Katara thought that the silence of the stone room was uncomfortable, compared to the chaos outside. She could hear him breathing. They were both startled by the sudden opening of tiny air holes at the top of the wall, and the rush of fresh, dry air. Zuko looked away. "I could teach Aang how to do it. I know you like him and…" He looked at her again, "I mean, I can understand if you prefer a friendly face."
Katara's blue eyes were almost black in the lantern light. Aang's face was much too friendly for this situation. She didn't know how to deal with his crush, and she wasn't in a hurry to be alone with him. She weighed one embarrassing, awkward option against the other. Option 1, stay sticky forever, giving up sleep and food. Option 2, hurt her best friend and potential savior of the world while letting the twelve-year old boy see her naked. Option 3, Zuko. The face of her enemy. Liar. Betrayer. Ripping her dress off piece by piece.
What would Gran-Gran want her to do? This thought reminded her that her family was just outside. Katara was safe. Toph could be summoned with one stomp of her foot. It would only be embarrassing, not dangerous. Gran-Gran always said that no one could embarrass you unless you let them. She tried to keep her voice strong and clear, "ust et dis off ov me, ease"
Zuko let out the breath he was holding. She was going to trust him. He had another chance to prove his worth and sincerity. He knew that she was feeling incredibly vulnerable, even though the entire gang was waiting outside to kill him on command. He would treat her with respect, and do everything he could to maintain her dignity. She was a bending master, not a little girl. Right. Definitely not a little girl.
"Let's get your arms free." Zuko went back to the torn sleeve, cracking wax and ripping the fabric from bottom to top. He couldn't get to the space under her arm at all, and the whole area was turning red. "I'm going to try pulling it up from the bottom." He bent down on one knee, and ripped the loose fabric of her dress until he removed everything below her hand that wasn't covered in goo. "You'll feel it start to warm up." She felt him working his fingers under her hand, very slowly and carefully, and then his whole hand was wrapped around hers as warm wax dripped off of her fingertips. Her breath hissed in. She cried out when he reached her wrist. He was trying to pull her arm away without tearing the dress, but had to use too much heat to pry it off without removing the fabric.
The thought that he might hurt her gave him the incentive he needed to start ripping cloth. His fingers slid up her thigh, tore the strip away from her body, and peeled it off the inside of her arm – inch by inch. There was a pause when he reached her wrappings. He looked up, but she was just staring straight ahead. It took longer to melt through the thicker layer of cloth, and her hip was red and sore by the time he got to her waist and freed her elbow. She jumped when his fingers slid up her ribcage, and bit her lip when a piece of her top wrappings was removed without hesitation. Seconds later, her arm was free.
Zuko smiled as he stood up to toss-aside the last strip of fabric. She was a healer – she knew how to keep this professional. It wouldn't be so difficult. Then she raised her arm and stretched, exposing the full length of bare skin that ran all the way up the side of her body. He froze. He wasn't prepared for it to be this hard. Difficult. To be difficult.
His reaction was not lost on Katara, and she quickly put her arm back down. "ould I ave ater?" Embarrassed to be caught staring, Zuko turned away and uncorked a water bottle. "Here. Don't spill it on yourself." They both drank and she bent some water into a glowing glove. Katara couldn't reach much more than her hip and shoulder. "eed oddur am" she mumbled, as she bent the water back into the empty bottle in Zuko's hands. He faced her. "Let me clean off your face, first. I'll move slowly, but it's probably going to hurt." His eyes met hers. "Are you ready for this?"
Shining, deep-blue eyes blinked once, and she nodded.
Zuko warmed both hands and brushed her hair up off her face. His hands worked all the way around her, one left, one right, lifting and piling her thick hair on top of her head. The dry hair on the edges stuck to the gooey pile on top, and kept it all out of the way. He had never seen her with her hair up, only with the braids she always wore. Even with all of the dirt and grease, Uncle Iroh would have found something ridiculously poetic to say about her beauty. Zuko sighed to himself. Uncle would make a lousy medic.
