OMG...A WHOLE MONTH...AND MORE just for this. Anyway sorry for the wait. This is my third installment of House of Cards. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks to the lovely betas: Yurtletheturtle, Hollywoodland and Limhere!

Dictionary:

Dim sum: Chinese cuisine consisting of dishes served from morning till noon at restaurants. Dishes include Shaomai (shrimp wonton things), Har gau (shrimp dumplings), Cha Siu Bao (BBQ pork bun), spring rolls...

"Throw your keys in the bowl,
kiss your husband goodnight."
- Radiohead

Chapter 3

Ember Island

“Where the hell were you?” Mai demanded. Zuko and Katara emerged from outside the palace gate and greeted the gang. Everyone seemed packed and ready to go.

“Sorry, we just went to the—”

“Save it, Aang already explained.” Mai brushed past Zuko and waved for the servants to bring the palanquin. Zuko grimaced and kicked a pebble at his foot, turning away from his fiancé bitterly.

“Wait, what about Appa?” Aang exclaimed.

“It’s okay Aang, we can take Appa aboard the ship. Ember Island isn’t too far.” Katara said, putting an arm around the airbender.

Aang smiled. “Okay then.”

On the ship, tensions between Zuko and Mai didn’t soften. Mai stayed on one side of the ship with Ty Lee, while the rest of the gang moved around the deck. Katara watched Zuko lean on the railing, staring emptily into the water. Looking at him, she felt guilt rising in her chest, and she couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for Mai’s anger.

Katara walked toward the brooding Fire Lord and leaned on the railing beside him. “Hey.” She said, pushing her hair behind her ear.

Zuko didn’t respond, and kept his eyes on the water.

“You okay?” Katara asked, speaking up again.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” The Fire Lord finally said, heaving a sigh.

“Is Mai…”

“It’s not a big deal. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Katara turned away. “Oh.”

They were silent for a bit.

“So…I was wondering…who’s going to take care of the country while we’re gone?” Katara asked, suddenly curious and desperate to change the subject.

Zuko rubbed his eyes with two fingers and hazily turned to Katara. “Well, I have a team of advisors who take care of my paperwork while Mai and I take vacations. The head of my advising team is the general, Houyi. The rest of the team is comprised of two captains, three nobles, and my personal messenger, Guo Yin. Guo Yin was one of the men who greeted you all at the gate, and he’s also the man who’s in charge of sending me important news while I’m gone.”

Katara smiled. “Let me guess, by messenger hawk?”

“Yep. It’s the most convenient way to send messages that’s for sure.” Zuko replied, finally smiling...even if it was only a half-smile.

“You know Zuko…you should smile more often. It suits you.” Katara said suddenly.

Zuko looked at her curiously.

Katara reddened. “Well you know because everyone should be hap…”

“Katara!”

The waterbender swung her head back and saw that Aang was calling for her. She looked at Zuko, turned around and walked toward Aang, wondering why what she had said became so awkward when it sounded so nicely put in her head.

“Zuko! What did you do to the place?” Sokka cried, running around the beach-side house. He tore upstairs, and then sprinted back downstairs. “It looks completely different!”

Katara stared at her brother queerly and waited for Zuko to respond. The Fire Lord shrugged.

“We just did some renovating.” Zuko explained, walking into the living room.

“How often do you spend time here Zuko?” Katara asked, walking through the rooms. All the rooms were different now and the renovations appeared to have been mostly redecorating the rooms. Six years ago, the house was completely empty aside from a few family items. Now, it was bursting with colour and life.

The Fire Lord shrugged again. “Mai and I spent a few summers here.”

Katara nodded and admired the new red wallpapering. Did they tear down a wall?

Strolling through the house, Katara noticed that the beams had been painted bronze and the walls were either covered in wallpaper or had been varnished again. There were many beautiful paintings on the wall, ones that didn’t seem stolen either. In fact, the only thing she could tell about the paintings was that they were painted in the Fire Nation.

“Zuko, did the royal painters paint these?” Katara asked. She pointed at a painting of a great firebird hovering above a pond with a tiny silver-blue bird.

“Actually, I painted them.”

Katara’s face blanched. “You?”

“Please don’t sound so surprised.” Zuko replied, narrowing his eyes.

“The paintings are amazing…I didn’t know you were so good at painting.”

“I’m all right.” Zuko said again, turning around. He tilted his head back a bit and his eyes met hers. “But…thanks.”

