Disclaimer: Don't own it!

Raiders

Fire is supposed to flicker, waver and blaze, but he stands there solid, unflinching and steady.

How odd.

Water is ebbing, flowing and adaptable, but she stands there stopped, hard and unchanging.

How strange.

At this moment, they are both stone. And really, Katara needs anything but stone. She needs something to remind her that there is more to what just happened than the swirling guilt and relief in her gut.

Relief that she hadn't done it. Guilt that she couldn't do it.

But then—just as he had the night before—Zuko lays his hand on her, barely touching her shoulder.

She crumbles.

This time she looks at him. This time she wraps her arms around him. This time her shoulders heave with her sobs.

Slowly, warily, he moves his arms around her shoulders. Zuko doesn't say anything, and for this, Katara is beyond grateful. She wouldn't be able to handle any words right now. She just clutches at the fabric on his back.

He is warm. He is there. He isn't turning away.

She's not sure how long she holds him, but she knows the rain stops before she does. Finally, she pulls away and mutters an apology. He shrugs.

That's when Katara realizes that this boy in front of her was more than just a meager ally. Despite all the hell she's put him through in the last few weeks, he is honestly concerned for her. Somehow this firebender who used to be the face of everything evil in her mind had wormed his way into her good graces. Maybe even as a friend.

She gives a choked half-chuckle as he throws the last of their gear into Appa's saddle. He turns his head towards her, looking confused.

"What?"

"Nothing," she answers, trying to brush it off.

"What?" Zuko turns to face her, crossing his arms.

"No, really. It's stupid."

He heaves a long-suffering sigh and rolls his eyes. Katara outright laughs this time.

"Are you getting hysterical now?" He frowns at her. "I know that can happen sometimes after—"

"No," she cuts Zuko off. She pats his shoulder as she walks by to climb into the saddle. "The world's just turned upside down, is all."

"…Right."

"Come on, Zuko," Katara calls down to him. "Let's go home."

She's rewarded with a wry smile as he clambers up the bison.

Her confusion ebbs away, flowing down her face the last of her tears, and she adapts to this new definition of them.

"Okay. Let's go home."

His face flickers, wavers a little, and she can see a little bit of relief blazing in his eyes.

She still isn't quite sure what to make of herself right then, but she knows its a defining moment in her understanding of this boy next of her.

How weird.

A/N: There. Now it feels done.