Hey guys. I can't believe I never thought of this before, but now that I have, I'm going to write it. Have you guys ever wondered what would happen if Zuko had hurt Aang while they were at the Western Air Temple? Well, wonder no more. This is a hypothetical story that takes place between "The Western Air Temple" after Zuko joins the Gaang and "The Firebending Masters" to see what would happen if Zuko had actually hurt Aang. Not on purpose, of course, but this will show what would likely have happened if Katara had seen Zuko harm Aang in any way, and thus Katara will keep her promise. Anyway, just thought I'd give you all a quick description of what the main premise of the story is gonna be. Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a great day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Zuko couldn't help but roll around in his makeshift bed in his room at the Western Air Temple. Not only because it was a foreign place and the fact that the bed wasn't very comfortable, but mainly due to what had transpired earlier.

He had been happy, as despite all that he had done over the last year, the Gaang had, albeit quite reluctantly, welcomed him into their folds, believing that he would be of service to them. Of course this was exactly what he had wanted. He knew that it was his time to step up and be the person he was always meant to be. Not the person that his father wanted him to be, but the person that his uncle and for all intents and purposes actual father knew that he could be. He just wished that he had been able to tell him how sorry he was before he had managed to escape from the prison.

Anyway, he had been happy that they were giving him a chance to prove himself and had been happily unpacking what little stuff he had brought with him, though not without stopping to remember what his uncle had told him about his destiny when he had first set out on his quest to find the Avatar. Though it was rather funny, as back then he would never have imagined teaming up with his prey to take down his father.

Though the memory made him sad, it also made him happy and hopeful, hoping that one day he would be able to find his Uncle and tell him how sorry he was for everything that he had done. He wanted to tell him how wrong he had been and how he should have listened to him and he wanted to apologize for betraying him in the caverns under Ba Sing Se.

He had then heard a knock on his door, taking him by surprise. Considering how reluctant everyone had been to let him join their group, he hadn't really expected anyone to visit him. After deciding to see who it was, he had been even more surprised to see that it was Katara, but happy to have the chance to thank her for letting him join them and for giving him a chance to prove himself.

What he didn't know was that the following conversation would be one that he would never forget.

You might have everyone else here buying your… transformation, but you and I both know that you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past. Zuko remembered clearly as she had stepped closer to him, the scariest look on her face he had ever seen from anyone. Even his own sister hadn't inflicted such terror into him. He could practically feel the intense hate she felt for him burning his organs with how angry she had looked.

So let me tell you something, right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore.

The look she had given him after that was what had really made him lose sleep that night. Her face had been full of such hatred and anger that he was surprised that he hadn't fainted from how her very being seemed out to kill him.

Because I'll make sure that your destiny ends… right then and there. Permanently. The way she had said that last word was what would truly haunt him for the rest of his days. Because he knew that when she had said "permanent", he knew it wasn't because she would lock him up in a jail for the rest of his life. He knew that she had been a formidable opponent before he had tried to join their group, but after hearing her say that last word with so much hatred, he knew that if he made one wrong move, it would truly be his permanent end.

She must really have cared for the young Avatar if she would go as far as to threaten him to keep him from harming the young airbender. Or, as he had just recently learned, that his name was Aang. It had been pretty obvious that he cared for the waterbender a great deal, if the way he had fought to get her necklace back had been any indication.

And judging by the way she had threatened to personally take his life if he did anything to harm the young Avatar in any way, he could only assume that she felt the same. Sighing a little, he tried rolling over and clearing his mind so that he could get some sleep, but he still couldn't get that hateful glare out of his mind.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, he decided that he needed to get up and go stretch for a little bit. If he tried to fall asleep right now, he was going to have nightmares about the young waterbender killing him in a thousand different ways.

Walking out of his room, he started walking around and took in the scenery of the temple. He wasn't particularly afraid of heights, but he wasn't exactly a fan of them either. Something he found all the more true as he moved down to the edge of the temple and looked right down into the seemingly never-ending caverns.

