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Zuko bid Katara enter; he sat on the end of his bed, rubbing his face. He looked so young. Sometimes it was hard to remember he was only a year older then Sokka.

"What you said-"

"Had to be said," Zuko said simply.

"All the same. What you said... meant a lot to Aang."

Zuko looked up at her, a groove appeared above his nose as he considered her words.

"And you?"

"I think you mean the best."

"Do you?" Now he was wide eyed.

"Yes. I wouldn't be here to apologize if I didn't."

Now he looked baffled.

+++

"Yesterday, I said something callous," Katara explained. "About never liking you, or your people."

But Zuko shook his head, rising. "I don't expect you to change your mind in a day.."

Katara blinked at his frankness; he was straight-forward, but that was a bit much.

"But," he said. "We have to start somewhere. And it doesn't mean that's all we can think of each other. Don't apologize for what you thought. I hunted you and harried you, and I don't understand your people's ways, or you mine. So we can start from there, can't we?"

She couldn't deny his hope.

+++

Katara stared at him for what seemed like forever before she finally smiled for him, really smiled.

"I think we can learn to understand each other, a little."

"I make no promises with your brother, though." Zuko warned. She might be smart enough to accept change, but Sokka might be wasting time.

She waved her hand, though, and dismissed his concern. "Sokka is Sokka. I can make my own mind up about things."

"Something told me you'd be that kind of girl," Zuko said wryly.

She narrowed her eyes in mock irritation. "Really?"

"Ah, don't take that the wrong way."

+++

When Zuko smiled and recovered from his near-blunder, Katara allowed it.

Still, his pale eyes were alien, and his clothing was strange. He wasn't family or even friend. But now at least, he wasn't truly an enemy.

"Let me introduce myself," Katara suddenly said. "And we can start over. I'm Katara, of the Water Tribe."

Zuko blinked as she bowed, but followed her example. "Prince Zuko, of the Fire Nation."

His courtly intonation made her laugh, but she realized - it was him, really. That was Prince Zuko, without the burden of hunting or hurting.

"You're not entirely bad, are you?"

+++

Katara seemed pleased enough with their mock introductions, so Zuko relaxed fractionally. She was still an oddity, and he was uncertain want to make of her easy laughter or frivolous gestures. Still, she was trying, and that was better then what had been between then yesterday.

"There. We're settled," she said, smoothing her hands over her dress. "So long as we understand this isn't instant friendship."

"I thought it was a truce, really."

"It's a start. Of what, I'm not sure."

He nodded once. It was an uncertain beginning, but they all had to start somewhere.

"So, what about Aang?"

+++

"What about Aang?"

Zuko watched Katara weigh his reponse; he used Aang's name purposefully-he had hunted the Avatar. Aang, however, was now ally, maybe even friend.

She looked at him with pale eyes; too blue for his comfort. No one truly of the Fire Nation had eyes like that; the Wate Tribe alone had eyes like the sea.

"Is Aang important to you? Not to what you're doing-to /you/."

"To me, personally?"

She nodded.

"Yes." He realized when she said nothing, it wasn't enough. "He - reminds me of someone. And there are other reasons, but they're my reasons."

+++

She almost asked for his other reasons; she wanted to know, but feared knowing too. But she'd already realized this boy was private. Shut up, closed off, ungiving. Not because he wasn't generous, but something else.

Katara wondered if he'd always been like this. She supposed it didn't matter; this was what he was now.

"I don't like to explain myself. I'm not used to being questioned, either."

She nodded once, and let him keep his secrets, and his expression eased into something that might've been grateful.

She pressed on, wanting answers. "What is Aang to you? Just an ally?"

+++


This was an odd line of questioning, and Zuko didn't like the interrogational tone. But she was out to defend someone she loved; that much was clear. He'd seen that look in the eyes of lionesses, when his father took him to hunt.

"Why are you asking?"

She blinked, shocked, and attempted to recover composure. She hadn't expected he'd ask her questions in return. "I just want to understand. It's not that I don't think you'll keep you word. I think you will. I just - know you're capable of a great many things, but this crazy mission wasn't your idea."

+++

Katara watched Zuko blink at that. "What do you mean?"

"You were forced to leave your country. Forced to chase Aang."