Katara smiled tightly. “You’re welcome.”

“Katara!” A voice called from the back. Following the voice, Katara walked into the kitchen to find her brother wailing. He seemed hungry and Suki seemed annoyed.

“Can we have dinner now?” Sokka asked, pawing through the cupboards.

Suki pursed her lips. “Aren’t there any servants here to attend to the whims of the Fire Lord? Poor Katara shouldn’t have to cook for all of us.”

Zuko appeared beside Katara. “When we spend time here, me and Mai are always alone. There aren’t any servants here regrettably.”

Katara smiled. “It’s fine Suki, it’ll be just like old times. Are there any vegetables?”

Nodding, Zuko walked toward a screen door and pulled it open. “There’s a small garden at the back of the house now. The caretakers occasionally drop by and water the plants and make sure everything’s still living. But since they know we’re here, it’s all up to us now.”

Once Katara had gathered all the vegetables she needed to begin cooking, she noticed that she didn’t have a way to light the furnace. She opened the screen door and peered out to see if Aang was anywhere. “Aang!” No one answered. She walked into the common area but found that it was deserted. “Aang where are you?” She turned to the stairs and wondered if that was where everyone was. As she walked up the steps, she ran into Mai, Ty Lee and Suki in their beach clothes.

“Have you seen Aang?” Katara asked.

“He’s on the beach with Sokka. Did you need him?” Suki replied.

Katara shook her head and headed for the stairs, exhaustedly trudging down them and back into the kitchen. She then began searching for matches in the bottom drawers.

“What are you looking for?” A voice asked.

Katara didn’t bother looking up. “Well I was looking for Aang, but I can’t find him so now I’m looking for matches.”

“I can light the furnace.” The voice replied.

Katara sprung up and saw that Zuko had walked into the kitchen. He was wearing his beach clothes. “Oh, hey. Thank you…sorry that I…”

“It’s okay, you forgot.” Zuko slyly smiled and moved toward her. “Um, aren’t you a little hot in that?” Zuko asked, pointing at Katara’s clothes.

Katara looked down at her attire and noticed that she was still wearing her short-sleeved Water Tribe clothing. She had decided to wear a toga and long pants in the morning because it was chilly. But now the material was considerably too thick to be worn on a beach and she had forgotten to change after they had arrived on the island. She looked up at Zuko and blushed.

The Fire Lord cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Well I didn’t mean in it the-”

“I didn’t take it-”

“Because you know it’s fine if you want to-”

“No I should’ve changed. Because it really is…quite…um…hot.”

Zuko breathed deeply. “Right.” He walked over to the fireplace and snapped his fingers. Instantly, flames engulfed the wood and the fire burned brightly. He uncomfortably turned to Katara and nodded. Katara cleared her throat and kept her eyes on the fire.

“Thank you, Zuko.” She carefully kept her eyes away from his.

“My pleasure.” And with that, the Fire Lord walked off into the common room.

Katara heaved a sigh and stuck a large ladle into the pot. She began to stir the soup but couldn’t concentrate on what she was doing over what had just happened. But instead of lingering on it, she walked upstairs to her room to get changed. Her beach ensemble consisted of a red silk halter-top and a matching skirt that went up to her knees. She didn’t bother trying to style her hair so she tied it back in a practical yet pretty ponytail. Finally satisfied (and cooler) with her look, she walked back downstairs to serve the meal.

At the dinner table, Katara carefully poured an even amount of soup in each bowl, and then placed the bowl in front of someone.

“I really like your outfit Katara. It reminds me of the last time we were on Ember Island.” Suki remarked, sipping her tea.

Katara nodded. “Thank you. I forgot to change earlier.” She kept her gaze away from Zuko but continued to pour another bowl for him. She slowly placed it in front of him but was careful not to look at him.

“That was a really fun summer, you know aside from being super stressed out about defeating the Fire Lord. Hey Zuko remember when we hid out here and watched the play together?” The Water Tribe warrior inquired, spooning soup into his mouth.

Zuko nodded. “Regrettably.”

Mai raised a brow. “You came to Ember Island and watched a play?”

“Yeah,” Aang replied, “we came here after fleeing from Azula. Zuko took us here and we sorta just hid out for a bit.”

Suki giggled. “Then Sokka forced us to see a play about us that was completely inaccurate.”

