It was impossible to know how much time passed with Zuko crammed into that ridiculously tiny crate beside Katara. He was sweaty and uncomfortable, and he was pretty sure that they were running out of air. He was also pretty sure that Katara had fallen asleep, because he'd noticed that her breathing had deepened, and then she'd slumped deeper against him, tucking herself against him.
And with him pinned back against the crate, he had nowhere to go.
Not that he was complaining.
He'd never been in such close proximity with a girl. Zuko was realizing that it was nice. Very nice. Her body, although well muscled, was soft in a way that only girls could be, a way that pulled his eyes to the curve of her hips and the swell of her breasts, almost against his will. She was smaller than he was, and she seemed to fit perfectly against him. He could feel the roundness of her rear pressed against his crotch, and although he didn't mind, it was quickly becoming a problem as he felt a stiffness growing in his trousers.
Thankfully, he was spared when the cart suddenly stopped moving. He could hear voices and shuffling outside, and then bright sunlight was flooding in as the lid was lifted off of the crate. Zuko blinked against the sudden brightness, and he saw the young man from the flower shop peering in at them as Katara jolted awake.
"You two alive in there?" he asked.
Zuko scowled as he pushed himself upright, feeling the aches in his body from being in one position for so long. "We're fine."
He climbed out of the crate as Iroh emerged from his flowerpot. His uncle was red-faced and drenched with sweat, and the young man offered him a canteen of water. Iroh drank gratefully as Katara peeled herself out of the crate, stretching languidly.
"Let's not do that again," she remarked dryly.
Zuko took the canteen from Iroh and held it out to her. "Agreed."
He looked around and found that they were outside of a small village made of animal skin tents that were the same color as the sand that surrounded them. There were sandbenders everywhere, moving about their daily routines. He saw their strange wooden gliders sitting just outside of the village. Then Zuko looked back at the young man.
"Where are we?" Zuko asked.
"This is the home of the Yamaki tribe," he replied. "They'll escort you to Full Moon Bay. Ferries there take refugees across the bay to Ba Sing Se. With your passports, you'll have no trouble getting inside."
"Thank you for your kindness," Iroh said with a low bow.
The man returned the gesture. "Of course, Grandmaster. It has been an honor to assist you. Let me introduce you to Sha-Mo. He's the chief of the tribe."
He led them into the village. Zuko noticed how the sandbenders watched them closely. Soon, they were outside of the largest tent. They were let inside by two sandbenders standing outside of the tent flaps. Inside was marginally cooler than outside, and much dimmer. Zuko was glad to be out of the sun.
There were a handful of men inside. Immediately, two of them approached. It was hard to see what they looked like with the coverings on their heads, but the taller one offered them a bow that all three of them returned.
"I am Sha-Mo," the man said. "Welcome to my tribe."
"We appreciate your assistance," Iroh told him.
"The three of you will stay here tonight in our tribe," Sha-Mo said. "Tomorrow, my son, Gashuin, will take you to Full Moon Bay. The three of you must be exhausted from your travels. My son will show you to your tent. You're welcome to clean up and rest before you join us for the evening meal."
"Thank you," Katara said with a tired smile.
"I'll take you there now," the younger man with Sha-Mo, presumably Gashuin, said as he stepped forward. He offered Katara a friendly smile, and Zuko narrowed his eyes at him.
"Thanks," Zuko said gruffly.
The sandbender's eyes flickered to him for a brief moment, narrowing slightly. Then he walked past them, bumping Zuko's shoulder lightly as he did, as he ducked back outside. Zuko, Iroh, and Katara followed him, with Zuko glaring daggers at his back the whole way.
Gashuin took them to a small tent on the outskirts of the tribe and opened the flap for them. "Here you are."
"Thank you," Katara told him with a grateful smile, which Gashuin returned.
"You can go now," Zuko said roughly. "We'd like to clean up and get some rest."
Gashuin looked at him, clearly irritated. But he just nodded before he left again. Iroh went inside the tent first, and Zuko made to follow him, but Katara stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing," Zuko snapped. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Katara narrowed her eyes. "You seem more...prickly than usual."
He snorted. "Prickly?"
"Well, you're kind of acting like a jerk," Katara remarked.
Zuko scowled at her. "I just spent the day crammed into a tiny crate with you. Excuse me for not being a ray of sunshine."
