Author's note: So I've had this idea bouncing in my head since before I came up with my other story, The First Time. It's very much a work in progress at the moment, and I am not quite sure how frequently I'll be able to update it, juggling my other three main story lines (Ages, Strange Paths, and the Resonance Series) as I am. I really like this one, though, and I have no doubt it will be completed, but for now I just wanted to get the first chapter uploaded because I'm installing a new laptop hard drive tomorrow and I want to make sure I have a copy of this chapter online, not just on jump drives and in my email. It's ultimately a Zutara, as will be very obvious, but there's going to be some other stuff in here, and as it goes along it will get much darker. So, for now, I give you the first chapter. If all goes well I might be uploading another one in a week or so. Ta!

"You WHAT?" Her screech blasted through the door and into the hallways, causing servants and guards alike to cringe. Though she was known throughout the world as a a legitimate hero and the best friend of the Fire Lord, Katara was also famous for her temper...especially lately. There was an almost inaudible murmur from the other side of the door, and then her voice raised once more.

"You know what? I'm not doing this any more. I can't. Just...get out of my room! I can't believe you! GO!" The door was flung open and a thirteen year old boy darted out as though his life depended on it, running a shaky hand down over the tattoo on his forehead. Suddenly realizing he was standing in the middle of the guest wing hallway with various palace help staring at him in shock, he chuckled nervously.

"I, uh...I guess I should give her some time to cool down," he muttered before turning and heading out of the immediate vicinity. He wasn't quite running, but it looked as if he wanted to, and the guards exchanged looks. Having been assigned to Master Katara by the Fire Lord's express orders when the group of friends had been given leave to stay at the palace as long as they wished, they'd learned that there were times to speak, and times to not. This was definitely a time to not. Schooling their expressions to calm stoicism, they looked thoroughly professional when the brunette spitfire burst into the hallway, eyes flashing with anger.

"Did you see where the Avatar went?" she asked, her voice icy. Without a word they both pointed in the direction the savior of the world had disappeared. She huffed and muttered something that sounded like 'if he knows what's good for him he'll stay gone for a while.' The guards didn't react.

"Do you know if Zuko – I mean, Fire Lord Zuko is busy right now?" she asked, slightly more calm. The elder of the two men, a grizzled warrior named Cazin, answered.

"His last meeting should have ended about twenty minutes ago. He had plans to take his midday meal in the Royal Gardens, I believe."

"Thank you, Cazin, Baru," she said with a gracious nod. "I'm going to ask you to stay here by my door while I go speak with Zuko. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them I'm indisposed. Unless it's the Avatar. If he returns feel free to beat him to a pulp. Tell him I said you could." With that statement she stormed off down the hallway, completely missing the amused expressions her guards traded as she left.

"I wonder when she'll realize she's left her outer robes in her room?" Baru said mildly. Cazin just shook his head. Being assigned to the vibrantly tempered waterbender was many things...but dull was never one of them.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the tree, the warm weight of a baby turtleduck on one outstretched leg as it drifted off to sleep with tiny little contented quacks. The day had been horrid, and it wasn't even half over. A deep sigh escaped him as he tried to brush his frustration and anger aside. A moment later a soft voice from nearby startled his eyes open.

"The fierce Fire Lord, sitting beneath a tree with a baby turtleduck. Now that's an image to strike fear into mens' hearts." He glanced over his head at Katara with a grin. She was standing somewhat behind him and looking down with a fond expression on her face.

"This is my first chance to relax in days. If I want to sit with a turtleduck I can. At least he's not badgering me about policies and traditions."

"Well, in that case, might there be room for one more under this lovely tree?" He waved her over to sit beside her, and nearly choked as she walked into his field of view.

"Katara – where are your robes?" His voice cracked slightly, his golden eyes wide, and for the first time she looked down at herself. She was wearing a standard pair of flowing pants after the Fire Nation style, all slim waist and loose legs. Nothing wrong there. But then she realized that instead of the matching outer robes she was clad only in her skimpiest set of upper bindings, and she gasped in shock. It was one thing to dress like that when they were off saving the world, camping in the wilderness and training the Avatar, but here in the palace – she flushed a deep enough red to rival her pants.

