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Chapter 37:

"I remember that!" I exclaimed loudly as Sokka and I sat outside, in the garden of the inn. "I was really sick and father went to buy me medicine and you wanted to help, so you escaped and then mother and father couldn't find you until it was dark, " I paused and laughed, "they found you crawled up in a ball, asleep in someone else's yard."

Sokka laughed and leaned back on his elbows as he contemplated what I had just said. He slowly nodded, "well you did an awful lot of idiotic things as well."

I scoffed, "Yeah? Like what?"

Sokka sat back up and held his feet in his hands. "Well there was that time that you brought in a stray cat from outside." He smiled at my confused expression, I didn't remember. "And then there was that time that you tried to climb a tree and you fell out."

I raised my eyebrows, "I fell out of a tree?"

Sokka nodded and laughed again. "I thought it was hilarious."

I rolled my eyes and smiled up at Sokka. Every time I looked at him, I felt a sense of security and safety. As if nothing could go wrong because I still had a brother, who would take care of me.

"I'm starving." Sokka commented.

I shrugged.

"It's too bad there's not a lot meat here."

"What?"

"Since no one can actually purchase meat from any of the kingdoms, they do the hunting themselves so there's a ration on meat. It is unbearable, but I always manage to take someone else's rations."

I smiled at him.

"What?" He protested, "it's called sharing."

I stood up and laughed, "Oh really, in the kingdoms they call it stealing."

Sokka just shrugged indifferently.

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Zuko around anywhere?"

"No, why?"

"Well, it's just that I haven't seen him for a couple of days, do you know where he might be?"

"He probably has his own room in the inn, you can speak with one of the owner's of the inn. They're inside."

I nodded, "Are you coming?"

"I'm just getting some fresh air, you go ahead, and I'll catch up with you."

I smiled and then threw my arms around him, hugging him hard. I had been hugging him a lot recently, making up for all of the hug's I had missed when he was gone. I then walked back into the inn. I tugged at the hem of my dress as I entered. It was strange that I hadn't seen Zuko in two days, he must have been exhausted.

I spoke to the man at the table and he gave me the directions to Zuko's room. I made my way up the staircase to Zuko's room. It was right across from mine. Sokka's room on the inn was downstairs, where the rest of the earlier refugees stayed. I stood at the door and knocked on it. I didn't hear an answer so I pushed open the door.

Zuko was fast asleep on his mattress. I slowly walked over to him. His mouth was slightly parted and he was sleeping on his back. There was that same pained look in his expression as there was only a week ago when I had seen him sleeping. I knew there was something behind it all, there was reason behind all of this, and I needed to know.

I watched him for a long time; he stirred occasionally but was fast asleep. I could tell he was having a nightmare, or something similar. I leaned in and pulled the blanket up higher on him, hoping to comfort him. I didn't want to wake him up while he was sleeping. I took a deep breath ad slowly lowered myself onto his mattress, so I was lying next to Zuko. My heart was pounding as I slowly lowered my head and faced Zuko. He hadn't stirred, let alone noticed that I was there.

This was the closest I had ever been to Zuko and I was having trouble breathing. His body radiated warmth towards me and I slowly closed my eyes. I inched closer to him so I could feel his warm breath on my hair and forehead, it sent shivers up my spine and my entire body had heated up. I was filled with a fiery desire to pull him even closer to me so every inch of his body was pressed against mine, but I controlled it. He was asleep and he would probably be shocked to discover I was lying with him.

I longed to feel the warmth and smoothness of his lips against my forehead again. I longed to hug him and hold him for as long as I wanted to. I longed to touch his bare chest and feel every one of his muscles beneath my fingers. I longed for such an abundance of temptations; I knew I had to leave his room. I leaned in next to him, daring myself to go closer for one last second and I kissed his neck softly, the only place I could reach without waking him.

My entire body tingled and I could feel my heart fluttering as I slowly inched away from him and off of the bed. I looked over at hi one last time before leaving the room, he turned in the mattress and I held my breath, praying he wouldn't wake, but he was still fast asleep. I felt a smile tugging at my lips as I left the room.

My chest was heaving when I closed the door behind me. I slowly walked towards my own room and then closed the door behind me; the warmth from Zuko's body still filled me as I lied down in my own mattress, wondering how it would feel to have Zuko here with me again. I closed my eyes, even though I wasn't tired.

