Another chapter! 3 in two days! Whhhhoooo whoooooo! :) I was listening to Overboard by Justin Bieber when I was writing this, and this chapter reflects it a lot I think!

I don't own any of the ATLA characters! Except Salji, she is my creation:)

The sun was rising. Zuko hadn't gone to sleep all night. He was confused by what happened last night between him and Katara. When he walked Katara to her room last night, holding her hand, he had started to think, and before he knew it, he kissed her on the forehead. He was thinking that maybe he could be happy with Katara. But as he was thinking this he felt like he was betraying Salji. He realized last night that he did have feelings for Katara, but he was so worried about forgetting Salji that he didn't realize it. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why did Salji have to die? Why did his dad banish him? All of these questions were flying through his head, when there was a soft tap, tap on his door.

"Come in."

Katara poked her head in. "Hey" she said in a soft voice. He looked at her wondering what on earth she was doing up so early. "I couldn't go to sleep at all. Do you mind if I come in and talk?" she asked.

"Sure" he said, his voice cracking in a weird way. Katara giggled as she walked into his room and sat down at the end of the bed.

"I couldn't sleep either." he said with a raspy voice. "What do you want to talk about?"

"How are you holding up?" She said in a small voice.

"I'm ok. I would probably be worse off if it wasn't for you and all your help"

"Well I guess my maternal instincts came in handy for something" as she said this a smile spread across her face.

Zuko couldn't help but to smile back. "You maternal instincts were very helpful"

She giggled. Zuko saw the blush spread across her face before she looked down at her hands to hide it. He put his index finger under her chin and pulled it us so she was looking his in the eyes.

"Don't ever hide your face from me." he said with a teasing smile. To this she bushed even more.

"Why?"

"Because I feel like I just got your trust, and when you don't look me in the eye, I feel like I'm losing it." He lied. He knew the real reason he never wanted her to look away from him.

They sat there in silence and watched the sun finish rising for the next few minutes. Katara scooted a little closer to him and he held out his hand for hers. She eagerly took it and intertwined their fingers. He looked at her and saw a huge grin spread across her face. She was breathtaking when she smiled like that. He couldn't help but smile back just a big.

He looked back out the window and watched the sun rise. After a few minutes he saw Katara's eyes start to close slowly from sleep deprivation. He pulled her close to him and laid back on the bed. When her breathing slowed and he traced her features with the lightest touch he could manage.

He started at her left ear, then her left eye, and then her left cheek. He imagined her having a scar like his, and he shuddered from the thought. Then he slowly slid his fingers over her right eye, down her cheek, over her mouth, and finally stopped on her neck. This is where he remembered all of Slaji's scars being. He could even try to think of Katara with those scars, because he knew he was the reason for those scars. If he could have only gotten to Salji sooner, she would be in his arms right now.

But he knew that he couldn't change the past, and he kind of like where he was going with Katara. He did have more than just friendly feelings towards her, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her. The only other person he had let himself get close like this was Salji, and he wasn't ready to move on yet. He knew that Katara had some feelings for him too, but he didn't know how deep they were, and he hated stringing her along, but he's just not ready.

The next thing he knew Katara was trying to shift out of his arms. He instinctively tightened his grip on her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I've got to go start making breakfast before everyone wakes up" She said as she stretched.

"Oh"

She got up off the bed and leaned down to his face and kissed him on the cheek. Zuko could feel his cheeks turn red. When she pulled back he saw that her cheeks too were stained red.

"Well… ummm… I guess I should go" she said as she turned to leave the room.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be downstairs in a little bit." He said with a small smile playing at his lips.

When she shut the door he was still smiling as big as he could. Katara just made his day. He hurriedly got ready for the day. The longer he was away from Katara he got more and more anxious. Soon he was practically sprinting down the stairs.

Nobody was out of bed yet, so only Katara occupied the kitchen. She was humming a soft tune, and after a few minutes of listening Zuko realized that it was the song he was humming to her last night. This brought a soft smile to his mouth as he entered the kitchen.

"It smells good." He said as he walked over to her. Apparently she didn't hear her enter the room and he startled her and made her drop an egg on the floor.

"Zuko, you scared me." She said as she dropped to the floor to clean up the egg. He also leaned down to help her.

