The Prince's Choice (Zutara)

XIII

The Fire Nation Capital was wholly unlike anything Katara could have dreamt of. Zuko had escorted her to the second tier of the city.

"The first tier is full of people who are faker than my sister's attempts to not terrorize the contestants. The bottom tier is where I usually take my food, when I go out. Lots of poor people there. Admittedly, no one's going to attack a dude in a mask with two swords, but there are some people who would attack us."

"I could take them," Katara crossed her arms.

"Sure, but let's just not," Zuko argued, "I think you'll enjoy this tier better anyhow."

He opened the door of the palanquin, motioning for her to step outside. The two guards who had accompanied him stepped forward, but Zuko shooed them away.

"Prince Zuko," one began, but he laughed.

"This is Princess Katara, not the others," he said. That seemed to have an effect on the men shadowing them, because they dutifully stood back by the door.

"I take it I have a reputation," she said dryly, "Feared?"

"Respected," he corrected. "And they know that we could take care of any ne'er-do-well that is stupid enough to try to rob us," he scoffed. "This is much better, isn't it?"

Katara did feel more relaxed. If there were guards following, she'd have to pretend to be in love with him all night. "Yeah."

The first road Zuko lead her on was more full of life than she could have ever imagined. In just the space between the houses and the cobblestones, there were more people bustling around than there were in her entire village! Lanterns hung over the roadway and there were thousands of stalls lining the path. Above her head, strings of linens were flapping in the wind, and the cacophony was far noisier than she thought was possible.

She spun around in a circle three times, trying to soak it all in - every detail, from the lady dragging three crates of fish to a stand, to the children throwing paper dragons above her, to the smell of fruit and possibly something rotting.

It was only when she caught Zuko's small smile that she recognized that she must look like a child with her wide-open eyes and lips parted in awe.

"It's overwhelming," she admitted after a moment. At Zuko's concerned face, she rushed to add, "In the best way!"

She saw most people brush past each other roughly and without pretense, but as she and Zuko began down, the crowd parted for them. She supposed they weren't inconspicuous.

"What do you think?" Zuko's voice was soft. She turned, unsure about why he looked at her so softly asking that, "Your opinion matters," He re-iterated from their previous conversation.

"What, and you'd rebuild it if I didn't?" She teased, but then saw Zuko's face a little, "I like it, Zuko. I do. It's really different than my tribe. My tribe is cozy, but you're all pressed together here, but there's so much diversity! Everyone has pretty much the same opinions at home. Sometimes I can't stand it. And here, everywhere you turn is something different, something new. I'd imagine it would be like that everyday. I could see myself enjoying myself in town here, a lot. It's really nice."

"Good. I mean, you will be here a lot." Zuko said, "If that is, you plan on staying that long." He added. Katara nodded a little, thinking to herself. She had the momentary thought that one girl would end up living here. It wouldn't be her, but she hoped whoever it was enjoyed the town as much as she did. While she knew that a town couldn't be perfect, and she knew this one was far from it, overall it was good. And someone like Zuko who seemed to care genuinely about it...well, she really did want someone to win that would care about it too. That would see the value in helping it, and not just focusing on their gilded life in the palace.