DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor am I in any way affiliated with Michael Dante DiMartino or Bryan Konietzko. This story is purely fan-made.

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Sand blew lightly across the cool desert night, the gentle wind it was riding on breezing through miles of the same scenery: rock, sand, cactus, until it came to a group of people, undoubtedly travellers, sleeping soundly on a large blanket. At least, most of the people were sleeping soundly. A teenage girl with brown braided hair and blue attire was hunched over where the blanket met the sand. She had brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, hugging her legs to herself in a comforting way. The girl's beautiful cerulean eyes shone with sadness as they fixed on the distance. She didn't move, scarcely blinked and it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere.

"Something the matter?" Whispered a voice. Katara turned around, startled, to see Zuko sit himself down next to her. She glanced at him, before switching her focus back to the sandy hills ahead of them.

"No." She murmured in reply, her soft voice barely audible despite the silent night around them. "Just thinking."

"It's kind of late to be thinking." Zuko said, placing his arm around Katara's shoulders, and gently drawing her towards him. Katara willingly leant in to Zuko, laying her head down on his chest. In turn, Zuko rested his head onto Katara's, kissing it softly. To strangers it looked as though the two were a couple. To the sleeping group behind them, however, they were nothing more than acquaintances, barely tolerant of each other. The only people who knew of Zuko and Katara's feelings for each other were Toph and Iroh, Zuko's uncle. The rest of the group, Katara's brother Sokka, Aang the Avatar and Kuei the Earth King didn't - and if Katara had her say, never would - know about the teenager's romance.

As if reading her mind, Zuko spoke, moving his head slightly so that he could talk clearly.

"We're going to have to tell them sooner or later."

Katara sighed heavily and disentangled herself from Zuko's embrace. When she was free, she shuffled away a little, and turned to face him.

"We've had this conversation." She sighed again in exasperation.

"Yet you still refuse to face facts." Zuko reminded her, a hard undertone to his teasing voice.

Instead of look Zuko in the eyes, Katara focused her gaze on the sand below them, running her fingers through the cold grains. The sand caressed her hand gently and Katara dug her hand deeper. Bringing it up, she watched, mesmerized, as the grains slipped through her fingers and back onto the ground, like a continuous cycle. Katara was about to push her fingers into the sand again when Zuko's hand pressed down on her own, stopping her. Katara unwillingly raised her head, allowing her sapphire eyes to meet Zuko's golden ones.

"Why don't you want them to know?" He asked quietly, keeping his hand placed protectively over Katara's smaller one. "Are you ashamed of me?"

"No!" Katara burst out before she could stop herself. She winced, fearful that she may have woke someone up. A fleeting look over her shoulder assured her that everyone was still asleep. Turning back around, she faced Zuko again.

"No." She repeated, more softly this time. "I could never be ashamed of you."

Despite all the bad things he had done, mainly to Aang and his friends, including Katara, he was a different person now and she trusted him implicitly. She knew that Zuko regretted every stupid thing he had done, and sought to repent. This made Katara so proud of him, making it impossible to be ashamed of him.

"Then why the big secret? Why the sneaking around after everyone's gone to sleep? Stealing moments together when we're supposed to be checking for towns or food?" Zuko asked, listing everything they had done to be try to be together without the group knowing.

It had been five days since the group had escaped from Ba Sing Se into the desert, and every day proved a new challenge. As there were so many people now travelling with them, food was becoming a problem. Iroh had suggested that it would be a good idea to keep on travelling, not to stay in one place for more than a day. Although everyone agreed that this was the best thing to do, it proved tiresome to pack everything up only to unload it again a few miles on. Each new place they settled, which seemed just to be different sections of the desert, there were different tasks to be carried out. On the second day, it was decided that it would be better to give the same people the same tasks. Because Zuko and Katara had volunteered to look for a nearby village first, it was now their job every time the group stopped somewhere new. It was in this time that Zuko and Katara would act just like every other couple their age would: teasing each other, kissing and enjoying the time they spent alone together. After each pointless search, the couple would head back to wherever Sokka had suggested they set up camp and pretend to be nothing more than almost-friends. Katara was fine with this setup, but she could tell that it was annoying Zuko. Twice now he had almost slipped up and broadcasted his feelings, only stopping when Katara glared or nudged him. Both nights, if not more, after this had happened, there had been a (sometimes heated) argument between the two, which would always end the same way; Zuko would press Katara to tell everyone, and she would refuse, resulting in him stalking off.

Tonight looked set to be no different.

"It's just that Sokka and Aang are my family, and-"

"If they were your family then they'd be happy for you." Zuko cut in, clearly bored of having this same argument.

