WOW!!! Intense stuff huh? HAHAHAHA Well anyway thanks for the support guys. Next chapter let me know what you guys think will happen. I might take it into consideration and slip it in!! Like I said keep the reviews coming. It makes me feel good. Lol. ;-)

CHAPTER FOUR:

Wash me? Katara is going to wash me. Katara…is going…to wash me! She's going to take her hands, put them on my body, and wash away my blood. She's going to touch me. She's going to touch me all over with those delicate and serpentine hands.

All these thoughts and more raced through Zuko's mind and body as Katara unconsciously held his hand and led him through the forest. She almost had to drag him. Zuko was cut badly and had lost a lot of blood to make him looked dazed and his body weak. In truth, Zuko was only dazed from sheer excitement and absolute terror at the same time.

Katara reached up with her left hand and brushed away a low lying branch to reveal the river below. Carefully she walked down the small ramp all the while leading Zuko. When they had reached the river bank Katara found a large boulder half immersed in the water, and sat him down. She walked to the water and washed her hands thoroughly before starting.

"Lie down." She said coldly. When he only stared she noted he wasn't getting it. "Like this." Katara sat down on the large rock beside Zuko and laid down on her side with one of her arms reaching above her head to expose her side. As she did, Zuko noticed that her shirt road up and reviled a portion of the russet skin on her stomach. He obeyed and copied her motions.

"Good try, but let's try lying down on the other side, where the actual gash is." She rolled her eyes at him as Zuko turned his back to her. Katara smirked at him as he turned away. She then drew water out of the river beside her and quickly began to work on him. Though her touch was cold, Zuko's stomach felt uncomfortably hot. Katara grabbed his shoulder with her free hand held him tight in concentration. Every hair on his body stood up in response to her touch. Zuko shivered intensely when her finger slipped on his sweat and grazed through his hair. If this continues I don't think I will be able to keep myself fro-

"So…" Zuko felt his thoughts were rudely interrupted. "How do you feel?"

"Huh?"

"Your wound. How…how does it feel?"

"Oh umm…it's…Ok." Why is she asking? Does she care?

"Ok the middle should be numb enough for me to start working on your stitches. First I have to wash it though."

"Wash it?"

"You're getting annoying with this parrot routine, repeating everything I'm saying. Yes Zuko. I'm going to wash your bloody gash." Katara flicked her hand and another stream of water flowed out of the river. The water formed an orb just above her palm. Katara let it sit there as she looked closely at his injury.

"Hmmmm…" she gently touched the out layer of his skin with her index finger.

"What? Is it really bad?" What was that 'hmmm' about?

"Oh it's just that your injury is dirtier than I thought. And the skin…I'll have to scrape it as well." Zuko shot up like an erection with bad timing.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SCRAPE IT?!" Zuko got up and tried running off back to camp. Katara rolled her eyes at him. With another flick her water wrapped around his wrists and ankles binding him in ice shackles. He fell back with the weight of the ice. He tried heating his own body to melt it to get away from this 'scraping' that Katara was so keen on performing. It was no use though, he was still too weak, and there was a full moon out. He wasn't going anywhere. Katara annoyed that she actually had to get up, walked over to him and crouched down to meet his face.

"Now then, are you done? Because we can do this the hard way if you want, I don't mind." Her eyebrow was raised in question and her smile so hungrily seductive he couldn't refuse her. His own furrowed ones slackened in defeat. "Good." She let him loose and they walk back to the rock they were on. Zuko sighed and laid back down. This time Katara sat in front of him. She pulled another orb out of the river and started to wash Zuko.

He has a nice body, Katara thought. There's no harm in thinking right? He doesn't know what I think so there's no harm. A really nice body. Broader shoulders, taller, darker, from the sun I suppose. He looks like he could squash a melon with his bare hands. His skin I rough though. I can feel it when I slide my hand up and down the side of his body. His back is perfect.

Her hands were so soft Zuko thought he could stay like that forever. They moved so smoothly up and down his body like nothing he had ever felt before. Zuko looked up to see her face and was surprised to see it smiling. Katara smile made his stomach twist into a burning knot. I want her. Zuko's body arched as Katara's hand firmly moved up his side again. He grabbed her wrist before it could go back down and tried to slowly pull her down with him, but Katara held firm where she was.

"Zuko," Katara's voice was low.

"You can feel it right?" he interrupted her before she could deny him. "You can feel it when I look at you? When touch you? You can see it right?" his gaze was so intense on her she could barely take it. Those whiskey colored eyes filled her body like a dangerous drug full of heat and hunger.

Katara looked away from him. "I don't know what exactly you think I should feel or see but you're getting delirious." Her soft and quiet smile never wavered from him. Defeated again, Zuko released Katara's wrist and looked away from her with the most depressing face she had seen. Like a child that had his favorite toy taken away by a bully. Katara thought if his face looked anymore pitiful that she just might have let him pull her further down.

"I have to scrape away the broken skin now Zuko. It's going to hurt a little so you might want to bite on to this." Katara unbuckled her belt and bent it for him to use. Zuko noticed that the slacks she was wearing where somewhat bigger than her slim waist so they hung off her hips slightly exposing more of the auburn skin beneath it. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as her belly button was uncovered. She has to be teasing me. Taunting me. That's what she's doing. Especially with a smile like that still on her face. I WANT HER!

"I won't need that." He growled at her and crossed his arms as Katara held out the belt for him to bite. Katara grinned mercilessly and put her belt back on.

"Ok then. But don't ask me for it later." Katara lightly laughed as the stream of water in her hand became something like a comb, but Zuko was not fazed.

