Zuko arrived at the scene of the fire, only to find it was already out, the flames put out by a heavily concentrated, severely isolated rainfall. He frowned, gazing up at the darkly ominous clouds. Lightning played through them, and thunder cracked loud and booming directly over his head, but no lightning struck. In fact, it didn't even attempt to leave the mass of clouds. Interesting, Zuko thought to himself. That cannot be a natural storm. Did the same person who started the fire bring the rain? Then- Wait. Is that… a person standing over there? Who would be crazy enough to come here during such a storm and fire? They must be the criminal! And so Zuko ran at the figure, determined to catch and punish them for their crimes.

Katara was lost in thought as she gazed at her clouds. She had been spending her time as a nomadic cloud or part of a river. She'd even spent time as a wave in the ocean. For the most part she was avoiding Aang. She knew he was looking for her, but thus far, she had avoided him with relative ease. But what was she doing? She couldn't spend the rest of her life as a rain cloud, drifting through the sky.

He ran towards the figure, darting from burnt stump to burnt stump. He was determined to take this terrorist down. No one would destroy his fledgling nation- not before it had a chance to even take off. He was almost there. He gathered his strength, took a deep breath, and leapt. He hit the figure square on, rolling into a tackle, then continuing the roll and throwing them into a particularly sturdy tree, then pinning them against the tree trunk with a collar of lightning grabbed from the turbulent sky.

"What are you doing here? Traitor, why are you- Katara?"

"Zuko?"

The two powerful benders stared at each other. They had both changed very much since they'd seen each other last.

Zuko couldn't believe the how much older Katara looked. In the past, she'd always been quick with a smile or a kind word, and gentle encouragement, her hair done in its' perfect knotted braid. But now. Her hair had darkened to a deeper chestnut color, and it was in tumbling waves down past her hips. Her eyes were distant- wary, and she had a thin white scar tracing from the outside corner of her right eye across her face to the opposite corner of her mouth. And she wasn't a girl anymore, Zuko thought. She was a woman. With real curves, and real – What was he thinking! No, she was with Aang. And this was Katara! Right. Katara. But… what is she doing here? Did she bring the rain?

Katara looked Zuko over. He looked… Good. He's filled out since I saw him last. He's not a boy anymore. His shoulders are broader. And he's taller. He's really grown into himself. Wait, what am I saying? Was that- attraction? No, it's Zuko. Of course I'm not attracted to him. Right.

"Zuko. It's been a long time. Or I guess I should say Fire Lord Zuko, now shouldn't I?" Katara gaveZuko a small smirk.

"Katara. Mind doing something about this rain?" Zuko smirked right back at her, confident she wouldn't be able to do much. Only the Avatar had the power to- And then she lifted her hands, closed her eyes, and exhaled. She shifted through a brief series of moves, ending with her hands raised to the sky, fingers spread wide. She flicked her fingertips, face upturned. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the torrential downpour slowed, and stopped. The clouds thinned, then broke apart completely. Blue skies were now visible through wispy white clouds. Katara bowed her head, and folded her hands in front of her, her breath coming slightly short.

Zuko stared. "Now where did you learn to do that?"

Katara smiled up at him through the strands of hair in her face, though it wasn't a particularly kind smile. "I've picked up some new tricks since you saw me last. Judging by that lightning collar you made, so have you. You didn't make that fire, did you? Because it was just wrong. That whole fire was wrong. I mean, I don't really like any fire, but this one especially was really bad. Hungry, somehow."

"Why would I want to damage my own fragile kingdom?" Zuko cried. "I've put everything I have into making this place habitable and hospitable once more- this kind of fire threatens everything I've done for my nation."

"Alright, calm down. Just asking. Have you had many of these fires recently?"

Zuko frowned. "Yes, actually. Though this is the largest one yet. I'm afraid they're getting worse and worse. "

Katara turned to the ocean, wind tugging at her hair and tattered clothes. "Might… might you want my help?"

Startled, Zuko stared at her. "But the Avatar- Aang, I mean… " He was cut off by a brief rumble of thunder. The skies had darkened once more. He glanced at Katara. Her fists were clenched by her sides, shoulders squared and tense. "I asked you if you wanted my help. I didn't ask for you to badger me with personal questions." She turned to face him once more, her eyes dark and inscrutable, hair whipping across her face. "Do you want my help or not?"

Zuko met her gaze squarely, then nodded. "Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you." But what had changed? Where was all her anger coming from, and why had she left Aang? He'd thought they were inseparable, two halves of the same whole. Even now, she looked- broken. In pain.

She nodded to him. "Call to me when you next need my help. I'll spend the time looking for your firebug." Turning, she raised her face to the sky, clearly done with the conversation.

"Wait. Katara." She glanced back at Zuko, standing in the ashes. "It's good to see you again." And he smiled at her. It wasn't a huge smile, but she'd forgotten how handsome he was when he smiled. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she raised her face back to the sky, cheeks burning. Then she clapped her hands together and whirled into a spiral of dense fog, trailing up to the clouds.

But as she vanished, Zuko heard a whispered "And you as well, Fire Lord Zuko."