LAst one!!! ::cries:: I'm gonna miss it! I have never been this productive, or creative, EVER! But I did get a serious renewal in my urge to write, so I think I am going to start on finishing HPNDP asap!!! haha although most of my readers for that fic prolly didn't even look twice at this one. ;)

Oh, also, I got a DS lite, and I am currently obsessed with Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I always wanted to play a Zelda game, and this is my first time that I've ever had my own (before I played my friend's game back when they still made regular game boys). Between that and MarioKart, I have to stop obsessing and start writing! Plus, preseason college soccer starts TUESDAY and I am out of shape, plus a captain. AH! haha. so if i never post again, i'm prolly dead from soccer. lol.

Ok, enough rambling, time for story-izing! I love this one...it's really fun! :D

~Nicky

PS--I don't own AtLA. If I did, EVERY week would be Zutara Week! And taang week...and sukka week...and hakodaXursa...etc...


"Lick"

It wasn't as if Zuko had a problem with public displays of affection. Granted, he didn't usually make a point of including them in his relationships, but he didn't really exclude them, either. After all, he'd held hands with that Jin girl, as well as Mai, and he'd kissed both of them in public, even if there hadn't been many people around to see it. But this was ridiculous.

Sure, it was cute at first, but then it just wouldn't stop. It wasn't long before everyone was starting to get sick of it. What's worse, he had a strong suspicion that Aang was actually starting to get jealous. After all, he was the one that used to be on the receiving end of all this affection.

Yes, the licking had to end.

Zuko didn't care if he'd saved that bison a hundred times; there was no reason for the beast to attack him with slobbery affections every time he saw him. It wasn't just that it was embarrassing; it also forced him to go through two or three outfits a day in order to get out of clothes soaked in bison drool. He'd given up on bathing each time, instead keeping a large tub of water in his room for a quick wash. The amount of water wasted was incredible.

The real problem with having so many loads of laundry each day was that the person that was supposed to take care of it hated his guts. Or, at least, she had threatened to spill them if he ever stepped out of line. Zuko really didn't want to push his luck; especially since he'd never had much to begin with.

Zuko knew that showing up with three times the amount of laundry as everyone else was not only rude, but it would likely be taken as blatant arrogance by the surprisingly sensitive water bender. At the same time, if he was caught doing the laundry on his own, it was likely that she'd assume he thought her efforts to be insufficient to his liking, another sign of arrogance. In other words, he couldn't win.

The only solution that he saw was to turn in an equal amount of clothes as every else each day, and then sneak out at night to finish the rest himself. He'd had plenty of practice at sneaking as the Blue Spirit; the plan was fool-proof.

He just didn't count on just how obsessed with keeping an eye on him Katara really was.


Katara was onto that sneaky little fire bender. She knew that he'd been sneaking out at night for a few nights now, and tonight she was going to finally catch him. Sure he was stealthy, but she was the Painted Lady; stealth was her middle name. She went to sleep early, and then waited until everyone else had gone to bed before quietly leaving her sleeping bag and ducking into the corridor near Zuko's room. She didn't have to wait long until he crept out, barely making a sound.

She couldn't help but admire just how stealthy Zuko could be; in fact, the only reason she'd ever realized he was going out at night in the first place was that she had made a habit of checking in on him in the middle of the night, to see if he was actually asleep. It was a good thing she did, too; it seemed her work had finally paid off.

Katara followed Zuko as he headed up a hidden staircase onto the top of the cliff that hid the Western Air Temple from prying eyes. The fact he was actually leaving the temple only confirmed her suspicions, and she opened the cork to her water flask, ready in case some Fire Nation troops were lying in wait to catch anyone that might be following their prince.

Zuko finally stopped just a little into the woods at a small stream, sat down, and reached into the pack on his back. He pulled out what looked like a pile of rags, and, looking around, began to strip his outer clothes until he was wearing only his undergarments. Blushing, Katara began to look away, but then she turned back, telling herself that this might be an elaborate part of Zuko's plan; trick her into thinking he was only taking a bath, and then bolt as soon as she closed her eyes.

When Zuko pulled a bar of soap out of his pack and began scrubbing the rags that he'd pulled out before, Katara couldn't believe her eyes. What was Zuko doing, scrubbing his laundry in the middle of the night? Especially when she knew very well that she did all of the spoiled prince's washing. It had to be a trick, she told herself. She refused to look away for one second, although, admittedly, it wasn't very difficult; Zuko was a very attractive young man, and staring at his bare chest and legs was not at all unpleasant.

After thirty minutes of nothing but cleaning, however, Katara was beginning to doubt her initial belief that Zuko was leaving at night to report his findings on their group, and her legs were beginning to cramp from squatting for so long. Unfortunately, when she readjusted herself, she also managed to snap a twig beneath her foot, and Zuko's head immediately popped up. He'd heard her.


Zuko heard a twig snap somewhere to his left, and he spun around quickly, entering a fire bending stance. He wished he'd brought his swords; they'd be much less conspicuous. Suddenly he saw a human-sized shadow dart from the bushes, and he followed after it, terrified that it might be a Fire Nation scout.

By the time he'd caught up to the shadow, he was nearly at the edge of the woods, and, not thinking, he launched himself towards it, managing to tackle the unsuspecting person to the ground. Grinning at his success, he moved his head so that he could look at the person that had been spying on him, only to see two angry blue eyes looking up at him.


Ugh! The nerve of that stupid, spoiled Prince! She'd tried to get away before he could catch her—not that she'd done anything wrong!—only for him to tackle her to the ground, grinning in satisfaction at his victory. If only she hadn't dropped her water flask back there! She'd freeze that stupid grin in its place! Then she noticed a more pressing detail.

Zuko was straddling her.

And he was practically naked.


Zuko was frozen in place; was this really happening? How had a simple excursion to do laundry turned into such a terrible situation? Although terrible wasn't quite the right word; Katara certainly was pretty, and, back in Ba Sing Se, she had set his heart racing faster than Mai ever had. In fact, his heart was racing pretty fast right now, too, although he couldn't tell if it was because he was in a very compromising position with a very pretty girl, or if it was because he that very girl had threatened his life not too long ago, and this was certainly a good excuse to make good on her promise. Probably a mix of both..


Both Zuko and Katara's faces turned a deep scarlet, each too embarrassed to properly respond to the situation. Finally Zuko stood up, still blushing, and helped Katara to her feet.

"Um, let's just pretend this never happened," Katara ventured, her face still bright red.

"Good idea," Zuko agreed, by now realizing his half-clothed state. His face turned an even darker shade of red, and he averted his eyes.

Katara nodded and turned to run away, but stopped to call behind her, "And I still don't trust you, Laundry-boy!" Zuko just sighed and went to retrieve his belongings, wondering if it was possible to die of embarrassment.


The next day, both of them vowed to never return to that spot of the woods at night again.

They then proceeded to break that vow that same night, and every night after, as long as they were staying at the temple. Zuko explained his actions away as "not wanting to give in to that crazy waterbender," while Katara rationalized it as "keeping an eye on that sneaky firebender." But anyone else who saw it would have called it flirting.

And, for some reason, Zuko didn't mind Appa's affectionate licking quite so much any longer.


HA! not what you were expecting? or...maybe it was and I"m just a dork. Anyways, review, please? ::cute baby face::