A/N: Hi, I keep starting new projects and not finishing them, because they're either too old or I'm not interested in them anymore. But this is a project I've been working on for a while. If you likey, comment and follow the story. There's a lot more where this came from

—

"I see a powerful bender in your future, young lady" Katara was taken aback by the sudden voice speaking to her as she walked through the airport on her way to her gate. An old lady dressed as a fortune teller smiled at her from a small blanket that she laid on the floor of the airport walkway, "a very powerful bender."

Katara stopped abruptly. The fortune teller has piqued her interest. She made her way over to the blanket and sat cross legged in front of the fortune teller's small table.

"Really now? Are you by any chance talking about the Avatar?" Katara smirked up at the fortune teller. Katara met Avatar Aang when he was seeking a water bending teacher in the South Pole. She will never forget the day Aang flew in on his sky bison, Appa. Unfortunately, there were no water bending schools established in the South Pole at the time and Katara was the only water bender in the tribe. Upon finding out that the South Pole didn't have what he was seeking, he had offered to take Katara and her brother, Sokka, with him so they both could learn from their sister tribe. After learning from the North Pole, Katara and Sokka decided to travel with Aang for another 2 years in order to explore the world before deciding to buckle down in Ba Sing Se and study in one of the worlds most prestigious Universities. Aang of course continued to train under master benders from all four nations. It wasn't until after he was officially anointed as the master of all four elements where things started to get complicated.

Aang had always been like a little brother to Katara. When they had met, he was 16. Before coming to the Southern Water Tribe, Aang lived his life in the Southern Air Temple with other monks. His exposure to girls was next to none. So, it made sense to Katara that he had ultimately decided that she was the love of his life. She was the first and only girl he knew on a personal level for quite sometime before Aang met his blind earth bending teacher, Toph. Aang, as naive as any young monk secluded in the mountains away from any form of technology, had accidentally told the media about his feelings for Katara. Since then, her life had been nothing but surprise attacks from the reporters. Everything from standing outside of her apartment complex waiting for her to take pictures to even stalking her at the grocery store with sweats and a hoodie on. Everyone had expected that after his very public confession that she had of course accepted the young Avatar's feelings and was now head-over-heels in love with him. That was surely not the case. Instead Katara opted to confront him about the situation and had not talked to him since. He didn't understand that letting the entire world know about his love for her wasn't going to change the way she felt about him. She had since been avoiding the Avatar at all costs. Even going as far as booking a last minute flight to Caldera City to avoid any chances of running into each other while he was in Ba Sing Se on official Avatar business. It's not that she wanted to go to Caldera City specifically, but it was the cheapest and soonest flight out of Ba Sing Se.

"I said a very powerful bender, darling. Not THEE most powerful," the old lady smirked back, "you will be meeting him in the near future," Katara's smirk fell as she reached into her pocket for her phone to check the time. Her flight was starting boarding a few minutes ago. She gave the fortune teller three dollars out of her backpack and stood up to leave.

"I'll keep that in mind," Katara said with a smile. She gathered her belongings and headed towards her designated gate. She arrived just as they were calling her group number and she felt relief that she didn't need to wait any longer before getting out of Ba Sing Se. Katara quickly found her row and quickly situated herself next to the window for the long plane ride. She took her phone out of her pocket along with some earbuds and noticed a three new texts on her phone:

Sokka: have a safe flight, sis! Come back when you're done being a scaredy-Kat. HA! Get it? Make sure to call me and Suki when you land, got it?

Katara simply rolled her eyes at her brother's message before looking at the next one:

Toph: don't forget about those chocolates I asked you for!

Katara merely laughed at Toph's text. It had taken her blind friend a lot of time to learn how to use a smartphone, but it seems she had it's sightless feature down. The last text was from a number she was unfamiliar with:

Unknown: hey, I'm gunna be in ba sing se later tonight. Would you like to talk it out over dinner?

Katara read the message and immediately switched over to her music app. She was still very upset at Aang for not understanding her feelings and also burdening her with the countless media outlets trying to get the "next big scoop" from her. She didn't feel ready to have another "talk" with him nor did he seem ready to understand her point of view. Katara scrolled through her music library before settling for one of her go to albums. She just noticed that someone had just sat in the seat to the left of her. He was in grey joggers and a black hoodie with the hood draping over his head. It seemed that he was doing what she was just a moment ago. Checking his phone for the last time and setting it to airplane mode. The captain used the PA to announce their departure from Ba Sing Se. The stewardess went through all the safety protocols with the passengers as they took off towards Ember Island. As Katara tried to settle into her seat more in order to catch some sleep she heard the man sitting next to her rummaging through his bag. She peaked over at him with curiosity as he clawed at the contents of his bag

"You gotta be kidding me," he said angrily to himself. Katara figured he had accidentally forgotten his headphones. After a few more seconds of being distracted by his rustling Katara decided to be a good person.