“First off, the special effects were amazing! And secondly, you wanted to see it too.”

“I wasn’t the one who wanted to see it the most though, Sokka.” Suki replied, slyly smiling at her husband. Sokka rolled his eyes.

Mai looked to her fiancé and then to Sokka. “So what made the play so inaccurate?” She said, wiping the corner of her mouth. Zuko kept his head down.

“Well first off, Aang was played by a woman, I wasn’t funny at all, our friend Toph was a man, Zuko died in the end and oh, Katara and Zuko were a coup-”

Zuko pushed away from the table, and threw down his napkin. “I’m going to bed.” He took his bowl and walked to the kitchen.

“Night…” Suki said.

Sokka shrugged. “What’s with him?”

Katara walked out onto the balcony and leaned her body against the railing. No one had mentioned the play in years, and it was weird to think about it again. Things had certainly changed in the six years that had gone by. Her mind wandered to Zuko and how he’d abruptly walked away from the table. That play was all about Zuko’s mistakes; he shouldn’t have had to hear about it again.

“This place brings back memories.” Katara turned and saw Aang walk over to her and rested his hands comfortably on the railing. A few years ago the railing was barely shorter than his chest, now the railing was below his stomach.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been here.” Katara replied, folding her arms.

“Yeah. A lot of things have changed. Things about the house…and just all of us.”

Katara nodded. “Six years can do that to you.”

“I can’t believe Sokka mentioned the play. It just brings back bad memories.”

Katara closed her eyes, and smiled. “It was beyond the worst. And it didn’t make things particularly easier for us.”

But Aang wasn’t looking at her; instead he kept his eyes on the rolling ocean waves. Watching as they rolled in and out, pulling and pushing on and off the sand. “Do you still remember what we talked about…that night?”

“What are you…” When she realized what he was talking about, she immediately went silent.

“That was…quite the time wasn’t it?” His words were strained and distant.

Katara tried to bite back the memory of her first rejection of him but forcefully acknowledged it anyway. “Yes, it was.”

“Did you ever imagine that we…that we would be together now?” Aang asked. His eyes were hopeful and she could sense his agitation and his anticipation for her answer.

“Well way back then no…but after the war, yes. It just wasn’t the right time Aang…”

The airbender nodded. “Yeah, I know.” Katara rested her hand on Aang’s cheek. He smiled and took her hand in his.

“I really can’t believe that I actually was threatened by Zuko of all people.”

The waterbender gently pulled her hand away and folded her arms. “You were silly and a kid. You thought of the most bizarre things.”

“You do spend a lot of time with him though.” Aang said suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“With Zuko…I just never thought you two were so close. I remember when you used to hate him.”

Katara looked down. “So do I.”

“Anyway, I’m going back inside. I feel sleepy, the boat ride really wore me out.” He yawned and stretched his arms out lazily. “You coming?”

“You go on without me. I’ll be there in a second.” Katara looked out to the ocean and felt the faint salty breeze glide against her skin. Then she caught the familiar smell of burning tobacco wafting in the air. She looked over to her right and noticed that Zuko was leaning on the wall outside, taking deep drags from his pipe.

“Zuko!” She called, waving.

Zuko looked up at her but immediately looked away. The waterbender lowered her arm and looked down. Slowly, she walked back inside her room.

When morning came, Katara lazily slid out of bed and rubbed her eyes wearily as she looked out the window. The sun was barely up but she never liked waking up too late in the day even if it was frightfully early.

As she walked down the stairs, she noticed that Zuko was already in the kitchen, sitting at the table and sipping tea from a large cup. He was reading from a large stack of papers piled in front of him and making notes on a separate piece of paper.

“Good Morning.” Katara said, walking closer to him.

The Fire Lord shook from surprise and looked up from the paper to see Katara standing in front of him.

“Morning.” He replied, looking back down.

“What are you reading?” She continued, sitting down in front of him.

“Papers, documents…permits. That kind of Fire Lordy stuff.”

“I thought you said you were going to let your team of advisors run the country.”

Zuko snorted. “Yeah but that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon all responsibility.”

Katara looked away and couldn’t help but feel hurt by the biting nature of his words.

“Sorry,” Zuko began, “I didn’t mean to sound so…”

“Cranky?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes. “Yes, cranky.”

“Are you okay?”

Zuko lifted his hand and put it to the side of his head, his fingers rubbing his temple vigorously. “No, I’m really not.”

