Disclaimer: Disclaiming, disclaiming, disclaiming ...

Eyes fluttering open, Katara swam in and out of disorientation for several minutes before realizing where she was. Awkwardly shuffling up into a sitting position, metal handcuffs painfully rubbing against her wrists, and blearily surveying her surrounding, a thought rose to the surface of her conscience as she realized she had no company: Where's Zuko?

Swaying slightly as she pulled herself up onto her feet, Katara, remembering the boulder slamming her into the cavern wall, looked down at her stomach. It was hard to tell where the blood ended at the crimson material of her dress began – but after pressing her fingertips against her stomach, concluded that it was nothing more than some long scratches and heavy bruising, which would, with or without the aid of her healing abilities, heal with time. Hopefully. There wasn't much time left.

She saw the tray in front of the door. It was a simple wood one, roughly made, chipped and worn at the handles from age. On the tray was a small bowl, upon further inspection the bowl contained what appeared to be rice, unappetizingly cold and clumped together in sticky white bundles.

Grimacing slightly, half-wondering how long she had been knocked unconscious, Katara tugged the tray towards her and prepared to eat the rice, only to be interrupted by several harsh knocks on the cell door, and a coarse voice that boomed:

'We're bringing the Fire Lord in. I want you facing the wall and your hands where I can see 'em.'

There was a creaking noise as the metal door slid open, the sounds of shallow, panicked breathing, stumbling footsteps mingled with cruel laughter, the dull thud of flesh hitting flesh, the familiar screeching protest as the cell door shut. Katara instantly spun around.

Her scream was cut off quickly – she pressed her hands firmly against her mouth in a desperate attempt to quell it.

'Hi ... Zuko here.'

'Zuko, what have they done to you?'

He peered up at her, his gold eyes lost in a sea of purple-black bruises and dry blood.

'You're ...' if anything, his voice was relived, 'you're okay ...' He slumped forward slightly, Katara rushed forward to wrapped her arms around him, barely stopping him from hitting the ground.

'Yes, I'm fine,' she voice bubbled on the edge of hysteria, 'I'm-'

'They said they'd hurt you,' he mumbled into the base of her throat, his lips brushing against her skin, 'they ... they said they'd give you a scar to match mine.'

Katara shuddered, squeezing him harder. 'I'm fine,' she whispered, desperately wishing there was truth in her words, because she knew as well as Zuko did that everything was not okay, 'I'm fine ...'

Zuko sighed, all of the tension leaving his body. For a second she just held him, and wondered what it would be like to stay that way forever.

'T-there's,' she stumbled on her first word, trying to hold back tears, 'there's food, if you want any.'

She felt him shake his head. 'I'm not hungry.'

'You need to eat.'

'I'd rather sleep.'

Katara paused, not entirely sure of what to say. 'You mean right here, because it's gonna be kind of hard for me to eat with you in my arms and all.' She tried to keep her voice light, but it shook regardless.

Zuko chuckled lowly, pulling himself up as Katara lifted her arms so he could be free of her hold on him. Seeing Zuko properly for the first time, she was able to get a proper look at his injuries. Bruises akin to the ones on his face ran in alarmingly similar patterns down his arms, angry red scratches, some disturbingly deep, there too. Watching the way he moved, Katara guessed that no bones had been broken, but she knew it was only a matter of time before that happened.

'You okay?'

She was jolted out of her thoughts suddenly. 'Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Guess I got a bit spaced out,' she reached for the bowl of rice, awkwardly scooping some up in her hands, 'sorry,' she apologized through a mouthful of it, pulling a face.

'Katara,' something in Zuko's voice made her look up, 'I haven't thanked you yet for what you did for me in the cavern.'

Katara involuntarily flinched at the memories, the pain of the boulder hitting her in the stomach, the sickening crack of her head hitting the wall ... 'It was nothing.'

Zuko turned away from her. 'Nobody's ... Nobody's ever done something like that for me before.'

'Aang did.' She had no idea where the words had come from; she knew she had not planned to say them. But it was true.

'He would have done that for anyone. You ... Toph ... Sokka,' Zuko gestured with his hand to the ceiling, 'anyone.'

'I helped you just like anyone would.'

'Right.'

'Well, not anyone ...' she glanced towards the cell door, wondering if the guards were still there, 'but, you know,' Katara awkwardly cradled the bowl of rice in her lap, 'like a friend would.'

'So we're friends again?'

'Sure we are,' she held the bowl to her mouth; the taste of the rice reminded her of dirt.

'But on Appa ...'

She avoided looking into his eyes. 'I was mad. Not at you,' she added quickly, dropping her gaze to the cell floor. 'I was angry at myself ... I wasn't sure what was right or wrong anymore, it was like –'

'I know what you mean,' Zuko said, and he sounded so sincere that she couldn't make herself be annoyed for him interrupting her.

Katara bit down on her lip. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered.

He looked up at her fleetingly. 'Me too.'

It was as if a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders – she couldn't help but smile from relief. 'Make-up hug?' Katara asked sheepishly, raising her arms awkwardly.

Zuko shuffled over on all fours, the metal of his handcuffs clanking against the floor. He put his arms around Katara's neck; she lifted her own around the back of his head, resting her hands at the base of his skull. For a second, nobody said anything.

