Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, but if I did...well...you know. ;)
Chapter 8: A Cup of Warm Tea to Calm the Restless Mind
Zuko had never really appreciated Iroh as a teenager.
The hot-headed boy couldn't understand how his uncle was always so calm about everything. Whether they were discussing Iroh's Pai Sho match, military tactics, Zuko's latest harebrained, ill thought out plan for capturing the Avatar, their status as traitors of the Fire Nation, or the benefits of tea, it didn't matter. Iroh always maintained a placid demeanor, and, when he was younger, it drove Zuko crazy! He simply couldn't comprehend how someone could be spouting off these seemingly random quotes about destiny, the spirits, the four elements, and tea when there was a war going on, or why Iroh was constantly trying to get Zuko to focus on other things besides finding the Avatar! The pair were constantly butting heads (well Zuko was butting, like he said Iroh didn't get upset) over the smallest things, and this lead to Zuko- on more than one occasion- having to go his own way and, as Iroh put it, "Find his own destiny", but as Zuko got older something amazing happened.
The ornery, pig-headed adolescent became a truly upstanding young man, and as he matured, Zuko began to appreciate Iroh for who he was; a man worthy of any praise and admiration you sent his way.
Looking back on it now, Zuko realized, that Iroh wasn't just an uncle to him, he was a mentor, caretaker, firebending teacher, adviser, and confidant. Iroh was the tolerant and even-keeled foil to Zuko's impulsiveness. He tempered Zuko's anger with a wry sense of humor and practical (albeit, not always welcome) advice. Iroh became the father Zuko had never had, and Zuko became the son that Iroh had lost.
In the months after his coronation, Iroh was the one Zuko always went to for advice. Many were the hours that Zuko and his uncle would simply sit together in the dining room discussing everything from how to improve a firebending technique to the meaning of life. This time he spent bonding with Iroh became a vital part of Zuko's day, so when the time came that his uncle announced he was going to be heading back to the Earth Kingdom and his tea shop, Zuko was distraught.
How was he supposed to be the Firelord? He was only eighteen for Pete's sake! He could barely talk to girls he liked, and here his uncle was, expecting him to run a nation! What if he messed it up? What if he made a bad deal with the Earth Kingdom, and no one was there to stop him? What if he accidentally insulted a wife of one of the noblemen and launched a civil war? So many things could go wrong! His uncle couldn't just abandon him like this, but that wasn't even the worst part. Oh no! When Zuko voiced these concerns to Iroh he had the audacity to laugh at him!
Once Iroh's laughter had faded away to only the occasional chuckle (honestly Zuko hadn't seen what was so funny! These were legitimate concerns), he assured Zuko that he would not be alone, and that he would write him at least once a week with any advice he thought would be needed. At first Zuko was skeptical of his uncle's promise. It wasn't that he didn't believe Iroh, it was just...life tended to get in the way of little mundane things like letter writing. Zuko knew this better than anyone, but- much to Zuko's astonishment- Iroh kept his word, the letters came every week like clockwork, with the exception of the weeks Zuko's uncle was in the Fire Nation himself.
True to his word Iroh always enclosed a little tidbit of wisdom at the beginning of every letter. Sometimes the message was exactly what Zuko needed to hear, and others it was so far off base it wasn't even funny. When the young firebender informed his uncle of this, Iroh wrote (in all capitalized letters, and several smudges from where he broke the pen) that, that wasn't the point, and the point was that even though Zuko might not need the information now there would come a time when he did.
Tonight, that time had come.
After walking Katara to her room earlier that evening, Zuko had decided to take refuge in his bed chambers. He had hoped that sleep would provide an escape from his rampant thoughts, and he tried to get to sleep, he really did, but every time he got close to drifting off the image of Katara's beautiful face, lit by the light from a nearby lantern, would enter his mind, and he would be wide awake again. Finally, after countless different positions, multiple pillow flippings, the occasional set of one hundred jumping jacks, and many hours of just staring at the ceiling in the dark, Zuko realized that sleep was not on the agenda tonight. It was then that he remembered one of his uncle's little "tidbits".
