(A/N: Alright kiddies...heres a quick little Zutara ficlit. I came up with the idea during science class...whilst thinking of Zutara and being very very cold. I'm sorry if it sucks...I just wrote it in one draft in about 30 minutes and ran spell check quick. But still...I hope you enjoy it. Oh yes...by the way, I own everything that has to do with Avatar...especially Zuko.)
It was
cold...so very very bitterly cold. He thought about how warm he
could be right now...back at home...in his cozy bed back in the fire
nation palace. He could be there right now but no, he had to be all
noble and trustworthy...he had to have a conscious . So because of
said conscious ...he was here in the middle of nowhere on a cold snowy
night, traveling with that avatar and his motley crew of
misfits...which Prince Zuko was now very much a part of, no matter
how much he would like to deny that fact. He was here, because the
twerp needed to learn fire-bending or he would fail again...just like
he did the last time they tried to over throw the fire nation. If
they wanted to succeeded they needed Zuko's help...if Zuko wanted to
follow his heart and travel down the road of righteousness and what
not he would assist them. Which was what he was doing...but still,
did it have to be so very very cold?
The Prince was still numbly cold
despite the heavy fur sleeping bag he managed to take from that
peasant girl. That was another thing...if the cold didn't keep him
awake, the smell did. It drove him crazy a mix of sea and snow and
the softest of breezes all with a hint of Jasmin. It made it
impossible to fall asleep...sending a shiver down his spine that had
nothing to do with the cold. He shifted closer to the fire...trying
to warm himself best he could. This worked quite well for a while,
that was of course until something...or someone, blocked the
flames...sitting directly between him and his source of warmth. He
woke slightly, glaring at this disruption that lay across the snow.
He sighed, somewhat annoyed and pulled the soft mound toward him,
feeling a certain degree of warmth from it and assuming in his
sleepy state that it was simply a pile of blankets..very warm, heavy,
blankets. It was not until he pulled said blankets close to his chest
( causing the blankets to give a surprised squeak in protest) that he
realized that these were not blanket at all...but that foolish water
peasant.
" Zuko!...what...what are you doing!?" she
whispered fiercely...trying to pry herself from his grasp. "
Peasant girl?" he whispered, slightly amused amiss his
confusion. " What are you doing lying so close to the
fire...you're taking all my warmth...besides...you'll burn
yourself if you all but sleep atop the flames" he chuckled
slightly, refusing to loosen his grip on her. " I have a name
you know...its Katara...and I was so close to the fire because if
you have failed to notice its below freezing out and you took my
sleeping bag!" she spat at him. He grinned slightly...surprised
that even she had little tolerance to the cold...even though she was
from the south pole. And perhaps it was wrong to have taken her
sleeping bag...he didn't think that stealing sleeping bags from
freezing peasant girls was a stop on the road to righteousness. She
did look terribly cold...her cheeks were stained pink ( though
perhaps that had little to do with the cold) and her lips where
trembling and nearly blue, peasant girl looked nearly as cold as he
felt...no wait,...peasant girl had a name ( he reprimanded himself).
" Katara..." he whispered, brushing a thumb across her icy
cheek and down her jaw line. " I suppose theres no choice
then..." he mused, rolling his eyes. " Wait..wha?"
before she could even respond he had shifted over, pulling her along
with him into the sleeping bag and closing it around them. He placed
his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes peacefully. "
there...much better." he sighed, looking as though he were to
fall back to sleep, though you couldn't really blame him. Despite the
fact that Katra's closeness to him made his heart beat madly...he
felt strangely at ease and more comfortable than he could ever remember.
" Zuko...What.Are.You.Doing?!" she hissed, utterly
bewildered. He opened his eyes, giving her a slightly aggravated
glare. " I'm sleeping...or at least I'm trying to. There's no
way I'm giving up the sleeping bag but you're obviously going to
freeze to death without it so the best answer is to share...exchange
of body heat...its as simple as that...now will you please go to
sleep?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question. " But
Zuko what about...?" He opened his eyes to look at her fully.
Her hair spread around her like a dark cloud, her eyes like sapphires
and her lips full and trembling.
A very strange feeling washed over
him in that moment. He would later rationalize the action as an
attempt to shut her up but they both know it was something much more
powerful. He cupped her soft, dark cheek in his pale, calloused hand
and gently brushed his thumb over her soft, cold lips. He lowed his
mouth to meet hers, massaging the warmth back into her frozen lips
with his own fiery kiss. He pulled back, surprisingly wondering if he
had been out of line, but was even more surprised when Kataras lips
once again met his..and on her own accord. The gazed at each other, a
mix of a million emotions held in a single look. Words were no longer
needed, smiles broke out simultaneously. Katara sighed, happy and
confused and terrible and wonderful all at the same time...but
nothing a good nights sleep wouldn't fix. She snuggled closer to the
obstinate fire prince and in turn he welcomed her in the circle of
his arms. He smiled softly...for the first time in a long while...and
placed a soft kiss on her forehead. " Sleep tight...Katara..."
he whispered. Despite the storm swirling around them...Zuko had
never felt so warm.