Author's Note!

First off, sorry for taking so long, this chapter was giving me som serious trouble. I hope you all like the ending! Check out my other stuff or my deviantart account under my same username! Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!

Okay, as you all know, this is an AU fic that I based on the world that my sister created for the epic story that she's working on called The Fallen Diaries, a Zutara story that covers about every problem that the modern world has. Her story focuses on the issues in the world that people like to pretend don't exist such as child abuse, drug use, suicide, discrimination, grief, loss, fear, lies, revenge, and some happy stuff too, but, that's a story for another day. I just want to tell you a little bit about it so that you can understand where I'm coming from in this fic. If you have any questions about the back-story, just send me a message and I'll clear up any questions.

By the way, here's a link that talks about the new spinoff series by Koneitzko and Dimartino, new info! It's coming in 2011

.net/news/articles/34425/new-series-avatar-the-legend-of-korra-premieres-in-2011

Zuko PoV

I knocked on the door to Katara's room where she had been for the past few hours after Suki and I had recapped the events from earlier the best we could. She was so humiliated and angry with herself after all that had happened, and I felt like I needed to be there for her. She needed to hear what she always told me, that it's not her fault. I had to tell her that there was nothing that could be done about what had happened and that, well, that I still love her and that I always have. Of course I wasn't going to say that, not exactly. I'd just let her know that I'm here for her, and that none of us blame her for any of the… unfortunate events that happened last night. After I knocked I waited for a response that came in the form of the door opening and Aang walked out of Katara's room. He walked past me without even looking up and I saw a look on his face that was a vast contradiction from his usual happy go lucky expressions.

Hesitant, I stood in the doorway, unsure if Katara would want to see me just then. When she didn't say anything I decided I had to do something.

"Um, Katara, can I come in?"

I saw her nod as she lied curled up on her side on her bed and I walked over to her.

I wanted to say something like 'are you alright', but it was obvious that she wasn't so that would be a dumb thing to say. Thankfully, she spoke and broke the awkward silence, though what she said could have just made things more awkward than before…

"Aang and I-"she started slowly, her voice on the verge of breaking, "we broke up." I felt my eyes widen in shock. I walked closer to my distraught friend and put what I hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry," I said lamely, not sure of what else to say.

"No, really, it's okay. I guess, I broke up with him," she said, rubbing her hand under her eyes.

"Oh. Well, I know it still must hurt. I know how hard break ups can be, even if it's the right thing to do." She knew that my words had plenty of meaning behind them since she had recently helped me through my breakup with my girlfriend of over a year, Mai. Katara sat up on her bed and I saw her take a deep, rattling breath. I sat on the edge of her bed next to her and watched as she tried to regain her composure, yet after wiping her eyes again, she suddenly wrapped her arms around me in an unexpected hug. Quickly I got over my shock and held her close, trying to be there for her after so long of being her adversary, back in those dark days before I actually got to know all these good people. Katara was such an amazing person; she deserved so much more than this. I hate seeing her with this kind of emotion, such pain doesn't look right on her.

"Katara, it's going to be alright, you know that. I mean, maybe you and Aang will even get over it and make up or something."

She pulled away from our embrace and shook her head defiantly. "No, really, I'm fine with the break up. We had it coming. I mean, sometimes Aang is a really, really sweet kid, but, I don't want to have to treat my boyfriend like he's my little brother. I'll get over it because that's really not the worst part about this whole night."

"Not the worst part? Then what was, do you think?"

"It's that now we might have a lot more problems. I've always kind of liked to think of here, my home, as a refuge for you and a sort of sanctuary for all of us. It was like the one place Ozai could never reach. I always thought of home as somewhere you could come and get away from his violence and abuse and the person that he wants you to be, but now he knows. Zuko, he knows where to find you now and I can't stand that."

I nodded, I'd already thought about that, not because of the reasons she said, but because of how much danger she was in, all because of me.

"Katara, don't worry about that, we'll be able to work it out. I mean, maybe he doesn't even remember how to get here. Or, if it comes down to it, I just won't come here anymore. Anything to keep you safe."

