We are the long forgotten sons

And daughters that

Don't belong to anyone.

-Rise Against, 'Long Forgotten Sons'

Katara scrambled to collect her clothes, dreading what was going on outside her tent. Sokka…she hadn't seen him since Aang died. She thought he was dead. Not the best time to prove he wasn't, but Sokka never had good timing. Sokka…just his name made her giddy with happiness. He and Suki lived! Her fingers trembled as she buttoned her boots, rushing in her excitement.

She pushed aside the flaps of Zuko's tent and exited to a crowd. Her eyes darted about, seeing Romjak, Akiak, Bao, and Chi Lin standing together beside the fire, their faces in shadow. A dozen other faces stood apart, new to her. She glanced at them suspiciously. Even after seven years, the threat of Ozai finding her loomed high in her mind. She doubted anyone who had come with Sokka was a spy, but the threat was ever-present. The village pressed in, enclosing the fire and the newcomers in a semi-circle.

Sokka stood toe-to-toe with Zuko in the middle, a few feet from where she stood. His hair was longer; his face gaunter and tipped with a small beard, a serious look tinged his once goofy face. But he was still Sokka, still her brother, though he reminded her more of their father now. Suki stood to the side behind him, posture tense. Her hair was longer also, blowing in the slight night breeze. She had a scar across her neck, as if she had worn a collar that had dug into her skin. Katara looked closer at Sokka and the newcomers and saw the same scar around their necks. She turned her gaze back to the two men bristling at each other, hands straying towards swords they didn't have. Zuko stood shirtless, pale skin shining against his dark hair in the firelight.

"You really need to shave." Sokka jeered, narrowing his eyes at the other man.

Zuko scowled and stared him down. "You need a haircut."

"That's what I've been saying!" Sokka exclaimed. He leaned forward to whisper: "Suki won't let me."

Zuko snorted. Postures relaxed on all sides, the small exchange easing tensions. From between the villagers, a sleepy Kaya walked forward to wrap herself around Zuko's leg. He looked down to glimpse her face, large golden eyes glinting up at him. He stretched a hand down to stroke her hair and she leaned her face against his leg, inspecting this stranger who had her mother's face. She frowned.

In the silence broken only by sparks and pops from the fire, Katara walked forward to join Zuko, lifting Kaya into her arms. Sokka watched with sharp blue eyes, looking between the three of them. Suddenly his jaw dropped and he pointed a finger between them.

"You-You!" He lunged forward menacingly. Zuko instinctively thrust Katara and Kaya behind him a pace, stepping half in front of them. "Did you knock my sister up with your evil Fire Nation seed?"

Zuko's chin came up and his eyes narrowed. Katara's mouth gaped open in a surprised 'o', dumbfounded. The village murmured. To their sides, Romjak sighed deeply. It had been his suspicion as well. It would explain Chizu's reaction, not to mention Kaya's. Blood called to blood. He wished Chizu had told him.

"Don't call my father evil!" Kaya's tiny voice was hard, and she was glaring at Sokka. "He's not. He's nice and amazing and a better sword fighter than you'll ever be."

"You've never seen me fight!" Sokka exclaimed, glaring back at the six year old. He shook his head. "That doesn't matter. Answer the question!" he jabbed his finger at Zuko.

"Sokka," Suki stepped forward, laying her hand on his arm but he shook her off.

"Answer me!" He whirled on Katara. "Is she your daughter?"

"Yes." Katara answered, hitching Kaya up higher on her hip. She looked at her, seeing the annoyance in her daughter's eyes. She did look sort of like Zuko, more than she looked like Ozai anyway. "Tell your Uncle your name."

"I'm an Uncle." Sokka smiled for a moment before his face hardened again.

"I'm Kaya." The girl said, eyes glistening gold in her dusky face. "And I don't like you."

"Kaya!" Katara admonished. Kaya squirmed from her grasp and ducked into Zuko's tent. Katara shot Sokka a rebuking glance, chastising him silently, and ducked in after her.

Zuko watched them go, wishing he could go with them. He turned with a rumble of annoyance back to Sokka. The water tribe man was glaring at him. The girl beside him, Suki, she wasn't familiar to him. Her grey eyes looked him up and down, but she didn't smile or grimace. Her face was perfectly controlled and unreadable, as opposed to Sokka's.

