I would just like to say that I am sorry for the time between this chapter and the last. I was married and had a beautiful baby girl between now and my last update. A few days ago I Finally inspired to begin writing again. It's been so long that I'm sad to admit I had to read my own story again. That truly did depress me. I felt like I was reading someone else's story. Reading it again had led to be discovering mistake after mistake, which I hope I've fixed. There are a few slight changes, so I encourage you to read this story again.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

That night, Sokka and I fell asleep curled up in my small bed with our hands clasped. I had missed him so much without even knowing it. He was everything a brother should be. Kind, funny, protective. He was amazing and I was going to miss him so much when this was over. Just the comfort he had given me by sharing my bed was enough for me to wake up determined to succeed. I would not only complete this mission, but I would do it to the best of my ability.

With a grunt, I pulled free of the blankets that had ensnared us both, and then made my way to the cooking fire. I needed to be thrown head first into some kind of a schedule. I needed things to be back to normal if I wanted to feel normal.

I rounded the corner and saw an old man at the fire. Iroh. It had to be. His back was towards me and I couldn't make out any details other than gray hair and tattered clothing. Prison clothes. We had succeeded. Iroh was here, safe. My knees felt week and before I could stop myself, I was behind Iroh, wrapping my arms around him in a crushing hug.

He jumped slightly and turned to wrap me in an awkward side hug. Iroh was warm and soft. He smelled of tea and a fire pit after the fire had been extinguished. Like ash.

"You must be Miss Katara. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

I murmured in agreement and finally released him. I swiped the heel of my hand across my eyes and almost laughed at their dampness. "I'm just so happy you're here."

He smiled, his eyes golden and warm, not very unlike Zuko's. "I'm happy to be here too."

I let out a wet chuckle. "Can I help you with breakfast? I would love to get to know you."

"Of course Miss. Katara." his smile widened. "I wouldn't dream of keeping you away. I feel as if I am intruding already."

"Thank you, I just need to…" I gestured around the room, unable to finish without sounding ridiculous.

Iroh reached next to the fire and produced a cup of tea. "I was about to bring this to my nephew, but it looks like you could use it."

I smiled and accepted the tea. "I do. This smells lovely."

Iroh was quiet for a few minutes. "I hear much of our success was thanks to you."

I let out a bark of laughter. "I wouldn't say that. I just helped as best as I could."

"I was told you singlehandedly held off Mai and Ty Lee so that Aang and Sokka could rescue me."

"I had help, I almost died."

He looked saddened. "Yes you did, but the gods above saw fit that you should return to us."

I frowned at his reference to the gods. "Has anyone told you?"

"Told me what?" His smile was both innocent and knowing at the same time.

"That I'm not from around here?"

He laughed happily. "That is certainly one way to put it. Yes, I helped the boys with your aftercare. Sokka can be quite the chattering monkey when he's tired. He told my all about you and you're strange circumstances."

"Strange…" I repeated. "That is very true."

"The spirits can be confusing sometimes, but their will is always what is best for us."

"Can I ask your advice?"

"Of course, one of the many things being so old has blessed me with, is lots of experience."

"I spoke to the spirits while I was…unconscious. They told me that I was failing my mission, but I have no clue what my mission really is. They had told me to teach Aang, but he already is a better waterbender than me. I'm supposed to learn from everyone, to love them. It's just all so confusing."

Iroh stroked his beard. "I might be able to offer you some insight, but whether it is what the spirits think you should do, that is another question. There are many things a woman like yourself can teach a boy like Aang. Did they ever specifically say that it was to be waterbending you teach him?"

I thought back to everything they had told me. "I don't think they ever said it was waterbending."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Like I said, there are many things you can teach him. You can teach him about family, about love, and about loss. You can teach him to be kind, and thoughtful. To be brave and fierce. I can't tell you what to teach him, but I'm sure you'll figure it out soon."

Shuffling feet and a loud yawn drew my attention to a doorway. Aang produced a ten watt smile and ran for me, his arms outstretched. I braced myself for the impact and felt his arms wrap around me, his head resting on my chest. "I'm so glad you're back!" He yelled.

"Glad to be back." I patted his back awkwardly and glanced at Iroh.

