"Do you think I'm boring?"
Katara opened her eyes barely enough to squint toward the direction of his voice. All she saw was the vivid red folds of his shorts since he was sitting right next to her.
Well, that wasn't exactly true since she was the one that had sat right next to him, deliberately squishing him over to share his blanket. Since she was taking up better than half of it, share wasn't exactly the right word either. Hog came to mind—she was actually hogging his blanket.
She'd decided quite awhile ago that she looked good in red. Well, this time on red but it was all the same. Red offset her new white swimsuit and accented her dark skin, making what she'd thought was a rather exotic display and she'd struck an alluring pose when they'd first spread it out. They were friends but even a compliment from a friend would have been flattering but the blockhead hadn't even glanced her way—he was too busy being miserable.
She'd rolled over exasperated after being ignored and then had proceeded to sprawl across the blanket in a very unladylike fashion. She'd hoped for a complaint about her selfish commandeering of the soft red cloth but he hadn't taken the bait much to her disappointment.
She'd thought a good argument might spark a fire in him—literally, enough to snap him out of the deep funk he'd been in but it hadn't worked so she'd wiggled around, adjusting the lumps of sand in the right spots and had relaxed, vaguely staring at the blanket as her eyes had begun to close, the silkiness of the cloth caressing her bare skin making for a rather sinful sensation as she'd squirmed slightly.
It was early afternoon and the sun was at its zenith. They'd just gotten done swimming and surfing and all she wanted to do now was soak up some sun and take a little nap if he couldn't muster himself enough to argue with her but someone obviously had other plans—he wanted to talk.
"What are you talking about?" Her voice was muffled by her arm and she closed her eyes again, the heat of the sun making her drowsy. She could hear the background noises of the other inhabitants of the beach—splashing in the water, screaming children, babies crying and the low murmuring of people talking and laughing. The repetitive sound of a ball being hit from the makeshift sand court was actually soothing but she tried to tune it all out and focus on what he was saying.
"Never mind—it doesn't matter," he muttered and she sighed.
Here we go again…
He was probably burning himself too and on purpose. For a land of blazing hot sun, the paleness of these people was astounding to her. Agni must have a sense of humor because the ruler of this nation sacrificed his pale flesh to the fiery flames of the sun more than anyone she knew. She should let him suffer for not taking her advice about using her seaweed lotion earlier; after he claimed it made him smell like a fish. She'd made one bad batch of it and he'd been scarred for life but she knew that she wouldn't. He was lucky to have her around to heal his blistered flesh—but he was too busy being miserable to notice that too.
She rolled over, shading her eyes to look at him. He was sitting hunched up, his arms draped over his knees, staring vacantly out at the deep blue of the water and she groaned silently as she looked at him. True to form, he was burning himself, his shoulders starting to look well-done but the state of his sunburn wasn't what concerned her now. He looked pensive—pensive was not good. Pensive quickly turned to brooding, brooding then turned to depressed and depressed Zuko was starting to make her a bitch, a really big bitch.
"What's the matter?" She wiggled a little further up on the blanket so that she was in his shadow and she tried to drop her hand but the sun was still too bright.
"It's nothing."
She rolled over onto her side and propped her hand underneath her head. "Hey—move that umbrella over here—the sun is blinding me."
He turned and reached for the large umbrella at his side. He propped it up behind them, adjusting it so that it shaded them both but the air was more stifling as they shut out part of the breeze. She adjusted the front of her suit as a trickle of sweat slid down between her breasts. It was hot.
"Something's bothering you—so spill it." She saw him twirling something in his fingers as he stared out at the water.
Gods! He was exasperating at times!
She reached over and jabbed him in the ribs, feeling him jump underneath her finger. He looked down at her and she raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Well?"
"Okay, okay. It just that—well, someone told me I was boring." She heard him exhale deeply and she caught herself almost rolling her eyes.
Someone—did he think she was stupid?
"Why would Mai say that—stop. Don't answer that. Mai finds everything boring so why take offense to that comment? It's just the way she is. Of course I don't find you boring—I'm here with you now, aren't I?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "It's not the same—you're like my best friend—well, almost besides Sokka and Aang—ouch! Stop pinching!"
She released the brutal hold she had on a tiny bit of loose skin she'd found on his hard stomach. "Stop being insulting then. Where have those two good-for-nuthens been lately?"
She didn't expect him to answer as she continued. "Eating fried greasy goodness in Chin Village for Avatar Day and planting their worthless backsides ringside at Earth Rumble IX, that's where they've been. Traipsing all over the Earth Kingdom and getting into trouble."
