Written for Zutara Week 2013
7/14/13 Prompt: Calor (Heat)
Woohoo! My first time participating in Zutara week! Finally I'm writing stuff for one of my OTPs :) Enjoy it and review! (Please)
"Please, remind me again why we came here," Zuko complained as he scooted closer to the fire. He rubbed his arms through the thick blue cloth of the dress of the southern water tribe, trying to generate more heat.
"I told you. We're here to visit Gran Gran. I haven't seen her since we left two years ago. When you started chasing Aang, remember?" Katara replied, teasingly.
"Don't remind me!" He shivered. "Why does it have to be so cold here?"
"Can't you use your fire-bending to warm yourself?"
"Not when it's this cold..." He pulled his blanket tighter around his shoulders, and listened as Katara shuffled around behind him. She stuffed some things in her bag, then jerked Zuko's blanket away. "Hey! I was using that!" he protested.
"Come with me. I want to show you something." She held out a hand to help him up. They walked out to the small herd of buffalo-yaks that the northern water tribe had sent. Katara picked two, and they rode out into the tundra. A short while later, Katara pulled her buffalo-yak to a halt. "I think it was around here somewhere."
"What are you looking for?" Zuko asked. "Everything looks exactly the same to me."
"Here!" Katara stomped her foot; the ground underneath sounded hollow. She stepped into her water-bending stance and punched down. A narrow tunnel appeared. She water-bent a ring around the tunnel, creating an icy corral for the buffalo-yaks. Katara led the way down the tunnel. "The first time I found this place, I fell through the ice. I wasn't very good at water-bending yet back then," she commented.
They reached the end of the tunnel, and it opened into an underground cavern. Steam fogged the air. Katara raised and lowered her arms, and the steam cleared away, revealing a large hot spring. "Here," she said. She pulled something out of her bag and tossed it to Zuko.
Zuko looked down at the red cloth in his hands. "Why do you have my pants?" he asked.
"You don't want to swim in water tribe clothes. They'd weigh you down." She water-bent a thick ice wall between them to change into her own swimwear. "Ready?" she called.
"Yes."
She let the ice wall melt back into the spring.
"It's so warm in here," Zuko said. He watched Katara dive into the water. A few minutes passed, but she didn't resurface. "Katara?" he called, then walked to the edge of the pool. He looked down into the water, but didn't see her. A tendril rose from the water and wrapped around his ankle, then pulled him in. He swam back up and sputtered as his head rose out of the water. Laughter filled his ears. He blinked and rubbed the water from his eyes, and saw that Katara was the source of the laughter.
"You should have seen your face!" she giggled. Zuko splashed at her in retaliation. Katara smirked. "Hey, Firelord! We're in my territory!" she announced just before a wave crashed over his head.
"Hey!" He scrambled to get back on land. The water rose under Katara and placed her on the ground beside Zuko.
"Come on. Let's spar!"
Zuko grinned. He'd barely left his spot in front of the fire since they'd arrived at the south pole. A fight would be nice; a good chance to stretch his muscles. He settled into his fire-bending stance, and let loose a large blast of fire. Katara leaped out of the way, and sent a water-whip back at him. They took turns dodging and attacking. They'd grown so used to sparring together over the months that it looked more like they were dancing than fighting. They continued to exchange blows, and got lost in the calor of the fight.
Eventually they stopped, both panting and drenched in sweat. Zuko smiled at Katara, and she leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Warm now?" she asked. She turned and jumped into the spring. Zuko followed her, and they swam for a while.
Too soon, it was time to go. The two climbed out of the pool. Zuko picked up Katara's bag. "You didn't bring any towels," he commented.
"Who needs a towel when you've got a water-bender?" Katara bent the water from their bodies, then re-erected the ice wall between them so they could change their clothes. Hand-in-hand, they walked back up the tunnel to their buffalo-yaks, and rode back to the village, a warm heat burning in both their hearts.