Chapter 4

(Past: Two years ago)

"Her bending's gone."

Zuko looked up to see Katara of the Southern Water Tribe standing in front of him with her hands clasped. He was seated atop a rock approximately fifty feet from the shore.

"I'm aware," came his cold words. He had personally assisted his guard in bringing his sister to the Asylum to be committed. It had been agreed by the world's leaders, Zuko included, that it would be best for Azula's firebending to be taken away. This wasn't easy especially since the islanders were celebrating the fact that he had just condemned his sister to a life of no bending.

"I understand that you're upset but you shouldn't take it out on anyone. Have you eaten dinner?" questioned the woman in a calm voice. It had been two suns since he'd last seen his sister's sullen shell in the Asylum and he'd be returning to the Fire Nation in a week's time. He needed to be well-rested and have his thoughts clear.

"I tried to-."

"Unacceptable Zuko. You should eat something," interrupted the water-bender as she reached into her bag at her side. She pulled out a small bundle of cloth and opened it. Inside was a small assortment of sweet cakes. She picked one up and held it out towards his lowered face.

For nearly a minute, the Fire Lord stared at the pastry, his golden eyes lit in confusion and honest appreciation. Yet, he didn't reach for the food. Taking this as a rejection, Katara started to pull her hand away to repackage the dessert but she was stopped.

Zuko had grabbed onto her wrist. Time was still for them both. Narrow golden eyes met large blue ones in a moment of realization. He pulled her hand closer and took a bite from the pastry that she still held in her hand.

"You can just take it out of my hand," Katara softly remarked with a small smile. The Fire Lord frowned before taking said pastry from her hand and standing. He tossed it into the air and quickly incinerated the food item.

"Thief. Why did you do that?"

"I hate rose pastries."

"Well, you could have let me finish it," huffed Katara stuffing her parcel back into her bag.

"Come sit with me." Zuko gestured toward the beach. It was rare that anyone enjoyed these simple sights anymore. Moonlight cast across the water and sand, creating an ephemeral atmosphere.

Katara took the forlorn man's offered hand and allowed him to lead her to the shore. Looking down due to her own personal awkwardness, she noticed that he was shoeless. She shook her head slightly at the randomness of her observation.

As they got closer to the shore, Katara breathed in deeply to calm her nervous thoughts. She had always thought that Zuko was an attractive man, even with his scar, and personally being this close to him made her uneasy and unsure of how to act.

The ocean was still and the area calm save for the barely audible sounds of celebration coming from the town. Katara glanced up at the Fire Lord's face to see the look of pensiveness that he had often had during the time of war.

It slightly alarmed her.

"Is everything okay?" she questioned before she could stop herself. Of course everything wasn't okay.

Zuko released her hand and plopped down on the sandy shore, his feet getting sloshed by the ocean because of his close proximity to the body of water.

"Yes," was his curt reply.

Katara sat down beside the man and stared at his profile— the unmarred side of his face, all nervous thoughts quickly abandoned. His fire crown wasn't atop his head as per usual which was odd in itself.

"Frankly, I don't believe you."

"Of course you don't. Why did you come to me when everyone's out having fun?"

"I was on my way to celebrate but I didn't see you anywhere. I figured that it would be better to hang out with you versus that horrible celebration. Aang's not even there. He tended to business and left for Omashu immediately after. His old friend needed something done. King Bumi has no patience," grinned the water-tribe woman.

Zuko's amber colored eyes glanced over at Katara. A small smile appeared on his face at her attempt to make him cheerful. He had always enjoyed her company even when she hated him so long ago.

"Katara, you don't have to skip the celebration just because I'm not there."

"Who said anything about me skipping the celebration?"

With that being said, Katara reached into her bag and brought out a bottle of refined cactus juice. Sokka had refused to ever touch the stuff again after his incident in the desert a while back but this beverage was filtered so that the bad elements that caused hallucinations were no longer in it.

"Sometimes, I just don't give you enough credit," smiled the once-banished prince as he watched the beautiful woman uncork the bottle and take a swig. It was a smooth, sweet liquid that reminded her of moon peaches. She passed it to him where he followed suit.

"Right you are. Where is your fire crown?"

"It's in my room up at the inn. I didn't feel much like being Fire Lord tonight." With that, Zuko took another gulp of the fruity beverage.

"Oh," was Katara's short reply. She looked away from him and stared across the water, noting how Yue's beautiful moon reflected off of its surface. She closed her eyes to revel in the beauty of her surroundings.

This was nice and calming. A soft breeze blew over them, causing Katara's loose, wavy hair to whip softly towards the brooding man, tickling his exposed forearm.

Zuko smiled to himself as her hair danced upon his arm and he looked over at her. Her eyes were closed and a small smile played on her lips. She was a serene being and looking at her allowed him a sense of peace.

He pushed the bottle to his lips again for another drag of the sweet drink before nudging Katara with the bottle.

