Katara woke up feeling…something. Happiness? Whatever it was, it kept her company through the morning bath and all the way up until she stopped, just beyond the Sunrise courtyard, suddenly nervous.

Zuko loved her. She loved Zuko. That was good right? They'd get married, and stay together always. Good. Was she getting premarital jitters? She hadn't felt this way before.

With Aang she had always just gone with the flow, there was never any nervousness. This was something new. Was she supposed to feel this way? What if she didn't love Zuko?

Katara snorted at herself, of course she loved Zuko. She might not be an expert on relationships, but she wasn't that dense. Still, how was she supposed to act?

Katara worried over it silently until she remembered Mai. Mai had acted disinterested around Zuko; she had been depressing, and when she was with him they usually snuggled. Snuggling might not be so bad, but was Zuko attracted to depressing girls? Did Katara have to be depressing too?

Katara snorted again, she was being stupid. She wasn't going to change for Zuko. Was she?

"What are you thinking about?" Zuko peered at her from around the corner. He must have heard her from the courtyard. Had she been making noise?

Katara reddened ever so slightly, "Nothing."

"Oh," Zuko looked awkwardly away and they both stood there, uncomfortable.

How was she supposed to act? What was she supposed to do? Katara had no solid experience with being with someone she really loved. Jet hadn't worked out at all, and Aang was too much of a brother-figure. What should she do? What should she do? What sho-

"Are you hungry?" Zuko scratched his head.

"Um, yes," Katara fiddled with her tunic.

"I'm starving," Iroh appeared at her side, grinning broadly.

Katara jumped, then remembered the night before. She had knocked Iroh over and hadn't even stopped to see him on his feet again. She bowed deeply, "I am so, so-"

"Oh no, no, no," Iroh rushed to stop her, "It was my fault for not watching where I was going. Forgive an old man his weak eyes; I did not see you when you were right in front of me." He bowed as deeply as she had.

What? "But I ran into you," Katara half-asked, confused.

"Ah, but I was the one running, a perilous thing to do while turning corners," Iroh shook his head at himself.

Huh? Had they both been running? She was about to ask what Iroh had been doing and push her apology again, but Iroh patted his stomach and changed the subject.

"What's for breakfast?"

It was some sort of chicken-shrimp in a honey and coconut glaze, plus walnuts. It was a pleasant change from so much spicy food, although in true Fire Nation style something had to have heat, and Katara was forced to carefully maneuver around the soup.

Zuko and Iroh both updated her on the search for the Lao Hu, after some explaining on Zuko's part that Katara was now in the loop. Katara leaned many things, such as why Sokka was coming with warriors, and that Azula had almost been broken out of prison. All too soon Iroh took his leave, apparently needing to visit his favorite hot spring for the first time in years. That sounded like a good idea to Katara, but she didn't speak up because it sounded like an even better idea to search for the Lao Hu as soon as she was alone.

Of course, she wasn't going to be alone.

"The noble ladies will probably start trying to present themselves to you today," Zuko sat back, frowning slightly. "Do you want to send them away? It isn't rude so long as you start greeting before the wedding."

Katara felt herself pale; ignoring the part where she had to make pretty with nobles, she focused on something more important, "when is the wedding?"

"Whenever we decide it is," Zuko leaned forward, sensing her unease.

"Maybe we should wait," Katara started, then wasn't sure how to finish. How exactly did one go about admitting their nervousness to their partner?

"Wait?" Zuko asked, looking a little worried.

"Until the Lao Hu is taken care of," Katara quickly supplied, latching onto something that would have prevented their wedding anyway.

"Of course," Zuko nodded, allowing himself to sit back again, "we have to be cautious, but I expect we'll have them rooted out before your brother can get here."

"I'll be married in a month?" Katara didn't hide her alarm very well.

Zuko looked hurt, but didn't say anything.

"I didn't mean-" Katara sighed, exasperated with herself, "I mean, well, it's just so soon."

Zuko bit his lip, looking at her thoughtfully, "you do want to be married?"

"Yes," Katara nodded.

"To me?" Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be obtuse, Zuko," Katara glared at him.

"To me?" Zuko raised the other eyebrow.

Katara let out another exasperated sigh, "yes."

"I can wait," Zuko got that intense look as he stared into Katara's eyes, "for you to be ready."

Katara could feel herself blushing. Zuko could be so intense sometimes. She kind of liked it, when he suddenly got all honest, all serious. But it was also disconcerting; it threw her all in a tumble when he bared some new feeling for her to see. Other than anger, that one she dealt with just fine.

"Um, what are you doing today?" Katara asked, both curious and in need of a less intense subject.

"I thought maybe you'd like to see the city," Zuko shrugged.

----------------

Katara and Zuko snuck out. The palace staff and guards knew the drill; after all, the Fire Lord can't just up and disappear on everyone. The rest of the city though? They remained ignorantly blissful that their ruler was at that very moment buying dumplings from a Kiosk near the bay.

"The ocean smells different here, different from my home" Katara murmured, watching the horizon.

"It does?" Zuko handed Katara her share of the meal.

"It does, it's stronger," Katara wrinkled her nose and added teasingly, "and fishier."

"That's the dumplings," Zuko replied with a straight face.

Katara took a bite, smiling, and they both turned out toward the sea.

The waves lapped sharply against the docks, and yet quietly in comparison to the constant roar in the distance. Katara could feel the tides, currently trying their hardest to pull the Fire Nation into the sea from all corners. Like Toph, the Fire Nation was a rock, and the tides could only struggle uselessly at the corners. No matter the push and pull, the island was never going to budge.

