Chapter Text
It was a brilliant plan, all things considered.
On paper and in the eyes of the public, they were a charming if oddly mismatched couple who somehow found love despite their differences.
A fairy tale come to life, sighed the more romantic members of Ba Sing Se society.
After all, what young lady in pursuit of a husband wouldn’t dream of finding her match someday with none other than an actual prince?
Then again, Katara’s prince was hardly one others would call charming, even under the best of circumstances.
He was surly and impatient more often than not, for starters, and his infamous temper was something fierce to behold.
There were hundreds if not thousands of young men her age who surely would provide better company, not to mention a more agreeable partner in crime for this little charade.
But oddly enough, Katara had been surprised to discover that the Prince Zuko wasn’t all that bad, at least once you stripped away his short temper and general social awkwardness.
After all, he was the one who’d formulated this whole arrangement to begin with, one that was mutually beneficial to them both.
Over time, he would even prove that he was capable of behaving like a gentleman, going so far as pretending to be charmed and amused by her whenever they were out and about together.
While he rarely laughed out loud she caught his mouth curling upwards once or twice whenever they were together, and on the very rare occasion she even heard him chuckle.
That had caught her by surprise, much to his amusement – she hadn’t thought him capable of finding joy in anything.
Then again, perhaps he was an even better actor than she gave him credit for - they both had to be, after all, in order to pull off their plan.
She had crossed paths with Prince Zuko quite a few times prior to the conception of their secret contract, of course.
Yet it was only during this particular evening that they met on friendly terms for the first time since their initial meeting.
And it had all started, as a fairy tale romance traditionally does, while dancing together one night at a ball…