Disclaimer: I don't own the characters present. Those belong to other people.
So this came from a challenge I found on Tumblr. The thing to go off of was the line 'Katara your apron is a little loose'. From there I wrote out this thing.
-oOo-
Volunteering at the Jasmine Dragon had been Uncle's idea. It was a task that Zuko had no problem fulfilling. He loved his uncle more than anything, and deep down, despite the fact that he would never admit it, the young Fire Lord looked forward to his annual three week break from being the ruler of the Fire Nation, and getting the chance to once more become Lee. It was a vacation that he wished he could take more than once a year, but he was grateful for the time he could have. So showing up into Ba Sing Se, after ditching the Royal Guard, and getting fully dressed to pass off as Lee once more, Zuko wasn't surprised to find the door to the Jasmine Dragon open and waiting for him.
"There you are my nephew." Iroh's voice greeted him the moment he stepped into the tea shop. Before he could react, the portly man had his arms around his nephew in a tight hug that left it nearly impossible for the young ruler to breathe, let alone give a response. He instead chose to return the embrace. The hug was short, but full of affection and care. Upon pulling apart, Zuko was the first to speak.
"You seem to be doing pretty well." Zuko smiled into his words.
"I am doing much better now that you have gotten here." Iroh chuckled. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to take your vacation somewhere else."
"Where else am I going to spend my time?" Zuko shrugged his shoulders, as Iroh lead him through the dining area of the tea shop. Zuko had to whistle at the amount of people that filled tables. It seemed his vacation was going to be kept busy. "Sokka and Suki offered to let me crash there, but last time I did that I had to go to the other side of the island just for sleep."
"Ah," Iroh grinned, "young love. What of you? Do you have a certain someone to keep you up at night?"
"No." Zuko answered, a hint of sadness in his words.
"Oh." Iroh seemed surprised. "What of you and Miss Mai."
"We broke up a few months ago." Zuko narrowed his eyes at the old man. "I told you last month."
"An old man forgets." Iroh smiled as if holding back a secret. "So are there any young ladies in your life?"
"Nope." Zuko answered, the two stopping in front of the door leading into the back kitchen. "Speaking of young ladies," there was a certain indictable quality when he said those last two words, "Toph is supposed to come by sometime in the next three weeks. She thought it would be fun to take the left pair of all of my shoes home with her last time I saw her. She's got some business in Ba Sing Se in the next few weeks and the monster promised to bring them back to me here."
"I always love getting to see young Toph," Iroh answered. "She keeps the boredom away. But speaking of friends of yours, there's one here already."
"Who?" Zuko asked. Before he could get a response, the door beside him flew open, slamming into his face. The Fire Lord stumbled back, holding onto his nose as he whipped away the small drop of blood that sat on his lip. Looking up, his eyes caught the mop of chestnut brown hair that feel around the girl's darkly tanned face in large curls. Her blue eyes were large as she took in who she had hit. The tray of cups in her hand was placed down onto the counter as she moved to until her apron.
"I am so sorry Zuko." Katara said. "I didn't know you were there. And now you're bleeding."
"It's fine Kat." Zuko brushed off his injury. "I've had worse. Besides, it's stopped bleeding now."
"Okay." Katara nodded. She stopped fiddling with the knot of her apron, the string now hanging half ties and letting the apron hand loose around her waist. "Sorry about hitting you with the door though. Either I'm getting clumsy or we're dangerous together."
"A bit of both." Zuko answered, a large smiling forming over his features. His eyes roamed up and down her, taking in the light green dress that clung to her form. The apron she sported was covered in what appeared to be tea grinds, flower and sugar. The mess on her aside, her face seemed to shine brighter than it had in a while. He remembered back a month ago whenever they had heard the news of her and Aang's break up. She had lost a bit of that glow during that time, but now he couldn't find that sadness in her large smile and bright baby blue eyes.
"Thanks Prince Charming." Katara smiled, the sarcasm in her voice prominent. "You've got three weeks of me, better not piss me off so soon."
"You're here all three weeks?" Zuko asked, suddenly nervous. The waterbender was a dear friend to him, probably the closest of the group, but with that friendship was a feeling that he didn't quite understand. His heart beat raced every time she looked his way, and he felt as if fire flies were dancing in his stomach whenever he heard her voice. He didn't know what to make of these feelings, but the idea of having the person causing them around for three weeks, it was both terrifying and thrilling.
"Ya." Katara answered, causing the fire flies to start again. "I needed some time off and Uncle volunteered to teach me the ways of tea."
"That's great." Zuko smiled. "After a while flavored water gets boring."
"Well children," Iroh placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "How about you talk a bit more while making tea. I think that tray is getting cold."
"Oh right." Katara snapped her fingers as she remembered the tray of tea she had been serving. Her eyes drifted over towards Zuko, sending him a twinkling blue stare. "Well then go get your apron pretty boy and show me your magic."
"My… my magic?" Zuko was startled by the comment.
"Ya, tea genie." Katara answered as she turned around.
Zuko smiled at the giggle that came from her. His eyes noticed the apron on her waist. "Katara your apron is a little loose." He reached down and took the strings in his fingers. She looked over her shoulder as he untied the loose knot and redid it. He stepped back and she turned.
"Thanks." Katara smiled shyly, the action strange coming from the normally straight forward and strong willed girl. A light blush rose into her dark cheeks.