"I...oh, La, I forgot them in my room!" She slumped to the ground and dropped her face into her hands. "I was practicing this morning and I took them off so I could move easier, and then Aang showed up and I just got so pissed at him...quick, Zuko, give me your tunic!" she pleaded, blue eyes bright with embarrassment. He couldn't help himself. He laughed out loud. It was rare to see Katara so discomfited, and he delighted in it...as well as the view her forgetfulness afforded him, though he'd never admit it. With careful motions – he didn't want to wake up the small creature currently snoozing on his thigh – he shrugged out of his formal tunic and handed it to her. She slipped into it and he had the idle thought that the deep red and black looked exceptionally good on her.

"So what did Aang do this time?" he asked, knowing she'd need to vent before she could see anything logically. Sure enough she jumped at the opening he so graciously gave her.

"He told my father that he and I were going to get married in Spring, and that I'd be moving with him to the Eastern Air temple for a few years to get it rebuilt and to start our family."

"And this is...not true?" Zuko asked cautiously. Her frustrated gaze was all the answer he needed, but she spoke anyway.

"No, it is not true. He's never even asked me to marry him. He just assumed my acceptance. Now my father thinks we're betrothed, and soon the whole tribe will think that, and I don't even want to get married yet and I don't know if I want to marry Aang anyway – Tui and La, he's only thirteen! What does he know about marriage or being a husband or anything like that? I doubt he even knows what sex is, beyond whatever basics he learned from the monks! - and I know I'm going to blink and my entire life will be gone without my realizing it and everything I want to do and be will just be swept away because the women of my tribe are supposed to be obedient wives and mothers and I'd never be allowed to live my own life if I went home, even if I didn't marry Aang, and – oh, Zuko, I could just kill him." She slumped back, flinging her legs out in front of her and grumbling to herself while the young man beside her goggled at her ability to say so many words without taking a breath.

"It seems marriage is the topic of the morning," he lamented quietly, looking at her with a commiserating grimace.

"You too?"

"Yeah. There is apparently no precedent for a Fire Lord without a wife, and my council has taken it upon themselves to find me a bride."

"But I thought you and Mai were together?" He sighed and gazed out over the lake, one finger idly petting the tiny creature that slept so trustingly on his lap.

"She changed her mind."

"Oh, Zuko, I'm so sorry." He shook his head.

"It's fine. It was an amicable split. We've both changed...I have to be the Fire Lord, but she realized that she didn't want to be the Fire Lady. Our journeys made us into two people who share a common past, but aren't a good fit for a common future. It's all okay. We're still friends, and I hear she's been named successor to her father's house since his death last month. He sighed. "Unfortunately, that means the vultures have begun circling. I've had proposals submitted on behalf of hundreds of nobility from all three nations – you think a thirteen year old boy is bad? One of the Earth Kingdom nobles offered me his eleven year old daughter." He shuddered.

"That's...just wrong," Katara said in disgust. Zuko nodded.

"So now in addition to hearing over and over again why this change or that shouldn't be implemented because 'that's not how we've done it before'..." his voice had climbed to a higher pitch and Katara had to smother a laugh in her hand. "...now I'm bombarded with reasons why this woman would be a suitable bride or that one would make a wonderful partner." He smacked his head back against the tree in frustration. "It's driving me mad. I'm almost ready to tell them I fancy guys just to get them all to shut the hell up for a while."

"Do you?" the waterbender asked impishly. Zuko turned his head and glared at her.

"I most certainly do not," he declared firmly. "If I did I wouldn't have noticed you wearing just your bindings...erm...I mean – I didn't..." To his shock she flushed red, and he felt an answering blush on his own cheeks. He decided it would be a good time to change the subject.