“Do you mind…if I ask why?”

“I haven’t received any messages from Guo Yin and he promised he’d send me a report by morning. He’s always on time and it’s not like him to be like this.” Zuko tossed the paper aside and poured himself another cup of tea. “Do you want some?”

Katara shook her head. “I’m fine. But about Guo Yin…I’m sure he’ll get something to you soon. The sun rose a minute a go, you shouldn’t be worried yet. And besides, you just left yesterday. The city is fine.”

“I guess so…”

“Hey,” Katara began, “Are there any places in town that sell newspapers like the ones in Ba Sing Se? Or maybe a huge bulletin with news on it? Maybe you could get some information about the capitol there?”

“Well, I think there’s a place in town where they post all the day’s news. It’s in the town square.”

“Great, then we should go and see if any news has been posted yet.”

Zuko nodded in agreement. “But what about the others?”

“We’ll just leave a note.” Katara took the brush from Zuko’s hand and a blank piece of paper from Zuko’s pile. “Do you need this?” He shook his head. She then began to write on the piece of paper. “Going to Town Square to read today’s news, Zuko and Katara. Sound good?”

“Sounds great.”

The town square was barely awake when the two arrived. Apart from a few beggars and a sparse collection of shops, the liveliness of the city in the morning was drastically different from that of a small island.

“Wow, this place is…dead.” Katara remarked, walking a few steps ahead of Zuko.

“There,” Zuko pointed to a large board placed on the wall of an Inn. As the two walked toward the sign they noticed that the day’s news hadn’t been posted.

“Maybe we have to wait for a bit.” Katara said, moving closer to the billboard.

“No use in waiting girly, there’s no news today. Unless you want to know about Old Man Kwong’s new bakery, then there’s plenty of news.” Katara and Zuko turned around and saw an old man sitting on a box nearby.

“Are you the one responsible for posting news on the bulletin?” Zuko asked, slowly approaching the man.

“Yep. We usually get some headlines from the capitol during the night or early in the morning but the messenger hawk that usually brings us the news didn’t show up. You both may have to wait until noon.”

Katara turned to Zuko with worry. “Are you okay with waiting?”

Zuko inhaled deeply. “Well, I guess we don’t have a choice. I don’t even know if Guo Yin’s going to get any messages to me by today.”

“How about you two stop by at that new bakery? They make a mean cha siu bao and there’s free tea.” The old man said. “It’s just down the street and it should be open now too.”

“Thank you.” Zuko replied as he and Katara bowed in respect. “Shall we go?” He turned to Katara.

“Sure.”

When they arrived at the end of the street, they immediately noticed a large “Now Open” sign propped up against a shop.

“Well,” Zuko began, “I guess this is Kwong’s.”

As they entered the bakery, they noticed an elderly man standing behind the counter reading a book. When the door closed, the bell at the top of it rang.

The old man lifted his head and his face lit up brightly with joy. “Good morning! Please take a seat over there.” Katara and Zuko sat down by a table nearby the door.

“It’s strange to see such young people up so early. What would you like this morning?” Kwong said, handing both of them a menu. “Free tea?”

“Yes please.” Zuko said. Kwong turned around and headed for the kitchen.

“How about we get the dim sum platter? There’s shaomaai, shrimp dumplings, spring rolls and egg tarts.” Katara remarked, scanning the menu.

“Sounds like a good idea. The price is good too.” Zuko replied.

“You’re royalty, what do you have to worry about price wise? Don’t you just get everything for free?”

Zuko shook his head. “It’s not like how it was in the city. Unless you count the dumb play we went to some years back, most of the people here don’t recognize who I am. And I guess it’s better that way."

“Listen, I’m sorry about yesterday night. Sokka shouldn’t have talked about the play. I know it’s hard for you to think about all those mistakes…that the play conveniently highlighted.”

The Fire Lord shook his head. “I wasn’t bothered by that. I’ve accepted those mistakes…and knowing that my uncle loves me is enough.”

Katara smiled. “So what were you bothered by?”

Zuko’s face blanked.

“Zuko?”

“Um…”

“Here is your tea!” Kwong appeared beside the table and happily placed a large teapot next to them. He then put two small teacups on the table and poured a generous amount of tea into each cup. “Well, have you both decided on what you wanted to order?”

“Yes, the dim sum platter please.” Katara said, handing Kwong their menus.

