"Well," Katara sounded determined, "How do we do this?"
Zuko tried to sound like he hadn't been thinking about it the whole time he was working on her back. "You could borrow my shirt."
Yes, she had thought about his shirt. The shirt he wasn't wearing. The shirt she really didn't need to be reminded he wasn't in. He looked – it looked comfortable.
Then she panicked. "Crap! I can't ask Toph for clothes!" Zuko was both startled by her expletive and confused by the mention of Toph. He didn't need to ask, because Katara started pacing and ranting. "I was going to ask Toph to bend some spare clothes in here, but I can't. What would Aang think? I'll have to face them eventually, but I'm not going to make everyone out there wonder what's happening in here that requires new clothes. Crap! What about Sokka! And Haru. And, well, Crap!"
"Katara, it's ok. I said that you can wear this." He picked up his shirt, but she jumped away from him.
"No! Not yet! Don't you understand? What if it gets stuck to me? I'll have nothing to wear when we go back outside. We have to save it for when we're… done."
It took a second for the thought to register, and another ten seconds to clear an image from his mind. Zuko broke into a cold sweat. Was she really saying what he thought she was saying? She was so concerned with the Avatar's good opinion that she was willing to be completely naked? Dear, Agni -she'd never forgive him! It was her idea, but he knew she'd never forgive him for her embarrassment. Crap!
Outside, Toph was wishing she had made the walls a little less thick. But, if she could hear, so could Twinkletoes, and she couldn't let that happen. He was already a mess of worry, and she had to threaten him to keep him from making a spy-hole.
Every once in a while, Sokka or Haru would saunter over for a report. "Soooo…" Sokka would try to sound casual, "how are things?" She gave him the same, reassuring, one-word reply each time, "Boring."
Haru's heart was leaping around like a rabbaroo in a prickle-nest, so he was worthy of a longer answer, "Yeah, it's taking a while. Zuko's really thorough when he sets him mind to something. I'm sure he's doing a really good job." This had the desired effect of calming Twinkletoes while leaving Junior Stash quivering with curiosity. Toph hadn't had this much fun in ages. She bent the stone air holes open and shut again.
Zuko watched Katara hold her head in her hands, and realized that she was about to cry. Maybe she was irrational from exhaustion. He let out the breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. It didn't matter – this was Katara's decision. All he could do was find a way to help. He couldn't save her dress, but he didn't want to strip her of her dignity. He understood the nature of honor.
"I have an idea," he stated. "I'll wear a blindfold." He tied the sash of his shirt around his eyes.
"I think that would work," she answered, sounding hesitant. A little voice in her head was telling her to stall. "Maybe you should clean off the back of my legs, first." She turned around, and he took off the blindfold before kneeling behind her.
As he worked, he asked, "Katara, why are you so worried about Aang? I'm sure he'll understand. He won't like it, but I don't think you should worry so much." Katara hesitated.
Zuko peeled away another strip before she answered. "Aang can't control the Avatar State."
"What do you mean? Zuko stood up to face her. "Does this mean he can't stop my father?"
She looked away and answered, "No, I know he'll defeat Ozai. It's just that he loses control over some things."
Zuko smirked, "Like naked water benders?"
She blushed, and her expression got very serious when she answered. "Once, someone threatened to bury me alive. Aang wiped out an entire Earth Army barracks, and killed dozens of soldiers before I was freed. I won't put him through that again. Not over something like this." She put on a face that she hoped looked convincingly brazen. "Besides, I'm not ashamed. It's just my body. Totally natural." He decided not to second that opinion as heartily as he felt it.
He went back to peeling off her dress. Sliding his fingers around the back of one thigh, he said, "Don't worry, Katara. Aang will never know that I had to rip your dress. He'll think I just turned my back while you changed." He was almost done, and worked very carefully so he wouldn't cut her under wrappings from between her legs. This process put him at eye level with the part of her anatomy that was causing the inconvenience, and he was working very hard at not thinking about it. Yes, she was making it very hard again. To concentrate. Damn.
He used his best Zuko-the-Medic voice, "Make sure you have a water flask ready to cool off your skin. I'll do this as quickly as I can." He stood in front of her so she could see his blindfold.
She turned around, put his hands on her hips, and said, "I'm ready."
Zuko moved his hands slowly until he reached fabric. It was an extra-thick layer, with both her dress and her under-wrappings, and it took much longer to remove than he had planned. Being blindfolded was worse for Zuko's concentration than seeing bare skin. He had to feel around more. (Maybe he felt around a bit more than absolutely necessary, but he was excruciatingly aware of every curve.) I
t didn't help that she kept hopping away and yelping every time the heat got to be too much. "Zuko," her voice was a whisper, "can I reach back there and cool off a bit?"
When he answered, there was a strange tone in his voice that she couldn't read. "I'm sorry, Katara. If you get wet, it's just going to swell up again." When he finally brushed the last of the wax off of her skin, he announced, "You can cool off now. Let me know when I can take off the blindfold."
Katara healed her backside and hopped up onto the stool. "All clear. You can do my hair, now."
He took off his blindfold and blinked. She was sitting up on the stool, wearing half a dress and her boots. He dropped to one knee and started to rip a spiraling strip of fabric from the bottom of one of his pant legs. "Zuko," Katara sounded puzzled, "what are you doing?"
"Here," he answered, and handed her the cloth. "It won't wrap all the way around your waist, but you can cover up a bit in the back, and stick the ends to the front of your dress." Her answering smile was worth every pair of pants he would ever own.
"Let's get those boots off," Zuko-the-Medic announced. He knelt on the sand at her feet, and pulled the tops of her socks away from her skin. The thick leather boots had resisted the goo, and they came off very easily. Katara insisted that he back away while she washed her feet with her bending water. She didn't see him smiling at her.
Zuko was about to touch her hair when he noticed something important. "Katara?" she looked up in response, and he gestured, "Your necklace." He thought she was going to cry again. "It's not so bad. It's just stuck on one side, and there's some goop on the pendant." He stepped forward, reached around to undo the clasp, and ran one finger around the edge that was stuck. The pendant held the necklace in place.
"Zuko, this carving is really delicate." Katara was worried.
Zuko raised his unscarred eyebrow, looked her in the eyes and said, "Do you trust me?" She nodded.
He placed both hands on the clean spots at her shoulders, leaned in, and breathed warm air on her neck. It was completely unexpected, and the most erotic sensation she had ever felt. Katara moaned. Zuko ignored it. He kept blowing on the pendant, and she felt the hot wax run down her chest. The pendant slipped, and fell into her wrappings.
There was an awkward pause, and he blushed with shock when she said, "We'll get that later."