Zuko looked at her a long moment, and then shook his head. His hands found his hips; she sat down as he stood there, thinking. At the end of his bed, she watched him wrestle with what to say.

"I wasn't forced/," he finally admitted. "I chose. I could have... accepted exile." His voice was soft, she strained to hear. "I /could have."

The honesty had cost him, and she recognized the pain. "...You make it sound like dying."

+++

Death. He shook his head, and then moved away, to sit on the bench before his small meditation table. "Is that so hard to consider? That I might feel that way, cast off like nothing?"

"No. But it worries me."

Her concern wasn't for him; not exactly. "If I had been anyone else, I would have executed. My station saved my life; instead, it cost me my home and my honor. Humiliation and exile."

"That's why I worry. Is your help from desperation... or hope?" She grimaced. "I'm sorry. That was - unfair."

"No. You're right-it's a bit of both."

+++

His honesty startled her again; he kept surprising her.

"I help because he asked. I was ready to leave; I couldn't repay you any other way, other then by taking my burden away. I was halfway down the trail, before I couldn't go any further, and he found me. And we sat and talked for an hour, maybe longer. It was the second time he and I had ever really spoken."

Katara frowned, and she looked at her hands. "Do you still think there's a debt here?"

"Yes," Zuko said without flinching.

"Please... don't say that to Aang, Prince Zuko."

+++

Zuko smirked at her, and she wasn't sure she liked the expression. He wore it far too often; his smile was rare. "You don't think he'd like it thought of that way?"

"I don't either, and neither would Sokka."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Give my brother some credit. He wouldn't want you in his debt," Katara said with a smirk. "He's not interested in seeing you grovel. He's net interested in seeing you at all, really."

"Alright. So, what's your problem with it?" Zuko asked.

"It's not me I'm worried about. It's you."

That made the prince recoil.

+++

"I left home because I chose to. I follow Aang because I care about him. He's the Avatar - and he's my friend."

Zuko nodded to her words. "You care."

"But you two are so different. But..." She shook her head, getting ahead of herself. "Aang... when you look at him, it's like you see everything. But then you realize you're only skimming the surface."

Zuko thought on that a moment, before he said. "I don't. I see what... we share; being born to something larger then ourselves. A Prince, an Avatar - people born to something they didn't choose. "

+++

"He's a child, still," she said, trying to sound adult about it, only two year older. "But you're not. You're not /well/, I think. You're strong, and you're passionate, but you're a sixteen year old banished prince with a lot of scars."

Zuko just blinked at her, stunned by her admission.

"But you're brave," she blundered on, even as he looked at her, wide eyed, lips slightly parted. "And you're headstrong. But-I've watched Aang and Sokka grow; and I still can see who they were in who they are /now/. But I couldn't recognize you. Not until you spoke."

+++

Zuko was protesting, trying to find words. "I'm not that changed. Not that /different/-"

"You /were/," Katara tried to clarify, and sat up, gesturing to him. "When we first found you, when we traveled, when we landed on the /ship/... I thought, maybe it was your injury. You'd just been in a terrible, horrible place... But... It's not. I watched you then and I watch you now, and it's different."

She recalled Ji's words about General Iroh, and knew what it was.

"It's alright to grieve." Her hand went to the pendant at her throat. "It's not exactly easy."

+++

Silence floated between them now, uncomfortable. Zuko's rigid posture tensed now; he had been too honest. He didn't admit he missed Iroh. It was weakness, but she hadn't cared. She offered sympathy. Not pity, spirits no, but it was still something he didn't want.

"I know you'll help us," Katara finally said. "But I don't know... how much of you there is in it."

"You doubt I'll give you my all? Or follow through?" He took offense, but she shook her head.

"No. But I do think you'll keep score. You won't take help without a fight. That... complicates things."

+++

She had him on the run now, and Katara wasn't sure how to feel about that. There was no triumph in watching him keep his temper and swallow his pride in the face of her commentary.

"I do... /keep score/," he said, using her term with some distaste.

"Could you stop?"

"I don't know. It'd be hard." He looked down now, trying to consider a change he hadn't volunteered to make. "I've been taught to. Alliances, favored owed. It bleeds down into everything else. Nothing is free. Every hand offered in help has a mate that desires something in return."

+++

She watched him back away, wary. "Can't you trust us?"

