Two days later, Katara's leg was feeling better, and in the morning, they were going to set off and begin the trek away from the Fire Nation and towards the gAang.

As she lay there and looked up at the stars, she thought about how Zuko had taken such good care of her but never made her feel weak. She realized for the first time in a long time she felt equal with someone. She wasn't the mother type or the little sister. At the moment, she was just Katara, and that felt good.

Even with her hurt leg, she prevented Zuko from adding poisonous mushrooms to the stew the previous night. She also cleaned their drinking water and helped around the camp. Even while she was hurt, they were a team. It was really nice.

In the darkest part of her heart, she admitted to herself that she wasn't in a rush to meet up with the group. It was exhausting to be the one with effervescent optimism constantly and to be the mother to everyone.

She turned her head towards Zuko. He was sleeping, and he looked so much younger when the weight of his supposed failure to his father wasn't weighing him down. She was happy about who he was becoming, though, and he seemed to be too.

She then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

It was mid-afternoon the next day when she stopped suddenly, "Dammit, Zuko! Ask me how I'm doing, dammit!"

He paused and looked back at her. "How are you, Katara?"

"I've got this," she replied, shifting her eyes to her feet.

He smiled at her and set down his pack. "Of course you do. I'm exhausted, though. Can we stop for the day?"

Her eyes drifted up to him, and she gave him a small smile. "Since you need the rest, I'd be happy to take a break."

Zuko laughed and set off to gather firewood. As he did, he said, "Why don't you set up camp? I'll be back."

When he was out of sight, she laid out the bed rolls and sat on hers. She then shifted and lay down. It felt really good to relax. She was asleep three minutes later.

A few days later, it started pouring rain. Katara bent the rain away from them long enough for them to find an empty cave that was safe and dry. Zuko had been gathering sticks as soon as the rain began.

He dropped the sticks in a pile and went back out to gather some firewood. "Why don't I do that?" Katara asked. "I can bend the rain away."

"You're recovering, and it's chilly out. Bend the water out of the sticks and our things. I'll start the fire when I get back, and then you can bend me and the firewood dry." He then turned and walked off.

She watched his retreating form and then set to work. He was right, and it bothered her. But why? Then she realized what was wrong. She wasn't running things. Generally, with the group, she was in charge of setting up camp. She smiled and set to work.

She had everything dry and set out by the time he got back. He was soaked and looked like a drowned hamster-rat. She chuckled and bent the water off him and out of his clothes. As she turned to take care of the firewood, he lit the fire. Once the fire got going, he added some of the bigger pieces of wood.

"When this runs out, there is more not far from here. I also saw a stream. It had fish in it, so we can have some fresh fish when the rain stops."

She held up an oilcloth-wrapped packet and said, "In the meantime, we have more dried meat." She then held another one and added, "And some nuts."

He sat down on his bed roll and stared at the fire. "This will add more time. It's going to be muddy and slippery heading down into the valley."

"Hey, I'm not chained up in a Fire Nation dungeon with an infected stab wound. This is like paradise for me." They both laughed.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"My people did that to you… I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes, "Apologize when you screw up. This wasn't your fault. They may be Fire Nation, but that doesn't mean that you're responsible. If I blame anyone, it's Ozai, not you. Even then, he didn't order them to stab me."

"How did you get stabbed?"

She shrugged and smirked at him. "I have no idea. I was just chained there, being my perfectly charming self. I kindly pointed out that the guy wasn't that bright, and he took exception to what I said."

He burst out laughing, "Now I really want to know exactly what you said."

"Well, it was something to the effect that because he left to join the war, his village is missing its idiot. Then he stabbed me." She shrugged, feigning innocence. "I got stabbed, but it was kinda funny watching him figure out I was picking on him."

He stared at her across the fire. He got why Aang pursued her so hard. She was amazing —and really, he'd do anything to get her to return his feelings for a long while now. She wasn't the only one who thought this time was like paradise. He was always the happiest whenever he spent time with her.