"Excuse me?" Katara tapped the man on his shoulder. Her turned to her revealing a very handsome man with a scar branded over his left eye. His eyes were an intense gold hue and his jawline was strong and rigid. His scar did little to diminish the beauty of his face. If anything, it made him more attractive and alluring. Katara quickly snapped out of her daze, "I noticed you forgot your headphones, would you like to share mine?"

The man looked displeased, almost angry. Katara began to regret even grabbing his attention. She had hoped that she didn't seem like she was intruding on his business or anything like that. The man's intense glare began to soften in defeat.

"Sure," he said in a raspy voice. Katara took her right earbud and handed it over to him. The distance between them was too far for the cord to reach his ear so he scooted in closer to her. When he was finally at a more manageable distance for the cable, he slipped the earbud into his ear, "Is this the Dai Li?"

Katara was surprised that he recognized the band as quickly as he did. Not many people knew about them and it was always exciting to find another fan.

"Yeah it is," Katara smiled at him, "they're my favorite band."

"Mine too," he said back with a little smile, "It's not every day you find someone who listens to them."

"Yeah, what are the chances, right?" Katara giggled, "this is probably their best album."

"Okay I wouldn't go that far," the man huffed, "you really think that this is better than 'Leaves from the Vine'?"

"Hey! 'Flowers for June' is one of their best albums!"

"I agree, but it isn't their best album."

"And 'Leaves from the Vine' is?"

"Whoa, I didn't say that either," the man said, seeming like he wanted to step back before this plane ride became an awkward one over a band that nobody listens to.

"Then what is your favorite Dai Li album?" Katara asked sharply. The man took a moment to think and Katara kept his eyes trained on him. He brought one of his hands up to his chin as if to signal he was in deep thought. She watched carefully as he touched the knuckle of his index finger to his lip. Something in Katara sharpened as she watched his finger rub his bottom lip. She bit her own bottom lip in response and quickly looked away from him.

"My personal favorite is 'Crystal Catacombs' but I think their best album is their newest one, 'Noh'" he finally spoke after a few seconds of contemplation.

"Okay I'll give it to you," Katara surrendered, "those are both really good albums, but my favorite is still 'Flowers for June'. And I still think it's their best album," she reiterated.

They're conversation slowly died off and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments just enjoying the music of their favorite band together. Katara was happy that the person next to her wasn't someone annoying or mean. She began to think that Tui and La were finally giving her a break from all the nonsense that was going on in her life back in Ba Sing Se.

"I'm Katara, by the way," she broke their silence and extended her right hand out for him to shake.

"Zuko," he took her hand firmly and shook it. His hands were very very warm but surprisingly not clammy.

"It's nice to be spending this long flight with you, Zuko," she smiled at him

"Likewise, Katara," he has fully smiled back

Katara woke up leaning against Zuko's shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly as she noticed Zuko playing a game on his phone. She slowly lifted her head and checked the time. They had only been on the flight for 1 out of the long 12 hours. Katara groaned loudly at the minuscule amount of time that had passed since she fell asleep. She was hoping more time would pass while she slept. Zuko let out a little chuckle at her groan. He normally would have been annoyed at a stranger leaning on him on a flight, but,for whatever reason, it was okay. Just this once.

"Morning, sleepy head," Zuko chuckled while still staring at his phone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you," Katara said, tucking some of her loose hair behind her ear.

"It's alright your snoring only woke up the people in front of us, no big deal," Katara huffed at his joke.

"I'm so sorry I drooled on you!" She said pointing to nothing on his shoulder. He flinched away from her and immediately began to rub his shoulder for any signs of moisture. Katara begging to chuckle before bursting out in a controlled laughter as to not wake anyone up, "you should have seen your face!"

