Sparks? WHAT? OMG REALLY? Anyway, I can't say much about this chapter except you may have to grant some leeway to the progression of emotions? How about how Sokka's taste in food? Well we shall see D.

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10. Storage Room

"Sokka, get off the floor please." A frustrated Katara requested, looking down at her brother who was writhing on the ground.

"It gave me food poisoning!" A disgruntled Water Tribe boy cried as he clutched his stomach in pain. The boy's sister looked down at him and raised a brow.

"I doubt it. The leaves weren't raw and everyone else seems to be okay." She replied, turning to the rest of the group. Everyone looked at Sokka with raised eyebrows and unconvinced glowers. Sighing, the gang continued doing what they were doing before. Sokka frowned and continued wriggling on the floor in mock pain.

"Can you please make something else for dinner tonight sis?" Sokka asked, almost begging. Ashamed at seeing her brother so pathetic, Katara shrugged and made for the kitchen.

Zuko had been sitting in the kitchen reading an old book his uncle had given him in Ba Sing Se. It was an old book full of cooking recipes his uncle had planned on using for the tea shop. Zuko had taken some time off of training Aang and decided to investigate the book. After all, he had left it discarded for the last few months and had been curious of what was inside it. He was so absorbed into the recipes that he didn't even notice Katara had walked in.

"What are you reading?"

The prince looked up in surprise and was even more surprised that the person speaking to him was Katara. "Just a book my uncle gave me. It has recipes that he was going to use when we were in Ba Sing Se."

She opened her hand so Zuko could place the book in her grasp. Carefully, she turned the pages of the old book, scanning every page thoroughly. Suddenly, she stopped and put the book on the table.

"Chicken-pig dumplings and fried mushroom dumplings. Perfect." She said, smiling with self satisfaction.

"What?" Zuko asked, looking at her in confusion.

Katara looked at him then turned back to the book. She picked it up and moved over to the cooking table.

"What?" Zuko repeated, impatiently waiting for her answer.

"We're out of flour." She said, irritation ringing in her voice. "There should be some in the storage room. It's a bit dark down there though."

"Need a light?" Zuko offered, snapping his fingers like a lighter.

Katara looked at him and raised a brow. "Okay."

Zuko and Katara began their way down the hall and when they had reached the end of it, Katara stopped in front of a narrow door and opened it. Slowly, she began to walk down the dark steps and held firmly to the railing. Zuko followed her, one hand clutching to the railing and another held out behind Katara in case she fell.

"What was that?" she asked, hissing at the creak of the stairs.

"Your feet? Or an elephant-rat maybe?" Zuko suggested, carefully guiding his hand beside them like a torch.

As they reached the bottom of the steps, Katara glared at Zuko. "Are you comparing me to an elephant-rat?"

The firebender gulped. "No!"

Katara narrowed her eyes at him then beckoned him to follow her. She carefully browsed the shelves and knelt down beside a mysterious jar of what appeared to be flour. "This seems right." She picked it up and inspected the label.

Zuko moved his hand down to illuminate the writing on the jar. "Do you know how old that is?" He asked, wondering how long the temples had been abandoned and what the expiry date of flour was.

"Do you want to eat tonight?" she replied, smirking.

Zuko rolled his eyes but immediately stopped when he noticed Katara was still looking at him. She slowly got up and faced him.

"It's actually flour we bought in the Fire Nation," Katara began, "so you won't have to worry about your royal tummy. I just stored it down here in case we needed it again."

In the dark, only the fire from Zuko's fingers could shed light on the things around him. Whatever the light touched would glow a soft orange. The jar of flour. The bags of rice on the ground. Katara.

They stood in front of each other, motionless for what seemed like minutes. Zuko wondered if he was in her way and if she was waiting for him to move. He couldn't be sure because she hadn't said anything. Or was she doing that thing where girls expected boys to do something without being told? He briefly meditated on that.

"I...I..." He started, slightly stuttering. "I'm in your way?"

Katara hesitated then looked down, "No...I was going to say something but I forgot."

"Oh..." Zuko replied, scratching his head.

