A/N: GAH! I am so, so, sorry everyone! This is exactly the reason why I should never attempt to write multi-chaptered fanfics; it takes forever for me to update them! (hides her head with a paper bag) But seeing that I've delved into the seventh chapter (or sixth if you don't include the prologue) I'm ecstatic that I got this far already! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I definitely wouldn't have gotten this far without your encouragement!

Sincerely, DF

Chapter Six

The trouble with Princess Yue

If one looked up the word "content" in a dictionary, one would find an illustration of Princess Yue. No one in the water tribes was as sated, pacified, or easy-going as this female. From her luxurious white hair, her white-tipped fingernails, all the way down to her delicate human toes – she was the image of perfection and happiness. When she visited her people of the sea, she always took care to lift her robes just enough so the water would splash upon them, before her slender legs glowed and became a silvery tail. And when she was the moon, she drifted across the sky so majestically that those selective few who did not know the transfer of celestial duties from one keeper to another could hardly tell the difference.

Well, that is, the moon used to be content.

Sitting in the glowing sphere, watching the world revolve beneath her bare feet, the princess's emotions traversed somewhere from complacent to bored to mundane. From her point of view, nothing was out of order and there were no signs of a runaway meramid. Despite Sokka's insistence that he instruct her on how to find a missing person, Yue quietly suffered through her husband's overeager plan to scour both the land and skies for Katara.

"Sokka dear, don't you think it would be better to search the water first?"

"Yes! Exactly! But one can never be too careful!" and with that, he whipped out a brown thinking cap and started to blow bubbles out of a wooden pipe. Yue sighed heavily. After hearing his plans a second time, she figured it was time to address another pressing concern.

"You won't forget to tell father about your plans, will you?"

"No, not yet – why?"

"You shouldn't keep something like this a secret." Her husband flailed his arms wildly, as if that was the furthest thing from his mind. Honestly, the spontaneous search party for Katara had been all his idea. While Hakoda was patient enough to allow his daughter several more days before her disappearance warranted official action, Yue was with Sokka on the search party. However, she didn't feel it was right not to inform the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

Pouting slightly, Yue turned her head to the side and the sphere answered her whim, turning direction towards the darker part of the ocean where the mainland ended and the islands began.

Truth be told, it's not all that bad, being a mermaid. In fact, it's a lot of fun.

One can swim in the ocean without fear of drowning; you can converse to other mythical beings such as yourselves (although she wouldn't recommend talking to the swamp nymphs, all they did was run around aimlessly, screaming their heads off at some newly formed gas bubble); and one had access to both water and human worlds, granted you had to be old enough and gain your legs first.

Sometimes, without the two-legged spindly creatures knowing, a mermaid or two might decide to satiate their curiosity by visiting a bustling port city, or pay a visit to a small seaside town. Sometimes they wear native clothing, other times they dress so extravagantly that merchants step out of their shops, their jaws hanging open, and stare at the pair of exotic ladies walking down the roads, their elbows linked together in feminine companionship.

Princess Yue always hoped that one day, she could take Katara to the human world, and they could go sightseeing together. Knowing her restless sister-in-law, the underage mermaid constantly put up the front that growing up wasn't such a big deal after all.

Liar.

Katara was one of those girls who had an air of maturity around them by the time they were eight years old (counting by human standards), but secretly held a desire to break the mold and risk it all for the thrill of an adventure. She was a feisty one, for sure. She dedicated herself to helping others, keeping busy with her roles as a daughter of the Southern Water Tribes. But at home, she'd ask Gran-Gran and Sokka all about their adventures to the land above, prodding them with details of how the sky looked like and how it felt to touch something gritty like sand.

It was hard to imagine life without water all around you.

So a younger Yue, regardless of Sokka's constant whining to get his sister off his back, told an even younger Katara what she wanted to know about the world above. It helped that they were sisters-in-law, but they were still best friends. Besides, it was rumoured that the boys on earth weren't so bad looking, after all, even if you were old enough to be their grandmother.

Anyways.

Sixteen the age mermaids became adults. That was when you got your legs.

Sixteen. In human terms.

There were downsides to being a mermaid as well. For one, their method of aging was so convoluted, no one was quite sure how old they were, and how long their life span would be due to the constant intermingling of mermaid, celestial, and human blood in their veins. Over the centuries, more individuals permanently gave up their tails for human legs, and while their native blood ensured a long, healthy life – their children tended to have longer lives that favoured their mythical parent than their human one.

Really, it was a mess. It was so much easier to refer to your age like the humans did.

And to top it all off, the previous moon goddess decided to retire. That had been an event.

"Tui had been the official Keeper of the Moon since the earth had been born," people said. "Tui looks so young. With long, black hair and a face as white as rain, you would never imagine that birthing the Moon was her idea."

After several millenniums of sitting in the glowing sphere and traveling across the sky, the goddess suddenly turned to her partner, La, and told him that she needed to rest and return to the grand palace in the skies where all other spirits stayed once they tired of their earthly contracts. With a nod of his head, he agreed. The next thing the Sun Spirit did was visit the libraries of the Northern Water Tribe, and asked Chief Arnook if he could peruse through the birth registers in the inner palace libraries.

