A/N

Be warned… I like this chapter (that says a lot).

One wall held a double bed, low to the floor, and plenty squishy enough to flop on after a hard day. The two side walls were bare, however, and held nothing else besides a small chest of drawers. Zuko dropped his pack on top of the chest and sank onto the bed, expelling the stress of ducking the king's glances on a sigh. He pulled off his boots.

Katara raced into his room, glancing around with wide, ecstatic eyes. "Wow! Your room is great, too! It's so airy and big! Can you imagine what kind of things we can buy for decorations? The king gave us all so much money! What are you going to buy?"

Zuko ran a hand through his hair, still unused to its feeling (he rather missed his shaven crown). "I don't know."

Katara flounced to his bed and tested it with her palm. "What a great bed! Mine's good too! Isn't this apartment the best?"

Zuko frowned. He hadn't been in a 'great' abode since he'd left the Fire Nation.

"It's adequate." Zuko said guardedly.

Katara gushed. "I think it's great. Have you seen Aang's room? He's got a huge window, and then there's the sunken lounge in the main room, and- Have you eaten anything? Sokka and Iroh are already eating lunch; we should go too!"

Zuko groaned. He was definitely not in the mood for her peppiness. "I think I'll get there in a minute."

"Okay! See you in a bit!" She rushed out of his quarters, leaving him with his self-induced silence.

"Ugh… finally." Zuko murmured and stretched out on his bed.

xxx

"Is Zuko coming?" Iroh asked once he'd downed his third helping of smoked fish.

Katara settled down at the table beside Sokka. "He said he'll be here in a minute. You know, I kind of feel bad we didn't join Aang with the king."

Sokka licked his fingertips free of salt. "He said he'd be fine, and besides, I'm sure he's having a great time."

Iroh agreed. "He sent us all to this apartment, which is really surprising," he stroked his beard.

"Why?" Katara asked.

"Because I've always heard that he doesn't like visitors in the palace, and here he gave us a room-."

"And money!" Sokka added, showing off the sack of gold he'd been granted.

"Anyway," Katara snapped, pushing away the cloth sack shoved in her face, "Aang's probably having a good time with the king."

xxx

Aang hadn't been this bored in a long time.

The king droned on and on about the structure of Ba Seng Se, and once he'd fully examined every detail of architecture he moved on to theorize his ancestor's political decisions. He assumed that Aang, avatar as he was, would be vastly interested in such topics. Aang was twelve. Although his body was technically one hundred and twelve, Aang was really only twelve, but Ken Wu failed to see this entirely.

"My great-great grandfather chose to end that particular venture, seeing as the crime rate in the city actually tripled because of it," the king bantered.

Aang smiled, but it stretched pathetically on his face into a grimace. "That's good." He muttered.

"Bad, it was bad, in truth. However, my great grandfather was not deterred by his father's failure. He set up a new system."

Aang let his gaze drift to the food on his plate. Despite Aang's pleas, the king had served up Aang large helpings of grisly meat, saying that a young boy needed his protein. Aang was forced to stare into the dead animal on his plate with something near malice. He picked at the small bits of potato and savored it.

He can't talk too much longer, Aang thought miserably.

xxx

Zuko finally sulked into the main room, and the others greeted him warmly.

"You're hungry after all, huh?" Katara teased as he folded himself up between her and Iroh.

"Where's Aang?" Zuko asked, ignoring Katara.

"He's still eating with the king." Sokka answered, picking his teeth.

The door to the apartment swung open, and the four looked expectantly to Aang. He looked like he'd been beaten with a languor stick.

"That guy is worse than Bumi." Aang muttered, sinking down to the table and loading a plate with fruit.

"Worse than Bumi?" Sokka gasped. "That bad?"

"Bumi is fun and actually has a personality. That guy is a walking nightmare. He never looked me in the eye once! He just ate and talked about history and buildings and… ugh. I don't ever want to eat with him again."

"Didn't he feed you?" Iroh said, noting the massive amount of food Aang was taking.

"Meat! He gave me meat! And I told him I didn't want it, but he just kept shoving it on my plate!"

"Well… Is he going to help you find a teacher?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, that's the only thing he's good for. He said there are a lot of masters in the city that would love to teach me, so he said he'd hold a sort of… competition to see which one I get."

"You get to choose this time?" Sokka scoffed. "Last time we had one choice, and he was a sour old man who didn't even want to teach Katara."

"Why?" Zuko asked.

"Because I was a girl." She stated. "Pakku wasn't so bad in the end."

"Only because he knew Gran Gran." Sokka countered.

"Anyway," Katara said, focusing back on Aang, "What about that contest?"

"Each master has an hour to teach me, and I get to decide who I'd like to have." Aang smiled. "It is kind of nice not to have to scour the country for one person."

"When do you start?" Iroh asked.

