Avatar the Last Airbender: Wherever You May Be

A/N: Oh, my god!! Thank you everyone who reviewed! Thank you!! I'm sorry I went on a whiny fest about the lack of reviews, but thanks for all who took the time to do so! And look! A new chapter out already!!

Thanks again and enjoy!

Note: Honey whiskey is used in this chapter. I honestly can't say where I got the idea of honey whiskey (or fire whiskey which also appears), its probably through other Avatar stories at which I say: this is not my invention! I also believe it's mentioned in Harry Potter, but that's different. Anyways, for this story honey whiskey is simply a form of whiskey that is infused with enough honey to make it sweet enough to cover the bite of alcohol, which is still there. Fire whiskey, then, is a whiskey that is infused with spices to give it that punch I can see Fire Nation people liking and Toph.

Wherever You May Be

Chapter 7


This has probably got to stop, Zuko thought a few days later, staring up at the ceiling as he slowly woke up.

He felt amazingly well for the first time in almost two weeks and he knew if he stepped outside the snow would have finally stopped and the sun would be visible. He also had to admit part of the reason why he felt good had to do with his current dilemma, or what would be his dilemma if Katara felt like waking up right then. Glancing down as much as he could he took in the sleeping waterbender and sighed.

He was partly to blame for their current position, having woken up in the middle of the night to find Katara shivering next to him despite the blankets piled on top of them. So, with little hesitation on his part, he had pulled her across the space separating them and had fallen back asleep with her in his arms. She had shifted sometime during the night however and he had woken up to find her basically sleeping on top of him which was why he was in his current predicament.

Shifting to try and move her, Katara gave a soft moan in protest and shifted, causing Zuko to bite his lip to prevent a groan from escaping. Why did her hip have to be right there? It didn't help that the only thing separating them were his pants and her shirt, because he had no idea what happened to her pants during the night and he long since realized Katara had also discarded her breast band as well before bed.

Despite him not moving Katara shifted again, pressing her face into his shoulder as her arms came up to rest by her head, one landing on his chest and the other on his arm. Realizing that her moving about meant she was waking up - something he did not want happening in his current condition - Zuko quickly wrapped his arms around her and rolled until Katara was resting on the bed under him and he was braced above her. Staring down at her he hesitated for a second before dipping his head and placing a swift kiss on her lips before quickly leaving the bed, knowing that staying in the bed was not a safe option for her or him right now.

Leaving the bedroom he closed the door after him, hoping Katara wouldn't be up for a few more hours. Going to the fireplace he built it up before splashing water on his face, hissing as the nearly frozen water dripped down his chest. Flicking the excess water off of him he was reaching for his shirt when the bedroom door opened and he glanced up to stare in surprise.

"Morning," Katara mumbled as she reached up and pushed her hair away from her face before yawning. What caught his attention was the fact that she was still only wearing her shirt, well, his shirt, meaning both legs were nearly bare as she rested against the door frame. Zuko took in each flawless, tan leg before jerking his gaze up to meet Katara's which was thankfully looking around the room. "Have you seen my pants? I could have sworn I put them next to your shirt when I went to bed last night."

Glancing down at his shirt that was resting on the table, Zuko spotted Katara's pants underneath and grabbed the material. Rather than just tossing them to her, Zuko walked over to her, smirking when he finally noticed her blush as she stared at him.

"Don't you get cold at night?" he asked, keeping the pants in his hand.

"Yes, but they're a pain to sleep in," Katara told him, holding out her hand, motioning for the pants. "They get all twisted up because they're too big. Zuko, give me the pants!"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head as he kept the pants away from her. "I'm liking the view."

"I bet you are," Katara huffed, motioning for her pants again. "And if you don't give me my pants, you'll be getting another one from the floor."

"Is that a promise?" Zuko asked softly, bringing up his arms to rest of either side of her, pinning her against the wall. The blush on her cheeks deepened as he watched her gaze move around as she tried to find a safe space to rest before finally meeting his gaze again. The blue orbs were darker than normal as he slowly bent towards her, the teasing grin on his lips faded.