"I could try," Zuko's agreement was dragged out of him, and Katara took her victories where she could.

"It's a good place to start. Not the best, but a good place."

Zuko's lip curled. "We don't have the luxury of 'best places'."

"Ever hear the expression 'start with what you see'?"

He shook his head.

"My dad explained it with icebergs. You see the tip, but nearly all of it, is under the water. For every part that shows, there's seven-eighths unseen. The dangerous bits are the ones you don't see."

+++

She was struggling with her words, and Zuko was glad he wasn't the only one having difficulty here. She was trying to make a point, about things unseen, but-her words were failing her.

Eventually, she let he head sink to her hands. "I'm sorry. I want to explain this, but I don't have the words."

"It's alright. I'm used to command, not discussion," he allowed her the flaw he shared.

"Sounds like we're in the same boat." She giggled. "Along with the same ship!"

He rolled his eyes at the pun, but laughed.

"It was funnier in my head."

+++


He was laughing at her; really laughing. Even if the pun had been /bad/, it still had the desired affect.

"It's alright," Zuko reassured, though he couldn't meet her gaze. "I... haven't really laughed a lot, until recently."

"A miracle," Katara replied. "And it'd explain how tense you are, all the time. You could try to relax."

Zuko snorted, but Katara continued, "No, really! You can find out a lot about a person by their pastimes and how they go about them."

"Now you're looking for my seven-eighths," Zuko replied dryly.

"If you'd ever walked on an iceberg, you'd understand."

+++

One thing bothered Zuko, as she looked at her hands, the required uncomfortable lull appearing to bait them.

"Why do you play torch-bearer?"

"Hmm? Oh. I'm a bit new at it."

"I can tell," he said without rancor. "But you do it well enough. Aang's trouble is that he honestly likes everybody. You have to make the effort."

Katara looked at him a moment, and then said, "I don't have Aang's strength." She didn't sound unhappy. It was merely a fact.

"You're here, I'm here, and no one's on fire and the ship still floats, so that's something."

"Miracles, again."

+++

She was about to speak again when they were interrupted by clanging on Zuko's door. He blinked, and sat up (just when had he begun to relax) calling, "Who's there?"

"...Sokka." Her brother's voice was strained.

"Enter."

Sokka popped the door open, and peered inside. He we startled when he saw Katara, but came inside anyway. "Hey, sis."

"Hey."

And then he looked at Zuko. He looked between the two of them, as if trying to gauge why they were sitting there, but instead left it alone. "I came to ask a favor."

Katara smiled and mouthed the word 'miracles'.

+++

Zuko was not sure he had heard right. Sokka had just asked a /favor/. Politely. Katara mouthed the word 'miracles', and he smiled for it, before he looked to Sokka.

"Name it," he requested.

"I've been down in the boiler room..." Sokka began; Zuko's brow lifted. "And they said, they could show me a few things, but not everything. Not without your permission. And I was hoping, maybe, I could learn a few things..."

"You want to ... train under my engineers?"

"Yeah."

Katara's grin was pure sisterly evil.

All the same, Zuko found himself saying, "I'll arrange it tomorrow."

+++

Katara waited for the magic words. The magic words that would weird Zuko out to no end and would put Sokka at her mercy as long as they were on the boat.

"Thank you."

Her brother could be polite when he wanted - especially when he /wanted something specific/!

"Tell me all about it later," she said, pure glee on her face. He looked at her, before he mumbled a goodbye and fled.

She looked at Zuko a moment later. "Thanks! I'm gonna give him so much trouble..."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "As if he's the only one training with crewmen."

+++

Zuko had a point; she was learning from Hua, Sokka was now looking to get what he could in a week of engineering, and Aang was going to train with Zuko. But that meant the opposite was true.

"You're also training foreigners." She grinned. "Seven-eighths left to go..."

"And committing treason by letting Sokka handle our technology. Getting to make that an art."

"Pfft. You just gave me so much dirt to make him miserable with!"

"Little sisters are the same all nations over, aren't they?"

"Probably.."

"Just don't go too far."

"Never. I'm a master at brotherbending."

+++

Katara looked out the window, and then rose-Zuko followed her up; it was a good time to end their somewhat awkward conversation.

"Do you have duty with Hua?"

