Oh. My. Gosh. I cannot believe people actually LIKED that… I totally have to be dreaming… What the fudge… I've had like 8 people beg for a second chapter. Not that I understand WHY they want another dose, but hey everything I do I do for the readers. So here's your second chapter that you so badly wanted, written very quickly in my computer applications class so that I can get it done before this week of tests and insane projects starts.

I sincerely hope you guys like this one too- it isn't as epic fail as the first one. In my opinion anyway. I mean I actually grinned while writing this one. Much, much, much insane love to all those who loved the first chapter. You guys totally blew my brain *huggle*

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA or anything related. Maybe I do own the slightly OOC Sokka and Zuko of this chapter… Maybe…

The rising sun sent brilliant, stretching rays all over the Fire Nation, creeping in the closed blinds and waking most of the sleeping people. Suki awoke and lay in bed with her eyes closed, wondering how to get Sokka awake this time; he had grown immune to her previously used methods. She wanted to find a club to clobber her boyfriend with. Toph woke up and grinned impishly, thinking of the ambush she had planned for Zuko's toughest guards later that day. She wanted to go and hide inside the nook in the stable wall at that very moment. Aang awoke and wondered if today was the day Katara spent some time with him so he could kiss her again. He wanted to make Katara breakfast in bed and have a nice, long talk with her. Katara woke up and lay on her side, a warm fuzzy feeling creeping through her as she giggled quietly to herself as she remembered the previous night. She wanted to relive the whole experience, or at least talk to Zuko about it. Zuko woke up and wondered when he had fallen asleep. Confused, he picked up the goblet next to his bed and sniffed its contents. The smell of the juice brought everything back in one sharp blow.

He wanted to throw himself off a cliff.

Oh Agni no… Oh no please… OH f…

He grabbed his pillow and shoved it over his face, calling himself every name he knew in his head.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID! Now she's going to act all weird around you… And so is everybody else… You've just blown it, again. Why didn't you keep your mouth shut? Then you could have at least remained friends with her. AGH YOU IDIOT!

He knew he'd have to talk about it with Katara. With this knowledge in his head Zuko, the great and powerful Fire Lord, handled the issue in the best way he knew how.

He avoided it like it was the Black Death.

He got up right then, gritting his teeth as he pulled on his own top instead of waiting for Katara to come and help him, like he had done every other morning. Then he left his room to go and mooch somewhere nobody but his all-knowing uncle would find him. When Katara, nervous but excited, arrived at his room an hour later ready to both help him and tell him how she felt she found his room very empty. Disappointment surged through her, but she told herself she'd just talk to him after breakfast, when everybody else had gone. Zuko wasn't at breakfast. When, by noon, she hadn't even seen him once she knew he was avoiding her. This made her both anxious- what if he hadn't meant what he said? What if he'd thought about it and realized she was just a friend to him?- and rather ticked off. As her mood got steadily worse as the hours wore on and Zuko avoided her like she had some contagious sickness, the others picked up that something was wrong. They had no idea what but they could tell everything wasn't right between the Fire Lord and the Waterbender.

As the sun began to set Katara's mood became smug; she had to heal him that evening, and nothing he could do would get him out of that. Zuko realized this fact at about the same time and he went so pale that Iroh, in alarm, asked Zuko if he wanted to sit down. The rest of the gaang, unnoticed by a very smugly grinning Katara, huddled together and had a whispered discussion wherein they decided to go with Katara when she healed Zuko to make sure the two didn't end up fighting.

When the time came for the nightly healing session Zuko felt like he might just throw up. He was sitting on his bed, cursing Agni, himself and cactus juice in his head when Katara came in with fresh bandages. As usual his heart leapt at the sight of her, but that reaction was quickly drowned out by the sinking feeling in his stomach. Katara looked at him, opened her mouth to speak and then frowned and turned around as voices sounded. The rest of the gaang entered Zuko's room cheerfully, making lame excuses about 'learning' and 'being curious' as they did.

Crap! They're going to be here the whole time! Now I won't be able to talk to him!

Oh thank Agni! They're going to be here the whole time! Now she won't be able to talk to me!

