A/N: I'm back! First update these summer holidays. I thought I'd be making so many updates this summer but no. What can I say, I've been busy...and lazy. Anyway, thanks to everyone that reviewed. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. I really tried hard with this chapter - don't hate me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender...and sadly enough half this plot.

She was grumpy. No, scratch that. She was just plain irritated. Why? Because someone woke her up hours before dawn and that someone was making her bend his stupid ship so they could reach the island faster because apparently someone had miscalculated the time it would take. Oh, and that someone was currently drifting off against the rails while she was hard at work.

Without breaking rhythm, she sent a light spray over him and he stood up straight, blinking rapidly as the sea salt stung his eyes.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Yes." She smirked at him and continued to push and pull the water, her arms circling around her as she glanced back at the ship's wake. A thin golden sliver of light was visible on the horizon and she could feel her energy beginning to fade as she wearily brought her arms around again. "If I can't sleep, you can't either."

Zuko rolled his eyes, not bothering to reply as he struggled to stay awake. His fingers curled around the lotus tile in his pocket, feeling a sense of security wash over him. He had decided, and with the finality he felt relief. He made a mental note to thank his uncle profusely the next time they met. His crew was completely baffled as to where the ex-general had disappeared to or how, but Zuko didn't let it phase him. Last night, after discovering the Pai Sho tile, he'd crept back into his room being careful not to wake up Katara and had dug up the golden flame his uncle had given him a few weeks back. The one meant to be worn by the Crown Prince.

Him.

He had held it in his hand, feeling the weight of his great-grandfather's choices. Both of his great-grandfathers. One of them had started the war. The other had sought to stop it. He was left in the middle of it all to face his own destiny. The destiny he would choose.

"Born in you, along with all the strife, is the power to restore balance to the world."

He sat up the entire night holding the crown in his hands, his meditation candles dying and leaving a majestic gleam on the gold artifact. Katara found him in the early hours of that morning hunched over uncomfortably, leaning against the side of the bed.

He let his gaze fall on her as she kept bending. Her movements were fluid and smooth, and he silently marveled her grace. A light sheen of sweat caused her hair to stick to her skin and she impatiently blew it out of her face every now and then. Her hair was a disarray of thick brown curls which hung to the middle of her back, swaying in the light breeze. She wasn't much shorter than him and while she was slim, there was power hidden in her slight frame. He tilted his head the other way, still watching her. She wasn't perfect – her nose a little too small, her smile a little too wide, her body yet to develop full curves – yet, despite it all, he'd never found anyone more attractive.

Zuko tried to ignore the warmth in his stomach as he kept a discreet eye on her. She was annoying, smug, grudge-holding, and could hold her own in a fight against him to boot, but whatever it was that was brewing between that made his stomach tighten in knots and made him completely forget about his actual girlfriend, intrigued him.

He took a deep breath, feeling reinvigorated with the sun's energy as he turned to face the horizon. Sunrise; his favorite time of day, although sunsets weren't half bad. The orange, pink and gold highlights in the sky as it darkened…and the time when both he and Mai sat on the cliff face over the ocean watching it –

"Do you like orange?" he asked before he could stop himself. He turned his head to look back at her and watched her slow her movements, finally coming to a stop as she bent the sweat off her body and threw it into the water.

"Orange?" she said coming to stand beside him. "Orange is nice. Why?"

He shook his head. "Hungry?" he said, changing the topic and beginning to walk to the cabin door. She followed him wondering at his strange mood but eager for food, stumbling occasionally in her weariness.

"What about you?" she inquired from behind him. "Do you like orange?"

He opened the door and let her in first before following, nodding slowly. "I like orange."

Katara stretched out luxuriously, rolling onto her side so she could see Zuko lying on the floor. He caught her glance with a sleepy one of his own.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said. She let her cheek rest on her pillow, still watching him. "So…"

"So what?" he replied, locking his hands behind his head.

"…I don't know," she muttered, not having anything to say.

He closed his eyes, not wishing to partake in a pointless one-sided conversation. "I don't do small talk."

