Refusing to be separated from his mask, Katara helped her patient—she really needed to learn his name—fix the mask to his side with the help of an altered tricorder pouch. Beneath his mask he'd been wearing a black sleeve over his head, concealing his face. The only uniform she'd been able to find was an old one, and at least two sizes too small for him. He could barely squeeze into it and she almost felt bad for offering it to him, but it was better than trying to sneak around with him shirtless.

Katara's brow arched and she shook her head.

"It's late, there'll be fewer crew around," she said to herself aloud.

Her quarters weren't far from from the sick bay, at any rate, and they soon snuck through her door. While he leaned on her a bit when they paused, checking around corners, he was swift, silent and graceful in his movements. Katara was impressed. His ease of movement, in spite of his injuries, spoke of long hours of training and experience.

The door whooshed shut behind them, and Katara locked it manually from the panel inside her room.

"Keep an eye out for us, Aang. We need a little extra vigilance tonight," she said softly, patting the smooth wall panel.

When a blip in the display caused a smiley face to flash at her, she grinned.

Then she turned and looked at only the second man she'd ever invited into her quarters.

He was taller than she'd initially realized, seeing him standing there. And built like the fabled warriors of the Agni Kai, with strong shoulders, yet a lean, lithe frame.

His hands were callused from hand-to-hand combat, she'd bet, though Jet hadn't mentioned confiscating any weapons. If he had, he would have been walking around with them, flaunting them as spoils.

She wondered what the man before her looked like beneath his head covering.

"How is your throat?" she asked, taking half a step closer.

The man watched her, saying nothing, but nodded.

Katara folded her arms across her front.

"Do you have a name?"

He nodded, but slowly, almost reluctantly.

She looked at him expectantly.

She sighed, remembering the mask at his side.

"How about I call you Blue, for now?" she suggested.

He nodded more readily.

Her shoulders relaxed as she smiled at him.

"Good enough," she said. She looked around her small quarters. Then back at the door again.

"Normally I don't bring anyone back here," she said, gesturing for him to follow her. "But tonight, you're staying with me. Lie down, keep your hands to yourself, and tomorrow we'll… figure something out," she said, yawning.

"I'm going to change in the bathroom. Get settled. Replicator's by the window if you're hungry. I warn you the Agni Kai Special is only special for its lack of authenticity. The hot chocolate isn't bad, though, once you jimmy the overrides," she said, collecting her toiletries and pyjamas. "Back in a few minutes."

With that she left for her shower, returning half an hour later to find Blue laid out on some blankets on the floor. The uniform shirt had been discarded and laid across a seat across the room, revealing his scarred and sculpted torso once more.

Many quality hours of training, she decided, and was both grateful and annoyed that she couldn't appreciate his physique from a feminine perspective due to her exhaustion. And ethics. Mostly exhaustion, she admitted to herself.

"On the bed," she sighed, her fatigue from the day getting to her. "I'm not healing general backaches."

He looked up at her quickly before looking at the bed.

"There's plenty of room," she said, turning her back to him as she lay down. "For the record, any snoring or drooling is a matter kept strictly between the two of us. No running your mouth," she teased.

She heard him snort before she felt the warmth of him dipping the bed beside her.

He touched the sensor that turned off the light, casting them into darkness lit only by the glow of the ship's thrusters from outside the window.

"Goodnight," said Katara.

The pillow beside hers moved, and she guessed he was nodding again.

To her troubled relief, she fell asleep quickly.

Blue was still and silent as a ghost in Katara's bed when she left the next morning to reach the transporter pad.

Jet was waiting for her. Outside the white noise the engines emitted with their comforting hum, the room was eerily silent.

"Where are the others?" she asked, looking around. They were alone.

"I already sent them down to make sure it was safe."

Her stomach twisted with unease at his words. She hadn't heard anyone while she'd approached this deck.

"We're late. Hurry up," Jet ordered. "I already put the commands in," he added when she looked at the empty controller panel. No one manned it.

Katara looked up at him, and back at the empty spot beside him on the transporter pad.

He narrowed his eyes.

