EDITED: You might be confused if you've read this before. Content wise, nothing has changed. It is however written differently (and way better I think) with emphasis on different things and 2 pages longer so you might want to read again *shrug*.

Idly, Katara loosed and rebraided the ends of her hair as she contemplated her...unfortunate position.

That's just my luck, captured and alone with the stupid, honor-obsessed Fire Prince again.

Katara huffed angrily from her makeshift seat on a patch of floor as far from Zuko as she could get. Even stuck in these caves with Zuko's ominous presence hanging over her like storm clouds, she could feel the effects of the full moon energizing her and making her blood boil in her veins. She looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the satellite that provided her bending; the one sure constant in her life despite her travels and the war.

Unbidden, a memory swam to the top of her mind. The early morning her father and the warriors had left the South Pole all those years ago had been miserable. It had been early enough that the moon still hung low on the horizon, hanging on to the last dredges of nighttime as streaks of light began to cross the sky.

Even then, Katara had not been early enough to catch her father before he left.

When she got cold enough, the Waterbender returned from the docks to her icy home, tear tracks frozen on her cheeks. Her grandmother had been waiting for her, just outside the door, a resigned expression on her face.

Katara had collapsed into her arms. "Why did he have to go?" she sobbed, as her grandmother rubbed her back. The pair sat in relative silence for some time, watching the moon dip lower as Katara's sobs slowed, then subsided. She rubbed her swollen eyes hard with her mittens, and peeked up at Gran Gran's face.

"I know it is hard Katara", her Grandmother sighed wearily. "Some days, I feel I have grown tired of people leaving too. Some days, leaving seems to be all that people do."

Katara was silent. This was the first time her childlike mind had realized that other people would miss her father as well. Hakoda was not just her dad, he was the Chief of their Tribe; which meant he had a responsibility to them all.

Kanna easily seemed to read the direction of her thoughts. "Yes my little Waterbender, we all have responsibilities. And that includes you too," she smiled gently at her granddaughter. "Do you think your father would have left if he didn't trust you and you brother to take care of the Tribe too?"

Even as Katara nodded, her bottom lip quivered with unshed tears. "Dad has taught us so much about navigation, about how to read the stars. But sometimes...sometimes I still feel very lost Gran Gran", Katara admitted. " Won't Dad miss us at all? How do I know what I'm supposed to do?"

Her Grandmother smiled at her once more, drawing Katara into her lap as she wrapped one arm around her torso and used the other to point at the now bright sky.

"Did you know the moon is always in the sky?" She asked Katara, who shook her head. "Our ancestors drew strength from the moon. We", she poked Katara's chest lightly, "draw strength from the moon. We would not be able to exist, if the moon was not always there." She picked up Katara's smaller hand in her own, circling the moons faint position. "Your Father can look up at the moon, from the deck of the head ship, and know it is the same moon our ancestors have looked upon for generations. It is the same moon your mother stood under when she lived, and it is the same moon we sit under right now."

Katara looked at her Grandmother in confusion, tears threatening to spill over again. "But that doesn't tell me what I'm supposed to do! I'm just a kid," she said resignedly. Gran Gran merely chuckled.

"My dear child, no one in this world knows exactly what they are to do. Not even me, and I'm old!" she joked. "What is important, in times of great stress, when there are many problems to solve and the answers seem far away, is that we can take comfort in something greater than ourselves," she gestured to the moon. "You can look up at the moon, take comfort in its strength, and know your ancestors, your father, and your tribe have all looked up before and pondered that exact same thing."

In the cave, a strong wave of loneliness enveloped Katara as she held tight to the memory of Gran Gran until it faded away into the recesses of her mind. Her Grandmother's advice was often like that— a non answer that gave her more questions. And yet, she somehow managed to make her feel at peace every time. Katara let her head fall back, her long braid brushing the floor, eyes scanning the ceiling for what she somehow knew was there.

It was a small crack, no wider than her thumb, but there was no mistaking the light coming down shining on her face. Looking through the crack, she could only see a sliver of the moon, but she knew the rest was there, as it always will be, as it always has been.

Alright moon, Katara thought as she once again glanced around the cave, at her reticent fellow prisoner, at the sheer hopelessness of the situation, What should I do?

Despite the fact that they were in an underground cave, a strange breeze rustled the strands of Katara's hair. The breeze seemed to wrap around her, smelling like the inside of an igloo on a particularly cold day. It smelt like ice and ashes, warmth and home.

