Yue's bedroom window faced the harbor. Katara often found her sister-in-law, wrapped up in furs and woven blankets, seated in a chair by the window, looking out at the ships below. From this vantage point, Yue could spot any new vessels as they came into port. Her greatest pleasure was telling Katara about any foreign ships she'd seen and speculating why they'd come all this way to the South Pole.

"There was one from the Fire Nation," Yue told Katara when Katara came to see her after breakfast that morning. "It bore the royal insignia, if you believe it?"
Seeing Fire Nation trading vessels in the harbor hadn't been uncommon these past four years since Fire Lord Iroh ended the war and opened up trade with the Southern Water Tribe. But, ships carrying the royal insignia, denoting a diplomatic mission, were more noteworthy.
Katara's heart skipped a beat when Yue told her this news. Could it be him? That question rang in her head all day.
Sure enough, all the servants bustled about the castle, preparing to receive the Fire Nation delegation. Katara knew that she would have to help Sokka host these guests. He'd asked her to take on Yue's duties until she felt better. Poor Yue had never enjoyed robust health, and with the baby due in less than a moon's time, she barely had the strength to walk from her bed to the chair by the window. It would be a long time until she fully recovered.
Katara opened the clothes chest at the foot of her bed and took out her best dress. The one with long, tight sleeves, a trailing skirt, and made of lace. The trader she'd bought it from said the lace was crafted by nuns from Gaoling. Gowns like this were the latest fashion from Ba Sing Se, but Katara had adapted them for the colder climate of the South Pole. Instead of silk, wool lined the silk. Polar bear-dog fur trimmed the neckline and cuffs.

Little Meng, Katara's handmaiden, helped her lace the gown up the back. "You look stunning, My Lady," she said.
Katara smoothed her skirt in front of the mirror. Would he even recognize her after all this time? She must have changed a lot in the past four years. Then, she'd been a child of fourteen, and now she was a woman of eighteen—a woman who was old enough for marriage.

Meng climbed onto a stool to place a silver and crystal tiara among Katara's curls so that it formed a band of icicles across her mistress's brow. Katara tied a hooded cloak that matched her gown underneath her chin. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror and then went down the hall to Yue's room.

"What a shame I can't be there," Yue said. She was a tall woman but tucked up in the massive wooden bed, she looked as tiny as a child. A child whose belly swelled with another child. Katara arranged the blankets and furs so that Yue would be warm and comfortable. "This is the most interesting thing to happen since Tui and La know when." 

Katara nodded. Foreign guests were a rarity at their court, especially ones from the Fire Nation.
After saying goodnight to Yue and promising to tell her all about the feast in the morning, Katara took a deep breath and descended the stairs. Would he be there tonight?

A hearty blaze crackled into the great hall, filling it with light and warmth. The wooden benches were spread with furs to make them more comfortable for Sokka's warriors and their wives. Each warrior had hung up his shield, which bore his clan's sigil, on the wall nearest the table where he sat.

"How is Yue?" Sokka said.
"About the same as this afternoon," Katara replied. "Exhausted but in good spirits."
Sokka gave a sigh of relief that his wife's condition was stable. He saw Yue as often as his chieftain's duties allowed, but his furrowed brow and restless gaze gave it away that he felt uneasy when they were apart. They'd been joined at the hip since their wedding a year ago. Their marriage had been arranged, but a genuine love blossomed between them.
The door to the great hall opened, and the Fire Nation guests were announced. Katara's chest tightened. A steward filled her goblet with elderberry mead, and she took a sip to steady her nerves.

"Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation," the Herald said.
Katara looked up from the table as a young man dressed in full royal regalia entered the great hall. His gaze met Katara's. The music dimmed, and the light blurred, but he came into sharper focus. Everything that wasn't him faded into irrelevance.
Zuko's burn scar, the mark of his banishment and disownment by his cruel father, Ozai, had healed during the past four years. Or, it had simply become a more organic part of his face. The scar had seemed out of place on a pretty boy's soft, smooth countenance but suited the rugged features of a warrior. It gave him the strange, damaged beauty of a fallen angel.
"Chieftain," Zuko said. He approached the top table and bowed to Sokka. "My Uncle, Fire Lord Iroh, sends his regards."
Sokka rose from his seat. "Well-met Prince Zuko." He greeted his guest with a hearty clap on the back. "You are very welcome."
Katara continued sipping her mead and tried to appear as nonchalant as possible.
Sokka put an arm around Zuko's shoulder. "You'd be even more welcome if you'd brought that sister of yours. I've had the honor of seeing one of the three most beautiful women in the world, my dear wife, Yue, but seeing two would be an even greater honor."
The three most beautiful women in the world were Yue, Zuko's sister, Princess Azula, lately married to the Earth King, and one Suki of Kyoshi Island. If Azula and Suki were considered on par with Yue, they must be stunning.
"Is she is the Yue in question?" Zuko pointed to Katara. His composed, dignified expression wavered for a moment.
Katara blushed and lowered her eyes. Had he recognized her?
"No." Sokka shook his head. "That's my sister, Princess Katara."
Her embarrassment increased tenfold. Most women would pale in comparison to Yue. Katara was considered a beauty but not on the same level as Yue, Azula, or Suki.
Poets and singers praised Katara, but Yue left them speechless.
Zuko bowed again. "Princess Katara is my reason for coming here. I bring her a marriage proposal."
Katara almost choked on her mead. Was this happening, or was it just another of the countless times she'd imagined it happening?
"I have no objections to the match," Sokka said. "But our late father made me promise on his deathbed that Katara wouldn't be married off against her will, so she must have the final word. Katara, what do say to being married?"
It took all of Katara's willpower not to cry out yes, yes, a thousand times. "I am willing," she said.
"But, My Lady," Zuko said. "I haven't told you who your bridegroom is to be."
Sokka's confused expression must have mirrored Katara's own. So who else could the marriage proposal be from but Zuko?
Zuko presented Katara with a jade pendant on a silk cord. Her fingers traced the design etched in gold: the swirling clouds of the Air Nomads and the crashing waves of the Water Tribes.
"Avatar Aang has expressed an interest in allying himself with the Water Tribes," Zuko said. "He's heard a great deal about Princess Katara's beauty and prowess as a water-bending master and is greatly impressed with her."
The pendant felt heavy in Katara's hand. Young Avatar Aang's story had reached even as far as the South Pole. The only survivor of the Air Nomad genocide, trapped in an iceberg until Zuko and his uncle fished him out. Together, they overthrew the tyrannical Fire Lord Ozai and established a new era of peace.
How Katara could have attracted the notice of such an august personage, she didn't understand. She looked over at Sokka to gauge his reaction. His brow was furrowed, and his mouth was pressed into a tight line.
Katara was sure of one thing about her brother. Sokka was a Water Tribesman to his very core, which meant he was fiercely loyal and protective of his family and didn't give people his trust until they'd earned it. He liked and respected Zuko and knew that something as important as his sister's happiness was in good hands with him. But, Avatar Aang, neither Sokka nor Katara had ever met him, and all they knew about him was his reputation, which couldn't always be trusted. Plenty of men had good reputations they hadn't earned or bad ones they didn't deserve.
Zuko stood waiting for Katara's response. "What say you, Princess Katara?" he said.
"I need to think it over," Katara replied. "I will give my response tomorrow." This was much more polite and proper than telling Avatar Aang, "no, never." Hopefully, Zuko would pick up that she wasn't interested and not ask her again.

Katara's quarters were accessible by a narrow spiral staircase that climbed one of the castle's turrets. She hated walking up these steep steps, but they made a convenient means to escape to her room without being followed. Few people would risk tripping on an uneven step, falling, and breaking their necks just to chase after her.

A considerate servant had placed candles in front of the arrow-slit windows to make Katara's ascent after the feast easier.  In one hand, Katara held an oil lamp to light her way while she used the other to hold up the hem of her gown.  One step at a time, don't trip, she reminded herself. She'd climbed these stairs countless times, but it still made her blood run cold. 
"Katara." A hand touched her arm. She turned around to see Zuko standing two steps below her.