Her instincts screamed that this was a trick, but she had no proof. Nothing to show that there was something wrong… but her nerves were on fire.

At least Blue was safe back in her room.

Perhaps she could gather some clues about him from the surface.

And she could hold her own against Jet, at least.

She lifted her chin and climbed up beside him, folding her arms behind her as she stared straight ahead.

"Energize," said Jet.

—Katara just made out the smug tone of his voice, the smirk she knew must be on his face, when the transporter room phased out and she landed on the surprisingly level surface of the planet.

She was looking around, surprised to find herself surrounded by tall stone monoliths, when she felt the sudden strike the back of her head.

"Did you think I didn't know where you stashed him?"

Jet's voice barely filtered through the stars she saw before everything went dark.

"Override: Captain's Order: Security Team Aloe: Code 201."

There was a pause before the doors opened with a whoom-whoosh.

Smellerbee lifted her phaser as she proceeded into Doctor Kuruk's private quarters.

"Move it, Longshot," she murmured, dark eyes sweeping the darkened room from one side to another. "And don't forget, he was fast and quiet."

He met her side while Pipsqueak and Sneers brought up the rear.

The door shut behind them, sealing them in.

"You're sure he was here?" whispered Pipsqueak.

Smellerbee nodded.

"He wasn't in the sick bay, and an engineer mentioned seeing someone tall and male entering these rooms with Doctor Kuruk late last night," she said, sweeping her phaser around in front of her as she advanced through the room.

Smellerbee held up her hand, flipping through the different settings on her phaser and scanning the room again.

"I coulda sworn…" she whispered, staring at the screen.

"What?" asked Sneers.

Smellerbee's shaggy bangs hid her eyes.

"The computer assured us there was still a humanoid-type thermal signature in here," she said stubbornly.

Longshot checked his own phaser.

Like Smellerbee's, it now showed only four signatures. Theirs.

"Computer," called Pipsqueak. "How many people are in Doctor Kuruk's quarters?"

"Four, lieutenant," answered the light voice of the AI system.

Smellerbee's eyes narrowed.

"Computer," she called. "How many people slept in Doctor Kuruk's quarters quarters last night?"

"One, lieutenant," answered the AI.

The Security Team looked at each other.

"Then where is he?" asked Sneers, phaser lowering.

"Computer, where is the prisoner that was captured on the last away mission?"

"She is on the surface of the nearest planet, unconscious, lieutenant."

Longshot straightened, brows drawing together.

"Computer. Repeat," he said, paying careful attention.

"The prisoner that was captured, Doctor Kuruk, is on the surface of the nearest planet, unconscious."

"He escaped!" cried Smellerbee.

"Computer, where is the Captain?" asked Longshot, his voice suspicious but calm.

"On the surface with Doctor Kuruk, lieutenant."

The four officers looked at each other. He hadn't mentioned to any of them that he planned on leaving that morning.

"Was she… trying to run away with the prisoner?" asked Sneers, confused.

"And the Captain went after them?" theorized Pipsqueak, shrugging his shoulders.

Longshot tapped the communicator badge on his chest.

"Duke?"

"Yeah, Longshot?" answered The Duke from the main bridge.

"Did the Captain talk to you this morning? About his plans for the day," asked Longshot.

"Only that he had some personal business to take care of, and he'd be back when he was done. That was around oh-six hundred hours."

"Has there been any contact since?" asked Longshot.

"Uh… no, actually. That was a few hours ago. Shall I hail him?"

"No," said Longshot. "Out."

He tapped his communicator, and it chirped off.

Longshot let out a heavy breath through his nose.

While the leader of their team, Smellerbee looked up at Longshot for his thoughts.

He shook his head.

"Computer," he called a last time. "Who went down to the surface?"

"Captain Jet and Doctor Kuruk, lieutenant."

Longshot looked at Smellerbee.

"Computer, was there anyone else there?"

"No, lieutenant."

Longshot looked at Smellerbee harder.

Smellerbee held his stare a long moment before she grunted and turned away.

"Smellerbee," said Longshot.

"Come on, we need to find that Agni Kai," she said. "The Dragon of the West is still out there, circling this system."