Although it was rather peaceful and calming here at night, he still couldn't help but feel the jitters from how Katara had threatened him, and decided that doing some firebending practice would help him ease his mind.

Making his way out to the center pavilion, he made sure that he was plenty distanced from the edge of the temple and took a deep breath as he got into his firebending stance. Like his uncle had taught him since he had found the Ava- Aang, as he now had to call him, in the South Pole, firebending came from the breath, and he knew that the best way to begin would be by doing some quick breathing exercises. Both for the dual purpose of calming himself down and for preparing himself for his self-training session.

Looking around to make sure that no one was watching him, he took one last deep breath and folded his hands before opening his eyes, beginning with some of the standard moves his Uncle had taught him. It was rather relaxing, doing this. Normally, he would be tense from practice or from having to use them in an actual fight, but being out here alone where no one could interrupt him, he felt like he was just letting out his fear and frustrations from all that had happened recently.

Granted, he was happy now that he was being given a chance to prove that he would be good, but with having almost been killed by a pyromaniac and his insane Firelord of a father, not to mention the quite recent death threat of course, he had many worries and stresses that he would like to get out. Even if it was only a little at a time.

After a little bit of repeating the standard motions, Zuko started kicking into gear and began doing the intermediate level of practice moves, feeling his frustration start to melt the more he did it. Though he made sure to keep the flames he shot out small so as to not wake up any of his new allies. After all, he had just barely managed to get them to let him join. The last thing he needed was to do anything stupid to make them hate him more.

Speaking of stupid things he had done, he couldn't help but sigh as he was reminded of what he had done to Mai. He never wanted to break her heart as he had, but he just saw no other option. After finding out about his heritage and how he was a descendant of both the Avatar and the Firelord, he had finally figured out why he struggled so much with which side he should be on. But it had made him start to see the error of his ways, and was the whole reason why he was there in the first place.

But his decision had forced him to write a breakup letter to the girl he loved. He knew it had to be done. As much as he loved her, he knew that he needed to fulfill his destiny and help bring the world back to peace. And as much as he would have liked to bring her with, he couldn't do that to her. She would be labeled a traitor, an enemy of their Nation and would be scorned and ridiculed. He just couldn't do that to her, no matter how much he wished that she was there with him right now.

Despite being mostly emotionless, she somehow always knew just what to do, or in her case, what not to do that helped him feel better. And right now as he pondered over whether the crazy waterbender would end up taking his life or not, he wished that she was there with him to make him feel better.

It was just so unfair. This whole war, the state of the world, everything. It forced loved ones to be separated or lost, ruining thousands of lives all around the world. And his father not only supported it, but he was the current mastermind behind it.

And to think, he had once wanted to impress his father. After all these years spent in vain searching for the Avatar in the hopes of gaining his father's love and approval, it had all been for naught, as he was now doing the opposite of what he had been doing when he had found Aang in the South Pole.

Because of his father, he had to break the heart of the girl he loved to do what was right and bring balance back to the world. While his father was likely happy and surrounded by friends and citizens who practically worshipped him, Zuko was far away from the only home he had ever known and from the girl he loved while the Uncle who had been more of a father to him than his actual father was nowhere to be found and likely hated his guts. How was any of this fair?

Sure, he had made many mistakes, but his father had made far more, and he was likely happy now that his least favorite child was gone. While Zuko suffered, Ozai was likely having the time of his life knowing he wouldn't have to put up with his disappointment of a son. How could this scenario even be possible? Zuko had sacrificed his people, his throne, his love for a chance to redeem himself, and Ozai continued to be the selfish, arrogant person he had always been and was rewarded for it? He couldn't believe how unfair it was.

Starting to feel frustrated from everything, Zuko moved his practice moves into the final stages, wanting to let his renewed anger out with the more complicated moves. The only problem with this, however, was that Zuko's anger was starting to spiral out of control. With every sharp move, Zuko started spewing out more and more fire, starting to make the stone temple reverberate throughout the canyonside.

The poor firebender was so lost in his frustration that he didn't notice that his fire was becoming wild and unrestrained, coming off in long fire whips that started knocking over various objects in the immediate area.

