When Zuko went into his daily meeting he had no idea what was on the agenda. As the Firelord it was not always his duty to run the meetings, often times he just needed to be there to give approval and to propose courses of action. At least, that was the case once things finally settled down after the war. By the time he turned 19 everything seemed to be calm and people were starting to accept his reign as the norm and not reject it in favor of his father's.

Of course no meeting was perfect, and this one was far from it.

Katara was waiting for him by the turtleduck pond after the meeting, feeding the turtleducks as they always did. She smiled and watched as they raced after the crumbs. For a moment Zuko stood and watched her in awe at the simplicity of the moment. He closed his eyes and used this image as his grounding point - something to think about when times got hard.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to join me?" Katara asked without looking over her shoulder. He chuckled and sat down next to her avoiding sitting too close to her. It was inappropriate to have contact with a woman that was not your wife. Even in courtship it should be limited.

"Is everything alright?" she asked after a few long minutes of silence.

"The council has arranged for my marriage. As Firelord I do get final say in the matter, but they have selected a young woman from the Earth Kingdom that will help unite our nations and show how we truly are in an age of peace and understanding. They chose someone with Firebender heritage, to make sure any heirs we have will also be benders."

Zuko refused to look at her, he refused to look at the shame and anger on her face.

"Zuko, we stopped Azula together, I'm pretty sure that a few council members will be no problem. You just need to state your case."

So he did state his case and they heavily cautioned against him marrying a water tribe peasant. They would not listen to the fact that she was recently crowned the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, they kept pointing out that she was a waterbender and a commoner.

He went back to Katara utterly defeated. He lay down on the sofa she was sitting out and rested his head in her lap. She set her book down and smiled at him.

"They said no, didn't they?"

"In the end I do get to make the decision, but yes, they said no."

"Zuko, no one in the world can keep us apart. They can try but I will always find my way back to you." Katara leaned down and kissed him and then went back to reading.

The next week his potential suitor showed up at the palace. He was expected to meet her for tea and then to walk through the city with her - to show the Fire Nation that not all hope was lost for a future heir. Instead they had tea, he was civil and then they parted ways.

The young woman, Lin, was a very pleasant woman. They had a nice conversation about her town and her people as well as how different it was from the Fire Nation. She said that she was tired and would like to rest rather than go out, he agreed and then went to find Katara.

She was in a private courtyard practicing her bending. He made sure to make it clear he was there, wanting to avoid any ice daggers being thrown his way. She stopped and turned to look at him, concern etched into her face.

"She was tired and wanted to rest.I couldn't figure out how to tell her about you, I will tomorrow."

But tomorrow never came, and Zuko kept putting off telling Lin about Katara. After two weeks of Zuko spending most of his free time with Lin he went to see Katara, hoping to take a late night walk around the grounds. He found her room empty and a note on the desk.

"Zuko,

I'm going back to the South Pole to help my father rebuild. I also hear he is about to be married, and I wouldn't want to miss that. Best of luck to you and Lin.

All my love,

Katara"

After that Zuko kept seeing Lin, but he realized that something was missing. Every time she laughed at one of his jokes he longed to hear Katara laugh. When she would try and show any physical affection he pulled away, and he was quickly finding ways to avoid her. Finally he sought her out, hoping to spare both of them any further pain and humiliation.

"Lin, I'm afraid I have not been honest to you. I asked the council not to bring you here, I didn't want to see you because I'm already…" the words died in his throat and suddenly he couldn't look at her.

"You're already engaged?"

He shook his head and sat down across from her. "She left, because she thought I stopped loving her. I don't know why I didn't tell you this the first time we met. I was trying to spare your feelings."

Lin was quiet for a few moments and then with calm and poise she insisted that Zuko immediately go after Katara and make this right.

When his ship docked at the South Pole there was only one person standing and waiting to greet him. The village had changed and now resembled more of an icy metropolis. Zuko walked to Katara, his crew hung behind on the ship for his privacy.

"I'm sorry, I was an idiot, I love you Katara."

She flung her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her. She buried her face in the shoulder of his parka and he could feel her crying. After another minute she looked up at him and smiled.

"Zuko, I knew you would come. And you're just in time for the wedding. Fair warning Sokka will probably try and attack you. He doesn't like it when someone makes his little sister sulky, and Suki may not stop him."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and they headed into the town. He could worry about the council and what they would say after the wedding.

A/N: I'm not gonna lie...I contemplated having Katara already be married when he showed up, but my love for this ship is just too strong.