She heard the familiar bell ring. For a year now, she heard the bell often. The gold tassel hanging from the ceiling bounced up and down as it rang and supported the ringing bell.

She roused herself from her bed when she had been staring blankly at the ceiling. She shook off the sleepiness that clung to her. She skipped down the halls when the bracing winter air effectively woke her up. She'd gotten used to seeing the red tapestries hung on the walls. She still missed walls made of ice with blue, white, and purple hangings.

She was happy for the first time since coming here. She was happy because today was her birthday.

She calmed herself before entering his room.

"Hello," he said holding something behind his back. "What day is it today?"

"May 17th," she answered nervously. This couldn't be all that he wanted. Could it?

"What else is it today?" he asked patiently. Another odd thing. He was normally very short-tempered and had come nowhere near mastering the virtue of patience.

"I…don't…know," she lied. She was bad at lying.

"Really?" he said raising an eyebrow. He pulled the thing he had been hiding behind his back. A small package. "Because I thought it was your birthday, in which case I had a present for you. But if you're sure it's not your birthday, well then, I just don't know what I'll do with it!"

He feigned a sigh.

She gasped.

"You remembered my birthday!"

He looked confused.

"Of course I did. Now, are you going to open your present, or not?" He smiled as he gave her the red-tissue-wrapped package.

She carefully pulled it apart with her slender fingers. She treied to be carefull, but her fingernails poked small holes in the thin paper. As the last layer of red tissue paper was peeled away, she gasped.

"They're beautiful!"

She pulled out a pair of earrings with dangling red stones. She lifted them up to the light watching the sparkles dance out in an arc and spin across the room.

"Women and jewels," he muttered. "Aren't you going to put them on?" He led her to his mirror so she could wear them.

"They were for Azula, a present from Uncle. They're from Myanmar, if I heard correctly. But she didn't want them, she threw them away."

"She actually threw rubies away? These are the most beautiful shade of pidgeon blood rubies I've ever seen! " she exclaimed in excitement. What woman would throw away rubies?

"Pidgeon blood? I don't understand all the fuss about rocks."

"And you never will," she told him playfully. "Pidgeon blood is a shade of red. It's very beautiful. And the best rubies come from Myanmar! She honestly threw these away, with their worth?"

He shrugged. "Azula never was one for jewels. So I guess she won't notice they're gone, then," he said.

She smiled at her reflection. She didn't care that they weren't supposed to be for her. Pidgeon blood was really a pretty color on her darker skin…

I stirred.

"Mmmmmmm," I mumbled not wanting to get up.

I was curled like a baby into a warm ball under the red covers. My hair had come undone and was flowing freely around my face and neck. I pulled the covers closer and blinked slowly. I thought about my dream.

Well, does it really count as a dream if it really did happen? I guess it's sort of a noturnal flashback. I still had those earrings, they were, in fact, tucked away in my parka pocket right now.

So why was I so miserable?

QuaMae's face floated before me and shrieked "You sold us all out!"

Now I remembered. I sat up and sniffed. I buried my face in my hands and kneaded my forehead. But the tears wouldn't come. My eyes ached and I begged for their release. But I couldn't work up the tears.

I needed to cry on someone's shoulder.

I threw off my covers and stood up.

My room was dark. I carefully felt around for a candle. I tripped over my parka that I guessed I had thrown on the floor while I slept. I landed sprawled on the rug.

I remembered that there was a candle on the table. Of course, I accidentally slammed by knee against the corner of the table before I got the candle.

I hopped around on one foot clutching my knee for a few seconds. I overbalanced and toppled over and landed splat on the ground. I winced and rubbed myself when I had fallen before feeling around on the floor for the candle I had dropped.

When I had the candle back in my hand, I started wondering how to light it. I figured I wouldn't find any matches, since it was a Fire Nation ship. Normal passengers would just Fire Bend their candles.

I got up to find the door. It was still dark. I stretched my hands in front of me before blindly feeling for the wall. My feet got tangled in the coat again and I stumbled and crashed into the wall.