After the floor was clean everyone started to wake up and come down for breakfast. Soon they were all eating and talking.

"I say we go back to the beach today" Sokka said with his mouth full.

"It sounds good to me" Zuko said. He looked over at Katara and gave her a big smile. Her cheeks were splashed with red and she looked down at her hands. Then Zuko looked over at Aang. His face was red and it looked like he was about to explode, but Zuko didn't pay any mind to why the monk looked like this.

Then they were off to the beach. If it was even possible today was even prettier than yesterday. Zuko and Katara set at the edge of the beach just like they did yesterday with their hands intertwined under the waves. Zuko loved the way Katara's hand felt in his, and he loved the way she felt in his arms this morning. He wanted to hold her hand all the time, but he knew that the rest of the house would not agree with is feelings, especially Sokka and Aang. Aang loved Katara, and didn't hide his feelings, then there was Sokka, the over protective brother. He knew that Sokka would never like the idea of Zuko liking his baby sister, and Aang would do anything to get Katara.

But it was obvious that Katara had feelings for Zuko too. The way she looked at him and she never rejected him when he held out his hand for hers, and the fact that she kissed him on the cheek this morning. Zuko wanted more than just a peck on the cheek. He wanted to kiss Katara, and he wondered if she would want to also. He wondered what it would feel like to have his lips pressed against hers…

"Zuko? Hello?" Katara said impatiently.

"Huh?"

"Why do you keep on zoning out like that?" she asked, "Are you thinking about Salji?" she said in a low whisper.

"No, I was actually thinking about this morning." He said blushing a little.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that kiss. It just sort of happened" she said shyly, her face flushing red.

"Don't be sorry. It was really nice" he said with a small smile.

They looked into each other's eyes and Zuko knew that this was the time; he was going to find out what it would feel like to kiss Katara. Then his eyes caught someone on the beach past Katara's head.

She had raven-black hair and pale skin. She had the characteristics of everyone in the Fire Nation. But when she turned around her face was mark with what seemed to be claw marks. Zuko had the eerie feeling that he knew this girl from somewhere. He looked even closer and looked past her scares. Could it be? He jumped up and started running over to the girl.

"Salji?" his voice was full of hope.

"Yes, do I know you?" she said confused.

Zuko embraced her as hard as he could. He couldn't believe it. It was Salji! This was impossible, his uncle told him she died 3 years ago. He thought at one point maybe this was a dream, but he didn't care, he just wanted to hold her like this forever.

"Ummm… excuse me." She said gasping for breath he was holding her so tight.

"Salji! I can't believe you're alive!" he said hugging her even more fiercely.

"Do I know you?"

"Salji it's me Zuko." He said almost in tears.

"Zuko? That can't be. He died 3 years ago after his father dueled him to an Agni Kia."

"I didn't die Salji. My father banished me after the Agni Kia. My uncle told me you died, how are you alive. When I was carrying you back to the palace you were barely holding on by a thread." He asked tears freely flowing down his face.

Then Salji was on top of him crushing him to the ground in a big hug.

"I don't know. I was out for like a month and when I came to, I asked for you and that's when Azula told me that your father killed you." Tears were also falling down her face by now. "I cried for 4 weeks straight. I couldn't believe it. My world was torn apart when Azula told me. I would just sit in my room murmuring 'Azula always lies' trying to console myself." She hugged him even harder. "I can't believe it! I've missed you so much Zuko!"

"I've missed you so much too. Not one day went without me thinking about you." he said between sobs at this point. "I love you Salji" he said in a small whisper.

"I love you too" she said wiping her tears on the sleeve of her shirt.

Zuko leaned back and looked at her face. It was marred with huge scars. Four scrapes across her right eye, three across her mouth, one on her chin, three across her left cheek, and four on her neck. He was sure there were more coved up by her clothes. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered, even with the scars.

Her hair was pulled up in a side pony tail on top of her head, with her bangs freely hanging down her face covered in sand. Her eyes were just as stunning as they were three years ago, gold with a hint of blue near the pupil. He could just lay there in the sand all day and stare into her eyes.

Salji raised her hand and touched his scar. He closed his eyes and they sat there for what felt like an eternity.

Now was that crazy or what? Salji is back from the dead! Yay! Keep reading and review:)))