Nothing like a cup of warm tea to calm the restless mind.
Ordinarily, Zuko ignored any tea related advice given by Iroh, but he was willing to make an exception if it meant he could get some sleep, and stop thinking about how the light had reflected in Katara's blue eyes and cast a shadow over her perfect lips. See! There he went again! That girl was doing crazy things to him and she didn't even know it.
With a resigned groan Zuko drug himself away from the unbelievably comfortable bed. After pulling on a pair of shoes and slipping a blood-red robe to cover his bare torso Zuko strode across his room, and stepped out into the pitch black hallway.
Of course, Zuko thought, coming to a halt just outside of his door, tonight of all nights the guards forgot to light the lanterns. With an irritated sight,the young firebender closed his eyes, took in a deep breath through his nose like he was taught, and focused all of his energy to one central location. Almost instantaneously, he felt the tingling sensation in his right hand that let him know he was firebending. Zuko opened his golden eyes, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, as he studied the bright orange flame that danced in the palm of his hand. There, he thought, much better. With his own small fire to light the way, Zuko quickly made his way through the deserted hallways of the Fire Palace.
Sometime later- due to the fact that his room was one of the outermost places in the palace- Zuko finally arrived at the dark, vacant kitchens. With a quick flick of his wrist the previously tranquil flame shot out in multiple different directions, igniting the lanterns that hung from the wall, bathing the room in a soft, yellow light.
With the efficiency of someone who'd been brewing tea for many years- which he had, after all he was the one whotraveled with Iroh, King of All Things Tea- Zuko went about the kitchen pulling out, chopping, and mixing all the necessary ingredients until he had a nice pot of Ginseng brewing on one of the smaller stoves. After carefully returning all of the ingredients he had used back to their original places, and rinsing off the various bowls and chopping boards he was left with a good deal of time until the tea would be done.
With all the cleaning finished, and nothing else too do until his tea was done, Zuko made his way over to the set of bar-stools that lined an island situated in the very center of the cavernous room. Wincing slightly from the soreness that lingered in his muscles from his training session earlier that day, the Firelord eased himself onto one of the sturdy seats, and, for the first time that day, allowed his mind to wander.
Oddly enough Zuko's gaze drifted from his rough, scarred hands to the only window in the room, nestled in an alcove just above the sink. The reason was quickly made obvious as a loud rumbling reverberated throughout the palace, and the steady rain that had been falling since earlier that evening picked up and began pounding incessantly on the glass panes of the window.
A grin made its was onto the young firebender's face as he realized that this wasn't just a storm. This was a thunderstorm!
Because of the extremely warm climate, volatile weather- especially thunderstorms- were a common occurrence in the Fire Nation, so from a young age Zuko had learned to tolerate them. Yet somehow, over the years, that mere tolerance of the powerful storms grew into a genuine fondness. He loved everything about the ferocious disturbances; the pelting sound of hail, the frigid rain, and the roar of the dark clouds...the whole bit. It soothed him. In Zuko's opinion, it was just nice knowing that even though the sky was raging outside, he was nice, safe, and warm inside. Suddenly, a bolt of lighting shot through the air with a crackle, a bright arc of blue lighting up its surroundings brilliantly for a split second, and just as quickly it disappeared.
Plus, the lighting looked pretty cool.
In quick succession, another flash of lighting lit up the sky, and as it faded Zuko was reminded of someone he'd rather forget. His sister. Azula.
Of their own accord, Zuko's hands moved from their relaxed position on the table, and began rubbing at his temples.
After Azula's mental breakdown at the end of the war Zuko was left with a big decision about what to do with her. He figured he had two options, he could either: A) Put her in a prison cell to rot for the rest of her days (Sokka was scarily fond of this idea), or he could, B) Find a home for the terminally insane that was willing to take in the psychopathic, master firebending, ex-princess of the Fire Nation. In the end- after much convincing from Iroh and Aang- he decided that as much as he'd love to see Azula suffer, he would do what was best for his baby sister and put her in a home.
