A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! A lot has happened, I hope that you're all still with me!
Dear Reviewers, I Love You All. :D
miss quirky bookworm: You'll just have to keep reading and find out. News of the war will be shown in the up-coming chapters.
R.I.P John Wisniewski. You were too young to die.
I will upload next chapter as soon as possible. Thx again for reviews, guys! Here's Chapter 3!

Chapter 3: Eventful Morning.

Sokka watched as his sister lead them to the outdoor dining table. It was in another courtyard, but he didn't mind the short walk through the gardens. Katara may have been smiling on the outside, but he knew better. He could tell, just by looking at the way the muscles in her back were tensed while she walked, that she did not like this one bit. She was stubborn, and fought for what she believed in. She wouldn't let their father marry her off to some prince. But he liked Zuko, a lot. In fact, he already saw the Prince as a friend, and in a month's time, maybe even a brother. The Prince was only one year older than himself. And like his father, Sokka also thought that the Zuko would be good for his sister.

Sokka didn't even recognise Katara when she walked into their view. She looked so beautiful. He saw the way the Prince looked at her. Zuko couldn't even keep his eyes off his sister! Luckily, the Prince broke off his dreamy gaze before she looked towards him. He was cool and collected by then. Sokka inwardly grinned when his sister did a double take. He thought that maybe things wouldn't be so hard. Then as he watched her face he noticed that his sister did not seem as she appeared. She was playing innocent. He knew that every dazzling smile she gave them was faked and her voice was carefully controlled when she spoke. But Sokka had known a lot about his sister in the eighteen years she had lived and he had learned to read her like an open book. She probably had their dad convinced, but he sure wasn't. He made a decision then that he would not leave the two alone once their dad had left, depending on how things went of course. Who knew what she would do if he left the two alone.

As they entered the courtyard, the servants looked up at them, and then they all bowed. They lead Katara to her seat, since she was in front of everyone else and seated her in the middle seat of the wider side of the table. Her father was then lead to the head of the table, and the prince in front of his sister.

"Right this way Your Highness," A servant was watching him, and broke his concentration on the others. He allowed the man to lead him to his seat, which happened to be next to Katara. Four high ranking generals then appeared, two taking a seat on each side of the prince, the youngest next to Katara and the most important general was seated at the other end of the table, facing their king.

They all turned towards King Hakoda and he told everyone to begin eating, Sokka being the first to reach out and grab something.

"Generals," Hakoda started. "As you all know, this is Prince Zuko of the Fire Kingdom. His Majesty will be staying at the palace with us for a month." The generals nodded their heads in understanding.

"Welcome, Prince Zuko of the Fire Kingdom," General Cheng told him, whilst the others nodded a second time. "We hope that you enjoy your visit to the Southern Water Kingdom and also that you shall return one day."

"It's good to be here General," Prince Zuko replied politely.

"So Prince Zuko, what's it like in the Fire Kingdom?" All heads turned towards the seat on Katara's right, where the young general, Yuki, sat.

"Well," Zuko looked down from the prying eyes to think about what he was going to say. "It's much hotter than it is here." He finished lamely.

"I guess that's why they call it the Fire Kingdom," King Hakoda joked. The older men laughed, while the younger ones looked at one another.

Katara watched Zuko eat his breakfast, as he sat there with an engrossed expression on his pale scared face. She had to think of ways to annoy or embarrass him. An idea suddenly came to her. She extended her right leg and flicked it as hard as she could in the direction of where she thought the Prince's leg was, a pleased grin crossing her face when she reached her aim. A slightly muffled "Ouch!" was heard, followed by the screeching of his chair as he moved it backwards. All heads turned towards the sudden commotion. Katara looked away first and slightly turned her head in her father's direction. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. A servant made his way to the Prince.

"Sire, are you alright?" Katara's focus returned Zuko and she saw that he was watching her, his eyes squinting dangerously. She returned a dazzling smile.