The door whooshed shut behind them, the lock resetting itself.

From the wall compartment hidden in the panelling, another, smaller airlock released and Blue unfolded himself and rolled out onto the floor. He landed lightly on his feet, if with a small grunt at being confined and curled up for so long.

"Thank you," he murmured with his hoarse voice, touching the side panel as Katara had done.

Aang gave a lackluster blip of acknowledgement.

The Duke glanced ahead of him from the first mate's seat, noting the beeping from the ensign's panel.

It had been hours, now, and the Captain was still missing, located somewhere on the surface of the planet

"We're being hailed by the Dragon of the West," said the ensign. "Do we engage?"

"Open a channel," said the Duke, though he gripped his trousers a bit tighter on his thighs.

The main screen flickered to the interior of the Agni Kai main bridge, and a full staff of military-trained soldiers surrounded the Dragon of the West.

"This is the Federation starship Avatar," greeted the Duke. He swallowed. "First mate, uh, Duke speaking... How can I help you?"

"Oh, hello there, Mr Duke," said General Iroh from the Agni Kai ship. "You don't by any chance have my nephew aboard, do you?"

The Duke's mouth dried up in an instant.

"Of-of course not, sir!"

Iroh's eyes widened as he smiled. "Oh, that's funny—"

From behind the Duke, one of the Avatar's engineers gasped and called out, "Sir, one of the transporters is active and beaming someone from the Avatar over to—"

"—because he just sent us a message that we needed to come collect him," continued General Iroh affably. His hands were folded over his belly, his military uniform in impeccable style and condition.

He smiled at the Duke warmly.

"...That would be him now."

Katara woke up groggy and disoriented, staring at the rocky walls that surrounded her.

"Finally coming around?"

Warm hands collected Katara and wrapped her snugly against a firm, fit male frame. Soon they lifted her up and began walking.

"Jet?" mumbled Katara, squinting in the darkness.

"Shhhh," murmured Jet. "It won't be long now."

"Hnn?"

"We're almost there."

His voice was a soft croon, loving and tender.

It immediately sent Katara into a panic. She tried to push him away only to find her arms and legs bound.

"Jet," she gasped, wincing at the terrible headache that pounded in her skull. It was hard to focus, but she summoned some of her healing magic to dull the pain. "What's going on?"

"I realized something aboard the Avatar, Katara," said Jet, climbing deeper into the cave. "I realized… that the ship protects you. That's why I haven't been able to get into your quarters, even though I'm the captain."

"It's probably a programming thing," said Katara, struggling to free a hand or foot or knee. "Put me down, Jet."

"I only want to keep you safe," he continued, winding down a tunnel. "Did you know that not only did the ship computer stop me from entering your room, it also lied about you having company." His voice lowered, taking on an edge. "I don't like it when you lie to me, Katara."

"I didn't lie about having company—what are you—"

"I saw you last night, Katara. You invited him into your room. You invited him into your bed."

The blood froze in Katara's veins.

"You've been spying on me," she whispered, her stomach clenching. "You've been watching me in my personal quarters."

"You shouldn't have lied to me, Katara," growled Jet, holding her closer to him. "I can't protect you if you lie to me. But I've found a way to stop you from lying, and protect you and keep you for myself. No one will ever bother us again, here."

Katara's heart was racing, the fine hairs on her arms and the back of her neck raised from the electric fear travelling down her spine.

"We need to go back to the ship," she said, trying to find her voice. "Jet, I have patients I need to look after. We have families aboard that ship who rely on me, on us, to look after them. It's our home. We have—"

"This is your new home, Katara," said Jet, setting her down on a soft, if lumpy surface.

The air oophed from Katara's lungs as she fell into Jet's side when he took a seat beside her.

"Is this… inflated…" Katara's voice trailed off as she looked around the cavernous opening. Lights glowed on around them, and her eyes widened.

There were packages, crates of supplies, food, bedding, water. Several reinforced conveyance trunks on another side of the cavern were labelled with things like, 'sanitation', 'medical supplies', 'clothing' and… 'infant care'...