It was one way to keep track of everyone, especially when so many people migrated to the world above.

Handling the aged tomes with delicacy, a pointed finger scrolled through the names of the children born within the past three centuries and came upon Yue's name.

Mermaid on both sides. Grandfather used to serve in the great palace in the skies. Husband's family half human, mostly mermaid on paternal mother's side.

He closed the book and smiled to himself.

And that was how Yue became the Moon Spirit.

So, here she was, sitting in a giant glass lantern that hung in the sky, looking for a missing mermaid. The princess sighed, she seemed to be doing that with alarming frequency the past couple of days, and hoped it wasn't liable to become a habit. It wouldn't do for the earth to have a melancholy moon.

Her blue eyes scanned the globe below. The towns by the seaside were asleep, and the ocean waves held no trace of disturbance.

Really, Sokka. You should have told father about this.

"Two days," the young man promised, holding out the appropriate number of fingers to emphasize the fact. "Two days we'll have all to our own, and then I'll talk to Dad about Katara. Does that sound okay to you, Yue?"

Really, what could she do?

"All right," she nodded as she pushed her chair back and stood up from the table. While she was born a mermaid, it was advantageous to have human legs, too. For example, one didn't have to continuously stir the water around you in order to remain stationary. Swimming or staying still, the tail had to keep moving. After a while, it was tiring.

"Yes!" Sokka jumped up from his seat, hugged her, and gave a quick peck on the cheek before bouncing off to the bedroom before retiring. Sighing heavily, Yue stared at her hands and feet and wondered they would find Katara before the girl's birthday arrived.

Sixteen.

Wait.

How many days has Katara been missing? How many days has Yue been up in the sky now? It was hard to tell, with the constant twinkling of the night sky around her, and considering her duty as the moon, she had to constantly travel in the darkness until her shift was over.

Quickly, Yue counted her fingers.

Oh lord.

Sixteen.

Sokka was going to have a field day.

Towels? Check. Soap? Check. Washcloth? Check. Her medicine? Chec – no.

Zuko's face immediately changed from one of intense concentration to confusion. He had never prepared a bath for anyone before, much less his newfound wife, and he wanted to make sure that everything was all ready for her. Scrounging around on his knees, the fisherman inspected the floor to make sure that he hasn't misplaced the medicinal bottle for Katara's legs. She needed that ointment unless she wanted her brand new human legs to be covered in horrible, itchy welts.

Oh wait. They already were.

Stupid girl, she should have known better than to scratch off her scales.

"Are you almost done, Zuko? I've been waiting forever!"

"Wait a moment!" Pressing two fingers to his nose, he tried to recall where that bottle was. It was rather hopeless; he was always messing up things around her. He had been fine living alone, but with a girl around him, he started to understand the meaning of the word 'awkward.'

"Katara!"

"Yes dear?" The dripping sarcasm wasn't lost on him.

"Do you know where the medicine is?" Her answer came immediately.

"Did you check the bedroom?" Zuko slapped himself on the forehead for forgetting such a simple thing.

"No."

"Oho!" He heard her chortle all the way from the kitchen, where he deposited her after so she could eat something before taking her first bath. "Aren't you the smart one!"

Grumbling, he stood up and brushed of his knees, cursing the former mermaid for ruining his bath and his pants. He had insisted that she take the first turn in the tub in an act of courtesy and to make her feel welcome. She smiled. But since his kind gesture, Katara reverted back to her snarky, irritable self and started scratching at her legs again.

He closed the screen door that separated the bath from the kitchen, and on his way to retrieve the last item for her bath he pointed a finger at the woman and glared her way.

"Don't you dare start scratching."

"Yes mum."

"Don't you mean, 'Yes, my husband?'" Katara rolled her eyes. Really, how could someone so sweet end up so annoyingly hopeless?

Once he was out of sight, she pulled the blanket around her shoulders closer to her body, and with a discreet hand, started to pick at the dry skin on her legs. Knowing he was right about her bad habits, Katara couldn't help but feel the urge to scrub herself clean of the awful accumulation of salt water, tears, grit, and dead skin. Or was that scales? No matter, soon the bath would be ready and she could relax. Besides, she was getting horribly uncomfortable being in the air for far too long, and her naked legs were starting to tingle strangely as if their circulation had been cut off. Water should relieve the problem immediately.

The girl watched with beady eyes as Zuko emerged from the bedroom, pointedly holding the ointment in his right hand, and as he passed her they exchanged haughty looks before he disappeared behind the screen door, arranging the final ingredients for her bath.

He really was a nice guy.

But confusing.

How was it that someone who had such good intentions, who didn't flinch at the sight of a supposed mythical being, be so impossible to spend the night with? One moment they were getting along fine, flicking rice at each other and laughing, when the mood would suddenly change and she no longer knew how to proceed.