This proved to be easier said than done.
Word of Azula's mental instability had spread throughout the entire nation faster than wildfire, and, it turned out, that even asylums had a limit to how much crazy they would let in. Finally, after several months of desperate searching, Zuko found a home on the outskirts of the nation that would take her in, they just had one condition. A very large condition. Aang would have to take Azula's firebending away.
Well you can imagine how well this went over with Aang. The airbender protested for weeks on end, declaring that there must be some other- less extreme- way to deal with this, but after Azula burned a pair of servants who were sent in to bring her food Aang finally conceded to the fact that this was the only logical option. The days that followed were not times that Zuko liked to think about. To say the least, they involved much screaming, fighting, and crying from all parties involved, but in the end what needed to be done was done, and there was no need to dwell on it. His sister was no longer a firebender.
In the three years that followed he had received monthly updates from the physicians who were caring for Azula, and all the reports declared that her sanity would never fully return, but that she was making remarkable progress.
In those three years Zuko had only been to visit his sister once. It was a couple of months after her admittance to the home and approximately ten minutes into his visit his sister threw a tea pot at him (she missed, thankfully Azula had never had the greatest aim) and declared that he was a coward and a traitor, and she never wanted to see him again. Zuko for the most part had complied with her wishes and stayed out of her life, but a few weeks ago he finally worked up enough courage to go and see his sister again.
Now he wish he hadn't.
Because the previous image he had of his sister- tea pot in hand, hair matted and wild, and gold eyes wide with insanity- was replaced with a new one, and this one terrified him more than you can ever imagine. Azula had always been maniacal, and demented even as a child, but now...now his sister wasn't crazy, she was empty. During his entire visit Zuko was the only one who spoke, Azula simply stared out the window the whole time and barely acknowledged his presence. After several hours of meaningless chatter Zuko finally gave up and decided it was best if he left, but just as he was about to go Azula did something that shocked him...she met his eyes. Her eyes held no hint of emotion. No resentment, no hatred, nothing.
His baby sister who had been so driven, and intent on taking over the world had been reduced to a shell of a person, and it was his fault, and no matter how hard he tried the feeling of guilt would not leave him.
Zuko didn't believe it ever would.
He was just about to have a large pity party for himself when the sound of footsteps coming down the passageway leading to the kitchen pulled him from his thoughts.
The only one who would possibly be coming to the kitchen at this time of night was Hema, and she didn't like people sitting- much less making tea- in her kitchen without her present. Just the thought of what the woman might do if she caught him here was enough to strike fear into the Firelord's heart. Zuko sprung into action. He hopped off of the stool, extinguished the flames, and he had just managed to tuck himself away into one of the farthest- and most well hidden- corners when he heard tell-tale groan of the heavy wooden door being slowly pushed open.
Much to his surprise- following the agonizingly slow opening of the door- Zuko didn't hear the heavy clomping of Hema's old work boots, instead the sound of bare feet ghosting across the tile met his ears. Well that's certainly not Hema, Zuko thought with relief, that instantly turned to confusion.
If it wasn't the cook coming back by to finish up any last minute preparations for tomorrow's breakfast, who was it?
Slowly- so as not alert the intruder to his presence- Zuko peered out from around his corner. When the firebender's golden eyes settled on the little late night visitor, he was surprised to discover Katara, wrapped in a thick black blanket, but almost immediately the surprise wore off and a mischievous grin made its appearance on his scarred face.
