"Which room?" Zuko mumbled under his breath as he was currently wandering our around in his own room. Ever since the incident in the morning he hasn't figured out on what to do— that was til he remembered his uncle mentioning a painting about his mother.

He scratched the back of his neck as he couldn't check all the paintings of her. There was too many in the castle to begin with.

There was also the thought of Katara. She couldn't escaped his mind. No matter how much he tried; he couldn't do it. With what they did last night— how can he? He loves her. In his heart he knew that if they happened to reunite he will forgive her in an instant. Besides, she probably had a good reason for it.

"Zuzu?"

The prince turned around as he looked at the doorway and spotted his younger sister leaning against the wall as she had a smile on her face, "What is it?" He questioned.

"Your not even going to thank me for exposing that water girl? She was using you Zuzu. Why would she fall inlove with a guy who's weakness is plastered on his face," She spat as she shook her head.

Zuko rolled his eyes at her words, "Azula, get out of my room," He stated in a serious tone catching the princess off guard, "Get out" He yelled out as he pushed her out and slammed the door.

He didn't care if she told on him. He wanted to be alone; no sister, no father and no servants. His eyes looked up towards the window as he can see the sun was already gone. The moon was shining bright as ever and made him stand up and close the curtains.

He now knew that he rises with the sun while she rise with the moon. Zuko was uncertain on how to remove the thoughts of the girl. Her blue eyes that lead him to the sea where she apparently had her secrets hidden.

"Mom? I don't know what to do," He whispered softly as he reached for the scrap picture of him with Ursa. Zuko had ripped out Azula and the FireLord when he was young, but he knew that if he ever found out— a punishment would be received. So, he hid it by his night stand.

Zuko closed his eyes as he laid down on his bed. He knew he wasn't going to get an answer, but a part of him wondered maybe he could if he tried really hard.

A knock on the door was heard as it opened slightly, "Zuko? We need to talk," He heard the voice of an older women as he sat up and met eyes of Zhilan. She closed the door behind him as she walked towards the prince.

She sat besides him as she wrapped her arms around him, "I'm sorry this all happened, but I really do believe Katara had a reason for it. It's so unlike her to fake all of this," She explained as she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the prince.

"Zhilan, I don't know what to do next," He explained as he looked down at his fingers, "The FireLord wants me to stay put while my uncle wants me to find a painting of my mom's," He exclaimed confused.

Zhilan remained quiet as she remembered a conversation with the general few weeks prior. She had bumped into him in the halls that cause him to drop a box full of handwritten letters. She hadn't thought much of it til she saw a familiar handwriting.

"Are those..." She pointed out as she looked at the letters. The general stood up as he collected them all and placed them into the box.

He nodded, "These are Ursa," He answered honestly as he waited for her to hand it back, "I recently found them hidden away, and I think this is the key for Zuko's future,"

"Iroh, you have to keep those hidden, who knows what can happen if it was Azula who bumped into you," She explained.

The general shook her head, "Not even her own daughter can figure out Ursa's handwriting," He explained as he held the box closer to his chest.

"If you let me, I can hide it for good," She explained as the general nodded and handed the box to the servant.

She shook her head, "I know what he's referring to," She stated as she pulled away and looked into Zuko's eyes, "I know where exactly it is," The servant stood up as Zuko looked at her surprised.

"Wait, you do?" He asked for reassurance.

"Stay put, I'll bring it to you Zuko," She headed towards the doors and left.

Meanwhile with Katara who was looking up at the moon and saw how bright it was. A few hours had passed by for sure, but she was tired. The day was hectic since the morning. The girl was surprised that her body could hold out that long.

"Hey, your Katara!" She heard a soft whisper as she whipped her head around to see where that voice was coming from. She found herself looking at a little girl who had a fire lit up in her palms.

"Why are you awake at this time? Where are your parents?"

The little girl chuckled, "I don't have any, silly," She mocked as Katara looked at the girl. She had her hair all frizzy as she was wearing old clothes that had holes, "What do you mean by that?"

"I think they died when I was little, but I don't remember actually," The girl shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

The water bender was concerned, "Where do you sleep? Eat?" She began to ask a lot of questions as the girl remained silent.

