Disclaimer: Guess what? I own Avatar! Guess what else? I LIED! I also do not own the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter--those belong to Avril Lavigne, from her song "Sk8er Boi". I also do not own the tea called "Darjeeling". That's a tea from Northern India. Yup, yup.

Author's Notes: Hello! I just realized that I didn't reply to any reviews last chapter, so I will proceed to go ahead and do that now...

Saucy Noodles: You know, I WAS thinking of putting Jet in somewhere... and I am, as of yet, undecided. Oh well. We'll find out eventually, I suppose.

katara water bender forever: What kind of Zuko&Katara fanfic would this be if Katara didn't get her necklace back!

Arwey: Ah, yes... plenty of Zuko in this chapter. I think you'll be satisfied... (muahahaha)

Zukos Girl: Yes, the organization-that-reminds-Katara-of-Jet; don't worry, I believe this chapter will answer why it reminds her of Jet. Well, more acurately, it reminds her of Jet's freedom fighters, but it seemed more climactic to just put "Jet".

jalapeno1011: Well... I updated... are you reading?

Content: One long flashback and Katara kissing Zuko. HA! BEAT THAT!

Chapter Five
Obvious

"He was a boy,
And she was a girl.
Can I make it any more obvious?"

Katara gazed at the tea table, lost in thought.

She was the only one in the tea room since Carlaoh, Aang, and Sokka left. In fact, the four of them had only been talking for a minute or two (the span of time it took for Carlaoh to tell them that they didn't normally take prisoners) when Aang and Sokka started yawning. Katara soon learned that the two hadn't gotten any sleep whatsoever since the night before the storm, and so Carlaoh offered to give them some rooms. She explained that they always had spares in case they acquired new members, and then she asked the blond girl from before (Anthrype?) to take them there. The two of them were too sleepy to argue, and Katara figured that these people wouldn't do anything to hurt them. Carlaoh returned to Katara shortly, only to have a very interesting conversation...

-Flashback-

"Katara, why is it you don't like us?"

Katara was surprised by the forwardness of the question, but she answered quickly enough. "We met another group of kids led by someone called Jet... when we first met them, they seemed like a group of freedom fighters who were doing the best they could to stop the Fire Nation and liberate as many people as they could. We soon learned that they weren't all they seemed." She stared at the tea in her cup for a few moments. "They were willing to destroy an entire village just to kill off a few Fire Nation troops."

Carlaoh looked thoughtful. "That seems a very silly thing to do. They didn't succeed, I hope."

"No, but only thanks to my brother. He was able to warn the villagers just in time."

"And you think that we are like these 'freedom fighters', correct?"

Katara looked up defiantly. "I'm not taking any chances anymore. I won't be fooled by appearances."

Carlaoh nodded, looking strangely... satisfied. "That's a good philosophy, Katara. I hope you keep it in mind for all things you go through." She took a sip of her tea. "Listen, Katara. You may not believe this, but there are a lot of groups like Jet's and like ours. People who want to protect something because they couldn't protect their home. Some of these groups are big, like ours, and from the sound of it, like Jet's... but some are smaller. Most have no more than five people. Some try to do something to hurt the Fire Nation for what they took away, and some just try to live their lives, avoiding the Fire Nation as much as possible." She took another sip. "I'll tell you now, Katara, that our group is, for the most part, one of the latter. We isolate ourselves on this island, telling the people on the mainland this place is haunted so no one will come, yet sending some of our scouts over there every now and then to look for anyone who needs help and is willing to join us. We have made it our mission to protect and preserve this forest... if anyone, including the Fire Nation, wants to harm it, then we get involved. Otherwise, we just want to be left alone."

Katara nodded. "I think I understand what you mean, and even though--"

"Carlaoh?" interrupted a voice from the doorway. Katara and Carlaoh looked at the intruder. It was a small, scrubby girl with messy brown hair. "The prisoner has been placed in the rec room."

"Right. Thank you, Geryl. I'll be over there shortly."

The girl nodded and disappeared into the corridor. Carlaoh turned back to Katara, examining her silently for a few seconds. Then she grinned, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Katara, I have a proposition for you."

Katara narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "A proposition?"

Carlaoh. "Oh, nothing evil, I assure you... just listen. You're probably tired of hanging around boys so much, right? No chance to do anything like a girl."

Katara didnt' answer, although she silently agreed. She loved Sokka and Aang like family (especially since one was family), but sometimes she just wished she could stop playing the big sister and just be a Katara without responsibilities. Not permanently, just for a little while.

"Anyway, the prisoner is Prince Zuko."

"Yes, Anthrype told us that."

"Did she? Good, then. Anyway, as I told you, we don't usually keep prisoners, so we don't have a proper cell. Frankly, I don't intend to keep him as a prisoner. I've always thought that was kind of stupid. So, if he agrees to play nice, I'm going to bring him up here so the three of us can have some tea and talk. What I wanted to ask is this: is that all right with you?"

"As long as he can act grown-up, so can I."

Carlaoh's grin widened. "In that case, I dare you to kiss him."

"WHAT!"

"Before you call me crazy, think about it. He's an exiled prince on a boat full of sailors. He's sixteen years old. The longest he's been around a girl is probably no more than a few minutes. So, he's probably not only a virgin, but has never gotten his first kiss. I, personally, would die to see the look on the Fire Prince's face after getting his surprise-first-kiss from a water bender. Don't tell me you don't think that'll be amusing."

"If you're so eager to see the look on his face, then you kiss him!"

