It had only been a few minutes since Chief Hakoda had admitted to leaving his daughter in the Earth Kingdom, but it felt like an eternity had passed. Zuko had left to give the water tribesmen privacy, but decided to wait patiently in the gardens for Katara to return.

Meanwhile, Katara had followed Hakoda and his son, Sokka, to their rooms, to speak in private.

As they sat down, Katara stared at Hakoda, torn between confusion and resentment. She was the first to break the silence.

"Why?"

"Why what, Katara?" Hakoda asked.

"Why everything. Why did you leave me? Didn't you want me?" She asked, her voice elevating.

Hakoda responded immediately. "Of course we wanted you! But more than that, we wanted you to be safe." Hakoda paused, and a sad look came over his eyes. "Things were bad for awhile in the Southern Water Tribe."

Katara's expression shifted. "What do you mean?" she asked. Sokka looked back and forth between Hakoda and Katara, unsure of what to say. His usual sarcastic comments were not going to really help the situation, so he decided to just keep quiet.

Hakoda's voice was soft as he relayed the events that had occurred. "Shortly before you were born, there were some issues. There was a man, Kanuk, who felt that he would make a better Chief than me. Traditionally, the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe had always been a powerful bender, and I . . . I was never able to bend." Hakoda looked up at Katara, and then at Sokka. "Your mother was a waterbender, she specialized in healing, but Sokka does not have her gift. Anyway, Kanuk tried to turn the tribe against me and towards him because he was 'strong enough' to lead the tribe. Those loyal to me and to my father before me, supported me, while others did not."

Katara suppressed a gasp of surprise. She had only heard bits and pieces of what had been happening in the Southern Tribe.

"Kya mentioned to a friend that she trusted that she thought her next child was going to be a Waterbender. When you were born, we knew this to be true, because you were born during the full moon, and you were always drawn to the ocean." Hakoda's voice began to strengthen with anger. "Kanuk heard about your gift and wanted to get rid of you. You were a threat to him. When my spies heard of his threat, I took you and Sokka away to the Earth Kingdom. Nothing was worth the threat of my family. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you like I lost your mother."

Katara reached for his hand, and then reached for Sokka's hand as well. Sokka gripped her hand tightly.

"I remember when you were little Katara, and with us. When Dad said you had to go somewhere safer, I cried and didn't want to let you go," Sokka said. "But I had to, because we had to go back."

Katara looked at Hakoda, "Why? Why did you have to go back?"

"One of my spies, Bato, sent me a letter saying that Kanuk had done a lot of horrible things to the tribe. He was creating a child arm from the waterbenders, and barring women from bending, allowing them only to learn healing techniques. While this may have been the way in the North, the Southern Tribe has never practiced this. Kya wouldn't have wanted that." He squeezed Katara's hand, "I couldn't let other people suffer, so I went back and took control. It took years, but we were finally able to displace Kanuk, and things have been fairly peaceful since then." Hakoda looked Katara in the eye, his gaze lingering on hers and her pendant. "Can you ever forgive me for what happened? Your mother always told me that I had a responsibility to the tribe, and I felt like I had to honor that. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to watch you grow up, believe me, it pained me more than you know."

Katara felt like her heart was going to break. All these years she had imagined that she had been unwanted, yet that was not the case. Far from it. She stood up and took a step towards Hakoda. She put her arms around his neck and said "All that matters is that you're here now. Both of you." She pulled Sokka into the hug, and the family was finally reunited with tears they had all been waiting to shed.

00000000000000000000000000000000

After the tearful reunion, Katara felt it was only right to bring her families together. With some convincing, she all but dragged Sokka to meet the Bei Fongs. Before reaching the door she paused. "Alright, this is going to be awkward, but you are my family just as much as they are. Play nice, okay?"

Hakoda and Sokka nodded.

Katara opened the door and saw Poppy reading while Toph set across from her, listening to her mother read. They both looked up toward the door as they heard Katara enter. Poppy looked up in alarm at seeing the two large water tribe men.

She sputtered, confused and concern until Katara took her hand, and then took Toph's, leading them to Hakoda and Sokka.

Katara began to tell a story, a story of the Southern Water tribe to start with, and then a story of the people who had raised her. Lao Bei Fong entered near the beginning when he heard voices, and listened in shock. He never anticipated her family trying to reclaim her. Katara then told the story of that day.

Both groups looked at each other, assessing the other.

Lao spoke up first. "So what now? You think you can just take her back? I won't allowing it! We raised her, and she is OUR daughter," he cried indignantly.

Katara tried not to strangle Lao. Hakoda answered before Katara could, "Of course not. And I'm indebted to you for taking care of her. But Katara does have a place in the Southern Water Tribe if she ever wants it, and she should recognize that she belongs there."

Katara seethed. "Nobody is deciding anything right now," she almost shouted as both groups planned how to argue where she belonged. "I decide where I live, nobody else. This i my life. I'm not a little kid anymore!" She looked at Lao, "If I want to live in the South, I will!" she then turned to Hakoda, "If I want to stay with the people who raised me, then I will." Katara stomped towards the door. "And nobody," she turned back, "is going to stop me." With that, she slammed the door shut.

"Katara, wait!" Toph cried.

The Bei Fongs were in shock. Katara had always been obedient. Where was their sweet daughter?

Toph rushed out of the room after Katara, knowing that she was probably crying somewhere nearby.

0000000000000000000000000000000000

It took Toph all of twenty minutes to find Katara crying her eyes out on a bench in a secluded section of the garden.

"Mind if I take a seat, sweetness?"

Katara looked at Toph in surprise. Of course she followed her, because Toph was her best friend. She murmured a no and Toph sat next to her.

"The way I see it sweetness, you have three options. One; you stay with Mom and Dad and me until you get married. Two; you go back to the South with your other family, and you take me with you, or three; You say screw all of you and do whatever the Hell you want to do. It's your life. Of course," Toph added slyly, "I'm sure sparky would love to give his input on the decision. Wouldn't you sparky?"

Katara was about to ask who Sparky was, when she heard a voice answer sheepishly, "I guess you knew I was here, didn't you?"

Katara saw Zuko standing a few feet away. "How long have you been there?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Zuko took a few steps toward her, knelt down, and took her hands in his. "Long enough to know that you've been hurt. I guess meeting your family didn't go exactly as you wanted. What happened?"

She looked into his eyes as Toph gave a low whistle. "You're smooth," Toph said with a smirk.

Katara recounted what had happened with as few tears as she could muster. By the end of the story she found herself eerily calm. She was aware of Zuko's warm hands and his unwavering gaze.

After a moment of silence, Toph decided it was time to leave them alone. Maybe I'll see what Twinkletoes is doing, she thought to herself, as she swiftly walked towards the stables where the Avatar was sure to be with his flying bison.

Katara and Zuko were only vaguely aware of her leaving. After a moment, Zuko spoke.

"I can't really tell you what to do, because ultimately it's up to you. You just have to listen to your heart. Just know that I support whatever choice you make," Zuko said kindly.

Katara leaned into him, glad for his support.

"I would be lying if I didn't say that I wanted whatever option got you closest to me," he started, and Katara elbowed him.

"Perhaps Uncle could arrange something, for you to visit the fire nation for awhile."

Katara snorted. "Let's just get through these two weeks first."

And neither spoke after that. But that was okay with both of them, they didn't need words anyways.