“Lovely choice. You know it’s good seeing you young folk here so early in the morning, I rarely see anybody your age here before noon. The only people I ever get to serve in the morning are the fogies my age.” Kwong said, folding the menus under his arm.

“Well, we’re actually waiting for news from the capitol to be posted. We were hoping that it would be up earlier.” Zuko answered, sipping his tea.

“News huh? Strange, it’s usually up by now.”

Katara nodded. “The old man who posts news said the messenger hawk who delivers the news from the capitol didn’t show up in the morning.”

Kwong pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “My nephew is the one who sends news to the island. Haven’t seen him in years since I’ve lived here but I can tell you he isn’t one to be late.”

“Maybe the hawk lost its way.” Katara suggested.

Zuko shook his head. “I don’t think that’s likely.”

“Well,” Kwong began, moving toward the kitchen door, “I better tell my cook your order.” He then put the menu on the counter and walked through the swinging kitchen door.

“It seems strange that the island isn’t getting any news.” Katara said, picking up her cup. She held it in her hands to keep them warm before taking a sip.

The Fire Lord heaved a sigh. “The island does move kind of slowly, but maybe this is just an off day. Some days are bound to move slower than others.”

“Maybe.” Katara acknowledged. She picked up her chopsticks and began to play with them by making them walk on the table. When she noticed that Zuko was watching her, she stopped. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just kind of cute.”

“That?”

Zuko smirked. “That you play with your chopsticks.”

Katara put down her chopsticks and folded her arms on the table.

“Well don’t stop.” Zuko smiled, and took another sip of his tea.

When they walked back to the center of the town square, they noticed that the day’s news still hadn’t been posted but various posters for events had been pinned up.

The old man sitting on the box greeted the two again and shook his head sorrowfully. “Sorry but the news isn’t posted yet. I suggest you two go back home and come back later in the day. No use waiting for too long.”

Just as they turned to leave, a pink coloured parchment on the bulletin caught Katara’s eye. “Hey, there’s a costume ball coming up.” Katara exclaimed, pointing at a poster. On the poster was the picture of a lady in a blue mask dancing with a man dressed in red. Carefully, she examined the print at the bottom. “Costume ball tomorrow evening, costume is mandatory, a mask is optional. Best costume wins a prize! Zuko we should attend to this!”

Zuko raised a brow. “Why?”

“I don’t know…it’d just be fun. I mean what else can you do here but play on the beach? This will be great!” She replied, a little dampened by Zuko’s reaction.

“Where would we get the costumes?”

“There’s got to be some store in the city we can find costumes. And we don’t have to find them until tomorrow. It’s not like we have anything else to do.” Katara replied, hardly able to contain her excitement.

Zuko was silent for a while before he answered: “Fine.”

Katara squealed in delight and threw her arms around him. When she pulled away she noticed that Zuko was as red as a strawberry-plum. Her own face reddened with embarrassment. “Sorry. Anyway, we should go back to the house. Maybe Guo Yin’s message has arrived.”

Walking back into the house, Katara and Zuko found that everyone was in the kitchen eating dim sum.

“Hey Katara, Hey Zuko. Come in and dig in! Aang just flew back from town and bought us all breakfast!” Sokka exclaimed, stuffing a red bean bun into his mouth.

Mai shot a glare at Zuko. “You two seem to love morning journeys.”

Zuko nervously laughed. “We were just checking the news.”

“I know,” Mai replied, lifting up the note, “at least you left a note this time.”

“Has any word from Guo Yin come yet?”

“Yes, actually.” Mai answered. She got up and walked into the common room then came back with a rolled up piece of parchment.

Zuko thanked Mai and took the parchment from her hand.

“What does it say?” Mai asked. Katara eagerly rushed behind Zuko and looked over the paper’s contents.

“Everything seems to be fine.” Zuko replied, rolling the paper back up.

“See, I told you it’d be okay.” The waterbender said, putting her hands on her hips in triumph.

Zuko rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Hey, listen up everyone,” Katara cried. Everyone stopped what he or she was doing (or eating) and stared at Katara with curiosity. “There’s a costume ball happening tomorrow night! And, there’s a prize for the best costume!”

Sokka rubbed his chin. “What’s the prize?”

Katara shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be food or money for all we know.”

“Count me in.” Sokka replied, raising his hand.