"He said it would take a few days to get the information out, so I'll start next week."

"So… What do we do in the meantime?" Zuko inquired.

Sokka grinned. "We do nothing."

Zuko glanced at Iroh. He wasn't sure he was capable of 'nothing'.

xxx

Katara loved her room. She had a four-poster bed (she'd never had more than a bedroll, really), a bureau, a mirror, and a woven rug. With the money that the king had granted each of them, she hoped to buy a few things to make it a little more like home, but even without it's 'touches', she'd never had such finery. She spent nearly a half hour lounging against her pillows. Then Zuko appeared at her doorway.

He glanced around. "It's nice."

She grinned. "I know! It's fantastic."

He walked over to the mirror and ran a finger along its edge. "I've seen finer."

Katara's smile slipped a notch. "I'm sure you have, but for me, it's perfect."

"You deserve a higher quality." Zuko said, his voice carrying every bit of his old pride.

She decided to ignore his pomposity. "I'm thinking of buying some decorations at the market tomorrow. The rest of the guys are coming, too. Do you want to go?"

His lips twitched. "Shopping?"

"What else are you going to do?" she snapped.

Zuko shrugged. "What do people do when they do 'nothing'? I've never done 'nothing'."

"Didn't you ever do nothing at home?" she asked, surprised.

"No. Training was always top priority."

"Oh. Well, you should just go with us and see what it's like. We have lots of fun together."

Zuko nodded. "I guess I will."

Katara smirked mischievously. "And lighten up!" She tossed her pillow at him.

It smacked his chest and slumped to the floor. Neither of them moved. Zuko was too perplexed to even begin to wonder why anyone would throw a pillow; weren't there heavier and more satisfying projectiles? Katara choked back her laughter until she saw a grin or a flame. She would much prefer the former.

Zuko finally looked up at her. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to… what?"

She giggled. "Laugh or something! It's funny!"

Zuko stooped and took the pillow in his hands, turning it over. He didn't understand why this was so funny. It seemed too juvenile to be anywhere near the mark of the hilarity which Katara was leading it to be. If he hit her, would it hold some amusement for himself?

Katara was laughing too hard to notice him raise the pillow and hit her shoulder with it. She froze and stared at him with the same bewilderment he just had. Zuko blinked, then realized with rising pleasure that her expression made the situation funny: pure shock.

"Yes," he chuckled, "It is funny!"

Katara smirked and picked up her other pillow. "Now I'm just going to have to finish it."

xxx

"I haven't seen Katara or Zuko in awhile." Aang said.

He and Sokka were leaning on their balcony rail, people gazing.

"They're fine." Sokka waved the thought away. "Look at that one! She's got red hair! Have you ever seen a color like that?"

Aang glanced at her. "Eh… It's okay."

Iroh joined them. "I suggest the two of you come inside for a moment."

"Why?" Sokka asked.

"You're missing quite a spectacle."

Aang and Sokka exchanged glances and then followed Iroh into the apartment.

"First, listen." Iroh held up his hand, and the other two froze and strained to hear.

"I hear laughing." Sokka shrugged. "So?"

Iroh shook his head and motioned for silence once more.

Aang's eyes widened. "Is that Zuko?"

"Come back here!" Katara shouted from her room.

Sokka panicked. "What's he doing?" He rushed towards the hall.

Zuko piled out of the hall before Sokka reached it and stood, breathless and smiling. He received several blank stares. Katara raced after him, pillow at the ready, and struck Zuko's head with it.

"I got you! That's three for me, and-." She stilled, returning the empty gazes she was given.

Zuko swallowed his smile. "What are you looking at?" He snapped.

Aang formed a sentence among his puzzlement. "Were you two pillow fighting?"

Zuko glanced at Katara. "She hit me first."

A grin found its way to Iroh's face. "You were?"

Katara flushed. "I didn't realize it was that big of a deal."

Aang shook his head. "It's not. We're just… surprised."

"Disgusted." Sokka muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm going to my room." Zuko said sulkily.

Katara watched him leave, then rounded on the others. "Well, thanks a lot, everyone. I was breaking his shell!"

"We happen to like his shell." Sokka harrumphed.

"Speak for yourself. It's been awhile since I've heard him laugh. You two should be together more often." Iroh inclined his head towards Katara.

Aang shifted uncomfortably. "Didn't some desert get sent up?"

Sokka's face lit up. "Did it?"

Iroh and Sokka made their way to the main room to scour the table for food. Aang and Katara hovered before each other, both realizing there were unspoken words between the two that needed to be explored.

"So…" Aang scuffed his heel against the floor. "I was wondering, you know, since I have all this time, that you and I might be able to go out for an evening."

Katara blinked. That was not what she expected to hear. She was prepared to be bombarded with an interrogation; why was she rough-housing with Zuko? She feigned a smile.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do something like that." She said assuringly.