He shifted slightly but continued to look out at the ocean. "They're probably going to hit you up for a loan when you see them again." She saw him frown—the boys were always bumming money off of him, conveniently forgetting to pay him back.
"So who's here with you now, Your Royal Exalted and Depressed Highness, in the sweltering summer heat of the Fire Nation? Oh—it's your almost-not-quite-as-good-as-the-guys best friend, Katara. I should be moved up to more than best friend. You should call me your greatest-most excellent-extremely beautiful-attractive best of all best friends, Katara."
He was giving her a crick in her neck looking up at him. "Come down here. You're hurting my neck and you're burning to a crisp."
He tossed away the string he'd been fiddling with and stretched out next to her, leaning back on one elbow so that they were face to face.
"Sorry—I didn't mean it that way. I'm glad you're here." He sounded earnest and she smiled at him, somewhat mollified. Reaching around behind her, she groped for the paper fan she'd brought, her hand closing on the delicate lacquered ribs.
She fumbled with trying to open it but her arm was at an awkward angle and he plucked it from her fingers, flicking it open in one smooth motion much to her disgust. He moved to hand it back but she shook her head.
"Fan me, slave boy. I'm sweating," she ordered imperiously, waving at him with her fingers. He shot her a look but began to fan her. The air was still hot but at least it was moving now and she leaned back so it could reach her neck, closing her eyes for a moment.
"That's better." She shifted slightly, something digging into her hip and their legs brushed as she scooted slightly over toward him. "You're actually lucky they aren't here. Sokka would give you really bad advice and try to fix you up with one of Suki's friends. Aang would get all Avatar with you and spout some mumbo jumbo about setting something free and it coming back to you nonsense."
He laughed—the first actual laugh she'd heard out of him all month and she laughed too.
"You're right—you're a much better listener than those two anyways." He dropped the fan and reached out, brushing her cheek and she felt some sand rolling off of her. "I'm sorry I've been so hard to be around lately."
She smiled and caught his hand in hers. "That's what friends are for—even when one of those friends is so depressing to be around the other friend wants to strangle him and put him out of his misery." She squeezed his hand to take the sting out of her words and he gripped her fingers tightly.
"Have I been that bad?" He looked concerned and she nodded her head.
"I have to admit that it was pretty bad—I think there may be hope though. You actually smiled ten times today—I was counting—and I just heard you laugh. The day's not over yet either,"—he started to laugh—"see? Two laughs in one day. Miracles will never cease."
"Stop making fun of me. I admit I was a bit depressed,"—she rolled her eyes—"but I've had a good time today. I'm glad you talked me into it." He linked their hands together, sliding his fingers in between hers.
They held hands compatibly and she noticed that he had nice hands, strong with long fingers. Her hand looked small and almost delicate in his much broader one. It was kind of a peculiar feeling—she'd never thought of herself as the fragile type before and she kept staring at the contrast of them together as she answered him.
"I told you—the best thing to do was just stay busy, keep your mind off things and things would get better.
"Is that what you did?"
She glanced up. This was the first time he'd ever brought up what had happened between her and Aang and it surprised her that he'd ask. "What did Aang tell you?" She'd always wondered what Aang had said and even now, it hurt a tiny bit to think about them discussing her.
"He didn't say very much—just that it wasn't going to work out." He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand lightly. "We didn't talk about you, Katara so don't worry."
She nodded her head, relieved. "I'm glad—it would make things awkward since we're all friends." She bit her lip, glancing down at his chest, the pressing need to talk to someone weighing on her. "Do you want to know why we broke up?" She looked up and their eyes met as he shook his head.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
She hadn't told anyone this before but she suddenly wanted to confide in someone—him after all the months of silence. He would never say anything, not even to Aang, she was sure of it. He would never betray her. "It was about six months ago—do you remember when we all met at that symposium in Ba Sing Se?"
"Yes—if I remember correctly you left early."
She nodded her head. "I left early because I caught Aang and Toph—together." There, it was finally out in the open.
"Like how together?" he asked surprised.
Her face turned red at his assumption and she quickly shook her head. "No! Not like that together. They were just kissing and stuff." It had been embarrassing catching them though.
"It didn't look like the first time either. It was humiliating and I've never told another soul—except for you."
"Are things okay between you three now?"
It hadn't been at first but now she was over it. "I was pretty upset when it first happened but I stayed busy…"
"…and kept your mind off things and they got better?" She smiled as he finished her sentence.