"Katara…"

Before he could get to whatever he had planned they both turned in surprise as someone knocked on the door loudly. Without saying anything Zuko quickly gave Katara the pants as he went and grabbed his broadswords from the bedroom, giving one to Katara as she finished securing her clothes. As the person knocked again Zuko stuffed his feet in his shoes, Katara doing the same.

They shared a silent look and when Katara nodded Zuko opened the door, flooding the space with bright light. Stepping into the doorway he paused, seeing a group of five elderly men staring up at him, clearly visible as he had been right: the snow had finally stopped and the sun was out.

"Well, what do you know, I was right!" the man foremost said, jabbing the man behind him. He was in his sixties at least though he was the only one still sporting a full head of hair pulled back in a traditional Earth Nation topknot. "I did see smoke coming out of the chimney!"

"Oh, shut yer trap Yao," another grumbled and Zuko shot a look at Katara who stepped up next to him. Taking the time to look around now that he could actually see more than three feet away, Zuko paused when he saw an entire village less than a hundred yards from the front door.

"Well…guess we weren't too lost, even if it isn't Chengdu," Katara commented before nudging him softly. Glancing down at her he saw she had grabbed his shirt which he thankfully pulled on as the clear skies had made the air feel colder than it had been when it had been snowing.

"I take it you youngins' got stuck in that snow storm?" the man with a scar along the side of his face and hair not quite completely silver yet asked. "Lucky you found this place, isn't a decent place to weather out the weather anywhere else near-by."

"How far are we from Chengdu?" Zuko asked, having hoped that they had been close to the port town.

"Oh, a good two, three days travel with all this snow now," the second man said, pointing to a narrow pass between impossibly tall, white capped mountains. "Its lucky ya'll found the pass into the valley in the middle of that storm. What were ya doing out in the mountains, anyways? All the locals know better than that."

"We were exploring the mountains," Katara said next to him, smiling up at Zuko briefly with a 'play-along-with-me' look before turning back to the men. "I'm from the Water Tribes and I begged him to visit the mountains. The storm caught us by surprise."

"Foolish folk, the both of ya," another man grumbled, narrowing his eyes at Zuko. "Shouldn't take yer wife to do dangerous stuff like that."

"She's not my – umph!" Zuko grunted as Katara's elbow caught him where he believed his kidney to be located, effectively cutting him off.

"We're engaged," Katara told the men and Zuko glanced at her in surprise, but she was staring at the men smiling peacefully. "We're on our way to meet up with his family to be married in Ba Sing Se in the spring."

"Ya'll might have to delay your plans then. These mountains aren't passable until late spring."

"Oh." His hearing must be going bad, Zuko thought, because Katara actually sounded depressed by that information. Either that or she just realized along with him how long they were stuck in the village, he decided, knowing that was his own current feeling.

"Well, that's not the here or now," the last of the men said. "You're lucky you came across this place. The owners had left to visit family elsewhere and were expected back before winter set in. Seems they changed their minds, not like any of us blame them with winters being as hard as they are, so the place is yours to use. If there is anything you need, let us know."

"Is there a place to buy clothes?" Katara asked, rubbing her arms against the chill. "I lost mine in the storm and would love to replace them."

"I'll ask my wife for you," the man in front said. "My name's Yao Ming by the way, village elder. How about you two come by my place for dinner with my wife and family? It's good to get out and about when the weather is good otherwise the cabin fever sets in."

"Sounds wonderful," Katara said after peeking up at Zuko who nodded. Maybe they could eat something besides soup tonight. Chatting with the men for a few more minutes, they finally were able to close the door and Katara went to the fireplace to warm up. "You know, Zuko…"

"Hm?" Zuko murmured to her faded statement as he put away the broadswords and moved to join her.

"You have the damndest luck sometimes," she said with a grin and Zuko sighed.

"You have no idea."

sSs

"Come in, children, come in!"

