"Closer to the Edge-Oneshots"

By Lucawindmover

"Moon Flow"

Fifteen years previously, in the Fire Nation capital…

Zuko could barely control his rage as he stormed into the bedroom.

"Who hurt you!" he demanded of Katara. He moved over to her and grabbed her by both wrists, turning her arms over in an attempt to find her wound.

Katara tried, unsuccessfully, to pull her arms out of his grasp. Her face was a mask of true confusion though the firebender didn't seem to notice. "Zuko, what are you talking about? I'm not hurt."

"Yes, you are," he said, his voice almost a growl. He spun her around and lifted up the back of her dress, trying to see if someone had cut her back.

The Fire Prince was stunned when he heard the sound of a loud smack echo through the room. A few seconds later, his face felt the sting of it. Katara had turned around and hit him so quickly that he hadn't even seen her move. It spoke a little to how upset he was, for her to have been able to turn the tables on him like that.

"What do you think you're doing?" Katara shouted, crossing her arms around her middle. She looked as if she were trying to hold her dress closer around her.

Zuko balled his hands into fists, trying to ignore the ache on the right side of his face. She had even thought to hit him where he could still feel it. Always thinking, that one. "I'm looking for your wound!"

Katara threw her hands up in frustration. "Spirits Zuko, what makes you think I'm hurt? Could it be the way I'm hunched over, groaning in pain?" she spat sarcastically, waiting for him to see reason.

He pointed to the bathroom door. "How about all the bloody rags I found in there, huh? How do you explain that?"

For a moment, all the color drained from Katara's face as she processed the information. Then, it came roaring back with a vengeance.

Zuko was impatient for an answer. He just knew someone was hurting her, and right under his nose too. She was protecting whoever it was and he wasn't having it. If she couldn't confide in him, if she still didn't trust him, who in the world did she trust? He finally moved up and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a little. "Who is it, Katara? You had better tell me!"

Katara mumbled something, refusing to meet his eyes. This just made him even more angry. He shook her a little harder, as if the answer would just fall out of her mouth if he shook her enough.

Finally she looked up and glared at him. "Moon flow, Zuko. I said moon flow!" she shouted, shrugging off his hands and moving over to sit on the edge of the bed.

The sentence didn't make any sense to him. "What the hell is that?"

Katara's eyes widened. "Oh no, I am so not explaining that to you. You can just ask someone else, thank you very much."

Flames erupted around Zuko's fists. Katara was surprised to see him so angry over this. "Someone is hurting you and all you can tell me is 'Moon flow, Zuko," he said sarcastically in his approximation of her tone. "That's not good enough! Explain!"

Katara swallowed at the lump in her throat, trying to get it to go away. Her face was still hot, but she didn't want him to lose it, which he seemed close to doing. "Calm down please, before you set the room on fire."

Zuko looked down and saw that his hands were indeed on fire. He extinguished the flames before glaring at her again. "Explain," he demanded in a clipped tone. He moved to cross his arms and noticed that he'd singed the ends of his sleeves. Instead, he balled his hands into fists again and waited for her answer.

She sighed, trying to think of the best way to start. "Okay, do you know much about women's bodies?"

The Prince frowned. What did this have anything to do with who was hurting her? "What do you mean?"

Katara shrugged. "You know, like parts and stuff?"

Zuko blushed at this. "Well, I know some. But what does this have to do with anything?"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She instantly felt better. Maybe it was a better idea to do this with her eyes closed. Then she could just pretend she wasn't explaining this to the boy she slept in bed with each night. The tried channeling her Gran Gran, remembering the night the old woman had explained things to her.

"Look, there is an organ in a woman's body that men don't have. It's what carries a baby," she started.

"The womb, right?" he interrupted.

Katara opened her eyes to see that he was becoming a little less impatient. At least, he wasn't on fire and pacing anymore. "Yes, that's right. The womb. Anyway, the womb spends each month getting ready for a baby to be conceived. When the month is up and there isn't a baby, the body cleans out the womb and starts over."

"How does it do that? And what does this have to do with anything?" Zuko asked, getting impatient again and gesturing with his hands as he spoke. Suddenly, as if a light went off in his head, his face blushed to a deep red and Katara figured he'd started putting two and two together.

She waited a minute, watching his gears turning. He looked toward the bathroom, and then back at her. "You mean 'moon flow' means your womb blood comes out?" he asked, stumbling over his words.

Katara threw her hands up. "See, this is why I didn't tell you! It's personal!"

He looked like he had a million questions. He kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. Finally, he settled for, "So you aren't hurt?"

She laughed a little sarcastically. "Well, it hurts. But if you're asking if I'm wounded, then the answer is still no."

Suddenly, Zuko seemed to be the most embarrassed one. "Oh, well, uh. Sorry," he said, shifting his feet uncomfortably. "This happens every month?"

"Yup, unless there's a baby," Katara said, leaning back on her hands. She started swinging her feet. "And it usually lasts for five to seven days."

She watched as he mouthed the words 'five to seven days' without saying them out loud. She couldn't help but laugh. She was enjoying how uncomfortable he was. She never minded turning the tables on him.

Suddenly he reached forward and jerked her up off the bed. "Zuko, what…?"

"Don't sit on that!" he said, actual worry in his eyes. "We have to sleep there!"

As the implication of what he just said trickled in, another slap echoed through the room.

A/N: So this scene came to me as I was laying in bed one night, trying to fall asleep. I had to jump up and write it down before it left me, and I was laughing the whole time. I'm not sure where exactly it would fit within the story's timeline, but it was too funny not to share. What do you guys think?