For Pravus Malum (hehe): Feel the heat!
A/N: Well, this is my first foray into the wonderful world of Avatar. Hopefully, it's good enough to be accepted by the fandom, considering I am not completely obsessed with it as I usually am with the fandoms for which I write. I just had to get this out there for my friend. I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies or things that just plain don't make sense--Avatar knowledge is not my forte. But I must admit that making puns with their respective bending abilities was beyond entertaining. Enjoy this humble Zutara!
Burning Waters
She looked down at the reflection of the burning sun in the calm water and couldn't help but grudgingly admit how beautiful it was. Even amidst all the tension and chaos in this shaky and troubled world, the strangest of combinations created a lovely reprieve.
She turned to Aang, feeling the wind on her face as they soared through the sky atop Appa, and smiled at the boy's naïve expression. He always seemed so energetic, no matter what the circumstance, and she felt a small pang of guilt as he sent her a meaningful sideways glance. If only she could make herself love what would so willingly accept her…
Shifting her gaze to avoid his stares, Katara looked to Toph and Sokka, who were both fast asleep and clinging to each other. Suki sat in pensive silence next to them, staring off into space, and Katara's sympathy went out to her. She knew her brother loved Suki, but she could also see the need he felt for Toph. No matter how the warrior tried, she could never mean as much to her brother as the blind earthbender with whom he had become so close.
Finally, she turned to look at the last member of their group.
She immediately shut her eyes. Could she look at no one today without feeling guilty?
Zuko sat with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his chin resting on their support as he slouched over the side of Appa. He wasn't asleep, but his eyes held a dreamy glaze as he looked into the distance, the sun beaming down on his face in such a way that he almost glowed…
No. Stop. She felt bad enough already for not requiting Aang's feelings for her. There was no way she was going to fall for such a—
— He sighed and turned his face so that the sun's rays combined with the reflections off the ocean highlighted his perfect bone structure and his smooth skin, despite the wrinkles of constant worry in his forehead—
She huffed. Such a man.
When they finally reached their secluded island destination, everyone hopped off of Appa and stretched their restricted limbs. She made a point not to look at him as he flexed his muscles and his toned body—
"Katara," Aang's voice shook her out of the dangerous thoughts.
She looked up and noticed the whole group, sans the object of her distractions, staring at her.
"What?" she asked, skillfully using a little bit of water in the air to cool her blushing cheeks.
"It's your guys's turn to set up camp," Toph answered, motioning her head toward an invisible Zuko who had probably already begun unloading on the other side of Appa.
"Yep," came Sokka's agreeing yawn. "You guys set up, and we'll just lounge around here for awhile."
He leaned against Appa's fuzzy leg, only to be brutally pushed aside by the cranky bison. Frowning, he turned instead to Momo, who lay curled in a premature nap, and rested his head on the little lemur.
Katara sighed, "Why do we even bother putting up tents if he's gonna sleep wherever he wants, anyway?"
Suki laughed. "Not all of us are as easy of sleepers as he is. If you want, I can help you guys set up."
Katara thought for a moment. Would it make things less awkward if Suki helped? Maybe.
…Did she want someone else to disturb their potential privacy? Not really.
"That's all right, Suki. I'm sure we can handle it," she answered. "I'll come get you guys when we're done."
She left the rest of the exhausted gang to their worries as she walked up to face hers.
As she sauntered over to the other side of Appa (she could have sworn the bison gave her a suspicious look), she gulped in anticipation of losing her cool. She peeked around the corner.
He stood bent over a heap of cloth for the tents, and he was struggling to untangle them. Unfortunately for her, his struggle emphasized his muscular form and she somehow noticed (it must have been the waterbender in her) a bead of sweat roll down his unclothed back—caressing every curve of his strong, masculine form…
She cleared her throat so as to gain his attention and make him stop doing physical activity that so enticed her.
He turned around, and she could, dishearteningly, see the look of concentration on his face turn to disappointment.
"Oh, is it your turn to help me?" he asked.
Why oh why did he act so coldly toward her? "I guess I have to," she answered bitterly.
Maybe because you keep pushing him away… she berated herself.
She silently walked over to him and picked up the larger pile of cloth, just to be a showoff. Part of it was wanting to impress him, but most of it was simply that it was her nature to be cynical and condescending toward the newest member of their team. She made herself hate herself.
"Well, come on, let's go. I want to get these tents set up as quickly as possible. You never know when a rainstorm might come," she scolded him as she started to walk off, half wanting to create a rainstorm just to end her humiliation.
"Hey, I'll carry the bigger load," he offered as he picked up the smaller bundle and rushed after her.
She turned on him and gave him an icy glare that held so much admiration behind it. "I'm perfectly fine carrying this load by myself, thank you."
