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Chapter 3

The First Mission

Disclaimer: I own nothing….sadly….soooooooo much would have changed if they put a tyrant like me in charge chanting ZUTARA ALL THE WAY! ;D

As he shook her hand, she couldn't help but notice the golden freckles near his pupils that glowed in the fire light.

Suki and Sokka had departed early the next morning. Zuko didn't remember when the two had made it back to camp, but he wasn't exactly waiting for them to stumble back in. The two were leaving for Kyoshi Island and Sokka was the least bit happy leaving his younger sister with a stranger, a Fire Nation stranger no less.

"Sokka stop being an idiot before I waterbend you down the river again! I'll be fine! Besides I needed another person to join my squad and if he's good enough for you to bust out of prison he's good enough to wander around with me…alone…in a strange land…" Katara put a finger to her chin and gave a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"That's IT! Katara you're coming with us!" Zuko didn't know a man's voice could reach that high an octave. Suki stepped in and grabbed her boyfriend by his collar and hauled him closer to her.

"Sokka you better stop before you say something you're going to regret." The group could see the sweat immediately accumulate around Sokka's forehead. "Now why don't you be a good boyfriend and pack our things ok?" With a "humph" and a warning glare in Zuko's direction, Sokka wandered over to their bags.

Suki walked over to Katara and the two shared a big embrace before Suki added in, "I know you're a big girl and can handle yourself, but if he's too much to handle you know what to do." Suki leaned back and gave her a wink. Katara giggled and whispered to Suki, the rebel's green eyes went wide. "You didn't!"

Suki turned to Zuko before adding, "it feels weird huh? Having Katara move your body for you."

Zuko didn't realize they were finally talking to him. He put rubbed the back of his neck before adding,

"Yeah, not exactly the nicest experience but it gets the message across I guess..." He let his sentence drift off.

"Exactly! I know my favorite future-sister-in-law can take care of anything or anyone!" Her tone dropped a little as she took a couple steps and stopped in front of Zuko, "which is why if you do anything to hurt her I will personally captain the entire Kyoshi Warrior squadron to hunt you down and skin you like an animal and use you for my winter coat." Zuko didn't miss the baiting look in her eyes before he looked away with indifference.

"Okay Suki…I think that's enough threatening for now. You guys are going to miss the evening ship if you continue to harass my new partner!"

Sokka stood behind Suki with a proud look in his eyes before he gave one last hug to Katara. With a smile on his face he swung his arm over Suki's shoulder before walking off. Katara tried her hardest to not see the look Sokka gave Suki as he nuzzled her cheek, nor the sparkle of devotion in Suki's eyes as the couple wandered away from them. She squashed the feelings of jealousy rising up with ease.

Katara and Zuko looked at each other awkwardly now that they were alone. A couple seconds later Sokka's voice rang out, "WE'RE GONNA GETCHA!" followed by Suki's laughter.

Katara let out an awkward laugh before letting out a groan and rolling her eyes.

Katara liked the fact that now it was just her and Zuko. He was like a new toy. Something new and foreign and she had no idea what his history was or who he is as a person. Granted it might not be something cute and fluffy from all of his time in the Earth Kingdom prison, but he was still someone she could discover about.

They headed West towards a small village just south of Omashu. It was the closest village and Zuko badly needed supplies, like clothes and not-Sokka's socks. They reached the town before noon and managed to gather all the needed supplies before heading back out. Katara didn't want to spend extra money on an inn and it seemed cleaner to sleep out in the woods than in one of those rooms. Katara tried not to squish up her nose at the idea.

They managed to find a nice little field close to the city and made camp near the tree line. Dinner was becoming silent and uneventful. Katara spent the entire time studying her new partner. Unfortunately, Zuko noticed every time she looked at him.

"Will you stop? It's a little unnerving." Zuko said into his dinner, not once looking up.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied sarcastically, "I'm just trying to figure out about you on my own since you haven't said a damned word all day."

