A third explosion rocked the courtyard and Zuko had to pivot wildly on one foot to keep himself standing. A snarl of frustration and rage ripped passed his lips as he through his good arm in a long horizontal arch, bathing the opposing rooftop in a savage wave of flame. With his other arm a blaze with pain, the lingering effects of his still sensitive wounds, and his mind a mess of tactics, adrenalin, and rage he was finding it damn near imposable to focus his bending into the fine articulate burst of flame indicative of his years dedicated to the art. No direct fireballs, no precise threads of flame, only a blanketing inferno was manageable in his current condition, and that thought only fueled his fury.

Redefining his stance Zuko growled low once more as he awaited the next assault of arrows.

It never came.

The shadowy figures that had played against the pail blue sky seemed to have disappeared almost instantaneously, leaving the Fire Lord with a sense of unresolved conflict and impending doom. What in Angi's name was going on…

Zuko took in a slow hissing breath through clenched teeth trying his best to calm his shaken nerves and inflamed shoulder. In the distance he could hear the tour horns scream to life as the rest of the palace became alerted to the intrusion. He stood, listening intently to the silences between the wail of the long horn, eyes scanning the walls in search of a second wave of attackers.

It too never came.

Another breath and he relaxed his defensive stance, his attention slowly moving from the immediacy of battle to the surroundings in which he found himself. His eyes moved intently over the courtyard in an attempt to keep his mind off the pain in both his shoulder and chest. If Zuko had learned nothing else over the year, it was pain, and more importantly, how to manipulate his thoughts as too block it out. It was a survival mechanism unintentionally bestowed upon him by his mother and her disappearance, and he had learned the lesson quite well.

"Shit…" the words came as an involuntary growl as he surveyed what was left of the palace garden. Patches of earth, now upturned and still smoldering with reminisce of the explosive devises pocketed the once flawless landscape. Pillars of blackened smoke arced up and away, reaching up to that flawless blue sky. Involuntarily he felt his heart ache to see what he considered a fragment of his childhood reduced to such a state.

Dust began to settle and to his dismay Zuko caught his first glimpse of the blue clad water bender, her body crumpled in a heap feet from where the third explosion had ripped a deep gouge into a pocket of Fire Lilies. "Shit" Zuko spat once more, wasting no time in scrambling over the remains of what had once been a small fountain and closing the distance between them.

Lying on her stomach Katara managed a low grown, gingerly pushing herself up to a tentative sitting position. "You alright?" He asked quietly placing a hand on her shoulder to help steady her. She brushed him aside with another moan.

"If fine" she murmured trying to push herself to her feet. "My head just hurts a bit…" She had hardly managed a step before her knees buckled and Zuko had to dart forward catching her cowardly before she could hit the ground. Katara growled her protest and ineffectively tried to push him away, glaring at him with bright blue eyes that couldn't seem to find there focus. "Let go…I'm fine, we have to go after them."

Zuko was having none of it.

Holding her by her shoulders to stop her from struggling he kneeled down, laying her on her back and supporting her head with one arm. Katara wined, her hand once more moving to her forehead as she gritted her teeth. "My head hurts" she repeated, her eyes clenched shut. "You probably have a concussion" Zuko replied quietly. Pursing his lips in silent disapproval he allowed his gazed to move from her to the palace door and the guards that were now poring onto the grounds. "Just sit still."

"No, we have to go after them and…" she seemed to choke on her own words as he hoisted her up slightly to better support her head in the crook of his arm. Turning his attention to his men Zuko began barking orders and commands. Half were instructed to hunt down and apprehend their attackers while the others were to flank and search the palace to insure that whatever had happened would not be reoccurring any time soon. He tried to ignore the one or two bewildered looks he received from a handful of the younger uniformed guards, many of them no older then himself.

"You two" he snapped, stopping two boys in their tracks with the stern command that lined his voice. "Fetch the first court heeler you find and have them reported to Master Katara quarters immediately."

"Yes my Lord…"

"Now!"

Zuko cut them off, his face beginning to show the irritation he felt at their bizarre bafflement and damnable formality.

"You talk too loud" he heard the water bender protest meekly. "And you talk too much" he snapped back with a quiet scowl, turning his attention back to her. Her eyes had closed and to his surprise and bewilderment he found that she had rolled into his touch, one of her hands having snaked up to grip at the large royal collar that denoted his status. No wonder some of the men had stared.

