I'm back! Sorry for the hold-up everybody! It has been a terribly emotional roller coaster ride for me these past few weeks. Right now I am feelin' over fifty shades of effed up. . (But not in that sense so please get your heads out of the gutter/novel!) But I am alive and squeaking, still kicking.
And to all my fellow readers, Asian and non-Asian-Happy Late Chinese New Year! and Happy Late Valentines/Singles Awareness Day! (I am SO late...) Did anybody celebrate either one? I know I stuffed myself silly during CNY due to reunion dinners/open houses. Heh~Oh well, Gong Hei Fatt Choi right? And I spent my Valentine's with my tuxedo cat, Alexei. ;) Lovely day, indeed...
Ahem ahem* anyway, back to the topic at hand. Thousand apologies for my terrible lateness! Please put away the firearms and rotten tomatoes/any sort of projectile that you were going to fling at me and read the contents below! :)
"Katara? Katara? Hel-lo? Are you still alive?"
Katara let out a muffled groan, her face being buried deep in her unbelievably soft, Winter Rose scented pillow. She waved her left arm out around wildly to chase off whoever was waking her up. She already had half a mind to water whip that person into oblivion.
I thought this was a vacation... The waterbender thought bitterly to herself, berating her more nocturnal clock.
But Ty Lee was relentless, and began to shake Katara's shoulders with as much force as she could without dislocating anything.
"Wake up! We're supposed to go out in the beach today!" Ty Lee half-whined, sounding almost like an infant.
What confused Katara was why Ty Lee of all people was waking her up. Maybe it was because Ty Lee's room is just to the right of hers. What happened to Suki or Toph? If it was Toph, the earthbender could've literally kicked or ejected her out of bed in an instant.
"Tomorrow…" Katara moaned sleepily, flapping her left hand blindly at Ty Lee again. "I like sleep…been working non-stop for 2 years... Need a break..."
Ty Lee rolled her eyes and stopped shaking the waterbender. Instead she just shifted her weight and placed her hands on her hips.
"Don't make me jab you."
That instantly got her up. Katara immediately jolted up onto a kneeling position on her bed, her hair flipping back-making it look extra voluminous and messy, almost resembling an abandoned birds' nest, with a few kinks sticking out. Her eyes were half-lidded to the point where Ty Lee wasn't sure if her eyes were even open to begin with. There were some lines imprinted onto her tan face resulting from her sleeping face down onto a wrinkled pillow. They almost resembled deep, cut scars.
"There's a good girl," Ty Lee quipped, smiling widely. "Come on! Wouldn't wanna waste the day away! Oh we're going to have so much fun today!"
Katara let out a large, almost-impolite and a most un-girly yawn while rubbing her eyes until they were slightly reddened. She then looked up and down at Ty Lee, the blurred Fire Nation noble slowly coming into focus. The waterbender had to squint a little since the bright, blinding sun was streaming in through her window mercilessly, almost capable of burning her eyeballs. She could feel its torrid heat on the right side of her body, especially on the bare skin of her exposed arms and legs-as she was wearing a relatively short, noodle-strap, dark red nightgown. It was still warm during the night-and the sleeping wear that Katara had brought with her proved to be more suitable for cooler weather. She didn't really mind the skimpy number-since she was sleeping anyways.
The circus freak-turned-Kyoshi Warrior was wearing a bright yellow bikini top, exposing a not-so-surprising-amount of impressive cleavage and her well-toned stomach. A dark red and orange sarong hung loosely from her hips. Ty Lee's long brown hair was secured in its usual braid with a pink hair-tie, her pleats fell down her back mid-waist. The sunshine coming in from the window illuminated her cream-coloured skin, making it appear all shiny and glowing, as if she'd put on some sort of body lotion. Her usual cherubic face was rounded even more due to the wide smile she was wearing and her brown eyes appeared lighter in the sunlight.
"Is my brother up yet?" Katara asked, swinging her legs over to the edge of the bed before the soles of her feet felt the cooler wooden floor. Most of the flooring in her room was covered with a smooth, blue and white rug that had wave-like patterns, depicting waves. And the rug was usually warm-so it was a nice relief having something cool against her feverish skin.
