We congratulate you on your marriage and hope you will lead a long and happy lifetime together. In honor of your union, we have given you a beautiful home here at the pole second only to the palace of the Chief himself.

Congratulations!

It was easy enough to read between the lines: Stay here, don't try anything funny and we'll get along just fine.

Katara fell moodily to the bed and stayed there for a while, staring angrily at the white ceiling. "This is all your fault, you know."

"How could you possibly find a way to blame me for this?"

"You took the necklace, idiot." Katara snapped back.

"But I was just using it to... you know, track the Avatar! Aang! And that was years ago!" he protested, flame dancing between his fingers as his frustration started to surface.

"Why couldn't you take something that actually belonged to Aang? Like his staff? Or his..." Katara paused. Aang didn't really have many possessions all his own.

"How was I supposed to know it was a betrothal necklace? You were fourteen! That's not something you normally expect from a-"

"Well you obviously knew it was something or you wouldn't have stolen it! It wasn't like we had the money for fashion accessories!"

"I told you, I didn't steal it! I found it!"

"Of course, Zuko, I forgive you now, that makes it all better!" The sarcasm stung and Zuko's fire looked almost white now, the heat reaching the farthest corners of the room.

"Why don't you blame Aang?! He's the one who said I wanted to give it to you! I mean, where did that come from?" He paused, thinking, and the flames receded slightly. "Hey. Couldn't you have refuted Sokka's point with something you said after? To prove it was sarcasm or something? What... what did you say?"

Katara turned pink. "No, it wouldn't have helped our situation. Trust me."

"Just tell me." Zuko pressed, oblivious to the rising blush on her face. "We could be able to turn it to our advantage. Did you keep up the sarcasm and reject it or something? Say anything at all that could have suggested you didn't want it?"

"I... told Aang to give you... a big kiss for me..." Katara was blushing furiously now. "As an, um, continuation of the sarcasm of course. Not meaning anything or..." she trailed off. She'd looked into those eyes again. This time they seemed faintly amused, but they were no less deep and beautiful. That dark, shining amber...

Zuko leaned in, touching her lips softly with his. His warmth flowed through Katara as naturally as the blood in her veins. Fire wasn't just an extension of Zuko- fire was Zuko.

Katara allowed herself to drift, to be lost in that blanket of warmth, to drift closer to that sun all her own. She allowed herself to forget the home, forget the South Pole, forget Sokka and Toph and Suki and Aang... Aang! Her mind snapped back into focus. She steeled herself and pulled away. "What was that supposed to be? Is that how you're planning to win this argument?"

He was smiling now, apologetically, but still with a strange air of satisfaction. "Sorry, Katara. I just... always wondered how it felt... to kiss you, I mean." Did I really just do that?! He cursed himself inwardly. And did I really just admit to her that I've wanted to do it before now?!

"Didn't we just do that at our nightmare of a wedding, oh mighty Fire Lord?" Sarcasm dripped from the words, but Zuko responded as if the question hadn't been rhetorical.

"That was you kissing me. There's a difference, you know. And you could have stopped sooner if you really despise me so much..."

"Well..." she floundered for a moment, not wanting to admit that she didn't despise him- or more specifically, that she felt just the opposite. "Well... now you know. So... have a nice life. I'm leaving."

"Me too."

"Can you leave in the opposite direction?" she snapped back. Those beautiful amber eyes flickered with hurt for a moment, then hardened.

"With pleasure."

Just as they were about to exit opposite doors, two warriors stepped out into the moonlight, spears crossed. "Our apologies. Night has fallen. It is a dangerous time to travel. You will have to wait."

There was a tense silence as the master benders stared the guards down. The spears didn't shift.

"You can't just hold us hostage in some stupid ice hole! Do you have any idea who we are?!" Zuko finally exploded, fire flaring up around him despite the lack of daylight's glow.

"Zuko," Katara placed a hand on his shoulder and he breathed out, letting the flames drop. She turned to the two men, clearly positioned to guard them from any escape. "We're taking a walk."

The men looked skeptical, but when she leaned close to the still-furious Zuko and pressed her head against his chest in an obvious display of affection, they relented.

"What was that?!" Zuko hissed at her when they'd escaped earshot.

"They'll be suspicious unless we pretend to like each other." Katara whispered back, internally emphasizing the word 'pretend' and trying to tell herself that was exactly what she'd done.

"I hate this place. How can they possibly hold two important officials hostage and get away with it?" Zuko fumed.

"They're just as controlling now as Ba Sing Se used to be." Katara mused.

"How'd you fix that place up, then? Maybe it'll give us some ideas." Zuko replied, a glimmer of hope flickering across his features.

"Well... we didn't. Aang's working on it right now. The Earth Kingdom fell last time we were there, remember?"

Zuko winced. That had been his fault. If only he had joined the right side sooner...

Katara grabbed his arm as he instinctively walked faster. Sometimes Zuko seemed to think he could outrun his past. "Zuko, that's not what I meant. I'd just forgotten..."

"You forgot?" he asked her softly, and Katara knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I thought we promised not to bring up what happened down there again." she spoke sternly.

"I didn't," he whispered in reply. They leaned closer, but Zuko broke the spell by turning away.

"This is the place where I fought Zhao." he remarked after a while, seemingly at random. Katara opened her mouth, but he continued. "The Ocean Spirit took him. I held out my hand, I tried to help him. But he was too proud. I learned from his mistake. I know now that I can't let what I used to call honor get in the way of what's right. I just didn't learn fast enough." He hung his head.

Katara put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up, a question in his eyes. "You figured it out soon enough. You taught Aang what he needed to know, you fought and you won. You won your throne and you won the world back. You gave the world a second chance. You gave yourself one too." she ended in a whisper. She remembered, crystal clear, his battle for the throne.

She remembered seeing Zuko surge forward to meet that deadly strike. She remembered watching him fall, as if in slow motion, eyes closed. She remembered the crackle of energy coming from his fallen form, and the fear that she would never see the light in those amber eyes again.

She didn't say a word. That blue glance said it all.

Zuko's hand flew instinctively to his chest. "Thank you, Katara." he said simply.

It was all he needed to.