He smiled, but made no move to help me. I pushed back at Aang and forced a smile onto my face. "I'm glad to see everyone is alright."

His smile got wider. "I knew you'd be ok! Sokka and Zuko were worried sick. They hardly left your bedside, but I told them."

"You weren't worried at all?" I asked, slightly disappointed for some reason.

"No! Why would I be? The spirits wouldn't just take you away from me."

I froze. "They wouldn't?"

"Yeah." A blush formed onto his face. "You're here for a reason after all. A very special mission."

A sudden realization hit me with the force of a bullet. He thought I was here for him. Not just to help him, but to be with him. My heart sped up wildly in my chest. Love. Iroh mentioned love as one of the things I could teach him. Was that it? Was I supposed to fall in love with him? Oh gods, I was beginning to hyperventilate. This couldn't be it. If this was it, I was going to fail. They could just send my back now and not let me remember a thing of this place.

"I don't…um…" I couldn't even talk. "I do have a special mission." I eventually squeaked out.

"Yeah." He sat down next to me and smiled as Iroh chopped up some fruit, no longer waiting for me to help.

With a jolt of surprise, Aang's hand snaked over to cover my own. I felt nauseous. This wasn't right. This felt nothing like it should. This was not butterflies in my stomach and laughter in my heart. This couldn't be it.

I didn't want this!

Iroh picked up a tray with tea and motioned for me to join him. "If you could accompany an old man to see his nephew, I would very much appreciate it."

I jumped at the offered bone and snatched my hand out of Aang's. "I'd gladly escort you."

Iroh steered me out of the room and down the hall, leaving Aang looking crestfallen behind us. "I'll see you later then!" I called out awkwardly behind me.

As soon as we were down the hall I crouched down and put my head between my knees.

"You should consider letting him down easily."

I stared at my feet and choked out a sob of pain. "I know. I should. But what if this is it?"

"Do you think it is?" he asked mildly.

"Gods, I hope not. I was never really the self-sacrificing type."

"I'm not sure that's true."

"Not when it comes to love."

"Love is a strange thing, you could grow to love him."

"Possibly."

"Hess a good boy. Young and hopeful."

"He is."

He hummed in agreement and then stopped. "Zuko! It's so good to see you up and about!"

I glanced up, and sure enough, Zuko was making his way down the hall towards us.

My throat clenched and I swallowed thickly. My mind was racing. I was supposed to be mad at him. I was supposed to hate him. He used me to cheat on his girlfriend. But that all felt like so long ago. What I had just been through put things into perspective. I was here on a mission, and I couldn't let past grievances stop me from it. My time here was limited, no matter how much I wanted to stay, and there was no chance in hell I'd spend it mad at someone. I had to learn from everyone, him included.

I missed him so much it hurt.

My teeth chewed my bottom lip and I paused, unsure of what to do. He took a small, hesitant step towards me, worry written all over his face, and that was all I needed before I jumped up and took off running. I crashed into his chest and let out a breath of air I hadn't known I was holding. His arms snaked around me and his forehead dropped onto my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled into his shirt. "I'm so glad you're safe, I didn't mean to-"

"No!" He cut me off, holding me at arm's length. "I am the one who needs to be apologizing, for many things."

I laughed. "You and me, we'll talk tonight. When everyone goes to sleep, we'll meet at the campfire and get some things off of our chests. Ok?"

He pulled me back into a hug and I let my eyes drift shut in contentment. "Yes." He breathed, his breath ruffling my hair.

I pulled away slowly, regretfully, conscious that Iroh was studiously avoiding watching us. "We brought you tea."

He seemed to notice Iroh for the first time (if the deep blush that extended down his neck was any indicator).

"Yes we did. Let us go back to your room Zuko, We should chat."

Zuko nodded and took off towards his room.

"It seems like you already have your answer Miss. Katara."

Now it was my turn to blush furiously as I watched Zuko limp to his room.

Wait…he was limping.

I nearly shrieked in surprise as I suddenly felt like the biggest idiot in the world. Flashbacks from the fight ran through my head. I quickly caught up to Zuko and snaked my hand into the crook of his elbow and started pulling him down the hall back to his room. "I'm going to set you right. I can't believe Sokka didn't tell me. He's getting an earful later."