"Obviously," was the incensed reply. He heard her shift on the bed slightly, still feeling her gaze on him.

Katara glared at the ceiling, annoyed at the fact that he was being so annoying so early in the morning. She was tired but sleep wouldn't come to her so was it really her fault if she wanted to talk? Grumbling silently, she cast around for a topic when her eyes fell on the ceiling.

"Is this the same ship you had…before?" she asked.

Zuko's eyes flickered open as he turned his head slightly to look at her. "No…that got blown up by pirates."

She propped herself up on her elbow interested. "Really? Why did pirates try to blow you up? Apart from the obvious reason?"

He ignored her slight on him. "Zhao paid them." Clearly, he wasn't going to humor her with his straight-to-the-point answers.

"Oh." There was silence again. "So…"

He groaned and flipped over, turning away from her as he pressed his face into the pillow. As much as he was (he squirmed inwardly) beginning to…develop a liking towards this girl, her smart mouth and incessant need to chatter was wearisome.

"Were they the same pirates you hired to find Aang…back then?"

Zuko allowed himself a smirk. I'll save you from the pirates. "That's right…"

Katara sniffed. "You tied me to a tree."

"You were bait for the Avatar," he mumbled turning his face the other way so he could see her, scarred side buried in the pillow.

"You mean like right now?"

"Like right now."

"…I hate you."

"I know." He turned over again, stretching the muscles in his back which were still sore from his uncomfortable slouch the previous night.

"Do you think Aang's going to be on the island?"

"What?" Zuko turned his head so fast that it cricked. She was peering at him from the bed, her head resting on its side on the pillow, her hand curled up near her mouth. "You were the one who said he would be there!"

She looked sheepish. "I'm not completely sure. Besides, what if Azula turns up?"

And there it was. Zuko felt his stomach plummet, stirring with both guilt and nerves as he sat up. He met her gaze as she watched him. He ran a hand through his hair and she watched it fall back onto his forehead as he looked down at his blanket.

"Listen," he began, his voice lower than usual. He stared hard at his fingers as he spoke. He could just not do this but he owed it to his uncle and to her. He had to make things right.

"Do you remember the night Azula came here?"

Katara stared at him for a few moments, feeling her gut twist unpleasantly at the memory of the Fire Princess' visit, before nodding.

"Well, she wanted to know how much I knew about – about the Avatar, and if I was close to capturing him." He watched his knees as he spoke, feeling too cowardly to look her in the eye. "You have to understand something. I –"

"You told her."

Her voice cut across his calmly. He looked up and caught her gaze, her cerulean eyes barely visible from the light of the single candle in the room.

"Yes."

Of course. She remembered that night perfectly. Sitting in the room after his younger sister had left, wondering, worrying if that crazy princess had done anything, speculating as to what he might tell her about his prisoner. She had had no reason to believe him…but she did. And now…

Everything changed.

"Liar," she whispered.

Her words broke him. He reached for her, eyes imploring with her to listen, but she pulled away, scrambling back to the edge of the bed.

"Don't touch me."

He stopped as if she'd slapped him.

"Listen, I didn't betray you. Katara –"

"Stop." She shook her head, staring past him. "I don't want to hear anymore, ok?" She slid off the other side and attempted to walk around him to the door. He grabbed her hands, a desperate expression on his face.

"Please, listen. I –"

She struggled in his arms and hooked one of her feet around his ankles; he lost his footing, crashing onto his makeshift bed with his knees and dragging her down too.

"Let go!" she snapped, trying to push him away.

"Not until you listen!" he grunted, locking her arms by her sides and stared at her pleadingly.

"I don't care what you have to say!" Her shoulders slumped as she curled in on herself. She couldn't do this anymore. Why did she trust him? He hadn't done anything to warrant her trust but like a blind fool she'd believed him, listened to every poisoned word he'd said. And for what? Because she thought he liked her? He was probably laughing at her right now, amused at her naivety and blind trust.

Zuko watched her, feeling a familiar emotion engulf him and tighten in his chest. Loss paired with the need to have someone, anyone, a companion that could understand.

