Title: All's Fair in Love and War
Summary: For months, he loved Katara, but he always knew, deep down, that he didn't stand a chance. Haru/Katara
Comments: Short oneshot is short. Sue me. And Haru/Katara needs more love. Enjoy, and please review!

He had a vague feeling since he met her all those months ago, but it wasn't until after the failed invasion, when he really got to know the two most important men in her life, that he realized that he didn't stand a chance.

Aang and Zuko were everything he was not – master benders of their respective elements (and of other elements as well, in Aang's case); Haru was just a slightly-less-than-average earthbender.

Aang – sweet, innocent, naïve little Aang – obviously loved Katara, and from the way she looked at him nowadays, as opposed to when he first met her, there was a chance she felt the same way.

Zuko, on the other hand, cared about her too – maybe a little too much, if Haru had anything to say about it. The exiled prince obviously hurt her in some way at Ba Sing Se (judging by the way they both tensed every time someone mentioned the city), and now all he wanted was to make it up to her somehow, no matter how many times the waterbender pushed him away. Haru knew it was only a matter of time until she forgave him, and when she did… he didn't want to think about it.

But it wasn't until Zuko's psychotic sister attacked that Haru knew that he'd truly lost. Aang was at Katara's side, comforting her as she tearfully bid her father farewell, but the way Zuko dove to save her from the collapsing ceiling, without any sense of self-preservation, was nothing to sneeze at either. And then Hakoda told Haru to come with him, Teo, and the Duke.

And then Haru realized that he didn't lose to Aang and Zuko; he was never a player to begin with.