The two new friends made their way to the Jasmine Dragon together. It was a long walk, but Sokka had Katalina laughing so much that the walk just seemed to pass by. Then before they knew it they were standing at the entrance of the practically famous teashop.

"Have you even been in here yet?" Sokka questioned.

"Yeah, when the White Lotus members were still here I had been in almost every single day," Katalina told him. "I haven't been in since you and the others arrived, though."

"Well, not much has changed."

She laughed some more. "So are all of you working here now?"

"Yeah, we help Iroh out around the shop. Aang, Katara, and Mai help brew the tea while Suki, Zuko, and I help serve it to the customers."

"Iroh actually lets other people brew the tea?"

"Oh, don't worry, he trained them."

She found herself laughing once again. "And what about Toph?"

"She's lazy and just plays the blind card even though she can still see with her feet," he answered bluntly.

"I like her way of thinking."

"I had a feeling you would."

The two of them then entered the shop.

"Wow, is it always this busy in here?" she wondered.

"Pretty much," he confirmed. "Not that we necessarily need it, but we could use more help around here."

"Are you implying that me and my friends work here, too?"

"I don't see why you couldn't."

"Well, we're helping around the city, at the moment."

"After all that construction's done, then."

She shrugged. "I'll let them know."

"Sounds good. Now c'mon, the others should be in the back."

They started towards the back of the shop. They moved behind the counter, but Katalina stopped as Sokka began to open the door. He noticed this.

"Are you okay?" he checked.

"You're positive Zuko's not here?" she asked in reply.

He nodded. "I'm positive. He and Mai took a walk around the city. They shouldn't be back till later."

"They're both gone? Oh, even better."

"Don't worry about it, Lina." He opened the door and walked through. She closely followed behind him. "Hey guys!" he greeted all his friends. "Hey Iroh, I picked someone up along the way."

"You didn't pick me up," she denied. "You had followed me."

Iroh turned around at the sound of her voice. "Katalina, I didn't expect to see you back here."

"Nice to see you, too," she said back.

"You do know you can step in more, right?" he then asked. "You don't have to stand right by the door."

"What? Oh!" She quickly moved away from the door when she realised what he was talking about. "Sorry."

"What are you so nervous about?" Katara questioned.

"I'm not nervous," she denied.

"You're lying," Toph stated. "I can feel it."

"Good for you." Sarcasm rang in Katalina's voice.

"Don't come here just to give an attitude," Iroh spoke back up.

"She's probably just worried that Zuko's going to come back while she's still here," Sokka figured.

"Why would you be worried about that?" Aang wondered.

"I'm not worried about that," she denied again.

"That's another lie," Toph pointed out.

"Could you stop that?" Now there was annoyance in her voice.

The blind girl shrugged. "I can't help it."

"Doesn't mean you have to announce it to the entire room."

"Wait, why don't you want to see Zuko or Mai?" Suki asked.

"All of you ask a lot of questions," Katalina replied. "And frankly, I'm not in the mood to answer any of them."

"I didn't bring you here to be interrogated," Sokka cut back in.

"No, I know you didn't."

The door then opened. Katalina jumped, twisting to see who it was. Lucky for her, it was only Shion.

"Hey stranger!" he greeted her. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." He gave her a smile. "Where have you been hiding?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she responded.

"Hey, I've been doing my work around the city. Unlike the rest of your slackers who haven't done shit."

She laughed. "Proud of you, Shion."

"Damn right you are." He hit her shoulder playfully. "By the way, when are you gonna talk to Zuko? I'm getting sick of hearing Jet talk about it."

"I have spoken with Zuko."

"I'm pretty sure arguing isn't the same as talking."

"I would have to agree with that," Katara cut in. "Arguing and talking are in fact different things."

"Nobody asked you," Katalina said back.

"Don't be rude," Iroh replied. "She was only putting in a reasonable opinion. And Shion's right," he then also agreed. "It's about time you speak with Zuko without blowing up at him."

"Yeah, blowing up is supposed to be his specialty," Sokka pointed out. "Is it not? Or is that just an overall Fire Nation thing?"

"And why does Jet care so much?" Suki wondered. "Does he like you?"

"No, he's just concerned," Shion answered. "Jet likes—"

"Somebody else," Katalina interrupted. "Though, who that person is isn't any of your business."

"That's all beside the point," Iroh stated. "The point is that you need to fix this. And if you keep walking away from it then it'll only bring you deeper into the mess you've created."

"First of all, you're overreacting," she declared. "Second of all, fine, let me walk into my mess."

She then turned to walk away, but instead she walked right into Zuko.

"Lina!" Zuko exclaimed, taken aback.

"I-I have to go," she replied, looking to the ground. And she hurried out of the shop.

He went to go after her, but he was stopped.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mai questioned.

"I have to talk to her, Mai," Zuko told her. "I can't just keep letting her walk away from me."

"Clearly she doesn't want anything to do with you. So just let it go. Let her go. What's the point?"

"The point is that she's my best friend," he claimed.

And Zuko finally rushed after her before Mai could get another word in. He had no idea which direction Katalina went in, but he assumed that she was headed back for her apartment. So that's where he went. Eventually, he came across Jet and Jin. They caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Please, I need to talk to Katalina," he told them. "I'm getting sick of this whole charade and I need to set things straight."

Jet shook his head. "I really don't think she wants to talk to you."

"C'mon, I thought you wanted us to settle things."

"On her terms."

"Please, don't do this!"

Jin sighed out of exasperation. "Just let him go, Jet! We'll explain ourselves to Lina later. By then, though, hopefully she'll be thanking us instead."

"Fine," Jet easily gave in. "You can go talk to her." He stepped out of the way. "Just don't hurt her."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Zuko said.

With that, he continued to chase after Katalina. He already knew he was heading in the right direction, he just hoped that he'd be able to catch up with her. And get through to her.

Finally, he arrived at her apartment. He ran right up to the door and he just began banging on it. "Lina!" he shouted. "Lina!" He repeated her name over and over again, but he didn't receive a response. "C'mon, you can't ignore me forever!" he yelled. "Please let me in! Lina!"

The next thing Zuko knew, there was a loud bang and he was forcefully blown back. He took a moment to regain his strength before moving onto his knees. And once he refocused his vision, he saw the apartment was on fire.

"Lina!" he shouted for the umpteenth time. He jumped to his feet and made his way into the destroyed living area, redirecting the fire. Then he found her laying on the floor. "Lina!" He practically slid down beside her and picked her up before doing anything else. He pulled her out of the burning home before tumbling back to the ground. He held her close to him the entire time, though. "Lina, can you hear me?" he checked. "Lina…!"

There was a ringing in Katalina's ears. She didn't know what had just happened. Soon enough, though, the ringing began to sound like her name. Her eyes fluttered open and she managed to make out a figure towering over her. The figuring was holding her protectively. She didn't understand why. Her eyes then focused for just a moment and she was able to make out a scarred eye. And then everything went black.