Avatar: The Banished Fire Prince

The City of Omashu

Katara's POV:

We arrived at Omashu shortly after Aang told us about it. We left the ship to go into the city, of course, not before we made Azula, Zuko, and Iroh change into the Earth Kingdom garments Gyatso gave them. We were stopped at the gate, behind a cabbage merchant. The guards made his cabbage cart fly off the side of the path. They looked mean.

"MY CABBAGES!!!!" the merchant screamed, then pushed past us and ran away, sobbing.

We went up to the guards, who asked us who we were and our intentions. We simply told him we were travelers who wanted to look in the city and gather supplies. He stared at us intensely before letting us in.

"Enjoy the city," he said.

Aang brought us to Bumi's house and asked Bumi's mother where he was.

"Hello, Aang! It's great to see you again after all these years. Bumi is the king of Omashu now! Why don't you come with me later today when I go visit him? In the meantime, would you mind introducing me to your friends?" she said to him, gesturing at us.
"Of course!" he said, "This is Sokka, the funny warrior from the Southern Water Tribe, and his sister, Katara, a waterbender, Suki, a Kyoshi warrior, Avatar Zuko, his sister Azula, a fi- *cough*, and his uncle Iroh!" he introduced us all in one breath. Luckily he caught himself before he admitted that we were traveling with firebenders.

We went to see Bumi later that afternoon. He was only a year older than Aang, but he was already the best earthbender in Omashu and the king. Wow.

He also seemed a bit out of his mind.

Just me?

-----

Zuko's POV:

I asked Bumi when we were alone if he would be my earthbending teacher. He laughed and snorted maniacally before telling me no. He said my earthbending teacher would be a master of neutral jing. Someone who would wait and listen to the earth before striking. Although, he did show me a lot of earthbending. He was an amazing and capable earthbender. He also seemed like a maniac. No offense to Bumi.

Later that day, after dinner, I went to find Katara, who was sitting by a lake, morphing the water into turtleducks and making them swim around in the water. I made another one and joined her. She looked behind her shoulder at me, momentarily dropping the turtleducks to say hi.

"Hey Zuko! Did Bumi agree to be your teacher?"
"Nope."
"Aww...Why not?"
"He said that my earthbending teacher would be a 'master of neutral jing' and someone who would 'wait and listen to the earth before striking'."
"Hmm. Well, I don't know anyone like that. I guess we'll just have to keep looking, huh."
"Yep," I said, then lifted some water and made it dance around.

Soon, it was dark, and Katara had fallen asleep, leaning on the tree next to her. I smiled a bit. She was cute. I looked at her hair, Brown, long, and wavy... Her face was... enchanting. Her eyes were closed as she slept. Her body was curled into a ball as she breathed gently, and...

"Ahem," I heard, and quickly whipped around. I saw my uncle, and he came to join me.
"Zuko," he addressed me, "Is there anything you would like to tell me? I can tell you are tense."
"Uncle, what did it feel like when you fell in love with my aunt?"
He smiled at me before saying, "I felt alive. I could not bring myself to take my eyes away from her. And every time she got hurt, it pained my heart and I couldn't help but blame myself for not being there to protect her. And when we brought Lu Ten into the world, I felt the most joy I have ever felt in my life." 

He looked lost in his past as he recalled his family. And suddenly it was all gone, and he looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. I knew why. They were both gone.

"Thank you Uncle."
"What is your conclusion?"
"What?"
"Have you fallen in love, Zuko?"

I thought about it. I had felt butterflies whenever Katara laughed or smiled. Whenever she touched me, I had felt as if there were a billion lightning bolts running up and down my spine, in a good way, somehow. And when I burned her, I felt so much guilt, it hurt.

"Yes... I think I've fallen in love, Uncle."

He smiled at me.

"Then you should tell her, Zuko. I'll leave you alone."

Of course he knew I was talking about Katara.

-----

Katara's POV:

I woke up in the warm embrace of... I looked at the person's face... Zuko?

"Good morning," he said.
"Uhh... Good morning. What happened last night?" I asked, and I could feel myself blushing.
"You fell asleep."
"Oh. Okay."
"Katara, I want to tell you something."
"What is it?"
"I... I really, really... ehm... uhh... W-want something to eat. I'm starving! Will you come eat breakfast with me?"
"Sure, Zuko. I'm... pretty hungry too."

I quickly got out of his bed and raked my fingers through my hair, straightening it out. I saw him head into his bathroom, and then I heard, "UUUUUUUUGH!!!"

I knocked on the door.

"Is something wrong?" I called.
"No, I'm just frustrated. I slipped and I fell."
"Okay, just checking."

We ate breakfast with everyone else, and we soon made plans to leave the palace and continue to look for Zuko's earthbending teacher.