Except she really meant the "thank you." Too bad he'd never know.
He huffed and muttered something about her hating him as she trickled off to find a clearing big enough for a bison, a lemur, an earthbender, a waterbender, a firebender, two warrior lovers, and the Avatar. Good grief, we sound like a traveling circus…
Finally, away from the sea of trees, she located a relatively vacant spot and dropped her luggage. She expected to have to wait, anticipating to be far ahead of a lollygagging Zuko, but was surprised to find him dropping off his baggage at the same time she did.
Wordlessly, the two began to set up the tents, Zuko purposefully going faster so as to make up for her carrying the heavier load. And, for once, she decided not to try to upstage him. Honestly, the journey out to this clearing had tired her.
The silence felt so awkward, and every passing second involved Katara inwardly kicking herself for some reason or another. A cascade of regrets involving this trip—this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be alone with this fiery being—washed over her other thoughts and forced her, finally, to break the tension.
"You know, I don't hate you," she mumbled stubbornly.
Golly gee, that was terrific.
This generated a snort from him (even his snorts are so endearing). "Yeah. That I believe," he replied sarcastically. "But it's good to know. A real confidence booster, there."
She stopped working and stared at him. "I'm serious. Ever since our little field trip, I've really gotten over our differences."
"Then why do you still treat me like mud?" he asked angrily, setting down his handiwork.
She felt her breath build up in her lungs, and she worried she was starting to hyperventilate. "I don't know. Old habits?"
"Those are some pretty strong habits," he muttered, returning to his labor.
She shrugged. "I don't get over grudges well. It's a curse. But I swear I don't hate you. I'm just…not quite used to having you around yet. You sometimes catch me off guard."
Now there's a truthful statement. Way to go.
He nodded sadly and looked off into the distance behind him a little as he sighed. "I'm not used to being around here. I'm still not used to this 'good guy' thing, I guess."
She could see the apprehension and worry in his eyes, and the nurturing part of her came out despite her best intentions. "Your uncle would be proud of you, you know."
His head shot around to meet her gaze, rapid-fire. His face softened slightly at the mention of his lost relative, and he could do nothing more than nod and bite his tongue to hold back tears of weakness and regret.
The quiet that followed seemed to be a little warmer, but still awkward, and Katara continued to water whip herself in her mind for bringing up such a heavy subject. They worked on setting up the tents for a few more minutes of silence until Zuko spoke up.
"Did you hear something?" he inquired heatedly.
She listened, straining her ears until she heard a slight rustling in the bushes.
"The wind?" she asked. She was so used to hearing the sound of air with Aang around.
He shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
He stood up and made tiny fireballs in his hands, holding them behind his back as he stared at the woods so as not to bring immediate attention to himself. Silence continued to pervade the tense scene, but the discomfort of the situation was lost in their shared directive of discovering the lurking foe…
BAM!
Suddenly, out of the dense shrubbery of the woods, a moose-lion came charging straight toward Katara. Her eyes widened in fear as the great beast gained speed, getting closer and closer, but her reflexes seemed to be turned off, as she could make no significant movement away. She was going to die—
But not if Zuko had anything to say about it. Just as the creature got close enough to bite Katara's head off, Zuko shot a humungous fire blast at the beast, effectively throwing it off its path and saving Katara's life…whoa.
He saved my life.
Big whoop. It wasn't like Aang hadn't done that a million times before. So why did she suddenly feel like Zuko was her knight in shining armor as he scrambled over to ensure she was okay?
"Katara!" he cried her name as he ran. "Are you all right? You didn't move or anything!"
She shook her head to clear her mind of his adorable worried expression. "Yeah, I don't know what came over me. Just…wasn't ready for that, I guess," she paused. "Thanks."
Oh, there we go.
He blushed.
And he shrugged. "Well, sure. It wasn't a huge deal or anything. Not like you wouldn't do the same for me…right?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but instead shot out a warning, "ZUKO, GET DOWN!"
Without looking back, he dropped to the ground, and in one swift motion, Katara rose to her feet, summoned as much water from the surrounding trees as she could, and sent a tidal wave at the moose-lion who had returned to wreak havoc on the would-be campers. Immediately, the monster was sent crashing into a rock, and he scampered, defeated, back into the woods.
Once the fear of the situation had worn off, Zuko got back on his feet and brushed himself off, almost smiling (a rare treat indeed).
"Heh, well, I guess that answers my question," he said wryly.
And there we go again.
She blushed.
"Yeah. I guess it does," she laughed.
They sat back down on the ground, too shaken to remain standing long, and returned to the duty with which they were entrusted, building the tents. At least, Katara thought, the tension that had settled in the air between them had been rooted out by the fight. Instead, she felt, the renewed silence held a different sort of tension…one she hadn't quite deciphered as being one-sided or…mutual.
