"I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night.

Rough on the surface, but you cut through like a knife.

And if it was an open-shut case,

I never would have known from the look on your face.

Lost in your current like a priceless wine."

("Willow," Taylor Swift)

Katara looked over her shoulder as she slid her robe down her back. Ever the gentleman, Zuko had turned around and looked down at his feet, making Katara smirk.

Playing the blushing innocent made Zuko look ridiculous. If he did peek, he would only be looking at what he'd gazed upon many times before. Katara knew very well that the sly boy owned the painting Master Piando had done of her in a similar state of undress. When she discovered the painting among Zuko's things, he made the excuse that he wanted to spare her the indignity of being lustfully ogled by strange men.

Very well. Zuko was the only man she wanted to ogle her lustfully.

Katara's robe landed around her feet. She picked it up and shook off the gritty black sand that gave Cinder Beach its name. "How far out do I need to swim?"

"Halfway between here and Ember Island," Zuko replied.

With a hand shading her eyes, Katara gauged the distance. The shores of Ember Island were visible across the Hi'ra Straights. She should be able to swim to the middle of the Straights in the time it took her to count to three hundred.

"It'll be a breeze," Katara said. The swim was going to be the easy part.

Underneath the choppy, emerald-green waters of the Hi'ra Straights was said to be the lair of the Dragon Emperor. Zuko had told Katara the stories as they sat around the campfire at night. The Dragon Emperor terrorized a kingdom here on the shores of Hi'ra for seven years and demanded one of the king's daughters as an annual sacrifice. Agni, the god of fire, fell in love with the king's youngest daughter and slew the Dragon Emperor to win her hand in marriage. He spread the Dragon Emperor's spine across the length of the main island, where it became the main road between Caldera and Hi'ra, and took his pearl eyes as a trophy.

"And what did he do with them?" Katara had asked Zuko. They were sitting under the stars and enjoying a well-earned pipe of tobacco while Zuko used the constellations to illustrate his story. He'd pointed out the Dragon, the Chained Maiden, and the Hero with the Sword. He called the pair of large, bright stars next to the Dragon the Dragon's eyes.

"Agni and the King's Youngest Daughter married and had children," Zuko said. He took a puff from his pipe. "The Dragon Emperor's pearl eyes were passed to their descendants, and they ended up as part of the Fire Lord's regalia."

"Then how come I've never seen them?" Katara asked him a few days later when they'd stopped to rest by a stream and refill their water bottles. During her time at court, she'd seen Zuko's father, Fire Lord Ozai, in his full regalia on several occasions. She would have remembered seeing him wear two massive pearls that were once a dragon's eyes.

Zuko capped his water bottle. "That's where you come in, Waterbender," he said. He reminded her of a mural in the palace that depicted a sea battle from seven hundred years ago. In the background, lost amidst the chaos of the battle, was a woman standing on the deck of a sinking ship, holding her sleeping child.

"Like that song," Katara said. "…The Lament of Lady Saori." She'd learned that song during her music lessons at the palace. Lady Saori was an ancient royal consort who allowed herself and her son to go down with their sinking ship rather than be captured by her defeated husband's enemies.

Zuko extended a hand to help Katara off the ground. "Lady Saori's ship carried the Fire Lord's regalia, including the Dragon Emperor's eyes. It sank in the Hi'ra Straights."

"We would be warm below the storm

In our little hide-a-way beneath the waves

Resting our head on the sea bed

In an Octopus's garden near a cave."

("Octopus's Garden," The Beatles)

Katara took a deep breath, puffing her cheeks with air, before diving beneath the waves. Underwater, she probably looked like a pufferfish.

It was dark and murky at the bottom of the Hi'ra Straights. Crabs with long, spindly legs scuttled across the sea floor, kicking up sediment that made it difficult for Katara to see. Not that she had the foggiest idea what she was looking for. The fishermen from the nearby villages dove for sunken treasure to make extra money when times were tough. If two pearls, both the size of a man's fist, were down there, someone would have found them centuries ago.

But for Zuko, she was willing to try. If she was successful, would he crown her Fire Lady in gratitude… the idea was crazy. She must be light-headed from lack of oxygen, so she returned to the surface for air.