Back in his room, I was able to get a whole catalogue of his injuries from Iroh. Sprained ribs, bruised hip and legs, a deep cut on his cheek, and one nasty shoulder injury.

"Disrobe please." I said quietly, my face red, but Zuko didn't say one word of complaint as he shrugged awkwardly out of his shirt and pants, trying not to aggravate his injuries further. This was a purely clinical healing session, I told myself. Conscious of Iroh's presence, I got on with my task, first starting with his legs and working my way us. By the time I was done with his ribs, I couldn't hold back my questions any longer. "What happened after I went under?"

He flinched. "Well, I was able to defeat Ty Lee, but by that time you weren't breathing. I tried CPR, but…" He paused. "Iroh came in and used his lightening to restart your heart."

I turned to smile at Iroh as I got started on Zuko's shoulder. "Thank you both."

"There would be no way to avoid scarring, but it should be minimal." I ghosted my fingers along the more healed regions. "Here and maybe here. Other than that I should be able to take care of it all." The glowing blue water cast shadows on Zuko's face and I was saddened to add another scar to his beautiful porcelain skin.

"I cauterized the wound on the way back to the temple. It was bleeding and didn't show signs of stopping." Iroh leaned in to examine the glowing healing waters. "I must say this is fascinating. I've never seen this before."

I pulled the water away to examine my handiwork. Gone were the oozing scabs, and in its place was a patch of slightly pink, but otherwise healthy looking skin. Only one strip of scar tissue remained, a bit of wound that had been too far healed to do anything about. I placed my hand back on his shoulder and smoothed my fingers over his fresh skin, electing a shiver from Zuko. "All done. It looks great, better than I thought."

Zuko's hand fell on top of mine and his gaze pinned me down. "Thank you."

A small cough brought me back to the present and I jolted away from Zuko. "You're welcome. I'm just going to go now." Without looking back, I hurried out of the room. My face felt hot and I had to run my cold fingers over my forehead in order to cool down. I needed some air. Bad.

The lake was beautiful. Blue, clear, calm. A smile found its way to my lips. This was what I needed. I had missed this so much. Without taking more than a few seconds, I disrobed completely and waded knee deep into the water. I felt lighter than I had all week, in all my life really. All of the stress, the emotional agony of being torn back and forth between two worlds washed away with the slow moving current. With a dive, I was under water, swimming further and further into the deep lake. My hand trailed the rocky earth as I rocketed past, fish darting out of my way. I braced myself and pushed up from the bottom, pushing myself upward, towards the crystal surface. I propelled into the air and let out a laugh as the sun reflected gold onto the spray. I raised my hands, letting the water trail from my fingers in ribbons as I began my decent back into the water with a loud and ungraceful cannon ball.

Gods above, I had missed this. I had felt empty, not knowing what I was missing. It had been this. Them. And now I was back.

The water engulfed me, letting my back into its loving embrace. I did a slow, leisurely sim to the surface.

The water streamed down my body as I pushed and pulled the water, going through forms. This feeling of bending, of letting the water flow around you, and in your control, was positively euphoric. When I went through every form I remembered, I let myself relax. I laid back and just floated on the surface of the water with my eyes closed and my arms spread wide, my hands flat on the surface. Time passed, I knew it felt like minutes, I knew it could have been hours since I surrendered myself to my element.

I needed to get back, I had to say hi to Toph. Guilt rang though me like a bell. I had just blown past her last night without a second thought.

When I had finally got dressed and trudged my was up to camp, it was already lunch time. My stomach wasted no time in reminding me I had skipped breakfast. Luckily Iroh, the most amazing man in the world, already had lunch waiting for me.

Toph was at the fountain, a bowl of soup in her hand and a smirk on her face. "Welcome back to the land of the living Katara."

I smiled and crushed her into a hug. "I'm glad to see you too."

"Yeah, yeah…" She pushed me away from her. "I'm just glad I don't have to feel him pacing late at night anymore."

I glanced over at Sokka, who looked almost like a new man. The bags under his eyes were almost completely gone, and it looked like he took time and care in getting dressed this morning.

