First burn

Believe

Katara sat up a little hearing Zuko talking out side the door, and another voice... Mai?

She got out of the bed quietly worried Mai might be harassing him again or worst, she might hit him again. Katara grabbed her cup of water and held it to her chest as she leaned against the wall next to the door.

"Does she make you happy?"

Katara closed her eyes waiting for an answer. Why would Mai care if he was happy?

"Yea, she does,"

She paused for a moment. Did he really...

"... can I ask how?"

"Why?"

"I want to know how a girl your forced to marry makes you happier than a girl that you've known all your life and you chose to be with," Mai snapped a little. Katara leaned her head back against the wall wondering the same.

"It's not how we met and maybe it is a little how our situation is, it is her as a person for sure, Katara and I have a lot in common and we've bonded over it, even with how we've been forced to this marriage we've bonded over it, and she's a good person, a good person that I've been able to relate to and I hope she feels the same," Zuko answered with a soft raspy voice.

" I guess I've succeeded in being able to befriend the woman I'll be spending my life with, and her happiness is just as important to me, she's earned my trust, I think she's just really amazing and fun and I'm proud to say that's who I'm going to be marrying,"

Kataras heart skipped a beat.

"We communicate, we listen, and we find solutions to our problems, just like any other relationship, I'm doing my best to make sure it's a healthy one," Zuko sighed and she smiled a little. She knew he was trying to be a good person for the sake of their future.

"But your not in a relationship, she was never your girlfriend, this engagement isn't even real and the marriage is fake, it's just for politics and war, why does it matter?" Mai responded and something burned through Katara at that, her ignorance put fuel in her that just got her blood pumping.

"Maybe that's the difference between someone I knew my whole life and someone I'm forced with, we're actually trying to not make it just for politics and war and maybe..."

... what? Katara was eggar to hear what he had to say. Maybe...

"What?"

Maybe what...

"I don't know maybe after the wars done..."

Spill it, she needed to know.

"You think she's going to love you?"

Kataras frown faded as her face softened, Mai made it sound ridiculous and to push Zuko down.

"No, no, I know she won't, I'm not dumb enough to believe she'll ever love me but I just want her to be happy,"

Kataras heart sped up as her face felt warm. Zuko was to kind for this war, for this land, for this life, he's suffered and he still was so kind.

"You're happy right?" Mai asked again.

"Happier than I've been in a while, she's given me a purpose," Zuko gulped.

"Alright, well it'll be interesting to see this shit show relationship go down in history," she scoffed and Katara heard footsteps leave but only one. Did Mai leave?

Katara slid to the floor with the cup held to her chest. How dare that woman ridicule and bash him for trying to be better, better than he was with her? Why can't Mai just leave him alone? Why does it always have to be Zuko sacrificing himself for everyone.

It just didn't seem fair.

She set the cup on the ground. None of it was fair, and not everyone is given fair choices. How did she even get here, to a point in her life that she respected, trusted and sympathized with someone she use to hate, someone who will be the leader of the nation that killed her own mother, that's destroyed the world?

No... that wasn't Zuko, Zuko didn't kill anyone, Zuko didn't send that monster to kill her mother. Zuko was just a kid just like her. It wasn't his fault.

And yet he was trying so hard to make things right for what's not his fault. The Zuko she met up at the North Pole is who is going to save this bastard nation.

She believed in him.

As long as someone believes in him he'll get to that point where he needs to be.

-

"Hey Zuko," Katara walked up to the prince with her hands behind her back as Zuko was in his studies going through some scrolls and books.

"What's up kat?" Zuko raised a brow glancing up as he marked where he was in the book and closed it.

"Whatcha reading?" She asked curiously. Walking about a palace can be so boring after so many times.

"Uh just following up on some stuff for our reunion with Yue and sokka," Zuko said quietly not sure if they were alone. She got it immediately and nodded.

"I did talk to Aang the other night to catch him up on what's going on, and I've been to the air temple that's not to far actually-" "you spoke to the avatar?" Katara cut him off quickly with wide eyes.

"Yea I like always sneak into prisons?" Zuko blinked confused.

"I thought you said it's been years because he's so heavily guarded?" She crossed her arms baffled.

"He is but I go when the guards are switching shift and are half capacity during the night," he explained like it was nothing.

"Then why haven't you let him out?" She didn't understand.

"Because if I let Aang out now and find out he's going to the northern water tribe they'll blame it on them and that's a whole other battle I don't want to deal with until we legally are allies till death does us apart or however it goes," Zuko leaned back looking at her calmly.

"Trust me i tried letting Aang free but he actually stopped me before I got caught, that's how we even got the idea for the day of black sun," he nodded gently and she thought about it for a moment.

"Makes sense then when you said we're all escaping together then, if there's an eclipse then there's no one to stop us from leaving," she smiled pulling up a chair to join him at the table.

"Exactly, but I think I found a problem," Zuko sighed crossing his arms. "The eclipse is only 8 minutes long, that's how long I'll lose my bending, will that be enough time to break Aang and my uncle out?"

"We're in this together right? We're on the same page?" Katara looked at him seriously and Zuko nodded confirming.

"How about you and I split up then, we use whatever time we need to get to each prison right before the eclipse and then as soon as the bending is shut off we go in and grab them, we'll have a meeting point after," she smiled putting her arms on the table.

Zuko pursed his lips. He should tell her. That he won't be going with. But she had a point and maybe it'll be easier to get her out of there. If Katara went to go free Aang they'd be together and can go find the others. He can at least make sure iroh is out of the prison but he could also use that time to take out ozai.

"That'll work," he smirked back at her.

"You'll need to know how to get to the prison first, it's a good long hike so you'll need time and over estimate, you'll have your bending still at least," Zuko slid the map of the fire nation lands to her to show where Aang would be.

He should tell her that the worst could happen that day. But she looked so happy to be involved. Maybe he'll figure out a plan that will work better that day. Maybe she'll figure out a better solution instead, Katara was smart like that. He believed in her.