Her eyes looked around as they were surrounded by many houses. No one was outside but them, "I don't think Arui would mind," She stated as she turned and motioned the waterbender to follow her.

Katara looked concerned as they made a few turns around the village. The girl was casually strolling around as she pointed inside an abandoned home. It was small on the outside, and Katara couldn't believe that a small girl like her could live in such a condition.

Inside the house the girl looked around before she motioned Katara to go down the stairs. They went down as she lit up her fire to use as lights, "Arui?!" She yelled out.

Katara's eyes wandered around as the underground was bigger and full with a lot of bags and blanket on the ground. "Why did you bring someone here?" An older girl stated as she crossed her arms at the little girl.

She seem like she was around Varo's age, "It's Katara, and she looks lost," The little girl explained, "Can she stay here til morning?" She jumped excited as the older girl stared at the water-bender.

Katara couldn't help, but notice her appearance. She too, looked like she hasn't been home in a long time. Her hair was placed in a ponytail as her clothes were torn. She had no shoes which reminded her of Toph. Her face was covered in dust and a small scar was found on her cheek.

"I guess it's fine, as along as you don't wake up the others," Arui stated firmly before she turned back and saw more kids coming to their directions, "Why are you guys still up?" She questioned.

Two little boys giggled, "We heard talking and decided to see what's up," He admitted before he looked at the other boy besides him. Twins, Katara thought. Both had dirty messy hair as they were wearing a plain tank top with pants. She saw how bony they were. She immediately felt bad.

"How many kids are here?" Katara interrupted the conversation as all of them looked at her direction. Arui remained silent as she eyed the kids to not say a word.

"There's like ten of us," The other boy answered as he pointed to another room, "Haru, Katsu, Osamu, Ali, Rei, and Chou are still sleeping,"

Katara looked over at Arui as she sighed in defeat, "Okay, you three go to bed," She ordered as they all nodded and left to the other room, "Why are you here honestly?"

"I met that little girl, and asked her where her parents were," The water-tribe answered, "I didn't know that she lived in a place like this,"

Arui raised an eyebrow, "As you can see the FireLord doesn't care about his people only wanting to expand the nation," She stated bitterly as her hazel eyes showed anger.

"Are you the oldest here?"

Arui nodded, "I was the one that found this place and began to take in any homeless kid. Well, Mitsuko finds them," She referred to the little girl, "If your Katara, what are you doing in this village? Shouldn't you be with the prince?"

Katara bit her, "It's a complicated story," She wasn't in the mood to explain it to a girl's who had bigger problems whereas hers was boy drama.

Arui crossed her arms, "Was it true?" Her blue eyes looked at the girl confused. Her eyebrows were raised as she waited for her to continue, "You want to help us,"

Katara nodded as she remembered her speech from a few weeks prior. It seems like it was a long time ago, but in reality it wasn't, "Arui, I care about the people. Back in my village I was in your exact shoes, taking care of all the kids while the mothers went out in search of food. The fathers had left to fight war, leaving me the eldest girl whereas my brother was in charge of training them," She explained remembering the little kids in her village. How she missed their quirkiness, "And, I truly believe once Prince Zuko becomes the FireLord things will change,"

"How can you be so sure?"

Katara shrugged, "I just know it,"

"Katara wake up!" The girl little shouted as she was moving the waterbender on the floor. She ignored her as she turned over, "They found us, you have to run!" She whispered but loud enough for her to hear.

Her blue eyes shot open as she sat up, "Who found us?" Katara questioned as Mitsuko grabbed her arm and began to pull on to it.

"Arui already left with the others, and we need to catch up to them," The girl exclaimed as she began to run up the ladder, "Be quiet, they are upstairs," She whispered before she pulled herself up.

Katara followed right behind her as she looked around and spotted a few guards. She was confused on why they were in this abandoned house. Arui had reassured that it's been empty for a long time.

"There's no sign of her," One guard stated as he crossed his arms.

"Stupid villagers lied to us," The other one spit on the guard before they turned headed for the exit. Katara waited til it was completely silent, and when that moment came in she looked over at the little girl and eyed her to follow.

The waterbender got up from their underground latch and pulled herself up. Before she helped out Mitsuko she turned around and made sure the guard were actually gone. With one swift motion she carried the girls in her arms as they ran outside. Katara quickly put on her hoodie hoping she she wouldn't get recognized since it was bright in this sunny morning.

