A/N: Okay, this is probably going to be a - by my standers - long chapter, because I promised y'all I'd have something ZUTARA happen in this chappie, and I wouldn't want to break a promise!!

Read and enjoy…and review…

Chapter 8

The waterbenders who in habited the swamp sat around a small fire, singing songs. One song they all particularly liked was one about a catgator who lost its tongue.

After the second round of the song, Zuko was beginning to find it quite irritating. On top of all the other things that were irritating the young Fire Lord. For one, Katara was keeping a good distance from him, and also, he desperately wanted to cross the Great Divide and get one step closer to finding his mother.

Singing with the most flourish was Due, a waterbender who referred to himself and Katara as 'kin'. As the song ended again, he said, "That catgator is nothing like my Slim!" he gestured to the swamp where his own catgator, Slim, slept.

Katara laughed at the ridiculous happiness of these people. They seemed perfectly content with their way of life - living in the swamps, wearing loincloths, and singing camp fire songs over dinner.

Zuko took a quick glance at her over his steaming cup of make-shift tea. What was she so happy about? Did she really enjoy these people's company? They were nice people, but Zuko wouldn't actually choose to stay with them.

He really needed to lighten up. Maybe that's why Katara preferred Aang over him… He pushed the thought out of his mind, and put the tea cup to his lips.

He burned his tongue. He immediately pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Damn, that water was hot.

After dinner, Hue showed Zuko and Katara to their tents. Their tents, made of sticks and leaves, were next to each other.

After saying good night to Zuko and thank you to Hue, she parted into her tent, with the intention of not coming out until morning.

Halfway through the night, Katara still hadn't fallen asleep. Too much was on her mind, so she decided to get some air (as much air as you could get in a swamp, anyway).

After two minutes of watching Slim the catgator swim back and forth in the water, she decided to do something worth while. She hadn't practiced her water bending in a while, though she was still slightly sore from all the events of the day of the comet.

Using her right hand, she lifted the water from the swamp and traced circles with it with her left. It was a simple move, but just fooling around was something she hadn't done for a very long time…ever since she met Aang in the iceberg, it seemed.

Katara then went on to do more complicated moves. She jumped when she heard a voice from behind.

"Oh Katara, I always knew you had talent."

She turned to see the face of none other than her mother. Her loving smile and beautiful eyes was there, right in front of her.

But it wasn't real. This had happened the last time Katara had visited the swamp. She had seen her mother, and when she ran to her, she had disappeared.

But it was different now. She was talking.

"Thanks Mom," Katara smiled. "Wanna see this?" Katara performed another move. Her mother clapped her approval.

"Beautiful," she said.

"Oh, this too! This one is pretty difficult, but my friend Aang taught it to me…" exclaimed Katara before performing a more complicated one.

"Was that one good?" She turned to see her mother's reaction, to find her mother was no long there.

For a minute, Katara was confused. Then it dawned on her. Her mother wasn't actually there…it was a figment of her imagination. Her mother was never coming back. She was dead.

Suddenly, Katara never felt so alone. Experiencing her mother's company just reopened the wound of not having her around. To top it off, she couldn't go to her friends. They weren't there either.

But she did have a friend. He came out of the tent next to hers to find her lying on the ground, sobbing.

"Katara!" He ran over to her. "What's wrong?"

She hadn't realized that she was on the ground until he hoisted her up, and held her against him.

If Katara had been in the right state, she would have pushed Zuko away from her, but she didn't. She let herself fall against him. It was a comfort to feel his warm body against hers.

Then Katara realized she wasn't alone at all. She had someone who cared about her, and someone she deeply cared about.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Remember to review!