Chapter 1

Katara reached for Zuko's face even as her body began to itch all over.

Since Zuko had been thrown in their shared crystalline prison far underneath the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se she had had the constant feeling that she was forgetting something. That niggling had bloomed from an easy to ignore itch to full on pentapus-pox level itching in the time she and Zuko had been talking about their mothers. Every time she had encountered the banished fire nation prince before this, he had been cold, distant and angry. It had been easy to picture his face as the enemy whenever she needed inspiration to keep fighting.

She had always been slightly fascinated by him, after all. Today, after months of traveling with the Gaang she considered herself well-traveled and experienced. But back when she first met Zuko, when he had raided her tiny frozen village, she couldn't help but be intrigued by him. He was the first person other than Aang she had met from another nation that was a teenager like herself (for behind all his bluster and armor, he was just a teenager), and that fact about him had thrown her for a loop. Why was a teenager wandering the remote Southern waters looking for an Avatar that had been considered by the world at-large a myth? Why did he need the Avatar to restore his honor?

When the Evil Bitch Princess had cornered them and attacked his uncle she wondered exactly what could be going on in the Fire Nation to make family members turn against her in such a way.

And when, just a few days ago here in the walled city she had bumped into him working in the tea shop with his uncle, she wondered just how badly she had judged this man.

Down here in the caves, their conversation unfettered by the baggage they carried in the world outside these isolated caves, she had been silently begging for all her wondering to be justified. Despite all the times they had met each-other, it felt as if they had never really met before. The distance between them felt thin and unsubstantial, like a veritable ice-brick wall had come down between them. Filling that space now was the itching, the yearning niggling feeling that she was missing something….

She reached her hand towards his face and brushed her fingers across the taut, uneven skin.

In that moment, the cave wall burst forth in an explosion cause by the Iroh and the Aang's rescue party, though the two teenagers sitting across from one another, one of fire and one of water hardly noticed. They were staring at each other at the memory of warmth that was white hot and yet somehow did not burn. It warmed with love and affection, acceptance and trust…it felt tantalizing, the itch had disappeared to and the relief was so unexpected and profound, they almost didn't want to let go—

Aang, startled by Katara's closeness to Zuko and so grateful to have finally found her nearly tackled her in a hug, breaking the connection.

All at once the itching came back two-fold and with a vengeance. It took on a life of its own, pulling and reaching, clawing and twisting towards the scarred Fire Prince being embraced by his Uncle on the other side of the room. Katara nearly doubled over in discomfort, though Aang luckily didn't notice her involuntary actions, too glad to see her alive.

"Katara!" He all but shouted, "We found you!"

She tried to speak but her throat suddenly felt so dry it resembled her level of dehydration when they had lost Appa in the Si Wong Desert. She coughed and nearly choked, trying to pull water from the water skin usually present at her side, forgetting the Dai Li had stripped her of her most powerful weapon when they threw her in here.

Finally, she managed to force words past her lips:

"Zuko, he", she licked her dry lips. Distantly, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zuko speaking in low tones with his Uncle, but she could also see things she would normally have never noticed. She saw the fatigue on his face, the way he was slumped just a hair to the side. She noticed his eyes, though clearly happy at seeing his Uncle, darting side to side when thought no one looking, resembling a trapped animal. Her eyes landed on the way he licked his lips and had absentmindedly scratched the back of his hand so thoroughly it shone bright red even in this dim cave light. Her thoughts and sentence trailed away as she snuck a peak at the back of her own hand, wondering if it was as red as Zuko's.

"Katara?" Aang questioned, finally picking up on something being wrong and getting concerned, "Is something wrong? Did he hurt you?" His expression took on his take at menacing fear and rage, largely falling short.

She shook her head vehemently, and swayed with just that action and Aang worriedly wrapped his thin arms around her waist. They both looked at Zuko, Aang accusing and Katara in part wondering and part longing. Was he feeling this too? She swayed again at the thought.

"Katara, you need to sit down" Aang ordered, uncharacteristically serious. She tried to collect herself, as even though she was in no rush to leave the caves and venture back into the chaotic outside world, she knew time was of the essence. Whether she wanted to leave now or not, she wouldn't have the choice of leaving at all if the Dai Li came back. She drew in a large breath, trying to steady herself even as her vision swam.

"I'm fine!" She insisted, taking a few wobbly steps forward. It helped that the steps were in Zuko's direction, and he came towards her with his Uncle as well, the two Fire Nation royals clearly having come to the same decision as her about the need to move quickly.

Although he looked mostly fine, she saw his steps wavered as well, lacking the confidence she had always associated with her former enemy. As Aang turned toward her, caught off-guard by her sudden avoidance she stumbled, and Zuko hurried the last few steps to catch her.

The warmth was back, and it came so immediately and so strongly she almost gasped. Now that she was touching Zuko—even though it was through layers of Earth Kingdom green fabric—she felt steady enough to stand at her full height, though she didn't let go of him. He didn't let go of her either, discreetly tucking his hand against hers in a way that was hidden by the folds of their robes. He squeezed it in what she instinctively knew was warning.

Don't tell them, he was saying, let's figure this out when we get out of here.

She squeezed back. Thank you, she said, I can't wait.

