ZUKO

He and Katara ran to the train station. Aang was out of control. How could he attack Zuko? Now that he attacked the Fire Lord, Aang was technically an enemy of the Fire Nation. Zuko didn't know if that was a bad or a good thing.

He looked back. The street where the tea shop was located was practically destroyed. Aang was definitely paying for this.

"We're almost there!" He said. The station was a minute away. The train started to leave. "We're not going to make it!" Katara said. "Yes, we are! Hold on!" And with that, Zuko held Katara by her waist and blasted into the air, fire burning from below his feet. He flew towards an open door on the train.

They crashed through the narrow entrance, and into the cart, hitting the back wall and sliding to the floor. Zuko looked around. They landed in a cart full of boxes of cabbages. Most of them had fallen around when they crashed in.

"Zuko? Are you okay?" A muffled voice asked. He tried to look at the source of the sound, but his vision was suddenly too blurred to make anything out. Slowly, everything darkened, fading to black, while the voice called out his name.

KATARA

"Zuko! Wake Up!" It was no use. He was passed out cold.

She looked at him. He still had an icicle embedded in his shoulder, his boots were also burnt, and he had cuts and scratches all across his arms and legs.

Katara surveyed her surroundings. She found a few boxes with clothes, and a large box labeled "Northern Spring Water". She set Zuko in a comfortable position and walked over to the boxes.

Okay. Not much here to use.

Katara opened the boxes by making a knife out of the little water she had and took a stack of clothes and water bottles to Zuko. She set them down and then sat next to him.

Carefully, Katara removed the icicle from his shoulder and used the clean spring water to heal the wound. She healed as much as she could, but the rest would have to on its own. She tore a red shirt and wrapped it around his arm.

This should be good for now. I can finish the rest of the cuts when I regain my strength. Healing is exhausting.

Katara made two pillows out of shirts and a blanket out of some large spare cloth. She put a pillow under Zuko's head and covered him with the blanket. "Sweet dreams", she said, brushing hair out of his eyes.

She lay down on her pillow and looked at the setting sun from the open door. The train was moving fast, and there was no water around. They were probably heading deeper into the Earth Kingdom. Thinking about what they were going to do next, she fell asleep.

Katara woke before Zuko and started rummaging through the rest of the boxes, looking for something other than cabbages to eat.

"Katara?" A weak voice asked. She turned around and ran to Zuko. "You're awake!" She sat down, sighing with relief. "What's going on?" He asked, "Everything hurts…" Zuko tried to sit up, but Katara stopped him. "You were badly hurt. I healed most of your shoulder, but you shouldn't put any pressure on it yet." Zuko nodded and sank back to the ground. "You'll probably need a few more healing sessions before you can bend with that arm again."

Katara looked out a window on the cart. There seemed to be a city in the distance, and the tracks led right to it. "We'll probably reach a stop by afternoon. I have some money, we can eat when we arrive. Unless… You want to eat cabbages?" She asked. Zuko shook his head and asked, "Why do we always end up crashing into cabbages?". Katara laughed, "I have no clue."

The two sat in comfortable silence, watching the mountains, lakes, trees, and rivers go by through the window.

About an hour later Katara spoke again "The city is getting closer, looks like we'll be reaching soon." She looked at Zuko, "I should probably try healing you more before we reach." She helped Zuko into a flat position where it would be easier for Katara to work on him. She removed the torn cloth around his arm and inspected the wound. It wasn't going to be completely healed any time soon, so she got to work.

"Katara?" Zuko asked out of the blue. "Yes, Zuko?". "Why didn't you respond to any of my letters?"

Letters? Zuko sent me letters? WHAT?

"You… You sent me letters?" She asked. He nodded, not making eye contact. "What? But I never…" She suddenly realized what had been happening, it all made sense!

"Aang! Whenever I brought up a visit to the Fire Nation, he changed the subject! He never liked to talk about you. When I asked him to send a letter to you, he said that he did, but you didn't respond! And I never received anything from you! It all makes sense! He hid the letters!"

"So… you don't hate me? The writing you sent me wasn't yours?" he asked. Katara was shocked. "Did Aang tell you that I hated you?!" He nodded again. She was really angry now.

That little… I'm gonna teach him… How could he…

"Zuko, I don't hate you, I would never say that okay? I really, really like you." She said, His face reddened. Oh, wait. WHAT did I just say? "UH! Not- Not like- that… You know? Ha ha… ha." She stuttered as Zuko laughed.

They continued joking around until the train screeched to a halt, at the station of Omashu. "Zuko, come on, we have to go before anyone finds us!" Katara said.

ZUKO

With Katara's help, he slowly stood up. Pain flared throughout his body. His feet were slightly burned from flying, and he was bruised everywhere. "You okay?" Katara asked, looking concerned. "Yeah." Zuko lied, "Let's go."

When no one was looking at their cart, the two left the train, heading toward the city. It took all of Zuko's energy to look ok, and walk how a normal person would. By the time they reached the exit, he was exhausted.

"What are we going to do now?" He asked Katara. They had no plans, no place to stay, and on top of all of that, an Avatar chasing after them.

"Hey… didn't Toph say she was staying here?" Katara said, "She was doing something for her metal bending school."

Zuko nodded, he remembered a letter about that. "I think Toph said something about an Inn…" He thought hard, trying to remember the name "The Lotus Inn! Katara, I have an idea."

They asked for directions to the Inn and reached in an hour. The two went inside. There were lotus designs everywhere. Zuko noticed the central design and smiled.