"You are so funny," Zuko rolled his eyes at her with a small smirk. He had to admit that she was cute. Very cute. He also liked that she didn't seem to know who he was. Zuko was the crown prince of the Fire Nation, but after the tragic accident that happened in the Fire Nation Capital he kept a very low profile. No one really wanted to talk about the tragedy that happened in the fire nation over 13 years ago, and the Fire Nation capital went very quite after the incident. Trying to rebuild what was lost in radio silence. Because of this, not many recognized him while he was out on diplomatic meetings. He had looked very different since he had last been in the media, so many didn't recognize him. Those who have heard about the Fire Nation tragedy that left a permanent reminder on his face often chose not to talk to him out of pure pity. Zuko liked that his scar didn't even make her flinch. He imagined that she treated everyone with the same kindness she showed him. For once he had felt normal.

Katara finally calmed herself out of her laughing fit and leaned against his shoulder again, "Okay I'm done. Wake me up when we're halfway there."

Zuko lowered his shoulder a bit so she'd sleep more comfortably. Her hair smelt really nice. Like flowers and a really fresh ocean scent. But, Zuko couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen her somewhere? Maybe in the streets of Ba Sing Se? Or even before that? She only looked vaguely familiar and He had no idea where to start in trying to remember why she is.

Zuko began to feel himself dozing off. He finally decided to lock his phone and close his eyes.

Zuko woke up to the sound of the flight attendant's voice announcing that they were going to be passing out complimentary meals. His head was resting against Katara's and the sudden loss of warmth caused Katara to wake also.

"What's going on?" Katara yawned as she sat up and stretched her arms up. Zuko watched as her back arched and her chest pushed out in order to stretch. He has to admit, it was a sight to behold. Although she wore a hoodie that hid the shape of most of her body, Zuko could imagine just how fit she was underneath her baggy clothes.

"They're serving food now," he told her as she yawned again.

"Awesome, what are they serving?" She was still very tired. But, the fact that they were serving food meant that they were about halfway through the long flight to Caldera City.

"I believe it's a choice between cow pig bao or cold vegetarian soba," Zuko informed her to the best of his knowledge. He wasn't quite sure since he was only half awake for the majority of the announcement.

"What are you going to get?" She asked, grabbing her earbud from Zuko's ear to roll it up and safely store them away while they eat. Her fingers barely grazed his ear while retrieving it and it sent shivers down his spine. A little blush began to form on his face over the wildly inappropriate thoughts he was having about a person he had just met.

"I think I'm going to go for the cow pig bao," he said, turning his face slightly away from her to keep her from seeing the blush on his face.

"Maybe I'll get that too," she replied, trying to weigh her decision. A brief silence fell between them as Zuko tried to gather himself and Katara decided what she wanted to eat to tide her over until they landed. After they both decided to get the bao, Katara sat up a bit and faced Zuko. Her motion gathered enough of his attention for him to give her a questioning look.

"So, why are you going to Caldera City?" She asked curiously. Perhaps it was something she thought about asking for a while but never got the chance since they both fell asleep.

"I'm actually returning to Caldera City," Zuko stated plainly, "I was in Ba Sing Se on... work related business."

"Really? What do you do?" she asked as the flight attendants brought them their food. Zuko flashed the attendant his family insignia that he kept stowed away in his pocket and the attendant bowed at him before stepping away acknowledging his message. Katara was completely oblivious to the exchange.

"Uh... politics," Zuko tried to half-lie about his actual "occupation". He didn't want to fully lie to her nor did he want to tell her the full truth. It would bring way too much attention to them.

"Oh so you work as a councilman or something?" She took a bite of her bao and let out a satisfied hum. The sound she made had the hair behind Zuko's neck standing up but he tried his best to ignore it.

"Kind of like that, yeah," he answered as the attendant returned with a small bottle of fire whiskey and a glass. The flight attendants on any Caldera Airlines flight were trained to keep any travailing member of the royal family completely anonymous while still providing them the perks of being a part of the royal family. Of course, Zuko could have taken the Royal Jet to Ba Sing Se, but he felt that it drew too much unwanted attention, "Another glass, please."

Katara watched the whole exchange in confusion, "When did you order that?" The flight attendant returned quickly with another glass which Zuko placed on Katara's fold-down tray.

"Thank you," Zuko nodded to the flight attendant who silently replied with a bow. He turned his attention to Katara, "while you were sleeping," he proceeded to open the bottle and proceeded to pour a quarter of a cup for Katara and himself. She looked at him suspiciously, but Zuko played it cool before she eventually shrugged it off and took her glass.

"To 6 more hours," Katara said, holding her glass up in front of him.