"I'm not that interesting of a guy, I promise you."

Katara gave him a look, "well I beg to differ, everyone has an interesting story." Zuko ignored her and returned to his meal. After he finished his dinner and wiped down his plate, he stood up and started to walk away. Katara looked at him worriedly.

"Where are you-"

"Be back later." He gave a wave of his hand, not even bothering to turn around. Katara sat there dumbfounded. She didn't know if he had balls of iron or if he was just stupid. She waited until he was out of sight before she put her utensils down.

Following him should have been easy. She had been honing her skills as a tracker in the Earth Kingdom for most of her life, but this man was the first one who seemed to walk through the forest like a ghost. Nothing was overturned, no branches broken and definitely no sight of Sokka's muddy boot prints. Katara shivered at the haunting thought before shaking her head to clear herself of the idea. She was just about to give up when she spotted another clearing ahead. Albeit a much smaller clearing than the one they were currently camped in, but it was something nonetheless.

She lowered herself as she slowly crept forward. Sounds of what she assumed of someone training were slowly getting louder as she approached. She knelt behind a bush and slowly moved the center branches to peer through.

Zuko stood in the middle of the clearing doing what she assumed were strength exercises. She had to admit, he was beautiful when he was shirtless. He had started to sweat from his workout and it wasn't hurting his image in the slightest. Katara could feel a smirk coming on as she continued to watch.

Zuko alternated from kicking to punching to what looked like jump kicks. She paused, is he doing a bending form? She could have sworn Zuko said he wasn't a bender. She scrutinized his moves again, even as graceful as they were, she could tell a bending move when she saw one. More specifically a firebending move. So why wasn't he doing it?

She watched on as he changed to stretch before alternating between different styles of push ups. She was waiting for him to firebend, but she had been watching for almost twenty minutes and still no sign. Katara figured it was a good thing, she wouldn't have known what she would do if her new partner ended up being a firebender. It was going to be hard enough convincing her father and the other commanders that lead their war effort to let him officially join their ranks with his Fire Nation heritage, but if he was a firebender they'd take his life, no questions asked. And according to Southern Water Tribe law, it was her hand that would end his life for being the first to discover him. It was unfortunate but it was the way of the world. Firebenders were the reason for this war and they showed time and time again their cruelty towards other people.

She closed her eyes as she remembered her encounters with so many firebenders and their unwavering lust for death on the battlefield. Katara couldn't think for a second what'd she do if Zuko ended up being some firescum like them. The hotter their flames became the more blood they craved. It was almost as if the heat had scrambled their brains turning them into killing machines. The hotter their flame the less likely they were to resist. Katara had never met a firebender that wasn't after spilt blood.

Shortly after that thought she retreated back to their camp. She needed time to think and reassure herself. He moved too gracefully for a non-bender but that shouldn't be her only justification for her thoughts. It would be cruel to slit his throat while he was sleeping because he turned out to be graceful and could land a flip.

She slumped into her mat in defeat. Her thoughts could wait for her until morning when she could at least reason a bit better after a good nights rest.

A couple minutes after her head hit her pillow she heard Zuko walk back into camp. She feinted sleep and watched through her lashes as he grabbed his water canteen out of his bag and headed out of camp once more, only this time headed towards the town.

She was only just waking when Zuko wandered back towards their camp around dawn. She didn't miss that his shirt was wrinkled even more so and his face showed extreme exhaustion. She scrunched her nose at the possibilities of why his shirt was in such a state and turned over in her mat for a couple more minutes of sleep.

Zuko came to the conclusion that Katara was as threatening as a tiny rabbit cat, and the vendors in the market saw her as just that.

Katara was currently attempting to haggle in the town market over this week's groceries. Zuko couldn't help himself as he smirked underneath his hood. Winter winds had crept up on the land quickly and it eased the excuse for Zuko to constantly leave his hood in place. It lessened the suspicion as well as was convenient for hiding his distinct Fire Nation features.

