The next morning, Zuko awoke early to see Katara cuddled against her side. He couldn't help but smile as she slept, pushing a strand of hair from her face. He realized after a few moments of the distraction that the hut was colder than it was last night. He looked to the fire to see that is was dimmed to just coals. He was surprised; he was sure there was enough ligs in order to last them the whole night. That would explain, though, why Katara slept next to him, although he wasn't complaining. Being a fire bender had the advantage that if the weather got too cold, they can naturally warm themselves to a reasonable temperature so they don't reach hypothermia. He liked where it led to this morning, it was a good feeling having Katara in his arms. He nuzzled his face in her hair then gently kissed the top of her head. At this movement, she shifted, nuzzling her face into Zukos chest, then mumbled and moaned as she awoke. She shivered as her body reacted to the cold. "Why is it so cold?" she asked, rubbing her feet together. "The fire went out some time last night. I probably should have checked it a few times." he said, rubbing her arm. "I can restart the fire so we can get warmed up; how does that sound?" he said into her hair then kissing the top of her head again. Katara nodded, releasing herself from him so he can tend to the fire.
He stepped around her and crouched in front of the fire, adding some more logs and easily throwing some fire at the kiddling to get it started. Katara watched him as she sat up. She looked him over, checking out his body structure, his strong arms. She cleared her throat and looked at her lap to hide her blush. "So, you promised you'd tell me what our plan of action is; what's going to happen" she said, looking back up at him to see that he was watching her, his elbows resting on his knees. She smiled, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Well" he said, rocking back onto his heels, "I've contacted my mother through a messanger bird on the ship before I rescued you off the ship, telling her what the current situation is and where we are. Telling her this, I asked if she'd ncome and retrieve us and bring us back to the villiage where she lives." he explained, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees. "The villiage? I should be going back to the South Pole. Zuko,-" Katara started, but Zuko stopped her before she continued.
"Just listen. I'm getting there" he said, leaning over and kissing her forehead. "When we get to the villiage, we'll send another messenger bird to your villiage stating where you are and that you're safe. They probably won't be happy knowing that you're with fire nation people, but I'm sure we can get them to understand that the people of my mothers villiage aren't the traitors. Hopefully, we can convince your brother and father to get you from here on their canoes. That's all I've planned out so far; hopefully my mother will ger here in the next few days to get us" he said, taking her hand in his and tangling their fingers together. He played with hers, then lifted her hand, gently kissing the top of it. She giggled, hiding her face in her shoulder as she blushed. Zuko quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into an embracing hug.
"I absoutely love that adorable blush of yours" he whispered into her ear. She nuzzled her face into his neck, giggling some more. Her forehead touch his neck and it felt warm against her skin. She cuddled closer into his chest, wrapping her arms loosley around his torso. "How come you're so good to me, Zuko?" she asked, squeezing. Zuko pulled his face away from her neck so he could look into her eyes. He brushed away some hair from her face and laid a hand onto her cheek. "Because I care about you, I want to protect you. I know it might not have seemed like it before, but I was only hiding it because I was afraid that you wouldn't deel the same. Your protection and happiness is the most important to me." he said, nuzzling his forehead against hers and rubbing the small of her back. Kataras stomach growled, breaking their bond. Zuko chuckled as she flinched at her stomach and he gently kissed her. "Lets go get some food. The trail we took to get here leads to water; we can get some fish" he said, standing and reaching out for her hand, helping her up and guiding her out of the hut.
