A/N: This chapter is a bit short, but I wanted to get something out to you guys ASAP. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! I love hearing what you think and it motivates me to keep on writing this fic when life gets busy. Happy Wednesday!

Chapter 11: The Morning After

Katara's eyes popped open at the crack of dawn, which was only a handful of hours after she had initially fallen asleep. Well, she had attempted to sleep after her little blow- up over the whole group catching her and Zuko in action, but she had not been successful. She couldn't stop thinking about Aang, and the events that had led to her committing to Aang. It felt like all the painful memories and emotions she had shoved down deep had been dug out by badger moles. She had initially gone to sleep in her own room, but had transferred over to Zuko's out of desperation around 2 AM. The last thing she wanted to do was rock the boat further by sleeping in Zuko's room, but sleep conquered over reason. The minute she curled up in his embrace she was finally able to sleep.

"Why are you awake?" Zuko asked with a voice still husky from sleep.

She looked up from where she was blankly staring at his Adam's apple to meet his golden gaze. "Thinking too much." She whispered and cuddled back up against his chest.

He squeezed her tightly as she lazily traced swirly patterns on his bare chest. "I'm sorry, Zuko."

"What for?" He asked simply as he closed his eyes. Her gentle touch was relaxing him, which he needed after last night's events.

"Do you remember that talk you had with me at the turtleduck pond right before I left the palace?"

"Yes." He whispered and opened his eyes to watch her.

"You told me that I should follow my heart and I did the exact opposite. I operated out of what was expected of me. I should have never committed to Aang when I was only sixteen and I should have never left you for all those years." Katara paused her light tracing of his chest to look up into his eyes.

He looked at her with raised eyebrows, but stayed silent.

"Why did you kiss me the night before I left?" She finally asked quietly.

Zuko chuckled to himself for a moment, and Katara shot him a squinted look. "I'm sorry, I just thought you would have asked this a long time ago." He smiled at her unhappy expression. "Well, it was a complicated time. I was with Mai, and you were with Aang." He paused for a second to rearrange his arm that was underneath her. "I liked you a lot, Katara. You were not only beautiful but you were kind to me. You genuinely wanted to get to know me and it wasn't part of some ploy to overthrow me. I don't know. I just wanted to, you were and you still are an incredible woman."

Katara swatted his chest. "Stop being so sweet to me, Zuko!" She exclaimed. "I left you for all those years when you needed me and then I've let fear control me now. I haven't been the best to you at all."

He squeezed her tighter to his chest as she tried to halfheartedly struggle away from him. "I had to figure out the mess of my reign by myself and you had to figure out your life path. You've been nothing but understanding and forgiving of all my mistakes and of how much of a teenage jerk I used to be." He smiled down at her and she tried to hide a small smirk. "You're here now and we will make this work."

She leaned back and he met her halfway with a tender kiss. Katara couldn't help what her mind was shouting as he continued to kiss her in a way that made all her doubt and fears drift away. I love you. I love you. I love you.

He pulled away as a loud clang from the kitchen startled him.

Katara took the opportunity to untangle her limbs from his and slide out of the bed. "Sounds like someone is up." She noted quietly, while slipping her light blue robe over her simple cloth shorts and tunic. "I need a word with everyone here at this point." She said with determination and stalked out of the room.

The walk down to the kitchen was short and she quickly turned the corner to find Suki placing a kettle on the stove.

"I'm sorry Katara if I woke you up! The kettle was hidden under a couple other pots." She gestured to the mess of a cabinet hidden partially behind her. The Kyoshi warrior looked casual, yet still beautiful in a long tunic with her short auburn hair pulled into a bun.

"No no, I've been up." Katara shook her head as Suki came around to lean a hip against the kitchen island.

Suki sighed. "I'm sorry about Sokka last night too. He's been drinking a little too much lately. Well, ever since I broke the news that I was pregnant." She placed a hand on her small baby bump. "I wouldn't trust anything he said. "

Katara nodded. She had known that Sokka had been a mess since he found out that Suki was pregnant. Sokka still acted like a child most of the time and the thought of having a child has been stressing him out. Katara knew he'd be a great father, but he wasn't so convinced. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you both about what was going on with Aang and then with Zuko. I thought keeping everything private would prevent a blow up."

Suki laughed. "Keep the details from Sokka, but tell me." She leaned forward to rest her chin on her hand. "Well Sokka knew something was up with you and Aang, he told me that he knew you weren't happy in Republic City."

Katara nodded shyly and went on to explain the pressure that Aang had put on her to move to Republic City. She also skimmed over Aang's master plan to have her as an airbender baby machine, but Suki's mouth still hung open in shock. Katara then fast forwarded to the future and explained that her and Zuko had reconnected and had decided to give it a shot, but was keeping it discrete.

"Katara, I just wish you would have told me all this sooner or even wrote to me. I would have been able to give you some girl advice. You're not in all this alone." Suki patted her hand and poured them both teas. "We were all forced to grow up so fast."

Katara nodded and took a ginger sip of the strong black tea Suki had prepared. "I try to remind myself of that. I'm barely in my twenties now and I feel like I had made a lifetime of decisions. I loved Aang and I still do. He is family to me, but I should have never committed to being by his side when I was sixteen."

Suki listened intently and nodded. "I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn't worried about that."

Before Suki could continue, Sokka entered the kitchen with a grunt as a greeting to them both. He was bare-chested and in his pants from the previous night. He looked horridly hung over. Suki poured him a cup of tea and Katara shot him a death glare.

Sokka raised his hands defensively. "What did I do?" He asked with a confused look on his face.

"You really don't know? You seriously blacked out?" Katara asked in shock as she sat beside him on a kitchen stool.

He nodded slowly and shrugged nonchalantly.

"You caught Zuko and I kissing in the kitchen and proceeding to scream and act like Zuko forced himself on me. You caused a whole scene." Katara's voice was even, but a hint of anger rose at the end of her rant.

"You were kissing Zuko?!" Sokka exclaimed and nearly dropped his tea to the ground. "No offense to the guy, he's been a key player in bringing peace to the world and all. But ZUKO?"

Katara rolled her eyes dramatically as Suki suppressed a giggle. "Yes, we're together now."

Sokka huffed and picked up his tea cup from the counter. He turned to leave. "You are too much this early in the morning," he grumbled as he took off back up the stairs.

A few moments later Zuko gracefully descended the stairs into the kitchen. He had on his usual red drawstring pants and an open red robe. His nearly shoulder length black hair was half tied up. The ladies turned their heads to look at him in unison. "What?" He asked. "Did I miss something?"