Zuko's smirk was threatening to spill over to both sides of his face in making a complete smile when he heard the vendor increase his prices once again. Yeah, Katara may be powerful and scary like Zuko knows she tries to be, but she's still an idiot like her brother when it comes to certain things like shopping under the only vendor who looked just as stubborn as she was. She couldn't have gone for the smiling grandmother a couple stalls down…

The vendor's voice started to get a little loud, when the conversation had turned sour between the two and they were just throwing insults back and forth, Zuko decided to emerge from his hiding place. He walked silently to Katara and loomed over her from behind. He made sure to keep his hood up and give the vendor a menacing glare followed by his best attempt at an evil smile. He folded his arms in a slow threatening manner for added effect.

The vendor's bushy grey eyebrows jumped towards his non-existent hairline at the site of the newest customer.

"What, old man? Scared to be taken on by a woman? Huh?" Katara hadn't even noticed.

"Um…um…" the vendor stumbled over his words, "you know what I'll agree to your prices." Katara jumped in glee as the vendor bagged all of her groceries and even threw in a few extra items before thrusting his skinny arms towards her, bags in hand. Zuko smirked as the vendor was trembling, "here just take them. Have a nice day ma'am!" And with that he rushed out the back door.

"Yeah, yeah, you try and give me a run for my money," Katara mumbled a few extra curses at the vendor. She turned and was surprised to find Zuko behind her. "Oh! I didn't see you there. Ready to go?" Zuko nodded his head, taking her groceries as she walked towards him. Katara looked up at him with a sparkle to her blue eyes, "did you see me haggle with that vendor? I almost had to pull 'Katara haggle strategy number 12,' but he was lucky he gave in before I was reduced to such a method!" Katara beamed at her victory.

Zuko swiped a red apple from the corner of the stand before they both headed off. Katara eyed him at his actions and Zuko shrugged as he munched away.

An hour after finally restocking all of their supplies, the couple meandered through the last couple of curiosity shops. Zuko hadn't exactly been excited about the trip into town, but stopped walking when he passed something in the window that caught his eye. He didn't even mention anything as he walked into the store. Katara only noticed when his uh-huh's and mhmm's suddenly ceased and turned to follow him into the store.

She had finally caught up to him and found him looking at a large collection of various swords on display. Mentally she calculated the money left over and the price of the swords and noticed it was the exact same. Hopefully she could work her Southern Water Tribe charm and see if she could save a few coins. Katara sauntered up behind Zuko and nudged him on the forearm.

"What do you think?"

He stayed silent as he inspected a sword. She had still been expecting him to bust out with firebending moves, but if he was a swordsman that would explain his moves in the field the other night. Katara looked at him again before waving the store clerk over. She could have sworn he moved like he was an elemental master that night.

"You like what you see mah boy?" The store clerk asked in a deep raspy tone. His belly bounced up and down as he talked.

"Just looking," Zuko replied.

"Well you do need a weapon and I don't know when we'll see the next town." Katara leaned closer towards Zuko's ear so only he could hear, "we have enough. If you like them, get them."

Zuko looked over and gave her a questioning look. "Are you sure? We could probably spend it on something more useful-"

Katara cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Don't even start! Why don't you just leave this to me and I'll meet you outside?" Zuko saw the insanity light up her eyes at the prospect of being able to haggle once more. Not wanting to refuse her while she had that look in her eye, Zuko backed away slowly and out of the shop. Standing outside he could hear the clerk and Katara arguing.

A couple minutes later, Katara emerged from the store with an added bounce to her step.

"Congratulations! You now have a sword!" She swung the sword by it's strap towards him. He caught the blade in the air, thankful she had thought to demand for the sheath as well.

"Correction Katara," Zuko spoke slowly as he unsheathed the new sword. "These are twin blade dao swords," on the last word he swung the swords breaking them away from each other before joining them together and sliding them into their sheath. Katara's eyes were wide.