"It worked—I'm over it and we're all okay. They're in love—hopelessly and totally so how could I stay angry?"
He loosened his hand from hers and reached up, smoothing away some hair that had fallen from her braid.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely and she felt tears prick her eyes as she tried to rapidly blink them away at his sympathetic tone. She'd kept it all inside for so many months that she thought the feelings of hurt and betrayal were gone but she felt her heart constricting painfully as she took a deep breath. She was over it—she really was but as the tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision, she felt his arms reaching for her as he pulled her into his arms.
He didn't say anything but just held her as she sobbed, her tears running down the bare expanse of his chest and when she finally quieted, her breathing starting to go back to normal, she lay there against him, feeling his heart beating comfortingly under her cheek as she sniffed. His hands lightly rubbing her arm, her back and side, warm and calloused on her bare skin. It felt nice to be held and she wiggled a bit closer even though they were both sticky with sweat and he pulled her into him, his arm wrapped around her back.
His chest had tears and snot and sweat on it. She leaned up and used the bottom of her skirt to wipe her eyes and nose and then his chest. "Sorry," she said, laying back down on him, her hand coming to rest lightly on his chest. "I don't know what go into me." She didn't want to meet his eyes—after all her big lecturing to him about getting over it and then breaking down and crying after six months. He must think she was a joke.
"You don't have anything to be embarrassed about—not after all the whining I've been doing lately." His voice made his chest vibrate and she could feel and hear him breathing. This was the closest they'd ever been together and he felt surprisingly good underneath her, his warm solidness making her relax and let go for a change and allow someone to comfort her. "You obviously needed to cry."
"Please don't say anything to either of them." She knew he wouldn't but she just wanted to make sure. It would be even more humiliating if more people knew about it.
"I won't, I promise. I'm glad you told me though."
She was glad too feeling a weight lifting off her as she slowly traced the contours of his chest, finding the edge of the scar right below his breastbone, her fingers lightly smoothing over it.
"Everyone blamed me for it, assuming I broke up with him because of our age difference. No one would ever believe he was capable of betraying me so I just pretended that was the reason." Her voice came out a whisper. "What he said that day was so humiliating anyways that I didn't want anyone to know."
"What did he say?"
She hesitated for a moment before answering him. Stalling for time, she pushed herself away from him, rolling on top of the fan and she heard it snap underneath her. Picking up the broken pieces, she carefully set them off to the side as she searched back in her memory for the words that she'd tried so hard to forget. She truly wanted to tell him otherwise she wouldn't have brought it up but it was hard.
"He said that I was too old for him," she uttered quickly.
She heard him snort, glancing up to see that he was trying not to laugh. She reached over and slapped his arm lightly. "Don't laugh! It isn't funny!"
"I'm sorry," he said and he sounded very insincere but he nodded his head toward her. "Keep going, I promise not to laugh."
She looked at him suspiciously but when she was satisfied he was going to keep his word, she continued. "He said that it really wasn't the age thing for him but that I seemed more like"—she searched for the right words—"a parent to him and that it was like being with a sister or a mother and that it felt wrong."
"Did you feel the same way?"
She shrugged. "I don't know truthfully. I wasn't sure about how I felt about him for along time but then we ended up together. Everyone assumed that it was going to be forever and I kind of took him for granted because he'd had a thing for me for so long so I never really thought about it."
She shifted slightly, feeling the sweat trickling between her breasts again, glancing over at him as he lay there on his side. He reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing her fingers gently and she smiled at him before continuing.
"It finally made sense why he was so reserved when we were together. I always thought it was because he was raised as a monk but in reality it was because he was uncomfortable being with me."
"I always thought Guru Goody Goody was too saintly to have a girlfriend anyways."
She smiled at the use of his little pet name he'd given Aang long ago and shook her head.
"I guess I wasn't the right girl. He didn't look very saintly when I saw him with Toph." She blurted it out before she could stop herself and he started to laugh.
"Stop it! If you saw them, you wouldn't be laughing!" But for some reason, she felt an uncontrollable giggle escaped her lips at the sound of his laughter and then they both couldn't stop. She finally pushed herself up on her knees, wiping her eyes as she looked down at him.
"You're making me sick!" she gasped, clutching the ache in her side as she tried to control herself.
He wiped his good eye and sat up also and when they were finally able to breathe normally, he spoke. "I'm not laughing about what he did—they both did to you. It just seems kind of funny that they'd end up together."