Ty Lee shook her head as she moved to make way for the waterbender. Katara stood up to walk over to the vanity, sinking heavily into the chair before taking her ivory comb to run through her tangled locks.
"Mai and I were the earliest up. Aang, Toph, and Mai are already outside. I think Zuko's still having breakfast downstairs. He only went into the dining room when everyone else had cleared. Suki has been trying to wake Sokka up for…about half an hour now. Even brought your brother breakfast in bed. Zuko had me wake you up." Ty Lee explained.
Katara raised an eyebrow at Ty Lee's reflection, but said nothing. Instead she just stared wide-eyed at he acrobat with as much impassiveness possible.
Zuko had Ty Lee wake me up? Of all people?
Once she was done detangling her hair and had successfully tamed her wavy hair into relatively straight strands, Katara got up and went to get a towel from her wardrobe. Within the wooden clothing confinement was two stacks of large, soft, fluffy towels of dark reds and blacks. She chose a simple red one.
"You can go now, Ty Lee, I'm wide awake," Katara said to the still smiling acrobat. "I'll just freshen up and meet everyone outside… Maybe even everyone except for my brother."
Ty Lee nodded. "Okay! Your brother's cute!" she chirped, and then zipped out the door like a whirlwind, leaving Katara staring at the spot where she stood earlier in surprise at Ty Lee's very sudden and very random and quite discomforting compliment of her brother.
...
Katara ripped out another yawn, squinting as her eyes adjusted some more to the bright sunshine that lit up her room as if it was on fire. She walked over to the bathroom, revealing another small room of blue and white, with a gigantic, rustic wooden bathtub. It looked simple and almost…poor but it was quite the sturdy piece. Not to mention that it was big enough to fit at least four people in it.
There was a giant clay pot of water in one corner of the bathroom. The waterbender was guessing one could use that if one was too lazy to turn on the faucets and wait for the water to fill the tub.
She was that one.
With just a sharp flick of her wrist, all the water from the pot levitated into the bathtub without losing a single drop. Katara was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that the pot's water was enough to fill half the tub-which was more than enough just to freshen herself up. She didn't want to go into the seawater with a half-awake body or with whatever that caught onto her during the night.
Once she had set aside her towel on the dry marble sink that was attached to the soft baby blue wall that was directly below a large, rectangular mirror with gold borders, Katara slipped out of her nightgown, exposing her sarashi-bound form. She walked over to the edge of the bathtub and held out a hand, with her palm facing the water. With just a few gentle, wave like motions with her one hand-she managed to manipulate the temperature of the water in the tub. The once cool water then gradually turned warm and slightly steamy within mere seconds.
Satisfied and grinning with its temperature, Katara finally stripped herself of her bindings and placed them in the sink along with her towel before stepping into the warm water, sighing as the feeling of her element slowly enveloped her as she sank deeper and deeper into the tub until the waterline reached her chest. Her shoulders, head and knees the only things exposed above the water surface.
"I may never come out…" she murmured contentedly to herself, as she reached over towards a wooden ledge to her left that was fully stocked with all kinds of exotic, unfamiliar but fragrant bath salts, elixirs, soaps and mixtures that Katara was almost spoiled for choice.
She opted for the one in the curvy blue bottle with a thin neck. Imagining herself as some sort of magician, she carefully poured in a few clear drops of whatever was inside the opaque glass bottle. It mixed into the water easily and immediately gave off a very sweet and woody scent. The wisps off steam that flitted off the water helped with perfuming the empty spaces of the bathroom, and it enveloped Katara with a kind of aromatic comfort.
After taking in a very deep breath of aromatherapy, Katara slowly sunk into the sweet and earthy waters, submerging herself into an intensely calm, watery oblivion. Her mind slowly allowed into a state of temporary emptiness and tranquillity that she'd been craving for so long.
Zuko dragged a long sip of his second cup of herbal tea at the vacant dining table, his eyes fixated on the oceanic view outside of the open window that he presently faced. His pupil unmoving for quite some time now-refusing to look anywhere else but the view.