She let out a small snicker and Zuko involuntarily raised his good eyebrow. "You're funny" she managed still smiling. Zuko simply snorted as he moved to hook his good arm under her knee in order to lift her up.

"Come on, we need to get you inside"

"No!"

Her protest startled him and he stared down at her. "I don't want you to go" she added looking quite distressed at the thought. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm just taking you inside" he murmured, trying to sound reassuring rather then irritated. Katara calmed slightly, her eyes fixing on him with an almost childish curiosity.

"What?" Zuko murmured, gingerly trying once more to pick up the disillusioned girl.

"You have really pretty eyes."

He almost dropped her in shock.

"You do" she said apparently reacting to the astonishment in his face. "There like…little gold coins or something…but brighter" she closed her eyes once more and practically snuggled into his hold like a contented moose-lion cub. Zuko could feel the heat rise to his face as he began at a brisk pace into the palace and in the direction of Katara's rooms. "You're out of your damn mind" he hissed under his breath, ignoring the two grads that fell into step behind him, serving as their formal escort. When she did not respond he glanced down.

She had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Hey" he snapped shaking her slightly until she grimaced. "Wake up."

"But my head hurts."

"You have a concussion, you can't sleep"

"…and it's warm"

"Katara!"

He could feel his control over his temper begin to unravel. The palace was under attack, his authority was under question and he was stuck baby-sitting a delusional water bender who found it necessary to wax poetic about his damn eyes.

By the time he arrived at her room the court healer was already waiting, the young foot solder nervously at his side. Zuko was half tempted to simply hand the girl off to the men and be done with it, but in fear of inducing another outburst he thought better of it. Shouldering his way past the waiting crowed he made right for the bed, the healer at his heals. Gingerly he set her down, coxing her to lie back before moving away himself, giving the healer room to work.

"I'm fine" Katara mumbled again trying to push the healer away and sit up. "Sit still!" Zuko barked, causing both the girl and the healer to jump. Setting his jaw he folded his arms and gestured for the healer to continue. He needed to get himself under control.

Katara did not protest this time, but rather stared at Zuko through glassy eyes as the healer began to poke and prod her limbs, checking for any internal injuries her mangled senses were hiding from her.

"Are you mad?"

Her voice was soft and confused, taking the Fire Lord by surprise. "No" he murmured, double checking to insure his voice was calm and steady. "I'm sorry" she added before her face contorted into a hiss as the healer gingerly pressed his fingers against her ribs experimentally.

"They're bruised" he announced to the girl with an almost apologetic tone. "Possibly even a cracked rib or two"

Katara closed her eyes with an irritable growl and the Healer stood and bowed his way out of the room in search of the needed medial herbs. Zuko closed his own eyes, letting a low hiss escape through clenched teeth, trying to put his thoughts in line. First things first, the counsel had to be called and an investigation begun immediately. He wanted to know how something like this could happen, and how it had gotten so out of hand. At the very least it was a breach in security, at its worse…well either way, heads were going to role.

On the bed the water bender groaned as she curled up on one side, wrapping her arms around her stomach as gingerly. "It hurts" She murmured, her eyes fixed on a distant point straight ahead of her. Zuko bit his lip before forcing a smile and letting his arms fall to his side. "I know" he offered soothingly.

The words sounded hollow and meaningless even to his own ears, but they were the only ones he could think to fit the situation. She blinked and looked up at him as though she was seeing him for the first time. Her mouth slowly curled up into a warm smile. "You should do that more often…" she mused, the smile giving her lethargic tone a bright almost cheerful edge. Zuko scowled his confusion.

"Do what?"

"Smile."

She spoke softly, but the word seemed to hold an uncomfortable mass all of their own. Zuko was quite relieved when the bright blue eyes finally closed, as though a weight had managed to lift from his chest. "It makes you look, I don't know…softer, less grumpy…"

"Hmm…" Zuko murmured, not knowing what else to say. He became suddenly and uncomfortably aware of the guards that stood at perfect attention within earshot at the bedroom door.