"Whoops, I guess the guy was right." Zuko looked up at her in confusion. She let out a nervous laugh, "see I might have accidentally been convinced it was one sword, and he said there were two. I thought he was trying to pull the wool over my eyes saying there were two and I…kinda sorta bent him up against the wall…" She added what she thought was an adorable smile. "In my defense, I honestly thought there was only one!"

Zuko let out a short scoff before tying the swords across his back. "Let's get out of here before he calls the guards on us." Katara smiled up at him and followed him out of the city.

It wasn't until later that night when Katara started the conversation again over dinner.

"Hey Zuko?" He looked up, she stopped her speech long enough to let the image of his golden eyes settle in her mind. The golden flecks were glowing brightly with the fire. "Don't be mad, but what are you doing with a pair of swords? I'm obviously wrong, but for some reason I always thought you would be a bender." Her comments slowly trailed off.

Zuko stiffened in his seat. It was a while before he answered, "I wasn't gifted like the rest of my family." Katara looked away before nodding. She couldn't understand, but she had the distinct feeling he wasn't telling the truth. She looked at him once more before starting another topic.

Katara jumped out of her skin when she felt the talons on her stomach. She had been woken up out of a dead sleep. Groggy and disoriented she swiped at the area above her stomach only to be nipped by whatever animal was there.

"Ahhh!" She drew her arms back to protect her face as the animal jumped to her shoulders.

"Katara, what's going on?" Zuko's voice a little more raspy than normal.

She screamed once more as the claws dug into the material around her chest. She tried to roll away and was only hindered by her sleeping bag. As ungracefully as possible, she managed to roll over. Flailing all limbs in the process to get away from the crazed animal. Finally the animal was off. She looked up and noticed Zuko standing above her with the demonic animal on his arm. She glared at the messenger hawk as she stood. She knew that damned animal…it was Hawky. She could have sworn the animal would be laughing if it could. She started to look around for her water skin, slapping around on the ground madly to find it.

"Katara calm down." He had the animal on his arm and reached for the barrel on its back. Once he took it out the hawk flapped its wings and took off, he swooped near Katara's head, she ducked, in his ascension towards the tree tops. His talons micrometers away from her hair.

Holding her arms above her head for a second before looking back up to where the hawk might have gone to, Katara grabbed her water skin and lashed out blindly towards the sky.

"Whoa!" Zuko dodged the second water whip and slid closer to Katara to grab her wrists. "Damn it, calm down! It's just a bird!"

"That bird," she said the last word as menacingly as she could, "has always had it out for me. One of these days I'm gonna have fried messenger hawk for DINNER!" She was actually shouting it towards the tree tops. Zuko had a hold of both her wrists by now. He wasn't about to defend a bird from a raging water bender but he needed to stop her if he was going to survive the night.

Grabbing her wrists in a firmer hold, he brought both of her arms down to get her attention.

"Katara," she looked at him in the eyes before letting out a deep sigh and flipping her palms upwards in his grasp as a sign of defeat. He let go reluctantly.

She walked over and grabbed the small paper off the floor. Zuko eyed her as she read the message.

"It's from our base camp." She held a hand in front of her mouth, "it says they received a distressed message from a village on the eastern side of Omashu and want us to make a pit stop there before coming back to base camp. There's a family who's child was kidnapped by a bounty hunter and is taking the child to a prison." She looked up at Zuko, "what do you think?"

"Let's go. We're up anyways and it's only an hour before dawn. We can get an early start if we leave now." Zuko was packing away his things as he spoke.

Katara agreed with him, but it still didn't make her happy to leave her warm bed.

They had managed to reach the house somewhere around midmorning. Per instructions to the letter, the family lived near the town well. Katara knocked on the door.

"Hello?" A woman in her early thirties opened the door. Katara noticed the worn clothing and the dark circles under her eyes before greeting her with a smile.