His hands slowly slid down her arms until they reached her hands and he slowly curled his fingers around them.

"Why did I believe you?" she said, her voice breaking. "Why do I always trust you no matter how many times you betray me?"

"I'm not betraying you," he insisted. "You don't understand –"

"Oh, I understand," she snapped. Her sudden show of anger made him freeze. "You're selfish, dishonorable and being rich, spoilt and happy means more to you than the rest of the world!"

His hands clenched around hers. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he said coldly.

Her eyes flashed. "Don't I?" She wrenched her hands out of his. "Aang died. Because of you. I thought – I thought you might actually be good when I offered to heal your scar. I thought you were just confused and lost but you weren't. You know exactly what you want, and being at home with daddy was obviously –"

"SHUT UP!"

He was on his feet; his chest heaved as he struggled to control the anger burning through his blood. He wanted nothing more than to put his hands around her dainty little neck and choke her. She knew nothing about him.

Her face betrayed her shock at his outburst, and she stared up at him, lips parted. His knuckles threatened to pop out of his skin; he'd fisted his hands so tightly.

"You want to know why I told her?" he yelled, his face close to hers. "Because I don't have a choice. I've never had a choice. The Avatar is everything –"

"You always have a choice!" she shouted getting to her feet and straightening to her full height. "Your so-called honor isn't everything, ok?"

"It's not about my honor!" he roared back. "You wouldn't understand. You don't understand."

"What?" She stormed up to him and he took a step back from her advances. "Why wouldn't I understand?"

"Because your father loves you!"

There was a first time for everything. There was a first time for admitting things. Recognizing the truth. Acknowledging the past. Letting go of hopeless dreams. For Katara, knowing that her mother had gone, truly gone, would never be there to hold her or tell stories or smile had taken years to admit to. And the first time she'd truly come to terms with it was with this lost, confused boy in a forgotten chamber somewhere underground.

Zuko was still as he stared back at her, unable to bring himself not to. There was nowhere else to look. Three years he'd spent at sea on a hopeless mission, holding on to the slimmest possibility that he could go home, that his father would welcome him back and would forgive him and everything would return to normal.

Nothing was ever going back to normal.

Three years he'd spent, sailing endlessly, burying himself under a façade of practiced discipline and cool detachment, clutching onto a dream that he would go home, hailed a hero in his father's eyes. A dream where he would one day reign as Fire Lord.

A dream where his father told him he loved him.

Slowly, feeling returned back to the firebender and he broke his gaze with the girl sitting opposite him as he pressed his face into his knees. He would not be weak. He was not allowed to be weak. Trying to control himself with a deep breath, he looked up and met the waterbender's eyes again. She was staring wide-eyed, sitting still.

"What?" was all she said, her voice barely audible.

He gritted his teeth and turned away, already feeling ashamed of his outburst although it was true. It was the most honest thing he'd told himself in a long time. He froze when he felt her hand land on his shoulder and spared her a glance.

"Explain," she demanded quietly. "What did you mean?"

Zuko raised his hand and took hold of hers, gently placing it back in her lap. "Nothing," he said. "I didn't mean anything by it."

She grabbed his wrist before he could pull it away. "You owe me." Both narrowed their eyes at the other. Zuko was the first to break the eye contact, staring down at his feet.

"I was never a good firebender," he began still looking down. "I was decent but my sister was better. When I finally mastered something it didn't matter because she'd already done it. My father…wasn't hard on me but he never seemed to expect anything from me either. Azula could do it and that's all that really mattered."

Katara watched him silently as he spoke, wondering what this had to do with the present.

"The night after my mother disappeared and my grandfather died, my father became Fire Lord even though he was the younger son. I don't know what happened that night but I know it had something to do with my mother and grandfather. She came in the middle of the night to say goodbye to me. And then she left." His fists clenched again and he blinked stubbornly. "Life was…quiet after that. My father was busy as Fire Lord and he didn't really have time for me. And then I went to my first war meeting." He closed his eyes and Katara felt a sense of foreboding. She waited but he didn't speak. Irritated that he had not provided an adequate answer, she scoffed.