The last time Zuko had come to visit the South Pole, Katara had thought it would be funny to start a scaring war with him. So for the next three weeks, Zuko was constantly having to peer around corners, and check every space, large enough to house a small person, to insure that the wily waterbender wasn't about pop out and scare the living daylights out of him. Naturally, by the end of his visit Zuko had developed a severe case of paranoia, and had endured seemingly endless teasing from Toph about his (as she put it), "Chick scream". Katara claimed that she won because Zuko was too predictable with his hiding places. Zuko disagreed and said that Katara knew where all the good hiding spots were because she lived there and that gave her an unfair advantage, so in the end they had to get an unbiased third party (a.k.a Suki) to decide the winner. After much deliberation (not), the Kyoshi warrior-much to Zuko's dismay- declared Katara the winner. That was nearly a year ago, and to this day Zuko still argues that the only reason she won was because he didn't know the South Pole layout, and Katara still claims she won because Zuko simply sucks at scaring people. Well he was about to prove her wrong, because Katara was in his territory now, and this opportunity was just to perfect to pass up.
Moving with stealthiness that can only be acquired through years of sneaking about, Zuko emerged from his hiding spot. Making sure to stay concealed in the shadows cast by the various cupboards and pantries, he began to edge his way along the boundaries of the kitchen. After a couple of close calls- which where effectively evaded due to his mad, ninja-like skills (although it may have had something to do with the lack of light in the room)- Zuko managed to position himself behind Katara.
Now, all he had to do was wait for the perfect time to strike.
Oblivious to the fact that she was being stalked, Katara had made her way into the pitch black kitchen. Since she couldn't see, the waterbender extended one of her tan arms out and she began to swing her arms about in the hopes that she could find a solid surface to hang on to until her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
In Zuko's opinion the sight of his friend wild haired, and groping about in the dark was incredibly amusing, and it was all he could do to hold back his chuckles.
Finally, after several stubbed toes and mumbled curse words that would send Sokka into shock, but only managed to fuel Zuko's growing amusement, Katara managed to get a hold of the counter where Zuko had previously been seated. Strangely enough, somehow, in the process of pulling out one of the stools to sit on, Katara managed to knock a bowl of fruit off of the island, and onto the floor. The bowl clattered to to the floor, causing the blue eyed girl to jump about a foot in the air and let out a little yelp of surprise.
Katara looked around guiltily, as if expecting someone to come out and scold her for her clumsiness, before she remembered that she was the only (at least to her knowledge) in the kitchen. Bending down, she began gathering up all the, now bruised, fruit, but on the way down she unknowingly kicked one of the several apples with her foot. The crafty little piece of produce decided to make a break for it, and he would have gotten away too if Zuko's foot hadn't been there to stop its rolling. With a inaudible chuckle, the firebender bent down, and snagged the apple before it could hatch another daring escape plan.
Quietly, Zuko emerged from the shadows and made his way closer, and closer, until he was poised a mere few inches from Katara's back.
After she finished collecting all of the escaped fruit and putting them back in their place, Katara gingerly set the bowl back on the table. With a smirk, Zuko closed the gap between them, and placed his mouth right by her ear.
As he tried not to think about how her hair, that was loose from its typical braid, tickled his cheek, and how delicious she smelled, he whispered in her ear, "I do believe you forgot an apple."
Katara let out an ear splitting scream. Her hands flew up and she jumped about a foot in the air, but the expression of absolute shock, and pure terror on her face was priceless.
In Zuko's experience, there are four main types of laughter-real laughter at least. First, is the "that was funny so I'm going chuckle a little bit". Second, is the short- and often really loud- burst of laughter that you then follow up with a cough to hide you embarrassment. Third, is the laughing for a minute, or so, with the occasional snort thrown in there; this laughter most often occurs in the presence of a group of friends. Fourth, last but not least, the whopper, is the "I'mlaughingsohardIcan''". This was the kind of laughter Zuko was experiencing.
Zuko was bent over double, clutching his stomach as he laughed loudly and uncontrollably, as Katara stood above him glaring.
"Oh, so you thought that was funny did you Zuko?" She asked her eyes as cold as ice.
Zuko wiped at the tear that had escaped his eyes, "Most...definitely!" he managed to get out between bursts of laughter. "You...should have...seen...your...FACE!"
The waterbender let out and indignant huff, and crossed her her arms angrily, "Well I didn't find it funny at all, Firelord Zuko," she growled, "and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop laughing long enough to light the lanterns like any half-way sensible person would."