"I'd like to call a meeting of team Avatar!" Sokka yelled around his mouthful of soup.

I smirked at Toph and walked over, situating myself right next to Sokka and linking my arm through his.

"First order of business," he began when everyone had made themselves comfortable. "I would like welcome back Katara, by beautiful and amazing sister."

I blushed as a course of 'here! Here!' rang through the courtyard, Aang's chant being the loudest.

"Second order of business, I want to pass a motion to induct Iroh into the group."

I snorted in laughter while the rest of the group gave him a funny look. "This isn't a club Sokka."

He pouted. "Fine, third order of business. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Why? We like it here. We have our own rooms and Appa had plenty of room. It's not every day we stop at a place that has a bison stable." Momo chirped his agreement from atop Aang's shoulder.

"Azula knows we're here, she knew the whole time. It's probably only a matter of days before she's here and ready for a fight with a whole army. We're lucky she hasn't come already, if she had…" he let his sentence trail off.

I shuddered. "Sokka's right. We need to leave."

Aang pouted. "But where?"

"I might have a suggestion." Iroh spoke up, his voice commanding everyone's attention. "My brother has many properties, most of which are abandoned. One such house is on Ember Island."

"The beach house…" Zuko muttered.

"The beach house?" Sokka perked up. "As in beach with sand, and water, and babes? I'm all for the beach house!"

I laughed. "That does sound quite nice."

Aang's voice was quiet. "How long has it been uninhabited?"

"Since my mom left" Zuko answered sadly. "I was eight years old. It only gets cleaned once a year, but we shouldn't have to worry about that."

"We only have a week and a half left until the comet comes, we need to be able to settle down and plan." Sokka was all seriousness. "We should take today to pack up and get ready. We need to leave as soon as possible. For all we know, Azula could already be on her way. We're lucky she isn't here now."

Toph was surprisingly enthusiastic. "I'm all for this beach house, sounds great."

Iroh cut in. "We would be hiding in plain sight."

"Let's take a vote." Aang started. "All in favor of going to Ember Island, say Appa!"

We all replied with a loud chorus of Appa.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

After we were packed, and everyone had gone to sleep, I made my way to our extinguished campfire using the moon as my guide. As I neared the courtyard, I saw the flickering light of a newly lit fire.

The firelight had shadows dancing along the wall. Our shadows moving sporadically with the wind as I say next to him. It was distracting and I was grateful for it, I had no clue where to begin. There wasn't much for me to say, I needed to hear Zuko out. He said he needed to explain, but as I glanced at his face and saw the distant look in his eyes, I could tell that he wasn't ready to begin.

We say in silence for a few minutes, before he finally let out a sigh. "I was 8 when we met, Azula had just gotten back from her first year at the Academy. She had made only two friends. Whether that was from her horrible personality, or that was simply the number of henchman she had picked, I couldn't say. Mai and Ty Lee. Mai had always been a downer. Ty Lee had always been too nice to be friends with a girl like Azula. She had actually been my first crush, a bright ray of sunshine in a world dark with responsibilities and a father that didn't give a damn about you. She never reciprocated though. Mai did.

Azula had been a prodigy, father had always liked her more. With competition like Azula, I didn't stand a chance. When Mai started to outwardly show interest in me, I ate it up like a starved dog. But before anything happened between us, I was given this scar and banished."

I shifted my gaze from his eyes to the valleys of scarred flesh. Perhaps I was so used to it by now I hardly noticed it.

"She had been built up in my mind as the only girl who would ever have me. No girl had ever paid attention to me. The scar was all they saw. It was a mark, a mark for damaged goods. I got pity, and that was it. That little spark I had originally felt for her, grew until I had convinced myself that she was the girl for me. When I was on that boat with Azula, Mai was there too. She showered me with attention, she told me how much she had loved me. Loved me! So much that I felt I would finally be happy. She was so pretty, and she obviously liked me since we were kids. Something that pure had to be worthwhile, right? I asked her to be my girlfriend on the second day. The day after that, I was already feeling smothered. She was everywhere, always around every corner. I felt like I was drowning. She was determined to make me happy, it was borderline obsessive. She was always talking about our future, about me being Fire Lord and her being the Fire Lady.

