Aloha peeps! Well sorry for the long wait, but I had another case of writers block. And I have had play practice, school, 4-H, Church, youth group and a whole bunch of other crap to deal with. And I haven't had much time to write.hope you like it. My first fluff chapter. Oh yes and I'm going to keep dedicating my chapters to the first person to review. So here is chpt. 16's winner.
Dedication- darkavatar13
I do not own Avatar the last airbender
Chapter 17
Katara awoke some time in the night. Taking in her surroundings, she got up from her bed in the infirmary and left. The ship was cold, and her bare feet made quiet noises as she walked down the metal hallway. She was still dizzy from earlier, but she felt she needed fresh air. Katara walked to the deck and over to the railing. The moon was full and the stars were shining brightly. If it wasn't for her present condition, she might have enjoyed a night like this.
It was slightly windy and the night's chill air felt refreshing. It didn't take long before she was lost in her thoughts. She shivered, and brought her arms up around her to warm herself. She could see her breath floating away into the night sky. It's so cold... but she didn't care, she liked the cold.
The sea was looked so peaceful, sending only ripples as the ship passed. Suddenly she felt a warm blanket wrapped around her. She whipped around in startled surprise and saw Zuko.
"What are you doing here?" she asked completely stunned.
"I should ask you the same thing. You're supposed to be resting." he said staring into the night.
"I woke up. And what do you care?" she said clutching the blanket around her tighter. Zuko didn't answer, he just kept staring. Katara sighed. Then there was an awkward silence. Zuko finally spoke up.
"You should go back inside, you'll catch a cold." he said, Katara was caught completely off guard by his remark.
"I'm fine. I enjoy this kind of weather." this time Zuko sighed. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he yelling at her to obey him? Did he have a cold?
"what is with you tonight?" she said, but Zuko just looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you haven't yelled at me once since you got here, and your actually being nice."
"Do you not want me to be nice to you?"
"N-no that's not what I meant!"
"Then what do you mean?"
"I-I I don't know! It's just that, you're not usually like this."
"Well it wouldn't hurt you to act a little less stubborn."
"Well if you weren't such a jerk all the time! And are you really so cruel that you would actually just hand us over to the fire lord!"
Zuko froze.
"Who told you that?" he said finally breaking his gaze from the sky.
"No one. Well, you did. I uh... I sort of over heard you." she said sheepishly.
"You were eavesdropping on me!"
"No I wasn't! You were coming down the hall so I hid behind a door and I heard you."
"What else did you hear?"
"Nothing." she said trying to fight off a blush. Zuko looked at her suspiciously.
"It's true!" she lied.
"You should really be going back to bed now."
Katara just looked at him. Why was he acting this way? What was wrong with him?
"No." she said simply.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
"Why do you have to be so awful!"
"I was trying to be nice!"
"Turning us in to the fire lord isn't exactly nice!"
"I WASN'T GOING TO!"
"y-you weren't?"
"No, at first I was, but I changed my mind."
"Then what are you going to do with us?" she said looking at the floor in embarrassment.
Zuko sighed. He looked tired, exhausted.
" I-I don't know yet."
"Zuko, I know you've made some bad mistakes in your life, but please don't make another one." she said to him, and she turned toward the door leading to her room. Zuko was alone. He heard what she said, and he felt terrible. His feelings for her were growing harder to ignore. He didn't know what to do. He wanted his honor back more than anything, and he was willing to do what ever it took to get it back. And he would not let his feelings for a water tribe peasant get in the way. But sooner or later he would have to face the facts that his honor wasn't the only thing that he cared about.
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Katara still felt a little light headed, and layed down on her bed. She didn't like Zuko, she hated him. But the way he was tonight, made her feel differently about him. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought. Maybe he did like her and was truly trying to be nice to her. But what about Aang and Sokka? Aang had always been there for her and Sokka was always there to protect her. What would they think if she admitted that she did have some kind of feelings for him? She needed to talk to Aang. They needed to work on their plan. It still had many faults, but if they worked on it, their escape would be certain. Katara try as she might, could not sleep. Her thoughts of Zuko, Sokka, and Aang kept her awake at all hours. But at the same time, two boys could not get her out of their minds.
Early the next morning, Iroh politely knocked on her door to tell her that her breakfast was ready. Iroh could tell she had not gotten a wink of sleep, because she had deep circles under her eyes, and she looked incredibly pale.
"Katara you must sleep, we can't have you collapsing again." he said leading her back to her bed.
"I will have Zuko bring you your breakfast. You just rest." he said leaving the room. Minutes later Zuko arrived carrying a tray with tea and biscuits.
"Your welcome." he said sarcastically.
"You look terrible." he said.
"Your concern touches me."
"Could you get me another pillow? This one's giving me neck pains." she said.
"Sure." he said and he turned to leave.
"Uh, Zuko?"
"yes?"
"umm... thank you." she said blushing incredibly.
Ok, I thought this was fluffy. If It's not oh well. The next chapter will have action, hopefully. Sorry if this chapter is not up to expectations. Blah blah blah, just rate it when you review please. Love love
The ever cheerful Shojo Butterfly