Too shocked to realize Jet was still focused on her, Katara missed it when he laced a metallic bracelet around her wrist and sealed it—until she heard the click and noted the way the lights in the cave flashed red-red-green.

"There. You're secure, now. I need to return to the ship, but I just want you to know that you'll be safe here. I'll be back after you've had some time to consider your actions—"

But Katara had no intention of 'considering her actions'.

Her heart in her throat, and her blue eyes burning, she leaned close to Jet's chest, as if to rest against him—

—then launched herself at him with murderous intent.

"This way," said General Iroh, only for a blue-masked, black shadow to overtake him, rushing forward.

The General sighed and hastened his pace.

The sound of shouting soon met his away party, and they stumbled upon their newly returned and still injured Prince leading a heavy barrage of strikes against the captain of the Avatar.

Trapped by a containment band, a woman with long dark hair and fierce blue eyes beat against an invisible force field, screaming to be released.

"Sir… this looks to be a domestic dispute," said the soldier from behind Iroh's soldier.

"I believe it is a kidnapping," clarified Iroh, raising a hand. "See to the young lady, first."

He paused, cupping his chin before his savvy gaze turned towards the pair of male combattants.

"And then point her at those two."

"But sir, the Prince—"

Iroh smiled.

"Just watch."

(Several months later, aboard the Federation Space Station Ba Sing Se)

"—and then she got medieval on his sorry—"

"Sokka!"

"—but since there were so many witnesses, she skipped right through the court martialing and was in fact given a reward for assisting with his arrest and incarceration!"

Katara sighed as she gave a sheepish grin at her brother and friends on the group communication.

In her private quarters back aboard the Avatar, she finally had some time to herself and was gratefully catching up with her friends. Well, mostly gratefully. Her brother, an engineer on an exchange with the Agni Kai (he'd seized the opportunity when it was offered, a good-faith gesture from the Agni Kai after their assistance with Jet's capture), was exaggerating things. Again.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed," said Toph, picking at her toes as she reclined on her bunk. While the heiress ran her own shipping conglomerate, she moonlighted on the side for… other industries that Katara tried not to hear too much about. "I knew something was up when we stopped hearing from you."

"I'm just glad that you're okay," said Suki from another direction. "We were really worried about you."

Katara smiled, her shoulders relaxing.

"I'm lucky the Agni Kai were so close. I don't think anyone from the Avatar would have helped," she said honestly. It still felt awkward to be on the ship, even with it being under new command.

Luckily, she and Captain Jun got along great, even if Jun sometimes seemed a little unorthodox. For one thing, she had an incredibly unusual personal ship she kept in the docking station. She mentioned she used it to track down errant crew. Katara had smiled and laughed and turned in early that night, resolving to never get on Jun's bad side, just in case.

"Speaking of, did you ever track down that patient of yours to make sure he was okay?" asked Toph.

Katara's shoulders slumped.

"No. I never saw him again. It's weird, though."

"What's weird?" asked Suki.

Katara shook her head. "I know that things were dark in the cavern on the planet's surface, obviously, and that with the fighting and how much I was yelling, I don't remember everything all that well—"

"—and the concussions," added Sokka.

Katara glared at him a moment for interrupting her, then continued.

"But I could have sworn I saw him down in the cavern at the end, fighting Jet. Wearing his mask, I mean. But General Iroh swears that there were only members of his crew there. No 'mystical blue spirit'."

Katara sighed.

"I just wanted to know if he was okay," she said, pouting.

"And if he was hot under his mask."

"Toph!"

"Don't even try to deny it," said Toph, flicking away some toe jam. It landed dangerously close to the monitor transmitting her image, and even Sokka shuddered.

"Ahem!" coughed Katara, trying and failing to calm her flushed cheeks. "It is my estimation that he was an Agni Kai soldier or crewman, and he made use of the distraction happening on the surface to escape."

"No love letter left under your pillow?" teased Toph

"Of course not," scoffed Katara, still secretly disappointed.

"Well, uh, speaking of Agni Kai soldiers, I kind of wanted everyone to meet my new buddy!" broke in Sokka.