"Really?" Aang grinned. "That would be great for it to be just the two of us for once."

"The… two of us? You mean you and me?"

"Yeah, we could go out to eat and-."

"Aang, I'm still not sure I know what you mean."

Aang faltered. "Oh… Well, see, I've had this… feeling for-."

"Hey, Aang, Katara, are you coming? They sent up some sort of fruit pie! It's really good!" Sokka called.

"Maybe we can talk later, Aang? I'm gonna go see if Zuko wants some desert."

"Sure." Aang agreed unhappily.

Katara scooped up her pillow and skipped off to Zuko's room.

xxx

Zuko was, quite frankly, embarrassed.

To the others he'd always been the calloused soldier, the banished prince, the sulky teenager, averse to any sort of communal life. And here they'd caught him flirting…

He couldn't even pretend that that wasn't what he was doing. His actions involved a girl, laughing, false threats, and a flurry of playful contact, and those factors nailed it as romancing. The technicalities of his situation made his stomach feel queasy. Why did he have to ruin every moment by over-analyzing it? He would have been perfectly content admitting that, yes, he had flirted, and he had loved every second of it, despite getting caught.

His thoughts were interrupted by a gentle knock at his door. If it was Sokka, he'd tackle him. If it was Aang, he'd shut the door again. If it was Iroh, he'd yell something obscene and return to his self-pity, but if it was Katara… he'd probably gawk at her until she said something that required a reply.

Zuko rolled off of his bed and twitched his door open.

"What?" he snapped.

Katara blinked at him. "There was some desert sent up. Do you want some?"

He shook away his gawk and nodded.

"I'm sorry." She hushed. "I made you embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed." Zuko scoffed.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're not?"

He leaned as casually as he could against the doorframe. "Why would I be?"

"You just ran off because you felt like it?"

"Yes."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you did."

"I beat a girl with a pillow. That's more than any of them can say, I assure you."

She paused, unsure of his dryness. "Is that a joke?"

He sighed. "It's wasted on you, isn't it?"

"Sorry," she chuckled. "I didn't realize you could be funny. So, uh, do you want some pie?"

"I think I'll eat it on the balcony."

"Okay."

Zuko was accustomed to being forward. What he wanted, he demanded it. Questions never went unanswered around the prince. A logical piece of him realized, however, that girls didn't appreciate brash men.

"Would you join me?" He finally asked.

Her gaze slid over him. Why did he always seem to surprise her? His mystery appealed to her, in any case. Aang and Sokka were so predictable; it was refreshing to have a bit of a conundrum around.

"Yes, I will." She answered with a soft smile.

xxx

"You're brooding, too?" Sokka grumbled.

Aang glanced up from his pie. "I am?"

"You and Zuko! All the time!" Sokka complained.

"Are you going to finish that?" Iroh asked Aang, pointing to his untouched desert.

"No. You can have it."

"What's eating you?" Sokka asked, wiping pie filling from his lips.

"Katara." Aang admitted. "She's never-."

Zuko swept into the room, avoiding their pointed stares. He scraped two plates of pie from the table and turned to leave.

"Zuko…" Iroh drawled.

Zuko froze and swiveled to grimace at his uncle. "Yes?"

"Second helpings have a fee." Iroh continued.

"What do you want?"

"I would like an answer."

"Uncle."

"Where are you running off to?"

"I'm eating on the balcony."

"Alone?"

Zuko's lips twitched. "Katara and I are eating on the balcony. Are you satisfied now?"

"Quite. You may go now."

Zuko stormed away, leaving a broad grin residing on Iroh's face. Sokka and Aang looked a little less than pleased.

"Why are they doing that?" Aang asked painfully.

Sokka's face was scrunched up. "I don't know, but I don't like it. C'mon, let's eavesdrop."

"I wouldn't if I were you…" Iroh warned.

Sokka froze. "Why not?"

"Zuko caught someone eavesdropping on himself and his captain back on his ship once, and he threw him over the side into the water."

"That's kind of harsh." Aang said.

"That was at the South Pole, too."

Sokka settled back onto the floor. "Okay… I'll just pester Katara later."

xxx

Aang excused himself from the table after a few more minutes of strained, awkward silence.

"Where are you off to?" Sokka asked, shoveling in his fourth piece of pie.

"I'm just gonna go lay down in my room for awhile…" Aang lied.

In truth, his fierce curiosity had led him to the balcony doors, and he had his face pressed up against the glass, face bunched in concentration. What could Zuko and Katara honestly be talking about? As far as Aang knew, Katara was just as skeptical of Zuko's sincerity as Sokka, but now she threw her head back in laughter at something Zuko had just said.

Aang leaned back onto his heels. Maybe he should just ask to join them… But what if they decided their conversation wasn't fit for his ears?