I think her crush started out innocent enough, but by the time we met again after my banishment, she had warped it into a disgusting drive to become the Fire Lady. She had wanted me so long, I was left to wonder when it became the crown she wanted instead.

So when I finally left that boat, there was no doubt in my mind that I never wanted to see her again. I was too much of a coward to break up with her, to even leave her a note. I just left, and that was wrong. No matter how I felt about her aspirations, I shouldn't have treated her so cruelly. She was still a person, and I didn't have the honor to be honest to her."

I reached over and placed my hand on his shoulder, my heart clenching at this display of self-pity. He smiled softly at me and covered my hand with his own.

"And then I met you. Man, you were so aggravating, and strong, and kind. You could make me laugh one second, and then want to wring your neck in the next. I forgot all about her and her stupid confessions of love. She didn't love me, she never did. She was obsessed. After going through all of that, and then meeting someone who so obviously disliked me, I just sort of…" he trailed off with a sigh. "I should have never kissed you without being honest. I'm sorry for that. I had honestly forgotten all about her."

He was silent again, and I didn't know if he was even going to continue again, but to my surprise, he did.

"I like you Katara."

My eyes widened in shock. That was definitely not on the list of things I thought I'd hear tonight. I pulled my hand gently from off his shoulder and folded my arms across my raised knees. "Wow."

"I'm sorry for being so blunt Katara, but I want to be honest with you."

"Yes…I appreciate it." I chewed on my bottom lip. "I'm sorry if I'm reacting strangely, I'm just shocked."

"I understand. Would you like it if I left you alone?"

I paused, thinking. "No, you can stay. I have a few things to say too."

He looked worried. "Ok."

"I haven't told anyone this yet, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything."

"Certainly."

"While my body was here, unconscious, my mind was back at my home. The world where I was born. It was like no time had passed at all. I didn't remember a thing about you or anyone else. I had a few off flashbacks, but nothing concrete that would reveal you guys. I was finally home and it felt horrible. I hated every minute of it. While I was here, it was easy to forget what life was like back home."

Zuko's eyes were on me, a frown creasing his forehead.

"I had made myself believe that I didn't belong here, that I belonged in that other world with its modern conveniences. I lied to myself. I was always a stranger there. I thought I had a friend or two, but they were nothing to the kind of friendship and unconditional love I felt from everyone here. Then the spirits came to me again. They told me I was failing, that I wasn't doing enough, or I was doing something wrong- I'm not sure. Yue said I was going back to my own world after everything. She said I have to. I won't be able to remember you, anyone…not even my bending."

Tears began to form in my eyes and I tried to blink them away, but they grew until they spilled over. I heard Zuko shift and then I was tucked into his side. "I don't want to go home."

"No one wants you to go home." His voice was a low rumble as he rubbed my arm up and down in a soothing rhythm.

"Don't you see?" I whispered as I leaned my head onto his shoulder.

"See what?"

"I like you too." It came out as a laugh, distorted by my throat which was already choked with tears.

Zuko stopped rubbing my arm.

I shifted until I was tucked further into his embrace. "I can't, in good conscious, let anything happen between us. I couldn't do that to you. I would be gone, having no memory of you, but you would still be here. You would remember everything. I would have done too much to help in this world for them to snatch me out of your memories like that. At least I hope."

"Katara…" his voice was almost a whisper, I had to strain to hear it. "I don't care…I need to…No matter how much time you have left here, nothing would be worse than not having tried at all."

I looked up at him and pressed up, my lips ghosting against his. "Are you sure?"

His eyes closed. "Yes."

Our lips met is a burning kiss. A bolt of lightning went through my body. He was warm, almost too warm as out lips danced in the firelight. I nipped at his bottom lip, impatient and already lightheaded. His arm curled around my waist and pulled me between his legs. He nipped back and suddenly our tongues met. My knees dug into the hard ground as I pushed my chest into his. I felt like I was on fire in the best possible way. Every part of my body was tingling and I never wanted it to stop.

Somewhere in the southern air temple, Iroh and Toph smiled at each other knowingly.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

I'd hate to do this, but if anyone is still out there, could you drop me a review? I just want to know I'm being heard out there.

I plan to have about 4 more chapters.