He moved off-camera for a moment before there were the vague sounds of a scuffle. Then a chair fell over. And some papers slid off a desk.

"—would you just get over here!"

The group vaguely made out Sokka's grunted pleading before he shoved a new face down in front of his monitor.

A very handsome face.

A very handsome, yet very scarred face.

Katara swallowed.

"Everybody, meet Zuko!" cheered Sokka. It would have sounded more genuine if he wasn't panting. And if his death grip on Zuko's shoulder made less of an indent on the man's fancy military uniform.

"Uh, hi… Zuko here," he said awkwardly, attempting to tug his shoulder out of Sokka's grip. He looked behind him and glared at Sokka, who ignored him and leaned over to wink at the camera.

"Zuko came to introduce himself to me when I was eating lunch. He's actually the Crown Prince of the Agni Kai, but don't let that fool you. He's actually not too full of himself."

"Sokka," hissed Katara, even as Suki sighed and Toph cackled. "Would you please mind your manners!" She refocused her attention on the newcomer. "Sorry, he doesn't always plan the route the words take from his brain to his mouth," she said.

"I got that impression," admitted Zuko, staring into the monitor intently. His voice was low and a bit rough in places.

Something twigged in Katara's memory, but she ignored it.

"Oh Katara, you'll never believe it, but Zuko knows Water Tribe customs!" broke in Sokka, completely unphased by everyone's criticisms.

"You do?" asked Katara.

"Clasped my arm like a clansman when we first met," enthused Sokka, smacking Zuko on the back.

Katara's heart skipped a beat.

"Where did you learn that?" asked Suki.

"My uncle—"

"General Iroh," interrupted Sokka.

"—travelled a great deal in his younger days. He taught me many of the customs he learned. He is a strong believer in forging relationships rather than conflict," explained Zuko.

"Oh, Katara, you should describe your mystery beau to Zuko. He may know who it was! What did you call him? Blue?"

"He was a patient, not a… oh whatever," sighed Katara, embarrassed beyond belief that her brother was using the Agni Kai royal family in order to help her seuss out her saviour. Though, in a way, it was kind of Sokka to help her.

For, yes, she had seen Blue as her saviour. She would never have been able to escape Jet permanently without his help.

"It's… it's a long story, but I was wondering if any of your crew were stranded on the surface of the planet where I was… uh… found," explained Katara, rubbing her arm.

"None of the crew, no," said Zuko. "I… I know someone was investigating a distress call that emanated from that sector. They assumed it was coming from the surface, but it was later traced back to the Avatar."

"The Avatar was sending out a disguised distress call?" asked Toph, pausing in her toe-picking.

"We couldn't figure out who it was who sent it. There was no record of it in the Avatar's logs," said Zuko.

A funny feeling tickled Katara's insides. She glanced sideways, spying around her room for anything out of the ordinary.

The lights in the nearby comm panel lit up in a smiley face for a moment, before switching to a wink.

Her eyes widened to saucers.

"What was the distress signal?" asked Katara, voice tight.

"Huh?" asked Zuko.

"The distress signal," demanded Katara. "What was it?"

"Oh, uh…" Zuko's cheeks flushed as he looked away.

Then he rubbed the back of his head, his loose hair falling forward to hide his face.

Katara found ridiculously endearing.

"Something about a princess needing to be rescued from her crazy captor… We didn't take it seriously at first, but then I talked to Uncle, and we thought it wouldn't hurt for someone to at least check it out," said Zuko, clearly flustered. "Theremayhavebeenapictureofyou."

"Wait wait wait, a picture?" Katara turned to glare at the comm panel, which was suddenly silent and innocent.

"Uh, I have to go do the thing, so I'm going to sign off now," said Toph as Katara's anger built.

"Sokka, I'll call you later this week," said Suki with a wink.

"Promise?!" begged Sokka, shoving Zuko to the side. "I can talk to you now? I'll go to the other room, meet me on the other channel!"

With that he disappeared, as did Toph and Suki.

Which left Katara and Zuko together on the channel.

It was silent and awkward as they looked at each other.

Zuko cleared his throat.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, much better."