These loud noises were causing quite a disturbance in the temple, and without Zuko knowing it, none other than the Avatar himself was awakened and wondered what was going on. Getting out of his bed quickly, he ran as quickly as he could to see if they were being attacked, but stopped as he saw Zuko with his firebending.

He could tell that Zuko was really frustrated by something. What he was frustrated about, he had no clue, but he knew that he couldn't allow him to continue on like this. If not for Zuko's sake, then for the others who he hoped hadn't been woken up by all the ruckus that the young firebender was currently stirring up in the temple.

"Zuko?" Aang whispered to him in the hopes he wouldn't have to raise his voice and save the others from waking up, but Zuko was too deep in his frustrations to really notice. Seeing that he wasn't going to get through to him by talking, Aang started moving forward, occasionally using some graceful airbending dodging when Zuko's fire whips came a little too close.

Before long, he finally reached the obviously disgruntled fire bender and put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a little. "Zuko?" he asked as he shook him, but he was not prepared at all for what happened next.

Zuko, thinking that he had been the only one out there and feeling a sudden presence, immediately assumed the worst and brought his firewhips over to Aang, making him yell in pain as the fire whips wrapped around his arm and held onto him tightly, beginning to burn his skin.

Katara's eyes snapped open as she heard Aang's shriek of pain, and after rapidly becoming panicked, quickly rose from her bed and ran with all of her strength out to the courtyard where the man she loved and the person she hated stood.

Once she finally reached the pavilion, she gasped as she saw that Aang was on the ground with fire whips wrapped around his right arm, grimacing in pain as it seared into his flesh.

It wasn't until this moment that Zuko finally got over his surprise from Aang touching his shoulder and looked down to see who he had warded off, becoming horrified as he saw that it was none other than the very person he had sworn to not hurt lest he meet an early and grizzly death.

And if the situation wasn't bad enough, he heard a "hey!" from the side, gulping as he recognized the same hateful tone that had kept him awake at night. Turning slowly to look at her, he could practically feel himself shaking as he saw the young waterbender give him a look that he easily understood. You're a dead man.

Deciding that it wouldn't do him any good to keep the fire whip on the young Avatar on the ground, he quickly let it dissipate and turned down to look at Aang, though not without glancing at Katara to make sure that she wasn't attacking him just yet.

"Ava- Aang," he corrected himself hastily as he knelt down and helped bring him up so that he was standing. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry, I was just-"

"You were just what, Zuko?" Katara snarled as she started marching over to him, reaching out a hand to the nearby water fountain with one hand and the scariest face he had seen on her yet. "Just trying to kill Aang? You remember what I told you earlier."

Aang, despite being in an immense amount of pain, looked between the two in confusion, not understanding what they were talking about before he decided that it didn't matter. What did matter was that he made sure that Katara understood that this was all just a big mistake.

"Katara, it's not what it looks like," he began with gritted teeth as he took deep breaths and held his hand over the large scorch mark on his arm, not helping Zuko's case in the slightest as he winced a few times as more and more waves of pain surged through him. "You see-"

"I know exactly what I'm seeing, Aang," Katara muttered crossly as she continued walking over towards the two, making Zuko panic even more as she gave him a glare that would have killed him if it was possible. Expecting the worst, he got into a defensive stance and prepared himself to be attacked when he became surprised as Katara stopped at Aang and knelt down, taking the water currently in her hands and gently removing his hand from his burn.

Placing the water on his wound, he could only watch in amazement as she closed her eyes and focused on her healing, making the water glow as her chi infused with it and started healing the wound. By the time she was done, all that was left was a small patch of black that was hardly noticeable.

Aang stared at his arm in amazement after seeing that the pain was gone and that there was almost nothing left to show that he had been burned in the first place, just as she had done when Aang had accidentally burned her when they met Jeong Jeong.

