Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender is the property of Mike and Bryan. This is purely the work of a fangirl going through Avatar Withdrawl...Enjoy!

Burning

There it was, that nagging feeling that tugged at her heart when she saw him. Physically, she leaned toward him when he entered a room, gravity pulling her closer to him. Her heart fluttered, her breath skittered, her palms grew sweaty.

Katara looked away and walked out of the room, nearly brushing against him as she passed. She forced her hands to stay fisted at her sides, fighting the urge to brush her fingers over his. What was happening to her? She was always thinking about him. Where was he? What was he doing? Did he think about her the way she thought of him, that constant presence that never left?

She leaned against the cool stone and closed her eyes. She'd never experienced something quite like this before. Sure, there was that short time with Jet but her pull toward him had been nothing like this; her yearning to be near him hadn't smothered her like this.

Her skin felt so warm, like she was on fire; she turned her face, pressing her cheek against the stone at her back. Maybe I spent too much time in the sun today, she thought, ignoring the fact that she was too dark skinned to burn so easily. She wanted to explain away the heat radiating off her skin in a way that made sense.

She needed to find some water. The very thought of plunging herself into one of the many fountains brought a smile to her face; it was a sure way to cool off. Now, where was that one, the one surrounded by the little blue flowers? That one would be perfect, relaxing and deep.

Katara started off in search of the desired fountain, trailing her fingers along the wall.

Zuko watched her leave as he entered. Would she ever forgive him? Or was her trust lost forever? He'd returned Aang safe and sound from their encounter with the Sun Warriors and the Masters. He'd been helping the Avatar train. He'd even been doing some of the less appealing chores without complaining. What more would it take for Katara at least stay in a room when he entered? How else did she want him to prove himself? All she had to do was name it and he'd do it. Anything.

Toph tugged on his wrist, pulling him down beside her. "Here, Sparky. Eat this. I can't have you wasting away before I get the chance at payback."

Zuko turned with a small smile and took the bowl of rice from her. "Thanks, Toph."

She grinned between mouthfuls. "You won't be saying that when you figure out what I've got in mind for payback."

He grimaced. So far, the little Earthbender had only hinted at her dreaded form of revenge for burning her feet but nothing had come of it. He was suspecting that her payback was actually a mind game, making him worry and fret about it until he went mad.

Eating slowly, he looked out the door Katara had just left through. There was something about her, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It seemed like, every time she was near him, his body caught fire. He could see the licks of flame dancing behind his eyes, burning him from the inside out. He'd tried bending it out of himself, thinking that maybe it would ease if he could just get rid of it, but he soon discovered that this was a new burning, a different burning that didn't go away by trying to control it.

"Maybe you should just go after her."

Zuko blinked at Toph. "What?"

"Your heart is beating too fast, the way it does when she's around, only worse. Maybe, if you go after her, it won't explode."

He frowned and touched his chest over his heart; it was pounding against his ribs.

Toph shoved him to his feet. "Just go already. But leave the rice here." She held out an expectant hand.

Absently, Zuko handed over his half empty bowl and walked out of the room. It wasn't until he was on his way down the hall that he realized he could feel a trail of heat radiating off one of the walls; he followed it.

Katara stood under the fall of water, her face upturned. It poured over her, drenching her and cooling her hot skin beneath her clothes. She scrubbed at her scalp as if she could wash the thoughts of Zuko away.

It wasn't like it would ever work out between them anyway. Not only were they completely different but princes did not marry peasant girls. It didn't matter if the peasant girl had traveled the world helping the Avatar or not. It just didn't happen. He would marry a noble woman and she would go back to the South Pole and marry another peasant like herself. It was the way of the world.

She saw herself wearing a golden flame in her hair, her body draped in robes of red and gold. Zuko was at her side, his arm around her waist as he pulled her closer and kissed her neck. She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and—

Her eyes snapped open and she sputtered. The fantasy faded but she could still feel the heat; she sank to her knees in the pool, submersing herself in the cool water.