“Count me in too, it sounds like fun.” Suki added, looking to her husband.

“I think it sounds like a great idea! And it’d really help clear up all the negative chi from yesterday.” Ty Lee said, squealing with joy. Mai sighed and nodded.

“How about you Aang, what do you think?” Katara asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“I think it sounds great. It’d be fun to do something other than beach parties.”

Zuko groaned.

Before going to sleep, Katara had grown used to drinking a glass of water and found that having a glass every night was very therapeutic. This night was no different from any other. As she walked into the hallway to head for the kitchen downstairs, she was distracted by the sound of people speaking.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.” A voice said.

When Katara came closer to the sound she noticed that she was standing outside Ty Lee’s room. Through the crack she could barely make out a figure but the voice sounded like Mai.

“It has.” The other voice answered.

“I really can’t believe you’re getting married.”

Someone sighed. “I can’t believe it either.”

“Hey Mai, do you remember when we were kids we promised that we would stick together until we were old people?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you…hey do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“I think someone’s in the hall.”

Katara held her breath and as quietly as she could, opened the door closest to her and walked into the room behind it. She quickly closed the door and through it, could hear the voices speaking again. “I don’t hear anything.” A voice said. “I don’t see anything either.” The other voice responded.

Katara sighed with relief.

“What are you doing in here Katara?”

Snapping around, she gasped when she realized she had walked into Zuko’s room.

“Oh um, I was…”

“Eavesdropping?” Zuko interjected, rubbing his hair with a towel.

She scowled at him and placed her hands on her hips. “No. I will have you know I was going to the kitchen to get a glass of water.” She prayed to the spirits that she sounded convincing enough. Zuko sighed and tossed the damp towel on his night table.

“The kitchen is downstairs Katara.” He replied, sitting on his bed.

As he sat down, the moonlight from the balcony illuminated his back and made it obvious that he had just washed his hair and that was very much wet…and he was very much shirtless. Katara could feel a massive amount of blood rushing into her cheeks and swore she was going to get a nosebleed. I hope he can’t see me blush since I’m standing in the dark…

“You kind of caught me at a bad time,” Zuko said. “If you hadn’t already noticed.”

“I noticed…and I’ll just be…going…” She fumbled blindly for the doorknob.

“Goodnight Katara.” The Fire Lord said, smiling.

“Night Zuko.” Katara cheerfully answered, finally opening the door. But as she opened it, it was apparent that Mai was standing in her way.

Mai’s eyes widened. “Katara?”

“Goodnight Mai!” Katara chirped, rushing past the raven-haired girl and into the hall. Mentally deciding that she didn’t need that glass of water, she walked back into her room and sat wearily down at the vanity in her room.

“Hey.”

Katara turned around in her seat and noticed Aang had walked into the room.

“Hey.” She replied.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your necklace for a while. I just had to get the right measurements on the length.” Aang said. He handed Katara her necklace and she put it on the table of the vanity. “What’s that?” He pointed at a small bag placed at the edge of the table.

“This?” Katara picked up the bag. “It’s just a clasp bought from town.”

“Did you think I was going to break your necklace or something? If you did, I swear I didn’t.” Aang asked.

Katara shifted her weight. “Well no, I thought you could use it.”

“That’s great, and I’m almost done your necklace too. Wanna see?” Aang pulled out a necklace with a grey ribbon, from his pocket and draped it over Katara’s bare neck. The silver of the pendant eerily glowed in the moonlight.

Katara raised her hand and lightly touched the pendant with her finger. “It’s beautiful Aang.”

“It’s not quite finished, I still need to attach the clasp and paint it.” He replied, lifting the necklace away. “And…I was just wondering if…you had thought about what I’d asked earlier.”

Nervously, Katara turned away from Aang and kept her eyes on the ground.

“So, you haven’t thought about it, have you?”

“It’s too soon Aang. We’re too young.”

“But what about Sokka and Suki, and look at Zuko and Mai. We’re not too—”

“You’re too young Aang, you’re barely nineteen. This is a big deal, and I just don’t think it’s wise for us to just jump in just because everyone else is doing it.”

Aang narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. “Is it because you don’t think it could last?”

Katara glared at him. “No, I didn’t say that. It’s just…just too soon.”

The airbender nodded and turned around. “Goodnight Katara.”

“Goodnight Aang.”

AN: Did Katara lie to Zuko? Things to ponder for the next chapter!