A/N: Wow okay, i'm so sorry guys for taking so long to update, and this isn't even a long or even important chapter. I'm telling you right now that it's just kind of very fluffy, lol. Spring break ended like 2 weeks ago (which is when I wrote the first 4 chapters) and I've just been suuuper busy... junior year is a killer. Anyway, I'm posting this without being beta-ed (sorry ZutaraFan4!) so I hope there aren't too many errors in it. I'll try to have the next chapter up (with more of a plot ;D) by Sunday, but I can't make any promises. Alright! R&R!

Chapter 5

By the time the gang got back to the beach house, it was already late at night. The moon was nearly full, shining high in the sky, almost as if Yue herself were keeping a watch on the teenagers as her silvery rays gently brushed their skin. Other than Sokka's little outburst, no one said a word as they walked into the house. The only sounds audible were the gentle creaking of doors and the old wooden floor as everyone went wordlessly to their bedrooms. Katara and Aang were careful to stay as far apart as possible as they passed one another in the narrow upstairs hallway. As Katara and Suki entered their room and gently shut the door, Suki let out a giant, heaving sigh and flopped down in the middle of the bed.

"That was terrible." Those were first words uttered to Katara since the play ended. She turned to face Suki's body, half covered in pillows as she placed them over her face as if trying to suffocate herself. "I can't believe this place," she muttered from underneath the pillows as Katara replied, "Yeah… well that's the Fire Nation for you."

"Mmhmm," she agreed. Suki took the pillows off her face and went to get ready for bed. "We should get some rest. It's pretty late as it is and I'm beat," she began as she walked into the adjoining bathroom.

"I don't think I'm gonna go to bed just yet," said Katara from their bedroom balcony as she looked out the side of the house towards the woods.

"Why?" asked Suki as she peeped her head out of the ajar bathroom door.

"I just… I just have a lot on my mind right now," she replied vaguely as Suki slowly came out of the bathroom in her sleepwear.

"This isn't just about the play, is it," guessed Suki as she sat on the bench at the foot of the bed, watching Katara stand in the moonlight by the window. When Katara didn't answer she guessed again. "Does it have something to do with when you went to check on Aang? Did you guys have a fi—?"

"Look, Suki," Katara cut in gently, "I really don't want to talk about this with you just now."

Although Suki was a great friend to have around, especially to talk to about more "girly" matters, she was afraid to tell her what had happened. Katara was fearful that Suki would tell Sokka, and if Sokka found out, she knew he wouldn't be able to (a) shut up about it, (b) lecture her, or (c) some combination of the two.

She paused, thinking. "… maybe tomorrow, okay?" Suki nodded, respecting her friend's personal space as Katara passed by her.

"I'm just going to be on the beach, taking a walk maybe," Katara explained as she reached the door handle. Katara made an attempt to smile as she closed the door on her exhausted friend. Suki crawled into bed as she left and wondered what had happened between Katara and Aang. Before she could think too much about this, however, she was fast asleep.

Katara quickly and quietly walked down the steps, being careful to skip over the one squeaky step in the middle of the staircase. She padded barefoot out the front door, down the dirt path, and onto the soft Ember Island sand.

It was a particularly windy night and she wished that she had thought to bring out something warmer to throw over her small top. She meandered over to where the cliff face met the sea and flopped down on the cold sand, letting the tiny waves gently break over her toes.

She began to gently push and pull the water along with the tides, a calming mechanism that she had used many occasions when being with Aang and trying to save the world became too much for her. She suddenly stopped as the reality of what had just happened at the theatre, both concerning Aang and the Fire Nation's attitude, swiftly caught up with her. Katara brought her knees into her chest and just stared out at the moon's reflections on the water, trying to keep her hair out of her face as it whipped around her head from the wind. She cast her eyes downward as she started to feel her eyes burn with unshed tears.

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Zuko sat in a chair facing his bedroom window as he looked out at the cliff face being sprayed with water as the waves crashed against its rocky surface. What had happened at the play, he couldn't even… comprehend. How could his people cheer for the death of their one last savior as his ruthless, vindictive father took over the whole world? How could they, and this is what disturbed him the most, cheer for his own death? The people of his nation seemed to be brainwashed, and so completely uncomprehending of the world around them that they would follow his fanatical father to the ends of the earth if he asked it of them.

As Zuko sat there, slumped in despair and reflection, he turned to look back at the darkened beach. Zuko suddenly sat up straight as a movement caught his eye. As he squinted into the darkness, the figure abruptly walked out of the shadows and into the moonlight. It was Katara, walking barefoot on the sand, seeming to not care what direction she was even heading as she walked slowly towards the cliffs.

She suddenly slumped down in the sand near the cliff face and brought her arms in front of her chest. Why is she out there? Zuko wondered to himself as he sat there, staring at the beautiful waterbender as she untangled her arms and began to gently move her right one back and forth, mimicking the tides. She's probably freezing he thought as he stood up from his seat.