'... Hi.' Zuko's voice was muffled slightly.

'... Hi ...' Katara was extremely aware that their noses were almost touching. All of the sudden, the cell felt very small and was it just her or was it getting hot in here?

'I ... ah ...'

Zuko leaned in closer, his lips parted slightly.

'Katara, there's something I've ...' He gulped.

No, it wasn't just her; there were beads of sweat clinging to his temple.

'... Um, sort have been-'

Sweat!

'-Wanting to -'

Katara gasped, and stood up very quickly. 'Zuko, you're a genius!'

He raised his eyebrows questioningly. The next time she spoke, Katara made an effort to keep her voice low, in case the guards were still hanging around the cell door.

'Waterbenders,' her voice was hushed, 'can bend different types of liquid, not just water – I can bend sweat, too. When Toph and I were stuck in prison,' Zuko's eyes briefly widened in surprise at her words, 'I used my sweat to make water and cut through the wooden bars. Maybe it could do the same thing here.' She eyed the cell walls, wondering how many slices of a water-knife it would take to cut through the metal. 'Stand back.'

Zuko obliged.

Ten minutes and absolutely no progress made later, Katara came to the conclusion that it was exceedingly harder to waterbend with her hands in handcuffs than it was with them free.

'Shut up,' she hissed, glaring in Zuko's direction.

'I didn't say anything-'

'Well you were thinking it,' Katara made a hmph noise and sat down on the floor, drawing her knees up to her chin and staring fixedly at the wall.

'It was a good plan.'

Katara lifted the corners of her mouth up, attempting to smile. She failed miserably.

'Well, yeah,' she swallowed, 'I try my best. Your turn now.'

'My turn?'

'Mmm-hmm. Your turn to invent a potentially workable plan, only for it to fail.'

'If it's any help, getting out of this cell isn't going to solve any of our problems. There's still Ozai and the guards-'

'-Plus we don't have an earthbender to get us out of here,' interrupted Katara. 'Our only real chance of getting out of here is holding out long enough until our families realize that something's gone wrong.'

'Wrong is putting it a bit lightly, Zuko.'

Wrongwas finding out that the wrong type of flowers had arrived at the formal dinner, wrongwas wearing sash that didn't match with your dress. Wrong wasn't fear so cold it clutched at your heart and shattered it in a single go, it wasn't the rusty smell of blood in the air, it wasn't holding someone you loved in your arms and feeling your heart crack because there was nothing you could do about it –

'Sorry. I forgot that you were the optimistic one.' Zuko's face was deadpan, but the corner of his mouth twitched nevertheless.

'Did you just … crack a joke?' Katara couldn't believe it, and while maybe her voice was still snuffly from tears, she could feel the tiny cracks in her heart sealing up. Just like that.

'Possibly,' he smirked.

'This is so not the right time or place!' For a second she was tempted to hit him, and under other circumstances would have – if not for the fact that the Dai Li had clearly beat her to it, and these days every strike on Zuko was a strike on her heart.

'Okay, fine.'

'Fine!'

'I thought we were meant to be trying to stop arguing!'

Zuko kept his gaze on the floor. 'I don't remember to agreeing to that.'

'Well we should! How do you expect us to be able to find a way out of here if we can't even have a normal conversation without fighting?'

He shrugged.

'Zuko!'

And then he looked up at Katara and the absurdity of the situation hit her. She was sitting in a cell, with the Fire Lord, who was possibly the only person who she could trust right now, and in less than ten minutes of them making up from a previous argument, she'd begun yelling at him again. And so Katara did the only thing she could do: she laughed. She laughed until her stomach hurt and her sides ached, until tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and started to spill down and she started to sob, until Zuko wrapped his arms around her and waited for the cries to subside. Until she didn't have to be strong anymore because she was tired of being the lifeline.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered into his shirt minutes later.

Zuko's face was pressed against her shoulder. His eyelashes were wet.

'I'm going to get you out of here.'

Her sigh was shaky. 'Zuko ...'

He lifted his head up. 'No, I will. I promise –'

'Don't ...' her voice was weak. Promises hurt, and the last thing she needed was more pain.

'No,' Zuko's fingers dug into her shoulders, 'I promise.'

Barely five seconds of silence passed before there was the sound of one of the guards opening the door, but during those last seconds of quiet Katara looked at Zuko and something passed between them – something that she couldn't quiet put a name to. Some emotions just couldn't be put into words, but as she scrambled to her feet and ordered the guard that she be taken with Zuko to wherever he was going – because where Zuko went, Katara went – she finally realized what their silence had said.

But before she could discreetly tug at Zuko's elbow and give him a look that said she knew, the door to Ozai's chamber burst open and after so long in the cell the light was blinding. But it wasn't just Ozai, another figure was standing next to him –

Katara's knees buckled.

'Hello, dear.'

AN: So clearly when I say I'm updating soon, it means months and months later. Gah.

Basically, the problem is that I can't look back at Now and Then without wanting to kick myself several times because, in hindsight, parts of it are really, really horrible ... But I want to finish it. Hopefully posting this chapter will give me the motivation to get writing again, because everyone who's stuck by and read this deserves an ending. Once again, you guys are awesome.

Please review :-)