Katara glanced over at Zuko, his left side was barely visible to her. His hood was capably hiding most of his face, and its shadows obscured the rest. She could make out the tip of the nose and the mouth thanks to the brightness of the setting sun. Zuko noticed her regard and drew back his hood, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly his whole face was aflame; Katara had never loved the color orange so much as when the hue was applied to Zuko's features. She sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Zuko asked, puzzled.

"Nothing," Katara smiled.

Zuko smiled back, still a little curious, and they both again looked out over the bay.

Before long a hand was thrust into Katara's, seeking companionship. She blushed a little and grasped the offered palm. It was nice. She loved standing with Zuko, watching the sun hit the water, feeling the tides pull her soul far out beyond the reef, while Zuko's hand anchored her to the shore.

"It seems like I never have time for this," Katara spoke softly.

"Hmmm?" Zuko sounded as relaxed as Katara felt.

"Feeling the tides. I bend water every day, but I never take the time to really feel it," Katara sighed a little.

"According to my Uncle, whenever a Bender listens to their element, they open themselves to every possibility," Zuko nodded.

"I wonder what it's like for Aang, to listen to all of his elements," Katara mused.

"Maybe that's the avatar state?" Zuko suggested.

"I dunno," Katara thought a moment, "I think that's mostly Aang listening to all his past lives."

They stood in silence after that, waiting for the sun to finish its descent into the great salty world they floated on. Then Katara jumped, Zuko was breathing fire.

"What are you doing?" Katara almost shouted, breaking out of her meditation.

"What?" Zuko asked, confusion and a little hurt displayed themselves on his face.

Katara blushed at her jumpiness, "Why were you bending? It scared me."

"Oh," Zuko replied, not sure how to continue, "I was listening to my element."

"You breathe fire when you listen to your element?" Katara asked, curious.

"Well, yeah, why is that so weird? You change the tides when you listen to yours," Zuko spoke a little defensively, still hurt by Katara's withdrawal from him.

"I do?" Katara asked, surprised.

"Yeah, it came in every time you took a deep breath. Not the waves, the tides," Zuko clarified.

"Oh," Katara said, concerned. While she hadn't been consciously playing with the tides, Katara knew perfectly well what she could do without thinking. She had, in fact, found the avatar by using her arms to make a point to her brother.

"Um," Zuko looked uncomfortable, and if the sun hadn't turned him quite thoroughly orange, his face would likely have been pink.

"Yeah?" Katara contemplated apologizing, although it seemed silly to do so simply because he had scared her.

"Will they, you know?" Zuko waved in the general direction of the ocean, "go back to normal?"

"The tides? Yeah, they should. I wouldn't be able to change them permanently," without destroying the moon anyway, Katara thought to herself.

Zuko nodded.

Katara couldn't regain her earlier peace, even though the sun and the water were just as beautiful as before. Even when her hand entangled itself with Zuko's again, it didn't bring any sense of pleasure. Was she losing control? She was a master bender, unconscious bending every now and again was no longer excusable, and she had been doing rather a lot of it lately. Even going so far as to bend in her sleep, which had previously not fazed her, was a worrying habit Katara would rather not develop.

A sound. It was familiar.

Katara had just enough time to see Zuko's face before they were engulfed in flame. Shock was dominant, and something about the way his eyes looked into hers conveyed despair.

It was over in an instant; Zuko had taken the flame and turned it from its original purpose, sending the orange heat outward in a swirling mass.

Katara sucked in a breath, amazed they hadn't been killed, then drew in another; a man was making quick time getting off the docks. She froze the water in his veins without even thinking, and looked to Zuko for the next step.

"Katara," Zuko sounded frightened.

Zuko didn't get scared.

Katara spun, looking for more enemies, and found none. Only a small gathering of fishermen, who were looking at the royal couple in disbelief, stood anywhere near enough to be a threat.

"Zuko?" Katara asked, wondering where his fear was coming from.

Zuko pulled in a deep breath and looked just as deeply into Katara's puzzled eyes, "nothing."

Katara was shocked at Zuko's blatant lie. They had finally come to an understanding, or so she had thought, and now he was lying? But the time for personal problems was not also the time for dealing with an assassin, and Katara pushed aside her disappointment.

Author Note: I feel bad about breaking things up with lines. Limited effort and minimal brain power would get me a little filler to transition from scene to scene. I also feel bad about posting such a short chapter, which leads me to another reason why I feel bad. I feel bad because this took a long time to post. A very long time. I'm truly sorry, I had writers block like you wouldn't believe, and Zuko was being a ninny. In order that I could feel satisfied with this, I had to delete everything that didn't feel right, which wasn't too much, but would have stretched on to another 1,700 words or so had I gone to my target length. Skipping the part where Zuko and Katara get back to the palace will likely help me immensely in my quest to defeat writers block, and posting shorter chapters when I'm stuck will probably help to keep the story going in a timely manner (well, "timely" might be a little overoptimistic). Thank you so much for sticking with me even though I'm a loser (don't comfort me, it is wrong of me to keep you waiting so long).

I'm having trouble with Zuko. I want to keep the story entirely from the narrator's perspective, which is easy, but I want the narrator to see everything through Katara. Sometimes I really want to let the narrator see through Zuko, but instead I have to set everything up so that Zuko's intentions become obvious (eventually) to Katara. Grawrawrawr! (And a lot gets left out, like the fact that Zuko is worried that the changing tides will affect when ships can enter the harbor).

I'm extra nervous…I decided not to have my editors look at this because I've not managed to get them and my laptop alone in a room, and it's been done for two weeks. They don't usually find much (that's right you two, I'm making a dig at you, just in case it motivates you more) but they find the most important things (which I'd never notice, as the writer). I do hope everything explains itself…