"Are you okay, Aang?" Katara asked gently, all traces of hatred and anger gone from her voice as she looked at him with worry, making Zuko blink in surprise how all it took was for her to be near Aang and to know that he was okay for her to calm down.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Katara. Thank you," he told her gratefully, making her smile a little despite the inner turbulence she felt from her mixed up feelings for him. Before he had kissed her on the submarine, she had been certain that she loved him, but when he did, despite knowing that she had been clearly enjoying it, something in her mind had seemed to get scrambled. What or why that was, she didn't know, but now she wasn't sure how she truly felt about him. What she didn't know was that the fear that had been instilled in her as she realized that he could actually die from the fight with the Firelord was what had been making her think that she was confused in a subconscious effort to protect herself, but she didn't know this just yet.

Despite her "mixed feelings", she was happy to see that he was okay and gave him another smile. "Good. I'm glad that you're alright." But then the young waterbender was reminded of how he had been hurt in the first place, and feeling the intense love and protectiveness she felt for him that would do anything to make sure that he was safe, she slowly turned her head back to Zuko who started panicking again. "And you," she began as her temper flared, the dangerous look returning to her eyes as she rose to her feet and summoned more water from the nearby fountain, this time holding it in her hands and moving towards him. "I warned you what would happen if you tried to hurt him. I told you not to do the thing that you just did, but you didn't listen to me. I knew that you couldn't be trusted," her voice rose with every word as she turned her water into ice daggers and back to regular water as she approached him.

"Um… Katara?" Aang tried to get her attention off of Zuko, seeing that his newest ally would be in serious trouble if he didn't intervene. "He didn't attack me on purpose. It was an accident."

Katara laughed bitterly, not bothering to look back at him as Zuko started backing up the closer she got. "This was no accident, Aang. Maybe if he had just burned you a little, but with how long it took me to heal you, there's no way that this was an accident."

"Katara, what exactly did you tell Zuko would happen if he hurt me?" Aang asked insistently as he became more and more worried that she was about to do something she would regret. But, seeing the look in her eyes, he didn't think that she would regret doing it one bit.

"I made a promise, Aang. And I always keep my promises," she called over her shoulder to him before taking the water in her hands and turning it into an ice sword, making both Aang and Zuko gasp as they saw that she truly meant business.

Not wasting a moment, Aang ran up and got between the two, hoping that this would be enough to stop her from killing Zuko for what he knew to be an accident. "Katara, I'm trying to tell you, it was an accident. And even if it wasn't, that doesn't mean that we should just kill him!"

What the three hadn't noticed while they were currently occupied was that the rest of their group had all been woken up from the loud noises as well, and after seeing what was happening, decided to wait it out to see what would happen.

"Aang, I trusted him once in Ba Sing Se, and because of him, I…" she cut herself off as she was reminded of one of the worst moments of her life. The new wave of pain she felt from the memory of him being struck down made her temporarily know that she did love him, but after remembering that he still had to fight the Firelord, her subconscious allowed the doubt to creep back in before she shook it off with a sad look in her eyes. "We almost lost you. Once a traitor, always a traitor. Now step out of the way, Aang."

"Katara, you know I can't do that." The young waterbender actually stopped for a moment, wanting badly to end the miserable excuse of a human who was fortunate enough to be shielded by the young man she loved, but not wanting to hurt the human shield in question. Just thinking about Aang in any kind of pain made her want to destroy everything in her path that wasn't him or her friends and family.

Fortunately for her, she was saved from having to figure out a way to get to Zuko when he took off in the opposite direction, losing the only real defense he had and making Katara smirk a little in triumph. He had just doomed himself.

Now with nothing to hold her back, she took a large amount of water from the fountain and used it as an ice ramp to catch up with the quickly moving firebender, making Aang sigh and shake his head as he knew that he would have to chase after her. Taking a deep breath, he collected the air around him and used it to enhance his running, hoping that he could catch up to them before it was too late.

Katara felt her anger power her movements as she chased after the man who had harmed the boy she loved. Sure, she had always had a temper, but she had always been at her fiercest when the ones she loved were in danger. And though she wouldn't allow herself to admit it at the moment, she loved Aang more than anyone else in the world. And Zuko had disregarded her warning and severely burned him, giving her the green light to do as she warned him that she would do.