"So...you mentioned not wanting to give up your plans for the future. What kinds of things do you want to do?" She seemed as thankful for the topic switch as he was and answered with alacrity.

"I'd like to travel a bit, to explore the different nations without being chased by a crazy banished prince or worrying about the end of the world." Her grin softened her words and he gave in to the thoroughly childish desire to stick his tongue out at her. She giggled like a little girl and continued. "Really, though, I'd like to be an ambassador of some sort. I love working with people, and even though the war is over there are still so many out there that are suffering. I'd like to help them. Maybe someday I could gather some other waterbender healers and some medical staff from around the world and open up hospitals devoted to healing the scars of war." She sighed. "But now with everything today and all that Aang said and set up without asking me...I doubt I'll ever get that chance." He reached out a hand and grasped hers, drawing her sea-blue gaze to his.

"You need to talk to your father, explain that Aang was mistaken. Chief Hakoda loves you more than the whole world, Katara. I can't imagine him willingly accepting a path that would make you unhappy."

"I don't know. I mean, women in the Southern Tribe do have more freedoms – Gran Gran has seen to that. But he'll be crushed. He's always liked Aang and I just know the idea of having the Avatar as a son-in-law is thrilling to him."

"True, but he wouldn't want you to settle for being less than the amazing woman you are just because of some guy, no matter how much he approves of the match." She blinked at the compliment and he could swear he saw a brief line of pink across her cheeks, but when she spoke her tone betrayed nothing.

"What about you? I think they're asking too much of you all at once...repairing the damage from the war, rebuilding your nation, and now they want you to marry and be a husband as well? How well do they think that will work?" He sighed and closed his eyes again as she voiced exactly what he'd been thinking.

"I don't know. It makes me wish the Fire Nation had longer betrothal periods. I know if I had a year, maybe eighteen months, I could get this country into some semblance of order. But our betrothals are usually only six months. There's no way I can juggle all of it and still do my best for my people in that short amount of time. I feel so trapped."

"Maybe you should go through those proposals and find a good Water Tribe girl. Our betrothals are a minimum of a year – they like to make sure the couple is well suited, because divorce is something that is discouraged to the point of near impossibility."

"If that's the case, how did Aang get past it?" She sighed with exasperation.

"He told my father that since we'd been traveling together for so long it was obvious we were compatible, and said that should count towards the betrothal period."

"That sneaky little bastard."

"My thoughts exactly," she growled. "And since my father accepted those terms, I can't go back to renegotiate and demand the full year." She gave up and flopped backwards in the grass, only to sit up quickly into a proper position when she saw the servants coming with their lunch. He chuckled under his breath, but she heard him anyway.

"I'm sorry," she snarked in a low voice. "Brief moments of peaceful conversation have the effect of making me forget I'm under constant scrutiny."

"I wish I could forget that sometimes," he lamented, and then their food was being set down on a low tray a servant had placed between them and nothing more was said for a few moments. Once finished with their delivery duties the group of maids had retreated back to their posts, no doubt waiting just outside of earshot for the two to finish their food. Zuko dug in with relish – he'd skipped breakfast that morning because of a delegate meeting that had had to be pushed up an hour. He smiled to see that Katara was enjoying her meal as well. The cream-drenched pasta and vegetables in front of her was disappearing quickly and he wondered if she'd eaten after her bending practice that morning. Judging by how hungry she was, he guessed he wasn't the only one that had missed the morning meal. Companionable silence reigned, broken only by the occasional appreciative comment from the brunette in regards to the food she was devouring.

"You know, Zuko, I might just have to move into the palace permanently. You serve some amazing dishes here."

"Yeah, I know. That's what Sokka keeps telling me too." He grinned and she chuckled.

"Sokka thinks anything is good as long as there's a lot of it and it involves meat in one way or another." The two laughed together as they ate. It wasn't until Katara had finished her bowl of pasta, however, that Zuko felt truly wrong-footed for the first time that day. For some reason instead of mopping up the last of the creamy sauce with a piece of bread, the girl ran her finger around the inside of her bowl and then stuck the sauce-covered digit in her mouth, humming happily as she sucked it clean. She repeated this procedure until the bowl was empty.

