Katara wearily collapsed onto the bed in the large, metal walled room. They had come across the Fire Nation ship, and it had been Sokka's idea to capture it and abandon their Water Tribe boat. The damages had gotten worse, and she had had to bend the water outside the boat for another two hours, and then she had run up on deck and frozen the water around the Fire Nation ship so that the warriors and her could battle the sailors and soldiers and take over the vessel.

It exhausted her- by the time they'd finished moving everything onto this boat she could hardly walk, and it was all she could do to check on Aang (still sleeping) and find an empty room to crash in. She slipped off her boots, her body aching, then peeled the rough cloth of her tribal dress from her body and yanked the silky sheets down on the bed, crawling beneath them. She didn't care that they still smelled like the man who had occupied this room before her- he was now abandoned on Bato's boat with the rest of his comrades. In a few moments her breathing leveled out, her body relaxed, and her dreams took her to where she longed to be.

Zuko could feel her. She was lying right beside him, and as long as he didn't open his eyes, she would stay. He thought her name to himself, and her hand covered his unscarred face as it had the moment she'd healed him. I miss you, he told her silently, and she smiled. I miss you too. Zuko, I'm so tired. Everything is so hard… Someone died today because I couldn't save them. He felt pain that wasn't his own, and sighed, wrapping phantom arms around her awareness and pulling her close. They stayed like that for a while, and she could sense his bitterness. I'm sorry Katara, he said finally, I have to keep protecting you, and you're not going to like how I do it. But if Father were to find out about you- he would kill you just to spite me. I'm so sorry. She was suspicious, he could tell, and he desperately tried to hold onto her image as she pulled away, leaving him alone once again.

He let his eyes drift open and stared up at the canopy above his bed, draped in dark red velvet. It was like everything he did was to help her, but whenever he helped her, it pushed them further apart. He would've given anything to be holding her, and instead he would have to hold Mai. Zuko laughed bitterly. There was no way Azula would keep quiet about Katara if he hurt Mai, and that left only one thing. She was a cool girl, an excellent fighter- but he didn't want her.

His fists found his hair, and he groaned in anger. Then he stood up and set fire to the royal emblem on the wall, watching red flames devour the harsh black symbol and standing still as servants rushed in, crying out in alarm and splashing water onto the fire. When they'd finished and left, satisfied with his explanation of a 'training accident', he couldn't look at the smoking remains of something where fire and water hadn't worked together.

One Month Later

Katara wiped the sweat from her brow and bowed while the students from Aang's school clapped wildly. They'd just finished their dance- it was like sparring without her water, and she'd had more fun that she'd had in years. Aang grinned at her cheesily from beside her, wiping sweat from as much forehead as he could show with his curly chestnut hair and headband.

It had been his idea to continue going to school in the Fire Nation, and from how the little girl named On Ji came up and hugged him, gushing about the performance he and Katara had given them, it wasn't hard to see why. Aang blushed, but his gaze slowly slid back to Katara's face, and she bit her lip. It was obvious to her that he hadn't got over his feelings for her, and it was getting worse. He knew all about Zuko (she'd never been able to keep secrets from him) but it was like the competition just made him keener to have her. She felt regret hit her like a punch to the gut. She shouldn't have agreed to the dance.

But now wasn't the time to think of that, what with the Fire Nation Soldiers pouring in- she gasped and backed away as they demanded to know who had started the dance party, and Aang's friend Shoji grabbed his arm.

"Don't worry Kuzon; we'll take care of it." He smiled and thanked him as On Ji hugged him tightly.

"Will you ever come back?" she asked quietly, and from the look on his face, she could tell he hadn't thought about it. His arms came up and encircled her waist, making the both of them blush, and he promised he'd be back. "Good," she said, and he beamed at her as the gang ran out the back entrance, towards Appa and on their way to the next stop in their adventures.

Zuko turned around and smiled as he saw Mai come over the crest of the hill. She was scowling as usual, but there was something in her expression that was softer than it used to be. For most of their lives they had been in each other's company, and right before he left, they had gone out a couple times. And now that he was once again home, Prince of the Fire Nation, it was hard to not pick up where he left off. He knew his heart belonged to Katara, but with every passing moment he and Mai got to be more comfortable around each other. They were good friends, even though she was often called away by his sister.

He didn't trust Azula. She'd been slightly more bearable when he had asked Mai out, but something was so deeply ingrained in her twisted mind that he knew she would never look at him with anything less than spite. And there were those strange moments when it was like she wasn't the one controlling her body- her eyes would go blank, and it was then that she was the cruelest.

