A/N: Hey everyone! So this idea has been rolling around in my mind for awhile, so i made a fanfic :3 I hope you all enjoy!
-The Heat Stealers-
.
.
"Because I am dying
to know what will become of all this hope
Can the heart decay waiting?"
-Ed Bok Lee, Whorled
.
.
Prologue: {Fire Nation Capitol- 6 Months Past time}
.
.
Katara sits at the bar of the dimly lit tavern, pretty, poised, & poisonous. She elegantly takes sip of her Fire Whiskey, the only thing good here in the Fire Nation- and stealthily sweeps over the room with eyes hardened by the ice she bends. She narrows her eyes into two cold slits of blue when yet another man leers at her-
-and suddenly is on the other side of the room with the barest flickers of her wrist.
She held her smile- these men did not deserve to see her in such a state. Her mind drifted to the man she wouldn't mind sharing smiles, (among other things) with, when she felt something change the atmosphere, when she felt something, odd. She tensed up, quickly looking around-
The chi of the room changed drastically- the water in the air was gone, and it got so unbearably hot-
That's when she felt the beating of a heart cease. The air went back to normal, the water was replaced as if nothing had happened at all, but something did happen, something did-
"Oi! Qie Xuan, wake up! Hey, what's wrong- Qie Xuan? QIE XUAN-"
The bar went into a total uproar, men yelling drunken threats, bottles breaking, fire erupting-
Katara quietly slipped out through a side window- no one even noticed her departure.
That's what she thought until a hand roughly grabbed her arm and whipped her around, forcing her to look at her assailant-
But she was ready, she was always ready, with an ice dagger resting in her hand about to strike the heart-
Before the attacker quickly whispered, "He who loves the moon-"
"Rises by the sun." Dropping her stance, she quickly bends her ice dagger back into water and whipped it into her waterskin, relief seeping through her body.
"Lee?" She asked, his pseudonym falling easily from her mouth.
He nodded, and shifted the mask that held that demonic smile so she could see his amber dipped in honey eyes. She felt a smile tug at her lips- leave it to him to do that with such a simple gesture- when he motioned towards the sky.
Ah, Katara mused, he wants to go back to the hideout.
Without another word, they disappeared from the spot they stood on, shadows already following closely behind.
.
.
Only in the safety of their room did Katara tell Lee about the occurrence at the bar, pausing only after the man was killed.
"It kinda… it kinda felt like bloodbending," She admitted, eyebrows furrowed in confusion-
"but it wasn't. the feel was different, it was… not as cold as bloodblending. It was…"
{She paused, trying to remember how the chi in the room felt, how there wasn't any water in the air, how suddenly hot it was-}
"Oh Tui," She whispered, her thoughts clicking in place like a perfect move on pai sho,
"Lee, it felt like someone just took all the warmth from them."
He took off his mask, and she watched as shaggy black hair fell over his face, obscuring her view from his scar-
"It's because," he said solemnly, the heaviness of the growing situation resting heavily on his soul-
"It's because they're heat stealers."
"Heat…Stealers…?" She asked, puzzled, frightened, ironically cold.
"You were right when you said it was kinda like bloodbending. That's because it's the equivalent of firebending. You need to be a master level firebender to even do the 'preparation' for heat stealing."
"Preparation? What do you mean?"
Lee sighed, and ran his hand through his black cosmos hair, which probably smelled like sandalwood/ash-
"Okay, well, you know how you can 'see' the different waterways and such with your waterbending?"
After she shook her head in conformation, he continued, "It's the same thing with firebending. You can 'see'- well, you can feel people's body temperatures. You can feel the beat of the heart, because it is the center of the body, which pumps the blood, and-
"-generates energy. I get it." She said, wanting to get to the point,
"Yes, it generates energy. But what's energy? It's warmth, it's your chi, it's your life. Fire is the element of power."
And then it clicked for her- then she completely understood what was happening… they were stealing people's chi's, their lifeforce, their heat-
"Yes. You understand it now. This is a forbidden firebending technique I never even heard of it until Uncle told me, and now people are doing it… We have to do something, Katara."
She nodded, well aware of the dangers this, the always looming threat of death-
But that never stopped her before.
"Yes, Lee. We will do something."
And then he looked at her, and she could feel herself melt/freeze/combust all at once. He made his way towards her, eyes gleaming with all the power of his own element, when he took her in his arms.
"It's alright to say my name, you know," he whispers in her ear, gently biting her lobe, making his way down her quivering throat, her jutting collarbones, her thumping chest-
"Especially when we're like this."
She says nothing; she lets him push her over the edge of nirvana/insanity, the way he always does, the way he always does-
.
.
She tries to steady her breathing, but when he's looking at her like that, her efforts are worthless. He presses a kiss on her lips, soft, warm, zuko…
She lets herself fall into the abyss of unconsciousness, sleep coming and going like waves against the sand.
She'll do this, for him.
It's always been for him.
.
.
A/N: How did ya like it? I'm thinking about making this an ongoing fic, so tell if i should write it, or trash it! Thanks again for reading :)