A.N.: I am truly ashamed that I let two years slip by without updating this! I thank you all so much if you're reading this for the first time, rereading it to get reacquainted, or have left reviews or added it to your favorites. I really do appreciate it! If you are rereading this, I have begun to rewrite this, to extend the details, and work out some errors that I made in the original form. I will be not only updating what is already here, but I will be adding new chapters, and concluding this story by the end of the year. Thank you again for your patience and I hope you are all still interested! This is the eleventh chapter to be rewritten as of July 24, 2010.

Of course I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of the characters except for Kelyin, Ren, Shaya, Ayash, and the Outcasts. Though you will later find out, I'll make it clear now that everyone is 3 years older. Zuko was 16, now 19, Katara 14/17, Sokka 15/18, Aang 12/15, Toph 12/15. Also, the events of this story were written after the second season, so please disregard all events from the final season of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

/. /. /CHAPTER 11: The Questions That Have Waited Years

/. /. /KYOSHI ISLAND

He laid there on the blanket for what seemed like forever, mentally cursing himself for kissing her. There was no reason for it. He didn't even know her that well. Except for her first name, homeland, bending ability, friendship with Aang, and her mother's death, he really knew nothing else about her. Yet he held her beneath him, pinning her arms to her sides. Without even thinking, he'd placed his lips to hers. It had seemed so natural, like the perfect thing to do, the right thing to do.

He sat up, his elbows on his knees as he clutched his head in his hands. He wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon, so why not just get up to ponder the awkwardness the next day would surely bring.

He was still wrapping his mind around how much she'd changed since he'd made his life altering mistake only a few years ago. He constantly denied it in his head since she'd revealed herself, but she'd become an absolutely stunning young woman. Her touch, as she relieved him of his pain, was the most incredible thing he'd ever felt. So cool against his warm flesh, her fingers delicately tracing his skin. He'd been slowly falling for his savior Kara, though he couldn't help but reflect back to Katara every time the Outcast woman tended to him. To find that it was Katara all along. So kind and gentle, even after all he'd done. She was like an incredible goddess, forgiving him of all his sins, cleansing him of all his mistakes and failures.

He looked up, slowly lowering his hands from his head. Katara sat down beside him.

"Back in Ba Sing Se, why did you choose Azula's side?" She asked softly, staring into the fire. He stared at the ground before him.

"I was naïve. Though I hated her, and I'd grown up knowing that she always lied, I wanted to believe my father would accept me so badly, I'd do anything. Again, it was all a lie."

"You said the Fire Nation took your mother… what happened?"

"I… I'm not completely sure. She woke me in the middle of the night and told me she was leaving. She said everything she did was for me. I went back to sleep. The next morning I woke and she wasn't there. I though it was a dream, but I never saw her again." He looked into the fire. "Katara, I'm so sorry I kissed you. I did it without permission. I took advantage of the situation. It was wrong of me to do that to you. I'm sorry."

"You know, I was thinking… no one has really ever shown you love before, have the? No one's ever encouraged you. You were forced to become this hard, angry man at such a young age, but I saw it then, and I see it now." She reached over and laid her hand over his heart. "This is the real you, isn't it? Quiet, sensitive, passionate. No one ever showed you the love necessary for you to become the kind, compassionate human being that you have in your heat."

"That doesn't excuse my actions." His voice carried a hint of bitterness.

"I'm not trying to excuse you, Zuko, I'm just trying to understand you." She sighed. "This sounds so strange, but ever since the crystal prison, even after the events that followed, I haven't been able to forget seeing you, unmasked so to speak. You were so… human. Before, I only saw you as a monster," he absently reached for the scar," and not because of that. I saw you as a monster because you were always hunting us like we were your prey. Like we were animals." She turned his face toward hers once more. His whole body tensed, but he held eye contact as her fingers tenderly explored the old scar. A playful smile lit her lips. "Forgive me, but I just have to ask. Why did you have that strange haircut? The scar already drew attention to you. The mostly bald head gave you nothing to hide behind."

He smiled, obviously embarrassed. "I was angry when I did it. I though the best way to deal with it would be to become as hideous on the outside as I felt on the inside. I was already hard to look at, why not add to it? Make everyone as uncomfortable as I could when they had to look at me." He gave an awkward laugh. "I did it in my room with a knife."

She ran her fingers through his short, unruly hair. "It looks better like this, but I especially like it when it gets longer, like in the cave." He smiled, the corners of his mouth curling up while his lips remained together, hiding his teeth. "I've noticed you lost your lisp."

"My what?"

"Your lisp. You don't have it anymore."

"I didn't even know I had one." He looked away, embarrassed.

"It was slight, but I don't hear it anymore." They sat in silence for a moment, Katara vaguely wondering whether healing the scar on his throat had also inadvertently healed his minor speech impediment. She slivered slightly as the chilly night air cut through the thin fabric of the undergarments she wore.

"Are you cold?" He asked softly.

"A little."

"I can warm you up." He draped an arm around her. She could feel the warmth emanating from him, his internal fire. She moved a little closer to him, her hip resting against his. He held her close, the heat from his body surrounding her. He rested his cheek on top of her head and she smiled, finally enjoying the closeness she so longed for, not as Kara and Lee, but as Katara and Zuko.

/. /. / POST SCRIPT AUTHORS NOTE:

P.S.A.N. : I know this is a very short chapter. It was originally as well. The next chapter relies on the morning after this, therefore it would disrupt the flow. I thought the conversations and interactions between Zuko and Katara were necessary and I didn't want to scrap this, so it is posted on its own. In rewriting this, 86 words were added. Next up a brand spanking new chapter. I know, I can't believe it either! No updates since January 2008 and now I bring you a full rewrite, plus brand new chapters!