Disclaimer: AtLA is property of VIACOM and Nickelodeon. No profit is made from this story.

Somehow, everybody seemed to have known what had happened – from Toph right down to the palace guards who stood at the palace entrance every morning. Well, of course some people had to have heard. She had been yelling pretty loud. They both had.

Of course they hadn't spoken since the fight. Katara ate with Toph in her own rooms now, and if by accident she saw Zuko, she would promptly turn on her heel and walk the other way.

He squeezed your hand. When you were overwhelmed by the crowd he let you know he understood.

Katara ignored her thoughts.

He never held what you said against you. You called him a murderer and he forgave you.

Stop.

You love him as you love Sokka, Toph and Suki.

Katara blinked back tears.

He's like family.

***

'So, Toph.'

Toph didn't do anything to acknowledge that she was listening to Katara, but she knew that Toph was listening.

'I've been thinking … Maybe I should go back to the South Pole –'

'WHAT?'

Yes, Toph was definitely paying attention now. The girl stood up and spun around, hands on hips.

'You can't go back to the South Pole! I'd never see you – all that ice!' the girl cringed. Katara knew how much Toph hated ice; it made 'seeing' for her incredibly hard.

'Look, I'll come and visit you,' said Katara, 'but I should go and see Sokka and Suki and –'

'No WAY!' Toph stomped the floor with her foot. 'You're staying RIGHT here!'

'You can't tell me what to do!' cried out Katara, all of a sudden forgetting that Aang wasn't dead, they weren't on the run from Azula, and that Appa's shedding fur was their dead giveaway.

There was silence.

'Toph, I'm sorry,' said Katara quietly, biting down on her lip. 'But I can't stay where I am. I have to move on.'

'If you do, you'll be the first,' said Toph softly, tears dripping off her chin. 'Because I know I haven't.'

It took only one pang of maternal sympathy in Katara's heart to make her walk across the room and embrace Toph.

This time she didn't need her gut instinct to tell her what the message between the lines was.

After …

This was the hardest part about saying goodbye – looking Sokka in the eyes and telling him that she would be okay, and watching him lie to her, saying that he believed her.

'You'll come and visit, right?' called Suki from Appa's saddle. The sky bison roared.

'Of course I will,' called Katara, trying to sound normal. 'I can't wait to meet my new niece or nephew!'

Sokka cried 'nephew' and Suki yelled down 'niece' at exactly the same time. If things had been different, she probably would have laughed. If Toph had been there, she probably would have smirked. And the corner of Zuko's mouth would probably have twitched, suppressing a smile.

But instead, all Katara could do was wave goodbye to her brother and future sister-in-law, eyes filling with tears, trying her hardest not to break down until she reached the isolation of her rooms.

Now …

Katara almost burst into tears when, after hours of searching, she managed to find her heavy blue parka – the one she had worn in the South Pole, the one she had been wearing the day she met Aang. Among the pile of clothes she found there was also her blue dress, the pants she wore with it, and several metal clips she used to hold her 'hair loopies' in place.

Of course Zuko hadn't burned them, even though he had looked her directly in the eye when he said he would. At least he hadn't promised – Katara didn't think her heart could take another broken one.

Biting down on her tongue, Katara carried her clothes out of the storage room, back to her own rooms, where she put them on her bed with the pile of things she wanted to take to the South Pole with her.

Although Katara tried to let the matter go, it bugged her for the rest of the day. Why hadn't Zuko burned the clothes? Why did it matter to him? It would have taken one fireblast and it would have been gone forever, why did he go to all the trouble of putting them in storage?

*

That night, a high-ranking Earth Kingdom general was having dinner – which was political talk for 'not-very-friendly-while-maintaining-a-friendly-look' negotiations – with Zuko, and Katara and Toph were invited to join. Of course, Katara hadn't wanted to go at first, but then she was told that her presence had been 'requested' by the general. And of course once you were requested you had no choice. Toph wasn't officially needed at the dinner, but the earthbender had decided to tag along anyway. Apparently she wanted to try proper Fire Nation cuisine.

It was forty minutes into the dinner and Katara was debating over faking a seizure of some kind just to see what happened. Toph, the traitor, had bailed before the soup course, something about needing to check on Appa. Katara envied her friend.

'With all due respect, Fire Lord,' said an Earth Kingdom admiral, 'these men wouldn't be crippled for life if it wasn't for your family's actions.'

'And I fully agree with you,' said Zuko, 'and I am willing to take responsibility for the men who were severely injured while fighting the Fire Nation. I'm prepared to contribute to the cost of paying these pensions, but I cannot –'

The admiral growled. 'These men cannot support their families because of what the Fire Nation did to them! They fought bravely, willing to sacrifice everything they had in order to –'

'If I remember correctly,' interrupted Zuko calmly, 'the Earth Kingdom's recruitment tactics weren't entirely devoid of foul play. In fact I have several documents in the library with witness testimonials, stating that Earth Kingdom men were forced to join the army after having the lives of various family members threatened.'

For several seconds, there was silence. The admiral was seething, his brown eyes narrowed, fists clenched, jaw locked into a scowl. The silence was broken by the clatter of plates, as another course was served.

'Oh,' said Katara quickly, 'it's rice, my favourite.' The bowl was set down in front of her, and she took a bite. 'Very good,' she said. Then Katara swallowed and her mouth was suddenly on fire.

Stupid Fire Nation spices …

The admiral chuckled as Katara grabbed her mug of water and swallowed desperately, and the tension in the room eased.

'Ouch,' said Katara once the flaming sensation had died down. Her tongue felt raw. 'Why didn't you warn me?'

'Poor petal,' crooned the admiral. Katara felt her stomach turn, but forced herself to laugh. After she died she'd beat that sexist up in the Spirit World …

'Speaking of all things beautiful,' continued the admiral, much to Katara's horror, 'that is a lovely dress you have on this evening. Odd, though, that someone from the Water Tribes would wear Fire Nation colours.'

Katara looked down; the dress she was wearing was a simple design, red with a gold sash around her waist. She didn't really care about what she wore these days. She shrugged. 'My old Water Tribe dresses were ruined during battles,' she said, 'and I've been in the Fire Nation ever since –' she paused, her throat closing up, 'and there aren't many blue clothes around here.'

'Oh, yes,' said the admiral, 'I was so sorry to hear of your fiancée's death. I send my condolences. The world will truly miss Avatar Aang.'

Katara tried to speak, but somehow she couldn't find the words. For a second she met Zuko's gaze, not entirely sure of what she was asking him. But somehow, he understood.

'Thank-you for your compassion,' he said, a little stiffly. 'It is always touching to of hear how much the world loved Aang.'

The conversation continued from there, but Katara couldn't listen. She swallowed down her food, managed to speak when it was required of her.

Right now, out there somewhere, there was another Avatar – a little waterbender who had absolutely no idea what he or she had just been born into, what they were expected of.

She had never expected to live to see the Avatar Cycle continue into the Water Tribes.

Katara had known what it was like to love an Avatar with all her heart. And now she knew what it was like to hate one.