Zuko panted heavily as he simultaneously ran and dodged attacks from the waterbender who clearly wanted to end him. With every attack that he just barely managed to avoid, her words from earlier that day rang in his mind. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends… right then and there. Permanently. Never had such words stirred such fear in his heart before. Of course, it didn't hurt that the constant barrages of ice daggers and attempts to freeze him in place helped his fear factor rise significantly.

Running through the corridors of the old, decrepit temple, Zuko desperately looked around for anything that would help him lose his pursuer and noticed a small doorway that he could quickly slip into. Shooting some fire back at her, he watched as she effortlessly dodged it and dove into the room, panting heavily as he leaned his back against the door and peeked around the corner to see the young waterbender glide past him on her moving ice slide. He waited a few moments to make sure that she had truly lost him, and after feeling sure that she had, the tired firebender let out a sigh of relief and attempted to catch his breath. Now feeling relieved, he looked around the corner, but was surprised as he found an icicle shot toward him, lodging itself in the wall of the old air temple room where his neck would have been if he hadn't moved.

Looking in front of him, he became horrified as he saw none other than his relentless pursuer step out of the shadows with some more water in her hands. "Did you really think I would fall for that, Zuko? How stupid do you think I am?"

Unable to hide the fear in his eyes, he ducked the next volley of icicles sent at him and finally decided to try to fight back, but it was too late. Taking the icicles that had missed, she removed them from the wall and reused them to pin his clothes to the wall, though not without taking one of them and holding it in her hands. "I warned you, Prince. You knew this would happen."

"Katara! I wasn't trying to hurt the Ava-"

"His name is Aang!" Katara snarled as she drew even closer, getting a good grip on the icicle as she prepared to stab him in the heart.

"Aang! I wasn't trying to hurt Aang!" he shouted fearfully while trying desperately to escape his unconventional confinement, but after seeing the determined look in her eyes, he knew that it was no use. And if he was going to die, there was something he had to ask of her before she finished what she started. "I get why you don't believe me, and I understand why you want to kill me. I accept it, but please, before you do, can you promise me something?"

"Oh, I already made you a promise, Zuko," Katara told him not-so regretfully, anger burning heavily in her eyes as she remembered the look on Aang's face when Zuko's fire whip had burned him. "And I have every intention of keeping it."

"I know, I know," Zuko tried to plead with her. "I'm not going to fight it anymore, but before you do what you came here to do, can you please just do me a favor?"

Katara growled a little as she held the dagger up to his face. "This better not be a trick, Zuko."

"It's not," he promised. "What I'm asking has nothing to do with me. Nothing that will save me, anyway," he amended as he saw a look of pure doubt cross onto her face.

"Then what do you want?"

Zuko took a deep breath, feeling his fear at an all time high, but he knew that he needed to ask this last thing before he would allow himself to meet his end. He wouldn't be able to die of good conscience if she didn't agree to what he was going to ask.

"There's this girl named Mai in the Fire Nation," he began, making Katara raise a brow at him in surprise, but she didn't flinch from holding him by icicle-point. "I… really messed up."

As much as Katara didn't want to admit it, she was curious to hear how he had messed up. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously, not stopping her distrust for him for a second.

Zuko frowned as he was reminded of how he had broken the heart of the girl he loved, but forced himself to focus, knowing that he only had so much time left. "When I came here to join your group, I knew that if I asked her to come with me, she would be labeled as a traitor and that everyone would hate her. So before I left, I wrote her a letter and broke up with her to protect her." Katara's eyes widened a little as she heard this, unbelieving that he actually cared about someone other than himself.

"You... actually wanted to protect her?" she asked in disbelief.

Zuko would have nodded had the icicle not been put right at his throat, so he then opted to say. "I did then and I still do. But I wish I didn't have to hurt her like I did." He took a deep breath and looked up to her with pleading eyes. "Please, I understand there's not really anything that you can do right now, but if you guys win the war and you get the chance, please tell her how sorry I am that I hurt her and how much I love her."

