Disclaimer: Neither Avatar: the Last Airbender nor its characters belong to me, nor will they ever

Katara ate. She slept. She moved through her waterbending practices rotely. She could sense Zuko watching her, so for his sake, she only cried when she was alone in the tub. She did not want him seeing her so weak again. But when she finished bathing, she wiped her face and resolved not to cry until her next bath. It was this routine that kept her together, kept her functioning.

Zuko had cancelled his council meetings for the week, which made things worse. He was around all the time, watching her, asking if she needed anything. Worse still, he had barely touched her apart from the occasional chaste kiss.

She was damaged. Broken. She knew it. He knew it. And it was only a matter of time before everyone else knew it, too, when she could not do the one thing she, as a woman, was supposed to be able to do.

Exhausted, she wiped her face before getting out of the tub and drying off, bending every last drop of water from her hair and body before wrapping herself in a silk robe. She methodically brushed her hair before braiding it out of her face. At least her coloring had returned to normal over the last week, and she no longer looked sallow and sickly.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was annoyed to find Zuko sitting on the edge of their bed, still dressed, apparently waiting for her. She was getting tired of his hovering, acting like she was one short moment away from some sort of breakdown.

"Katara, will you come here for a moment?" he asked.

Quietly, she obeyed, and he placed his hands on her hips to pull her between his bent knees. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she said, biting her tongue.

He raised his hand to stroke her cheek, and despite herself, she found herself leaning into his warm touch. "It is a full moon tonight. I thought we might sit outside for awhile."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

He nodded.

"All right. Let me get dressed."

After she had dressed, he took her hand and led her through the quiet halls of the palace until they had arrived at one of the courtyards. Their private courtyard, the one he had shown her when she first came to live here and told her reminded him of his mother. She was surprised when he led her to a blanket that had been spread over the grass, and even more surprised when he lay down and motioned for her to join him. She settled on the blanket, resting her head on his shoulder. The courtyard was quiet. Peaceful. With the full moon, it was well-lit, and she could hear the babbling of the pond and the wind hustling the leaves in the trees.

"This is nice. Thank you," she told him, resting her hand on his chest.

He did not reply, but his arm came around her and he stroked her back gently.

"Are...are you all right, Zuko?"

He was quiet for a moment before he answered, "What do you mean?"

She hesitated. "I mean...about what I told you. About what happened."

"No, I am not all right." She stiffened in his arms before he continued, "I am worried about you."

"Oh. Why?"

"'Why'?" He turned onto his side to look at her. "Because you went through something incredibly painful and traumatic, Karara, and you went through it alone."

"Oh. You...you're not upset with me for losing the baby?"

At first, he did not react to her question, and she started to wonder if he had heard her. Then, quietly, his eyes on hers, he asked, "Is that what you're worried about?"

"Well, yes."

He lay back down. "I'm not upset with you, Katara. I'm sorry I made you feel that I was. I'm worried about you. About how you are feeling. Your well-being."

He shifted suddenly, pressing his body against hers and bringing his hand up to grip her jaw. "Am I sorry you lost the baby? Yes, of course. But all I care about is you, Katara. That you are well. That you are alive. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you, and I hate that you were even hurt this way. We are partners. Your pain is my pain. Do you understand that?" Katara's eyes filled with tears as he pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"I missed you," she admitted quietly.

"I missed you, too."

"Then why haven't you touched or-or kissed me since you've been back?"

She had barely asked the question before his lips pressed to hers. His fingers threaded through her hair and pulled her against him, and as he kissed her, her tears slid down her face.

"Katara," he groaned as he moved to kiss her tears away. "I was afraid of pushing or hurting you. And I don't want you to think I'm in a rush to try for another, because I'm not. We can wait."

She nodded, relieved. "I know we need to have one soon, but I—I'm not ready."

He rolled onto his back, pulling her into his arms, and she tucked her face into his neck. "Whatever you need, Katara."

Every moment she spent with him, he surprised her.

"What do you need, Katara? Whatever it is—even if it seems impossible—tell me," he insisted.

She sighed and shuddered against him. "I wish my mom was here," she admitted quietly. "I miss her so much. And I wish I had not lost the baby. If I hadn't, it would have been less than a year younger than Sokka's."

His arms tightened around her. She knew she was wishing for impossible things, but voicing her feelings was helping.

"Do you want to invite them here? Your family? When it's safe enough for them to travel with the baby?"

She looked down at him. "Really?"

"Of course. Your family is always welcome here."

Katara hesitated. "I'll think about it."

There were multiple reasons she did not want to invite her family at the moment. One, she did not want them to know about the baby, and she would not be able to hide her grieving from them. Two, while she was happy for her brother and Suki, she was worried about what spending time with their new baby would do to her still healing heart.

But a few weeks later, with Zuko's support and encouragement, she wrote to both Sokka and Toph inviting them for a visit. However, before she had the chance to dispatch her correspondence, Zuko called her to his office. He was sitting at his desk behind a pile of papers, and he looked tired but pleased.

"Katara," he started, "there's something I need to discuss with you."

"Oh?" she said hesitantly.

"Yes. A few months ago, I sent some of my men—Firebenders who specialize in construction and welding—to help an ally with rebuilding efforts. But I've gotten some recent reports that their efforts have been halted, mostly due to disagreements with local builders."

She sat in one of the empty chairs across from him. "So, what, are you going there to try to mediate?" She asked, her heart sinking. He was leaving again.

"Yes. And due to the recency and delicacy of this alliance, I've spoken with some of my top advisors, and they have agreed that it is in the Fire Nation's best interest for you to accompany me. If you want to, of course."

She sat up straighter. "You mean, I get to go with you? But—what about the contract?"

