In a courtyard lit only by dim red lanterns, Zuko sat by the edge of the pond and skipped rocks on its surface, haunted by what had just happened.

At dinner, the Fire Lord had lost his temper at him, degrading him for not having learnt as many firebending forms as his sister, and telling him he'd planned to get rid of him in case he wasn't a bender. "Lucky to be born"... His father's cruel words still echoed through the young prince's head.

"Hi Zuko!" Suddenly he heard a sweet voice from behind him and turned to see the waterbending girl smiling innocently.

"Oh, hey Katara." He placed his cheek in his hand and went back to skipping rocks.

She stared at him for a moment, then walked in front of him and pushed his nose, her other hand on her hip.

"What?", Zuko groaned.

"What's wrong?" She had a serious look on her face.

"It's nothing, don't worry."

"...Really?" Katara crossed her arms and pouted, obviously not convinced.

"I don't want to talk about it."

She thought for a moment then began to tickle his sides, a gleeful smile on her face.

The Fire Prince immediately burst into laughter. "What are you doing? Stop!", he guffawed, rolling on the grass.

"It's better for you to laugh than be sad. I'm not stopping until you promise to tell me what happened." Katara poked out her tongue.

"Ok, ok! I'll tell you!" Zuko couldn't stop laughing.

She put her hands on her hips and smiled smugly. "That's the spirit. Come on, spill. What happened?"

He gave a deep sigh and paused before speaking. "Well, Azula's a better firebender than me and Father only seems to like her. It feels like I'm not needed as long as my little sister is there. I wish I could be a better firebender and bring honor to my family."

Katara was surprised. "Well, I for one like you better than Azula! It doesn't matter if she's better at firebending because you're a nicer person. I miss home and want to see the rest of my family, but you made me feel better about being here. Azula and her friends only ever want to pick on me and Mum and Auntie Ursa are always talking about grown-up things".

Zuko laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Thanks. It's actually no bad having you here either. It's not like I'm on friendly terms with my sister."

She hugged him, a wide grin on her face. Zuko blinked at the cute Water Tribe girl holding him, speechless but strangely happy.

She looked up at him with her brilliant blue eyes and held his gaze. "Remember if anything's bothering you, you can always tell me."

Zuko smiled and held her tightly. "Thank you, Katara." By this time some fireflies had flown out to surround them, making the courtyard a bit brighter than before.


Zuko and Katara were play-fighting with grins on their faces, shooting small bursts of fire and water. Both of them were sweating and short of breath in the scorching Fire Nation midsummer sun. Katara, wearing the little red dress Ursa had ordered to be made for her, smiled mischievously and bent the sparkling water of the fountain over the head of the little prince.

Zuko stared at his royal garb, now dripping from head to toe. She burst into giggles as he smirked, "Looks like you've gotten good enough so I don't have to go easy on you anymore. Too bad for you, a good soak is nice on a day like this."

Katara poked her tongue and hit him with another shot, barely able to stop laughing. "In that case I'm taking a little break to cool off too." She past him to the fountain and started to splash her face lightly with the refreshing clear water.

Zuko grinned cheekily and pushed her headfirst into the fountain. Before she knew what was happening she had landed on the white marble base, as wet as the opponent she'd attacked, and he was guffawing at her. "Hey!" She grinned as she dragged him into the fountain too and they started splashing each other with all their might, chortling loudly.

A group of Fire Nation girls in flashy summer clothes came along the veranda. Princess Azula was waving a fan and Ty Lee was gorging herself on sweet ice. Mai shot a glare at the Water Tribe girl so cold it would have sent chills up Katara's spine if she'd noticed.

The princess complained, "That stupid water peasant girl gets on my nerves. Last time we tried to play with her I got a lecture from mum about not beating up other people or something like that. It's not my fault if she's weak and can't take normal training." She groaned and sat down on a wooden bench, turned towards the fountain. "I don't understand why those two idiots would want to move at all on a day like this, and they're running around like crazy."

Mai leaned against the railing, watching the two of them enjoy themselves. "I guess the water and the fact they're having so much fun makes them forget the heat. They have been playing together every day for around three months now, after all." she commented with a hint of bitterness.

Azula looked straight at her friend. "Mai, you've been even gloomier than usual lately. What's going on?"

The upset girl crossed her arms and kept staring angrily at the two in the fountain, who were still laughing joyously. "She's so below Zuko it's wrong for him to be spending time with her."

Ty Lee stopped stuffing her face with sweet ice and leaned forward with an interested smile, her eyes twinkling in excitement. "Hmm? So Mai likes Zuko…" She started giggling.

Azula couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Really? My stupid brother? Are you sure about that?"

Mai shot her a glare. "Shut up! He's the prince, so it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Azula was stunned. It was the first time Mai had ever actually yelled at her, or anyone, for that matter. "Wow, you must really like him to get worked up like that. It's not like you."

Mai ignored her and continued staring at them as her hurt and angry grimace grew deeper and deeper. They were still laughing loudly, completely unaware.