"To 6 more hours," he repeated and tapping his glass with hers before they both took a long sip of the fire whisky. It burned a lot more than she was ready for causing her to cough a bit. Zuko looked at her with concern but she thwarted his worried looks away, assuring him that she was okay.

"So, why are you going to Caldera City?" Zuko asked in return, catching her off guard.

"I...," Katara hesitated for a bit, "I guess you can say I'm avoiding my problems," she gave him a weak smile and he got the message right away.

"How long do you plan on staying?" He asked again hoping to get her mind off of said problem.

"I'm not entirely sure yet," she said weakly, "Until my problem goes away? I mean my job is work-from-home anyway and I'll be using some vacation time... so really just whenever the problem leaves Ba Sing Se, I guess l'll be leaving Caldera."

"Where are you going to be staying?" He was genuinely curious about her now. What kind of problem was she avoiding that she would actually leave Ba Sing Se with no return date?

"I... haven't figured that out yet," she sighed. She had booked this flight early that morning and was so frazzled by last minute packing that she forgot to book a place to stay until she was already on the plane. "I guess I'll just book an AirBnB when we land," she laughed at her own stupidity.

Katara knew she was going through so much just to avoid Aang, but the struggle somehow felt worth it. Zuko just nodded in understanding. He remembered that the Royal Council should be in recess starting tomorrow, meaning the rooms they were staying in at the Palace should be vacant by today. He considered offering her a room, but was hesitant to reveal his identity to her.

"Do you want to listen to more music?" Karats asked, pulling out her earphones again.

"Actually, I have some movies on my laptop if you want to watch those?" Zuko offered. She smiled and nodded as he pulled out his laptop from his backpack.

—

They continued the rest of the flight drinking the fire whisky and watching movies that Zuko downloaded on his laptop. Zuko didn't know what possessed him to think that Love Amongst the Dragons movie adaptation was going to be any better then the god awful play he watched growing up, but it wasn't. It was just as corny as he remembered. Katara seemed to really like it so he passed the time by drinking his half of the small bottle to himself. By the end of Love Amongst the Dragons, Katara tried to hide the tears that were spilling from her eyes. Zuko didn't hesitate to raise his hand up to cup her face and swipe her tears away with his thumb. He didn't think that he could act this bold, but they don't call Fire whisky "liquid courage" for nothing. Katara didn't seem bothered by his gesture as she nuzzled into his hand for comfort. She had already had 2 and a half glasses of the whisky and decided that she would allow this very fine Fire Nation man to comfort her after the movie that he put on turned her into this wreck.

After Katara had calmed down she rested her head on Zuko's shoulder once more. Zuko felt the buzz from the whisky and decided to take a small break from drinking before he became reckless. Katara had finished the last of her glass and had asked for Zuko to refill her cup.

The next movie he played was an old martial arts movie. This one had been one of his favorites since the cast was so diverse. He was able to watch different fighting and bending styles from all four of the nations instead of just different styles of fire bending. Katara seemed really into this movie as well. He watched as she mimicked some of the hand movements from the water benders in the movie. Zuko began to notice the water bottle sitting on Katara's tray slosh around irregularly with every movement of her hands.

"You're a water bender?" Zuko inquired motioning to the water bottle which was now on the verge of tipping over. Katara had finally noticed what she was doing and stopped bending the water causing it to fall over on the tray.

"Yeah," she replied shyly, picking up the fallen water bottle, "I've never seen that style of water bending before. I was just trying it out."

"That's actually really cool," he said with a smile, "I'm guessing you haven't really trained for fighting, though... right?"

"Because I'm a girl?" Katara glared at him a bit. Zuko mentally kicked himself for what he just said. He quickly mentally prepared himself to spend the next four hours in silence and mulling over his mistake.

"I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have-"

"Relax, Zuko," her intense expression faded as she let out a little chuckle, "I know it's very uncommon to see a water bending woman to do anything but healing," Zuko let out a sigh of relief as she continued to chuckle at him.

"Agni, I really thought I had messed up just then," Zuko began to chuckle a bit too, running his fingers through his hair causing the hood of his hoodie to fall. Katara examined his shaggy hair as his fingers ran through them, wishing those were her fingers instead.

"Well, old traditions die hard," Katara shrugged, "I had to fight tooth and nail to be recognized by the water tribes as a female master. I was the first woman to gain any type of notoriety for it, but I'm hoping that I won't be the last."

"Master, huh?" Zuko seemed impressed. He couldn't even begin to fathom the struggle she went through to become a master. He had it easy. He just went to fire bending lessons every day from the ages of 7-18 and he was also dubbed a "master" fire bender. But his title didn't seem to be half as impressive as hers.