Against her will, her eyes were drawn in the direction of the breeze and she caught the eyes of the Fire Prince before he quickly dropped his gaze to the ground. Driven by an urge she didn't understand, Katara willed his eyes to meet hers again. There was something there…

To her surprise, Zuko looked up once more. Unlike every other time they had met, separated by a veil of anger, betrayal, and responsibilities far too great for either of their soldiers, his guard was down. He didn't seem to be aware of it, resolutely holding her gaze as she read the turmoil behind his eyes she had never seen before.

"Do you...do you know why you're here?" Katara asked lamely. Zuko sat silent, gazing at her while she felt her anger slowly rise in the face of his seemingly ignoring her, until he spoke so quietly she had to strain to hear it.

"I think my being born was reason enough," he mutters, the hurt in his voice clear despite the quiet tone.

Katara was getting increasingly uncomfortable. Feelings? As far as she knew, no one in the Fire Nation had any of those. And since when did Zuko actually care about the questions that came out of her peasant mouth?

"Is this a trap?" she asked, though even as the words left her mouth, her head shook in denial of its own accord. Zuko smiled ruefully.

"My uncle does always say I never think things through. But even I wouldn't construct a trap like this."

Katara nodded absently, shuffling across the floor to move slightly closer to the scarred older boy. The haze of anger that had always surrounded him keeping her at a distance seemed to have reversed. Now it was drawing her in, making her continue to make conversation with the royal against her better judgment.

"No offense, but...why are you talking to me?" Katara asked somewhat timidly. "You're usually…"

"Following you across the world and attempting to hunt down the Avatar?" Zuko asked sardonically.

"Well...yeah," Katara admitted. She nervously tucked one of hair loopies behind her ear. "Though I suppose I shouldn't blame you. You're the Fire Lord's son," she muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Zuko asked angrily, the first hint of the fiery haze of anger that usually surrounded the royal, though it was still not nearly the vehemence she usually received.

"Spreading war, violence, hatred!" Katara yelled, "It's practically in your blood!" she spat, suddenly angry as well. Here was the son of the man who had taken everything from her. Her blood boiled even hotter in her veins, the months of stress caused by him allowing her to ignore the little voice in her head telling her to talk to him and the magnetic, niggling feeling that had subconsciously moved her even closer to Zuko during their conversation. She had expected him to meet her in kind, as he always had before, blasts of hot fire in contrast to her ice. But he didn't.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, no heat behind his words. There it was again; that pain in his eyes. All at once, the anger seeped out of her, and yet, she kept going. He needed to understand.

"This war has taken so much from me", Katara admitted, the catharsis of talking about her struggles making her feel slightly light-headed. Leading the group, being their makeshift mother and keeping everyone together didn't exactly give her a lot of time to contemplate her own feelings. In some ways, Katara felt as if she had been moving on auto pilot since…

"The Fire Nation took my mother from me," Katara watched in surprise as a tear landed on the back of her hand, then she jumped as a shadow crossed her patch of moonlight.

Zuko was standing awkwardly over her, clearly not knowing what to do with a crying waterbender. His hand fiddled idly with the hem of his tunic, and he couldn't meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That's something we have in common."

She looked up at him questioningly, confused by not only his words, but the way her body tingled as she looked up at him, a halo of moonlight glinting off his inky black hair, his scar standing out in sharp relief against his pale skin.

"I guess I'm sorry too...for yelling at you before," Katara ground out. The magnetic draw she had been feeling was suddenly so much stronger than before, and her words caught in her throat. Her blood was still boiling, but in a different way entirely. Is it because he's closer? Katara wondered.

While she thought, Zuko had continued to stand over Katara awkwardly until the Waterbender patted the space on the ground next to her in silent invitation. The Prince sat close enough to her to share her patch of moonlight, and the longing intensified to dig a chasm in her chest that took her breath away. So definitely because of Zuko, she confirmed to herself, peeking at him from under her lashes.

If he was bothered by whatever she was feeling, he didn't let on. "Aren't you angry with me? Why are you sorry?" He asked, the question full of genuine curiosity.

"You are your Father's son," Katara answered slowly. "But you are not your Father. It's just...for so long now, ever since I left my village, every time I imagined the face of the enemy...I saw you."

"I see," Zuko said ruefully, folding in on himself and brushing his knuckles against his scar, "My face."

"No!" she countered strongly, grabbing his arm. "That's not what I meant."

Zuko looked at the hand laying on his arm in surprise, but made no effort to move it. Instead, his own pale hand ghosted over hers in some vague gesture of comfort.