"…Ow," I said. I kicked off the jacket. I kept one hand on the wall as I walked around the room feeling for the door.

I hate walking around in the dark.

My hand bumped against the metal door handle. I jumped in surprise. I twisted the door open and walked into the hallway…

…And promptly walked too far and crashed into the opposite wall of the hall.

It was still dark. There was a torch in a holder against the wall, still glowing dimly. I dipped my candle wick into the mess of glowing embers. The wick burst into flames.

I winced and shut my eyes against the sudden brightness. They watered both from the need to cry and the light. I hoped that I wouldn't have to continue, but the tears dried up and refused to fall.

I never thought tears could rebel against your own eyes.

The candle I held illuminated the hallway. I sighed. Red walls, again. I slipped through the hallways, wondering which room to go to. I started opening doors randomly.

Nothing in here, nothing in there, nothing in this room, nothing in---oops!

General Iroh was in this room, fast asleep on his bed. It was really very kind of him to go with Zuko even though he was banished. Maybe having Zuko around reminded him of Lu Ten, his son who had died.

"Sorry," I whispered although I'm sure he never heard me before moving on to the next door.

I opened it and saw Zuko. He was sitting at a table, writing something. His back was to me. He didn't notice the door opening.

I cleared my throat.

He looked up.

"This way."

He turned around.

"Katara!"

"Can I talk to you?" I asked. My eyes started to water again and I knew this time they would fall.

"You're talking to me now?" he asked. I was pleased to hear a slight note of relief.

"I need to talk to someone."

Zuko nodded and pulled out a chair for me. I sat down next to him.

"Talk to me," he said.

I took a breath. My lower lip wobbled. And I burst into tears. I threw myself at Zuko and buried my face in his chest. I sobbed and sobbed.

I told him everything. But I was pretty hysterical. I'm sure half of what I was saying made no sense whatsoever. I didn't see his face, but I'm sure Zuko was very awkward. He

patted my back and stroked my hair and kept saying "It's okay, it'll be okay."

I stopped trying to tell him what was going on and just cried.

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When I was finished, he used the heel of his hand to wipe away the tears. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to me. I wiped my nose which was dribbling in a very embarrassing way.

I sat up.

"That…didn't make any sense, did it?"

He shook his head with a hint of a smile. I started over; minus the tears.

"QuaMae is my brother's finacée. She doesn't know me very well, so I guess I should forgive her, but Sokka? I can't believe him. He's my brother! He should know me better. We'd only been sailing with me onboard for two weeks…"

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By the end, I was crying again. Zuko hugged me. I spent a few moments, just breathing in.

I pulled away from Zuko. I didn't do it on purpose, but our faces were approaching.

I was shaking slightly. Our faces were only a few centineters apart and our noses were almost touching. I licked my lips. Time slowed down. He was getting closer. I was getting closer to me.

It was happening, it wasn't happening. I was a jumble of emotions. We stayed looking at each other's eyes, harldy daring to move, as if it were all a dream.

He did it first. He put his hand behind my head and drew me closer still, then he pressed his lips to mine.

I groaned softly and the kiss deepened. I suddenly came alive again, and I ran my hands down Zuko's back. My hands were wrapped around his waist, right next to his belt.

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When I got back to my room, it was near midnight. Nothing serious had happened, we'd only kissed. I sat down at the table in my room. I opened my clenched hand to reveal a key.

I had stolen it off Zuko's belt.

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I slipped down to the brig. Everyone except QuaMae was asleep. I felt like throwing up because Sokka had fallen asleep with his head in QuaMae's lap.

I tried to close the door quietly, but it made a tiny click which QuaMae heard. She whipped her head around and opened her mouth.

"Please, just let me explain myself!" I whispered quickly to her. I held up the key. "I stole this."

She raised an eyebrow and stood up. "Let me out."

"I'll let you out, but promise me that you won't attack, just talk."

She nodded rather reluctantly and I let her out. We walked a few feet away and whispered.

I told her my story, shortening it a lot.