"Now she has to hide? I've only just found her." He scowled at Zuko. "Are you the girl's father or not? It's an easy question."

The village held its breath. Zuko looked at Romjak who was staring at him, and he knew that the village headman also wondered the answer to Sokka's question.

"So what if I am?" He bit out. "Is that such a bad thing? As least I love her." He turned back to Sokka, uncrossing his arms. Before the other man could answer, Zuko said quietly: "No. I don't know who is."

"I'm not sure if that's better." Romjak muttered from beside the fire. The two men and Suki turned to look at him. The headman walked to join their small standoff, clapping a restraining hand on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko stiffened but didn't shrug him off. "This is a family matter, not one for the entire village's ears." He addressed Sokka: "You will not attack Lee while enjoying my hospitality, tribesman. We have quarters set aside for newcomers. You may lead your people this way." To Zuko, he said: "It's late. See you in the morning."

Zuko gave him a nod without taking his eyes from Sokka. The darker man raised an eyebrow at Zuko's choice of cover name and opened his mouth for what Zuko expected was a biting comment when Suki reached up and covered his mouth. "See you in the morning." She said, giving Zuko and Romjak an apologetic smile. Romjak nodded and allowed Suki to drag Sokka away, although he glared at Zuko over his shoulder.

"My brother-in-law was a pain in the ass as well." Romjak grumbled to Zuko.

He watched Sokka and Suki until they were out of sight, disappeared into a set of unused tents. "Did he grow out of it?"

"No." Romjak turned to go. "Brothers are always protective of sisters. Sometimes too much."

Zuko stood outside his tent until the rest of the village had followed Romjak's example and gone to bed. When only several of his students remained, posting themselves on sentry duty despite his glares, he walked into his tent.

Katara looked up at his entrance. He looked tired and annoyed. The buzz from the firewhiskey had worn off long ago and its absence probably wasn't helping. Kaya had already fallen asleep beside her after being reprimanded for rudeness. The girl had shrugged it off, saying no one should be rude to her father in the first place. Katara hadn't tried to start explaining to her about Zuko, instead laying her daughter down on the bedroll and brushing her hair from her face until she fell asleep. She had heard her brother confront Zuko again and had heard Zuko say he loved her. She was sure it had been in the heat of the moment, but when he sank down beside her, gathering her close to him and kissing her on the forehead, she wasn't sure. She also wasn't sure she didn't love him back. She kissed him back, still reveling in the newness of his skin on hers.

He collapsed beside her with a groan. "As great as it is to know your brother's alive…"

"Sokka can be difficult." She whispered next to him. "He'll get better."

"I hope so." Zuko murmured, laying his arm across his eyes. "I'd hate to have to duel him in order to sleep with you."

She giggled. "You'd win anyway. Sokka can't bend."

"Not the point." He peeked a glare out at her from under his arm.

"I know." She said, laying down next to him and wrapping her arm around his chest, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. He turned on his side to twine their ankles together, holding her against him with his chin on her head. "Did you mean what you said to him?"

"Hmmm?"

She kneed him in the stomach, making him wince. "Yes." She tilted her head up to kiss his neck and he groaned softly. "Don't do that."

"Why?" She did it again and he nudged back.

"Because your daughter's here."

"Oh." She chuckled and buried her head against his chest before rolling over so her back lay against his front. She pulled the sleeping Kaya into a similar embrace, yanking the bedroll up to cover the three of them.

Zuko laid his arm over her, tugging her and Kaya closer. As he drifted off to the melody of their steady breathing, he knew he hadn't meant what he said to Sokka. What he felt for her, for Katara, wasn't love. It was a connection on a more base level, a connection of their spirits. It went beyond what he knew to be love. He knew he loved his Uncle. He had loved Azula, before she tried to kill him the first time. He was Katara, and she was him. Twisted together at the soul. And no brother could change that.

***Line break***Line break***Line break***

Zuko cracked an eye open to see that the sun had risen without him. Again. With a frustrated growl, he extricated himself from the sleeping Katara, striding outside. The camp was beginning to stir; those who were responsible for breakfast were already cooking. He could hear the snores coming from his Uncle's tent. Iroh must have drunken too much the night before. His own head felt fine.

"I'm sorry I said you snore." A small voice peeped up from in front of him. Kaya was looking at the ground as she sat on one of the logs surrounding the fire pit, the embers still smoking slightly from the day before. "It really is your Uncle."