Mitsuko whispered their location as Katara nodded and followed directions. They arrived inside a forest where Arui was putting a few back to sleep, "Don't you think it's late to sleep?"

Arui shook her head, "Seeing by the sun, it just arise and there isn't much to do til I make sure no guard ever enters our home." She assured as she grabbed the little girl's hand, "But, I do know that they are looking for you,"

Katara looked at her bland, not surprised one bit of the news, "Well, it was nice meeting all of you, but I believe it's best we part ways," The young adult stated as Arui agreed.

Mitsuko, on the other hand, was hesitant as she was refusing to let go of Katara's arm, "No, you can't leave, you just got here," She mumbled under her breath.

"Mitsuko..." Arui stepped in as she gently pushed her hand towards her, "She has to go find the Prince,"

Katara bent down as they made eye-level contact, "I will visit you once I'm done with my job, I promise," She extended her pinkie hoping that the little girl will understand.

But, she knew she wasn't going to see Katara ever again. Mitsuko knew that Arui would find them a new hideout, but she also knew that Katara had to do her task. She looked at her blue eyes before she turned around and walked away.

Katara bit her lip as she put her hand down, "I should head out then," She mumbled before she turned around and began to walk through the forest. She wasn't mad that Mitsuko didn't believe her, it wasn't her fault that maybe her parents never had fulfill their promises.

Katara shook her thoughts as she was only a few villages away from the gates of the palace. If she stayed out of trouble then, she should arrive sooner.

"What do you mean she left?" Sokka questioned angry about the fact that his sister had left their campsite.

Aang shrugged as he was surprised that she was nowhere to be found, "I looked everywhere, and I can't find her," He exclaimed as the water tribe man sighed before he threw his sword in anger.

Suki stopped him as she placed her hand on his shoulder, "Something tells me she went after the prince," The warrior explained, "You even know how strongly she cares for him,"

"Katara is gone?" Varo questioned as everyone turned to look at the girl. Suki ran over to her to comfort her from any worries, "Did she go after Prince Zuko?" She kept asking questions, but was yet to receive an answer.

"Yeah, she did," Toph spoke up as she arrived to the campsite. She was out looking for berries since their wasn't any currency in their possession, "I told her,"

Sokka's eyes widen at the words he had just heard, "You did what?!?" He screamed angry as he walked towards her.

Toph didn't flinch for a second as she calmly popped a berry into her mouth, "You guys honestly don't understand why we need Zuko. He could teach Aang to firebend! If you guys think we can defeat the FireLord with out— boy are we fucked," She exclaimed as Suki narrowed her eyes at her use of language.

"Guys, whatever at this point. Katara will come back when she realizes whether she's ready to see the prince," Aang stated as he turned around and walked off.

Toph stomped her foot as she went after him leaving the others confused on what to do next, "Aang wait up!" She shouted as he still kept walking. She mumbled a few words as she went after him.

"Toph, I want to be alone please," He stated sternly.

"Are you still upset about Katara?" She questioned as he stopped in his tracks. His eyes met hers, he knew she couldn't see but she feels everything.

"It's not about her,"

Toph confused but at the same annoyed asked, "Then what's it about?"

He remained silent, "Your right. We need Zuko to help us,"

Now it was the earth bender' s turn to be silent as she was surprised to hear what he had just admitted, "Wait. Really?"

He sat down tired, "Yeah, I'm tired of this war dragging out. The only way to defeat the FireLord is by mastering all bending. And, if Zuko is the answer then so be it," He shrugged.

Toph plopped down right next to him, she held her knees closer to her, "Look, I'm sorry about yelling earlier," She brought up feeling somewhat guilty.

Aang shook his head, "It's fine, you gave us the reality check that is needed," He explained as she remained quiet. It stayed that way for a bit. It wasn't an awkward or tensioned silent, but more relaxed.

The avatar looked at the girl sitting beside him. She looked calm and at ease about the whole situation. When she's not her bratty self, she's actually ideal, but a part of him like her bratty self. Something that makes her different from other girls.

"We should head back," Toph stated as she got up from the ground with the avatar following behind her.