My lips still prickled from the delight of pressing them against Zuko's skin. I squeezed my eyes hut harder; I had to gain control of myself. I was acting like a child. I slowly sat up in my mattress and pulled my knees to my face and wrapped my arms around them. My door opened and I gasped and my heartbeat quickened once more as I watched my door creak open. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was only Sokka.

He laughed at my expression, "what happened to you?"

I swallowed. I had never really had any boundaries set for me dealing with boys. My mother just never thought I would really ever meet a boy I liked in a long time, considering I was always cooped up in the attic. But I wondered if my brother would set any rules for me, after all I was still seventeen. I wasn't an adult and Sokka was, he was eighteen. And he was my older brother, I wasn't sure if I could tell him about how I felt towards Zuko.

"Katara?" His voice snapped me out of my thoughts; I looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. He sat down at the foot of the mattress, "are you okay?"

I nodded slowly, trying to calm down.

"Are you sure?" He paused and stared at me, "you're not telling me something, what happened?"

I sighed, these would be the times I missed having my real mother with me. If she was here, I could talk to her about all of this, and she would understand. I couldn't speak with Sokka, because he was my older brother. I definitely couldn't talk to Zuko. I felt a pang of sadness for the first time in my life, missing my mother.

"Kat, look at me."

I smiled at him using my nickname I had completely forgotten about. I looked up at him. "Sokka, it's just…" I sighed again and I saw his eyes fill with worry. "Nothing…" I finished.

Sokka continued giving me a questioning stare.

"You wouldn't understand…" I whispered.

"You can tell me anything, Katara. I'm here for you, you know that right?" He smiled at me and I just nodded and placed my head on my knees.

"It's a girl thing." I said quickly. I looked up to see the flash of horror on Sokka's face ad I felt my entire face turn bright red and heat up. I laughed and threw a pillow at him. "Not like that!" I laughed again and then hit him again with the pillow.

Sokka laughed but still had a faint look of disgust planted on his face. "So if it's not that, what is it?"

"Have you ever…" I bit my lip and looked up at Sokka, he was giving me an encouraging look, "loved anyone?" I asked him.

Sokka's eyes misted over and for a long period of time, he was silent. He finally met my eyes and sighed, "who is it Katara?"

"What?" My eyes darted over, "I…no, I was just asking you!" I said frantically.

"Katara…" He sighed loudly, "Is it…Prince Zuko?"

I felt a small gasp release from my lips. I wanted to protest, but I was speechless. I just placed my head back on my knees and try to cool off my face that felt as if it were burning. I pressed my hand to my cheek, my face was hot. I tried to look up, but I failed and just closed my eyes as I felt Sokka stare at me.

"Oh god…don't tell me! Katara!" He almost sounded as if he were angry.

I raised my head up, "what?"

He grasped my shoulders and shook me, "my little sister could not have fallen in love with Prince Zuko! Tell me this isn't true!" He cried loudly. I clasped my hand over his mouth.

"Shh! His room is right across from mine."

Sokka's eyes widened with horror. He turned back towards the door and he grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "What are you doing?" I asked him in a confused voice.

Sokka turned back around, "you are not sleeping right across from him!"

I pulled my hand away from his wrist. He was treating me like a child. "Sokka!" I felt my face heat up once more. "How could you say that?"

His eyebrows drew in. "It's not that I don't trust you Katara. It's him I don't trust."

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms around my chest. "Well, he doesn't even like me, so you don't need to worry about anything happening between us."

Sokka stared at me for a long time. "I still don't want you sleeping so close to him" He mumbled and I furrowed my eyebrows. "I'm not a child." I said crossly.

Sokka nodded at me and then he just sighed, "it's just…I feel like you grew up too fast. I miss my little sister who used to tell me everything and not have all of these girl problems."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around him, "trust me, Sokka. I don't have many girl problems."

"Yeah…" He pulled away from the hug, "I still don't trust Prince Zuko though, just stay away from him okay?"

I nodded and for the first time felt a sense of guilt after what I had just done. Sokka leaned in and kissed me briefly on the forehead, "are you hungry?"

I shook my head, no. "I already ate."

"Well then, you should get some rest. I will see you tomorrow." I nodded and hugged him one last time before he left. When he left, I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down on my bed. I never wanted to have a conversation like that with Sokka again. I guessed I was getting my first taste of having a real family, Sokka had already begun to set rules for me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, ignoring the desire to sneak into Zuko's room and watch him sleep again.