"It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished Prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever." He glanced at Katara, and seemed surprised when her eyes met his own, but held her gaze as he continued. "Lately...I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

Is this real? Katara asked herself wonderingly as she pondered Zuko's words. If Katara was being honest with herself, the Fire Prince had always fascinated her. After months of traveling with the Gaang, she had had more adventures then she had ever thought possible while stuck in her frozen village at the bottom of the world. Zuko was the first person from another nation she had met other than Aang, and the first teenager like herself. And yet, he had been so angry, so hardened and frightening that it had cemented her preconceived notions of the Fire Nation better than before. Then she had met Azula, and the image of all Fire Nation children being evil, selfish people willing to attack their own family members had been further made clear.

And yet, Katara had bumped into the same man days ago, doing manual labor and helping his Uncle run a tea shop! It couldn't be possible, but the Prince….he's changed, Katara realized as she studied his face. She thought briefly about what this information meant, how this could help the course of the war...then she threw all those thoughts to the side. There were many problems outside this cave, but they all felt distant. Under the moonlight, with nothing but the quiet drip drop of some distant water, Katara threw caution to the wind.

"Maybe...maybe you could be free of it." Zuko's head snapped towards her in surprise. "I have healing abilities," she explained, but he was already shaking his head.

"It's a scar," he said resignedly, "It can't be healed." Katara slumped in disappointment for a second, barely noticing Zuko's hand come up as if to comfort her again, then drop back to his lap. As she dipped her head in thought, the chain around her neck tickled her skin. The water from the Spirit Oasis! Without hesitation, she pulled the chain out from under her shirt and held the small vial under the light.

"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special healing properties, so I've been saving it for something important," Zuko eyed the innocuous vial. "I don't know if it would work, but…" Unbidden, her hand slowly lifted until it rested against the ruined skin of his scar. The moonlight seemed to coalesce into a single point, all the heat in her body rushing to the tips of her fingers where her skin touched his. A blush rose to his cheeks and Katara felt hers heat up as well.

"If you've been saving it for something important, why would you use it on me?" Zuko asked, hope flitting somewhere behind his eyes. The pull was stronger than ever now, her blood was boiling under her skin, she was leaning in...

Dimly, Katara heard the sounds of the cave wall exploding in a shower of dust as Aang and Iroh finally reached them. She heard Aang call her name, but she couldn't bring herself to respond as she stared at Zuko, and he stared back, wonder in his eyes. The point where her hand touched his cheek had diffused across her skin, the warmth feeling white hot, and yet it did not burn. The empty chasm in her chest had not only filled, but it was now overflowing with a relief so unexpected and profound, this was perfection, this was belonging, they almost didn't want to let go—

Then the connection was broken. Aang, startled by Katara's closeness and overcome with relief to have found her nearly tackled her in a hug, knocking her hand from Zuko's cheek. Katara was allowed to feel happiness at seeing Aang for all of five seconds.

Then the emptiness came back with a vengeance. Their magnetic connection now took on a life of its own, pulling and reaching, clawing and twisting towards the Fire Prince being embraced from his Uncle next to them. As they stood, Katara nearly doubled over in discomfort, though Aang luckily didn't notice, and clutched at her chest, futilely trying to soothe the ache.

"Katara, we found you!" Aang exclaimed. Katara resisted the urge to slap her hands over her ears. The sounds were too loud, this was all wrong…

She tried to speak, to tell Aang something, anything, but her throat was suddenly drier than it had ever been in her life. Katrara coughed and nearly choked as she shivered with intense cold, attempting to pull water from her trusty skin to quench her thirst, forgetting the Dai Li had stripped her of her weapon when they threw her down there. I need to tell Aang about Zuko, Katara chanted as she tried to get her throat to work. "Zuko...he," she began haltingly as her eyes darted to the subject of her thoughts.

Even in this dim light, her awareness of the Prince had increased ten-fold, and she could easily see through the facade he put up for his Uncle. She saw the fatigue on his face, the way he was slumped just a hair to the side. She noticed his eyes, though clearly happy at seeing his Uncle, darting feverishly side to side, resembling a trapped animal.

"Katara?" Aang questioned, finally picking up on something being wrong and getting concerned, "Is something wrong? Did he hurt you?" His expression took on his take at menacing fear and rage, largely falling short. She shook her head vehemently, but swayed with just that action and Aang immediately wrapped his arms around her waist. What's wrong with me? Katara wondered, starting to feel slightly panicky. She and Aang both looked at Zuko, the latter with accusations in his eyes, but Zuko ignored the Avatar in favor of meeting Katara's gaze. Looking into his eyes made the longing even worse, and Zuko hurried towards them to catch Katara as she stumbled and nearly fell.

Aang stared at his Waterbending master in worry. "Katara, maybe you should rest."

Setting her upright and surreptitiously keeping a hand at the small of her back for support, Zuko turned to Aang. "There's no time, Avatar. We have to get out of here before Azula shows up."