Mai sat down next to him and cuddled her head against his chest as he absent mindedly wove his fingers through the midnight black hair at the nape of her neck. It was something he'd done to Katara way back when all of this had started, and he had felt all the anger in his dissipate as she smiled shyly and looked away. Mai hissed and jerked forward. "Quit it, that's annoying." she snapped, her rough voice reminding him strangely of a cat. He huffed out a breath and removed his arm, turning away from her and picking yellow blades of grass from the ground, watching them burn as he set fire to them.

"You never used to do that." she said abruptly, and he could feel her eyes on him. "In fact, you never used to do a lot of the things you do now- like going to visit a high security prisoner." His blood went cold as he turned around, growling at her. There was no possible way she'd caught him visiting Uncle- the guard must have told.

"How did you know that?" he demanded, and she lowered her head, biting her lip and dropping his scorching gaze. It confused him until he heard a malicious chuckle from behind them.

"You just told her, silly Zuzu." Azula sneered, stepping out from behind a tree and smirking delightedly. He all at once understood- Azula hadn't been looking out for her friend when she convinced Zuko to date her. Mai hadn't merely been listening to him for support, no doubt she'd told everything to Azula. His sister was smart enough to realize he would always be on his guard around her, so she had had Mai manipulate him into telling them exactly what they needed to hear. Zuko narrowed his eyes, glaring at them two of them and backing up. He'd been so stupid. He would never have friends here in this world of jealousy and betrayal- only an idiot would trust someone from his family.

"You rat," he spat at Mai, and she whipped her head around, her eyes surprised and hurt, but the set of her face determined and angry. Quick as a flash of lightning, a cut appeared on his cheek, and he clapped a burning hand to his cheek- she'd flung her weapon so fast that he hadn't had time to notice it. The blood seemed cool to his flaming hand, and he tried to calm himself down as she stepped closer. "Get away from me. I should have known I couldn't trust any of you." A tear slipped from her defenses and slid down her pale cheek, and it set him off. "I said go!" he roared, and twin flames shot out from his fists, slamming into the ground at her feet and singing her skirt. She stepped back unwillingly, but turned around.

"I have nothing left to say to you," she retorted, and began walking. Zuko turned to Azula, who watched the scenes with mild interest in her cold, golden eyes.

"Really now Zuko, must you be so hard on her? She only asked because I ordered her to, it's not as if she had any choice in the matter. After all, what are friends for?" When he didn't answer, she glanced down at her nails and curled them into talons, grinning mockingly. "Oh, dear me, I forgot- you have never had any friends, so you wouldn't know." She lithely dodged his half hearted ground flames and skidded back, all hints of teasing gone. "Listen, brother, I will only say this once. If you're visiting Uncle, it looks suspicious. I could go ahead and tell Father, but then I would lose my advantage- we both know that I will call in a favor soon enough, and that you will be powerless to do anything about it. Do you understand?" He nodded, his temper barely contained under his seething skin.

"Good. Now, I can tell that you're not entirely sure that the Avatar really is dead." He looked up, shocked, and gritted his teeth- was there anything she didn't know? "So you're going to seek out an old friend of mine and make sure he does what you and I could not." The thought seemed to set her teeth on edge, and he got a fierce joy from her discomfort. She handed him a small piece of parchment and he unrolled it, finding a name and a meeting place as well as a large sum of money. "If I were to be seen with him, it wouldn't bode well at all. But since you owe me, you're going to do as I say, and if you're caught, it will be one less obstacle I have to get rid of." She smiled nastily and turned away, striding away from him casually and following the distant figure that was Mai.

Zuko ran a hand through his unbound hair and frowned to himself. Azula had told him to make sure the Avatar was dead, but not any of his allies. He could still save Katara, and the other people she called friends. But could he really send someone to kill her best friend? It was crazy. She'd be crushed, and he couldn't do that to her.

An idea hit him straight in the face, and his lips curled into a disbelieving smile. It was such a simple answer- all he had to do was convince Father to send him away again. He stood up and glanced around at the darkening landscape, then took off silently for the prison, pulling his hood up as he walked and masking his footsteps in the night. He had to talk to Uncle about this- it was too dangerous to go for alone, and he had no one else he could trust.

Okay, that's it for now! Hope you liked it!

Oh, and here's a little something to show that us authors do screw up: I accidentally mentioned Zuko's scar in the last chapter, forgetting that Katara healed it in Part One. My bad!

Please review!