A/N: OMIGOD I am so so so so so so so sorry!

You guys have been waiting for another chapter, haven't you? Well…usually I don't write during the school year…I should've warned you guys about that, huh? My fault, my fault entirely. Anyway…sorry for the hold up! Here's your late Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa present and early New Years present!

Oh and I noticed that I haven't named the fourth chapter yet. So it just says "Chapter 4". How embarrassing.

Katara's POV

I woke up to find myself in the same clothes I wore last night. Great. I forgot to change.

What had my Gran Gran always scolded me about? "Never wear your clothes to sleep! If you do, they'll get all wrinkled!"

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Remembering my family always helped sooth my nerves in a new and strange place. At least they were happy and safe. I couldn't say the same about myself.

I stretched and glanced briefly at my window. I could see rays of early afternoon sunlight peaking out from behind my curtain, and I realized I had slept in. That's hardly anything I can be held responsible for, since I did go to sleep at midnight the other day.

Suddenly, the past night's memories flashed through my head. They were fuzzy, as if they were stored in the farthest corners of my mind. It took a while to gather all of the details and put them together in the correct order. I recounted the events in my head. It was sort of frustrating because nothing was clear or vivid. It was like just waking up and trying to remember a dream.

At least nothing very important stood out. Except…

The smallest detail I remembered from the previous night hit me square in the chest, and I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Then I seemed to lose control of the beating of my heart, which was now rather erratic.

What I had remembered was myself, limp as a rag doll, stumbling beside Zuko, his arm around my waist, half-carrying and half-guiding me. What's worse was my head was on his shoulder. I groaned and my face fell into my hands.

How could I have been so weak? Somewhere in the very back of my mind argued that I was half asleep and I needed his help to carry me back to my bed. That part of my mind was one that held my dignity, my resolve, and my pride. Now it was faint, as if I was hearing it from the other end of a very long tunnel. I knew that was only half of the reason I let him carry me.

The other half of my mind…well, more than half, shouted the truth.

I am clearly, absolutely, undoubtedly, falling for the Prince. Prince Zuko.

My cheeks felt hot as I quickly changed into more casual clothes, and went into the bathroom to brush my tangled hair. I violently pulled the brush through my hair, thinking about what a fool I was last night. My cheeks burned an even brighter red as I remembered thanking him for his help. What a weak, lovesick idiot I had become.

On the bright side, last night's events gave me more reason to leave this terrible place. I needed to leave before I completely fell for him.

I started to brush a little more gently after I realized I was ripping out a lot of hair, not that it mattered, it was so thick anyway. My hair reminded me of what the noblewomen had said about my appearance last night. Even just thinking about it caused a dull ache in my chest. I hurriedly pushed that thought away to avoid more pain.

I decided I would tell Zuko and his family that I was leaving at breakfast. I nodded to myself in the mirror partially to assure myself that leaving was what I wanted, and partially to remind myself that there was no turning back.

I heard a knock at the door, and quickly finished brushing.

I opened the door, and Rai immediately bowed and handed me a letter.

"Mail, for you!" He said, smiling.

His smile immediately made me smile back. I couldn't help it. He just carried around an aura of cheeriness wherever he went.

"Thanks," I said, making a mental note to read it later.

"No problem. Oh, and I've been ordered to inform you that the royal family is waiting for you to attend breakfast and to remind you sternly that breakfast had started half an hour ago."

I panicked. I hadn't realized I was so late. "Oh, okay…" I quickly dropped the letter onto the desk, stepped outside, closed the door and hurried away, giving a quick wave to Rai.

"Katara!" He called.

I stopped to look back at him.

"The dining room is the other way."

"Right…On second thought…can you lead me there?" I asked.

He laughed. "Sure."

Zuko's POV

My uncle was driving me insane. He wouldn't stop grinning and winking at me the whole morning. Luckily, no one else noticed this except for me, and if they did, they didn't say anything, which is not unusual for my family. My sister sat across from me, examining her extremely long fingernails. I swear she sharpens them just so she can murder me at night. That's why I trained myself to sleep very lightly. However, when I bring up this issue to my parents…well, my mom anyway…she laughs and tells me that there's nothing to be worried about, which tells me she knows absolutely nothing about her daughter.

Ozai

was currently at a meeting, so he wasn't going to join us for breakfast. I wondered again for the tenth time that day why Katara was late for breakfast. Just as I was thinking that, I heard laughter, and then Katara and Rai stepped through the door. Rai bowed dramatically, Katara giggled, and he left with a smile. I examined her carefully, with questioning eyes, but she refused to meet my gaze. I felt jealousy bubbling in the pit of my stomach. Why couldn't I make her laugh like that?

"Making friends with a servant…" Azula drawled, her attention still on her fingernails. "How delightful."

I shot her a glare, because that "servant" happened to be my closest friend. Katara said nothing, but I saw her gaze harden. Breakfast was just served, and boy was I starving. We usually didn't eat breakfast this late, but since Katara insisted on being late.

"Oh and by the way…You're late," Azula so cleverly pointed out.

"Azula…" My mother said, her voice had a warning tone in it.

Azula looked up from her fingernails, only to give my mother the hugest, fakest innocent smile I've ever seen. "I was only informing our guest that breakfast usually starts earlier, so she won't make the same mistake again, mother! Obviously she wasn't very well informed."

My mom's gaze remained expressionless, but I saw her jaw clench. She looked like she was about to say something, but the servants came in just in time, their arms full of breakfast dishes.