She wrinkled her nose. "I try not to think about it really. I'm glad they're happy but it's still kind of hurtful to be dumped." Her legs were starting to go numb and she sat on her bottom, wrapping her arms around her knees to hold herself steady.
She hesitated for a moment but since they were on the topic, she said gently, "I'm really sorry if I didn't seem very sympathetic to you lately—I truly do understand what you're going through and if I've been too hard on you, I apologize. It takes awhile to get over something like that, especially when your heart is involved."
He shifted himself on the blanket, stretching out his legs to lean back on his elbow again and looked at her seriously. "You haven't been too hard on me," he said, his fingers toying with the blanket. "I was feeling sorry for myself and you being here has helped a lot."
"He didn't find me attractive."
It came out before she could stop herself and felt him looking over at her. It hurt to say but it had been in the back of her mind all these months. She'd always been fairly confident in her ability, her looks. She knew she wasn't some raving beauty but she wasn't unattractive or so she'd thought until Aang had thrown her over for Toph but it had hurt her deeply to be rejected, not only emotionally but physically as well.
She heard him snort again and she glanced up at him, seeing him frown slightly as he looked at her. "That's not the case—you're very attractive."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," she accused.
"No, I'm not—you're very pretty, I've always thought so," he said defensively. "Can't you take a compliment? You're a beautiful girl,"—his eyes traveled over her face and lower and she felt herself turning red at his scrutiny—"and you have a nice body, a very nice body."
"Thank you." She was embarrassed now and hastened to explain. "Your self-esteem would be suffering too if you'd lost out to a girl who's more manly than her boyfriend."
Zuko laughed. "Well, at least Toph is human. I lost to an animal. I thought she hated that bear but I guess not."
She brushed back some hair from her neck, realizing her braid had come partially undone and she began to un-plait the long length of it as they fell into a contemplative silence as she thought about his words.
Mai's extended stay in the Earth Kingdom where her father had been appointed ambassador to the Earth Kingdom had blossomed into something between her and King Kuei.
She'd come for an extended visit after Iroh had written to her with the news and she'd been the shoulder Zuko could cry on this past month but now, looking at him, he seemed much better as they sat there together—misery did love company. It felt like a bit a closure for her too after what she'd shared with him today.
There were other fish in the sea as Gran Gran was fond of saying and it was true. She was attractive and she had a nice body according to Zuko. No, a very nice body actually so there was still hope. He was one of her best friends but he was still a guy so it was a sincere compliment coming from someone she could trust.
She looked up from combing out her hair with her fingers as he spoke, his tone serious.
"I guess what really bothered me about the whole thing wasn't really that Mai had found someone else." He paused and she saw him searching for the words before he continued. "It's just that—she knew me before this." He pointed toward his scar self-consciously. "I thought that I'd accepted it and that it didn't bother me anymore but now…"
His voice trailed off and she felt her heart constrict at his words, ashamed that she'd been so hard on him this month when that was what had really been bothering him. She got up on her knees and moved over toward him, grabbing his hand and tugging him up.
"Come here," she said.
"Katara—forget I said anything. Don't…" he said gruffly and tried to pull away but she held tight.
"Come here—now," she ordered. He reluctantly sat up, getting to his knees also as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him fiercely.
"You are beautiful, Zuko," she whispered into his scarred ear, feeling the hard and discolored flesh underneath her cheek as she pressed their faces together. She could feel something damp on her cheeks and realized she was crying. "Outside and in—you are beautiful."
She felt his arms close around her hard as he pressed his face into her shoulder and they held each other tightly for what seemed like forever until the heat and the sudden awareness of their surroundings had them pull apart, the noise of the crowd finally intruding.
Katara glanced around, noticing that several heads were turned their way as she sank back to her knees and then her eyes widened.
"Zuko!" she hissed, looking over his shoulder. "Look!—No! Don't look!" He turned his head back and stared down at her, confused.
"What's the matter?"
"It's that correspondent—you know the one that's been snooping around outside the palace lately. He followed us."
She'd been approached on several occasions as she'd went out into the city by the horrid little man and he'd asked some very personal questions about her and her relationship with the Fire Lord. He worked for some gossip rag called the Capital Examiner and his weekly publications were ludicrous but sold like fire flakes and she'd been his favorite headliner lately.
"Great—Crazy Waterbender attacks the Fire Lord on Public Beach," she groaned and she heard him laugh as he glanced over his shoulder and then back at her.
"You'll use your bending to hold me captive just so you can have your way with me," he supplied and she glared at him.