The sea's calm today, he thought, swirling the remaining tea in his red clay cup. But those who were on the shores weren't as equally calm.
Ty Lee had come down a few seconds ago, all decked out in her swimwear. She had informed him that she had successfully awoken Katara-like a soldier-and zipped out the door without another word. Even at that Zuko had not shifted his gaze from the window.
Aang was having the time of his life in the water, and was yelling at Toph to step into the shallow side of the sea. He must feel left out since he was the only one in the water. But the earthbender was completely content with her feet buried deeply in the sand. Her stance was firm and her arms were crossed across her chest. The Avatar would at first leave Toph to her element and practised waterbending moves that seemed to really entertain him-but would always come back to the shallow side to beckon Toph in.
Zuko would be very impressed if Aang really managed to convince get the Blind Bandit into the sea.
Mai, was of course, sitting far, far away from the sea, with a giant umbrella to shield her from the skin-darkening sun. Ty Lee had tried to get Mai to swim with her-but the noblewoman clearly wasn't enthusiastic about it and chose to lie back onto her red cloth. Ty Lee, being the good ole friend she was, then changed her mind and lounged next to Mai as well to keep her friend company, but had opted to soak up the rays of the sun instead of taking refuge underneath the umbrella.
The young Fire Lord was about to pour himself another cup of tea until a loud banging sound emanated from his left-from the living room. His head snapped sharply towards the said direction and stretched his neck forward, curious at what commotion had happened. He had to blink several times since he'd been so focused on the view instead of his surroundings.
A very disgruntled Suki stood at the foot of the main staircase, her arms on her hips and a deep frown etched into her brow. She was glaring at the floor for some odd reason-perhaps the source of all the banging.
"This is exactly why I told you to sleep early last night," Suki scolded mildly, and only one single, solitary name instantly flashed through Zuko's mind without a doubt.
Sokka.
A loud, undignified yawn sounded off from the living room, and an agonized groan quickly followed. After a few seconds, Zuko saw a still half-asleep Sokka on his feet, his back hunched over and hair a complete birds' nest. At least he wasn't in his sleeping clothes…he was already bare-chested, wearing only a pair of dark blue swimming shorts.
The Kyoshi Warrior sighed almost exasperatedly before turning to her left and spotting Zuko raising an eyebrow at the two of them.
"Oh, Good morning, Zuko," Suki greeted cheerily, waving at Zuko-who just nodded back in greeting. She then turned to glare at Sokka again. She briefly reminded the Fire Lord of the maternal figure that was Sokka's younger sister.
"Come on! If it gets too late the afternoon sun will fry us all!" Suki exclaimed, scrunching up her nose as she stared her boyfriend down. Even from the distance, Zuko could still easily see the black rings circling Sokka's eyes, even more when the Water Tribesman sleepily turned to face Zuko.
"He-y… Fire Lo-rd…!" he slurred sleepily, before ripping out another impolite yawn that made Zuko wonder how big the warrior's mouth could stretch open. But all he could do was just grimace and be thankful that he wasn't close enough to take a whiff of the probable morning breath. He honestly doubted that Sokka had brushed his teeth-or seen the bathroom.
"Morning, Sokka," Zuko replied, taking his final swig of tea.
"Hey, is Katara down yet?" Suki asked Zuko, ignoring Sokka's yawns and groans about wanting to go back to dreamland.
Zuko shook his head. "I had Ty Lee wake her up. She said Katara's awake, but I wouldn't really know."
Suki nodded before grabbing Sokka by the arm-displaying a sight that was actually quite amusing for Zuko, the woman dominating over the man. Especially a man who constantly so proudly boasts about his… unwavering manliness.
"Come on, Sokka!" Suki finally said, in a more upbeat, cheery, Ty-Lee-like tone-as if to be optimistic about the situation. "One dip in the water and you'll be…at least half-awake!"
"NO-O…." Sokka half-whined as Suki easily dragged him towards the door. "Too cold…"he whimpered. "Too much ice… I don't have my parka with me…"
The last thing Zuko heard before the happy couple exited the beach house was the sound of Suki's exasperated, much louder sigh.