"He's worse than an armadillo bear." Zuko growled. At Kaya's blank look he sighed. "They live in the Fire Nation and are really noisy." He sat down next to her, prodding the coals with a stick.

"Oh." Kaya looked down at her hands.

"Is something wrong?" Zuko asked her, wincing at a particularly pugnacious snore from his Uncle.

"I feel bad about what I said to that man last night." She looked up at him sorrowfully, but her eyes were dry. "I'm scared he's going to take mom away."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because." Kaya said, staring into the embers. "Akiak told me that she's not from here. That she's from the North like all water people, where it's always cold and people live in the snow. He's from there, and he says that she has to go back to where she belongs someday." She gave a small sigh. "But I don't want her to go. I don't want to leave here. I like it here." She smiled at him. "And you're not a water person, so you couldn't come and I don't want to leave you either."

Zuko gave her a half smile and put his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into his side. "You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to. Same with your mother." He knew that the Water Tribes' homes didn't exist anymore, but it wasn't something he wanted to explain to a child. The Northern tribe had taken longer to defeat than the Southern, but it was still desolated and abandoned. There would have to be a lot of work done before anyone could live there again. "But we will have to leave here soon anyway, and I promise that wherever your mother and you go, I'll go."

"Really?" Kaya asked, her voice hopeful.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Zuko looked around, seeing no one close enough to overhear them. "Kaya, we need to talk about what happened in the woods."

"Why?" Kaya said, avoiding his eyes.

"Because you're the Avatar."

"I know." Kaya sighed, thumping her head into his ribs and making him wince. "Aang told me that."

"Aang did?" Zuko asked, surprised. He knew the Avatar had a connection to their past lives, but he didn't know those lives could communicate with the current Avatar incarnation.

"Yep." Kaya replied, tracing her finger over the bark of the log. "The first time I bended anything, I accidentally set some stuff on fire. Aang told me how to put it out." She crumbled a leaf between her fingers. "He told me that I was born a firebender, but that I was also the Avatar, and able to bend everything. He told me that he would help me, because of my mom, and because there aren't any more airbenders."

"Because of your mom?"

"Mhm." Kaya nodded. "My mom thinks that the Avatar is gone, because of what happened to Aang from Azula." She scrunched her nose at the name and Zuko snorted. "Aang said that he and my mom were really good friends. I…" she hesitated. "I don't think she wants there to be an Avatar."

Zuko frowned. "Why do you think that?"

"Because she still wants the Avatar to be Aang and for him to have not died." Kaya explained. "If I tell her I'm the Avatar, she'll get mad at me. And everyone's looking for me, but I don't even know how to do anything really. I'm best at fire though."

"Can you show me?" Zuko asked, placing a small pile of twigs and leaves in front of her.

Kaya took a deep breath and glared fiercely at the pile. At Zuko's cocked eyebrow she said: "It helps sometimes to be mad at it." She inhaled and exhaled slowly, then jabbed her small fist at her target. A small messy fire ball erupted from her clenched fingers, spurting licks of flame everywhere, incinerating the pile. Zuko smiled; a natural. Azula had started almost this way as well: raw talent with no control. Kaya already had more control than Azula did at her age, but she was still rough.

"I can teach you firebending." Zuko told her in a low voice. He summoned his own inner fire, wrapping it near to his arm in a spiral, culminating with a torch over his index finger. "Moswren can teach you earthbending if you want. He's very good at not telling."

Kaya's grin split her face. "I want to be better, so when the bad guys come again, I can do something about it."

"No." Zuko's tone was harsh. "You need to stay away from any fighting. A battlefield isn't a place for a child." He thought for a moment. "Would it be okay if we told my Uncle about you? He's very wise."

"The armadillo bear?" Kaya chuckled.

"When he was younger, he was called the Dragon of the West." Zuko said. "He's been around the entire world and knows a lot about the different nations. He's even been to the Spirit World."

Kaya's eyes widened. "Really?"

"It was a long time ago." A deeper voice answered. "And it proved a fruitless journey."

Zuko and Kaya both turned as Iroh came up behind them. "What was it you both wanted to tell me?" His voice was serious as he sat on the log opposite them, his hands enclosed in the wide sleeves of his robe.