He pushed past her and into the tent. It was small, but it would suffice. There were sleeping mats spread out on the floor, as well as pillows to sit on around a low table. There was a privacy partition hung up in the back of the tent, and upon further inspection, he found a wash basin filled with fresh water to clean up in.
"Ladies first," Iroh said to Katara as he gestured.
She gave him a thankful look. "I won't be long."
Katara ducked behind the partition. Zuko and Iroh situated themselves at the tea table, on the far side from where Katara currently was. There was cool water in a clay pitcher, as well as an array of fresh fruit and sweetbread. Iroh and Zuko immediately helped themselves to it. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes as they ate.
Zuko tried to focus on the sweet, juicy fruit in his mouth and not the waterbender behind the partition, who was likely now in a state of undress. He could faintly hear the splashing of water as she cleaned up, and he could just imagine what her skin would look like, glistening with droplets of water…
"Zuko?"
He looked up. "Hm?"
"I asked how you are doing," Iroh said, raising a silver eyebrow. He kept his voice low so that Katara couldn't hear them.
"Oh. Um. I'm fine," Zuko replied stiffly.
"That was...quite a rough journey," Iroh commented as he delicately sliced a papaya. "Were you and Katara alright?"
He thought of what she'd said to him and nearly snorted. "Uh, yeah. It was fine."
"Mm," Iroh hummed as he nodded.
Zuko frowned. "What?"
Iroh shrugged, but his eyes had a mischievous glimpse. "Nothing, nephew. It just seems that you and Katara are getting along quite nicely."
Zuko looked down at his tray of food. "We're doing okay, I guess."
"Hm. Just okay?"
Zuko's frown turned into a scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just a pleasant change, nephew," Iroh told him with a shrug.
Just then, Katara emerged from the partition. She looked very refreshed, with her skin clean and her hair still damp, tumbling freely to her waist. Her eyes were brighter and her cheeks were pink from scrubbing. She offered both of them a smile as she saw the fruit.
"Oh, that looks yummy," she said as she folded herself onto a cushion and reached for a mango.
Zuko stood up quickly. "I'm gonna, uh, go clean up."
He hurried back behind the privacy partition, feeling his cheeks burning. It was stupid. She had just taken a bath! So why was his stupid heart racing in his stupid chest?
Zuko splashed water over his face before he stripped out of his shirt. Using a rag, he cleaned the dirt and sweat from his skin. He felt a little better once he was done, but he wished that he had a clean set of clothing to change into. His tunic and pants were dusty and smelled of sweat, but all of their extra clothes had been left behind with Dusty.
Dusty...he'd promised Katara that he would take care of her! How had he forgotten to ask the guy from the florist shop to make sure that she was cared for?
Zuko quickly pulled on his shirt and barged back out into the tent. Iroh and Katara looked up at him in surprise, but he barely paused to say, "I've got to go see if that guy's still here!" before he burst out back into the sunshine.
He made his way back to where they had gotten out of the crate, but he was intercepted by Gashuin. Zuko huffed out an irritated breath. He needed to catch that guy before he went back to the Oasis.
"Hey," Gashuin said as he stepped in front of Zuko. "So uh, that girl you're with—there's nothing going between you and that girl, right?"
Zuko's brow furrowed. "What?"
"I mean, she's pretty cute, you know?" Gashuin said with an oily grin. "There's not a lot of fresh meat around here and I just don't want to overstep."
Zuko felt his anger surge as he realized what Gashuin was saying. But the sandbender went on, completely oblivious to the rage rising inside of him.
"—I just didn't want to step in, in case she's your girl. But if she's not, then she's free for the taking, right? I bet she's never even—"
The sandbender was cut off as Zuko grabbed him by the front of his tunic, his teeth gnashing together in a snarl.
"You don't talk about her!" Zuko roared as he shoved the sandbender to the ground. He pointed his finger at Gashuin, resisting the urge to conjure flame daggers. "You don't talk to her, you don't look at her, you don't even think about her! Just stay away from her!"
Gashuin looked up at him, clearly taken aback by Zuko's display of anger. Good, Zuko thought darkly.
But then, Sha-Mo was suddenly there. He looked angry, and for a moment, Zuko thought that he had made a mistake attacking the chief's son. But to his surprise, Sha-Mo turned towards his son.
"What is the matter with you?" the chief hissed angrily as he yanked Gashuin to his feet by the back of his tunic. "You just can't keep yourself out of trouble! First that mess with the Avatar—"
That got Zuko's attention. "The Avatar?"