"We should go back upstairs. It's kind of cold down here." Katara answered, ushering Zuko forward.

"Are you cold because I can heat you or make you warmer, I mean make it warmer in here?" Zuko put his hand over his face and sighed. His face was hot.

Katara shook her head. "No, that's okay. We should start dinner."

"We?"

"Dinner isn't going to start itself is it?" She replied, half smiling.

We.
---

"Smells great Katara!" A very content airbender chirped as he stuffed a fried dumpling in his mouth. Katara patted his back and stood up to hand the Duke another plate.

"Thank you Aang," Katara replied, turning to Sokka, "and how is it for you Mr. Poisoned Lunch?"

The Water Tribe boy grinned. "Great! Now this is what I'm talking about."

Aang narrowed his eyes and turned to Toph. "I don't really get it. Sokka couldn't stand the Amaranth leaves but he can eat a boat load of Sea Prunes?" The two shivered in disgust.

Katara looked to Zuko who also seemed to enjoy the meal. Zuko met her gaze and nodded happily. She faintly smiled and sat down.

There was a time in the Fire Nation where Zuko had enjoyed chicken-pig dumplings but it had been different. Different than this.

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The prince lay in his bed and looked up at the ceiling, counting ridges and bumps the paint had made when it had first covered the surface. He couldn't sleep and no amount of koala-sheep counting could help him. He tossed off the blankets and shuffled toward the kitchen. If I can't sleep, maybe a cup of tea will help.

Silently, Zuko walked toward the cooking table and picked up a pot of water. He heated the pot and carefully poured the boiling water into a cup with tealeaves.

"What are you doing here?" a voice asked.

Zuko sharply turned around and dropped the boiling water on his hand. "OW!" He screamed and immediately a hand cupped his mouth.

It was Katara. She looked at him and shook her head disapprovingly. "Keep it down." She said, removing her hand from his face.

He sighed and put the cup on the table, then turned to nurse the hand he had hurt.

"Sorry I surprised you. I didn't know you were making tea." Katara looked at the pot of water. "Here, I'll heal it." She bended the water that spilled on the ground and held it above his hand. Slowly the redness in his hand began to fade and his hand immediately felt cooler.

"Thank you." Zuko replied, blinking in confusion.

"I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get a drink." Katara answered, turning away from him.

Zuko shrugged, "I couldn't sleep either, so I thought I'd have a cup of tea to calm myself. My uncle used to make tea for me when I couldn't sleep and it helped so..."

The waterbender smiled, "You don't have to explain, I understand."

"So...do you want...tea?" The prince offered, holding up his cup.

"Sure."

While Zuko prepared another cup of tea, Katara sat at the dining table waiting. When he had finished, he brought the cup to Katara and placed it in her hands. She clasped the cup tightly and held it to her lips. She breathed in deeply and turned to him. "I do like the smell of tea."

Zuko chuckled softly, "Yeah, so do I." He grabbed a chair and sat across from her.

"Your tea." Katara said, pointing at his cup.

The prince looked down and noticed that a leaf in his cup was bobbing up and down as if it were jumping. When the water calmed, the leaf stood upright. "Well, I guess I'm in for some good luck." He replied, happily. "I'll need it." He quickly added.

Katara looked out the window and smiled, "The moon looks nice tonight."

Zuko turned his head toward the light of the moon, "Yeah. It does." When he looked back he noticed Katara had been staring at him. She quickly turned from him and swiftly got out of her chair.

"Thanks for the tea. I think I'll head back to my room. I'm feeling kind of tired now." She handed him her empty cup and briskly pushed in her chair.

"Oh, okay. Goodnight." Zuko answered, standing up as well.

"Goodnight." She replied.

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AN: Chicken-pigs and Elephant-rats do actually exist in the Avatar world. I have seen pictures ). Also, Zuko seems to like dropping hot water on himself whenever Katara's around. Hehe. Oh Zuzu. Also everyone, since tomorrow is technically the day where the new episode starts, expect to see many new updates within the night and possibly early day tomorrow.