Sharing a brief look with Zuko, the two stepped inside the house in the middle of town. It had two floors, most likely sporting two or three rooms per floor, Katara figured. The woman who had opened the door was in her sixties, but still had dark hair with only a few prominent streaks of gray present and was smiling happily at the two as they removed their parkas at the entrance.

"My name is Suyin. Now, my dear, Yao mentioned you lost your clothing in the storm?"

"I did," Katara said, feeling uncomfortable wearing Zuko's clothes out in public. It had been fine in the hut but now she felt awkward standing in from of Suyin who was dressed in a short green kimono and black pants. "My bag fell off and we didn't notice it."

"Poor dear," Suyin said before looking at Zuko. "How lucky your betrothed had spare clothes."

"Very lucky," Katara agreed nodding, avoiding looking at Zuko. They were still avoiding the topic of him having to undress her when she had been sick, so the topic of clothing was usually not one they conversed about.

"Come with me then. You, boy, go ahead and join the rest of the men in the sitting room. We'll be down once we find clothing for…what is your name dear?"

"June," Katara provided as she followed Suyin up the stairs. She glanced behind her and grinned to see the Fire Lord looking mildly put out, mouthing 'boy?' as he stared at her. She winked before turning a corner, rushing to catch up with Suyin who had gotten several paces ahead of her.

"So, June, I can tell you're Water Tribe. Rather hard to miss with eyes like yours," Suyin said as the two entered a room. "How did you meet your betrothed then, since he's a Fire Nation lad?"

"How did you know?" Katara asked, surprised.

"He's too pale to be Earth Nation," Suyin explained, "and his eyes are a give-away like yours. Never seem them that…hm, golden before, though."

"We met when I visited friends in Ba Sing Se," Katara told her, praying Zuko wouldn't try to come up with a story. "His family owns a tea shop and we met there."

"A working boy then, good, good," Suyin said. "Yao was in the army when we first met almost forty years ago. A working boy knows how to take care of their family. Ah, here we are!"

Katara blinked as Suyin opened a door revealing a closet filled with kimonos of varying shades of green and ivory. The elder pulled out one that was a dark, rich green edged in cream colors and held it up to Katara before nodding.

"These will do well for you," Suyin said and Katara blinked at her in surprise.

"What?"

"These belonged to my daughter when she was younger. She has more where she lives so I'm sure she won't mind you having a few of them," Suyin said and cut off Katara's protest. "No arguing. Having new clothing made will be a hassle, so go ahead and take them. Change and grab whatever catches your eyes, then come on down for dinner."

"Thank you so much," Katara said softly, bowing to the lady who just chuckled.

"I think your betrothed will be thanking me more. Nothing wrong with his clothes, but they make you look lumpy, something no woman should look until she's my age," Suyin laughed as she exited the room. Katara stared down at herself, disgruntled to see she did look lumpy and quickly went to the closet to find some clothing.

She grabbed three pairs of thick pants in green, ivory, and black as well as three matching undershirts to wear under the kimonos and heavier tunics she found. By the time she finished packing she had added a cream colored tunic edged in Earth Nation green, another tunic done in a solid brown with gold stitching, the green kimono Suyin had shown her, and another sleeveless kimono a sage green that reminded her of Toph's eyes. She even found some extra underclothes and grabbed them with a blush, hoping Suyin and her daughter would understand.

Dressing, she hastily packed the spare clothing before stepping up to the small mirror resting on the nightstand. She didn't have the proper hair-pieces to do her hair in her usual Water Tribe style, so had done her hair the way she did when in the Fire Nation. Suyin's daughter was a little bigger than Katara at her normal weight, so at the moment the clothes were just barely too big but they fit a lot better than Zuko's clothing had. Giving one last look at the green kimono and cream pants she had changed into Katara left the room and headed back downstairs to join the rest of the household. Leaving the bag with her new clothes with their parkas, Katara followed the sounds of the voices, stepping in to what looked to be the sitting room.

"Now aren't you a sight," Yao commented from where he was seated by the fireplace. Katara smiled at the friendly old man, nodding in greeting to the few other people sitting in the room. It seemed Suyin and Yao had invited a few of their friends as well as some of the younger couples in the village, making their dinner party around a dozen people. "Lee, my boy, go tell your betrothed how spectacular she looks in her new clothing."