He nodded.

"That's good. I guess with you being a doctor, you'd be able to heal yourself, too," he said.

Katara's fingers tapped her knee.

"How did you know I was a doctor?"

Zuko tensed. "Uh, your brother mentioned it."

"Oh."

She stared at him. There was something so familiar about him, but what was it…

"Did… uh… so… that patient… did he really not leave you a thank you note?"

Katara's brows knit. Her brother obviously needed a reminder to keep their talks private.

"No. I just hope he got home safely," sighed Katara, repeating what she'd said earlier.

"Really?" asked Zuko, surprising her.

Katara paused.

"I mean, because, if it had been me, I would have… left you a note. In a safe place. Where only you would find it," he said, speaking in spurts.

"Well, there wasn't anything left out when I got back… And nothing came up for evidence during the pre-trial," said Katara slowly.

"Damnit, Aang," muttered Zuko under his breath, looking suddenly frustrated.

"Aang?" repeated Katara.

Zuko froze.

Katara's heart skipped a beat.

"Where?" she breathed, her emotions feeling like they were about to short-circuit.

Zuko's eyes were wide as he swallowed and looked to the side.

"Aang," growled Katara, and the illuminated panel beside her dimmed before her hidey-hole in the wall popped open a second later.

"It was you," whispered Katara, looking between the open wall panel and Zuko.

He rubbed at the back of his neck.

"You were in trouble," he said.

"You nearly got killed because of me. You'd never met me," she said, shaking her head.

To her surprise, he flushed again before meeting her gaze with a small smirk.

"It was worth it."

His words had her blushing, that time.

He peeked behind her and gestured with his chin.

"The panel," he said.

Biting her tongue on all the ways she intended to tell him off later—he had saved her, after all—she turned to the panel and looked inside.

A piece of paper, parchment, really, lay inside, folded into an origami lily.

"That's a fire lily," he explained as she cradled it in her palm. "They're native to the Agni Kai home planetary system. What's left of it."

"It's beautiful," said Katara.

Zuko's grin was a bit crooked as he smiled at her.

"There's a message inside," he said.

"I'd have to unfold it?" she asked, her tone mournful. She touched one of the petals. The rich paper flexed and returned to its shape. She didn't have the heart to dismantle it.

"You… you really like it?"

"Of course I do!"

"I'll make you a new one," he said. "You can open that one."

Glancing up at him, Katara looked for a loose edge before slowly unfolding the lily.

Her smile wavered as her eyes swam.

"The princess rescued the prince, and he owes her a life debt in thanks," she read. She looked up. "But, you don't. You saved my life, too. We're even."

"I still owe you a new flower," he said tentatively.

Looking down and feeling the rich parchment between her fingers, Katara smoothed her thumb over the words.

"You do," she agreed.

"I'll be in your ship's vicinity in a few days," he said off-hand, but watching her reaction carefully, cheeks warm.

"Perhaps we should get together. Without my brother," said Katara meaningfully.

Zuko's smile was shy and genuine, and Katara felt butterflies erupt in her tummy as his eyes lit up.

"I'd like that," he said.

"Then, it's a date," agreed Katara, smiling back widely.

"Finally!" groaned Toph, her voice coming through loud and clear.

"What?!" Katara looked around the different portions of the screen, but only hers and Zuko's were active.

"Oh, we were all listening in from Sokka's other line," explained Toph, keeping her video muted.

Zuko had paled before dropping his head in his hands.

"Moral support!" called Sokka from the other line. "By the way, Zuko, nice job. And yes, you can date my sister. Nothing under her clothes and have her back by nine. Maybe eight thirty."

Katara's rage built until she unleashed it using language her father had forbidden her from ever repeating.

(But at the end of the call she and Zuko had set a time and place and he promised to bring her another flower. She was, for the first time since she met him in her sick bay, quite excited for the new possibilities her future presented.)

When Katara went to bed that night, she stared up at the ceiling of her quarters.

Then she reached out and pet the wall panels as she drifted off to sleep.

"Thank you, Aang."

His panel lit up with a small heart which beat for her alone.

THE END.