Author's note: Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too. Please leave a review!

Chapter 3

At ten minutes past four, Mr Long Feng entered the library and bent over to murmur something into Ms Joo Dee's ear. Their supervising teacher looked up from her pile of corrections and she gave a small nod and stood up, clearing her throat. "I will be back shortly. Please remain silent and seated until I return." She left with Mr Long Feng and Katara smirked quietly to herself: it was obvious that they were having an affair.

The library door thudded shut. Zuko sighed.

"What did you mean by that?" Katara asked him, almost gently.

"By what?"

"What you said earlier. That's something we have in common." He didn't respond for a moment and stared solemnly at his hands. She prompted him again. "What did it mean?"

Zuko leaned back in his chair and looked at her. She felt a little stupid under his gaze, as if the meaning of his words should have been obvious. He looked down at the open maths book on the desk in front of him. "The Red Army is the reason that my mother is gone too."

Frowning, Katara sat forward. "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said." When he felt her waiting for him to continue, he spoke again. "Yes, my father is the alleged leader of the Red Army. That doesn't mean my whole family is involved. There was a… disagreement, between my parents." He stopped himself short and looked at the floor, away from Katara.

She came to sit at the desk with him and he felt her cool hand touch his skin. "It's okay. Tell me."

Zuko looked up at her. "What does it matter to you? It doesn't change what he did to you, does it? It doesn't change a thing. Your mother is still dead."

"And so is yours," she said evenly. "If I've understood you." He gave a single nod and didn't raise his gaze again. "What were you going to say?"

He shrugged. "Look, it's just … it's complicated. I'm not entirely sure of the details myself."

There was a long pause, and Katara searched for the right words to say; something to let him open up; something to help her understand. There was something bigger than she'd suspected and she could feel it, as much as she hated to admit it. Until less than an hour earlier, Katara had never actually had a proper conversation with the boy beside her, but felt she knew him inside out because of who his father was and what his father did.

Zuko was leaning forward with an elbow on the table and his head in his hand. His other hand sat limply on his knee. She reached for it, hesitantly, and was surprised by how warm it felt. He looked into her face with shock, but he didn't pull his hand away. Katara gave a soft smile and closed her fingers around it a little tighter. "Tell me what you do know."

He stared at her for a long time, thinking. She wished he wouldn't think so much. If he didn't tell her whatever secret he was keeping, she knew she'd never understand him. She'd become just like every other 'normal' citizen of Ba Sing Se; ignorant, assuming, assured.

Zuko pulled away his hand. "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't want to be as oblivious to the truths of the world as everyone else in this city. That's why I'm always in trouble with the things I draw in my sketchbooks, and the things I write in my essays and assignments too. Whenever I see that something is hidden, I find the truth."

"Why is this truth so important to you?"

She was on her feet in an instant. "Because I've obviously assumed something that is wrong. You lost your mother to the same people I lost mine to, and so your life mustn't be as happy and damn dandy as I thought it was. And I see that I am wrong in my initial thoughts on who you are."

Zuko smirked. "What thoughts? Who did you think I was?"

"The enemy! Who else? You are Ozai's son and naturally, I assumed that you must be the Red Army's number one follower, and next in line to take over once someone knocks him off his perch." He scoffed, almost laughed, incredulous. "Whenever I imagined the face of the enemy, I saw your face."

He flinched and his face turned blank. Katara frowned. What had she said to hit a nerve? "My face…" Zuko raised a hand to the scarred skin. "I see."

Katara's eyes went wide. "No, no! That's not what I meant, that isn't what I meant at all…"

"Of course not."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"I really didn't mean it like that…"

Zuko did not take his hand away from his face and Katara worried that this was the end of the conversation. She'd lost her chance to uncover this truth, and she'd hurt him. She wouldn't push it; she didn't want to cause any more damage, curious as she was. But what was left to say? There must have been something; some way to make it up to him for the offence. Katara opened her mouth, but could not think of words and closed it again. Eventually, Zuko turned back to his maths homework and Katara sat awkwardly, still wondering what to say.

"There was a disagreement between my parents," he said, breaking the silence. Katara flinched at the unexpected sound, but forced herself to pay attention. "My mother didn't want dad to get involved with this Red Army business because he had a family to take care of, and what would happen to us if something happened to him?" He completed a set of simultaneous equations and checked the answer at the back of the textbook. "Well, I'm not sure what was said and done, but one night they had a pretty bad fight. I locked myself in my room and tried to block out the sound of their yelling. My mother sounded… desperate." He set up the next pair of equations and then put his pencil down. He turned to face Katara. "The next morning, she was gone. Dad told us she was dead. He didn't say how, or why. We didn't question him. We knew better than to question him by then. I was seven."

Katara stared unblinkingly at him. "I'm sorry," she managed.

"What for? You didn't do it."

"I'm still sorry." She tapped her fingers against the desk. "I thought it was pretty horrible to lose my mother to the enemy. But I guess losing her because of my own father would be…"

"Worse?"

She nodded quietly. "Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your personal life, but when I realized I had you wrong, I –"

"It's okay, I get it." His scowling face disappeared for a moment and he smiled at her. There was something genuine about it and she felt herself smiling back.

"I am sorry for what I said before. I really didn't mean it like that," she said. He just shrugged again. She reached a hand out and placed it on the left side of his face, feeling the scarred skin beneath her fingers. Her thumb brushed his lips and she gave a small start at the electric pulse that rushed through her at the contact. "How did this happen?"

Zuko glanced up at her from underneath a mop of black hair. A moment later, he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. His hand came up to cover hers and she couldn't help but smile at the warmth it gave her.

The library door swung open and they froze as a flustered Ms Joo Dee discovered her students breaking detention rules once again. "Katara, back to your seat! Students are not to interact during the detention period!"

They pulled away from each other, awkward, yet somewhat reluctant. Zuko smiled again, "I'll tell you later."

Author's note: I'm having a lot of fun adapting this scene into something different and modern. Also, make way for some mild Zutara. Remember to leave a review if you read it and let me know what you thought.