Prince Zuko weakly opened his eyes to see Katara standing before him and Aang, ceasing the line of fire and blinked. Stop? Why? He was not nearly ready to stop. He wasn't going to let her go... Ever... "But Katara--"
She looked at him and glared. It wasn't purposely meant to hurt his feelings, but it did. "Zuko... I need to go with Aang."
Zuko scowled. Anger and resentment boiled inside, and it took every ounce of effort to not go off about it. "...FINE. GO," he barked.
Aang raised an eyebrow, still skeptical of Zuko. When nothing more was said, Aang looked to Katara and Sokka and said simply, "C'mon. Let's go." He walked over to Appa, with Sokka silently following.
Katara took one last look at Zuko, then turned to leave. "...Katara..." he whispered. She barely heard him, and she looked over her shoulder. He was standing there, looking at her. The look in his eyes made her nervous. "...I love you..." he continued, speaking quieter this time. Katara turned back around.
"...What?" she asked, telling herself that she didn't make out what he said.
"I love you..." he said a bit louder, but still quiet enough for no one else to hear. His eyes softened, hoping she would beleive him.
Katara shook her head in disbeleif. "No..." He couldn't. It would never happen. It would never work. Sokka, Aang... They wouldn't understand. No.
"Yes." Zuko assured her.
She backed away, still shaking her head. "...No..." She then turned back around and dashed to Appa.
In moments, they were gone. They had disappeared into the distant clouds. Prince Zuko looked up sadly.
By this time, Iroh had finally gathered a few soldiers after drinking a last-minute cup of tea. "...Where is he?" he asked. "Where did the Avatar go?"
Zuko refused to turn around. "He left... He left with her. She left..."
Katara regretfully looked over the back of Appa's saddle. Zuko's ship quickly disappeared from view. "Out of sight, out of mind..." she whispered to herself. But that wasn't true. Zuko's words still rang in her mind:
I love you.
Even after all of that had happened, it couldn't have been. Not in those few days. After all of that, Katara could only imagine a small friendship to form. But love? No. She denied her own thoughts, drowned them with doubt.
Back on Prince Zuko's ship, Iroh still couldn't beleive what he heard. "You couldn't keep them here long enough for me to gather up the men?"
"Yes." Zuko said. "But..."
"But what?"
"Uncle, do you know the man who said, 'If you love something, set it free'?"
"Umm... No..."
"Well, find out for me. And throw them in the dungeon."
From just that comment, Zuko expressed several emotions. Pain, anger, regret.
That night, they both looked up at the full moon, both wondering if the other was thinking of them, and looking up at that moon.