"Ah, but there's a few things wrong with that: (1) I'm the hostess, (2) I'm an earth bender, not a water bender, (3) my heart belongs to another (sounds corny, I know, but it's true), and (4) you're prettier than I am. He'll be much more flustered if you do it."

Katara couldn't conceal a blush. She never really thought of herself as pretty. In fact, if she thought of her own looks at all, she thought she was downright homely.

"Come on, Katara, you know you wanna see that as much as I do..." When she still hesitated, Carlaoh pulled two silver coins out of her pocket. "Okay, tell you what. Forget the dare. I'll bet you two silver pieces that you won't kiss the prince."

"I don't have two silver pieces."

"That's why you should win. Come on, Katara! You don't have to kiss him on the lips. I mean, I wouldn't ask anyone to do that if they didn't want to. Just a peck on the cheek is good. Really, if he's as celibate as I think, even a little smoocher on the forehead by a pretty, young girl should turn him as red as his flames."

Katara considered this. The more Carlaoh talked about it, the more it made Katara want to do it. After all, who wouldn't want to see the proud Fire Nation prince blush? It would be priceless! Especially after all the things he did to Aang... and Sokka. And her, come to think of it.

Finally, she nodded. "All right, I'll do it."

Carlaoh cackled, rubbing her hands together. "Very good. I'm gonna love this." She cleared her throat and stood. "At any rate, I shouldn't dawdle. I'll be right back." And, with a parting wink, she left.

End Flashback

Truth be told, Katara was having second thoughts about her little bet with Carlaoh. Then again, she wasn't about to prove she was chicken and back out now. Besides, the three of them--Aang, Sokka and her--really needed the money, and two silver coins was quite a lot. And the image of a blushing Fire prince really was too hard to resist.

---

"... And this is one of the four tea rooms," Carlaoh explained to Zuko as they entered the tea room.

Zuko looked about the room, unimpressed, until his eyes landed on Katara. "What is she doing here?"

Carlaoh smiled and led him to the table. "She is a guest here, same as you."

"I thought you said I was a prisoner."

"You're not a member, I don't have any prisoners, and you're in our hide-out. So, you must be a guest."

"That doesn't make any sense whatsoever!"

"Sure it does. Process of elimination, and all that. Now sit down." She pressed a hand firmly on his shoulder, and he sat on the cushion placed there, albeit reluctantly. Once Carlaoh walked around to the other side of the table, though, he sent a glare at Katara. "So, where's your precious Avatar?"

Katara returned his glare and crossed her arms. "I don't know. We were seperated in the storm." Naturally. She didn't know where the spare room was, and they were seperated. Simple facts. He didn't need to know they were reunited, right?

Zuko snorted, as though he didn't believe her. Katara continued glaring at him, but he ignored her and turned back to Carlaoh. Of course, she wasn't important. Oh no, only the Avatar mattered. Jerk.

"Why is she here?" Zuko demanded Carlaoh.

Carlaoh calmly went about pouring some tea into cups. "We found her washed up on shore, so we took her in. She woke up this evening, so I invited her to tea a little while before you got here." She passed the tea cup to Zuko. "Here you go. It's called Darjeeling."

Zuko didn't even glance at the tea. "I want to know what the point of all this is."

"We were wondering whether or not the proud Prince of the Fire Nation has had his first kiss or not."

Zuko blinked. "What?"

"Well, it's a very simple question, begging a very simple answer. A 'yes' or 'no' will suffice."

He sneered. "No, I have not, but what does that have to do--" He cut himself short, suddenly sensing something. He slowly turned his head to the right and found himself face-to-face with the water bending girl. She was glaring at him.

Had he not been a Prince of the Fire Nation, trained to be prepared for anything, he probably would have shrieked like a little girl and jump as far away from her as he possibly could. As it was, a surprised yelp escaped his voice (though it would later be called a girlish shriek, he would insist it was a man-yell) and he moved away slightly, his arms rising to an ineffectively defensive position.

The girl's face broke into a grin. "Surprised you, didn't I?"

Zuko did his best to regain his composure, lowering his arms and setting a scowl on his face. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"I was just wondering why a prince like yourself doesn't have a girlfriend," she said amiably.

He exhaled steam. These girls were really testing his patience. "I am in exile. Exiled princes don't have time for girlfriends."

Katara ignored the steam. "I see." Then, without warning, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss onto his unscarred cheek. Right afterwards, she calmly stood and walked back to her own place at the table and gave him a smile. "Well, now you can tell your crew that you have been kissed by a girl before."

Zuko could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, despite the fact that he tried to conceal it from the girls by drinking some of his tea. He tried to refrain from placing his hand on the spot that she had kissed. That was certainly unexpected.

Once he caught Carlaoh attempting to hide a grin, however, he set his tea down and glared at her. She smiled at him innocently. "What? I just think it's... cute, is all."

His eyes narrowed. "This was a set-up, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Before he could make his reply, she continued: "But that was just to get you to introduced in a non-hostile manner. Really, I have something much more serious to discuss with you. Both of you."

Katara and Zuko both looked at her in surprise, the past few moments forgotten (for the time being).

Then Carlaoh turned to Zuko. "For you, Prince, I have a question: why do you fight?"

I told you there was a kiss. Of course, I didn't warn you of the cliff-hanger, but that's only because I'm evil. But don't worry, I assure you that next chapter won't be completely filled with boring discussion and an endless barage of questions. There will be some... entertaining... events as well. (insert maniacal laughter here)

Please leave a review! I'm getting addicted to them!