Kaya and Zuko looked at each other. Zuko nodded in Iroh's direction, encouraging her. She took a deep breath and looked Iroh in the eye. "I'm the Avatar." Her small voice left no room for doubt.

Iroh regarded her carefully, looking her up and down. He extended his hands to her, and she placed her dainty ones in his large, warm, callused palms. Iroh closed his eyes and she mirrored him. After a moment, Iroh jerked back as if he had been shocked. Kaya clutched her hands back in alarm, but Iroh was laughing. "So you are." He shook his head. "So young." He looked to Zuko. "How long have you known, nephew?"

"Since the attack." Zuko answered. "She doesn't want her mother to know."

"No." Iroh sighed. "I suppose she would not. Her mother still grieves over Avatar Aang. I agree that she is not yet ready to meet his successor." He turned to Kaya. "What do you know already, child?"

"My name's not child, it's Kaya." She said it without disrespect in her tone. Zuko thought she sounded more thoughtful than offended. "I know how to make a fireball and a long flame, and how to make a little breeze, and how to make the water shiver, and how to raise a pebble onto my foot. Avatar Aang said he'll help me with airbending, and I know that when I die, I'll be reborn into the Earth Kingdom, because the Avatar gets reincarnated. "

"Those are all good places to start. I suppose Zuko has offered to teach you firebending already." Iroh smiled at Zuko's confirming nod. "The hardest part will be finding a waterbending master. Your mother is the only one I know. I can assist you with mediation, and spiritual advice." His face lit up. "Tell me, Kaya, have you had tea before?"

Zuko slipped away as the teapot came out.

***Line break***Line break***Line break***

Zuko returned to his tent to find Katara just waking. She rolled onto her back at his entrance and groaned, her hands going to her head.

"I hate firewhiskey." She moaned, resting her elbow across her eyes.

"Could have fooled me." Zuko murmured. "The way you were drinking it last night."

She raised her elbow to glare at him. "I hate you."

"No you don't." He flopped down beside her.

"Mhm." She moaned.

"Oh really?" He pushed her arm away and tilted her head up, placing soft kisses across her neck.

"Yup." She said, breathing a little faster. "Hate hate hate."

"Mhm…" his hand traced up her hip to grip her side, digging his fingers in below her ribs as he nipped and sucked at the soft spot below her ear and was rewarded by her low growl. He smirked against her skin. "Still hate me?"

"Yes." She gasped.

"Hmm." He pushed aside her already loose robes and ran his hand against the skin of her stomach, letting it wander upwards. He felt her muscles tense and her breath roughen. He rolled to lie on top of her, supported on his elbows. He pulled apart the opening of her tunic, revealing her breasts. He ran his finger along her breast bone, deliberately avoiding the sensitive tips of her. She glared at his toothy smile.

"I really hate you."

"No you don't." He dipped his head to take a dark nipple into his mouth. She moaned beneath him as his tongue laved her, bucking her hips to crash against his. He sucked her into him, bringing his hand up to mirror the attentions to her other nipple, his length pressing against her through their pants. She writhed at his touch, craning her neck up to leave biting kisses on his neck. He growled at her, capturing her mouth with his. His tongue battled hers, plundering her mouth. She clasped his face in her hands, pulling him closer. He pushed the sleeves down her arms, removing her tunic and shrugged out of his own. She lowered her hands to his chest to run her nails against his skin, making him hiss. Her hands went lower, stroking the engorged length of his cock with their soft tips. He moaned into her hair, the feeling of her hands around him exciting him even more.

With a feral growl, Zuko reared up to remove her pants, sliding them past her ankles. His fingers dug into her hips as she freed him from his own trousers.

"I want to try something." He panted and she gave him a sideways look. "Trust me." She nodded. Still gripping her hips, Zuko turned onto his back, dragging her with him. He settled her astride him, his cock pressing against her backside. She looked unsure, until he lifted her to slide her down slowly onto him. He watched her confused look turn to one of passion as she felt him fill her, her own arousal making it easy. Zuko shifted his hips and she moaned, enjoying the feel of him inside her. Zuko bucked his hips gently, urging her to move. She slowly lifted herself from him, reveling at the sensation of his length withdrawing from her tight insides. Zuko groaned, his hands moving from her hips to flick against her nipples and she crashed back down with a gasp. He lifted her slightly so she hovered over him so he could thrust into her.