With a disappointed sigh Katara gently helped Zuko remove his shirt, wincing again with him. The bandages were, to her relief, free of blood, but the wound still looked raw. Katara gloved her hands in water and then pressed them gently to Zuko's chest, closing her eyes as she concentrated fully on healing him. Sokka noticed the change in Zuko's expression and also saw how the slight grey tinge disappeared completely when Katara healed him.

"Hey, Zuko. If you want I could give you some more of that… er… potion to help you out?"

"No!" Everyone stared at Zuko in surprise. "I mean, no, thanks, Sokka. I'm fine."

He tried very hard not to blush even a little bit. Katara, however, saw the pinkness in his cheeks and smirked. It served him right for what he had done the previous night.

"Yeah," she agreed in a slightly spiteful voice. "You never know what little servant girl might come in here and hear something life-changing. Like… oh… I don't know… that some king loves her."

Zuko's teeth snapped together and it was all he could do to stop himself banging his head against something solid. He knew it… She would never forgive him for this…

"Well maybe the servant girl should take it into account that people say things when drunk," he sullenly tried to apologize.

Katara's eyes sparked with anger, but inside she felt like she was breaking. She had been right. He was avoiding her because he regretted what he'd said the night before. She pushed away her pain and instead reacted in annoyance.

"Well maybe the king should have thought of what he was saying before he did. Even intoxicated he should have realized that his thoughtless words would hurt the girl."

She had stopped healing him and was instead standing with her hands on her hips in front of him. The rest of the gaang looked on, utterly confused and utterly forgotten by Zuko and Katara. They were only aware of one another.

"Well maybe the servant girl shouldn't have prodded, then the king wouldn't have said anything." He was starting to get irritated too.

Katara flushed guiltily but refused to be the one feeling bad.

"Well maybe the girl didn't know it would be something like that that the king said! Because the king sure as heck never showed any signs of it before!"

"What?" Now Zuko really was mad. He stood up so that he was the one towering above Katara now, ignoring the stabbing pain in his chest. "Well maybe if the servant girl had been just a bit more observant she would have noticed that the king had so shown signs of it before. So much so, in fact, that he was worried that others would see it. And, yeah, he didn't say anything before, because he was sure the servant girl would act like she is and the confession would ruin even the little bit of a relationship he had with her."

Wait… He thinks I'm mad at him because I don't feel the same way?

The same warm, fuzzy feeling she had felt that morning ran through her as Zuko continued to prattle on in circles about apologising to the servant girl. She wanted to laugh out loud, so great was her joy.

"Zuko," she said loudly, trying to interrupt him. But Zuko just talked faster so she wasn't really sure what he was saying any more. "Zuko!" She tried again, and was again ignored. "Zu- ZUKO!"

A frustrated sigh escaped her before she stepped forwards and shut him up by kissing him, fiercely, directly on the lips. He stopped talking at once and after a few shivering moments of pure shock he kissed her back, not caring why she'd had the 'sudden change of heart'. Katara, meanwhile, was trying to remember yet again how to breathe. She vaguely thought it was very ironic that it was the Firebender and not the Airbender that took her breath away so frequently. How long they stood with their lips entwined she didn't know, all she was sure of was that it was far too short for her liking. When they broke away Zuko stared at her completely dumbfounded.

"Will you sit down and shut up now?" she asked him, breathless.

He nodded dumbly and sunk back onto the bed, looking like he'd just been clubbed around the head. She smiled, utterly exuberant, and turned back to her bowl of water. It was then that she noticed the rest of the gaang staring at her with wide eyes and mouths as wide open as dead fish.

"Oh… Right… You're… You're still here…" Her voice sounded very squeaky, and she suddenly felt slightly faint.

There was another moment of utter silence before a slightly strangled noise came out of somebody. Katara looked fearfully at her brother, but it hadn't been Sokka, as it was proved a second later when Toph exploded into laughter.

"I knew it! Oh my gosh I knew this would happen!"

She was practically rolling around, issuing very loud peals of laughter. Aang stood up, utterly silent, and walked out without a word. Katara bit her lip as she watched him go, her heart twisting inside her chest.

"Sokka, breathe."

Suki's voice brought her gaze back to the room. Sokka was slowly turning purple, his mouth opening and shutting soundlessly as he pointed at Zuko accusingly. Over Sokka's shoulder, Suki gave Katara a huge grin. Toph was still laughing.

