Katalina opened her eyes the next morning to see a bright blue sky above her. She sat up, stretching and yawning. She looked beside her to see that Zuko was still sleeping. She smiled at him, but tried not to laugh. Then she turned away from him and hugged her knees tightly. She continued to smile a small yet noticeable smile.
"What are you so happy about?" Zuko suddenly asked her.
She turned her head to see him still lying down, but now with his hands resting behind his head.
"What? A girl can't smile?" she replied.
He laughed. "That's not what I meant."
"I don't know, then. I'm just smiling."
He looked her up and down suspiciously. "What did you do to me?"
"Excuse me? I didn't do anything to you!" she exclaimed. She then smiled widely. "You're cute when you sleep, though. You seem so at peace."
"Thank you?"
She laughed. "You're welcome."
He smiled, too, now. "So when do you wanna go see Ozai?"
"Pretty soon, I guess," she answered. "I mean, I wanna have time to get ready for the party." She smiled again.
"I figured as much." He shook his head. "So we'll get ready for the day, and then we'll head out."
"Sounds good to me."
He nodded his head once. "Did you sleep well?"
"I slept fine, thanks for asking. What about you?"
"For sleeping on the ground, yeah, I slept pretty damn well."
"That's good."
"Yeah." He paused. "Let's get inside."
"Oh, you have servants that can bring us breakfast, don't you?" she recalled. "I guess that's a nice little advantage. And Mai must love that."
"Mai?"
She eyed him peculiarly. "Your girlfriend…"
"Oh! Right."
"Yeah, that girl. You know, the one you're in love with."
"In love with?" he repeated, sounding dumbstruck by the statement.
"What? You're not in love with her?"
"Honestly…no, I couldn't say that I'm in love with her," he admitted. "I mean, I do love her, but I'm definitely not in love with her."
"Definitely? That's a pretty strong statement."
"So is saying you're in love with someone."
"Touché." She paused. "Do you think it's a possibility?"
"I already told you, Lina."
"Told me what?"
"Her attitude towards you has really been pissing me off. I mean, she actually wants me to choose between you and her. I can't do that, though."
"But you would choose her, right?"
He sighed. "I won't be choosing."
She nodded, thinking for a moment. "So you think there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone?"
"Of course there is," he stated. "Being in love with someone is knowing you could spend the rest of your life with that one person."
She couldn't help but to smile at that. "Good answer."
He smiled back. "C'mon."
Zuko got to his feet and held out his hand. Katalina took it and he helped her up. He then turned to head inside, stilling holding her hand, but she didn't move.
"Lina, what are you doing?" he wondered.
She smiled again. "Nothing."
"Why aren't you moving?"
Her smile widened. Then before he could say another word, she pulled at him and leaned back, sending them both tumbling into the pond.
"Lina!" he exclaimed.
She laughed. "Aren't you so glad you brought me along?"
He remained quiet before bursting out in laughter. "I hate you so much!"
She laughed more as well. "Why? Because I bring fun into your life?"
He shook his head, still laughing as he tried to sit back up. She pulled him down again, though, pinning him. But it didn't take much for him to push her off and turn it around and pin her down. And they kept laughing until their eyes locked and they held each other's gaze. Then the next thing they knew, their noses were lightly touching.
"Zuko," she whispered. "We should get going."
He swallowed hard. "Right." He sat back on his knees before getting back up. "We have a long day ahead of us."