"So you had a hard childhood because your father didn't pay attention to you, is that it?" she said glaring at his sullen form.

Something in Zuko sparked. Attention issues? She couldn't begin to fathom his messed up childhood, even imagine the misery he'd endured, what he'd done to make it through it all. His eyes flashed up and suddenly he was in her face and an angry heat was surrounding them as his face contorted with rage.

"My father gave me this!" he yelled.

A pause.

A beat passed, then another.

Katara followed his shaking finger up to where it was pointing at his scar. Horrified, her eyes focused on the red flame shaped image burned onto his skin before moving to the other, more perfect side of his face where his golden eye was suddenly glistening. He wiped the back of his hand across it angrily before turning his back to her in his moment of weakness.

The young Water Tribe girl felt shock at his revelation. He was always so stubborn and angry and indifferent. What had happened that he deserved such a punishment? She spoke out.

"Why?" she whispered staring at his back.

He shook his head slowly from side-to-side, gripping his knees tightly. "I spoke out of turn. I was disrespectful to the general – the bastard that wanted to send out troops as a distraction." He took a deep shuddering breath and Katara watched his shoulders tremble slightly. "Then – then my father challenged me to an Agni Kai. I thought I was supposed to face the general. But it was my father's war room…"

Zuko stared at the Fire Nation hanging on his wall, not seeing it as the abandonment swept through him.

"Your own father doesn't even want you." His teeth gnawed on his lip as he closed his eyes begging with himself that it wasn't true.

"I begged like a dog," he choked out. He was talking to himself now, shame burning through him. "I cried at his feet and then he…he…"

Behind him, Katara covered her mouth with her hand, silent tears making their way down her tan cheeks as she watched the heartbreaking sight. She couldn't understand his pain. She'd never lacked love in her family; it was abundant in the Water Tribes. She couldn't imagine being ignored by her father while he favored Sokka over her. She'd never sat in a corner of their igloo and watched Sokka play with their father while she was disregarded. Trying to imagine the abandonment and loneliness coursing through Zuko broke her heart.

She jumped when, with an enraged roar, he leapt to his feet and punched the wall, a sharp dent sinking into the metal.

"I only wanted to please him!" he yelled. "I spent three years of my life searching for the Avatar." He squeezed his eyes shut as another tear made its way down and slid off the edge of his jaw. "He never wanted me. My own father wanted me dead!"

He leaned his head against the wall, body heaving with suppressed sobs. He wouldn't cry. He refused to be weak.

"Zuko?" He felt a cool hand land on his still shaking shoulder and turned around to meet her watery eyes. Why was she crying? She looked up at him, her eyes shining as she reached for him. He lowered his head as he felt hot tears streak his cheek and let her wrap her arms around him.

Katara murmured something softly in his ear as he rested his head against her shoulder. She led him back to his futon and sank to the ground, still cradling him. And feeling like it was ok, just this one time, he let the sobs come out and let them take him away…

It was late afternoon when he finally awoke. He patted the empty space beside him, feeling disgruntled when he realized she was gone. Feeling distinctly drowsy from the few hours of sleep he'd had, he stood up and changed quickly before leaving his quarters to look for Katara.

Slight embarrassment discomforted him as he remembered their conversation. Never had he told an outsider of his past. Nor had he ever cried about it in front of anyone. Not Uncle, not Azula, not Mai…

He grimaced at the thought of his girlfriend as he unconsciously compared her to Katara. He'd never felt so open with Mai. She was there, his quiet support but that was it. She didn't bring out all these emotions from him. Anger, annoyance, affection, trust…

While Katara had never experienced his demons she'd seemed to understand exactly what he'd needed. He knew she didn't think any less of him for breaking down and crying like a child but for her to actually see it was awkward for him.

He hailed down two crewmembers as they emerged from the deck, wide grins on their faces. These disappeared as they caught sight of their commanding officer.

"Where's the girl?" he demanded suspiciously.

The grins returned as they gestured up at the deck and he dismissed them with an order for food as he ascended the stairs. He paused inside the door as he opened it, eyebrows raised.