"Hi, my name's Katara. We received a letter that your son was kidnapped and we wanted to offer our services." The woman's eyes brightened.

"Oh! Please come in! I'm sorry the place is such a mess but I haven't been exactly in the best state of mind." She led Katara and Zuko to a couch in the living room. The woman ran off to the kitchen to start some tea and brought back a picture frame.

"My name is Mei Ling and this is my son Tai. He was kidnapped two days ago by a bounty hunter. He said the child looked like a firebender but I swear my son is an Earth Kingdom boy." Her hands shook as they held out the picture frame to Katara. "His features are really fair but he was wrongfully taken. Please bring him back to me."

Zuko took the frame from Katara. Sure enough the boy had the fairest features available with light green eyes, pale skin and black brown hair. He could tell instantly he wasn't even remotely Fire Nation, but bounty hunters aren't exactly known for being correct a hundred percent of the time. Zuko felt his face harden, the kid couldn't have been older than 5.

"What's going on down there?" A gruff voice sounded off at the top of the stairs. A man emerged seconds later and looked at the guests. "Mei what are they doing here?" The man kept a firm glare towards Zuko.

"They just came, they said they could help bring Tai back." The woman was begging her husband. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"They're just here for money. Well look, we don't have any money for a reward." The man turned to look at his wife, "look at him Mei, they're probably just going to kidnap Tai and keep him for their own." The man turned with an accusing finger towards Zuko. "Especially you, we don't need no help from Fire Nation trash like you. You'll get our son killed just by havin' that face of yours!"

Katara stood with her hands up, "sir-"

"No! Get out of this house!"

"Please, let them help!" Mei Ling had both hands strangling the front of her husbands shirt. "Please…"

Katara's fists were clenched at her sides. "Don't go making accusations before you know people!" She threw a finger in Zuko's direction, "this guy is the best damn fighter I've seen in years and you should be happy we're offering to help-" She paused when she felt Zuko's hand over hers, she prayed he wasn't going to correct her bluff.

"Sir, I know my appearances my prevent you from making the right decision, but believe my words when I say that I will bring your son back." There was something in his eyes. Katara couldn't place it, but it almost looked like...sympathy?

The husband seemed to catch the look too and looked down at Mei's hands strangling his shirt. He let out a shaky huff before slowly removing her hands. The husband took a step towards Zuko, the room was quiet when the husband bowed to the floor. "Then please, I beg you" the husband's voice broke from the strain, "please bring my son back." He sat back on his feet and looked up at Zuko. Zuko's gaze never faltered as he nodded.

Katara and Zuko managed to find a man fitting the description the couple gave them. They had been informed he was heading southeast to the Fang Shen Prison, the same prison Zuko had just escaped. The bounty hunter huddled over his fire with his dragon moose standing nearby, the animal still attached to a carriage carrying what looked like a metal cage. Only the door contained bars and from their position they were unable to verify if the kid was inside.

They crept as close as they could to the bounty hunter while staying within the tree line, hidden from view. Lucky for them, their spots were hidden by the cover of night. They crept up to the back portion of the carriage, keeping it between them and the bounty hunter. As they crept closer they could hear bits of conversation coming from the bounty hunter. It seemed he was trying to get the kid to be quiet. A couple of times the bounty hunter out right shouted "Shut UP!" towards the cage. Zuko sprinted to a covered spot behind carriage. The dragon moose not noticing the new company and the bounty hunter too focused on his food cooking over the fire to pay any attention. Katara caught up to him, squatting down right beside him. Katara pointed to Zuko motioning for him to attack the bounty hunter, she pointed towards herself then motioning towards the cage. Zuko nodded and froze. The sound of a young boy whimpering and sniffing echoed out from the metal cage.

"I said SHUT IT ya little rat weasel!" The sound of a metal bat hitting the cage rang in Katara's ears.