Katara moaned, rocking herself against him to begin a rhythm of thrust and withdraw, thrust and withdraw. He could feel her walls tightening around him, growing slicker. He put his hands on her back, bending her forward so her face lay against his shoulder and he began to thrust into her hard and fast. Katara moaned loudly at his hammering thrusts, sinking her teeth into his shoulder to muffle herself as she came, her arousal dripping around his cock to run down her legs. The sight of her glistening thighs and panting mouth sent him over the edge and he lifted her from him to finish on his own heaving stomach. They stayed for a moment, panting, looking into each other's eyes.

Zuko closed his first, wiping sweat from his brow.

Katara laughed softly. "Wear you out?"

"Mhm." He murmured, flipping over to squish her under him. She squeaked, pushing at his shoulders as he laughed, trying not to flatten her with his weight. He carefully supported himself on his elbows and knees as he dappled kisses on her squirming face and neck.

"I still hate you." She giggled under him, returning his kisses.

"Well, I'll just have to keep trying to change your mind later." He rose above her, tugging on a new pair of pants and his boots. She lay contentedly on his bedroll, her eyes closed and face peaceful except for her smirk. He gazed down at her as he fastened the ties of his tunic. She still lay naked from the waist up, his bedroll covering the rest of her. He felt a surge of masculine pride at the sight of her in his tent, in his bedroll, reclining after his attentions. He liked the sight and the feeling that she belonged with him, wherever he was.

"You're okay here?" He asked, kneeling beside her.

"Mhm." She murmured, opening her eyes slightly. Her lips were swollen from his kisses as she smiled. "I'll get up soon."

"Okay." He kissed her again, long and slow. She groaned into the kiss, clutching after him as he left.

***Line break***Line break***Line break***

"Where is she?"

The demand was shouted at him as he sat at the breakfast table with Romjak, Moswren, Kamol, Chi Lin, and several of his students. He blew steam from his nose as he stood, pushing his plate of eggs and boar-q-pine bacon to face Katara's brother.

The tribesman was advancing angrily, though Zuko took the fact that he was unarmed as a good sign. Romjak stood as well, laying his hand on his belt near to where his axe hung. Chi Lin and the rest continued eating, though Zuko saw the knife master keeping careful watch.

"In the tent." Zuko replied to Sokka's loud question. "She's still waking up."

Sokka glared at him. "I don't know how you managed to trick my sister into sleeping with you, but I can see right through you." He jabbed a finger at Zuko's chest. "Are you here for your father?"

"No." Zuko batted Sokka's hand away, aware that the table had fallen quiet to listen. "I haven't tricked your sister into doing anything."

"Then why does her daughter think you're her father when you say you're not?" Sokka demanded, his voice at a more reasonable level.

"Because our eyes are the same color."

"That guy's eyes are the same color too." Sokka said, pointing a finger at Chi Lin. The knife master wiped his mouth with a cloth and gazed serenely at the noisy newcomer. "Why didn't she latch onto him?"

"You'd have to ask her." Zuko said. "I need to get going." His students rose at his words, dispersing to gather their practice weapons. "I'm glad you're not dead." He turned to go, leaving Sokka frowning after him.

"Wait." He turned back. Sokka approached him, his posture much less hostile. He was surprised when the other man bowed low at the waist. "I apologize for my behavior. I was imprisoned by the Fire Nation for six years. We only managed to escape a few months ago." He straightened to look Zuko in the eye, his face guilty. "I've gotten used to thinking of all firebenders as enemies. I forgot that not all of you are evil." He offered his hand to Zuko, who, after a moment, clasped it. His face darkened to the scowl Zuko recognized from their encounters years ago. "But that doesn't mean I approve of you being with my sister."

"I'm not asking for your approval." Zuko replied, gripping Sokka's arm tighter. "Maybe you should talk to her next time before attacking me at breakfast."

"I think I'll do that." Sokka released Zuko, his frown softening. Zuko nodded and strode off, his assembled students sending annoyed glances back at Sokka as they followed him.

"He is an interesting man." Chi Lin's rasping, lightly accented voice spoke near Sokka's shoulder. The tribesman turned to look at him. The knife master was looking after Zuko, eyes contemplative. "He is a good teacher. And will be a great leader. If you hurt him," He began to walk off, not bothering to glance back. "I'll slit your throat."

***Line break***Line break***Line break***

A.N. Awww, Zuko's making friends!