"The Fire Nation wiped out Aang's entire culture, and they killed mine and Sokka's mother. Somehow I can't see them being understanding about me falling in love with the Fire Nation Prince, can you?" Katara asked him, biting sarcasm entering her voice. She knew how confused and hurt Zuko was that she wouldn't tell Sokka and Aang, but she needed him to understand. He had nothing to lose by telling people that he and Katara were an item, but she stood to lose everything.

"I think it's time they learnt to differentiate between 'Fire Prince' and 'Zuko'." Zuko said harshly, making it clear that he was talking about Katara learning. "I can't help what my family or nation has done, and I can't change it. If you haven't noticed by now, Uncle and I are the good guys too."

Katara didn't know how to reply. She knew that from Zuko's perspective it must seem that she was ashamed of having fallen in love with him, but nothing could be further from the truth. If she knew that Aang and Sokka wouldn't reject her, then she'd proclaim it to anyone who'd listen.

"Just give me some more time." Katara pleaded, trying not to snatch her hand from under Zuko's heated palm. The warmth radiating onto her hand was becoming painful, but Zuko was oblivious. Katara tried to ignore it. "Let them get to know the real you. I know they'll love you as much as I do."

"But hopefully not in the same way." Zuko mused after awhile, and Katara knew that the argument was over for tonight. Zuko's palm had begun to cool, signalling that he was no longer angry.

"Hopefully not in the same way." Katara agreed, laughing. She leant sideways, resting her head on Zuko's shoulder.

"In hindsight, chasing you halfway across the world and trying to capture you wasn't the best plan if I want the Avatar and your brother to trust me." Zuko said, stroking Katara's hair gently.

"The realization comes a few months too late, but at least it came." Katara murmured sleepily, beginning to close her eyes. "I'll get around to telling them eventually, don't worry."

Zuko's shoulder stiffened uncomfortably, and Katara regretted the words the instant she said them. It made it sound as though telling people she loved Zuko was a chore that she didn't want to do. It seemed Zuko thought this too.

"You should get back to your sleeping bag." He said frostily, withdrawing his shoulder from under Katara's head. "Wouldn't want them to suspect anything."

He took his hand off Katara's and stood up, walking back onto the blanket and lying down without another word. Katara watched him go silently, holding back the things she wanted to say to him:

I love you, I'm sorry, come back.

Her mouth had formed to say these words, but she closed it again with a sigh. Zuko had turned on his side, so as not to face her. Katara frowned at her own stupidity, and then stood up herself. Shaking the sand that had landed in her lap, she slowly and carefully made her way back to her sleeping spot in between Sokka and Aang. She lay down, but did not shut her eyes. Instead, she gazed up at the stars illuminating the night. The moon, as ever, was beautiful and shone down on them all, as if showering the group with her blessing.

Katara knew that the next morning Zuko would probably avoid her, or make up excuses not to talk to her. He was so childish when he wanted to be, particularly after a fight.

I'm such an idiot…Katara thought sadly, as the gentle night breeze enticed the sand around the group sleeping on the blanket. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the thoughts floating around inside her head and instead focused on memories of less complicated times. Every memory she tried to conjure up eventually led back to the Fire Nation, which obviously forced her to think of Zuko.

I'll talk to Iroh about what I should do, Katara decided after a few minutes. He's wise. He'll tell me what to do. Of course, he's also biased seeing as Zuko is his nephew…so maybe he'll just take Zuko's side. Unless…

And so the inner argument carried on through the night. When, through underneath her eyelids hours later, Katara could feel the sun rising, she got up with everyone else, pretending that she hadn't spent the entire night thinking about Zuko.

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A/N:

Hey guys! I know this chapter isn't very long, but for some reason I don't like making the first chapter of anything very lengthy. Don't worry, the next chapter will be longer and up shortly.

By now, I'm assuming you've all seen the Avatar Season Three trailer (if not, the link is on my profile, go check it out now!) and the Mai/Zuko kiss. Because of this, lots of people have said that Zutara is dead. Quoting from someone from the forums I go on, and to a lesser extent Dumbledore from Harry Potter:

Zutara is only dead when no one is left to ship it. As long as people still ship Zutara, it is alive, no matter what.

I've got to say I agree with this. Oh, and also how awesome does Season Three look:D

Anyway, enough of my meaningless writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy the sequel as much as you (hopefully) enjoyed the original. I'll be updating faster than I did with "The Journey" because it's the summer holidays and I have much more time to focus on the fanfic. Thanks very much to everyone who reviewed "The Journey" and please continue reviewing :D

- Momo