"Yea, Prince Zuko, are you alright?" she asked, sounding sincere.

"I'm fine," he gave a slight cough and pushed his seat forward and back into its original spot. The others, clearly not caring about what had just broken the peaceful silence, returned to eating their breakfast. On the other hand, Katara and Zuko kept eyeing each other.

Zuko broke the eye contact first, reaching for his hot tea. He brought the china cup up to his face, sniffing at the teas aroma, and started to drink it down. Katara grinned once again, opening her mouth in a small 'o' shape and then breathing out a small whiff of cold air, freezing the contents of his cup.

Zuko almost cried out as the now cold tea froze on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't believe this girl. Was she trying to kill him? He breathed out hot air, unfreezing the liquid, and placing the half empty cup down. He made a mental note to stay away from things she could control with bending. He sighed and looked up at her. He eyes were squinting in anger this time. He smiled smugly. She couldn't get rid of him that easily.

"Daughter," her father said, the looks he and Katara were sharing past, unnoticed by the others. "Would you care to show Prince Zuko around the castle when you have finished your breakfast?"

"Father, you know I would love to, but I have lessons to attend to," She looked down as if she was actually upset by this.

"Nonsense, Katara," The King outwardly laughed. "Hasn't anyone told you that your lessons have been cancelled for the following month?" He asked her, as the generals looked from one to the other. Sokka inwardly winced. She was going to get even angrier now.

"What? Why?" He knew that she was trying so hard to keep her voice in control, so hard to keep up appearances and not embarrass her father in front of the generals. He turned his head in Katara's direction. Man, he thought. If looks could kill, their father would be died already.

"Why, because Prince Zuko is here, and since he's only staying for a month I thought you could keep him company and be the host I can't be, since I'll be too busy running the place. Besides, everyone knows that you don't need those lessons any more Katara." The look he gave her, told her not to comment, that she shouldn't say anything more in the matter, but since when had Katara listened and not commented about something she was strongly against? She was fuming now, though trying to keep up a stoic mask of indifference at the same time.

"Why father," again Sokka was surprised at how levelled her voice sounded. He wondered how she did it. Of course, she'd had plenty of practice beforehand. "You know that Sokka would make a much better host than I". He just laughed.

"I'm sure that the Prince would love your company Katara," He said with a smile. She turned her head away from him to look Zuko levelly in the eye.

"When you're ready Prince Zuko," Sokka nudged his sister and gave her a look.

"Don't even think about doing anything to him," He mouthed to her. She glared in return. It seemed like they were all plotting against her! She didn't like it one bit. Zuko cleared his throat. The tension against them hung heavy. He looked up at Katara for what seemed like the millionth time since they sat down.

"I'm ready." With that she excused herself and rose from her seat walking away from the seated men. He excused himself as well, then towed after her, trying to catch up. Once the two had left, Hakoda turned his attention to his son.

"Keep an eye on them, but from a distance and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble. I don't need more things to pile up with my duties," He told Sokka quietly, the conversation unheard by the generals still seated at the table. Sokka gave his father a curt nod and also excused himself, walking in the direction he saw them head.

"What the hell was that?" Zuko asked her, breaking the silence that was driving him mad. First she tries to kill him, and now she was ignoring him.

"What was what?" She replied innocently. They were inside the palace now. She led them through the hallways in complete silence before he broke it off. He looked to see if anyone was around. To his luck though, they were the only ones in sight. He reached out and grabbed her wrist, turning her around so that she now faced him. He kept hold off it, in case she would continue walking hastily and ignore him once more. She looked down at their hands and a frown crossed her face.

"Why the hell did you kick me?" he was pretty sure there was a bruise forming. Darn all female shoes. "And why the hell did you freeze my tea?" She tried removed her hand from his grasp, but he wouldn't budge.

"Is that clear that enough to show you that I don't like your presence?" She said coolly. His brows furrowed in anger.