"…So while I do care a lot for Zuko, Sokka means more to me. He's my family, he's my brother. I love him."

QuaMae nodded. "I know. I know it's not the same kind of love, but I love Sokka too. I'm sorry," she told me. "I was just trying to protect Sokka because I love him. And I jumped to conclusions. About you."

"I'm sorry, too," I told her. "I lied to you about liking Aang. Although, 'Master of All For Elements' does sound pretty good."

"I like Sokka," she said. "He's the master of his boomerang."

I groaned and covered my eyes with my hand.

"You have no idea how wrong that sounded."

She looked confused. "How could that sound—oh! Not that boomerang!"

We looked at each other and burst into silent giggles. We couldn't keep them quiet and we burst into loud laughter.

Which woke everyone else up. Sokka gaped at us. I held up the key.

"I'm here to bust you out."

Wordlessly, I opened the cage and let everyone out, including our men who were taken. We left the brig and snuck back to our ship.

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QuaMae, Aang, and I were the last ones on deck. We started to board when QuaMae gripped Aang's shoulder and mine.

"Stop," she said. "Katara, you owe Aang an explanation."

Aang looked uncomfortable.

"You don't have to, we need to leave!"

"I told you Katara was a spy, and she wasn't. I don't want you to doubt her on this trip. This is my fault, and I can't continue unless I make you trust Katara. It's my karma, after I stole her trust from you."

"I-was-taken-as-a-slave-to-the-Fire-Court-and-he-was-my-'master'-so-we-had-a-friendship-and-he-recognized-me-I-was-never-a-spy-now-let's-go!" I was impatient to leave. I felt pretty horrible, I was still guilty from stealing his key.

Aang and QuaMae climbed into the Water Tribe boats tethered to the side of the warship. I sighed. I was leaving Zuko again. My heart was being torn out of my chest after just having grown back.

I started to dig my hands into my pockets. But my hands swished through empty air. I had left my parka in my room. I turned around and started to run.

"What are you doing!" Sokka hissed at me.

"I left my parka, I'll be right back!"

I sprinted down the halls, crashing into walls at corners I was going so fast. I reached my room and snatched the trecherous parka off the floor.

"The prisoners have escaped!" a guard cried. Doors crashed open as every Firebender ran out in hopes of capturing the Avatar. I started running back to our ships, my breath ragged.

I put on a burst of speed. My chest and sides were torn and rough, My breath ran ragged through me. I ached everywhere. As I ran onto the deck, I heard feet pattering behind me.

It was so dark on deck I couldn't see. I tripped and landed on my back. The silhoette of a man sent a burst of flames at me. It wasn't until the flames were inches away from me that they illuminated the man who sent them at me.

Then it all went black.

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Epilogue

Katara was killed. The man who killed Katara…was Zuko.

It was an accident, of course. When he realized what he had done to the girl that he loved, he couldn't live with himself. Literally. He had backed away from Katara's body, horrified. He back up until he bumped into the railing. He had looked over into the black water…and dove in.

The soldiers on the ship were shocked that Zuko had commited suicide. They couldn't believe it. They sent every man in longboats to try to find the banished prince, sure that he was fighting the waves, that he had fallen overboard. But Zuko had given up. He was sinking deep into the sea.

While the guards were occupied, Sokka grabbed Katara's body and took it back to the ship. Everyone on the ships were shocked as well. There was no longer any doubt that Katara was never a spy. Her sacrifice, her life, though unknowlingly and unwillingly given, saved everyone else.

QuaMae felt the most guilty. Since she was the only woman onboard, she was the one who prepared Katara's body for her at sea burial since they were too far away from land to

bury her properly.

She was washing the blood out of the parka when she found the earrings in Katara's pocket.

Katara was buried with her hair in the traditional Water Tribe style, wearing Water Tribe makeup and Water Tribe clothes. The only thing foreign on Katara when her body was slid into the water were the ruby earrings her love had given her so long ago, the love whom she'd betrayed, the love who'd killed her.

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