Chapter 4: Hands Open

The fire crackles as it burns and he is aware that it will completely die out if he doesn't tend to it soon. But for now he is content to just sit there and watch the flames die, the sparks jumping in front of him as he sorts through his thoughts. And there's plenty to sort through, he thinks in an amused sort of way, hugging his legs close to his body as he stares into the flames.

And then suddenly it starts to rain, snuffing out the fire in an instant.

It comes down in buckets—coming harder with every passing second—but it doesn't occur to him to seek shelter. He sits there for a moment, his clothes quickly soaking through, before a chuckle escapes his mouth.

Soon he is laughing hysterically, laughing at the irony of it all. How he randomly decided to fish far down the coast, far away from the rest of their little gang. How he had pulled her out of the water, not a fish. How he had saved her. He pauses here in his thoughts, his laughter ceasing as he remembers then how he promised he would never leave her side.

And then his eyes are drawn to the real her; the one lying in front of him getting soaked by the pouring rain. And suddenly he feels the cold and shivers. If he is cold—she is most definitely freezing, and he knows she is in no condition to be out in this type of weather. His keen eyes seek out shelter (any kind of place, just somewhere for them to be sheltered from the rain and the cold) and he soon sees a cave not too far away.

He mentally winces, remembering the last two times he has been in a cave, but knows he will have to take what he can get right now.

Making the decision automatically, he goes over to her and gently picks her up, carrying her bridal style to the cave. He grunts under her armor and makes a mental note to take it off her—it is soaked through and she must have clothes underneath after all. (Right?)

Or so he hopes as he sets her down near the cave wall, a nice distance inside the cave but still close enough to the entrance to be able to see outside. He has not had much experience with women and what they wear under their clothes—besides Katara that is, and she doesn't count because she's his sister. Though he definitely doesn't think that Katara should wear those clothes when other guys are around; if the looks Aang was giving her were any indication. He doesn't think he wants to know what a guy like Zuko would think of her in them. (Scratch that, Zuko should never see Katara in her underclothes/bathing suit; Zuko will never be in the position to see them even if he wasn't a back-stabbing bastard who never deserved her trust in the first place; even she has enough sense to see that!)

Of course, he thinks, guys can change, people can change. (Though never Zuko! His older-brother-who-knows-what's-best-for-Katara screams, which is softly countered by the little voice in his head who laughs at him and says that he never thought he'd develop a liking for the psychotic Fire Nation Princess either. The one who gained a level of 220 evil after the whole shoot-lightning-the-avatar-dies thing, after all.) He frowns as he realizes that he has just spent a whole minute wasted on thinking about Katara and the Scarred-Backstabbing bastard. (The very same guy who also seems to have a very messed up family. He, of course, ignores the little part of his brain saying that that wasn't all he was thinking about)

Finally he screams and forces himself to escape from his thoughts as he looks once more upon the person in front of him. The person who has also suddenly become eerily female. (He reminds himself that the reason he forgets about her feminine side is because she never really shows it, after all, and not because of some other reason…) He then fumbles with her armor ("Blast it, does the Fire Nation have to complicate everything?!?") before finally getting it undone, placing it in a pile off to the side.

Soon she is shivering ferociously in her underclothes (he tries not to blush or act like he notices…anything) and he hesitates before digging his parka out of his bag ("At least I was smart enough to bring that with me") and draping it over her like a blanket. He unconsciously tucks the sides of the parka in around her, and smiles at the image of doing it to his sister all those years ago……

He is still lost in the memory when a moan reaches his ears and the image fades as he again sees the girl before him with pale skin, and though he can not see them right now, dark amber eyes. He frowns as he sees her still shivering (she's still unconscious--or in some type of deep sleep) and suddenly remembers the gash in her head that he had clumsily bandaged earlier. He had always believed (and still did) that healing and first aid was a woman's job, though he was taught the basics by his mother and is finally appreciative of that. ("First I had to save her with mouth-to-mouth by kissing her, then I had to bandage the gash in her head--what will I have to do next??")

He finds the bandages soaking wet, unsurprisingly, and searches for new ones to replace them with. He mentally thanks Katara for always making sure everyone in their little group has first aid supplies on them at all times (even though it seemed stupid at the time) and digs out some extra bandages and pieces of cloth from his bag.

He takes the bandages ones off her head, noticing how the blood has soaked through the cloth and wonders exactly how hard she had hit her head. (And exactly how does one hit ones head in a deep lake; on a floating tree limb?) Replacing them with new bandages, he ponders how much damage the hit has done to her brain—but does not wonder for long as he finds her still shivering. ("Katara once told me about where people get so cold they can't stop shivering and eventually they can die from the cold—it's called hypo something; hypochondria? Hypertension? Ummm…hyperthermia? Oh yea, that's it!")

He ponders now how completely odd it is that she is so cold; after all, he always thought firebenders could control their body temperature…

He is just about ready to set out for some firewood when he remembers the rain and the person besides him. After all, the possibility of leaving her alone to find wood is out of the question (It's just completely stupid) but knows even more so that it is pointless because he would find the wood sopping wet even if he did leave her alone to find it.

The frown is ever present on his face, and he cannot but help think there must be other options, when suddenly he remembers the one last thing he can do to ensure both of their safeties.

Without a further thought, he pulls her close to him (the blanket is between them of course, he tells himself) and falls asleep, the seemingly comatose firebender held tightly in his arms...

A/N- EDIT (12/22/07): Yet again I have edited this chapter, making it more readable and with better grammar than before. Again, enjoy and please review!