to cease his inspection the dragon's scales. "You act like you've never seen one."

"Cause I haven't!" Katara spluttered. "They're extinct!"

He raised an eyebrow, still not looking up. "I wouldn't go that far. Rare, yes, but not extinct."

"No, they're extinct," she pressed. "They were wiped out when the Fire Nation was attacked."

He froze, now turning to look at her. "What did you say?"
"They were wiped out-"

"No. The Fire Nation."

"What, the attack?" The boy nodded curtly.

"Yes. What do you know? What's happening?"

Now it was Katara's turn to raise an eyebrow. "The Earth Kingdom attacked the Fire Nation and obliterated the firebenders. It happened years ago. How do you not know that? It's common knowledge, even down here."

The boy's legs almost gave out from underneath him, and the dragon nudged him with its snout. He grabbed a scale to steady himself. "Obliterated?" He repeated, voice cracking slightly. "Years?"

Katara nodded uncertainly. His reaction seemed a bit extreme, and confused her thoughly.

"But that would mean-" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then suddenly straightened and looked her in the eye, filled with new composure. "My name is Zuko. I think we need to talk."