A/N: So life has been exceptionally life-like, and the struggle has been exceptionally real and persistent. Thank you for every review, you all give me life and inspiration the will to keep writing and I am so grateful :)

I don't own A:TLA, but I did recently buy the boxset on sale at Best Buy so at least I have that going for me.

Enjoy!

"Twinkletoes?"

Silence.

"Oh, are we still doing this?"

…Silence. An unseen shrug.

"I'm assuming you did some type of subtle upper body movement? Blind, remember?"

"Leave me alone, Toph. Please."

A dirt crusted toe poked an orange clothed spine as the girl towered over the sitting monk.

"Come on, Aang. You're going to have to let it go eventually."

A huff of air.

"Did your shoulders slump? They definitely should have slumped, but I have no way of knowing, because I am blind, you doofus."

He muttered into his crossed arms, resting fitfully on his raised knees.

"I'm not a doofus."

The amount of sulk permeating the air was enough to make her gag, but she was a classy girl. She had finesse.

"Fine. In that case, quit acting so convincingly like a doofus, and tell me what the big deal is already."

"You guys are keeping secrets!"

"Is that really the issue? My feet feel like you already know the secret even if you're being too pouty to admit it."

The monk's spine stiffened, and the changing vibrations of his mood became almost uncomfortable to Toph's bare feet.

"Ah, so you don't know."

Silence. Again. Spirits, help her, this was going to be a long day.

She plopped down, exasperated, next to her loveably annoying friend, and prepared to have one of the long and drawn out discussions that she could have sworn she had escaped when running away nearly two years ago. Well, tried to escape, if nothing else.

"Okay, Twinkletoes. No more secrets? Fine. Let's talk. First thing's first, you messed up things with Katara, and just because we saved the world, doesn't give you a free pass-"

"But I-"

"Don't interrupt! Keep in mind that this is Sugar Queen we're talking about, not a rabid Platypus Bear. Keep exactly that in mind when you suck it up and apologize to said Sugar Queen, because we are going to the Fire Nation, and that is that! As far as... the other thing, you don't need to worry about that just yet. Just trust us, yeah?"

"I do trust you… sort of, and I get that part, Toph. The apologizing, I mean, not whatever crazy scheme you all are trying to pull that will definitely backfire, but… I know how I acted was wrong, and then running away made it even worse!"

The earthbender heard a rustle of fabric that one could only assume were hands being thrown in the air in exasperation.

"Now I don't know how to even begin to tell her how sorry I am."

The boy took a moment to run both hands down his tired face before nodding his head, turning to his friend with a timid resolve.

"The apologizing is as good as place as any to start, right? Terrific, Toph. Splendid."

She felt the stirrings of hope, and even made to smile, before he shattered everything in one fell swoop.

"… But, I really, really, really don't think-"

Long day, indeed.

The next three hours included the benefits and possible discourse resulting from a written apology, followed by endless excuses of the need for peacemaking in the Earth Kingdom settlements, followed in turn by "Toph, please, listen to reason!"

She would not be swayed. He, however, had been stuck under a large boulder for a solid seven minutes before finally relenting to the fearsome Melon Lord.

Needless to say, the journey toward Kyoshi Island to meet up with Sokka and Suki would begin in no time.

Questionable, he decided.

"Zuko, this isn't going to work unless you stop squirming!"

Yes, his decision making skills were definitely questionable.

It'll be fun, she said.

"It will be great, I swear!"

"Please, Zuko?"

This is… not how he thought this evening was going to go.

Nimble fingers traced through the Fire Lord's hair as he leafed through some document or another. The words had long since started bleeding together, sure, but it was a much needed distraction.

Zuko was grasping straws at this point, desperately trying to avoid the stubborn blush creeping up his neck and, Agni forbid, very visible ears.

Was the sensation bad? No, definitely not.

Mortifying and inducing in him the urge to crawl under a rock, yes, but bad? Nope. It was nice, even. Comfortable. Katara's hand were smooth, and cool, which, of course they were.