It didn't take as much heat as he had feared. Katara felt Zuko gently sweeping white flakes away from her face with the tips of his fingers. He started at the top of her forehead, working down her hairline and trailing his fingertips down the side of her neck, and back up again. His fingertips grazed the skin behind her ear, and she shivered. He watched her get goose bumps in a stifling-hot room. Zuko swallowed, and tried to work a little faster.
He never made eye contact, but he could feel Katara watching his face. He lifted her chin so he could reach her throat. She brought it back down again in reflex, but he used both hands and guided her head with one as he brushed off wax with the other. Over and over, up and down and around her neck. It was hypnotic – his concentration surprised her. She was even more surprised that she could stand still and let him do it.
Moving his left hand to the back of her neck, he rested his right hand on the side of her face. His thumb caressed her lips as he brushed the last of the wax from her mouth. He felt her quick intake of breath as she closed her eyes. He remembered when she touched his scar in the cave. Her thumb had been on his lips. He remembered why he had closed his eyes, and it was his turn to gasp.
The air holes opened and dry air rushed into the room. They leapt apart and each found something else to look at in the tiny stone space. Zuko said, "I'll get you more water" Just as Katara said, "I'd like more water, please." Her voice was hoarse.
"Can you heal your throat?" He was asking as her water glove began to glow.
There was a pause, and when she spoke again, her voice was at full-strength. "Yes. We can keep going."
He freed her other arm, and it seemed to go faster the second time. He was back in Medic Zuko mode, methodical and efficient. He turned around while she uncorked her bending water and healed the minor burns on her sides. "Ok, Zuko. What's next?" It was much easier to be brave now that she could use both arms.
He seemed to know what she was thinking, and said, "You should try bending without your arms."
Katara replied, "You mean, like when you breathe fire and steam comes out of your nose? No thanks." She obviously didn't understand the significance of that steam.
"No," he responded with exaggerated patience, "the breath of fire is rare among fire benders. Only a few members of the royal family can…"
Katara cut him off, "and I'm just a water peasant, right Zuko? So I couldn't possibly learn to do something like that. Well, you've seen me freeze water with my breath." She waved the bottle of bending water. "Would you like a demonstration?"
Zuko didn't say anything. He moved closer and turned her shoulders so he was standing behind her. He started to peel strips of dress off of her back before he answered her. "No, that's not what I mean. You're a powerful bender. And you're right about using breath to freeze water, but that's not what I meant, either."
Katara bristled, "Well, pardon me, your highness."
He continued to remove her dress, as he answered, "There's a difference between breathing cold onto water, and breathing out an actual weapon. You need something you can use when your hands are tied."
Feeling his breath on the back of her neck made a certain memory too hard to ignore. "You mean, like when someone ties me to a tree?"
He stopped moving. She didn't turn around. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Does that happen often?" His deadpan was hard to read, but she was tired, and the laugh just escaped. He started peeling her dress again. "Besides, I just found out that I was wrong about you being a peasant."
That got her attention. "What?"
She turned her head back, but he stopped her from turning around. "Isn't your father the chief?"
Her back was now bare down to the middle of her hips. She didn't even notice, as she turned around to face him. "You've seen the South Pole village. I'm not exactly Princess of the Penguins." A corner of his mouth rose in an almost-smile. "Besides," she put on a serious tone, "that would make Sokka a prince, and that's just ridiculous." Zuko just nodded in agreement.
"So, do you think you could clean my hair, next? I think all the bugs are dead now." Katara was relived that things had taken a lighter turn.
But Zuko was looking intently at the stone wall behind her. "Well, it's going to take a really long time to get your hair clean," Zuko answered. "I know you've been standing all day, so I brought a stool in, but…" he gestured toward her backside, "you'd get stuck."
The air holes opened, and they both inhaled deeply.
