His head slowly rose and fell in time with each inhale and exhale. Raven hair ruffled slightly as her breath escaped, tickling the surface of her tanned stomach. A small, short giggle burst from her chest, making his head bobble slightly before falling back into the pattern. Her tanned hand was twisted into his hair, gently teasing and stroking. Her other hand curled around the back of his neck, cradling his head to her chest. The smell of pine and ash drifted up to her nose; the smell of him. Pale lids were closed over his bright yellow irises and his breathing had steadied and lengthened, telling her that he had finally fallen asleep. His beautifully pale face was twisted into a frown; his arms wrapped around her waist tightened just slightly.
She smiled down at the sleeping form curled up into her lap. Gradually, her smile dissipated from her face, leaving a slight frown of worry and concern. Zuko had been having many nightmares lately, and she was worried, to say the least. All of his horrible memories of the past seemed to be resurfacing every time that he had a stressful day as the Fire Lord. He had gotten little to no sleep because of it, and his duties as the Fire Lord just seemed to be growing bigger and bigger with little to no end in sight.
Katara tried to help out as much as she could, but there was not much she could do. Almost all of the papers and contracts that she needed to deal with involved the signature of the Fire Lord. She tried to rifle through the pages before handing them to Zuko, finding the projects and contracts that seemed to be the most worthwhile and those that weren't, and divided them so it would be easier on him. Even then, there was a large stack of ideas, and often they couldn't agree on some of the projects.
Since she couldn't really help Zuko out with his duties as Fire Lord, she tried other ways to comfort him: taking him out the town, spontaneous sparring matches, taking breaks from work, sitting out in his mother's garden and anything else her mind can come up with to help him relax. Only recently has she found that holding Zuko while he tries to fall asleep helps to ward off the bad dreams better than anything else she had found.
It's been a little uncomfortable for her at times; like now her curved back was being pressed against the wooden headboard, and the middle of her back was painfully pushed against the wood. She didn't mind it, though. She tried to block out the pain knowing that she was helping Zuko sleep and find peace. And, she knew, she would soon nod off with Zuko, but, for now, she relished looking down at him and watching him dream.
She was going to allow herself these few moments of peace. She wasn't going to think about the world or about how much her heart ached for Zuko. She wasn't going to allow herself to fall in love with him again. He was her friend and only her friend. He made that clear when she started to comfort him at night. He promised that it wouldn't go any farther than that. Oh, but she wanted it to.
She gently pulled Zuko closer, letting her hand grip his hair. If we only stay friends forever, this much is okay. Holding him close to me and letting him get a night's full of sleep is good. She didn't need anything more than to be needed by her best friend. She would be able to live without Zuko's love if she could comfort him like this every night.
Her lips came down to connect with his forehead. She cradled her head next to his, keeping her lips perpendicular to his forehead, and breathed him in. No one knew, and she would never tell. As long as he was happy, she would be, too.
A/N: A little drabble for you all! It was based off of a pic I found on DA. You can find the link on my page. :)
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