The Fire Lord smirked to himself as he poured another cup of still-hot tea. He watched with great interest as how the near-black translucent herbal liquid flowed from the teapot spout into the cup, with thin, barely visible threads of steam curling into the air-carrying its heady scent.
Zuko knew he was supposed to be outside by now. Spending time with his friends, enjoying himself…maybe even get a healthy tan… But it was quiet times like this that he hardly ever got since being Fire Lord-and he was determined to enjoy it before surrounding himself with good but nevertheless rowdy company. He loved being with his companions…but he still needed some form of peace and time to himself and his thoughts.
As the hot tea swirled freely despite its confinement within his clay cup, Zuko took in a deep breath while he pondered about the night before. Right after dinner…
...
The dining room had just cleared. The chefs were absolutely delighted to find each and every dish completely licked clean of food-leaving only bones or fatty scraps, courtesy of Sokka. Everyone had dispersed and gone their separate ways.
"Come on, Suki! You, me and Mai can pamper ourselves for the first night! Then we can look beach-ready tomorrow!" Ty Lee said to her fellow Kyoshi Warrior, who was trying to get a very full Sokka out of the chair. The Water Tribesman had to shove at least two chair cushions into his pants to expand the waistband, allowing a cushier, more comfortable space for his full stomach instead of having the elastic constricting it.
Suki opened her mouth to politely turn Ty Lee down, but she stopped herself and shot her boyfriend a quick look-seeing him in all his foodie glory…
"Sure, why not?" Suki finally said, before giving Sokka quick, chaste kiss on the top of his head before having linked her arm with Ty Lee's and went upstairs with her-Mai taking her time trailing behind them. But just before she left the dining room, she looked over her shoulder and glanced briefly at Zuko. A mask of impassiveness sketched on her face, showing no emotion whatsoever.
The Fire Lord felt extremely uncomfortable whenever Mai gave him that look. That look that displayed no signs of anything but still spoke volumes. His body would stiffen up instantly even after the knife-thrower had left his presence. The aftermath was still stifling. He wondered if she would ever forgive him…
He doubted that.
The firebender's body very quickly relaxed when he felt a small hand on his right shoulder-prompting him to turn around and gaze up into a pair of concerned blue pools.
"Everything okay?" Katara asked, a sympathetic smile gracing her lips. Zuko hated that look in her eyes-that look she was giving him. It was disarming and struck something within him. He'd rather have the bossy waterbender chastise or scold him in some sort of irritating motherly way instead of that look she was giving him. He wouldn't even mind if she yelled at the top of her lungs at him, no matter the reason. Just anything but that look.
Zuko nodded. "I'll be fine," he said lowly, quietly, indifferently.
Katara was about to say something else, until Aang popped out of nowhere with a loud 'hey!' behind Katara-nearly shocking the waterbender out of her skin.
"Aang! Don't do that!" Katara scolded, glaring at the airbender as she tried to gather her wits again. The hand that had been on Zuko's shoulder was now pressed against her chest-heaving with shallow, startled breaths.
"Sorry," Aang apologized sheepishly with a dark blush colouring his cheeks. "Just wanted to know if you would be interested in watching the night with me."
Zuko was very intrigued by the way Katara didn't immediately say yes. Instead she just stared at the Avatar, an odd blankness filling her eyes. Her mouth parted as if to say something-but no words would come out. Aang awaited her answer patiently, his hands behind his back. A hopeful smile plastered on his face.
"I know I would!" Toph suddenly yelled out-causing three pairs of eyes to snap towards the earthbender, who was smirking next to a still-sitting Sokka.
"You can't see," Zuko stated, raising an eyebrow at her. "You can't fool us."
"Oh darn!" Toph cursed sarcastically, fisting the air. "Oh well. Nobody can be that full of it. Right, Sokka?" The earthbender gave an affectionate punch to the Water Tribesman's arm-emanating a quick yelp from him.
"Hey, hey, hey! I am very sensitive right now! I just ate!" Sokka exclaimed, slowly making his way onto his feet, exposing his cushioned-and-food-stuffed stomach. The cushions had been tucked underneath his shirt and the waistband of his pants, so the bulge made it look as if he was pregnant.
