(A/N: This is a Zutara Fanfic based on the Towel Scene [Johnny] in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Tehehehehe *cheeky grin*)

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA.

Chapter 1: Steam:

The early morning sun rays shone down through the wide balcony window and onto the dining table below, where Katara, her friends and the royal family were seated. She was lightly nibbling on an apple, whilst listening to her brother, Sokka, tell jokes. Of course, she did not find them funny.

"And then I was like, ha! Good luck with that!" he said, and everyone laughed. She rolled her eyes at her brother. She looked towards each person and saw that they were all, clearly, in good spirits. Katara was sitting to her brother's left. His girlfriend, Suki, was on his right. Her gaze shifted from the couple and fell onto everyone else seated at the oval shaped dining table. The first thing she noticed was the seat between Mai and Lady Ursa was empty. It was directly in front of her seat and it was the head of the table so she couldn't miss it. It was Zuko's seat. She wondered where the new Fire Lord was this morning. Next to Mai, was Ty Lee, and between her and Suki were three Kyoshi Warriors. On Katara's left sat Aang and on his left, was Toph. Then it was Haru, Teo, The Duke, Iroh and back to Lady Ursa again.

The reason everyone was so jolly, was because last year, they had found Lady Ursa. She was living in the middle ring of Bah Sing Se. It took them a year to get the location of Lady Ursa out of ex-Fire Lord Ozai, but they did it. Well, Katara did it. She was rewarded with a bright smile and a very happy Zuko. When they found his mother, he was beyond ecstatic. The group were now together once again, a year later, today. Katara and Sokka were the last to show up yesterday. They arrived at the Fire Nation in the afternoon, for the celebration of Zuko's 18th birthday.

Iroh watched as Katara looked around the table, when her eyes landed on his nephew's seat, he noticed the quick frown she gave in its direction. In his opinion, he was saddened by the pairings that happened once the war had ended. Not all the couples, just Katara and Aang's relationship, as well as Zuko and Mai's. He wanted to see his nephew with that beautiful waterbender, ever since he and the Avatar had entered the Catacombs of old Bah Sing Se two years ago. It was a wish left unspoken and was one he wished would have happened. He liked the young lady more than Mai. He remembered how happy Zuko was when he and Katara spent time together after the war and when she left, she took his happiness with her. Mai could never make him that happy. When the time was close to his birthday celebration, he became more excited with every day that went past. His happiness perked up especially when Katara and her brother arrived yesterday afternoon and Iroh had noticed.

That proved it. They had to be together. She didn't look right standing beside the young Avatar. They looked like two pieces from two very different puzzles, ones that would just not fit, no matter how hard one tried to put them together. But when she stands beside Zuko, they look whole and the puzzle appears complete. He had to think of ways to get them together and distract Lady Mai and Avatar Aang, and he had to think of one soon. Then he got it. Katara would go get Zuko.

"Sokka, would you be so kind and go find Zuko for me. I wonder why he slept in this morning, it's not like him." He looked swiftly in Katara's direction. He hoped this idea of his would work. He tried to look as innocent as possible, so that no one would assume anything.

"But I'm still eating my breakfast," he replied, everyone but Toph looked down at his empty plate. He noticed it was empty too and quickly grabbed the closest thing to him. The piece of fruit he got was one which he found absolutely disgusting. "Mmm, t-that's so good," he choked out.

"Sokka, don't be rude," Katara said as she slapped his upper arm. Aang and Toph snicked. It was funny hearing Katara and Sokka argue about the littlest things, and when Suki bossed him around was even more amusing, because he does everything she tells him. "Go get Zuko, now!" Katara continued.

"NO! Do you not see me eating something, Katara?" he shot her a glare and took another bite. Across, the table Iroh hid his amusement. He knew Katara would get up and fetch Zuko herself to make up for her embarrassment towards her lazy brother.

"Ugh, fine I'll go get him," Iroh inwardly smiled. Perfect. She stood up and scowled at her brother, before stomping across the room and out the door. He knew that asking Sokka wouldn't raise the slightest bit of suspicion, because the siblings were the closest to the door. Katara offered to go get Zuko, just like he knew she would. He was already aware that Sokka would not go. Things really were working out, so far. He just hoped that the luck would stay with him until he got the two to confess their feelings. He saw the way the young girl looked at his nephew, the way she smiled wider and looked happier when Zuko was around. She even had that bright spark in her eyes, when he smiled at her. It was then followed by a blush and a dreamy looking gaze. He saw the way Zuko watched her when she wasn't looking. He never even glanced in Mai's direction when Katara was around. Iroh hoped Mai saw it too, like he did. He also hoped she would get the message. It would make things a lot easier on him, being the old man he was, it meant less work. But he also hoped that Mai wouldn't do anything about it. She could ruin everything. He thought. So could Aang.

Needless to say, the retired general knew exactly where his nephew was. Everyone else thought he was asleep. But Iroh knew better because he went to see Zuko earlier that morning. Before he could leave the Fire Lord's bedroom chambers, Zuko had informed him that he would be arriving late to breakfast because he was taking a shower. He told his uncle that everyone could begin without him. He knew that Zuko would be getting out of the shower by now and who should walk in to his chambers but Katara. He felt like jumping up and down in glee.

Beside him, Lady Ursa saw everything. Oh what is that Iroh up to now? She wondered to herself.

Katara was strolling through the Fire Nation Palace, making her way to Zuko's quarters. Didn't he rise with the sun? How could he have slept so late? She asked herself. Katara sure hoped that the other boys had nothing to do with it. Surely if there was some sort of guy get-together going on last night, she and the girls would have noticed. Stupid Sokka, she thought. She always had to do everything for him. She passed many hallways and doors on her way. It was always a wonder to her how she never got lost in this gigantic palace. When she reached the double doors to the royal chambers, she rapped the door loudly. No sound. She sighed.