She busied herself with humming an unfamiliar tune lowly, peaceful as can be, while his mind stormed off to maximum overdrive.

He had never been one for long stretches of conversation. 'Social Situations' may have tended to make him 'uncomfortable' if the opinion of 'Some People' could be taken into account.

Long stretches of silence, on the other hand, tended to make him just as, if not more, uncomfortable. Fidgety, in some cases. It interested him that the soft lilt of her murmur voice seemed to find a place in the peaceful in-between. He wanted to fidget. He did not, however, have any desire to move away.

Jeez, what a wreck. I'm pathetic.

"What's with the slumping, Sparky? I'm almost done. Don't blame me if your bad posture makes you stiff after this, either."

A beat.

She snorted at her own unintended innuendo.

"I don't know what's worse; my posture, or your awful sense of humor."

He crossed his arms smugly, before wincing as his wit earned him a soft tug on an ebony lock of hair.

"You know what, I think hair loopies would suit the mighty Fire Lord, after all."

"Oh, no you don't!"

He reached, lightning fast, and grasped her hands, turning towards her to prevent any eminent humiliation of the hair loopy variety, and completely abandoning his sheets of parchment.

The girl laughed from her perch on the couch, making no move to escape his grip, but doubling over in the efforts of containing her giggles. He made no such move, either, not-so absent mindedly running a calloused thumb over her still smooth and still cool hands.

The laughter promptly ended. Her fingers tentatively, softly, curled around his own.

Were those her hands trembling, or his? He couldn't be sure. The young man could scarcely recall the ability to breathe, at that point.

"Zuko?"

His gaze reluctantly drifted from their joined hands up, and when did she get so close? There was something in her eyes. Not fear. Something. He wondered if she saw the same thing when looking into his own. He took a deep, calming breath, and exhaled carefully.

"Katara, I-"

A crisp, insistent knock on the door permeated throughout the room, accompanied by a clipped announcement of dinner being served shortly by a frazzled sounding maid.

Their hands had instinctively jolted apart, holding the same clawed position, but now inches away. Too far, for his liking.

Zuko dropped his head, utterly defeated and embarrassed, on Katara's knees. He sighed softly as her hands softly came to rest atop his mane. Unmoving, but there. She let out a steady breath, faltering only a bit toward the end.

Absolute. Wreck.

He would leave the next move up to her. If her hand remained still for the next five seconds, the Fire Lord would take it as a sign of discomfort and wax apologies until the sun set or until Sozin's Comet reappeared, or-

Katara's hand began gently carding through his locks, in slow and measured strokes, lengthening after each successive pass until she was spanning from crown to the very nape of his neck. He presumed she had started out by undoing whatever intricate braid she had first conceived and moved on from there.

It was definitely him trembling, now.

Not completely sure what to do with his hands, and terrified of spooking the Waterbender above him, he let them rest on either side of her thighs. Close enough to feel the warmth of her, but not necessarily touching.

Zuko let her continue her ministrations until she once again pulled lightly on a strand of his hair, signaling him to slowly lift his head. She managed an only somewhat nervous chuckle before nodding briefly toward the door.

"We should – um. Dinner?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Yes."

They remained still.

She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip before reaching out to tug once more on a stubborn lock of hair near his unmarred eye and shakily rising to a stand. He could only look up at her, eyes wide and hopeful, and oh, man, was he pathetic.

"Are we going to leave anytime soon, or are you going to just gawk at me?"

He barked out a laugh, despite himself, and stood as well, unintentionally crowding her space before taking a careful step back.

"I may have been facing towards you by coincidence, but I can assure you, my mind was completely focused on the image of Komodo Chicken waiting for me."

The Waterbender's jaw dropped in a mock-affronted scoff before she turned on her heel and headed toward what he could only presume was the dining area. The small grin on her features, however, did not go unnoticed.

Zuko shook his head slightly before making to follow after her.

He had a feeling he would be doing that a lot in the near future.

A/N: Thank you for reading:)