Published March 4, 2012
Author's Note: Sorry it's short; I want the chapters to be more like drabbles, and I want to make this story last a bit longer.
The guard wordlessly let her in. Katara guessed that he had been told not to reveal Zuko's visits, either.
Once inside, Katara faced the prisoner. "So, I'm not your only visitor, am I?"
Was it her imagination, or was that almost a smile – no, a smirk – on Ozai's face? "You ran into Zuko, did you?"
"Yes. I thought he said he wouldn't come back here." There was an unspoken question in her words, but Ozai ignored it.
"What do you talk about?" Katara asked conversationally.
Ozai looked as though he were debating whether or not to answer. Then he said, "I'm the only one he knows who's been Fire Lord."
"He goes to you for job advice?" Katara was surprised, and maybe a little angry, but she supposed it made sense.
Ozai slightly altered the subject. "You're close to him, aren't you?"
Katara's answer was guarded. "Zuko lived with me and my friends, in hiding. We've had to work together before. So you could say that."
"Hmm."
Katara shot him a suspicious look. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"As though you don't know." It was the first time she heard him use sarcasm.
"What …?"
"You think you've won his heart, don't you?"
Katara's mouth dropped open. "I am not – Zuko and I have never been more than friends!"
Ozai smirked, a scary expression on him. "What are you smirking at?" Katara demanded, in the same voice she used to reprimand Toph or Sokka.
"He saved you during Sozin's Comet, did he not?"
Katara sounded defensive. "He would have done the same for any of us – Avatar Aang, or my brother, or the other girls in our group." She wasn't going to mention that Zuko had a girlfriend, or that she herself was dating the Avatar – the last thing she wanted was to give Ozai any ideas about how he or others could hurt Zuko or Aang. She shook her head and muttered, "I can't believe I'm even talking to you about this." She frowned now. "Do you actually care about him? Or about me?"
She almost sounded as though she cared about his answer.