Zuko straightened himself, sputtering like an old water faucet as he tried to contain his amusement. Finally, after several attempts to stop laughing and continuous glaring from Katara, Zuko managed to compose himself just enough, so that he was able to send off flames from his fingertips to light the lanterns, but as soon as that task was done he was back to trying to barely contain his chuckles; Katara glaring daggers at him.
After several minutes, the temperamental waterbender finally got fed up with Zuko's amusement. "Stop laughing already!" She snapped.
Recognizing the tone of voice Katara only used when she was very close to smacking you upside the head, Zuko immediately sobered up.
Katara must have been satisfied that the firebender had collected himself, for the she immediately began to lay into him. "Honestly Zuko! We aren't children anymore!" She scolded, "I would expect this kind of behavior from Aang or Toph, but you! The Firelord, and leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world!" Katara made a noise of disapproval in the back of her throat, her eyes narrowing even more (Zuko wondered how she could possibly see), as she continued her rant, "I just figured you were more mature than this. What if it hadn't been me who came through the door! What if it had been one of the poor little elderly servants, and when you scared them they had a heart-attack and keeled over right then? How would you feel then?" Zuko figured this was a rhetorical question, since Katara didn't give him time to answer before she was off again. "Horrible! THAT'S how you would feel, and rightly so! Can you just imagine what kind of controversy that would stir up! I can just see the headlines now. Firelord Zuko, Murderer! Is He the One You Want-" Midway through her sentence Katara just stopped- a relief to Zuko's poor abused ears- as if she just remembered something vitally important, and she turned to look at Zuko again, a question in her bottomless blue eyes. "Hey, why are you up this late anyway?"
"I should be asking you the same question." He countered.
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second."
"Doesn't matter! Remember Iroh's rules are always in affect, so HA!"
Crap, Zuko thought. She had him on that one.
A couple of years ago Zuko and Katara both happened to be staying with Iroh the same week, and during their time there they were constantly getting into these kinds of arguments. The pair's constant bickering got to the point where even calm, cool, and collected Iroh got fed up with it, so he devised a several page document called The Rules of Arguing, and one of the very first rules he had come up with was this: "Whoever is asked the first question is obligated to answer, but if said person refuses to answer the question they are not allowed to counter with another question, and must drop the argument."
Neither Zuko or Katara were crazy about these rules. In fact, they absolutely hated them- unless the rule helped them win, of course- but even they had to admit that these rules had kept them from ripping one another's throats out in a element battle on more than one occasion.
"I just couldn't sleep, I have a lot on my mind right now." Like you, Zuko added in his head. Out of the corner of his good eye, Zuko saw Katara begin to open her mouth. He was sure that she was about to ask a question he wasn't prepared to answer, so he quickly cut her off. "Alright, I answered it's your turn now. Why are you up so late?"
Much to the firebender's surprise, and confusion, a bright red blush colored Katara's cheeks. "I just couldn't sleep. I mean...ummm...you know...and the palace at night is so...um...well you know. Plus the rain is..." Katara made, what was probably supposed to be, a nonchalant sweeping gesture with her hand towards the window, but ended up looking more like a muscle spasm to Zuko...the eye twitch may have had something to do with it too though, "so yeah, that's why I'm here now. In the kitchen. With you."
Katara had always been very good at expressing her feelings and opinions. It didn't matter whether she was lecturing the Gaang (one of her favorite hobbies if the number of times she did it a day was any indication), calming a room of bigoted, pertinacious councilmen, or letting you have a piece of her mind- something Zuko had experienced a countless number of times-, so the sight of the normally outspoken waterbender fiddling with the ends of her dark brown hair awkwardly was a strange.
Teasing Katara he could handle. Angry Katara, he could handle. On a good day he could even handle emotional Katara, but awkward Katara? This was new to him. He knew there was more to her story than all the "I mean", "you know", and "ummms", but Zuko could tell see that Katara obviously didn't think he was privy to this information. That was okay, though, she might not want him to know about whatever it was that was bothering her, but he had ways of making her talk.