"You…" Sokka finally managed. "I… You… Katara… My sister… I'm gonna… When I get my hands on you…"

Katara caught him as he made a lunge for Zuko.

"Sokka, outside," she said through clenched teeth. "NOW!"

Roughly she pushed him out the door and a chuckling Toph followed, practically skipping in her glee. Suki glanced at Zuko as she headed towards the door. His face was blank and apprehensive, like he was going to be sent to prison sometime soon.

"Hey." He looked up at her. "Don't worry, we'll sort the guys out. So show how you're really feeling."

The nervous look disappeared and was replaced with the most brilliant grin Suki had ever seen Zuko wear. It made his eyes burn intensely, like they sometimes did when he was fighting. The Kyoshi warrior nodded in approval and then left. Sokka and Katara were standing a meter apart from each other, faces red, hands clenched. They were both yelling at the same time so their words clashed together and lost all meaning. Toph stood near to them, ready to step in if things got physical.

"HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU-"

"IT'S MY LIFE! I'M SICK OF YOU-"

"HE'S FIRE NATION! THE E-"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT! HE'S YOUR FRIEND! ENEMY MY-"

"HE'S A MAN! MEN ARE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! HE IS GOING TO-"

"HE'S NOT GOING TO DO A THING! YOU JUST CAN'T GET OVER YOUR INSECURITY! IF YOU JUST THINK FOR A SECOND YOU'LL SEE YOU KNOW ZUKO WILL NEVER HURT ME INTENTIONALLY!"

"Sokka, Katara's completely right," Suki said loudly before the screaming match could continue. "Just relax for a second and remember this is Zuko we're talking about."

"You told me he was one of your best friends," Toph put in calmly. "And you were there all the times he saved her, looked after her…"

"But… but… You're…" Sokka spluttered.

"Sokka." Suki took his face in her hands. "I know you're scared for her. But she's found what you and I have. Don't you want that for her?"

Sokka's anger seemed to leak out of his body and he suddenly looked rather pained. He looked at his sister with a crumpled expression.

"You're growing up too fast…" he mumbled. She gave him a soft smile and then walked forwards and hugged him tight. Sokka groaned. "Dammit now I have to let Jerkbender have you…"

"It's really got nothing to do with you," Katara mumbled into his shirt.

He pushed her back so he could see her face.

"You really… love him?" She nodded. "Really, really?"

"Sokka!"

"Okay, okay." He sighed. "I had to make sure…" He seemed to struggle a little bit longer. "How do I know he'll really look after you."

She looked at him for a moment, glanced at Zuko's closed door and bit her lip.

"Azula… In the battle she shot lighting at me. She wanted to get me out of the way, probably so that I wouldn't be able to heal anybody. Zuko… Zuko jumped in front of me and… took the attack himself… It was too sudden… He couldn't deflect it properly… It seared right through him." Her voice broke. "He was flung to the side and lay there… twitching… If I had been a few minutes later he would have…"

"He got that from saving you?" Sokka's voice was quiet.

His sister nodded, her eyes begging him to understand. And he did, even though a big part of him didn't want to. He smiled a small smile at her, and Katara grinned back, realizing he had given in. Sokka suddenly squared his shoulders.

"Right. Now I'm going to have a few words with the Jerkbender. Just because I kinda think it's sort of okay, doesn't mean he doesn't have rules to follow."

He marched back into Zuko's room with his war face on. Suki giggled.

"We'll go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. You go…"

She trailed off and looked up the hall. The figure of Aang could just be seen huddled in one of the windows. Katara swallowed but nodded and Suki squeezed her arm before her and Toph went after Sokka.

"Aang?" Her voice was soft.

"I got a lightning wound from saving you, too."

She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Aang… It's not about that. I know you saved me… And I'll be forever grateful for that… But Zuko…"

"You don't see him as a little brother, right." His tone was bitter and cold. "I should have known as soon as we saw the Ember Island Players."

"Aang…" She reached out to touch him, but he jerked away. "I do love you. A lot. Just not in that way. And I don't think you really do either. I know you have a crush on me, but I think if you really think about it you'll see that it's not…" She struggled to find words. "We'll always be closer than anybody can understand, but not in that way." He said nothing. "Please say something…"

He remained obstinately silent and she sighed again before turning to leave. She felt miserable that she had hurt Aang; she had never wanted to. She stopped at another window and shut her eyes.

