Birthdays, Avatars, and A Near Miss
Zuko took the towel the attendant held out and wiped the sweat from his face and neck. It was sunset, the time of day when he wasn't particularly at his strongest, and his bones ached as if to remind him of that fact. He slid his arms into the robe the same attendant held out and acknowledged his training partner with a slight nod.
Katara smiled and jogged to where he stood, her red robe billowing around her. Underneath it, she wore little more than white strips of cloth wound around her body, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. The first day she'd come out to the training grounds, all activity had ceased and a man nearly got his head taken off by a fireball gone wild. She'd had enough grace to be embarrassed by the attention but enough pride to refuse an offer to borrow a more Fire Nation-friendly change of clothes from the locker room attendant.
Not that Zuko was complaining. If he was going to take a hit from a woman, it hurt less knowing that all he had to do was burn off the little knot he'd spied at the small of her back that was holding her dignity together and he would win so much more than a duel.
If he were so inclined, that is.
Without warning, Katara took his chin in her hand and tilted his face to one side so she could study the welt she'd inflicted on him. His pride smarted more than the wound as he recalled that he hadn't even seen the water whip coming his way. The welt was well-deserved, and went a long way in teaching him not to underestimate her. She clucked her tongue at him, her practiced eye surveying the damage, and he found it interesting that she could hurt and heal at the same time.
"You'll live," she finally announced.
"Would you mind doing something about it?" Zuko asked slowly, ignoring the stifled chuckles of the attendant behind him.
"Not at all," she said with a sunny smile.
Long slender fingers drew out the water from her still-open water skin and she covered her other hand with a layer of liquid that began to glow. Gently, she touched his face, and Zuko could feel the broken skin knitting back together. It was an interesting sensation, but not more so than having Katara's full attention at this proximity. He waited patiently for her to finish and tried not to squirm underneath her gaze.
"There," she said, pulling back. "How's that?"
"Good. Thank you."
Zuko started to go back inside, but she put a hand on his arm, stopping him. He threw her a quizzical glance.
"I, uh, wanted to ask you a couple questions," she said awkwardly. "If you don't mind. Do you have a second?"
"I suppose," he said, brow furrowing. "What do you want to know?"
Katara blinked at him and to his surprise, she blushed.
"Um..well...do you have to bring someone tonight?" she asked, speaking so quickly that her words tumbled over each other.
"What?" Zuko said, feeling as if he'd missed something. "Tonight? Why would I have to bring anyone tonight?"
"It's your birthday party..."
"You mean, the Celebration for My 20th Year Ball," he corrected.
"Right, birthday party," she said, looking more uncomfortable by the minute. "You should have a beautiful lady on your arm...or something."
"It's not really necessary for the Fire Lord to have a date," he explained, brow furrowed as he tried to guess her purpose for even bringing this up. "You could bring someone if you like."
This time it was her turn to frown.
"I don't want to bring anyone. What makes you think I do?" Katara questioned suspiciously.
"I'm assuming that's why we're having this conversation," Zuko replied defensively, and then it dawned on him. "Unless..."
He suddenly had the urge to either explode into laughter or run screaming to the relative safety of his throne room. Katara's eyes widened and her blush deepened as she hurriedly looked away from him, pulling her robe closed with one abrupt motion. Zuko cleared his throat and noted that the attendant had retreated to a discreet distance, his eyes pointed elsewhere.
"Katara, do you want to..." Zuko began, but his words were drowned out by the cry of surprise that rose up in the training grounds.
Looking around, Zuko saw the others looking up and he followed their gazes to discover just why they had cried out.
"Hey, Zuko!" Aang yelled, a big grin on his young face. "Surprise!"
On his glider, the Avatar had written a birthday message for the Fire Lord, bending the water into clouds. Aang whizzed to and fro in the clear sky, proving to be fairly adept at skywriting, as he congratulated Zuko on making it to his 20th birthday. Touched and more than a little embarrassed, Zuko waved his thanks. Aang finished off his masterpiece with a Fire Nation symbol, but a small gust of wind worried the lines that made up the flame. Zuko couldn't help thinking that it almost looked like the Water Tribe emblem turned on its side.
Turning, Zuko started to point that out to Katara, but found her already halfway to the door. He started after her and had a hand out towards her shoulder when her muttered words floated back to him.
"What just happened? All I had to do was keep him outside so he could watch the clouds..." she murmured confusedly.
Hand dropping to his side, Zuko watched her go.
"What did just happen?" he echoed.
-fin-
