This ridiculous bit of fluff is the next installment of this silly little story. Honestly, I'm happy enough with where it has ended, so I may leave it as it is. We'll see what the future brings. And just in case this needs to be clarified, I do not own ATLA.

Happy reading :)

Ct

Katara sighed and rubbed at her eyes. She was too tired for this right now. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed. This conversation was very unwanted.

Toph had asked Katara to her room after their late dinner, claiming she had something to show her. After pretending interest in a small brown rock for twenty minutes, Katara had wearily stumbled back to her room to find Zuko waiting on the edge of her bed. She felt this was unfair. Owning the palace didn't give him the right to wander through people's newly repaired rooms!

Katara attempted to square her shoulders and face her troubles, but it was just too much effort. Instead she pulled out the desk chair and slumped into it. "Zuko, I can't do this anymore."

From the expression on his face, he'd clearly been expecting something along those lines. "Katara, please, let's talk about this."

She shook her head. "No, Zuko, I don't think so. After breaking up with Aang, your proposition seemed reasonable. You'd recently ended things with Mai, and we only saw each other maybe once a month. Neither of us was really in a position to date. But now?" She shrugged.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel we've been friends for a few years now. So having sex," Katara frowned. "I guess to me it felt like the next step. That's why I let things go so long. I was stupidly hoping that you might come to feel the same way."

Zuko stared at her in shock. "I," he paused and cleared his throat. "I guess I never realized."

Katara snorted and slid lower in the chair. "Clearly."

Suddenly angry, Zuko glared at her. "You agreed to this. If you had a problem with it, you should have said something."

"But I did!" Katara moaned in exasperation. "Every night that I've been lucky enough to have alone with you, I've begged you to stay. You always told me no, but I didn't give up. And this is on top of making extra visits to the Fire Nation that had nothing to do with work and inviting you to holiday with my family."

Zuko was confused. "I, Katara-"

Fed up with the conversation, Katara glared at him. "How about I put things in a way you might understand. Have you been seeing other girls?"

He frowned. "Well, no."

Katara nodded. "And how would you feel if I said I'd been seeing someone from the Northern Water Tribe?"

Zuko bristled like an angry squirrel-cat. "You haven't been, have you?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I haven't. But now, Fire Lord Zuko, it's time I tell you that for the past year and a half, you've been in a relationship. And as of this moment, or more like as of three months ago, you've been dumped."

Zuko's jaw dropped. "I, but, we never, dumped?"

Katara sat up and began taking off her boots. "Yes, dumped. I understand my attempts at making this into a relationship were a little subtle, but Hell, even Sokka was getting suspicious." She set her boots to the side of the chair and walked to the door. Opening it, she turned sadly to Zuko. "Good night."

Zuko didn't move from her bed. Instead he glared at the stone floor as if it had done him a personal wrong.

Katara huffed and stomped her foot. She knew it was childish, but she didn't care. She was tired, damn it, and he wouldn't leave! "Zuko," she growled, "I said good night!"

He suddenly jerked his head up to look at her, his eyes pleading. "Let me stay." He whispered.

Katara's hand tightened around the door handle. "No, Zuko, don't do this. I've already told you-"

"Please let me stay." Zuko stood and stepped closer to her. "Please, let me stay the night."

Katara's fight or flight instincts kicked in, and she didn't know what to do. If she ran, she'd have to leave her boots behind. Plus she'd be leaving her sanctuary to the enemy. But if she stayed, could she win the fight? Could she continue telling him no?

Stepping back, her shoulder hit the door. "Zuko, please-"

He stepped closer. "Katara, I've missed you. You've been avoiding me for three months. I haven't gone that long without talking to you for four years!"

Katara rallied her flagging resolve and scowled at him. "I spent seven hours sitting next to you in meetings today. We've had plenty of time together. In fact, I'd say too much."

Zuko took another step. "It's not the same and you know it."

He was too close. Zuko shouldn't be that close. Her brain was telling her to run, to leave and bunk with Toph for the night.

Katara was still debating the merits of running when he sighed. "I'm sorry it took getting dumped for me to see it. Things just seemed to be working the way they were, and I thought if it's not broke, don't fix it. You know?"

Katara wasn't convinced.

Panic began making a happy dance across Zuko's face. Apparently the heartfelt declaration of his boorish stupidity was meant to impress her. But it was going to take more than that to get back into her good graces! She spent over a year playing his little game. If he really wanted her, then he was gong to work for her! His one dramatic speech wasn't enough!

Well, maybe it had worked little.

"People around here don't swim much, and it's not as fun alone." Zuko was grasping at straws now. He'd already played his trump card, and his back ups were embarrassingly pitiful. Shaking his head, he snorted. "This is going to sound stupid, but I miss having an argument where the outcome doesn't have world altering effects. The people around here agree with everything I say." He chuckled and nervously ran his hand through his hair.

Katara could feel herself relax when he laughed. It was a nice laugh. "Did you know that I told my maid that the sky was green, just to see her reaction? Do you know what she did?"

Katara felt herself shake her head no.

"She looked out the window and then agreed with me. She agreed with me!"

Katara couldn't help it. Zuko seemed so upset by this that she laughed. "She didn't!"

"Yes, she did."

Laughing, Katara closed the door. Maybe this wasn't the best decision. Maybe she'd regret it tomorrow, or maybe next week, or maybe a year from now. But right now it didn't matter. What did matter was that she was tired and she's missed him.

Zuko's eyes lit up as the door clicked shut and he took one last step toward her. There were inches between them now, and Katara was forced to tip her head back to see his face. "Does this mean I can stay?"

Katara placed her hands on his shoulders and tilted her head to the side. "I don't know. That depends."

Struggling not to smile, Zuko slid his hands up to her hips. "What are your conditions?"

She ran a hand up his neck and into his hair. It was getting long. "It depends," she said. "Can you see yourself in a long term relationship?"

Smiling, he brushed his lips lightly across hers. Katara shivered. How she had missed this boy!

"I've been in one for over a year. I see no reason to stop now."