Sha-Mo glanced sideways at Zuko. "Yes. It seems my son doesn't have an ounce of sense in him." He looked back at Gashuin. "Get out of here before you cause more trouble, Gashuin. I mean it!"
The sandbender scurried away, but Zuko was still hung up on the mention of the Avatar.
"When did he run into the Avatar?" Zuko wanted to know.
Sha-Mo looked at him. "About a week ago, perhaps a little less. My son tends to find himself in trouble more often than not. I apologize for his behavior. It's very unbecoming."
"Right," Zuko said. "Has the man who escorted us yet left the village?"
"No," Sha-Mo answered. "Do you need something?"
"We left our ostrich horse behind, at the Oasis," Zuko said. "Ka—Sapphire wanted me to make sure that she's taken care of."
"I'll be sure to pass that along then," Sha-Mo told him. "I work with Fung often, helping with refugees and other things."
Zuko nodded. "I'm sure Sapphire will appreciate that."
He headed back towards the tent, still feeling the tremble of adrenaline in his limbs. He was still furious with Gashuin, and the mention of the Avatar had piqued his interest. That meant that the Avatar and Katara's brother had been in the desert as little as a week ago. He didn't know how he felt about that.
He went back inside their tent. Iroh had cleaned up while he was gone and was now laying on a sleeping mat, already snoring. Katara was sprawled out on another sleeping mat, but she sat up when she heard Zuko come in.
"Hey, what were you doing?" she asked him.
Zuko stopped to get a drink of water before he sat down on the third sleeping mat. "I just...I wanted to make sure to tell that guy to have Fung make sure that Dusty was cared for."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Well, yeah," Zuko said with a shrug as he felt heat creep into his cheeks. Why did she sound so happy?
"Oh, Zuko!"
To his surprise, she threw her arms around his neck for a moment. Then she pulled back and offered him a warm smile.
"Thank you," Katara said. "That means a lot to me. Dusty was like a friend, you know?"
Zuko nodded. He understood that. He felt like he and the ostrich horse had been through so much together. It wasn't any easier on him to leave her behind. But there was nothing that could be done about it.
"We should get some sleep," Zuko murmured as he laid down.
"Yeah. I'm exhausted." She settled down on her mat on her side, tucking her hands beneath her cheek.
"I don't know how," Zuko remarked drowsily, already feeling sleep pulling at him. "You took a nice nap in the crate."
She snorted. "I don't know if I'd call that nice. It was hot and uncomfortable."
"You seemed to manage."
"Whatever."
They were quiet for a moment before Zuko glanced over at her. "Katara?"
She was already starting to doze. "Mm?"
"Stay away from Gashuin, will you?"
She opened her eyes, her brow furrowing. "Why?"
Zuko shrugged, his eyes trained on the ceiling of the tent. "I just have a bad feeling about him, that's all."
"Oh. Well, thanks."
"Yeah. No problem."
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. Not long after her breathing deepened, Zuko fell asleep too.
They were woken up again when it was still dark outside by another sandbender. Someone had woken them up when dusk had fallen so they could eat dinner, but all three of them were still tired, and had gone to bed early.
Now, they ate a light breakfast before they were led back through the village to the sand sailers. Gashuin was there with a handful of other sandbenders, but he pointedly avoided looking at Zuko or Katara.
"This is the fastest way across the desert," one of the sandbenders said as Zuko, Iroh, and Katara climbed aboard. "We'll have you in Full Moon Bay by sundown tomorrow. In a few days, you'll be in the city."
"Thank you," Iroh said as he settled down.
Zuko sat down on the flat base of the sailer. Katara sat beside him, still looking sleepy. The sandbenders made sure that everything was ready to go, and then they were on their way, gliding across the sand. Zuko looked up at the inky sky, his eyes automatically picking out the familiar constellations.
After a while, he felt Katara's head fall against his shoulder. When he looked down, he saw that she was sound asleep. Carefully, so that he didn't wake her—and perhaps a little boldly—he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He looked up and caught Gashuin's eye across the sailer, but the sandbender quickly dropped his gaze. Then he glanced at his uncle. Iroh's eyes were closed as if he was asleep. Zuko leaned his head against Katara's and closed his own eyes.
But after a moment, he heard his uncle humming a familiar song under his breath: "...it's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty…"