"We discussed that and decided the contract was...lacking sufficient specifics in that clause. Additionally, it is standard for the Fire Lady to be able to leave the Fire Nation in case of a state of emergency, and if this alliance crumbles, there will be a state of emergency. So if you are able to prevent it, that's all the more reason for you to go. Things of this nature were clearly not accounted for in the contract. So the ambiguous language has been interpreted to allow you limited time, for limited reasons, away from the Fire Nation, especially if you are in my company on official business."

Katara was practically vibrating with excitement. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow. I've already instructed Ma Lin to have our things packed."

She stood to take her leave. "Thank you, Zuko. Really, I—wait, where are we going?"

"Oh," he said, looking down at some papers. "The Southern Water Tribe."

Katara's heart stopped. "You—you mean it?"

"Yes, it would appear that my welders are not—" He was interrupted by Katara flying across the room and throwing her arms around him. As she buried her face in his neck and sobbed, his arms came around her. He held her and let her cry, pulling her onto his lap.

"Oh, Zuko. I just don't—I just—"

"I know. I'm sorry I wasn't able to do this for you sooner."

She pulled back to press his lips to his. The mean boy who grew up to be a grumpy and guarded man and reluctant friend was being so gentle with her heart and soul, she thought she might burst. She loved him. She did. She could feel it coursing through her and settling in her soul. And she knew he loved her, too. Even if he did not or would not say it, she could feel it in every touch, every word and every deed. So she kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth and biting his lip affectionately. His grip on her waist tightened, and she felt him harden against her.

"Take me to bed, Zuko," she commanded quietly.

His breath hitched, but he wiped the tears from her cheeks as he swallowed and said, "Katara, I didn't do this for—"

She pressed her fingers to his lips. "I know, Zuko. But I miss you. I want you. Unless," she intoned, "you want me in here?"

He practically growled but said, "Some other time."

Lifting her into his arms, he carried her out of the room and in the direction of their bedroom. Somehow, they made it there without running into anything, all the while Zuko's lips never left Katara's. He heard a few shocked gasps as servants witnessed the exchange between their Lord and Lady, but if they knew any better, they would exercise discretion and get back to work.

Closing the door behind them, he crossed the room quickly. Katara insisted on being put down, but the instant her feet touched the floor, she was kicking her slippers off and had begun untucking his shirt. He pushed her backwards until she crashed into her vanity. Improvising, he lifted her and sat her atop it, hiking up her skirt and wrapping his fingers around the backs of her knees and pulling her against him. Gripping the hair at the nape of her neck, he turned her face up towards his and breathed, "You are so beautiful, Katara."

She blushed and bit her lip as she took his hard length in her hand and pressed it against her. They had alway made love in their bed, but this did not feel like lovemaking. It felt frantic and breathless and needy and desperate, and she needed him here, now, propriety be damned. They both groaned as he pressed inside, and Zuko's mouth was hot against her own as he kissed her roughly. Like always, the temperature around them instantly skyrocketed, and she peeled off each layer of clothing until nothing was separating them. She loved the feeling of his hot skin against her own, the contrast of their skin tones, the scrape of his calloused hands on her shoulders, her hips, her lower back.

Eventually they moved to the floor before finishing with Katara bent over their bed. At Katara's request, and to Zuko's secret relief, he did not finish inside of her. Neither one of them was ready for another baby just yet, and while it was not a perfect solution, it did provide some peace of mind. Since they were both hot and slick with sweat, Zuko picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, where he ran the bath and climbed in with her.

"This is nice," she told him as she settled between his legs.

He smirked before admitting, "I used to imagine doing this all the time when we were kids."

She gasped and looked over her shoulder at him. "You did not!"

"I did. I may have been working on my honor, but my thoughts about you were anything but honorable." His hands on her hips, he pulled her back so her shoulders were pressed to chest and her head was resting on his shoulder. "You would stand in the river and bend in nothing but your undergarments, for Agni's sake. And I was a healthy, red-blooded seventeen year old," he told her, tugging her earlobe between his teeth.

"I...never knew."

"I know. You were a bit...preoccupied back then."

"You mean with the war?"

He hesitated. "Yes."

She turned to press her forehead against his jaw. "You were preoccupied too," she pointed out quietly.

"I know."

They were quiet as they sat together. Katara idly bent the water to swirl around them. One of Zuko's hands massaged her breasts as the other, splayed flat against her belly, held her firmly in place against him. Then, quietly, she told him, "I saw a fortune teller once."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. When we were traveling to the Northern Water Tribe. Right after we found Aang. Right after you stole my necklace and tied me to a tree and taunted me with it," she said with a smirk.

Zuko narrowed his eyes but did not interrupt.

"In retrospect, she wasn't any good. I think she handed out a lot of lucky guesses and self-fulfilling prophecies. But I believed what she told me about my future at the time."

He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "And what did she tell you?"

"Well, I became quite obsessed with her, even going as far as to ask her if I should have mango or papaya for breakfast."

Zuko chuckled.

"But she told me that I would marry a powerful bender." She swallowed. "At the time, of course, I thought of Aang. I just didn't...I don't know—"

"It's all right, Katara—"

"No," she said, shifting to look at him. "I just mean, her fortune just...limited me. It set my mind on one path, when, really, how many powerful benders have I encountered in my short lifetime? I mean, she could have meant Toph, for all I know."

Zuko smirked. "Or Azula."

Katara gasped, indignant. Zuko just laughed and pulled her against him.

She wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck. "You're a powerful bender."

"So are you," he said, cupping her chin. "Are you saying I'm your destiny? The...fortune she predicted?"

"Maybe. Am I your destiny?"

"No," he said, tugging her bottom lip between his teeth. "You're my redemption."