"No!" She clutched my T-shirt and buried her head in my shoulder. "When you're here, I know that-that you're…safe, from him," She hesitated and I knew there was something that she wanted to add, "or from you." Oh, yeah. I knew that was part of what she was worried about, and I really had been trying not to do it so much, for her. Subconsciously I rubbed my forearm, feeling the series of bumps, scabs…scars. I had scars all over my body, not just the obvious one, but also other ones from him, scars on my back from his belt, scars on my shoulder from his knife, along with many other hated memories branded onto my skin, but I feel like she hates the ones that I inflicted on myself the most. I held her close to me, wishing that I was the person she deserved to have in her life.

"I'm so sorry, Katara. I hate upsetting you."

"No, it's not your fault." Yes it is, I thought, it's always my fault. At least, that's what Father has always said, and what I've always believed.

After a prolonged moment of tense, silent embracing, the beautiful blue eyed girl spoke again.

"Zuko, I have something I've been needing to tell you." She pulled away from my arms and curiously I waited, heart racing. Oh no, I thought, this can't be good. I looked into her eyes, not knowing what I would see as I waited for her to finish her statement. "I think I'm…um," she looked away, seeming to take an extreme interest in her plush carpet.

"What is it? Katara, just say it." She bit her lip.

She muttered something so low that I could barely hear her.

"Um, what did you say?"

"It's just-"she took a breath and shook her head, "I really think I'm- well, I really like you Zuko." I felt my eyes widen in shock as my heart spazzed out in the weirdest way. I can't believe she just said that.

"No, Katara, you need sleep, I'm sure you're just really tired and still a bit…off from earlier."

She shook her head defiantly.

"What? I finally get the guts to tell you I like you and you don't even believe me? You can ask Suki! We've been talking about it for weeks! Oh no, don't tell me she's right about you being gay!" The sheer horrification on her face would have been humorous in a lighter situation.

"What? No, that's not it. What about Aang?" I asked her, more confused than I'd ever been in my life.

"Oh," Katara blushed and hid behind her hair, "I was planning on breaking up with him soon, I just didn't know how to do it. So…should I just forget it? I mean, I hoped that you liked me too, but if you don't then that's okay, I'll just…" Is she insane? How could I not like her? What I didn't understand was how she could like me; it wasn't all that long ago that she absolutely hated my guts! But she was saying that she did and for some ridiculous reason, she was talking like she thought I didn't return her feelings.

"Katara," I interrupted her rambling. Oh God, how do I say this, now that I had her attention I had no idea how to let her know how I felt about her. She sat there in front of me, with her eyes shining and her beauty radiating in the moonlight. I shut down my mind so that I wouldn't overthink what I was about to do. I leaned closer to her and kissed her, pulling away soon after our lips touched. Suddenly I was terrified of what I had done; hopefully I hadn't just made a terrible mistake. I looked at Katara's face, trying to read her expression. And I was pleasantly surprised to see her smiling. "Katara, I like you too." Her smile beamed across her countenance and, for lack of a better word, glomped me. I sighed, feeling the weight of our revelations.

"I don't want to drag you into something you'll regret." I told her, knowing that it was dangerous to get involved with anyone.

"You're not dragging me into anything."

"You need to understand something, Katara." She looked up at me.

"What's that?"

"Everyone I care about ends up getting hurt, one way or another. This is dangerous. It's a really bad idea to get involved with me."

"Now there's something that you need to understand, Zuko." She said straightening up, a scowl forming on her face, "I know how dangerous this could be, and I don't care. I want to be the one to help you through whatever danger and obstacles you have to deal with. I know what I'm getting into." I saw a spark of determination in her eyes and I knew there was no swaying her thoughts on the matter.

"So what does that mean for us now?" I asked her. "It would kill Aang to see us together so soon…"

"Yeah, you're right. We'll wait for a little while, okay?"

I nodded. Maybe by then she'll see how bad of an idea it would be to get more involved in my life than she already is, but an irrational part of me really hoped that wouldn't happen.