That damn phrase shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did, but while his mind was still in a state of post shock, Zuko wasn't in a position to think very clearly. As luck would have it, he was able to hear to conversation going on between the members of the motley crew. Zuko frowned a little that he would probably never be fully accepted by them. However, that wasn't what irked him right now. No, it was what Katara had said.
Sokka shivered in the cool air but kept a firm and stern face. The siege of the Fire Nation capital had changed him, and now with his father's life on the line, Sokka wasn't in the mood to be silly or sarcastic. To his side, the Earth Bending girl (Toph was it?) shivered as well.
The water tribe boy shrugged off the grey-blue outer cloak from his armor and slid it over her shoulders. Toph looked like she was going to say something tough, something to make it seem like she didn't need it, but the water tribe boy cut her off. "Just take it." She did.
The avatar seemed to understand the situation, and could tell that Sokka was hurting because he felt as if he failed. They did in a way, the Fire Lord escaped and Azula was on the move. Sokka's plan fell through and now his father and their friend's lives were on the line as prisoners of war.
For the next for long and silent moments after the avatar fell asleep on the bison's back along with Toph, Sokka shivered in quiet misery.
As Sokka closed his blue irises and sighed, the vapor in his breath making a small puff of cloud, his sister, the kind water bender went to his side and spoke soft words to him.
"You can drop the tough guy act." She smiled at him.
"I'm such a jerk. And a horrible leader." Sokka spat out the words with sudden aggression that even startled the bison a little. "Why can't I be like Aang?!" He stomped a booted foot onto the hard soil, "...Or like you…?" His voice was soft and mourning now, "You're both so… kind and strong and I'm just a looser. The guy with the boomerang."
"Sokka don't be like this," Katara soothed gently, "What happened wasn't your fault. Azula knew we were coming."
"Face it; I'm as cold and useless as… as…" He looked around, "my hands."
Katara giggled, causing her brother to glare a little. "Do you remember that saying Gran-Gran used to tell us back at the South Pole?"
Sokka raised an eyebrow, "You mean the one about the penguins and the canoe?"
"No." Katara rolled her eyes, "The colder the hands," She grasped her brothers shivering fingers as she did this and rubbed them a little to warm them up, "…the warmer the heart." She cocked her hair to the side, and because her hair wasn't braided or looped anymore, it fell pleasantly over her shoulders.
This seemed to please the water tribe boy so he smiled and became less tense. "Maybe…" While his sister's words calmed Sokka, they only irked Zuko's already sensitive mind frame.
Zuko stared down at his own hands for a short moment after hearing what Katara said. They were firm and calloused with long, and what he thought to be strange fingers. His nails were well kept considering how he had been living, and he was fortunate enough not have any hangnails. The thing was though, and this made the former prince agitated, his hands were warm. Very and pleasantly, warm.
He scowled and shoved the offending appendages inside his robe. If his hands were warm, did that make his heart cold? He hoped not. Dear Agnii, he hoped not.
Katara's hands were probably freezing.
Zuko smirked a little, yes, she was a kind girl. She even offered to try and get rid of his scar that one time… He sighed a little morosely; she was in a whole other league over him. Looking at Katara while she covered up Sokka with her own cloak, Zuko stared off into space, playing a scenario in his mind. One where he accepted Katara's help.
It was a warm and comforting idea – one where Katara might in fact care for him and place blankets on him in the cold night.
He didn't see that Katara saw his gaze and was now walking over towards him.
Eyes widening, Zuko looked away quickly and tried to be immersed in the fire in front of him. Damn! He was such a fool…
"Mind if I sit with you?" Katara asked quietly once at his side. Her hair was still down and looked nice around her neck where that necklace lay. "We're out of firewood so our fire's out…" She gestured with a tanned hand at the pitiful excuse for a fire pit before the bison.
Zuko averted his eyes again and stared at a rock at his side, "If you want to." He answered quietly, not really sure what to say.
She sat down next to him, close, too close, and pulled her knees up to her chest. Sighing happily, she inched closer to the heat and held her own small hands out towards it.
"Are you cold?" Zuko asked stupidly. Cursing in his head at the dumb question, Zuko stared at the ground, not wanting to see the look on her face. She still probably hated him because of what happened back in Ba Sing Sei.
Katara was caught off guard but smiled a little, "A bit, but your fire is warming them up." She was still shivering though, because the high altitude of the western air temple combined with the chilly wind made for a freezing night. "What about you," She cocked her head to the side inquisitively,"…are you cold?"
Zuko looked up at her hesitantly, "No." He pulled his arms closer to his chest defensively though he wasn't sure what he was defending himself from. The girl made him feel… defenseless and like he couldn't hind anything. It was scary, and quite humbling. The curious look on her face explained that she wanted to know more and one-word answers wouldn't work with her.
With a sigh, he pulled his hands out from his robes and gently grasped one of her hands with his. She squeaked in surprise but didn't pull away – probably because she figured that he'd hurt her. "See?" Zuko said quietly, squeezing her hand gently so she could feel their heat, "Fire benders don't get cold easily… So our hands are always quite warm."
To his surprise, Katara smiled. "You're lucky then. Being cold is a nasty business."
"I guess." Zuko shrugged, looking away again, "But what was the saying?" Zuko frowned, "The colder the hands the warmer the heart?" He chuckled but there was nothing funny about it. "That says a lot about me I guess. My family too. We're just frozen inside." Zuko started to pull his hand away, "Go away, you shouldn't be with people like me."
"No!" Katara said with wide eyes, squeezing Zuko's hand tightly in her own. When she saw the banished prince look at her with confused eyes, she thought for a response to comfort him, "You see, I don't mind!" She rubbed his palm with her thumb, "Coming from the north pole, cold things can be very nice too. I love frozen things." Katara babbled on, "Like um… ice pops and snow and…"
Zuko stared at her blankly with a confused look on his scared face.
Katara sighed and started to pull away, "I'm sorry. I'm not making sense."
The former prince held her small hand in place with one of his own though, "That's okay." He whispered. Zuko didn't want her to leave, no, he felt defenseless and strange around her, but if she was alright with that… it felt nice. "Stay. I mean, if you want…"
Katara smiled at him again, her cheeked picking up a slightly pink tinge of a blush.
The two stared out into the sky and stars, which seemed closer tonight than ever before. The fire in front of them was dieing out again, but neither seemed to mind very much. Zuko smiled a little, finally feeling accepted, but made sure to tilt his face away from the girl so Katara couldn't see. Besides, ice princes couldn't just reveal their emotions could they?
Yeah... just a quick idea that I had. I think it's adorable, and I tried to keep the character actually in character as much as I could. I mean, as much as I'd like it, we just can't expect Zutara over night right?