A low chuckling sound started emitting from Zuko, and Katara looked at him, puzzled.
"What's so funny?"
He turned to her, still laughing, and she couldn't help but smile at how handsome he looked when he was genuinely pleased.
"Do you really think it's the best idea for us to be making camp right next to a forest that's probably full of those 'moose-lion' things?" he quipped.
At this, Katara began to share in his laughter until they were both rolling around on the soft grass, busting their guts about the thought of millions of moose-lions attacking them in the night.
Only people with as much experience regarding the horrors of the world and the reality of life with the Avatar could find humor in such a seemingly demented situation. Yet the light-heartedness of the atmosphere now brought a somehow-comfortable feeling to the two as they lay next to each other in the grass, unable to breathe from the exertion of laughter.
Once she could inhale properly and see through her tears of laughter, Katara wiped her eyes and responded, "Well, with the way we worked together with that thing, I don't think we'll be having a problem. Not to mention my best friend is the Avatar, so…I think we'll be okay."
She shot him a sheepish grin. Something about her statement, however, made Zuko stop and turn to her as they lay next to each other on the ground. He propped his head up on his hand and let his elbow hold its weight.
"Wait, Aang is just your 'best friend?' I thought you two had a," he gestured wildly, trying to find the right word, "thing."
She bit her lip, "Yeah…I think he thinks we do, too, but…I don't know. I don't like him that way."
Zuko nodded slowly, becoming so contemplative Katara could swear she saw steam coming out of his ears from thought.
"So do you like someone else, then?"
Oh…no. How do I answer this? "I'm not sure," she said quietly.
They turned to each other at the same time, just a few inches between them, and she could feel the heat from his breath caress her face in a way that made her insides weak.
"What do you mean you're not sure?" he asked.
"I mean," she started, no longer able to think straight as she stared into his gorgeous, steely eyes, "I might like…you?"
The silence killed her—made her regret having said anything—and she was about to get up and run away when he started chuckling again.
Anger flooded her eyes. "What?"
He looked up at her, his brow somehow free of its ever-present worry lines, and he smiled brightly. "I thought you just didn't hate me! But you…you like me?"
Tears filled her eyes, and she started to get up, feeling humiliated and completely wronged by such a jerky, god-like man, but she was forced back to the ground when he grabbed her arm, acting like an anchor to hold her there. He looked into her sorrowful eyes, and she saw the worry-lines return, the sincerity in his gaze keeping her grounded.
Silently, he moved forward toward her face, and she remained still, allowing him access. He placed his lips gently atop hers, and she could feel a tinge of fire linger on her watery lips, creating a sensation she found difficult to describe and wonderful to experience. She wanted more—to feel that combination of fiery passion and watery cool all her life long—but he pulled back so as not to alarm her and to gather their composure after such an experiment.
They sat, again in silence (talk about 'not needing words'…we've been silent most of the night), and each regrouped his and her thoughts on the fantastic kiss they had shared.
Zuko coughed first. "Um…I think it's safe to say I like you, too."
She attempted a smile, but was almost too amazed and confused to produce anything more than a half-smirk. "That's…good."
They looked around at the nearly-finished campsite, and Katara sighed.
"I guess I'd better go tell the others that we're done," she said remorsefully, wishing the pleasant aftermath of the kiss to never go away—this was the first buzzing in her head she'd ever actually enjoyed.
But when she started to go, she noticed Zuko's hand still present on her arm, and it kept her from moving away. She looked back at him and saw a look of splendor and amusement in his eyes—a genuine look of deep enthrallment and possibly (was that even possible?) love.
"Who says we have to be done? They can wait awhile longer…let's just have one moment of peace in our lives. What do you say? You ever stargazed?" he whispered to her.
Truth be told, she had. But for the sake of their time together, she shook her head, "Not too closely."
He smiled, and she felt privileged to have been graced by his grin several times in one night. It made her believe that they had more potential than even she could have hoped.
"Good. Lay down, and I'll show you some constellations and stuff," he said as he, too, sprawled out on his back, a hand on his abs and the other in her hand.
Together, they watched the burning stars and discussed how amazing it was that the heat of such awesome fireballs could combine so well with the cool of space. Perhaps it was similar to how well fire seemed to mix with water in cases like theirs.
Unnecessary last lines are bad habits of mine. :) But other than that, please let me know if you enjoyed this or not. Did it bring the heat, or should I burn it? Did it float effortlessly or drown to the deepest depths of the ocean? Constructive criticism is always appreciated. My writing is a little rusty from half a year of disuse, but that's no excuse for crappy fanfiction, so let me know upon what I need to improve. Thanks so much, and I hope you liked it at least a smidge.