"Are you a bender?" Katara asked out of curiosity. She wasn't entirely sure he was. She was only assuming because his body had been at a feverish temperature the whole flight, and a cold was certainly not the reason for it.

"I am," he said with a smirk, "I guess you could say I'm a 'master' as well, but that title seems unfitting now that I've met you," he admitted as a blush formed on Katara's face.

"We should go to a sparring gym sometime," she smiled at him, "It's been a while since I've had a good spar."

"Sounds fun," Zuko smiled back. They continued to talk through the flight about small things as they continued to drink the fire whisky. By the end of the bottle Zuko knew his face was flush from drinking and could tell Katara was properly drunk by how she struggled to talk in a hushed volume.

"I have to use the restroom," she tried to whisper, her words slurring into each other just a little bit. She unbuckled her seat belt as Zuko held their glasses and put their trays up. Right as he was about to unbuckle his own belt to stand and move out of her way, she opted to just slide through the small space in front of him to get to the bathroom. It was at this point Zuko couldn't help himself from staring at her very round ass that was practically sitting on his lap. Katara seemed to linger as she passed in front of him, almost like she wanted him to stare. She thanked the spirits for the tights she wore knowing how good they made her butt look. Zuko felt her soft round bottom brush past his knees and his breath hitched. He tried to scold himself mentally for letting himself get so turned on by just her butt touching him a little bit.

"Like what you see?" She leaned over and whispered in his ear before making her way to the bathroom. She was utterly surprised at what she just said. The alcohol made her incredibly brave. He knew for sure she was teasing him now and he was not going to sit idly by and let her do that to him. Zuko stood from his seat and walked inconspicuously towards the bathroom. He noticed the plane wasn't very full today and most people were sleeping. Perfect. He stood outside of the bathroom and waited patiently for Katara to open the door. The second she did, he swiftly pushed her back in and joined her in the very cramped airplane bathroom.

"Zuk-," she couldn't even finish saying his name before he quickly locked the door and pressed his lips to hers.

Katara melted into his kiss as he grabbed her waist to pull her flush against him. She reached up with her arms and began to run her fingers through his hair as he deepened the kiss. His hands began to reach down and grab her ass, finally allowing him to feel just how soft it was. Katara raised one of her legs around him, heat pooling in her core at the friction of her movements. Zuko got the idea immediately and lifted her enough to wrap the other one around his waist.

Katara could feel his erection at her core, trying her best to grind into him. Zuko returned the favor by thrusting his waist up to meet her. She moaned at the touch. It had been a while since she had done this and he had reminded her of how much she needed this.

"Shhh," he broke their kiss, causing Katara to whine, "Don't be too loud. There are other people on this plane," he whispered into her ear. She didn't know if it was his raspy voice whispering into her ear or if it was the thought of other people in close proximity that turned her on even more. Just as she was about to kiss him again there was a knock on the door.

"Master Zuko, we are getting prepared to land," Zuko recognized the voice of his secret security guard. He groaned at the idea of detaching from her but let her down against his will. They both stood in front of each other, eyes hazed with lust. He began straightening out his hoodie to mask the tent growing in his pants as she began to pull herself back together as well.

Zuko peeked outside the door to make sure no one would notice two people coming out of the bathroom at once. As soon as he saw the coast was clear he grabbed Katara's hand and led them back to their seats. They both sat down in silence trying not to think about what happened just moments ago in the bathroom. The pilot made the announcement that they were just moments away from landing causing everyone in the plane to wake up or put their devices away.

"There are extra rooms," Zuko said quietly. Katara turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She asked because she could barely hear him past how loud her heart beat was.

"There's extra rooms at the palace," he said more firmly, "Would you like to stay there,with me?"

Her eyes widened at the fact that she was just offered a place to stay, at the Fire Lord's palace nonetheless, "I-I can't intrude on the Fire Lord's palace! I wasn't even invited," she said shyly. She wasn't really sure if she could accept his offer. Did he even have the right to extend his invitation to her?

"You were. Just now. By me," he said matter-of-factly.

"Are you even allowed to extend your invitation like that? I thought the palace had really strict regulations on who could stay there?" She asked frantically. She didn't want to say no to a free place to stay, but it didn't feel right to say yes. A devilish smirk graced his face.

"Of course I can," he said. He then leaned over to her ear and whispered, "I'm the Crown Prince."