Zuko, Katara and Aang just couldn't help it. All three of them started chuckling to themselves at the sight of Sokka and his 'child'.
"Hey, Sokka, when's your due date?" Katara asked her brother playfully, trying to stifle her amusement as much as she could. Even though she had wanted to just burst out laughing-she still held some sentiments to her older brother. No matter how unbelievably ridiculous he looked.
Sokka frowned before looking down at his belly, and then looked up to glare at his sister and chortling companions.
"Ha. Ha. Ha," Sokka muttered, rubbing his stomach in circular motions. "Very funny."
"It kind of is," Zuko shot back, not holding back a smirk. "Tell me, your tribe probably goes for natural childbirth-do you want my royal physicians to tend to you, or just your sister and grandmother? You look like you're going to deliver any time soon. Don't get us worried, Sokka."
Katara just couldn't help it any longer. All feeling of sentiments that had been cased within a bubble instantly burst and suddenly she just burst out into a fit of giggles, to the point where she was clutching her stomach and tears running down her cheeks. Within seconds, Aang joined in the hysterics-even Zuko couldn't help but let out a few snickers. Sokka glared harder.
"So-Sokka!" she gasped, choking for air in between laughs. "I am so-so-sorry! B…But it's just s-so f-funny!"
Toph, on the other hand, was utterly confused by all the laughter. She turned to look blankly up at Sokka-her eyes direct to his neck.
"Sokka? What's so funny?" she demanded. "What's the joke they're not sharing? What's with the pregnancy talk? Why am I left out here?"
Sokka said nothing, but just let out a groan.
Curious, Toph then reached out with her hands towards Sokka-her smaller palms instantly felt the round, bulky stomach. But because they were square shaped cushions, they had several folds and bumps that she could easily feel-and didn't really give an exact illusion of a pregnant belly. Her milky eyes widened as she continued feeling the rocky bump.
"Whoa… Are you carrying twins?" the earthbender finally managed to chuckle, a broad grin stretching across her face.
"Just wait," Sokka finally exclaimed, pointing a quivering finger at everybody. "One day, there'll be something really ridiculous happening to you guys! And I am not holding back when it does!"
And with a huff, Sokka stormed off-leaving everyone smirking through chuckles.
"Hey! Don't hit menopause too soon!" Toph continued, going after the swordsman.
"Well, the entertainment is over… I'll just turn in early for the night then," Zuko quickly said the second Toph was completely gone from the room. He mentally told himself that he was just kidding himself when he saw something dim in Katara's eyes. The firebender smoothly stood up, instantly towering over his two best friends.
Aang was still all smiles. "Alright. 'Night, Zuko," the Avatar said, taking a step back to allow Zuko some room to walk away.
Zuko nodded at the Avatar before looking down at Katara. Her eyes were lowered and dark, but not for long as they slowly moved up to meet his own. There was something going on with the waterbender... He knew it.
"Good night, Zuko," she said with a small smile, but with formality thick in her voice. A kind of formality that Zuko didn't understand. Or liked. Especially when it came from someone he was friends with.
"Good night…" he murmured, nodding at the waterbender. He hesitated for a little while, wondering if he should do something about Katara's ongoing discomfort with Aang. Intervene or distract, perhaps. Maybe ask for some fake help from her. Fake an injury or something. Or get the Avatar to discuss some political things with him. It wasn't natural to see Katara so...off.
The Fire Lord mentally shook his head, discarding all the ideas swimming in his head. No, he wouldn't interfere. It wasn't any of his business anyway…even if he were to butt in as a helpful gesture.
He wouldn't come in between his friends'…love life.
And with that settled, he silently walked off, tuning out everything that was going on around him. He needed some peace and quiet.
...
Zuko did turn in early. Right after he exited the dining room-leaving Katara and Aang to their issues, he entered his room and locked the door. His walk upstairs had been oddly quiet, but he knew four of his friends were still downstairs… Ty Lee, Suki and Mai probably doing Spirits' knows what sort of girly things females like to do in either one of their rooms…
But he liked the quiet. At least…he appreciated it. Didn't necessarily mean he enjoyed solitude very much. Unless it was needed.