Katara would never have been able to react fast enough in stopping Zuko. Before she even realized, Zuko had sprung from their hiding spot with his swords out, the reflection of the fire light seemed to make his swords glow.

She had no idea what he was doing. He was ruining their only chance of surprise! Charging in like that before even knowing what weapons their opponent had was reckless! Katara gasped in surprise and sprinted around to the other side, clambering on slow limbs to catch up. What exactly did he have in mind? Why was Zuko being so reckless? The sounds of steel meeting metal rang through the night. She was behind the bounty hunter, water at the ready and whipped at the bounty hunter's stance from the other side of the animal, shattering his balance.

And just as she suspected, the bounty hunter sprinted to the other side trying to escape Zuko. She was waiting for this.

The bounty hunter was taken by surprise when a sharp water whip slashed at his shoulder. Katara let out a confident smirk as his face retracted in horror. Zuko jumped and flipped over the animal, landing silently behind the bounty hunter, his blade around the man's neck.

"Give me one good reason not to slice your head off right now," Zuko growled.

The bounty hunter let out a yell as he grabbed a dagger strapped to his thigh and aimed for Zuko's eye behind him. Ice encased the bounty hunter's fist stopping the dagger only an inch away from Zuko's scarred eye.

"Go get the kid, I got this one." Katara's water froze around his arm and slowly expanded her water to make its way to the man's face. Zuko nodded before letting the man go and running around to the front of the cage.

Zuko hadn't noticed before, but there was a tarp draped over the cage. Flipping it over easily he looked inside. Sure enough, the kid identical to the picture frame sat huddled against the back wall of the cage whimpering and shaking. Zuko took a slow step forward and drew a sword out, swinging at the lock and shattering it into pieces upon the first strike. The child was nearly in tears.

Zuko held his hands up and dropped his swords slowly.

"Hey buddy," Zuko slowly opened the door. "We're here to rescue you and take you home. My name is Zuko, what's yours?" Zuko faintly could hear a mumbled "Tai."

"AAAHHH!" The bounty hunter's yell frightened Tai and he scrambled to the corner farthest away from Zuko. He could hear Katara let out a grunt before it was quiet again. The dragon moose shuffled a bit as

Katara rounded the animal. She released the animal from the carriage and took off his reins. The animal looked at her before beginning to eat some nearby foliage. As Katara moved closer to Zuko and the boy, she noticed the animal followed her as well. She caught Zuko's glance and nodded.

Zuko extended his arms slowly out, "Tai, can we take you home?"

Immediately the child began sobbing and jumped towards Zuko. He grunted at the direct force to his chest and quickly wrapped his arms around the child, stroking his back to comfort him. Tai had his arms tightly wrapped around his neck, not even once loosening or letting go.

Katara watched Zuko hold the child, stroking his back and patting his head, telling him everything was going to be okay.

"Shh, it's okay little guy. We're going to bring you home. It's okay. You're okay. Shh…"

He seemed familiar with kids, she thought. The child cried in Zuko's arms the entire way back to their camp, not once letting go.

Katara walked silently behind the two, her water skin at the ready. She felt something on her cheek, she swiped at it and examined her fingers. Blood was smeared on the tops of her fingers. She quickly used her water to wash away any drops of the bounty hunter's blood before Tai could see. The dragon moose followed silently behind her.

Not once did she let her eyes leave Zuko. They made no attempts at conversation as Tai's sniffles and cries rang out into the night followed by Zuko's voice softly whispering back.

The three finally made it back to camp thirty minutes later. The boy had fallen asleep in Zuko's arms. As Zuko laid out his bed roll and attempted to put Tai to bed, the boy's grip around his neck only got tighter. Giving up, Zuko grabbed the sleeping mat and laid it against the base of a thick tree. Katara watched the entire ordeal with a smile. She tied the reins of the dragon moose to a nearby tree, making sure to leave as much slack as possible for him to eat.

"Are you familiar with having kids around? You're really good with that little one," Katara asked while she prepped the fire for the night.