"You make it sound like I've volunteered to play nurse," she laughed.

"You're the one who he wants to teach, and you seem to want to learn..." He shrugged. "Far be it from me to stop you. Keeps him out of my hair."

"Not for long. He wants you to come to the infirmary."

Zuko shook his head. "Not tonight. Tomorrow, maybe."

"Alright." She let him open the door, and vanished.

+++

Sokka watched Katara leave Zuko's room from his own doorway. He wasn't sure why his sister had spent time with Zuko, but - she was in one piece, her hair wasn't mussed, and she didn't look flushed. Plus, they'd been talking with a good, safe ten feet or so between them.

So he didn't have to club Zuko to death. He did have to worry about what Katara was going to do. He really wished she hadn't been there. She was never let him going to live down having his curiosity over engines override his dislike of its Fire Nation origins.

+++

Sokka was trailing her; she knew it from his heavy footfalls - he was unused to this hard floor. She smirked slightly, and slowed a hitch. He sped up. Eventually, they met in the middle, and she walked on.

"Alright. Get it out of your system."

"What fun would that be?" Katara asked. "This should be /savored/."

"But I'm hardly the only guilty party here.You're working for a Fire Nation doctor now, aren't you?" Sokka accused.

"Yes, but he requested my presence. You asked Zuko - nicely - to study the engines. And despite that you've been an absolute jerk, he said /yes/."

+++

Really, that was the galling part. Zuko had been the Bigger Man in the face of Sokka's request. "So?" He tried to just a justification "I was a jerk to Suki and she still trained me."

"She had a crush on you, moron."

"..." Sokka, fidgeted a little, but red-faced, he couldn't deny it.

"And if Zuko has a crush on you..."

Sokka's face fell into a scrunch of disgust. "Ew. I'd rather think about him after /you/, thanks."

"Gee, what a noble brother you are!" She punched him in the shoulder, before she reached the ladder to below deck.

+++

Still he pursued her, right down to the infirmary doors. And there Sokka met Hua. The doctor turned to look at him both. "That doesn't look like Zuko. He's a fine specimen of what passes for Water Tribe masculinity, I'm sure, but we needed Zuko."

"Zuko and I have spent enough time together today."

Hua blinked and then feigned worry. "Aww. Is the honeymoon over already? One torrid night in the infirmary and you're casting him aside! It's that perpetual scowl isn't it?"

Sokka sputtered violently, but Hua merely changed targets. "What, you're upset you didn't get a turn, boy?"

+++

Since Sokka had been rendered mute by Hua's foul mouth, Katara said "Dr. Hua, this is my brother Sokka. Sokka, this is Dr. Hua. If you choke to death, he's the one that resuscitates you."

Sokka glared at his sister. "A pleasure to meet a fine Fire Nation torturer."

Hua blinked at them. "Zuko told you? How upfront. He usually doesn't air other people's dirty laundry."

Now she couldn't figure out if he was sarcastic or not. "Zuko hasn't told me anything about you other then you're a dirty old man." She didn't mention the honor debt. "Nothing about torture."

+++

Sokka was ready to bolt for the life boats. His sister's mentor had just informed them that he had been a torturer.

Katara's jaw dropped and Sokka simply boggled, as Hua had shrugged and said, "Well, lucky guess. You can imagine that the Fire Nation doesn't have respect for healers - we have better uses for flesh. Namely, taking it apart. I was a respected interrogator once upon a time. Now? I patch burns and make hangover remedies for Music Night. Far more rewarding.'

Wonders never ceased on this ship.

"I see," was all Katara could say.

Hua's smile challenged her.

+++

"So, my torrid past is laid bare!" he said, waving his hand as he limped about the infirmary. "Woe. Angst. Now - are you going to learn about burn care or not? We see it a lot here and an extra pair of lovely, delicate, but yet somehow trainable hands are always appreciated here."

Sokka looked at Katara, as if trying to communicate RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, but she didn't budge.

"Yes," she said. If she was going to forgive Zuko for being a wretched villain, she was going to forgive this man who had never harmed her. "I'm ready, doctor."

+++

Sokka was sure that his sister was officially insane. It must've been all the heat on the ship, melting her brain. "Uh, Kat-"

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Katara said sweetly, as she rounded on her brother. "I mean, really. You got permission to study the engines-which I hear is high treason. Isn't it, Hua?"