"Happy…that's the word, happy…" Katara added and her smile brightened all the more. "You always looked so happy when you were little…in the pictures"

Zuko felt his brow furrowed as he began to wonder just how much of her mind had been effected. "The picture you found in the imperial summer home was off my father, remember…"

Her smile did not even waver as she chortled lightly to herself. "There were tons of scrolls in the attic silly, I found a whole box with your name on it when I went to put that one back…" she trailed off as though she were rummaging through her disjointed mind for what she could remember of them. "You were awfully cute, and oh so small…" her voice lulled a bit as her head rocked back against the pillow, eyes closed once more. Zuko pursed his lips.

"Katara" he snapped, unfolding his arms to lean over her. "Katara, wake up!"

She did not respond.

"Wake up!"

This was getting out of hand.

Bracing one knee on the bed he leaned over her, pulling her up from the bed into a sitting position in an attempt to wake her. Her head simply lulled forward against his shoulder in one smooth motion. Zuko hissed something rather undignified as he sat back on the bed himself, taking on the extra weight of the unconscious woman in his arms.

She was perfectly, perfectly still, with the exception of her light soft breath and the rise and fall of her chest. It did not take long before he became uncomfortably aware of just how close she was to him.

Unkempt wild rich hair brushed against the unmarred half of his face, her left cheek, shoulder and chest pressed quite firmly against him. He could distinctly feel each breath she took, her body pressing in to his as hot breath played at his neck. She was warm…surprisingly warm and smelt faintly of the expectation of rain. She moaned something unintelligible into his neck and he stiffened as her lips grazing lightly against his neck.

Zuko wasn't sure how long he sat there with her, how long he remained hypnotized by the rhythm of her breath or the scent that wove through her hair. All he knew was the uncomfortable warmth that seemed to flow from the points at which her body touched his, the electrifying sensation that pulsed down his spine with each breath she took, and the sudden inexplicable drive that gripped him, almost begging to be allowed to run his fingers through that unkempt hair and down to trace the line of her jaw, her neck, to left her head and…

And…

By the time the healer returned Zuko had managed to untangle himself from Katara, laying her back down as gently as he dearer. Slowly he picked himself up from the bed as if in a trance, moving aside so that the Healer and his assistance could work without hindrance. He could not take his eyes from her…

Why did she…

Why had he…

It was as if his mind couldn't find a cohesive line of thought to hold on too and behind it all he could feel an inexplicable rage he had worked so hard to contain building up once more. The events of the day, the never ending tribulations associated with his new title, his frustration, his confusion, pain, angst, fear, all finding release with this one unexpected moment.

Zuko stormed from the room, his hands fisted and jaw set. He had more important things to contend with today, he needed to have his wits about him and his temperament under control, nether of which he seemed to be able to find in the confines of that room.

He had made his way out into the hall and down half the corridor before it accrued to him that he was in fact being hailed. He spun around quickly to find the Healer following after him with long deliberate strides. "My Lord, forgive me but…"

Zuko cut him off with a fierce scowl before he turned his back on him once more. "I have no time for this." He bit out, picking up his pace once more. "I am needed in the war room immediately. I trust you have things under control"

The finale words were spoken not as a question but as an assertive demand. To his surprise and slight irritation the man continued after him. "As is to be expected My Lord, but your shoulder…"

"My shoulder is fine!" Zuko snapped once more his temper at its breaking point. He pushed on, ignoring the mans stammering apology as he marched deliberately in the direction of the counsel chambers. It wasn't until he was half way to the war room that the weight of his own words caught up with him…

His shoulder was fine…

His foot faltered and he stopped a bit bewildered by his own words. It certainly shouldn't feel fine…

The Fire Lord looked down sharply, staring in an almost numb confusion at the bloodied shoulder where the arrow had found its mark. It didn't feel as though an arrow had struck him. It barely felt as though it might be bruised. Slowly Zuko lifted his opposite hand to probe at his shoulder, separating the blood stained fabric with two fingers in order to examine the wound…

Their wasn't one.

Where the painful gouge in his shoulder should have been he found only raw new skin, the sallow new skin freckled slightly with what might have been bruises to come. Dumbstruck, Zuko was left simply to stare, unable to wrap his mind around the sight.

How was it…

How could it…

The answers came to him in an instant and without even thinking to do so Zuko turned sharply on his heals, staring back down the corridor from which he had come. Slowly his gawking stare changed, his surprise quickly replaced by a stern glare and locked jaw that seemed to denote his disapproval. "Stupid girl…"

Spinning back around with a growl Zuko stormed away, his own words wringing in his head.

'Stupid, stupid girl…'