Zuko's eyes seemed to darken as he sat and stared at the fire place. He closed his eyes. Katara thought he had ignored her completely and jumped a little when he finally spoke.

"I used to have a family. I used to be married too but I guess it ends when they die. She was so beautiful too. And we had the most beautiful baby boy." He swallowed at the tightness of his voice and the thick pain building in his chest. "Our boy was born sick. We knew he was going to be sick before he was born. We had trouble starting a family and the doctor kept telling us that her pregnancy wasn't going according to plan. We were even advised against having a baby since my wife's health would be at risk, but we were young and didn't care." He paused, "she wanted a baby so badly."

Zuko shifted in his seat before he continued. He looked at Katara, her eyes encouraging him to continue.

"Twice he almost died before his birth and the last one her life was at risk too. He was born early and he had this disease where his organs weren't in the right place. They were on the outside of his body and they were covered in this purple film from his body. His name was Cahir." Zuko didn't realize he had been rubbing circles in Tai's back. He wasn't sure if he was comforting the boy or himself.

Katara's gaze never faltered. She remained silent, encouraging him to continue for as long as he needed. Zuko looked down at the boy, "He was my little warrior. With his disease, our doctor said it would be hard for him to breath. That we should be blessed that he survived the birth and if he made it to his second birthday that his chances for survival increased dramatically. My boy fought for his life every day, but at some point it was too much. He died shortly after his nine month birthday." Zuko let out a shaky breath. After all these years it was still hard to think of his son's face. He let his hand rub the boy's back, trying to imagine his joy during his days with Cahir. Little golden eyes stared back at him. He was more of a fighter than his father would ever be.

"Our village was raided later that year, my wife was murdered and I was dragged to prison…end of story."

Zuko looked up to Katara. How was it that he could say everything, she hadn't said a word, and he still felt comforted. He hadn't told anyone his past, even through all of the years he was locked away. Zuko patted the back of Tai's head before looking at Katara once more, "okay, your turn."

Katara's eyes widened. "I don't even know where to start after that." She paused and looked down at her hands. "Well you know I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I was working with my dad for the rebellion before I hit the proper marrying age. But by then, no man wanted a quote-un-quote man for their wife." She motioned in the air for imaginary quotation marks. "It's against our culture for a woman to work. I said screw them and I've been living the high life ever since." Katara leaned against her pack, "never been married, never had a kid. Don't think I'd want one with this war and all. Selfishly, hell yes…realistically, no way in hell. Besides I'm too old now to even start one." Katara looked up at Zuko with a sarcastic smile, "you're looking at the sexiest spinster from the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko smirked, Katara could see the laughter reach his eyes. Her voice went soft before she continued, "I'm sorry about your family."

Zuko scoffed, "I don't need your pity. It's all in the past anyways-" Zuko stopped talked at Tai's movement. He shifted his head to Zuko's other shoulder and let out a yawn before snuggling back in. Zuko readjusted the blanket before he continued, "we should probably go to bed. He'll be up early and I'm sure he's eager to go home." Zuko effectively stopped the conversation as he tilted his head towards Tai's and closed his eyes.

Katara heard a mumbled 'goodnight' from her partner before she turned away in her own sleeping mat, shutting her eyes against the image of Zuko holding a dead infant close to his chest.

Tai's reunion with his family was a heartfelt one. As soon as his house was in view Tai had leapt out of Zuko's arms and sprinted towards the house screaming for his parents. Mei Ling and her husband emerged from the small cabin. She sprinted down the road and knelt to the ground just before Tai leapt into her arms. Tears were streaming down both their faces. The mother held onto her son, repeating over and over how much she love him. The father sprinted and hugged his family on the ground. Kissing his son's and wife's head over and over. Katara and Zuko stopped a couple paces away to give the small family some privacy.