The cracking of his knuckles echoed ominously throughout the kitchen, but it was quickly followed (and put to shame) by an even more menacing rumble of thunder.
Katara's eyes flickered from where she was staring at their bare feet, a mere foot apart, to the rain battered window, but just as quickly her gaze returned to the ground. If you had blinked you would've missed it, considering it was there for barely a second, but somehow Zuko saw it, and it all clicked into place.
"Katara," Zuko asked trying to keep the disbelief out of his voice, so he wouldn't offend the waterbender and send her into an indignant rampage which would- more likely than not- earn Zuko a rather large bruise, "are you afraid of thunderstorms?"
Katara's blue eyes grew wide and she began to sputter irately, "Don't be ridiculously!" She snapped defensively, the redness returning to her face, but this time in anger. "Water is my element after all, and thunderstorms are just water and a bunch of loud noises." Katara crossed her blanket covered arms, and looked towards the window again. "I'm not afraid."
Zuko didn't buy it for a minute. "It's okay to be scared. You don't have to be brave all the time you know." He started to reach out to give her a comforting pat on the arm, but when Katara's blue eyes filled with a sea of different emotions met his gold ones he dropped his arm back at his side thinking better of it. "You don't have to pretend around me."
"I'm not pretending." Katara said, and judging by her tone of voice Zuko wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. "Really, I'm not afraid of thunderst-"
The rest of her sentence was cut off by a deafening crack of thunder accompanied by a flash of blue lighting, so close and bright that it managed to illuminate the kitchen, despite the lanterns, and charge the air with a current of electricity that made the hairs on the back of Zuko's neck stand up.
Zuko saw Katara jump about a foot in the air as her eyes went wide, and immediately fill with a pure, unadulterated fear. A scream of terror escaped her lips, and before he could process his actions, Zuko reached out and pulled Katara tightly against his chest. The petrified waterbender buried her face in his chest, clinging to him tightly as sob after sob wracked her delicate body. When her tears began to soak through his shirt, Zuko realized something that he should have thought about to begin with.
He had no idea how to comfort a crying girl.
He had never had much experience with girls, much less ones who cried. Sure he had a sister but he was pretty sure that Azula was born without tear ducts. Then came Mai. She might have been his girlfriend and fiance, but one of the reasons he had been attracted to Mai to begin with was because of her emotionless exterior (sure, this trait of hers ended up being one of the reasons for their breakup, but that's beside the point), and he was pretty sure the only time he had ever seen Mai shed a tear was when her little brother Tom-Tom had started playing with her knives and ended up embedding one in her arm. The only other female he'd had much interaction with was Ty Lee, and sure she was emotional, but her emotions got scary sometimes, so from an early age he had made it a point to stay away from her.
As you can see, he was completely unprepared to deal with crying a crying girl, much less a crying girl who he was extremely attracted to, that also happened to be his best friend, and the girlfriend of the Avatar who was also one of his friends. Yeah, no amount of training could of prepared him for this one.
So in the end he followed his instincts.
Slowly, he began to run his fingers comfortingly through Katara's thick, silky hair over and over again. This obviously was the right thing to do since Katara's sobbing receded just slightly to a manageable crying. Zuko let out a sigh of relief, and then as if of its own accord the arm he still had wrapped around Katara's trim waist pulled her even tighter against his chest. If the Firelord hadn't noticed how Katara's thin silk pajamas hugged, and accentuated every curve her body had to offer he sure did now. Zuko sucked in a deep breath as he tried to control his body's unwanted (well awkward is more like it) reaction to this stunning girl. Focus, Zuko. Think about something else, anything else! Think about Toph's smelly feet...Hema in a bikini...UNCLE BUTT NAKED IN THE STEAM ROOM! Yup, that did the trick.