Of course, I barely got to enjoy any of my breakfast because I spent most of my time trying to get Katara's attention, but she was unwilling to even glance at me. After a while, I gave up in frustration.

Apparently, my mom noticed my wasted efforts, because she gave me a slightly pitiful, slightly encouraging smile. My face grew warm.

"Uhm…I have something to say…" Katara began nervously, looking at my mother for permission to continue.

She smiled and nodded, signaling for her to go on.

"I…I feel that…I…I don't want to…um…I'm sorry but…"

"Oh just spit it out…" Azula mumbled.

I glared at her. Why can't she just pretend to be nice once in a while?

"I quit." Katara suddenly said, looking down, as if she was ashamed.

I stared at her in shock. Suddenly I was glad Ozai wasn't here, or he would've exploded.

"But…why? We need you here, Katara," My mom said. She looked as thrown off as I was.

"Well…because…" She stammered. She continued to stare intensely at the floor, like she wanted desperately to burn a hole through it and escape. "I…I'm done with breakfast…I'll just go back to my room…" She started to get up.

I gave my mom a pleading look, begging her to do something.

However, it wasn't my mom who saved us, it was my uncle. He said, "We'll pay you extra."

She stopped in her tracks.

"30 extra gold pieces if you stay." We all gawked at him, even Azula. He'd been so quiet this whole time, I almost forgot he was there.

"I'll….I'll…" She swallowed. "I'll think about it." But before we could say anything else, she ran off.

After a moment of stunned silence, my loving sister spoke up. "Well…you sure did hire a dependable pianist, didn't you, Zuzu?"

"Shut up, Azula."

Katara's POV

I ran down the hallways, turning every which way until I was lost and out of breath. I pressed my back to the cold, hard, red stone wall and slid down.

Thirty gold pieces? I thought to myself. That's almost undeniable. I have to stay. My family can live off thirty gold pieces for…for a while! We can pay our debts…Dad can finally take a day off…and we can visit the otter penguins like we used to…

I sighed. I needed to think this over. I mean, how selfish would I be to turn down thirty gold pieces when my family was obviously in need?

I heard guards down the hall approaching. I didn't want them to haul me back to the breakfast room. No, I definitely did not need that. In a panic, I opened the nearest door and slid inside. Just by chance, I happened to end up in my room.

I sat down by the chair near the desk and picked up the unopened letter. I tore it open in frustration. When I realized it was from my brother, I handled it with a little more care. I took out the letter. It read:

Dearest Katara,

I had the tiniest urge to laugh. Sokka always made his letters so formal when I stayed at fancy places like this one.

I am deeply sorry to inform you that our beloved father has fallen very ill.

The dull ache in my chest returned, however this time it wasn't dull, it was sharp. My dad…ill? This was so shocking to me because my dad was always the picture of health to me, and he was the strongest person I knew. So how could my dad…be sick?

The healers say it will take a while for him to recover; more than a few weeks. They tried everything, from magical herbs to all different kinds of medicine. Nothing worked. Right now he's really pale and weak. He's just lying on his bed, and once when he woke up, he looked at me as if he didn't recognize who I was. He sweats a lot, too, even though he's really cold. I really wish you were here. You would know how to heal him. You were always good at that. I'm not.

My heart stopped beating for a moment. Whenever my brother writes "I really wish you were here", he really means he's terrified. Sokka never admits he's scared.

He had to take a month off from his job and is currently unable to support us. We are in urgent need of money. I apologize this letter to you wasn't what you normally expect, but our situation is very serious, and I, unfortunately, cannot support our family. I have skipped a few days of school to attend to our ailing father. Our money is running very low, so I beg of you to send more soon.

Love,

Sokka

I felt like crying. My dad never got sick. Even when Sokka and I both got a highly contagious disease, my dad never got contaminated, even after he ignored the healers and insisted on caring for us day and night. And what's worse, he didn't get a minor cold. No, no small disease would have the power to infect my dad. I was sure of it. He must be really sick, too, if he's willing to stay home instead of work. He always works because he knows we need the money, and when I got a job as a professional pianist, he and I shared the responsibility of taking care of our family.

But now it was just me. I had a terribly strong desire to flee back home, to make sure dad was alright. Plus, Sokka was right. He could never heal anything. I, on the other hand, could heal almost everything. My mom always said that my healing skills were so good, that I could bring back the dead if I wanted to. I knew she was joking, but she always said it with a twinkle in her eye, like she knew something I didn't. Anyway, my healing skills weren't as good as she thought, because I wasn't able to heal her.

I fought down the urge to go back home, because I know I'd be the most helpful if I stayed here. Even if I did go back home, I probably wouldn't make it back in time. I sighed and looked out my window. In the bright blue afternoon sky, there was a crescent shaped moon. I made a silent prayer to the moon goddess. Please. Make sure my dad is okay.

As soon as I finished all that. I left my room. I had to tell the royal family that I accept their offer of thirty extra gold pieces. To be paid in advance, of course. I needed that money as quick as possible.

I closed the door to my room and thought, Apparently I have to stay. After all, fate didn't really give me a choice.

A/N: Oh, and to those of you wondering if Aang will be in this story, the answer is NO. I don't really know how to fit him in…sorry!

Oh and just a heads up for next time: I probably won't update for a while. Maybe during spring break, maybe during the weekends when I have time. MAYBE. I'm so sorry but I'm so much busier this year.

Don't forget to review if you liked it! I always love your reviews.