Katara could only stand there in absolute shock as she listened to these words, unbelieving that the man she had called her enemy for what felt like so long was even capable of such words. But, hearing them broke through to her core, and despite her mind's desperate attempts to protect itself, hearing about his sacrifice to protect the girl he loved made her finally let herself admit what she had been attempting to deny in an absurd attempt to spare herself.

So it became a great surprise to Zuko when Katara's face erupted into tears, making him watch in total surprise as she removed the icicle from his throat and unfroze the ice that had been holding him hostage. Then the young girl promptly sank to her knees and continued to cry into her hands, and Zuko could only watch in complete surprise and confusion as tears streamed down her face and her sobs rang throughout the room.

"Um… Katara?" Zuko finally asked after a few moments of just watching her cry. "Are you.. Okay?" he awkwardly asked, not sure what to do in this situation.

Katara continued crying for a few moments, but after managing to pull herself together, she looked up to him and shook her head. "I've been so selfish," she whispered through her fingers, making him look at her in surprise again.

Zuko could only watch as she looked down at her feet, tears still streaming down her face as she refused to look anywhere else. "What do you mean?" he finally asked, making her sigh as she sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"At the invasion, Aang… kissed me," she confessed, taking him by not so much surprise. It had been obvious that the young Avatar had a thing for her, but he had to admit, he was a bit surprised that he had actually done something about it.

"Okay… Why is that a bad thing? After the way you just tried to kill me for hurting him, there's no way that you don't feel the same," Zuko asked in confusion as he scratched his head.

Katara sighed again and glanced away in shame. "Before he kissed me, we were talking about the possibility that he might not come back from fighting your father. I told him to not even think like that. I had nothing but confidence in him that he would be able to defeat him, but when he kissed me, I remembered that he had already died once before."

"Ba Sing Se…"

Nodding miserably, Katara wiped another tear from her face and sighed again. "You told me in those caverns that you lost your mother, too, Zuko. That's the reason why I decided that I could trust you. Assuming that wasn't a lie, you must know how hard it was for me to lose my mother." Zuko didn't say anything, afraid that saying the wrong thing would make her mad at him again. "I love my mother so much. And when she died… it broke me." Wiping another tear away, she forced herself to get through the rest of what she had to say. "But when Aang died in Ba Sing Se… it was worse. When he fell, it felt like I had been falling, too. I spent weeks healing him, almost never leaving his side so I could bring him back to me. And if that wasn't bad enough, once he finally woke up from his coma, he decided that he had to face your father alone because he didn't want anyone else to get hurt. And it broke me, Zuko," she told him with an intensely sad look in her eyes. "I had already lost him once, and then I lost him again when he flew off on his own, but when he reminded me that he might not make it back alive right before what was supposed to be the most important battle of our lives?" She took a deep breath and let it out. "I lost it, Zuko."

"What do you mean?"

Katara frowned at herself as she stared down at the ground, thinking about all that had happened over the last year. "When I found out that he felt the same, I got so scared that he wouldn't come back that I doubted whether I actually loved him or not. Now I know that it was because I was trying to protect myself in case he didn't come back from the fight with your father, but you know what, Zuko? I would have lost it whether I had allowed myself to admit that I loved him or not. Because I do. I love him."

Zuko was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. This was the most emotionally charged conversation he had ever been in, which was pretty sad considering that it wasn't with his family or the girl he loved. But, after seeing her staring down gloomily at the floor, he decided that it was time for him to say something.

"Okay… Well, if you've figured out what's wrong, why are you so upset?" he asked in even more confusion.

"Because I've been selfish, Zuko. You broke up with your girlfriend, knowing that she was going to hate you for it just to protect her, but I was probably going to hurt Aang trying to protect myself," she told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How could I have been so selfish? What if he had died on the day of the invasion and I never told him how I felt?" She looked down at her feet and hugged her knees again. "I'm such a horrible person."