Katara's eyes were closed as she stretched out languidly, leg in front of her while she bent forward, her hands reaching well past her foot. He could hear deep even breaths as she repeated this with the other leg, stretching her arm to curve over her as her torso graced her leg. She moved onto her stomach and pressed her hands to the deck while she arched her back, leaving her legs stretched out behind her as she held her pose.

His eyes followed the lissome curve of her back up to her neck, mouth dry. What was she doing? She held this position firmly before kneeling and stretching upwards so her wrap around top rose slightly as her hands curled back gracefully until they touched her feet, her torso remaining upright. It felt like she was almost deliberately teasing him with her sensuous movements and pliant body.

Zuko turned away, catching sight of some of his crew sneaking glances at the young girl while they pretended to work. Throwing them a disgusted glare he wordlessly sent them back downstairs as he made his way across the deck towards her.

She smiled at him as he sat down beside her, cross-legged. He smiled back tentatively.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he replied as his gaze roved over her form, lingering a little too long on the soft mounds of her chest because he's a boy and can't help it. "What are you doing?" he asked forcing his eyes away.

"Yoga," she answered simply. "It's really relaxing and increases your blood circulation and flexibility." She glanced at him. "You should do it too. It'll help you unwind.

"I don't need to unwind," he said crossly.

"Ok," she said calmly as she rolled back into a bridge. Zuko's eyes automatically followed the curve of her bare midriff, catching the sun's rays as her chest rose in the air, her hair falling back and exposing her slender neck. His fingers curled into the silk of his pants as he tried to swallow.

"Did you sleep well?" Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts and his cheeks flushed as if she had caught what he was thinking.

"Yeah," he said gruffly, "I did." He paused before glancing back at her. "Listen, about what happened –"

"Don't worry; I won't tell anyone."

"No…it's just…thank you," he murmured softly not meeting her gaze. She pulled herself out of the bridge – Zuko thanked Agni loudly in his head – and sent him a quick glance.

"You know, I still don't forgive you for telling Azula," she stated settling cross-legged in front of him.

Zuko bowed his head. "I know, and I am sorry. It's been hard."

She nodded. "She's probably on the island already, right?"

The prince looked in the direction of the island which at the moment was still a dot on the horizon. Katara's waterbending had helped immensely though.

"We'll probably get there in the night some time," he told her. She nodded and the two remained silent as someone came out with a small collapsible table and a tray of food in his hands. Silently, he set it down before the two benders and arranged it before departing with a bow.

Zuko absentmindedly took a rice ball and ate it, his eyes glazed over as he lost himself in his thoughts.

"What are you thinking?" Katara asked as she helped herself to some fruit.

He sighed and laid his chopsticks down beside the plate. "Nothing," he said standing up and moving to the rails. He slid his hands along the cool metal as he followed its path to the side of the ship, his eyes focused on the distant dot that was the island.

He heard her stand up and follow him, unable to resist poking around to see what made him feel so. Stopping, he rested his elbows on the rounded edge and leaned forward slightly, trying to find his reflection amidst the swirling mass below. His weight shifted slightly as he felt her pause beside him, no qualms about their proximity.

"You know," she began turning her face to watch him while her hair fluttered out over her shoulder. "I used to be terrified of you when you chased us. Sometimes I'd be afraid to fall asleep because I was scared that when I woke up we'd be on your ship going to the Fire Nation." She smiled a little. "I guess that's sort of what happened. I did wake up on your ship." Her elbow brushed against his arm lightly. "I always wondered why you chased the Avatar. I thought that you were this crazy boy, always shouting about your honor." His lips twitched. "You really have no idea what honor is, do you?"

He raised his head to look at her out of his unscarred eye.

"I know you think your scar marks you but I think it…makes you you." Tentatively she reached up, her fingers trembling in the slightest as she silently asked for permission before tracing them along the edge of his scar. Her thumb gently brushed over his closed eyelid feeling him relax at her touch.

Slowly, he took a step forward and closed the distance between them.