It had been a week since Katara and Zuko made up. Things between them had started running more smoothly. Zuko paid more attention when he was around her, making sure he didn't lose his temper and Katara watched what she said to him. Much more problems were coming up, calling for meetings and work that Zuko had to attend to, causing him not get back to his room in till late hours of the night of which Katara was already sleeping. And since it seemed he always woke before she did, it felt as if she hadn't seen him at all for the past couple days, which was somewhat true.

Katara's wound had healed due to the fact of her finding out that her water bending could heal. She learned of it when she was taking a bath. She was water bending and had put it on her cut thinking it would make it feel better. She didn't think it would heal it though. The pain is gone but there's still a scar. She also healed the burn mark on her throat.

Hito still came in with her food and they would occasionally talk. He was happy to hear that she had found a way to heal the wound and didn't say, but was relieved he didn't have to see the mark on her throat anymore. In a way he felt as if it had been his fault. If he had let Katara stay in his room for a bit longer, her and Zuko might not have fought and she wouldn't have gotten hurt again.

Katara was still a prisoner though, and she hadn't been out of the room since she had got there. There wasn't much to do and boredom kicked in most of the time. Hito did bring books for her to read and only some looked worth reading. There was one book that she decided to read however, because it was like a book that was read to her when she was a little girl. But except for the books and the chats her and Hito have, there wasn't much to do.

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The moon and the stars had been up for quite awhile already. The sky itself was pitch black, except for the twinkling of the thousands of stars in the air above. It would seem as every soul was sound asleep on the Earth below. But instead many were not, and one in particular was waiting, with only the flickering of the candle light to keep her company.

Katara decided that she would wait up for Zuko. It started feeling weird that the only time they were in the same room was when they were sleeping.

She was sitting down on the couch, watching the flame from the candle wink in and out of existence. She had decided earlier that she would sleep on the couch from now on since her injury was healed. Zuko was probably getting sick and tired of coming back to his room after a hard day wanting to rest, only to find her sleeping in it. Katara sighed. The couch defiantly wasn't comfortable. It was small, had no pillows and was too firm to be slept on. She was almost tempted when she looked at the large, silk-sheeted bed.

Katara didn't know what time it was, except that it was late and she'd been sitting there for awhile, when the door at the front of the room slowly creaked open. She turned her head to find Zuko trying to quietly sneak in. His head was down and hadn't seen Katara yet as he turned to close the door. When he turned back around and looked up he froze.

"Katara?"

"um... yea, it's me."

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting here," she began, starting to feel embarrassed, "waiting for you."

"You waited up for me?" he stared at her, then turned and walked over to his large dresser to take off his shoulder armor, "why?"

"Haven't you noticed that we practically haven't seen or spoke to each other the past couple days?" she watched him put the armor in the dresser, turn, and start walking over to were to was sitting, "Its just a little... weird."

"So... you want to talk?" he sat down next to her, smirking.

"I don't know! I mean- oh, I don't know!" she said, smiling, "Its just weird."

"In what way?"

"In the way that were sleeping in the same bed and don't even-"

Without realizing it, Zuko leaned forward and started to kiss Katara. The past couple nights that he was coming back late, he would sometimes watch Katara as she slept. She looked peaceful and quite beautiful when she slept. And without knowing it, he began to like her. Katara was surprised but she didn't stop the kiss. She too had begun to unconsciously grow feelings for Zuko. They sat there, lips moving, as the candlelight danced and the waves crashed upon the ship. Zuko put his hand against her waist and moved closer to her.

They broke the kiss to breath. Katara and Zuko looked at each other for a moment but Katara started to blush bright red and looked away. She couldn't believe what just happened. The water-bender and the a fire prince just kissed.

"Thanks for waiting," Zuko whispered.

Katara looked back at him, "your welcome."

Zuko stood up, "Im going to go and wash up." He gave her a quick smile and quickly grabbed clothes from his dresser and headed towards the bathroom.

Katara watched him leave, and when he finally closed the door to the bathroom the thoughts all swarmed her at once.

"Oh my god," she whispered to herself. Did we really just kiss? Well, duh, of course we did, but oh my god. I can't believe he kissed me. It was nice though...

Zuko splashed his face with water and looked up to see reflection in the mirror. Should I have kissed her? Could she hate me now? She didn't stop the kiss though. He turned from the mirror and began to get ready for bed. She tasted sweet. He looked back at the mirror when he was done and stared at his scar. He felt the heat rise in himself. No-one could love me with this...

Maybe Zuko doesn't hate me as much as I thought he did. She laughedquietly. It was so late she felt in a daze, which she somewhat was when they had kissed. She yawned. She decided to still stick to moving to the couch. She waited for Zuko to come out and wondered how he was going react when she told him she would sleep on the couch for now on.

She heard the crashing of the water against the ship and was reminded of Aang and the others. She got up and walked over to the window and looked out. She watched the waves and the night sky and remembered how beautiful everything was. Even though her feelings were growing for the fire-bender just in the other room, she wished she was with her brother and her friends.

Zuko came out of the bathroom and saw Katara at the window looking out. He wished he knew what she was thinking. He walked over to the side of the bed and Katara still hadn't noticed he was out. He pulled the covers down, finally causing Katara to look over and notice Zuko. She gave one last glance to the sky above and walked back over to the couch and sat down.

"Aren't you going to bed?" Zuko asked, seeing her sit back down on the couch.

"um... I thought that I would sleep on the couch now."

Does she not want to be near me? "Why? What about your wound?"

My wound? Oh, I forgot to tell him. "My wound is healed," she saw the puzzled look on his face and continued, "I found out my water-bending can heal."

"Oh," he stared at her, a sudden realization that the burn mark on her throat was also gone- she must have healed that too, "that's good. It doesn't hurt anymore?"

"No, I do have a scar though."

It was silent for a few moments, but Zuko asked why she wanted to sleep on the couch now.

"I don't want to bother you anymore. I'm healed, I can sleep on the couch."

"Your not bothering me, were sleeping. And plus the couch, its to small, you won't be able to sleep on it."

Katara looked at the couch once again, stiffiling a yawn. It was to small. Her height did not agree with the dwarf couch. "Its... fine."

"Seriously, Katara, your sleeping in the bed. It's big enough and you haven't been bothering me."

Katara heard the sternness in his voice and was to tired to actually argue about it. Plus, she was secretly happy she was able to continue sleeping in the bed.

She nodded her head and began to walk over to her side of the bed. Before she climbed in she said thanks to Zuko. She climbed in and felt the cool sheets against her body and the need for sleep. And for a brief moment she remembered her an Zuko kissing and wondered if Zuko was thinking about the same thing.

Zuko blew out the candle and the room went dark.

"Good Night Zuko."

"Good Night Katara," he whispered back.

And sleep over toke them. Dreaming of each other.

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Sorry so much. I don't have an excuse, I just procrastinated. Thats one of my faults. haha. But I must thank ML7, you defiantly got my butt up to write this thing by the message you sent. Thank you so much! Well here is chapter 9. Hope you like.