She was close enough to see his gentle blush, and the sight shocked her for two reasons, the first being the fact that the angry prince could blush at all. The second was her realization that he must have understood what she was saying on some level, even though she had said nothing out loud.

In that moment, Aang finally reached her side. Well maybe not finally, she amended, thinking that though the world felt as though it stopped when she touched Zuko, there's no way it actually did.

"Miss Katara looks as though she is feeling better, young Avatar" Iroh stated. Katara had been dimly aware of him coming up next to them, but the constant buzzing between she and Zuko felt like it was roaring in her ears. She tried to breathe evenly and soothe the warmth, no matter how good it felt, and felt the buzzing abate some. She felt Zuko's thumb brush across the back of her hand soothingly, and she rubbed back in thanks. Focusing on Iroh, she could see the questioning in his golden eyes. Clearly, he had noticed how her sickness seemed to disappear as soon as she was touching Zuko, and she felt as though he saw their hands through the folds of fabric like it was translucent.

"We need to move, now" Zuko spoke up, "this reeks of Azula, and I don't want to be here when she finally decides to stop playing puppet master and shows up."

"Hey, I don't take orders from—" Aang started angrily, but was interrupted by Katara.

"He's right Aang," Katara said, her voice finally working again, "we need to get out of here, find Toph and Sokka and warn the Earth King".

Aang looked between her and Zuko suspiciously- they were standing far too closely together for his tastes—but, before he could argue, Katara grabbed his hand with her free one and pushed him gently forward.

"Please Aang, I want to get out of here. You can take the lead with Earthbending" she pleaded softly, opening her blue eyes widely the way she knew would make him crumble. He acquiesced almost immediately and they all started the sure to be arduous journey out of the caves.

With Aang's back turned to her as she walked beside Zuko with the general bringing up the rear she allowed her face to show the emotions churning inside her. Casting a sideways glance at Zuko, his face appeared to be a stoic mask, but she could feel the tension in his hand still brushing against hers. Though they only hadn't tried to kill each other for a few hours and he was still technically her enemy, she had faith the situation would work out for some reason. Maybe it was the ever present warmth buzzing between them. She cautiously tried touching the pull she felt from Zuko with her mind, brushing her chi against it almost teasingly. He gasped lowly, clearly feeling it, and threw an angry glance at her. She stopped immediately, smiling at him guiltily. He had told her they would figure this out later, after all. She squeezed his hand.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Her sadness at thought of hurting him was more than it should be at the thought of hurting an enemy, but she felt it justified. After all, enemy or not, it was clear they had some sort of connection that they had no choice to figure out together. She wasn't looking forward to feeling that empty and dry inside again. As she thought this through, he squeezed her hand in return.

It's okay, it didn't hurt. Somehow through his hand squeeze she could almost hear his questioning tone. Another squeeze.

I'm pretty sure it could never hurt.

She feels the same way, with a certainty that scares her. He seemed to pick up on that, or maybe he's just as scared as I am, she thought belatedly. She tried to banish the thought from her head, preparing herself to once more view the prince as her enemy, preparing for the feeling of intense loss she felt when she was not touching him. It would help if she didn't seem him as a person. As a test, she released his hand until only her pinky finger was brushing his, then let go all together. She immediately felt weak and uncomfortable, though not quite as badly as before, but she grabbed his hand again anyway. The connection between them seemed to be able to be charged in a way, and she could feel the warmth flowing between them and pooling somewhere in her chest near her heart. If she was going to be parted from him soon, she might as well charge up. She had no idea how long this might keep the itching longing at bay.

They traveled in silence for a few more minutes, the air thick and tense with the history between them. Despite this, Katara felt content and almost sleepy with the constant, thrumming warmth coming from Zuko. She wanted to sink in to it, let it envelop her. She had subconsciously begun to lean into him, and he grabbed her fingers all the more tightly.

Before she could become too comfortable however, Zuko's uncle appeared at his side, glancing at them again with questioning eyes.

"I would like to speak with my nephew for a moment my dear, if you please" he asked softly, glancing at Aang who had turned around at the sound of his voice.

If Iroh noticed the look of hesitation and reluctance she shot Zuko before she stepped away, disentangling his hand with her own discreetly, he didn't mention or draw attention to it. He simply placed a fatherly hand on his nephew's shoulder and steered him away from the other two. Aang took Katara's hand and led her away from the pair of royals, and she acknowledged that their...connection seemed to charged enough that her skin didn't feel as though it was crawling when she was no longer touching him. In its place however was a feeling of intense cold and emptiness, her body longing for the warmth Zuko offered.

And if Aang hadn't been looking at her so concernedly, he wouldn't have missed the way Zuko's cheeks flushed as with exertion and a bead of sweat appeared glistening on his forehead.

He was missing the cooling.

Author's Note: I write as things come to me because I believe a writer has no business writing something that doesn't come to life in their mind. This is why I often leave things unfinished. My conclusion is that I make no promises on this one, though I do already have 3 more chapters and am bursting with ideas for another 2. I also write while drinking copious amounts of wine so there's that.

These first few chapters will be of different viewpoints, slightly overlapping. These are just to set up the characters for the rest of the story and we can get a feel of their characters again. After all, while this story is formed vaguely in my head, I want to write them as true to themselves as possible, so I need to explore what they do with the small things? I have no idea if this makes sense it is late. Anyways, let me know if you enjoy!