Now the doctor was gaping. "The boy's studying the engines? Zuko's letting him? Aye, that's high treason. We guard our secrets well."

Sokka fumed. "That's not till tomorrow. I could change my mind!"

"And moon around the boiler room anyway, right?"

+++

Caught between Katara and his own curiosity, Sokka looked at the doctor and his sister.

"Well," he said, "Maybe I could learn something in here too."

Katara rolled her eyes - and so did Hua.

It was the doctor who spoke. "I'm not going to beat your sister and apply the screws. The flogger safely is safely in the captain's office, and only Lt. Ji and Zuko have access to it. No one is being interrogated. I'll just merely ask terrible and uncomfortable questions about your sister's nonexistent love life."

Katara put a hand to her chest, sobbing in mock despair.

+++

Sokka was defeated. Katara was determined to do this, and Hua didn't want a second pair of hands in on the work. He fumed quietly, and stalked out to find something else to do.

So he went to sulk in his room. A logical activity and safe from Firebenders.

"I hate this ship!" he said, once back in his room, and kicked the door. He was rewarded with a sore foot for his trouble.

Maybe Aang would know what to do. Then again, he was even worse then Katara; he treated these Fire Nation men like they were really people!

+++

Aang, unbeknownst to Sokka, was already being corrupted. Soldiers had cards and dice and gambling was a past time known to many.

When the air bender had been asked to rattle bones, he had brought proven quite adept.

Especially at /cheating/. A little puff of air, and he had a better roll. They kept trying to catch him at it, but it seemed so natural! So easy!

Aang sat in the mess with a helmet not his own, a belt over one shoulder, and an assortment of coins in his lap.

"Anyone wanna play again?"

More coins were tossed down.

+++

Aang played all sorts of games until it was time for crew rotation. Then he played with a new set, till the dinner rotation was up and Zuko was back in the mess hall. Standing over his soliders, he looked down with a critical look.

"You're gambling with the Avatar?"

"Sir! Yes, sir! We thought to make him feel welcome!"

"You thought you'd fleece a twelve year old, you mean."

The men laughed nervously, but Aang grinned. "Oh, I don't think I'm being fleeced!"

Zuko smirked and turned away with a laugh. "Carry on."

Wonders really would never cease here.

+++

Katara and Sokka were stopped at the door for dinner by a soldier. Sokka glared, but Katara smiled. "The Prince and the Avatar would like for you to join them at the captain's table for tonight's meal."

Sokka opened his mouth, but Katara quickly interjected, "Thank you!" while she roughly elbowed Sokka in the ribs.

"What? I don't want to eat up there!"

"Prince Zuko wouldn't ask if he didn't need it. Probably a show of unity."

"But there is no union here. Just his ego and Aang's needs."

"I hear he gets served wine."

Sokka was seated in seconds.

+++

When Sokka asked about wine, Zuko was tempted to give him some. He had the feeling the Water Tribe boy couldn't hold his liquor, but - he needed everyone sober; otherwise, he'd have been on his second glass by now. Thankfully, Katara sat between them and kept the peace.

"Are we having anymore speeches?" Aang asked, as he tried to fit the helmet he'd won over his ears.

"Just an announcement," Zuko assured them.

They looked over the men, realizing none were eating. They were waiting.

"And I suppose they want it now."

Zuko braced himself for their reactions, and rose.

+++

"We have heard concerns and questions, these last few hours. But there are no doubts. You're a fine and loyal crew, and you've accepted my decision." Zuko began, as the hush came over the mess.

"This is loyalty I haven't earned."

All started; still, he looked at Ji, before be continued. "It is loyalty I will be worthy of, in time. This is merely the start of the changes for all of us. We have three foreigners, learning our ways - and some of them, teaching theirs....such as an Airbender's ability at /dice/."

Aang chuckled weakly from beneath his ill-gotten helmet.

+++

The men seemed to respond to the humility; it did not come easily to Zuko, they all knew, and so to hear it said carried weight.

He had been giving up so much.

"We continue to sail for Honshu. If you have found doubt, or simply want to ensure the safety of family and kin, that is when we'll part ways. At that time, Lt. Ji will be promoted and given command; Capt. Ji will then take over in my absence. He's proven himself more then worthy."