Yue… Please… Let him find the one for him… You know she's out there…

She let five tears fall for Aang and what could have been, even though she knew it never would have been real. Then she took a deep breath and returned to Zuko's room, only to find Zuko nowhere in sight.

"Wha…? Where's Zuko? Sokka!"

"It wasn't me!" he protested, raising his hands to fend her off. "His council called a meeting."

"At this time of night?" She frowned. "I didn't heal him properly yet…"

"We'll go fetch him, then you can take out your anger on the old croons," Toph suggested cheerfully. But as they left she hesitated. "Uh, Katara? Can I go…?"

"Sure. Thanks, Toph."

The blind girl shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatev. I just figure I'm better at knocking sense into people than you."

Katara watched Toph head towards Aang, and a suddenly knowing smile crossed her face. She silently thanked Yue as she continued on to the meeting room.

***

The Fire Nation meeting chamber was a bland place, and they had all wondered why it did not have the pictures or antique weapons on its walls like the rest of the palace. The mystery had been solved by Toph, who had one day exclaimed:

"I now understand why there're no weapons in that place… Some of them were so frustrated if there were any weapons on the wall some people would have been seriously dead…"

When the gaang were ushered in by Iroh, who told them that they had the right to hear the issues of the Fire Nation, several of the old council members were having a heated debate and Zuko looked like he wanted to drown himself out of sheer frustration.

"This recent attacks on our immigrants just proves that we need better international relations!" one roared, waving his hands around.

"Hear hear!" another bellowed.

"You two have gone too soft!" a third one spat. "We have given so much to the other nations already! To give more would mean our economy suffers even more!"

"Well if we just let it be then our people will suffer even more!"

"What if we cut out the import of the wine?" One tentatively suggested.

There was an uproar at this and Zuko banged his head against the table. Sokka was snorting with barely suppressed laughter. The council members continued to argue, their voices rising louder and louder until they were flat out yelling, mostly three at a time. Zuko was not even bothering to call them to order, knowing they had to get rid of their anger before he could discuss things calmly with them. Toph was suddenly there, and she stamped hard on Katara's foot.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You can stop all this!" Toph rolled her sightless eyes as Katara's heart showed her confusion. "Hello! You're from the Water Tribe. So you're part of foreign relations. And what will appease people better from other nations than a Water Tribe girl, sworn enemy of the old Fire Nation -and one that happens to be great friends with the Avatar- who is such good friends with the Fire Lord…"

Katara clicked. Blushing but determined she tried to get everybody's attention. But people had risen to their feet by then, and even Zuko was standing up, yelling at some people to calm down. Finally Toph stamped hard on the ground and it rolled, causing most of the people to make windmill motions to stay on their feet.

"Thanks," Katara told Toph, who grinned. The Waterbender took a deep breath and walked over to Zuko, the only person who hadn't sat down again. "Your arguments aren't relevant," she told them calmly. One guy started to answer her back but Zuko gave him such a withering look that he shut up at once. "They're not relevant at all because… Well…" She blushed. "I know the leaders of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes personally and I can assure you that international relations will grow much better when they see that I am…" She tried to ignore Suki and Toph sniggering at the back because of her awkward speech. "That I'm with Zuko."

The council people's faces remained blank. Zuko refrained from rolling his eyes and instead, very pointedly, took Katara's hand in his. Understanding flashed across all their faces, but it was quickly replaced with utter shock. Iroh was beaming so hard it looked as if his face was about to split in two, and Katara was sure there were tears in his eyes.

"But… I still do not know if it will make such an impact…" one council member said hesitantly, not wanting to make Zuko angry.

"It will if the Avatar gives them his blessing," said Aang's voice from the door.

Katara and Zuko looked at him. For a long moment their eyes met, then Aang gave a small, only slightly sad smile, before bowing to both of them.

"Well, that's sorted then," Zuko said cheerfully.

Then he towed Katara out the door, their hands firmly joined. Both of them were trying very, very hard not to laugh at the expressions on the council members' faces.

THE END