"Zuko, wake up, everyone is waiting for you at breakfast," she called out. She then shut her mouth and listened, trying to make out if there was any noise coming from the other side of the double doors. There was none. Her hand reached out to one of its handles, she quickly turned the knob and walked in.

She closed the door after she entered then spun around to face the room. "Zuko...?" she started to say, but stopped herself. In front of her were three individual rooms, each door was closed. She guessed that the middle one was where the bed would be located. Hopefully, it would be the right one.

She walked the few steps to the door and twisted the knob open. She looked around the dimly lit room. She couldn't see much so she walked to the large curtained windows, where small beams of sunlight could be seen, and pulled the gold patterned curtains open. Her eyes automatically squinted shut. She blinked a few times, getting her eyes used to the sudden amount of light. She looked back to the direction of the bed. The bed had tangled sheets everywhere, but it was empty. Where is he? She thought. Her gaze focused on the rest of the room. She tried to see if she could locate him somewhere else in the huge bedroom.

The room was beautiful. Its walls were black, while the bedroom's items were all different shades of red and gold. They were all Fire Nation colours. There was a huge mirror standing in the corner and beside it was a large wardrobe. A couple of very different, but very beautiful wall hangings were on the plain black walls. There was another door, which she guessed, was probably the bathroom. Katara looked at the bed again. It was a few feet away from where she was standing. She could tell that the bed sheets were made from the finest silks. It looked really inviting. She wondered how soft and comfy the bed would be. She wished for a moment that she could jump and down on the gigantic bed, using it as her own personal trampoline. Since the room was empty, she strode the short distance towards the bed. Katara reached out a hand and touched the soft fabric. It was so smooth and shiny. The light of the sun made the fabric shine in different hues of red.

The sixteen year old was in her own thoughts and didn't hear the door of the bathroom open, a half naked Zuko walking out, the only cover being the plain red towel wrapped tightly around his lower body. He strolled into the room humming a tune, not noticing that Katara was in the room too.

The girl wasn't paying attention, so her head jerked up suddenly when she heard the soft humming. Her eyes went wide when she noticed Zuko's figure walking across the room. She gasped.

He was half-naked. His hair glistening with drops of water. Her eyes followed where the water dropped from his hair, down to his well toned shoulders and then to his nicely formed abdomen. She had an intake of breath. His body was hot. No, she thought, it wasn't just his body. It was all of him. Those intense golden eyes, the silky black hair that was just the right length (well it looked silky to her, she never had the opportunity of running her fingers through it, though she wished she could have), and his perfect ivory skin, all of it was hot. Everything about him was just so right. She couldn't think of a better word to describe it. She noticed she was staring. She couldn't keep her eyes off him. Being a water bender didn't help her either. She could practically feel every single bead of water on his skin. She could feel the direction of the water when it moved from once place to another. And she couldn't help it. His body was worth looking at.

Zuko froze when he heard a gasp. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw Katara standing there, wide eyed. Shock clearly visible on her heart-shaped face, but then it shifted and turned into... interest? Her eyes followed the little droplets of water that fell from his hair, down to his shoulders and chest. Is she checking me out? He felt his cheeks redden.

When she felt his eyes land on her form, she took her own off his body and looked up at his face and into his golden orbs. His face was reddened. She then noticed what she had just done and felt her cheeks tint pink in embarrassment. He had seen her starting at him. For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Zuko decided to break the silence. "See something you like?" he asked her smugly. She took her gaze off him and he noticed that her face had become a darker shade of pink. The colour looked very pretty with her skin. Seeing her embarrassment made him outwardly grin. It was like she had just noticed his well developed muscles. Was she not there, two years ago, when I was training? He thought.

When she didn't answer, he decided to ask her one more question, keen that the question would get her to react. "Were you waiting outside my bathroom to try and catch me in a towel?" he questioned and lifted his body temperature. The heat collided with the water and made steam appear on the outside of his body. He could feel the droplets go dry and could hear the hiss of the steam. He was pretty sure Katara could hear too. He wanted it that way. He stood there and watched her reaction.

Meanwhile, Katara was mentally cursing herself for being caught. Why was she starring? She hadn't meant it, it just happened. She cursed herself again. The shower was open, how could she have missed it? Whether it was the dripping sound or the water splashing on the bathroom floor, she didn't hear either. She should have noticed at least one thing. What kind of water bender did that make her?

Zuko's question had caught her off guard. She turned her head and looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. Then she saw Zuko's steamy body. Oh boy, she thought. He just had to do that. Damn fire bender. Keeping her eyes from roaming his body was hard enough before. She tried her best to focus on just his face.

The idiot was grinning. It was like he enjoyed the idea of torturing her! She had a boyfriend, for La's sake! Focus Katara!

"I'm sorry," she began, "I never knew you were so self obsessed. I'll just leave and let you have some time alone with the mirror in the corner." Two could play at this game. She just hoped that the snide remark would work. "Everyone is waiting for you by the way," she said as she walked past him and headed for the door.

He had watched her leave, frozen on the spot. Was she playing hard to get? I sure didn't image her intense gaze... He was happy with the attention he got from her, that much he knew. He noticed he was still starring at the door. He sighed and continued walking to his huge closest. Once he was changed, he exited his quarters and started to make his way down to the dining room. He then remembered where Katara was standing when he noticed she was in the room. Why was her hand on my bed? He made a mental note to ask her later, when they were alone again.

(A/N: Iroh and his plans. Cheeky old man! I agree with him though xD *wishes Mai and Aang don't ruin everything*.

Please review!)