At the counter, there was an old man with long hair. "Hello, how may I help you?" He asked. "I am looking for a special place, where a special flower blooms, perhaps you know of it?" Zuko says. "Might this mysterious place be a shelter for some mysterious travelers?" the Innkeeper asked. Katara looked at them both, utterly confused. Zuko pulled out a Pai Sho tile from his pocket and handed it to the Innkeeper. He took it and asked, "Will the lady be accompanying us?" Zuko nodded, and the three walked behind the counter, into a dark hallway.

"Zuko, what's going on? Where are we going? Who is this man?" Katara asked, extremely confused. "Katara, remember the White Lotus?" She nodded, "My uncle told me what to do in case of an emergency. We should be good for now." The hallway lead to a neat room with two beds, no windows, and a second, closed door.

"Until the ship is called, you may stay here. Please, rest, we will talk about everything tomorrow morning." The Innkeeper said and left.

"What ship? I'm so confused." Katara said, shaking her head, and setting her stuff down on one of the beds. "The plan was that we would go on a ship and circle around the world to avoid tracking until the threat was minimized", Zuko said, setting down his belongings on the other bed.

He sat down slowly, trying not to grimace from the sudden pain in his legs and shoulder. Katara, however, noticed and walked over to him.

"Lie down flat." She said. He did. Katara sat on the edge of the bed and bent the water from her waterskin into the air. "Where does it hurt?" She asked. "Katara, you don't need to mother me, I'm fine." "I mother many people, Zuko." She said, "You are not one of them. Now tell me."

"My shoulder." He said, looking away. "I am not doing this because I'm a healer and I can." she pressed the water to his shoulder, "I am doing this because I care."

He looked at Katara. Her face was unreadable. Every emotional wall he had ever put up between himself and Katara crumbled to nothing. She cares.

Slowly, the pain faded, "Thanks." He said. She nodded, then put her hands on his forehead. "Wha-" Zuko suddenly felt relaxed and realized just how tired he was.

"Sleep." She said calmly.

KATARA

The northern healers had told Katara that when she healed someone with who she had or would have a deep emotional and romantic connection, she would be able to see some of their important memories. Katara had never really believed it because whenever she healed Aang, nothing showed. But now that she realized that she didn't romantically think of Aang, it made sense. What didn't make sense however was the sudden flash of memories that had just hit her.

He wasn't afraid. It was just another general. He could take him.

The boy turned around.

It was not the general.

It was his father.

Azula? Or Katara?

His honor? His throne? His family? Or the 'good' side?

The boy's mind was being torn apart.

The boy had everything that he had ever wanted.

Why wasn't he happy?

Everything was perfect, yet he felt empty.

He sat on the throne. The war was over.

It was up to him to fix everything.

Yet he felt alone.

Around him were advisors, servants, and strangers. No friends.

Katara suddenly drew her hands back, snapping her out of the trance. Tears streamed down her face.

So much pain, so much confusion. And I thought he was just bad. How could I blame him for choosing his own family, his nation, over me? A girl he barely knew?

Why am I getting visions of his past? Does this mean we are going to be together in the future-

Katara cut off that line of thought. No. She only thought of Zuko as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

With one last look at him, she stood up and walked over to her bed. She took some clothes from her bag and walked out of the room, and down the hall. There were bathrooms near some of the other rooms. Katara changed into more comfortable clothes and walked out.

"Sugar Queen? Is that you?" A familiar voice said behind her. She turned around "Toph!" she hugged the blind girl. "What are you doing here?" Toph asked her. "Come with me. There is a lot for us to discuss." and with that, Katara leads Toph to the secret room behind the counter.

"How long have you been staying here?" Toph asked. "We just arrived, I have so much to tell you. Oh, and Zuko is here too." Katara explained as they walked into the room.

"Hi, Katara! Who's that with you?" A sleepy Zuko said in a cheerful voice, rubbing his eyes. Katara's heart skipped a beat.

He is so cute when he's sleepy. He's such a dork a really cute dork… WHAT AM I THINKING?! Okay Katara, calm down. You are high on Cactus Juice.

"Hi! I uh- it's Toph!" She replied, stuttering. "Hey Sparky," Toph said, nudging Katara with her elbow, and giving her a weird look. Zuko closed his eyes again, muttering something about being happy.

She sat down on her bed and gestured for Toph to sit next to her. "Sit, down. I'm gonna tell you everything."

And so Katara explained everything. From when she ran away from the Fire Nation Palace, to when they arrived at the Inn.

"Wow. That is BAD." Toph exclaimed after the lengthy explanation, "I can't believe Twinkle Toes would ever do that! He's never angry!" she thought for a moment. "What are you going to do now?"

Katara recalled their plan, "We were going to go on a ship to throw Aang off our trail, and then figure out how to stop him from acting so… crazy."

Toph nodded. "You guys mind if I join?" She asked. The other two nodded happily. Zuko had woken up now, "That would be great!" He said, "But what about your Metal Bending school?".

"I put those Lily Livers on break about a week ago. They won't be back for two months. It'll be fine! So when do we leave?" Toph asked.

Katara looked at Zuko for the answer. "About a day or two." He said, "Do you guys think that we should get Sokka and Suki too?"

They both nodded. It would be good to have everyone back together again. Almost everyone. If only Aang could see reason. It would be like old times again. "We should all get some rest. It's been a long day." Katara said.

She walked with Toph to the door. "You know that I can tell." She whispered to Katara, "You don't have to hide it."

Katara was confused. Tell what? Hide what? "Huh?" she said. Toph nudged her again "I know what's going on between you and… you know who." She said wiggling her eyebrows, and then left before Katara could ask any more questions. Who was she talking about?