Aang balked. "Hey! I don't take orders─"

"He's right Aang," Katara interrupted soothingly. The warmth seeping up her back from where she and Zuko were touching soothed her throat like the best Jasmine tea. The energy from the full moon and their tingling connection focused her on getting out of the caves. She looked to Aang beseechingly, taking his hand and propelling him forwards.

"Here. You take the lead with Earthbending." Aang looked suspiciously between her and Zuko, but the Prince betrayed nothing in his expression.

"Don't worry Avatar, I'll make sure she doesn't fall," he smirked. Katara mentally elbowed Zuko and looked to Aang pleadingly again until the Airbender relented, turning to the opposite side of the cave.

They walked in silence, the air thick with tension. General Iroh was the only one who seemed unaffected bringing up the rear; every time Katara turned back he had a cheshire grin on his face.

The Prince...well she didn't know what to make of it. He kept his hand on the small of her back as they walked, and the buzzing warmth between them had only gotten stronger with their connection. Zuko refused to look at her, no matter how many times she glanced up at his face, but he had taken to rubbing his thumb slowly back and forth at the base of her spine. She shivered, though she was far from cold.

Don't tell them, Katara heard faintly from the back of her head. We'll figure this out when we get out of here.

She looked at him in surprise and this time he met her gaze. He shrugged one shoulder at her questioning gaze. How did he do that? She nodded almost imperceptibly, and a half smile appeared on his face, a blush rising on his one pale cheek.

Well, if he could talk to her...Katara thought. She focused as hard as she could on the warmth between them, on the point at the base of her spine where his thumb had not stopped its lazy circles. She had so many questions, yet somehow the first one that floated to the top was:

Did it hurt? Before, this I mean. Zuko looked at her in surprise and wonder. She could see the gears working in his head as his thumb became more insistent, nearly massaging her now. His brow furrowed with effort.

Yes.

And now?

He smirked, snaking his arm around her waist and back again, his hand ghosting across Katara's stomach and leaving a white hot path of warmth in its wake. She shuddered.

You know how it feels now.

Katara nodded absently as she tried to slow her breathing. What is he doing to me?

It was very clear now, she and the Firebender were connected somehow. The warmth and acceptance she felt just by touching him was almost addicting. She shuddered as Zuko seemed to pick up on her thoughts, wickedly ghosting his fingers up and down her spine. Okay, definitely addicting, she amended.

And yet, the feeling when they weren't touching was the complete opposite. The empty dryness, the longing. I doubt I could even bend right, she realized in fear, looking to Zuko feeling slightly panicky. Zuko interrupted her spiraling as the hand left her back to comfortingly rub her shoulder.

We'll figure this out, I promise.

Before they could talk anymore, the older firebender appeared beside them.

"I would like to speak to my nephew for a moment, if you please," General Iroh asked amenably. Zuko appeared annoyed at the interruption, his hand gripping her waist tightly.

"Can't it wait, Uncle?" he asked irritably. Katara looked at him in surprise at his tone, but he ignored her in favor of glaring at his Uncle. The older man showed no sign of hearing the recalcitrance in his voice, simply grinning in the face of Zuko's anger.

"I fear it is most important, my nephew." Zuko seemed to sense an urgency as he looked at Katara apologetically. She found herself taking a deep breath in preparation as Zuko released her and stepped away from her side.

She breathed out a sigh of relief as Iroh put a fatherly hand on Zuko's shoulder and lead him slightly away. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as before. The clawing emptiness had been replaced with a slightly smaller hole, though the lack of warmth caused her immediately to start shivering violently. Katara took a deep breath and tried to focus on the one remaining spot of warmth where Zuko's hand had rested. Her awareness of him immediately increased, somehow orienting her chi to exactly where he was in the cavern and abating the emptiness in her chest. She hurried to catch up with Aang, but chanced a glance back to where the two royals stood.

A bead of sweat slowly trickled down Zuko's cheek.

ZutaraZutaraZutaraZutaraZutaraZutaraZutaraZutara

Author's Note: I write as things come to me because I believe a writer has no business writing something that doesn't come to life in their mind. This is why I often leave things unfinished. My conclusion is that I make no promises on this one, though I do already have 3 more chapters and am bursting with ideas for another 2. I also write while drinking copious amounts of wine so there's that.

These first few chapters will be of different viewpoints, slightly overlapping. These are just to set up the characters for the rest of the story and we can get a feel of their characters again. After all, while this story is formed vaguely in my head, I want to write them as true to themselves as possible, so I need to explore what they do with the small things? I have no idea if this makes sense it is late. Anyways, let me know if you enjoy!