"Firstly, I would to point out to you that you can't get rid of me that easily." Just when she was about to say something, he continued. "And secondly, I'm sorry about this whole situation altogether. Mind you that it didn't start out this way. You see, our fathers were discussing a treaty. Of course, I didn't know that until I arrived here and your father informed me of it. My father told me that I should relax and start travelling, see the world we live in, so he sent me to the Southern Water Kingdom. When I arrived, I had a meeting with the King of this land, your father. He told me everything. Like the fact that I would be saying for a month. That he has two children and he lost his Queen a few years back, that the two Kingdoms would hopefully be joined together by a marriage. Our marriage. I know that this is a hard thing to process, seeing as I had to process it and get over it in a day, but no one is forcing you into anything. You have a choice Princess. Can't we just spend time together and see how things turn out? Just give me a chance." He asked, pleadingly. His golden orbs bore into her cerulean ones.

"I don't care how sincere enough your little speech sounded, or how many information you gained from my father about our family, but this doesn't change anything. I hate you with every ounce of my body right now, and I don't think that will change. I'm not marrying you, I don't even know you! And no that doesn't mean we should try to get to know each other!" She told him after seeing his mouth open so that he could say something. "I can do anything I want, whether it pleases you or not. This is my home, not yours and that won't ever change! Now let go of my hand before someone walks in here and sees you drabbing onto it for your dear life and allow me to start the tour so I could get away from you faster!" He let go of her hand, stunned at how angry she got. Was he that bad? That this girl, this princess, despised him before she even knew him? Could it have been his scar or his Kingdom's history perhaps? He continued to gaze at her, his mouth still gaping open as her fierce eyes nearly run shivers down his spine.

Her breathing was still laboured from all that shouting a moment ago. She continued to breathe in and out until her breathe controlled. She turned around and continued walking, him following her steps.

"You know," he started again, breaking the silence once more. "I'm not going to give up, not until you give me a chance." She just huffed in annoyance and continued to walk.

From the end of the corridor, Sokka heard the whole exchange. He had walked in, still on his way to find the pair when he heard Zuko break the silence and revealing their whereabouts, just in time to stop too. Sokka was just about to turn into the corridor. He also wondered why Katara blew up. It wasn't like her to get this angry. He admired the Prince for not giving up. He showed such determination, such fierceness, and stubbornness; it made him wonder why he was the one related to Katara. He was glad that Zuko wasn't giving up, even when he knew that Katara would only make things during his stay harder on him. He finally turned and started walking. He of course, had a plan of his own. It was sort of on the same lines of his father. Get Katara to marry Zuko, one because he was good for her and two because he hated the idea of his sister and Jet together.

Sokka skidded to a stop, as the realization hit him hard. Jet! He was the reason for her anger! For as long as Sokka remembered, Jet had been trying to court Katara. The guy was handsome and the girls admired his look. Also, like Katara put it, he was charming. The whole Palace knew that there was something between the two. And he loathed every second of it. The rumours he heard. The things Jet would do to please his young sister, all of it. He hated everything about the boy. This was a great chance to get rid of him, once and for all. In many ways, Zuko and Jet were alike. That still didn't mean stand Jet.

And he had to get Katara and Zuko together before the Jerk returned. He loved his sister, which was the exact reason why he was doing this for her. He didn't want to see his sister with Jet ever again. Sokka continued walking, listening to Zuko's voice as it lead him around their palace. He just had to stop her from killing him first then work on how she was going to fall for him. He knew that once Katara would fall, she would fall hard. He sighed. Matchmaking was much more difficult than it seemed.

A/N: I have a few things to point out (Should have wrote this with the first chapter but eh...). Firstly, Kya is also dead in the fic. The Four Nations still stand (obviously) but will be called Kingdoms instead. The rest of the Characters will appear. (Jet, Aang, Toph, Iroh etc.) They can bend (also obvious), The War (keep reading and you'll find out), Aang is still the Avatar in this fic... and I think that's about it. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask :D

Pls Review [; I'll write faster!