Little bit of back ground info:

-Aang was born about 6 years sooner in this universe, so he was 18 when the monks told him he was the Avatar. After they tell him that he would have to give up his attachment to Gyatsu, he ran away, and we all know the story after that.

Ages for all characters are:

18 - Aang and Suki

17 - Sokka and Zuko

15 - Katara and Toph (just so she isn't so many years younger then everyone else)

In the last chapter...

Katara and Zuko had a moment before Sokka and Suki's wedding.

Chapter Six

The wedding was beautiful, and afterwards Katara couldn't help but feel utterly alone. Toph would be heading out first thing in the morning to go back to Gaoling to see her parents, her brother and his new wife had already left for the South Pole, and the following afternoon Zuko would be heading for the Fire Nation to begin piecing his court back together.

Katara didn't know what to do. She'd thought about going home, but after much thought felt like the South Pole wasn't where she belonged. She'd spent so much of her life in that frozen tundra, and it would always be her home, her heritage, her motherland, but she knew it wasn't where she belonged. There was no way she could go back and be content to live the life she would have lived had it not been for the war. She had already seen too much of the world, felt too much freedom, to allow herself to be anchored down by her people's beliefs.

If she were to return, she would be expected to give up her freedom in exchange for marriage. As much as she wanted to get married and have a family, she didn't want to settle for what she would be offered there. She would never be content to stay at the home, do the cleaning and laundry and cook while her husband was out hunting and fighting and providing. She was far too independent to be suitable for any Watertribe man, and Katara knew that as soon as she set foot back in her village, her father, as the leader of their tribe, would be forced to arrange a marriage between her and one of the eligible young men who had come to their village after the war from their northern sister tribe. So the Watertribes were out.

She'd already seen so much of the Earth Kingdom over the last year, she felt like she'd spent just as much time there as she had back in her village.

That left the Fire Nation. Now that the war was over, Katara felt maybe she could enjoy the scenery, the culture, and the knowledge the Fire Nation had to offer her. During their short time in the Fire Nation, Katara had seen many things she'd never known about before her travels, and if not for the fact that they had been on a tight schedule, she'd have stopped and investigated some of it. Now that there was peace, Katara felt a bit more at ease with the idea of traveling around the nation everyone knew so much, yet so little about.

Deciding finally that she was going to travel the Fire Nation for a while, Katara set off to find Zuko, who was most likely still mingling in the grand hall with the other party guests who had attended her brother's wedding. Maybe he'd let her leave with him the following day when he left for Capital Island on his steam ship.

Just as she was about to pass by the enterance to the gardens near the grand hall, Katara heard a familiar voice.

Zuko was standing near the fountain, obviously arguing with Mai, who he'd been dating again over the last few weeks spent there at the Earth King's palace.

"... even act like you like me, Zuko!"

"Of course I like you, Mai, you're my girlfriend, remember?"

"Then why was it you wouldn't have sex with me last night, of last week, or the week before? Why is it that you don't want to hang out with me, would rather spar with the water wench then sit on the balcony with me and have a meal? Why is it every time I bring up what we're going to do when we go home, you avoid the subject?"

Zuko threw his hands up in the air.

"I respect you enough to want to wait to sleep with you, and you think it's a bad thing? Water is the opposite of Fire, training with a Water bender is good for strengthening my weaknesses. I don't want to talk about going home yet, because I want to enjoy this small vacation while I can, since I'm Fire Lord and all, it could be a while before I get another one. What's wrong with any of that? Why is it all we do is fight, Mai? Why can't we have even ONE civil conversation, just once?"

"Maybe it's because I don't want to date you anymore, Zuko."

Said Fire bender looked at the weapons expert as if she'd grown another head.

"Mai-"

"No, Zuko, listen to me. This is never going to work, we both know it, you're just too busy trying to keep your vow that you won't say it. So here it is, Zuko- I release you. You are no longer bound by that promise, and you don't have to break it. You don't have to leave me, because I'm leaving you. I'm getting on an air ship in the morning and going to stay with my aunt. Mura won't mind me helping her out at her flower shop for a little while. She'd a widow and her only son died in the war. She'd enjoy the company."

Mai reached the doorway opposing the one Katara herself was near and stopped, never turning to face Zuko.

"I hope you find happiness in your future, Zuko. You deserve it after everything you've done for your people, and for the world."

Zuko sat on the edge of the fountain after the woman left, his head cradled in his hands as he tried to comprehend what had happened.

"Zuko?" Katara asked as she sat down next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, "are you alright?"

"Mai's right," he murmured, "it never would have worked. But all my life, I've been surrounded by girls, by the girls at court, by Ty Lee and Mai, by all the girls I met traveling around the world, and yet... Mai's the only one I ever pictured as the Fire Lady. She's the only one who ever made sense to me. And now, everything I had planned, everything I ever imagined, it's gone, it's all changed, and I don't know how to make it all look right again. How can I push forward, when I don't know what I'm pushing for?"

"You're not just talking about your personal life, are you? You're talking about the entire nation."

"How am I suppose to expect my nation to stand by me when I can't even get a woman to? A woman who's always been there, no less. I'm so pathetic!"

"No, you're now, Zuko!" Katara exclaimed, turning the young man by his shoulders to face her, "You're a strong man, Zuko, who helped the Avatar bring an end to the war. So was if some emotionless blob doesn't want to stick around a make Fire Babies with you, someone else will, and she'll love you and do everything in her power to help you lead the nation you love more then your own life."

After a long moment, Zuko looked up at her with a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, Katara. I know I can always count on you when I need someone to talk to."

She smiled back, glad to have helped, and said so.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, "I thought you'd gone back to your room?"

"I did, but then I needed to ask you something."

"Sure, anything."

"I was wondering, would it be alright if I went back to the Fire Nation with you? I don't want to go home quite yet, and thought traveling around the Fire Nation for a little while and learning about the nation you're to rule would be fun."

Zuko smiled, "that's a great idea! Of course you can come to the capital with me. In fact, if you want to stick around for a while, I'll be traveling the Fire Nation in a few weeks, myself. Too much of our culture has been forgotten, and I want our people to see that their Fire Lord is really interested in their lives, that he wants to better the world for them."

"Oh, Zuko, thank you! That sounds like a wonderful idea! I'd love to join you."

"Alright then, it's a date!" he joked, "You'd better get some rest. Don't forget we have an audience with the king tomorrow."

"Right. Well, I'll see you at breakfast, bright and early!"

Katara smiled to herself as she walked back to her room, hoping that with that problem solved, soon things would settle into a routine and she could work on getting over Aang.

As always, reviews are appreciated. Sorry for taking so long to update the last chapter, everyone!