Zuko had made an impulsive decision to go outside, if not to talk to her then to at least offer her some warmth. He grabbed an extra blanket off of his bed and practically ran through his bedroom door, almost forgetting to step over the one loud, creaky stair step on his way to the beach. As he made his way out of the house and down the zigzagging dirt pathway, his footsteps finally slowed.

Zuko stepped cautiously now out onto the beach and saw Katara still sitting by the cliffs, about fifty feet away. Now, however, her knees were drawn up to her chest and her head was turned in the opposite direction of where Zuko was standing. As he got a little nearer, he timidly called out, "Katara?"

She whipped her head around to face him and Zuko noticed her a few tear tracks running down her face. He gulped, audibly. He didn't know she was crying. Katara hastily tried to dry her face inconspicuously on her arm as she realized who was there.

"Um, are you okay?" Zuko asked her, drawing nearer as his voice cracked slightly out of nervousness.

Katara looked at Zuko's face seriously while his hair was messily tossed about as the wind suddenly blew harder, then calmed. She sighed and her voice broke slightly. "I couldn't even say yes if I wanted to." Katara drew her eyes back to the ocean as the moonlight once again struck her face full on, illuminating her beautiful but melancholy face and puffy eyes.

"Oh," said Zuko as he drew up level to her. "I just saw you, you know sitting out here, and I thought you'd probably be cold… so here," he said abruptly. He stuck his arm out in front of him and for the first time, Katara realized he had been carrying something in his hands—a blanket.

Katara stared up into his moonlit face and gave him a watery smile. "Thanks," she said as she took the blanket from his outstretched hand and wrapped it around her shoulders. Zuko stood there awkwardly, fumbling with nothing in particular as Katara looked back up at him again.

"You can stay here with me… if you want," Katara said nervously as she looked into Zuko's golden eyes. "I mean," she began jokingly, "I know I'm not the best company, but…" Katara trailed off, and looked up at Zuko expectantly.

Zuko was shocked that Katara would want him to stay there with her when she obviously was terribly upset about something. He tried not to let that shock show on his face, however, as he replied.

"Um, yeah, sure." He looked down at Katara as she patted the sand next to her with her hand. Zuko, always unconsciously graceful, slowly sat down next to her and stuck his bare feet into the cold ocean water.

"Ah, that's cold," he muttered as the water hit his feet. He heated up his body temperature so that steam started to lightly come off his body. "Much better," he sighed as he took up a handful of sand in his left fist and let it slowly trickle to the ground.

"Lucky you," muttered Katara and she brought the warm blanket closer to her body as the wind picked up again.

Zuko smirked down at her jealous face. "Well," he began. "I could help you out with that little trick." Katara was just about to question him how when he raised his right arm and put it tightly around her shoulders. Katara blushed bright red, although thankfully she thought, Zuko couldn't see it in the dark. His arm suddenly got much warmer against her blanketed skin and she sighed gently.

"Better?" he asked timidly. Katara instantly felt the warmth radiating from his body. "Yes," she smiled up at him, "Much." They sat there together for an undeterminable amount of time, Zuko's arm wrapped around Katara's, as they just stared out at the vast, endless ocean. Finally Zuko got the courage to ask the question most on his mind.

"What's wrong exactly?" he asked meekly, not wanting to set off anymore waterworks from her. "Is… was it the play… or something else?" he asked, grasping at straws and unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

Katara stared down at her knees as she thought of her answer. Zuko gripped her shoulder more firmly, both out of support and fear that she would suddenly flee.

"Yes, and no," she began with a pained expression on her face. "The ending to the play… well I think that shook everyone up," she said as Zuko nodded solemnly. As per becoming their custom, Katara took his hand and squeezed it, to show that she understood how he was feeling. "But…" she began, then trailed off again, biting her lip in confusion.

Zuko stared at her lip caught between her teeth and thought it was a very cute quirk of hers. He quickly came back to the present, however, when Katara began to speak again.

"It's… it's Aang," she finally blurted out and Zuko could see her lips start to tremble. "Ugh!" she cried out in frustration as she pulled her knees closer to her chest and rested her chin on them. "I've just… ruined everything." She stressed that last word as she brought her hands up to cup her face in.

Zuko scowled into the darkness. For some reason that he would never admit, he didn't like how Katara was starting this conversation, acting as if she and Aang were having… relationship problems.

Katara was caught up in her own head too, however, and words suddenly exploded out from her muffled mouth. "I'm afraid that Aang's going to run off… that I've ruined our plans and that because of me, he won't be able to defeat your father."

Zuko looked at her profile in shock. He was very concerned for her now. "What's wrong Katara? What happened?" he demanded of her as he grabbed her wrists and brought her hands away from her face. She looked so scared and lost as she fought back the tears that were suddenly coming to her eyes.