Katara flushed as Zuko approached from where he had been talking with an elder couple in the corner, sporting the small smile on his lips. It brought back memories of the scene that morning, which she still didn't know to classify as bad or good. Her breath caught as he grabbed her hand and brought it up to kiss her knuckles before turning to place another on the inside of her wrist.

"You look beautiful," he complimented and Katara found herself trapped in his gaze. His eyes were heavily lidded, but Katara shivered as she caught sight of the desire flaring brightly in them. Pulling her hand from his, she smiled weakly before blushing when she noticed everyone was staring at them.

"Why don't you look at me like that?" an older woman hissed to the man next to her who snorted and sipped from the cup in his hand.

"If you looked like that I would," was his reply, causing the woman to huff and turn her back on him.

"How about some honey whiskey, June?" Yao asked as Zuko and Katara went to join him. "I would say it would bring some warmth to your cheek, but Lee seems to do a good job at it as well."

"Honey whiskey sounds lovely," Katara said, happily taking the cup once the sweet alcohol was poured. Honey whiskey was an Earth Nation specialty that she had learned to enjoy years ago, much better than the fire whiskey Zuko and Toph enjoyed. "Let me thank you as well for the clothes and for the invitation to dinner."

"Ah, it's nothing. Good to see fresh blood in this place," Yao commented, bringing Katara's curiosity of the village up.

"So, this is the village hidden in the Daiyu Mountains?" she asked and Yao nodded.

"Yeah, but with the war over thanks to the Avatar there really isn't a reason for us to be so hidden anymore," he said and Katara and Zuko shared a quick look.

"How so?" Zuko asked, sipping his own glass of whiskey.

"Well this village is fairly young, you could say," Yao explained. "It was formed probably fifteen years after Sozin's first attack by people trying to find a safe place to stay. No one was ever turned away if they could find the place so we have a varying ethnicity. Mostly the village is made up of Earth Nation people loosing their home to the Fire Nation or tired of the war like I was. We've had a few Water Tribe people in the past, as well as Fire Nationals running from their homeland."

At that Katara looked at Zuko who was staring thoughtfully into the fire. If Yao was right, this could very likely be the village Ursa had ran to after being banished from the Fire Nation over eleven years ago. Reaching out Katara grabbed Zuko's empty left hand and gave it a soft squeeze of reassurance, causing Zuko to look over at her and smile briefly.

"Dinner is ready!" Suyin called as she entered the sitting room followed by a few younger women in their early thirties. Katara felt a pang as Zuko quickly scanned each face to see if it was his mother and hoped they would find Ursa here, so Zuko could unite with his mother and finally gain some peace. Everyone exited the room after Suyin, Katara and Zuko trailing behind the rest.

"Your family owns a teashop in Ba Sing Se," she told him as they walked down the short hallway.

"Imaginative," Zuko claimed with a quick smile and Katara glared up at him. "So, June, correct?"

"And Lee," Katara replied before frowning. "You know...Piandao once told Sokka to use Lee as an alias when we were in the Fire Nation. He said there were a lot of 'Lee's, so no one would note the name."

"He's right," Zuko told her as the two entered the dinning room before pausing when they saw everyone watching them. The two quickly took the two empty seats at the long table and easily joined in the conversations going on at the table, finding the villagers friendly.

After dinner Katara offered to help with dishes, wanting to talk to Suyin. One of the younger women also stayed behind to help clean up the mess, chasing Zuko out when he tried to join them.

"You go talk with the men about the weather," the woman said, nearly shoving the Fire Lord out of the room. Katara grinned, wondering how different dinner would have been if they knew who Zuko actually was. Laughing at the thought as she entered the kitchen, she started the dishes as the others took care of the extra food.

"Lee appears to be a wonderful man," the woman said as she entered after Katara, picking at the pig-chicken that had been part of dinner. "He also seems to know a lot of what is going on in the world."

