All girls were now being seated onto the big table which meant that someone would be going home. The General had been occupied throughout the morning as he was ordering for a few arrangements in what dishes should be served. He enjoyed the first dinner that they had a few days ago and it excited him for the one tonight.

Hours later, each of the remaining girls joined in as they took a seat. He looked around each and every one of them as he began to clear his throat.
"Seeing how it's now been a couple of days, it was nice getting to know all fifteen girls, but unfortunately we will have to send three home tonight after dinner," General Iroh explained as Zuko looked at an empty seat. He couldn't help but be concern for the maiden especially when she was ill the day before.

Zhilan had reassured him that Katara would return today but it seem she hasn't gotten better.

His thoughts were interrupted as his younger sister began to whisper a few things in to his ears, "Who are you sending home?" She questioned curious in his decision.

His eyes narrowed, "You will soon find out," He answered as his attention return to some of the other girls who were currently speaking among each other.

He noticed one girl, Suki, looking around for Katara. She felt uneasy about the vacant seat next to her, and Zuko figured she wasn't inform about the maiden's condition. He got up from his seat and sat next to Suki, "Katara is still here if that's what you are wondering," He reassured as she let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought she had left or something," She admitted with a sigh, "Do you know where she is though?" She asked the prince.

"According to her caretaker, she hasn't been feeling well, but I do think she will return tomorrow," He stated firmly as Suki smiled upon the news.

"That means shes staying," She teased with a giggle escaping her lips. The Prince rolled his eyes.

"You two are close aren't ya?" He questioned as the warrior nodded.

She began to tell him how they met back when Katara had visited her island when doing some traveling before returning to Ba Sing Se. Suki made sure to be cautious about her answer since any slip of a wrong word can get both of them in trouble, "Her brother was with her at th3 time," She said looking down at her plate.

Zuko noticed how her attitude changed at the mention of Katara's brother, "How old is her brother to be exact?" Zuko asked interested.

"I think he's your age," Suki answered as she closed her eyes remembering her interaction with him, "We trained together for a day," She shared as a smile was still formed on her lips. When she closed her eyes, she can visually remember how they spent the day together when he went to seek her out and asked to be trained by her.

She also remembered how she rushed him away from the chaotic attack from the FireNation. She was sad that he had to go, but she knew that she would one day see him again.

"Suki?" Zuko asked, she opened her eyes and raised a brow interested on what the Prince had to say. "If you have feelings for him: Why are you here? If you don't mind me asking," He asked with interest towards the warrior.

"My fellow warriors convinced me to join as it would be a good chance to start a good relationship with the Island. And, they stated that I can move on from Sokka," She lied covering up her actual reason.

Zuko remained quiet for a bit as an idea struck him, "I'll keep you around then, that way I don't have to try for you since Sokka is still out there fighting in the war. And, maybe you can help me with your friend," He stated as Suki's eyes widen.

"Katara?" She asked surprised, "You got yourself a deal," She winked as Zuko got up and returned to his seat.

"What were you talking about?" Azula questioned as she had been eyeing the two for a while.

He once again rolled his eyes, "She wanted to know what happened to Katara," He answered vaguely as he wanted to have a conversation with his uncle.

Azula pursed her lips, "You should send her home that girl is filthy," Azula commented.

"Once again, Azula, it's my choice who I can send home not yours," He spatted as he turned his attention to his uncle who was currently speaking to Jin about tea.

Jin was another girl who grabbed the Prince's attention since she was very kind and understanding.

Azula grunted in annoyance and turned her head to her friend's direction. Mai and Ty Lee were sitting next to her as Ty Lee was sharing stories and Mai was simply eating.

"When do you plan to grab my brother's attention?" Azula questioned both her friends. Ty Lee shrugged as she wasn't interested in him, and only joined due to Azula's orders.

Mai, on the other hand, she did have an interest for Zuko since they were little but she knew that it wouldn't be right to pursue for Azula's benefit. And, there was her uncle that concerned her.

Meanwhile, Katara was currently having dinner in her room with Zhilan and Peng. They agreed to give her another day to fully recover, "That tea did you wonders," Zhilan commented as Katara shrugged knowing that she wasn't actually sick but mentally scarred from the event that she experience two nights ago.

Katara had somewhat gotten over at how she can bloodbend but it slightly taunted her that she feared her brother and the Avatar would be disappointed in her.

She hasn't heard from them, but she knows that they are doing fine. Her mind sometimes thought of scenarios of what they are currently doing or where they are. She was hoping that Aang would still be following her directions and notes, and Sokka to stay strong as he was actually now the responsible one.

"Katara, why don't you tell us about your past?" Zhilan asked intestered since Katara knew so much about them. She wasn't comfortable speaking about it, but since she had to lie it made it easier for her.

She placed down her cup, "I have an older brother who is fighting in the war. I think he is a recruited soldier for the FireNation." She explained, "I miss him a lot, we always had each other since we are basically orphans,"

She felt bad and disappointed how easy those lies were able to come out of her mouth. She felt bad lying to the one person that she is slowly growing to care for. But, she knows that if she found out the truth- Katara would be out of the selection.

"Whatever happened to your parents?" Peng questioned interested in the maiden's past.

"My mother was taken from me when I was a little girl, and my father went off somewhere. It's been a long time since I last saw them that I don't really remember how they look," Katara admitted mostly since it was somewhat true.

She continued to eat the food from her plate as she noticed Peng and Zhilan looked at each other as if they were communicating with each other's eyes.