A quiet sigh of relief escaped Zuko's lips, but when he looked down at the girl crying into his chest he realized something. This might be one of the only times he could hold Katara this close without catching crap about it. After all, she was terrified, and he was simply comforting her. That was it, at least that's what he told himself. I may think she's the most beautiful girl in the world, but right now I'm her friend and she needs me, he thought, to hell with being proper. Without a second thought Zuko placed a light kiss on the top of her head, and buried his scarred face in her hair. He mumbled soothing nothings to her, as he began to sway back and forth with her, rocking her, as he inhaled the sent of vanilla and freshly cut fire lillies.
Long after the point where hugging turns into embracing, Katara's sobs faded away to only the occasional hiccup, and reluctantly Zuko let her go.
Katara sniffed and ran her hand through her hair self consciously, making Zuko wonder how it was possible for someone to still look so radiant even after sobbing their brains out.
"I'm really sorry about that Zuko," Katara said refusing to meet his eyes, "I don't know what came over me."
Zuko pressed his hair down farther over his scar, a nervous habit he had developed, and shrugged his shoulders, "It's really no big deal Tara. Everybody gets scared sometimes."
She still refused to meet his eyes, "I know, I really am fine with rain, it's just the lighting. It always reminds me of..." Katara didn't finish her sentence. She didn't have to.
Azula. The lighting reminded her of Azula, and the battle where he risked his life to save hers.
Zuko's hand found it's way to his chest where the scar matching the one on his face was located. "It reminds me of her too." Zuko cleared his throat as an awkward silence came between them, "You know, I still have nightmares about that night."
Katara's gaze finally lifted from the floor and met his, "You do?"
"Almost every night. They make it pretty difficult to sleep." Remembering these dreams made him shudder. The nightmare was exactly the same as the actual fight, except for one thing...he didn't make it to Katara in time. Over and over he had to relive that night, but instead of feeling the burning and tingling that came from getting hit by a lighting bolt,he had to watch Katara's body writhe in agony, and fall to the ground in a crumpled, lifeless heap because he couldn't get there in time. Zuko would rather endure the pain of a thousand lighting bolts being shot at his heart than have to see the image of Katara lit up by blue, electric light one more time.
"I'm sorry Zuko," Katara said, and she reached out to take his hand, "I feel like such a baby now. I only get flashbacks during thunderstorms, I can't imagine having them every night."
Zuko shrugged, as he tried to ignore the fluttering in his gut that ca,e from the sight of their intertwined fingers, "It's no big deal. Anyway it's not like you can do anything about it."
Zuko saw Katara start to gnaw on her lower lip before speaking, "What if I could?"
The firebender's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"
A bright red blush that colored all the way from her neck to her ears, aroused worry and curiosity in Zuko, "You see here's the thing. Whenever I have nightmares it always helps me if I sleep in a bed...with somebody else." Zuko's eyebrows shot up, and Katara got even redder, "Normally I would sleep with Toph or Suki or Sokka, I've even slept with Momo occasionally when there was no one else around, but I'd be willing to sleep with you tonight...if you want to of course!" She quickly added on in a panic, "You totally don't have to do anything you don't want. I just figured your presence can help keep me from getting scared of the storm and I can keep away the nightmares...what do you say?"
What did he say? Seriously. This girl who he's had feelings for, that also had a boyfriend was asking to share a bed with him and wanted to know what he had to say about it! "Okay, sounds fine to me."
A small smile made its way onto Katara's face as she squeezed his hand causing his stomach to lurch painfully. Must be indigestion, he thought, as he smiled back, good indigestion. "Then let's go." She whispered.
After extinguishing the lanterns, so as not to leave any indication that they had spent the majority of their night in the kitchen, Zuko and Katara made their way hand in hand to the outermost corner of the palace where Zuko's room was located. Their path illuminated by the light of the small flame in Zuko's palm, neither saying a word.