"The teashop his family owns is visited by some of the officials in Ba Sing Se, so they tend to hear a lot before the rest of the world does," Katara came up with, knowing it wasn't far from the truth.

"Tell me, how did he propose? I'm figuring yours is a love match, always a wonderful thing," Suyin said and Katara stared down at the water as she tried to think.

"We followed the Fire Nation tradition," she finally decided on, handing some of the dried dished to Suyin before unconsciously grazing her bare neck. Even before Zuko had rescued her she had known her mother's necklace had been taken, and despite what Mang had told her she had little hope of finding it. Added on top of the removal of her bending, the loss continued to hit her hard. "He gave me a pair of combs, thankfully they are being brought to Ba Sing Se by my family so I didn't loose them."

"That is good news. It's wonderful that two young people from different nations can marry and be happy now. That hasn't always been the case," the woman said before leaving Suyin and Katara alone in the kitchen as most of the cleaning was done.

Katara paused long enough to down the last of her honey whiskey, nodding when Suyin asked about a refill. It was hard to remember that Zuko wasn't really hers, especially when he continued to look at her in a way the reminded her of a dog going after its favorite food, wanting nothing more than to devour it, or in this case, her. If she had to keep talking about Zuko on a level they would never have she wanted to be drinking during it.

Just remember Mai is waiting for him back at the capital, Katara thought darkly, scrubbing a plate harder than necessary.

"So, you and Yao have lived here for a long time then?" Katara asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her 'engagement' to Zuko.

"Almost thirty years," Suyin told her, starting water to serve tea.

"I was wondering if you might recall if a woman traveling alone came into the village, roughly ten or eleven years ago," Katara asked, turning to look at Suyin. "She would have been from the Fire Nation, in her late twenties."

"No, I don't recall anyone matching that description. That was around the time the last Fire Lord took the throne, correct?" Suyin asked and Katara nodded as she started drying the last of the dishes. "There was an increase in people arriving at the village around that time, but I don't recall anyone. Why would you think to ask?"

"A friend of mine," Katara explained vaguely, deciding to leave Zuko out of it, "his mother left the Fire Nation around that time. Lee and I ask wherever we travel if she was spotted."

"I am sorry dear, but I like I said, I don't know of anyone matching that description," Suyin explained as she gathered a tray and placed tea cups on it, as well as another flask of whiskey. Katara helped her prepare the tea and carried the tray after Suyin after taking another drink of whiskey to brace herself for the coming hours.

sSs

"You're in a good mood," Zuko commented later that night as the two made their way back to their place. Katara just smiled up at him before looking up at the moon which was half full that night. They both wore snow shoes given to them by Yao to help fight the four foot high snow piles so they weren't moving at a fast pace, the cold air nipping their faces where they were exposed.

"It feels like home," Katara sighed next to him before giggling. "Well, except for the mountains and the huts - even with the village rebuilt we still live in igloos. Well-built igloos, but igloos nonetheless. But, it smells like home."

"Smells?" Zuko asked confused and Katara nodded, stumbling in the snow but quickly straightening herself before Zuko could help her, holding out an arm as if to keep him away.

She wasn't just in a good mood, she was in an odd mood, he decided as they started forward again.

"Yeah. The air, the crispness of it, it reminds me when me and Sokka would get up after a snowstorm and go fishing."

"You miss it, don't you?"

"A little, because it will always be where I grew up," Katara explained, bending to grab a wad of snow from around her. "At the same time, I enjoy living elsewhere. The plants, the views, you don't get them at the Poles. The Fire Nation is the most beautiful. There was this one village that looked out at the ocean and it had a gigantic field of fire lilies that when they bloomed it was an ocean of red."

"Why don't you go back there?" Zuko asked curious, frowning when Katara threw the snow back onto the ground angrily.

"I can never go back there," she whispered, ducking her head to avoid looking at him.

"Why not?"

"I learned bloodbending there," Katara whispered, causing Zuko to look at her in surprise. Since that trip to find Yon Rha, Katara had never mentioned her bloodbending again, to anyone it seemed. "I couldn't go back there… I would constantly be reminded of what a power as horrible as that could do to a person."