The Fire Lord did his usual before bed routine. Wash up, change into a sleep-suitable set of clothing-which really was just a plain red vest and black ¾ pants-and…well, usually in the Palace he would go over things required to discuss in the next day's meetings, read formal letters, check on the issues of his Nations et cetera… But tonight he was free to just go straight to bed.
It was a peace and simplicity that he was glad to finally be able to afford.
So why couldn't he sleep?
Zuko laid in his admittedly extremely comfortable bed, his window was wide open to let some fresh air and wind in. Nobody knew this but he liked using incense to fragrance the air in his chambers. It was a sort of woody, earthy scent. He remembered it as his mother's favourite Au naturel. The pillows he slept on were perfectly fluffed. His red silken sheets were cool to the touch but enough to keep him warm.
It was deathly quiet. A moonless night stared down at him from outside the window. The sky was empty that night. It was just dark and clear. A simple stretched sheet of an intense, blackened purple-blue. There was a bit of breeze-but not enough to cool.
The firebender tossed and turned in his wake for what seemed like hours, even kicked off his sheets to get some sort of freedom in his body. But he still felt uptight all over for some reason. He tried all sorts of sleeping positions. Face up, face down into the pillow without smothering himself, sideways both left and right…propped up with a mountain of pillows...
He was beginning to wonder if it was appropriate to sleep on the floor. If the hard floors could provide him sleep-why not?
But Zuko was stubborn.
Unable to take it any longer, Zuko finally sat up and swung his legs over to the edge of the bed with an exasperated groan. He raked his fingers through his messy hair before standing up and walking out of his room to head to the kitchen.
He never thought the day would come when he would actually follow his uncle's advice and make himself a hot cup of tea. Maybe it'll calm his jittery nerves.
The kitchen was just as quiet as his room. Nothing but the sounds of his footsteps and his heated respiration echoed throughout the place. Other than that, eerie silence just blanketed the air everywhere he went.
In truth it was beginning to frighten him a little.
But as he was about to rummage through one of the many wooden cupboards that decorated the dark brown-red kitchen walls, Zuko heard a sharp but loud gasp emanate from what sounded like the living room.
His ears instantly perked up and the firebender abandoned all thoughts of tea that could induce sleep-silently walking towards the living room through the dining room with the lightest of footsteps.
Perhaps it was a break-in? Well, must be a stupid robber...
Zuko's time as the Blue Spirit served him well. Sneaking around and all… It enabled him to softly pad through places without a peep. And the shadows that loomed around him helped with being as invisible as possible. His dark clothes covered up most of his pale complexion as he took on the shadowy camouflage and blended into the blackness.
He hid in a relatively dark, shadowy area within the corridor that connected the dining room to the living room. His eyes carefully wandered around the dimly lit area, hoping to find whatever made that peculiar sound. He made sure he covered every crevice, leaving no space unseen.
Another resounding gasp sounded again-confirming its position, and Zuko's eyes followed like a dart.
Zuko stretched his neck out further, only to catch a bit of blue in front one of the large, Oriental-style chairs that surrounded a low glass table.
Once everything slowly came into view and registered properly, the Fire Lord was shocked at what he saw.
Katara was sitting on the floor instead of on the chair that she had her back pressed against. Her entire form was gathered into a small ball with her arms hugging her knees to her chest tightly. The knuckles on her fist were almost white. Atop her knees was one of the large, silk red cushions that padded the chairs in the living room and her face was buried deep into it. Her long, dark brown waves fell around her like screens-hiding her expressions. The waterbender's back was shivering.
Zuko silently prayed to the Spirits that Katara wasn't doing what Zuko thought she was doing. He barely had any experience in the skill of comfort-and was too stiff to try. Even though he wanted to. At least...maybe he should?
His heart rate quickened when Katara suddenly raised her head, allowing Zuko to see at least the right half of her face. even though a few strands of her dark hair fell in the way. Instead of a sad expression which he expected, her brows were knitted into a hard, almost-angry frown. One faint trail of tears lined her right cheek. Her breathing was hard and deep-as if to calm herself down.