To both of their surprise, Aang stepped out from around the corner, not hesitating to move over to Katara and wrap her in a hug as she just sat there in shock that he had likely heard everything. She just hoped that he wouldn't yell at her too much for being so selfish.

But, she supposed she should have known that he wasn't going to yell at her. "I heard everything, Katara. And I promise, you're not a horrible person. I understand why you got scared. It's only natural that we want some part of us to survive. How could I blame you for that?"

"You could blame me for almost hurting you because I was being selfish," she argued, fresh tears streaming down her eyes as she shivered as his hands moved gently up and down her back in a soothing manner. "I've been hurt so much. I was so afraid of losing you that I let myself doubt whether I loved you or not, just so I could possibly survive if you didn't come back. If you had died on the day of the invasion, you would never have known how I feel."

"Katara, it's okay," Aang assured her as he continued trying to calm her down. "I understand. You've been through a lot, Katara. You've lost so much because of the war, and you were afraid that losing me would make you completely lose it. There's nothing to be sorry for, Katara." Pulling away from the hug, he took her face in his hands and forced her to meet his eyes. "I love you, Katara. Nothing you could say or do would ever change that. The important thing is that we're here right now. So please, just don't blame yourself, okay?"

Feeling fresh tears stream down her face as her heart was overwhelmed with a surge of love, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely, taking him by surprise as he blinked for a few moments before he finally melted into the kiss. Sure, this was what he had always wanted, but he had a strong feeling that he would be surprised every time she kissed him for a while.

After a few moments of them kissing and Zuko trying not to ruin their moment and looking away, the two finally pulled apart and looked at each other. Noticing that Katara still had tears on her face, he gently used his thumbs to wipe them away, making her lean into touch as she enjoyed his soft caress.

"Just please, come back to me after you defeat the Firelord, Aang. Please," she almost begged in a whisper, making him smile a little.

"I promise, Katara, I'll do whatever it takes to get back to you, okay?" After a moment of silence, she nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly, feeling relieved that he wasn't mad at her for almost hurting him.

"Um… Sorry to interrupt your guys' moment, but… Are you going to kill me, or…" Zuko said rather awkwardly, trying not to puke from how mushy the scene in front of him was at the moment.

The two lovers snapped to attention as they remembered that someone else was in the room and pulled away, heavy blushes tinging their cheeks as they glanced away from each other, though they couldn't keep a small amile off their faces.

But, Aang supposed he did have a point, as apparently Katara had made a promise. Looking at her, she looked between him and then the man she had wanted to kill, then back to the young man she loved before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. "No, I won't kill you. But I still don't trust you," she warned. "I'll let you off with this one, but if you hurt him again, I don't know if I'll be able to hold myself back."

"Fair enough," Zuko agreed, making a mental note to not do anymore nighttime practice before he brushed himself off and prepared to leave, but Katara's voice stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Zuko. I know that I was a little extreme by trying to kill you, but… I love Aang so much," she confessed as she looked at her love with a smile. "I don't want to lose him."

Zuko frowned a little as he heard this, being reminded of what he had sacrificed to fulfill his destiny, but he knew that it had to be done. No matter how hard it was at the moment. "It's fine, Katara. I understand. I promise, I'm not here to hurt him. But, if I do mess up again, I'll let you do what you want to." Walking out the door, he stopped when he heard Katara's voice again.

"Thank you for helping me figure out that I wasn't really confused," Katara told him with a smile before taking Aang's hand in hers and leaning against him, feeling his arm wrap around her and bring her close. Zuko just smiled back at them, happy to see that the two had figured things out. Giving them a wave goodnight, he then walked back to his room and prepared himself to go to sleep again. And though he was still quite scared of the young waterbender who had almost killed him that night, he felt better knowing that she had likely been calmed down by the new couple working out their issues.

And seeing them together gave him hope for Mai. If they all made it through this war, if they won and he was given the chance to talk to her again, then he would do what Katara did and apologize and tell her that he loved her, or as they both preferred to call it, that he didn't hate her. Smiling at the memory, he lay back down in his bed and closed his eyes, the hope of a better future with the girl he loved filling him as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.