Men cheered as Ji stammered.

Zuko smiled. "Loyaty and service should be /rewarded/."

+++

Dinner continued then, with many congratulations heaped on Ji and his family. Zuko sat back, and ate his dinner with relish, watching Ji manage congratulations as crew ate, and returned to their duties.

"Something tells me he didn't expect that." Sokka, master of the obvious.

"Hardly. Then again, I didn't expect his loyalty to run so deep. I knew he held affection for my Uncle, but hardly expected it to transfer to /me/."

"Why not?"

Zuko considered his answer. "We had considerable friction, at one point. But now, respect seems to have been gained on both sides. A... reward, earned."

+++

As the congratulations thinned, Ji looked to his family. "I didn't know. If I had, I promised, I would have told you."

"Our prince is not fond of crowds, is he?"

"No. He hates public speaking."

"No wonder he's left you to weather the good fortune alone, then," Ming replied with a smile. "But he should be thanked."

"He will be." Ji grinned. "I have to get to the bottom of this. His generosity is... Somewhat suspect. We've had... conflict before."

"Most sons do, with their fathers. Zuko has none, so I imagine some men become him, in his eyes."

+++

Sokka didn't get wine, but he had been front row for Zuko, sweaty-palmed and tense. He'd have to remember the Prince's apparent trouble with stage fright. Something to dreg up later, if he had to.

Zuko lingered as dinner wound down; Sokka stayed out of the discussion of Aang's illicit gambling (Zuko and Katara double-teamed him and made him promise to give back the things he'd won).

He began to fidget. "Hey, can I go down to the boiler rooms?"

"Yes. Actually, let me accompany you."

Sokka's heart sank - till he realized Zuko was going to clear him for engines!

+++

Katara watched as Zuko left with Sokka; she rose and moved over into the prince's seat (which was very warm) and sat down by Aang. "So show me how to play dice."

"I want to teach you to play pai-sho, but the only board on the ship has no tiles!" He said, as he rattled dice between his palms with a ball of air.

"Ask around. Maybe someone has them?"

"I can't. The board belonged to Zuko's uncle. I'd feel bad." His face scrunched up, as if to illustrate his grief. No pai-sho tiles, and no hurting Zuko. Oh, woe!

+++

Zuko led Sokka down into the boiler room in easy silence. Sokka was grateful that the prince didn't try and converse or act like they were bestest bosomest pals, because they weren't.

He did find it amusing that the prince opened his collar a little extra when they were there. Sokka knew he was going to sweat buckets, but he didn't care. It was hot, but it was the boiler and it was part of the /mystery of the engines/.

The head engineer, a bent man with hands nearly blacked, looked to the pair of boys. "So he did ask."

+++

"Teach him what he can learn, in the time he's here. Don't bother with the policy of secrecy. We are at the moment a fugitive ship - and an extra hand in the engines couldn't hurt if something goes wrong."

The engineer looked between prince and peasant. The blue eyed boy was eager, all smiles and wide eyes as he looked at the engine.

"If the peasant can learn, I'll take him."

"Hey! Well, if a Firebender can teach, I'll /be here/!"

Prince Zuko just turned away. "Don't kill each other. First Engineer Muu is more valuable then you are, Sokka."

+++

They ended their day better then the last. Katara had a book of poultices to read, though the Fire Nation script was difficult. Sokka in turn was trying to puzzle out manuals and diagrams.

Aang watched them both as they collected in Katara's room to talk about their day, just the three of them, and flicked dice about the floor with tiny breezes.

It had been a good day, he decided.

He gathered up his dice, hugged them both in turn, and headed for his room

Then he realized there was a door open. A room he'd never been in.

+++

It was another set of quarters; this was not an officer's room, but someone else's. There was calligraphy on the wall, not the nation's flag. Braziers of incense had been long cold, and kitsch and curios - just like the ones from the box - were now dusty.

And then there was a presence behind him. Zuko, dressed for the evening, loomed behind him.

"Did you need something?"

"Uh. No. I just saw the door was open..."

The prince sighed and stepped past him. "I'm clearing out the quarters for Ji and his family."

"Was this your uncle's room?"

"Yes," Zuko replied.