She looked more angry than sad… Heck, angry was an understatement. She looked like she was going to bring an entire tsunami with her.
Hundreds of thoughts flew around in Zuko's head, nearly making him dizzy. Countless, but all under the exact same category.
Should he go over to her? Should he attempt comfort? Why was she crying? Why does she look so angry? What happened? Should he just leave it alone? Should he intervene? Should he do something? What if he did go over? Would she stick ice spears into him like a pincushion?
But before he could make any sort of decision, Katara suddenly stood up in one swift and fluid motion-with the cushion gripped tightly between her hands, her fingers digging into it. Her expression still fiery-as if she was glaring at an invisible person in front of her. Zuko sunk deeper into the shadows and he held his breath, still feeling indecisive and lost about the situation.
The waterbender turned to place the cushion back onto the chair she'd been leaning against-before letting out a very deep sigh. Her shoulders visibly relaxed a great deal when she did that, and the angry mask melted to unveil a very exhausted, haggard expression. More questions flooded Zuko's mind.
In the end the firebender was frozen to the spot where he stood, as he watched Katara push back her hair with her hands before turning to the right and then upstairs, most likely back to her room. He didn't move for quite some time even after she left.
By the time he remembered how to move and breathe, tea was forgotten and he simply retreated back into his room.
That night he only got about three hours of sleep before allowing the risen sun to stir him awake.
Zuko wasn't aware about the fact that he was frowning by the time he had finished his cup of tea. After briefly seeing Katara in that situation, it had left him…deeply confused, and very, very sleep deprived.
No matter. Zuko knew very well that he shouldn't butt in. It must be something very personal to Katara. It wouldn't be right if he just burst out about it suddenly. That might make her even madder. She might question him about him snooping about or something like that.
The dazed firebender finally came to a conclusion and was about to join his other friends outside until Katara came walking in, freezing him in his place. And he hadn't even water-bent yet. She had a hand over her mouth to mask a small yawn and she was wearing a large, red and gold poncho that practically hung on her entire body like a sack.
Zuko's brow rose at how…tired the usually high spirited waterbender looked. Most likely and undoubtedly because of last night…
"Morning," he greeted her quietly, only then Katara actually noticed his magnificent presence. A small smile spread on her slightly pale lips. Zuko didn't like how her half-lidded eyes still looked sort of…dead-ish. In fact, he didn't like her looking so...off. Period.
"Morning…" she murmured softly, managing a small wave at him. Spirits, she could barely lift her arm up. Zuko was amazed that she could still walk and talk.
"Are you ready?" he asked, gesturing with his head towards the outside world. The Fire Lord gave Katara another once over before frowning slightly. "Did you eat?"
Katara nodded and yawned again. "Bread. Or at least what I thought was bread… Tasted like bread," she mumbled-more to herself than him. Zuko had to hold back a smirk to contain his slight amusement at how blurred she was. But he was also concerned at that fact.
Once again, no matter. It probably would be best if he didn't interfere. He didn't need the drama. It wasn't his to be in anyway.
Zuko rose from his seat, abandoning his empty teacup and pot. He tightened the yellow sash that held his red robe together.
"Well, shall we then?" he asked, slowly heading for the door-his eyes constantly fixated on the waterbender. She was swaying slightly to the point where she might just…drop. He thought he should standby-just in case...
Fortunately, she didn't and began to walk normally as well. Zuko waited until she reached the living room, only for her to turn around to face him with a look that boggled his mind.
"Well? Aren't you coming?"
Filler. This is definitely a filler. I am pretty sure the lot of ya'll are having questions swimming all over the place, doing freestyle strokes. But all shall be revealed in the future!
Does menopause exist in the Avatar world? O,o Meh-what do I care, it's too funny for me to not slip that in.
Anybody catch the 'did you eat'? (Readers of Fifty Shades would know ;))
Anyway, I hope this filler chapter sates you nonetheless. I thought this would be nice to fit in. Psshtt, it's my fanfiction story. But still crossing my fingers that ya'll enjoyed it-even with the light Sokka humour/banter. ;)
Please read and review, so I know that you guys are still with me and not threatening to kill me in my sleep. Right? :)
-J