"You couldn't become that Katara," Zuko told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her to a stop. They had reached the hut, but Zuko wanted Katara to understand this before they went inside. "You are too much of a loving person to ever turn in to Hama. You have too much compassion and strength of will to hurt people."

"Strength of will," Katara murmured before she started laughing. She tipped over on her snowshoes and landed in the snow with a soft shriek before she continued to laugh. "That sounds like something Uncle would say."

"Just how much did you drink tonight?" Zuko asked as he bent over to help her up. She stood still for a second before tipping forward, crashing into him and sending them both to the ground as she giggled again.

"About…four, no five glasses!" she told him, grinning as she lifted her head off his chest. "Want to know a secret, Zuzu?"

"Don't call me Zuzu," Zuko groaned, trying to sit up as the cold started to reach him through his parka. Still, the annoying nickname was more attractive the way she said it, drawing out the vowels longer than necessary. "What's your secret?"

"I really like honey whiskey," she whispered as Zuko finally straightened them.

"I noticed," he deadpanned, wondering if she always acted like this when drunk. He couldn't tell if he was amused or frustrated at her odd behavior.

"You did? Wow, you're observational," Katara said staggering up the stairs, which Zuko noticed seemed hard to do in snowshoes. Opening the door she sank down to the floor and started tugging on the knots as Zuko closed the door after him, having removed his snowshoes before attempting the stairs. Kneeling in front of Katara he helped her removed them and her boots, shaking his head as she lay out on the floor, giggling again.

"I think you drank a little too much," Zuko commented dryly. "Why?"

"It made me happy!" Katara told him, trying to push herself up on her elbows.

"You weren't before?"

"I can't tell you that," she said, trying to look serious before giggling again. Zuko grabbed her arms and pulled her up, surprised when her arms wrapped around his neck. With the height difference she was pressed against him fully and Zuko could feel how quickly she was breathing. Glancing down he met sparkling blue eyes staring up at him and he was surprised to see longing in them as a soft hand cupped his cheek. "Zuko…"

"Yes?" he asked softly, bending down slightly. He paused when their lips were only inches apart, his hand shifting to grab her waist to hold her close to him. Their mingling breaths warmed the still chilly air and Zuko knew it would be easy to kiss her and try to erase the longing in her eyes, the protective thought warming his blood and his barely restrained desire.

"I think I need to go to bed," she whispered finally, stepping out of his hold as she ducked her head.

Zuko let go of her, even though he was silently screaming at himself to finish what she seemed to have started. He wanted to feel the rightness of her in his arms as he devoured her, yet he could only watch as Katara disappeared behind the doorway leading into the bedroom without looking back.

sSSs

A/N: So…confused Katara, depressed Katara and finally, drunk Katara! I wanted to give her some lee-way as a drunk, let her be a little bit happier about the world in general after a few too many honey whiskeys. Sadly Zuko didn't get drunk…he probably has a decent alcohol tolerance anyways. I can't tell if he would become happier or more emo when drunk, so until I do he stays sober, sorry. Also, Katara's alias. A lot of stories use her 'Sapphire Fire' alias, but in the episode 'The King of Omashu' '(if the title's wrong sorry, not checking it) the alias she had given was 'June' (I didn't spell it like Jun so as not to confuse her with well, Jun).

And my private rant before I get e-mails about Katara's selection on their 'engagement' method: I understand that little is really known about the Southern Water Tribe, but it really bugs me when writers use the giving of a carven stone as a symbol of engagement for the SWT people. Why can no one remember that Katara had no idea what the necklace was before they had gone to NWT, hence meaning a similar tradition wasn't used by their tribe! And still...everyone gets a stone! Did no one else realize this besides me?

Lastly, don't worry, the relationship will pick up in the next chapter. Actually...I think there's a big surprise next chapter! So, look forward to it! Review if you want or can, otherwise, thanks for enjoying!

Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon and its creators. I just swim around and muddy the waters a bit.