He nearly gasped when she opened her large blue eyes, the moon's reflection making their beauty even more apparent. She took a deep drink, her eyes still on his narrow golden ones, before corking the bottle. She sat it down in the sand beside her.

They could both feel the light-headed effects of the cactus juice start to cloud their minds.

"Do you want to dance?" Katara suddenly asked, a giant smile spreading across her face. Zuko smiled at the rosy glow of her cheeks under the moonlight.

"As strange as your request is...I'd be happy to oblige."

The next few seconds found the two awkwardly swaying along the shoreline with Katara's arms looped around the Fire Lord's neck.

"This is one of the strangest things that I've ever done,"whispered Zuko, thoughts of his family far from his mind.

"Why's that?" Katara responded.

"You don't find it odd that we are dancing to no music?"

The blue eyed woman smiled at Zuko's silliness.

"Fire Lord, there is music all around us," Katara remarked, "Close your eyes."

When Zuko did not comply, she reached her hand up to his face and sweeped her hands lightly over his long eyelashes before closing her own eyes.

"Do you hear the happy winds as they sing and whistle through the trees? How about the soft but demanding tempo of the water as it sloshes and hits the rock? What about that lonesome fish that leaps out of the water only to drop back down as if someone has lightly tapped onto a drum? That is music...Zuko."

Unbeknownst to the master waterbender, Zuko had opened his eyes to watch her face as she described the music of the land. She was a wonderful sight, there in front of him, her dark hair blowing in and out of her heart-shaped face. He wanted to hold her in his arms, like so, for the rest of his life.

His gaze roamed over her face until they rested on her lips that were lightly glazed with a pale red color, most likely for the celebration. It was like they called for him and without thinking, the fire lord's head quickly descended.

His lips met hers softly in a short kiss before he realized what he had done.

"I'm sorry! That was disrespectful of me," Zuko hurriedly exclaimed to Katara's shocked facial features. A slow smile crept across the woman's face at the man's apology.

"It's okay," was her response. And it was.

(End Past Sequence)

"This is early... even for you, Zuko," Aang grinned at the Fire Lord's interruption of his early morning breakfast.

"I wanted to speak to you prior to meditation since I'm going to be busy finishing off the preparations for you to take over whilst I'm on leave. Katara and I will be leaving before dinner," spoke the firebender, his voice still gruff from sleep. Upon rising even earlier than the sun, Zuko had managed to catch the Avatar at nearly five o'clock in the morning.

"Understandable. What did you need?" questioned the airbender. Aang calmly reached across his small table and poured himself a cup of herbal tea. They were seated in Aang's personal garden that was located on the other side of the palace directly adjacent to Zuko's.

Aang normally woke very early in the day for his meditation ritual so he usually had his breakfast alone. To stay well-rested, he went to sleep prior to lunchtime.

"I think...I believe that there may be an issue with the fact that it's just going to be me and Katara traveling...alone," Zuko spoke slowly.

He knew what he wanted to speak to the younger man about yet, it was difficult to bring out the words properly.

"What issue?"

"Shall I reiterate...alone?" spoke the fire lord cynically with a raise of his only brow.

"I'm not too sure that I understand."

"I shouldn't have to spell it out for you! I know that you remember Suki's heckling when we revisited Kyoshi Island a year ago." Zuko was referring to a trip that he and Aang had made to the Island in order to make sure that the Kyoshi warriors and Sokka's Sword Squad were well taken care of when it came to barracks and provisions.

Zuko immediately looked down in shame. His short temper always caused him trouble. It didn't help that he was eager to get started on the search for his mother which made him a bit more on edge than usual.

He glanced up, ready to apologize and noticed the look of comprehension suddenly dawning on the Avatar's long face.

"I thought that Suki was just kidding about their being lipstick on your lips during Azula's no-more-firebending celebration. Did you steal it from Katara? Are you here to make a confession to me, Zuko?"

Zuko could only stare at Aang in complete bewilderment yet he knew that the last airbender was completely serious with his question.

"You are completely daft. The lipstick was Katara's...but we-", Zuko was cut off. Aang's eyes had a particularly curious shine to them as he tried to control his laughter from his mistake.

"Wait? All of Suki's suggestive comments weren't just made to you. She was joking Katara too. Did she mean that...that you and Katara...that...," Aang momentarily resembled a fish, "You kissed her?"

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It's one of my favorites because everything is pretty much set in motion from here.

Thank you for the wonderful reviews. Please continue. I apologize for any mistakes you may encounter in this chapter. I will go back through and edit later today.

I find it disturbing when I'm reading a story and the flashbacks are in italics. I understand the point of the italics, however, they make it difficult for me to WANT to read the selection because the words just run together annoyingly..so I often find myself skimming them...hence why, this Kyoshi Island flashback is not in italics.

That's not all that happened on the island by the way.