Sokka snorted behind him. "This isn't your room."

"Come on," Aang whispered. "You're curious too."

Sokka nodded. "You know… there is a roof…"

"Yeah?"

"And you're an Airbender…"

"So?"

Sokka sighed. "Just fly up onto the roof and eavesdrop."

xxx

Zuko glanced over his shoulder and caught a blaze of red in the window. He smirked and turned back to Katara.

"Is paranoia common in this group?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't look now, but Aang and your brother are peeking through the window."

"Seriously? I swear… those two… What do they think we're doing? Throwing each other off the balcony?"

Zuko snorted. "They'd probably be happier if we did."

She threw him another puzzled look.

"They'd rather us fight than the opposite." Zuko answered.

"Oh…" Katara flushed.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Aang's face once again pressed to the glass. He grimaced when she caught him and drew back.

"Aang…" Katara sighed.

Zuko opened up the balcony door and gave him a frown. "Do you require something?"

Aang wrung his hands. "Uh… No, sorry."

"Why don't you just sit out here with us rather than spy?" Katara suggested.

Sokka spoke up from the depths of the room. "Oh, so now we're invited, huh?"

"No one said you couldn't come, Sokka." Katara said sternly.

"I wouldn't want to go out there anyway," Sokka replied shortly and sauntered out of the room.

"I wouldn't mind coming out with you guys." Aang said brightly. He passed through the doors and slipped between them. "So, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing in particular," Katara answered. "Mostly about what happened to our separate groups before we got to the North Pole. Did you know that, had it not been for Zhao, Zuko would have caught us when Sokka and I were sick at that old temple?"

Aang put up a façade. "Really? He was that close?" He looked at Zuko in mock surprise. "I never would have known. Just how close were you, Zuko?"

"Close."

"Capturing close?"

"Yes, Aang, 'capturing close'." Zuko growled.

"Imagine… What if he had captured us?" Aang asked Katara.

"We'd probably all be in the Fire Nation right now." She answered dully.

"But I didn't capture you," Zuko hissed at Aang.

Aang grinned. "Came awful close though, didn't you?"

"I don't like this subject anymore," Katara muttered. "Aang's turning it into blame."

"Sorry," Aang said.

They fell into silence. Zuko, who had been content a few minutes ago, was put into a sour mood once more. Katara noticed his scowl.

"Hey, Aang, could you get me another piece of pie? That stuff is really good!" She asked sweetly.

"Sure! Be right back!" He bounded through the doors.

Katara sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with him. He's being kind of a-."

"Pain?"

"Yes." She gave Zuko a sympathetic smile. "Maybe he's just upset because he's being left out."

"Well, I can't see why we don't include him." Zuko growled.

Aang rushed back out, balancing another plate. He handed it to Katara with a grin. "Here you go!"

"Thanks Aang!" Katara beamed.

Zuko couldn't help but to feel slightly disgusted the way they grinned at each other. Aang was smiling to gain her affections, but all she saw was a friend being 'kind' to her.

"Well…" Zuko stretched. "I'm going to bed now."

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Katara said between mouthfuls.

Zuko tugged Aang's sleeve when Katara wasn't looking. He jerked his head towards her and mouthed 'talk to her'. Aang nodded nervously and bid Zuko a good night.

xxx

Zuko was just slipping into blissful sleep (an actual bed, for crying out loud), when an urgent series of knocks rained down on his door. He groaned.

"Who is it?" he growled.

Aang poked his head through the doorway. "May I speak with you?"

"What?" He snapped.

Aang hurried inside and closed the door behind him. "I can't talk to her."

"Why is this my problem?"

"Don't you have some other advice?"

"You should ask Uncle. He's a girl fanatic."

"But… this is kind of an awkward situation, and I really want your advice."

Zuko imagined that if he had a little brother, thank Agni he didn't, that he would be just like Aang. He'd pester him at all hours of the night with seemingly pointless questions and tease him about things he did months ago, no matter how hard Zuko tried to persuade him not to.

"Why can't you talk to her?" Zuko asked, burying his head into the depths of his pillow.

"Because I'm afraid it will ruin our friendship."

"Then why are you pursuing her further if that's your fear?"

"Because… I… I don't know."

"Think on that for a night, and do me a favor."

"What?"

"Don't wake me up again."

xxx

A/N

When I wrote this, I went back and read it, and I hated it. I read it again a few days later, and I decided it was fit to publish. I switched some things around, but I don't think I'm rushing anything or taking anything too out of character. Please let me know if I am. I know how it is to be frustrated with an author for ruining a usable plotline with junkie character depth, so don't suffer in silence! Speak up and be heard!

Three more days. Can you believe it? And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you need to join some forums or something.

I wanna hear ya holla!

That's like… my speak for 'review please'.