The silence hung heavily between as they finally reached Zuko's lavishly decorated bedroom, not by his choice of course. Ursa, upon her arrival home, had hired an interior designer to redecorate the palace, no room had been safe, not even the Firelord's. At the time Zuko had been extremely peeved, especially when they brought in the bed that was big enough for fifteen people, but now he was thanking the spirits that he hadn't set the blasted thing on fire like Toph had suggested.
"Whoa," Katara said eying the bed in disbelief, "that is one big bed."
Zuko shrugged his shoulder and gave a small grin, "Like I've said before, my mother is an unstoppable force of nature. She's the one who picked it out."
Releasing Zuko's hand (which he was not happy about), Katara made her way over to the monstrous piece of furniture, and Zuko watched as she traced the delicate looking black and red weaving. "So which side of the bed do you normally sleep on?" She asked making sure not to look in Zuko's direction, "Right or left?"
"Normally I sleep on the right," Zuko said gesturing to the side of the bed where the covers had already been rumpled, "but I'll sleep on whichever side you don't."
"Well, I have a tendency to just sleep in the middle of the bed, but since this one is so big I'll be fine on the left side." Zuko responded with a nod.
He tried not to watch Katara as she shed the blanket she had been wrapped up in, but somehow his eyes were drawn to the sight of her tan, exposed shoulders. His smoldering gaze didn't leave them until they disappeared from view beneath the thick, cozy comforter. Now it was his turn. After a bit of stalling, Zuko gave up hope that Katara would quickly doze off leaving him to undress in peace, so he began fussing with the sash that held his robe closed, unable to untie it due to the fact that his hands were shaking too bad. Finally, after a couple of tries and several mumbled curses, Zuko finally had the thing unfastened, now all he had to do was take it off. Turning his back to Katara he shed his silk robe, and immediately Zuko felt Katara's eyes on him, causing a blush to find its way onto his cheeks.
The firebender discarded the robe on the nearby dresser, and moving quickly- so as not to allow Katara time to see the scar on his chest in addition to the one on his face- he pulled back the covers and slithered into the warmth of his bed. Zuko knew it was silly to try and hide the scar he had received protecting her from Azula's lighting bolt from Katara, after all, she had seen it before, heck, she was the one who healed it, but to Zuko there was a difference between seeing someone's scars to heal them and seeing someone's scars because you were sharing the same bed. The bed was just so...intimate, and one thing Zuko could not do was think intimate thoughts about Katara.
There was nearly ten feet separating the pair, but Zuko could just feel the tension, and he was painfully aware of the girl in the same bed as him. The air felt as if it was electrically charged, and it brought chill bumps to his skin. Katara was right, he definitely wouldn't be having any nightmares tonight because at the rate things were going he was never going to get to sleep.
Katara's voice interrupted his thoughts, and broke the tension first, "Hey Zuko."
The disgruntled firebender sighed, "Yes Katara."
"I really like your bed."
"Thanks."
"...Hey Zuko."
"What is it Katara?"
He heard the waterbender sigh, and felt the mattress move as she fidgeted, "I just want to say, thanks for letting me sleep with you tonight. You have no idea how much it means to me."
"I do Katara," he whispered clutching the sheets tighter around him, "I really, really do."
Author's Note
Please, please, please, please don't hate me! I am so sorry about the lateness of this chapter! I made the fatal mistake of letting the story sit for about a week before going back to work on it, and by the time I finally did it was like pulling teeth. Every word seemed to weigh 500 pounds and the story just wasn't flowing like it was supposed to. I can honestly say I have worked for at least an hour a day every day for the last three weeks on this chapter, and after five different rewrites of this chapter I realized what I was doing wrong.
I was trying to write it. I was trying to force the characters into a situation that, frankly, they just didn't like, so as soon as I stopped trying to follow the plan and write it it began to write itself. The final draft your getting took me roughly 5 days to do, and I'm so sorry you had to wait for this chapter!
Thank you for all the reviews they are what kept me going and please write more! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm going to go ahead and tell you I've started on the next one and it's going to be...interesting ;).
Thanks for reviewing and favoriting, and not losing fate in the fact that the chapter would be up eventually!