Zuko felt like someone had punched him in the sternum.

Katara didn't notice a thing, moving on to the the dish of fruit salad and continuing their conversation.

"So what you need is to find someone to get betrothed to that wouldn't expect to become Fire Lady, right? Someone who would play along with it until you got your nation back on its feet and then back down so you could find a real wife." He was still reeling from her obviously unintentional display of erotic eating habits and as such it took a moment for his brain to catch up with what she had said. When it did, though, he just blinked.

"And where would you suggest I find such a girl? All of these proposals are serious with an eye to reigning beside me as Fire Lady." She hummed under her breath, stabbing a helpless piece of pineapple repeatedly as she wandered in thought.

"Let me think about it. I'm sure I can come up with something."

"Well, while you're thinking, you should also think about what you're going to say to your father. If you want a chance of living your own life, you'll have to talk to him, the sooner the better." She gave up mutilating the fruit and just ate it.

"I know. I just...I've changed so much, and he's having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that I'm not his little girl anymore. I don't want to disappoint him further."

"Seriously, 'Tara," he said, calling her by the nickname he only used when he wanted to make sure she listened to him. "What would disappoint him further – his daughter proving her worth as a strong and capable woman by standing up for what she wants out of life, for her beliefs and dreams, even if that means backing out of a situation that is seen as extremely favorable, or a kowtowing mouse who gives up on everything that's meaningful to her out of loyalty to a way of life she grew out of long ago?" She looked up and met his gaze, and he knew she saw the honesty and the admiration there. She smiled, small and hesitant but he could see the beginnings of the fire that burned within her.

"You know, Zuzu, you sounded a bit like a wise Fire Lord there for a minute." He rolled his eyes at her retaliatory nickname usage, but he knew she knew she was the only person he let get away with it.

"Well, I don't know if you heard, but I kind of am the Fire Lord. I have to act the part once in a while, right?" She just giggled and swiped the last bite of his custard, a challenging smile on her face. He glared at her in mock anger.

"That's it, woman. First you mock my wisdom and then you have the temerity to abscond with my favorite dessert? You know what this means."

"That you're a slow slug?" she taunted. His vicious glare was completely at odds with the way he gently lifted the baby turtleduck to the ground. It blinked sleepy eyes and nuzzled his hand for a moment before waddling off to the water to rejoin its family. With an imperious air he rose to his feet.

"To the bending arena with you! I see I must teach you your proper place." She jumped to her feet as well, smoothing his tunic over her hips as she matched him glare for glare, and he swallowed hard as much at the anticipatory smile on her face as he did at the fact that there was no way his men's tunic should showcase her womanly curves as well as it did. He shook his head and deliberately pushed his thoughts out of the gutter they had been careening towards.

"Very well. If you're so desperate to be beaten, my lord, I suppose it is my duty as your loyal subject to oblige." Her sarcastic curtsey had him fighting a grin.

"Impudent wench!" he declared with a voice dripping with feigned outrage.

"Egotistical chauvinist!" she retorted. Flinging teasing insults at one another, they made their way from the Royal Garden back into the palace proper until they reached the arena that he had ordered built for benders of all nations and skill levels to use for training. For a brief moment they both forgot that they were under the watchful eyes of everyone who cared to look, that the sight of the Fire Lord in his ceremonial pants and his thin undershirt walking and playfully arguing and nudging shoulders with the feisty waterbender who was apparently wearing his tunic would be something that would set the gossip fires burning. They didn't notice at all, in fact, the eyes that followed them or the whispers that raced alongside them. For this moment in time, this afternoon, they were simply Katara and Zuko, sniping at each other like they always did, on their way to spar against one another as usual. Just another day in the lives of two former enemies turned current best friends.