"turn over then." Katara spoke in such a sweet vice it almost made her sick. When Zuko only laid there in a pout she rebelled. "I said," she grabbed his right shoulder and dug her nails into it and pulled him toward her. "turn over." She said again in a sweet tone through gritted teeth. She continued to smile as she pushed his arm over his head again.

"Here we go" Katara took the curved comb and put it to Zuko's skin. With one final look at each other, Katara gave him a smile that almost said 'don't say I didn't warn you.' With that Zuko gave her a look of surprise and before he could ask he to wait she brought down the comb and shaved the skin that was hanging awkwardly.

Zuko let out a holler that was only muffled by sheer will power and pride. The sound the let out mimicked something between a snort and growl on an angry wild thing. His body arched to get away from the pain but he held on to Katara ankle with all his might. It felt like a moose lion had just ripped his sides in two with its claws and now was left stinging and pulsating from the pain.

"Really Zuko, all that and I've only scraped you once. I'll have to do it at least two more times."

Fuck pride. "Please I'm sorry just let me use the belt. I'll listen I promise. I'll do whatever!"

"Hmmm…tempting. You say whatever? What do you have to offer?" what do have to offer?! I have nothing to offer her. I don't have anything anymore! She knows that! I have nothing more than she or Aang The pain was excruciating. Zuko had to say something, anything.

"SEX!" why did I just say sex?

"Wrong." Katara scraped upwards this time and Zuko felt like he was being ripped out of his body.

"Let's try again? Shall we?" Katara's voice was so playful he almost felt like scraping her to see how playful she would be afterwards.

"to slow." and with one final act Katara dug the comb into his skin and pulled the rest of it off with no mercy. Zuko let out another muffled cry of the beast when she 'treated' his wound.

Why? Why did this happen. I had to piss her off didn't I. even after all these years I still can't control my temper around her. She is so INFURIATING!

That's what happened when you piss me off. Even after all these years I still can't control my temper around him. Pain in my ass is what he is.

"Alright it's time for the stitches. I promise you can handle it this time." Another soft smile graced her face as she turned away and made a curved ice needle. Zuko's face was once again as pitiful as a child's as she threaded it. Zuko didn't even care. He was to numb from his scraping that he doubt that he would feel his own heartbeat anymore.

"You're so…aggravating. Why do you have to pout like that? I hope you face gets stuck that way it would serve you right." Katara's scolding didn't faze him. Zuko turned to look at her. When she was interrupted in her needle work Katara slowly folded her hand together and laid them on her lap.

"Yes? Is there something you want to say?" she said indifferently. Zuko only scouled some more at her with his eyebrows furrowed to the point it was almost one eyebrow. Katara sat there and tried to stifle her laughter but it was no good. The face he made was to childish.

"I don't see what's so funny." He said through gritted teeth.

"You wouldn't." she said through a snort.

"I think I liked it better when you where indifferent to me."

"If that's what you think, then I'll tell you a secret. I always went to the woods and laughed at you behind your back in those days.

"Why? You didn't have to be absent from dinner every other night because of me."

"Don't flatter yourself. It wasn't all because of you. I had to practice bending at some point without being disturbed. You and Sokka always bickering and fighting like you two were married. At the same time Aang and Toph were not helping with their constant arguing. Aang sometimes would find me and we would talk for hours."

"I remember."

"You would since you found us one morning by the oak tree asleep on each other." Katara blushed slightly and turned her face away. Zuko found this to be an incredibly feminine thing for Katara to do.

"Did you two, ah, you didn't really umm, you know,"

"It's no secret that I love Aang. And I knew at that point he felt the same way. When I told him how I felt…well, it wasn't only my heart that broke. It was all over his face and I knew then, before he even opened his mouth, we were never going to be together." Zuko's heart was shattered. She loves him. She loves him. She loves him. Over and over it raced through his head. It was beating inside his head and his heart felt like a mangled ragdoll. It was getting harder and harder to breath by the moment. How can she still love him.

"wh-why do you say th-that." Zuko's voice cracked like hot glass in his throat.

"Because…he's the avatar. It's forbidden, second, if I take all his love in the world, what is the rest of the world supposed to do without it. And by now, I know that's his love for me has waned because of the constant struggle to crush inside him.

"Katara, I'm not the avatar, nor am I my uncle always spouting words of wisdom at every occasion, but I think that if someone were to fall for you, it would never wane." Zuko's voice was so gentle, Katara's heart almost jumped through her throat. He brought up his hand up and brushed his knuckles up against her cheek, grazing his thumb at the corner of her mouth to wipe away the tear she had shed. The smell of hot embers rested on him so potently, Katara felt like he had rendered her useless. Forget about him.Zuko thought. Forget about how he denied youI want you now. Zuko touched her hips to pull her into a kiss he desperately desired from her lips. When Katara turned her face away from him Zuko could only sigh in frustration as he closed his eyes and placed his forehead on her shoulder. When he tried to nuzzle into her neck she only pushed away.

"I have to finish your stitches." Katara couldn't even look at him. Zuko couldn't think of one reason why someone wouldn't want to let go of a love that hurt them. Seeing her pained face he slid back down onto his side so she didn't have to look at him.

When Katara had finished the both walked back in silence to the camp. it was nearing dawn now. Zuko had decided to stay by the vanishing fire for the rest of the night while Katara slept in Sokka's tent. Lost in his thoughts, Zuko didn't notice Sokka sitting next to him until he ha spoken.

"how did it go?" Zuko pulled up his shirt to show him the 11 new stitches he was sporting.

"ouch. She seemed like she calmed down a bit. What did you say?"

"Sokka,"

"yeah?"

"I'm going to marry her."