Published May 3, 2012

She didn't come back again. Ozai was surprised to find that he was almost disappointed at this. But, he was convinced that it was her visits he missed, and not the girl herself. He hadn't realized before how much he liked having her visit. She gave him something to look forward to – anything to break the monotony. And she was proof that people still cared whether he lived or died.

Eventually Ozai concluded that she must not have told anyone about that gesture. If she had, Zuko would have seen to it that he was punished.

After Ursa, she had been the closest thing he had to a friend. And he had pushed her away, just as he did with everyone else.

He started to resent himself. She had been disgusted by him. But then, he hadn't expected much else. Really, she had exceeded any expectations that he'd subconsciously had for her.

Katara would have liked to think that she had helped Ozai, but she wasn't that naïve.

What had she expected, really? To teach him something? To learn something herself?

Katara had learned one thing: Ozai was more like Zuko than either of them wanted to admit. Because, like Zuko, under the hard shell, Ozai had feelings that he didn't want to admit.