"I'm not marrying the Avatar," she said.
Zuko's grasp on her arm tightened to keep her from picking up her skirts and leaving. "Is there a reason why?"
"I don't owe him or anyone an explanation."
"He's in love with you..." Zuko let go of her. Katara scoffed. How could the Avatar be in love with her when they'd never even met?
"...During a meeting of the White Lotus, my uncle, Grand Master Iroh, was trying to talking to him about marrying and siring a new generation of air-benders, he was staring out the window at Republic City Harbor. When Iroh finally got his attention, he said that he wanted to marry a woman with eyes as blue as the sea, so we decided to search for his bride among the Water Tribes. Portraits of every eligible Water Tribe maiden of high status were procured and Aang couldn't stop staring at your picture."
Katara put her hands on her hips. This story didn't paint a good picture of the Avatar's character. He seemed whimsical and immature, not someone who would make a dependable husband. She would not just stand there and let Zuko try to convince her to marry this child just because he imagined himself in love with her.
"I still won't marry him," she replied. 
Zuko wrung his hands. "Why?"
Katara glared at him. Why? Because you're the only man I could ever marry. Because I've loved you ever since that day I found you on the beach. She hiked up the hem of her gown and continued climbing the stairs.
"Wait!" Zuko quickly lost his breath, trying to catch up with her. "You were willing to accept the marriage proposal at first. Why did you change your mind?"
Katara answered by shouting at him over her shoulder. "Because I thought the marriage proposal was from you."
At the top of the stairs was a door leading to Katara's bedchamber. Katara opened this door, intending to slam it behind her in Zuko's face before he slipped under her arm and blocked her way.

"Hear me out," Zuko said.
Katara tried to step around him, but he blocked her again. "Hear you out?" she said. He breaks her heart, and he has the audacity to ask her to hear him out. "Four years ago might not have meant anything to you, but they meant something to me."
"Katara, please understand." Zuko took her hand in his. "We spent a few days together when we were little more than children. That isn't..."
"...At least I've met you. I didn't just decide to marry you because I liked your portrait."
Zuko lowered his eyes and let go of her hand. "Aang is a good man. He'll make you happy."
"I don't care. I won't marry him even if he is the saint everyone says he is." Tears streamed down her cheeks. Katara couldn't understand Zuko. If she was good enough for the Avatar, then why wasn't she good enough for Zuko?
"Katara, please." Zuko dried her eyes with his sleeve.
Katara placed a hand on his cheek. "Zuko." She leaned in and kissed him. His arms encircled her waist. Zuko's encouragement made her bolder. Katara ground her hips against him.  Her tongue slipped into his mouth and her hand down his pants the way he taught her to do when they fooled around in that abandoned fisherman's cottage four years ago. His manhood roused at her touch.
The door to Katara's chambers had been left ajar, giving a tempting glimpse of the bed piled with wool blankets and fur pelts.

Katara giggled. "My handmaid won't be back for awhile," she said. "If you lay with me, no one would find out."
Zuko groaned with frustrated desire. It was obvious that he wanted her. She could feel his hardness through the fabric of his pants.
"This time, you wouldn't have to be content with just seeing and fondling my breasts and stroking me between my legs. I'd let you be the first man to ever have me." The heavy petting she experienced with Zuko was as far as Katara had ever gone with a man. She'd stayed pure all these years, waiting for Zuko to take her virginity when they were married. "The Avatar wouldn't want a plum if someone else has already taken a bite."
Zuko was a man of honor. If Katara lost her virtue to him, no one else could marry her. Especially not the Avatar.
Zuko pushed her away. "I'm sorry, Katara," he said. "I can't do this to Aang or to you. I couldn't expose you to scandal or break Aang's heart. Now let's say goodnight before we both do something we'll regret."
Katara lowered her eyes. She was willing to play the whore for him, to risk her reputation and prospects, to give up his precious Avatar, and it still wasn't enough. What else did she need to do?
"Goodnight, Prince Zuko," she said, closing the door to her bedchamber behind her.

Meng combed out Katara's hair as they sat together on a polar bear-dog skin rug by the fire. The little handmaid chattered on about what happened at the feast after Katara left. "Broken furniture - smashed crockery- at least one month's revenue in damages- caught in a dark corner with his best friend's wife- drunk too much mead- started a fist fight- broke out into a brawl." But Katara was too engrossed in looking at her reflection in a small hand mirror to pay much attention to Meng's gossip and prattle.
During the many afternoons she'd spent combing through the castle library for books of legends from far away lands, Katara had read conflicting myths about mirrors. Some said that you could see your future when looking into a mirror, while others claimed that mirrors only showed what you longed for most.
Katara's mirror showed her at Zuko's side, wearing a noblewoman's silk robes as Zuko lovingly placed a string of pearls around her neck.  The next morning, she put on a necklace given to her by Zuko. But it wasn't the one she'd seen in her mirror. It was Avatar Aang's jade pendant.