Tai turned around, successfully prying himself from his parents grip and sprinted towards Katara giving her legs a big hug and then turned towards Zuko giving him a hug as well. Grabbing one hand from each, Tai walked them closer to his parents, "Mama? Can they stay with us forever?"

Mei Ling's laughter rang out with warmth, "I don't think they can stay forever, but I'm sure they can stay for lunch." Her voice trailed off in question towards the two fighters. Zuko looked at Katara with his eyebrow raised, Katara turned back to them, their hands still in Tai's grip.

"We'd be happy to stay for lunch."

Mei Ling stood up quickly, happiness and excitement in her eyes as she rushed off to start lunch. The husband picked up Tai and gave him a firm squeeze before turning to Zuko.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you." The husband extended his hand out for a shake towards Zuko, "my name's Jin." Zuko shook his hand, "thank you for bringing my boy home." With that Jin turned towards the house, Tai looked over his shoulder and eagerly motioned for Katara and Zuko to come inside.

Katara stepped forward but stopped when she noticed Zuko hadn't moved. She looked at him, his brow was furrowed together and his face was guarded. She placed a hand on his arm but he turned avoiding her touch.

"I'm fine. Just thinking." He grabbed the animals reins and fastened it to the fence surrounding the property before stalking off towards the house leaving Katara outside.

Lunch was a hearty meal of meat and potatoes with boiled cabbage on the side. The four adults sat at a low table with Tai bouncing between laps. Tai had been able to stall Zuko and Katara by wanted to show them all of his toys. His father cut him off when he tried have Katara meet all of the animals.

"Do they really have to go Dad?" Tai's eyes were close to tears.

"Yes, son. I'm sure they have to go and save other kids from other villages," Jin said as he patted Tai's head. He looked up to the two guests, "please, if you're ever nearby and need a place to stay or want a decent meal, please come to visit. You're always welcome here."

Katara nodded her head in thanks. "If you're ever in need of help, please find us." She leaned down so she was level with Tai, "it was nice meeting you-OH!" Tai had leaned in and gave Katara a big wet kiss on her cheek. Mei Ling laughed and even Zuko managed to let out a one of his silent smirks.

Shortly after, Katara and Zuko were walking out of town. They had decided to head towards Omashu to restock on weapons and supplies.

"Hey, stop for a second." Katara stopped Zuko as she grabbed his arm. "I just wanted to say, you were amazing back there, with Tai. I'm glad to have you as a partner." Her genuine feelings leaking into her voice against her will.

Zuko looked away and shakes his arm out of her hold. "Don't go saying those things just yet, you don't know me and if you did, you'd be saying quite the opposite." His voice carried more anger in it than she suspected. He walked away.

The dragon moose nuzzled it's head into Katara's neck, letting his ears rub along her hair. She looked to the animal, "well at least you're nice to me." She patted it's soft brown nose, the fleshy tendrils hanging from it's mouth flowed through the air as if they were weeds underwater. "I don't supposed you have a name I could call you?" The animal ignored her and continued to rub it's nose into her neck. She smiled, "you definitely are a sweetheart."

Katara turned her eyes back to Zuko, watching his back in confusion as he continued walking down the path alone.

A/N:

The story of Cahir is actually based on a true story. A child can be born like that, the diagnosis is called "omphalocele". For the love of God do not Google image search it, you will ruin your minds, it's not always that gruesome! Cahir is actually a Gaelic name meaning: "battle man," "warrior," and/or "guard". I know ATLA uses Asian style names but I kind of fell in love with the name as soon as I saw it. It's pronounced KA-heer if you're wondering.

So I know the rating for this is "T" but I decided to increase the rating because I was starting to feel restricted with my writing and ideas for the story all so that it could stay within a T rating. Also, in the next chapter there are gruesome fight scenes and possibly be too graphic for a T rating so I up'ed it just to be safe.

Please review! It helps me figure out if you guys like the story or if there are elements I'm missing. Please! Please! Please! Or just say hi J

You'll always be in my heart little man 3