Zhilan got up from the seat as she walked towards Katara. She reached out for her hands and looked at them. Katara slowly felt uncomfortable of the action since it seem as if Zhilan was able to see everything that she has done, "You been through a lot," Zhilan began as her golden eyes met with Katara's blue eyes. She softly rubbed her hand, "I know that the prince can fill the void in your heart," She admitted. The bender was caught off guard as her cheeks turned a rosy color. "You and the prince have a lot in common," Zhilan stated.

The bender raised an eyebrow confused on what the women meant. How can they have many things in common? He was a prince who still had his father and sister around. He may had lost his mother but he has Zhilan. Meanwhile Katara abandoned her tribe with her brother in hope of stopping the war so she could see her father once again. She was alone, and she hated it.

"You even have those same eyes as he does to this day," Zhilan stated as she lifted up Katara's chin, "Loneliness,"

Peng slowly got up,"Do you think the Prince has optioned Katara to be sent home?" He asked trying to change the whole mood in the room.

Zhilan turned around as her hands were placed on her hips, "I doubt it," She rest assured the two as Katara began to get nervous. She finally remembered that tonight he was going to sent girls home.

"I think we should get going; let you rest," Peng stated as he got up from the bench and carried the tray full of dishes. Zhilan agreed as she took Katara's tray and gave her a smile.

Zhilan informed her that she will check up on her later, and Katara nodded as she drove her attention onto her hands.

She got out of her bed and headed to the desk. She never took a minute to sit on the chair since the desk was set up if the maiden had wanted to write their family a letter, but she knew that she couldn't. There was one thing she could possibly do but the chances of it working were thin.

She pulled out a sheet of paper and grabbed an ink pen. She addressed it to her brother, she may not be able to send it but it would make her feel better to express her concerns and everything.

She started out the letter by saying that she couldn't believe that she missed her dorky brother. The one who always found a way to annoy her. She began by updating what she had been doing the passed few days in the palace and what she learned about the Fire Nation.

Katara even talked about how Suki was here in the selection. She teased that if Sokka was here, he wouldn't be able to recognize her without her warrior makeup. The bender knew that she couldn't say anything about how she felt the prince, because if she wrote it down-- it confirms everything that she has been denying.

Few mintues went by as she finished it and felt better of everything she wrote down. It enlighten her mood knowing that depsite Sokka not receiving the letter she was able to still compose it.

She soon decided that she should be getting ready for bed since curfew hour was just about to hit. She was already wearing her night gown, but decided to remove her hair from the braid that Zhilan had done earlier that morning.

She looked into the mirror as she brushed her hair and noticed that today and the day before she didn't have to take off her necklace. A smile appeared on her lips as a reminder of her Gran Gran who was back home with the Southern Tribe.

A knock was heard on the door as it spooked Katara. She told them to come in as she assumed it was Zhilan checking up on her.

"I'm sorry if it's late," She heard a male voice instead of the female voice that she was used to hearing. Her eyes followed the voice as it met with his golden eyes.

"Zuko?" She asked surprised to see the prince. She then remembered that she was in her sleep attire as she headed in her bed covering herself with the blankets.

The prince on the other hand was distracted as she looked different with her natural hair being fully exposed. It was slightly wavy and it gave it more fullness, "I wanted to see how you are feeling since you weren't at the dinner table tonight," He explained himself as he awkwardly stood there.

"I'm feeling better, Zhilan wanted to give me another day of rest, that's all," She reassured.

Zuko took a couple steps closer as he place his hand on her forehead. The waterbender flushed into a red tint on her cheeks and feeling of goosebumps on her body as his touch made contact with her skin.

"You are kind of warm," He stated as he moved away his hand and looked at the bender.

"Who did you sent home?" Katara asked interested if Suki was still in the selection.

"Ty Lee, Tosa, Mei," Zuko answered as the bender remember speaking to Mei about the rumours regarding her appearance and questioning her story.

"So I'm safe," Katara teased with a light giggle escaping from her lips. At the sight of that, Zuko couldn't help but feel some kind of tingly feeling inside of him.

"You should consider yourself lucky. Usually, I don't go to the other girls like I do with you," Zuko stated as he crossed his arms.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Of course, I'm glad my prince charming isn't entering another girl's room," Katara mocked as she placed a hand on her forehead for dramatic effect.

"Ha ha," Zuko retorted as he took a step back from the maiden. His eyes roamed around the room as he spotted a scroll on the desk.

"Are you going to send this to your brother?" He asked as he headed his way towards the scroll and picked it up.

Katara's eyes widen, "No, I just wrote that for fun," She said as she got out of bed and planned to take it away from him.

"He may be at war, but maybe I can rearrange a way for him to receive these," He stated as he held the scroll up so the bender couldn't take it from him.

Katara paused for a second, "You would do that for me?" She said doubtfully as she took a step closer.

"Of course, you are a nice person," Zuko explained himself as he locked eyes with her. "Something about you brings out a different side of me," He admitted.

A smile grew on Katara's lips as she gave him a hug off guard. Due to it being off guard, the prince awkwardly became stiff and unsure on how to cooperate. Katara took notice as she grew embarrassed, "I'm sorry," She apologized as she headed back to her bed.

"It's okay, I like it," He reassured her as he headed towards the door. He faced the bender, "I should head out, you need your rest," He explained as his hand was on the door. "Goodnight Katara,"

"Goodnight Zuko,"

A/n
Happy New Years! I hope this year is it for yall!! Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Enjoy

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-Rc