A/N: Hi guys! This is just a little one-shot I thought of while writing the update for Impossible, and figured I'd put it together for you, as a thank you for all of the hits and almost 50 reviews on it. It is set for just before The Ember Island Players. I love you guys sooo much for all of the feedback, and look forward to hearing what you think about the Imp. update and this dinky one-shot. All my love, Khepri.
I do not own nor do I make profit off Avatar: The Last Airbender, but embermoths and the plot are mine… Yay for me.
Embermoths
"AAAAGH!"
The strained scream had reverberated off the bare walls of the air temple from the eastern wing of rooms. Aang's head was the first up from their plan that Sokka had drawn in the dirt, and he looked straight to Toph. As if sensing he was looking to her for explanation, she shrugged.
"Katara," she said simply, turning her head toward the source of the yell. Aang jumped up with a start and ran, with the assistance of a burst of air at his back, as quickly as he could. Toph, Zuko and Sokka followed closely behind.
Katara stood in front of the open door to her closet. Zuko had to turn away- she was only wearing one of their makeshift towels, but her attention was completely focused on her clothing that hung from tiny hooks.
"Katara, what's wrong? What happened?" Aang pressed, taking another step toward her. She gritted her teeth and threw her arms up in the air. For a split second, the towel slipped, and the Avatar was left speechless for the first time in his life. She didn't bother blushing.
"Stop gawking!" she snapped, fighting back tears that pricked at her eyes. "My, my clothes," she mourned and reached a hand out to the red cotton of her fire nation outfit. It was falling off the hook, hanging only by a few loose strands of the fabric, but otherwise it was now shapeless and afflicted by hundreds of holes. Upon further inspection, the outer edges of the holes were burnt, and the inner edges were covered in tiny grey dots.
"Embermoths," Zuko whispered, fingering one of the burns but avoiding the grey spots.
"What?" Aang and Katara were confused.
"They're native to the fire nation," he explained. "They eat cotton and fur, and leave burns because their feet cook their food for them."
"They eat fur, too?" Katara asked, resignation evident in her voice. She reached toward her blue water-tribe clothes, but they fell apart as soon as she touched them. "Apparently they like Arctic sheep-fox wool," she sighed.
"They've infested the walls of your closet, too," Toph said from behind them. She had a hand on the wall, and a disgusted look on her face.
"You won't be able to keep cotton or fur in your closet." Zuko lifted one side of his mouth into a sympathetic half-smile.
"You can wear my clothes until we get yours fixed up." Toph smiled at her, but Zuko shook his head.
"Your clothes are cotton, too, Toph. The moths will eat that, too."
"Okay, how about mine?"
"No, Sokka, yours are fur just like Katara's, and your fire nation clothes are cotton. Aang, yours won't work either. None of yours will." He sighed, bringing his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Then whose will? She has to wear something." Sokka smiled, clearly pleased at having made a comment that even Aang laughed at. Secretly, Katara imagined that the airbender would love nothing more than for Katara to weak absolutely nothing until the comet came. It was kind of creepy, the way she had seen him look at her. In any case, Sokka did have a point.
"She can wear mine." The gang's jaws dropped. "See, the upper class of the fire nation take care to wear clothing that doesn't get eaten by the embermoths. They really don't like silk because it's made by other insects. That's why I only wear silk. Get it?"
Katara shook her head. "No, Zuko, I'm not going to wear your clothes. You're the-"
"The enemy?" She blushed and turned her head. "Well, okay, go ahead and ruin everyone else's clothing, then. That, or wear nothing."
"Fine." She huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "You can go, guys, I want to talk to Zuko." Aang looked suspiciously at the firebender, but soon gave up and left with a final glance to Katara.
"Don't give her your socks, Sparky, your feet stink almost as much as mine do!" Toph snickered, following after Aang. Sokka was the only one left in the room with them. He brought two fingers up to his eyes, then pointed at Zuko. I'm watching you. He turned and left after Toph. Zuko was left with wide eyes and a light blush on his cheeks.
"All I need from you is pants and a shirt, okay?" Zuko nodded. So much for gratitude. He turned and left her room.
Then, he turned and walked back, sticking his face in the door again. "Coming?" he asked, then left again. This time, Katara's footsteps followed him. He opened his door, grabbed a pair of simple black slacks that, on Katara, he imagined they would be more loose around the calves and more comfortable than anything else he owned. He also grabbed a silk red shirt accented with gold stitching. He was used to wearing with a vest, but it would fit Katara well enough, he figured. She took them, then bowed her head and left.
At dinner time, the entire group was gathered around the fire, waiting for Katara to cook for them.
"What did she say when you gave her your clothes?" Aang pressed, leaning forward over the fire to ask Zuko. He was worried, as Zuko had been the last person to speak with Katara that morning, and no one had seen her since.
"She didn't say anything, Aang, relax."
Soon after, she finally showed up, glowering unhappily. Of course, rightfully so, Zuko mused. His shirt was terribly tight around her, uh, upper body, and his pants clung to her rump and thighs before falling past her feet and onto the floor. She glared at him as if it were his fault.
"That's hot," Suki giggled, before Sokka smacked her in the back of her head. Clearly, he didn't want anyone talking about his sister that way, even if it was only his girlfriend. It was a good thing that he couldn't see Aang's and Zuko's faces, as it was that their jaws had dropped and Aang's tongue had even lolled out of his mouth. Zuko, without averting his eyes from Katara's figure, managed to smack the airbender in the face with the back of his hand, snapping him out of his reverie. He glared at Zuko.
"Katara, uhm, k-keep my clothes," Zuko managed to blurt. Somehow, it gave him a primordial thrill to see her in his clothing, and he really did want her to keep them, if only so he could see her wear them again. She smiled, and nodded.
"Thanks... I think." She really didn't know if that was a good thing, but it was certainly better than walking around a house full of warriors in her breastbinds and underskirt.
"I love embermoths," Zuko drooled.
"Shut your face, Zuko," but Katara was still smiling at him.
A/N: Okay, I like it a lot less now, but the idea was still cute. Let me know what you think- click the tiny blue button on the left-hand side, if you please.