"Ha Ha. That idiot has made me sound like a sex crazed hussy since I got here. I've put a spell on you, practice unnatural acts on you during the full moon, and now I'll be having your baby with the next issue—impregnating myself by force because you're such an innocent little lamb."
She peeked over his shoulder again, seeing the man scribbling furiously, glancing hurriedly at them before looking down at his tablet again.
"That's it—he's goin' down." She stood up and started to raise her arms, ready to show him crazy waterbender in person but Zuko stood up and grabbed her wrists.
"Let him write whatever garbage he wants, Katara," he said, holding her still and she frowned as she looked up at him.
"That's easy for you to say—you're not the target of his attacks," but he wouldn't release her.
"You'll just make things worse if you dump him in the ocean—I'm apparently a helpless weakling not able to fight one little waterbender off so he's attacking me too. Just ignore him."
What he said made sense and as much as she'd loved to dunk that toad into the water a few times, it would make it worse so she nodded her head and he let her wrists go.
"Waterbending Master," she corrected and she saw him grin.
"Do you want to rinse off before we have to go, Master Katara?" he asked, looking at the sun and she realized they'd been here for most of the afternoon.
"Yes, I'm hot and sweaty."
She reached behind her, starting to braid her hair but he stopped her.
"Leave it down—it's pretty that way," he said and she felt herself blushing as he stood there staring at her, his eyes running down her. "Hey, is that a new suit? I like it—a lot."
She saw his gaze lingering on the short skirt that rode low on her hips before traveling up to her breasts and the ample amount of cleavage that was showing from the skimpy halter.
"It's very attractive," he said and the slightly husky tone of his voice made her heart flutter.
Was he flirting with her? Because it just sounded like flirting.
Her eyes ran over him. Her head barely reached his chin now and while he was still lean, he'd filled out more. His shoulders broader, the muscles on his arms more defined, tapering into a trim waist, her eyes running over the muscles expanse of his hard stomach and legs.
He really was a fine-looking man she realized, feeling a fluttering in her stomach that had never been there before. She pulled her eyes away from his body, trying to pull herself together.
"It's new—I didn't think you noticed," she said a bit breathlessly and he nodded his head.
"I didn't notice it until now." He glanced up to meet her eyes and he smirked. "I must have been blind earlier."
He was flirting with her and it was making her heart pound. Unsure of this new awareness between them, she grabbed the two boards next to their blanket and handed one to him.
"Come on, I'll try teaching you to surf again."
He frowned. "Those kids laughed at me—I'll watch you from here."
She shook her head. "Nope, you're coming. If they start laughing, then they'll end up with a mini tsunami right over their heads, courtesy of one pissed off waterbender. Nobody laughs at you, well, except for me."
She reached for his hand and started dragging him toward the water.
He tugged her to a stop and she turned as he bent to pick something up in the sand, handing it to her.
It was a shell, a beautiful white and pink conch that had been scrubbed almost clean by the gritty black sand of the beach. It was one of the prettiest ones she'd seen and she held it up to her ear, listening for the sound of the ocean. Shells were nonexistent back home so anytime she found one as lovely as this was reason for excitement.
"How pretty," she said smiling up at him. She handed him the board and ran back to their blanket, tucking it inside her bag before running back to join him. "That's definitely a keeper, thank you."
"I'm glad you aren't a stupid girl," he said as she gazed up at him confused.
Did he just call her stupid?
She opened her mouth to retort back but he interrupted her.
"Do you want to go to dinner tonight?"
She looked at him exasperated. "We eat dinner together every night, Zuko," but he shook his head.
"Not like that. I wanted to know if you'd like to go out and have dinner tonight. There's a restaurant that I'd like to take you to but only if you want. Otherwise, I'll understand."
It sounded like a date and as she looked up at him and saw the expectant look on his face, she knew what he was asking. This would change things between them but she wanted to clarify so there wasn't any confusion or misconceptions later.
"Are you asking me out, like on a get dressed up out in public kind of date?" Why was her voice suddenly breathless?
"Yeah, I am. So what do you think?" He sounded funny too and she suddenly smiled. It made sense that they'd ended up here together, right now, like it was meant to be.
"I think it sounds like fun. I'd love to go."
He grinned and picked both their boards up, tucking them under one arm as he pulled her toward the water, their hands linked. "Come on, we better hurry. Don't freeze my feet to the board this time and don't make the waves so huge—at least not right away. You almost drowned me the last time."
She laughed and they ran out into the surf.