Zuko walked into the clearing, following the mist that seeped out from the fountain through any opening it could find. It hugged the ground, swirling around his feet as he walked. He reached the edge and stopped, looking around for Katara. The twinge in his chest told him she was here; he could feel his heart pounding harder against his ribs. It appeared that Toph had been wrong; coming after Katara would make his heart explode, not the other way around.

He heard the water slosh loudly and turned toward the sound to see Katara surfacing, the water running off her in torrents as she stood up, gasping for air. Her hair hung limp and tangled in streaming strands about her face. Her eyes were closed; the moon danced from one drop of water to the next as they raced down the planes of her face, lingered at her jaw, then fell.

Zuko turned away quickly, the fire roaring within him. He fisted his hands at his sides; they itched to reach out and touch her.

"Zuko," Katara gasped when she saw him, sinking quickly back into the water. She peered over the edge of the pool at him.

"Katara," he replied, his voice straining to remain calm. He refused to look at her, choosing instead to stare into the distance. The fire inside danced along his limps; he wondered if she could see the flames burning him.

Katara rose higher out of the water to see above the mist—Where was it all coming from?—and, despite her best efforts, felt herself drifting toward him. Her fingers reached out to him. He was right there, just a foot away. Only the lip of the pool separated them. And she longed to touch him.

She pulled her hand back as her fingers nearly brushed his; she held it against her chest, feeling her heart fluttering beneath it. Heat poured off him in waves, threatening to singe her.

"Zuko," she whispered, worried now. "Are you feeling okay? You're on fire."

He looked at her surprised. Could she truly see the flames dancing around him?

His eyes locked on hers and he couldn't turn away, couldn't say anything.

"Oh," she breathed softly, her eyes widening. His eyes mirrored what she felt leaping to life inside her, the burning need to be near him.

She was leaning forward again, her knees at the edge of the fountain as she strained to get closer.

He turned to face her, unable to stop himself. He'd seen types of metal like this; he'd tried to stop them from colliding but the pull was too strong and they came together with a loud crash.

Hesitantly, she reached a shaking hand toward his face, ghosting her fingers across his cheek to rest on his jaw. Leaning into the touch, he could feel the heat coming off her skin, could see it smoldering in her eyes as she gazed up at him. Her fingers danced tentatively up the side of his face to his scar, where they lingered as she asked in a barely audible whisper, "Is this painful?"

He shook his head slowly, unable to voice his answer. The scar wasn't painful, no, but the fire coursing through his body was. And the heat of her was searing him.

Her eyes darted to his before drifting lower, to his lips and then back up. She bit her lower lip and leaned forward slightly, timidly moving her other hand to the back of his neck.

Zuko felt the fire roar with new life as her lips touched his; he grabbed her to him, his arms encircling her waist, moving as close at the lip of the pool would allow.

Katara forgot to breathe as her fingers buried themselves in his hair and her hands fisted, tugging on the strands impatiently. She felt her knees at the edge of the pool and, a heartbeat later, she was kneeling there, pressing herself against Zuko's chest.

Their heat from the fires burning inside of them both swirled around them, filling the small clearing quickly with a dense fog. It rose above the hedges, above their heads, above the fountain. Higher and higher it rose until it could go no further and began fanning out. It soon drifted into the halls, made its way into empty rooms, and floated into neighboring gardens.

Toph looked up when she felt the vapor condensing on her skin and grinned. "Way to go, Sparky," she muttered triumphantly as Aang and Sokka wondered at the unnatural mist.

Author's Notes: Want to know my favorite part? It's not even the whole Zutara-ness of this story. It's the fact that Toph, there at the end, says "Way to go, Sparky." Haha:) It makes me laugh.

So um...yeah. This came about while I was waiting for Simatra to add onto our story Good Enough so that I could continue. It was just something I had to get out so that it wouldn't randomly arise somewhere in Good Enough where it would be out of place and quite probably ruin our plan for the plot line. (We're rather proud that we even have a plot line...hehe) Right, well, hope you enjoyed reading this and look for the next chapter of Good Enough sometime this weekend.