"When I went to go find Aang after he left the play, I found him on a balcony outside and he was… just so angry and upset," Katara began, drawing little designs in the sand so she wouldn't have to look at the firebender's concerned face. She was trying, and for now succeeding, at keeping back the tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"He… well I've known this for a little while now but… he has a crush on me, and, and," she stuttered as she tried to come out with the right words. "… he got really upset because in the play, well you know," she muttered, blushing, "it implied all this, this stuff about you and me and that Aang was more like a brother to me than anything else," she finished as she continued to swirl sand around her fingers.

"And?" asked Zuko as he waited for the rest of the explanation. Zuko already knew Aang was a little upset over the play, anyone with eyes could see that Aang liked Katara, but he didn't know why Katara was now crying in his arms over that.

Katara finally looked up into his face as he looked at her worriedly. "I told him that I didn't like him that way, and that he really was like a brother to me—that I didn't want any type of relationship with him other than friends." Zuko's stomach did a little flip as she said that, although he wouldn't admit to himself why.

"And then," she continued, seeming to be relieved to get everything off of her chest. "He blamed you, said it was your fault because of what he saw in the play between the two of us, but I told him nothing ever happened… and he seemed to believe me," she ended, but that didn't seem to be the end of the story.

"So, then what happened?" asked Zuko again as he tried to comfort the waterbender as best he could.

"He… he, ugh, he kissed me and then I got really mad at him and just left him there and we haven't spoken since," she rushed, her story was finally finished.

"He kissed you when you said no?" Zuko asked angrily as Katara felt his body temperature spike a few degrees hotter. "I should go in there right now and—"

"No!" Katara placated as she never found out what exactly Zuko would have done to Aang. "He was just… I don't know what he was thinking," Katara said, shaking her head. She grabbed Zuko's shoulder as he began to stand up. "Don't leave Zuko, please," she pleaded with him. Zuko's angry scowl immediately turned back into a small frown. He couldn't resist her pleas. He placed his arm back over her shoulder as she smiled slightly.

"But the worst part is," Katara began and her immediately smile disappeared into a frown as she looked back at Zuko, "is that now I'm afraid, because of me, he won't be concentrated on facing and defeating Ozai; I'm afraid he'll run away and not be prepared enough for when he does eventually face him… and, and," Katara tripped over her tongue.

Zuko nudged her to continue as she sat there, her head bowed in sadness and shame. "I'm afraid that because of me, he won't make it… he'll die."

Zuko just sat there as Katara averted her gaze from him, still staring downwards. Zuko was never good with talking to girls, let alone in situations like these, but he tried his best anyway.

"Katara," Zuko began and she looked up again. He timidly placed his left hand over her own. "It's not your fault. Aang… he would've found out eventually and he's just a kid; he'll get over it," he reasoned as Katara scoffed.

"I promise you, Aang will be fine in a couple of days." He looked at her very seriously now. "He won't die because of you." Zuko stared hard into her blue eyes, trying to make her see that none of this was her fault and that Aang would be fine. A few more tears leaked out of her eyes and she wiped them off. She smiled meekly at him and Zuko grinned. He was usually never that affected when girls cried, but for Katara, he just couldn't stand to when she did.

"Okay," she muttered as Zuko squeezed the hand underneath his own. Zuko looked up and noticed the moon was much lower in the sky than it had been before. He paused, then stood up as Katara looked up at him questioningly.

"It's getting pretty late… or early depending on how you look at it," he said as he nodded towards the moon. Zuko reached his hand down and Katara, surprised, took it as he helped her up. His hand was much warmer and callused than her own. Zuko went to let go of her hand, but Katara kept a firm grip on it as she began to walk back up the beach, pulling Zuko along with her.

Zuko's stomach once again flipped, as did Katara's, as they walked hand-in-hand up the beach towards Zuko's vacation home. Once they got inside, Zuko let go of Katara's hand and quietly closed the front doors. They walked up the stairwell to the hallway and Katara handed him back his blanket. "Thanks," she muttered as they stood outside their respective rooms, staring at one another.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I intrud—," began Zuko as he looked embarrassedly at his own feet, but before he could finish, Katara suddenly flung herself over to him and hugged him tightly, exactly like the other day on the pier. This time, however, the hug seemed different somehow—more personal—and both liked it.

"Sorry," murmured Katara as she seemed to get a hold of herself and pulled back. "I just wanted to, you know, say thanks… for everything. You really helped me." She smiled up at him so sincerely that Zuko couldn't help but grin largely back at her.

"Well, I'm always here if you need to… to talk… or anything else," he said as they both backed away to their doors.

"I'll hold you to that," Katara smirked as she turned her door handle. "Goodnight," she whispered from inside the door.

"Goodnight," replied Zuko as for the second night, they wished each other a good night's rest before slipping into better dreams.