It felt like she had just swum between two different currents of hot and cold. Friendly one morning, awkward the next, and downright incorrigible when making baths.

Really. He was the human here, and he still couldn't remember everything he needed? Biting her lower lip, Katara placed a hand under her chin and thought critically. Forgetfulness was a bad trait in a lifelong partner, and communication was the key to all relationships.

She wondered if Yue ever had this problem with Sokka. That idea was added to the list with all the other things the former mermaid positively had to ask once when managed to secure a contact with her best friend. Let's see, there was the marriage issue, the legs issue, and now this.

As the girl continued to ponder deeply into her future and wondered how her father would handle a human son-in-law that he had never met, Zuko's overeager voice interrupted her well-meaning thoughts.

"Katara! The bath is ready!"

"Hm." How should she approach the subject with Aang?

"Katara!"

"Yeah, give me a moment!"

There were a lot of "if's" in her life right now. So many questions, and the only person who could really answer them for her was most likely hanging about in the sky right now. The girl sighed. Going home wasn't in her list of options at the moment, so she would have to find another way to contact her family. The extent of her knowledge was limited since she had never contacted anyone outside of her native world world, and she didn't feel confident enough to start asking random villagers if they had seen walking mermaids. That was just ridiculous.

How… how….

"KATARA!" The screen door swung open and Zuko stood in the middle, his shoulders slightly hunched in a posture of the exasperated, and his eyes bugging out like crazy. Was she always going to be this difficult to communicate with?

"WHAT!" she barked.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR TEN MINUTES!"

Katara felt the heat climb up her neck and cover her face with a large blotch of red. Oh dear, this was yet another moment in their awkward life as newlyweds, wasn't it? Pulling the edges of the blanket around her a little more to hide her embarrassment, she swallowed her pride and uttered a syllable of recognition.

"Oh." His eye brows shot up high into his hairline, and Katara immediately came to the conclusion that this fisherman was not the same person she had initially met at the cave before this all happened. He was more animated, livelier, and if she was correct, horribly embarrassed by the whole situation which led to his exaggerated emotions.

How did she know? Katara knew because she was experiencing those same emotions, too.

"All right," she uttered at long last, squaring her shoulders and waiting for her fisherman to pick her up into his arms. They both knew that she was unable to walk. She hadn't tried it yet. "Well, aren't you going to carry me across the threshold or something like that?"

"I think it's a little late for that."

"Then carry me," she insisted. If he wanted to get a bath, then he had to wait until she finished hers first.

"Why should I do that?" The corners of his mouth turned up as Zuko leaned against the door frame, his body angled in a manner that exposed his lean stomach, and smirked. His strangely aloof manner registered a word in her mind (Oh, that's a flirt!), before he turned his gaze away and buried his face into the crook of his arm.

Wait.

What?

WHAT?

Did Zuko just pass a glance at her? Did the girl-conscious fisherman just attempt to flirt with her?!

The world must be ending.

As Katara's mouth opened in disbelief and her already distressed mind tried to come to terms with this new advancement in their relationship, Zuko immediately regretted his spontaneous decision to act suave towards his new wife. Perhaps his delivery didn't come across as he hoped, because he was sure, despite what the guys at the village tried to plant into his bachelor-minded brain, that a girl's reaction should be one of absolutely confusion. As soon as he had the phrase, his body flared up and he had to turn away from her, hoping to expire from mortification.

Besides, Katara's stink-face wasn't doing wonders to his fast-sinking confidence either. It was a fact: he was hopeless with women.

"Um, okay." Finally managing to sort her thoughts into some sort of semblance, Katara forced a smile upon her lips and eyed the hiding fisherman standing in the doorway. "I – I think I'm ready for that bath, Zuko."

He turned his head in her direction and their auras immediately caught onto each other – the air surrounding them sparked with electricity, and they both had to stare at the ground and stubbornly pretend that their blooming relationship hadn't taken a turn for the worse and both were acutely self-conscious about the other.

"Okay, Zuko. I'm ready for my bath."

"Sure." Without thinking, he spluttered, "Can you walk?" She shook her head vigorously, inwardly cringing at the thought that he would have to lay his hands on her. Awkward, she could deal with. Amorous - not so much.

Keeping his eyes turned down, Zuko knelt beside her and slipped one hand underneath her knees while the other supported her back. Thankfully, she clutched the blanket around her body to keep her decency – and then it struck him.

He almost dropped her.

"Ah – sorry." Gathering her closer to his chest, Zuko teetered on his heels for two seconds before taking a step forward in the direction of the bath. They were both silent.

Katara had adapted to her new life already. She was using clothing as protection.

Katara. Who relished the freedom of nakedness and wished to expose her small breasts to the world, was now trying to make herself as small as possible in his arms.

And with this surprising revelation whirring in his mind like an overexcited gnat, Zuko wasn't sure if he liked the idea that his formerly wild mermaid was becoming tame so soon.

Hot and cold.

Back and forth.

Were they ever going to understand each other?