Day Thirteen

I woke up and found myself unable to move. "Ow!" I cried, feeling my back. I had slept with a root digging into my back all night.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asked, already awake. I winced as I tried to move to face him.

"My back. I slept funny and now I can't move," I grunted. Zuko laid his hand against my back. I bit back a scream of pain.

I couldn't see him, but I felt Zuko gently pick me up as if I weighed no more than a crystal glass and was just as fragile. The heat from his arms seeped through my poor body, soothing the pain a bit. Looking at Zuko, I blushed slightly at the memory of last night. Did Zuko look at me and feel what I was feeling now?

"You'll feel better in a little while, Katara," Zuko said, sitting me up against a tree. I burned with pain. Why did he sit me up? Didn't he realize how much it hurt? Zuko saw the pain on my face and explained.

"Sitting up will help get muscles back to normal. Something similar happened to me once and my uncle told me the same thing," he said. I smiled.

"What happened?" Zuko blushed slightly.

"I, um, slept with my back against a column in one of the unused hallways," he muttered.

"So you basically broke some rules and got a stiff back for it?" I laughed. I stopped when it hurt my back too much and I saw the look on Zuko's face. The last time he had broken some rules, he had been scarred for life. I attempted to reach for his hand, but the pain in my back forbade it.

Zuko saw the gesture; his face became a whirlwind of emotions, ranging from confusion as to what it meant, anger at my attempted sympathy, and sympathy for my pain. I sighed inwardly. I hoped he learned that hiding his emotions was not good by any stretch of the imagination.

Zuko got the bag from the branches of the cursed tree and got out breakfast. (I had learned that, regardless of being a Firebender, Zuko could not cook. He'd burn water.) He handed the apple and I bit into it.

Soon after we both finished eating, Zuko helped me stand, deaf to my protests and complaints of pain. "Trust me," was all he told me when I asked what he was doing.

I did.

Once he had gotten me standing and I shut up, Zuko asked me where the pain center was. "The general area of my lower back and waist," I said, sweating from the pain of standing. I felt Zuko's hands on my waist, hotter than usual. The pain immediately receded. I relaxed, letting my breath out.

"Better?" he asked, whispering in my ear. I shivered slightly and nodded. I thought Zuko would remove his hands from my waist, but instead he pulled me closer. "Good," the prince murmured, his voice a low purr in my ear.

I turned in his arms. "Zuko," I whispered, throwing my arms around his neck. He kept one had at my waist, but moved the other one to my neck. Zuko pulled me closer to his chest, his whole body hot. Hot but not sweaty. The pain in my back was forgotten as I loosened up in Zuko's embrace. It still felt wrong to be so close to him, but I decided I didn't care rightnow.

I still felt a little pain, but Zuko's warm hands eventually eradicated it. "Thank you," I murmured. "There was no way I could have healed it myself; I could hardly sit up!"

"You'll still be stiff, but you'll be able to move about more freely," he said. He caressed my cheek, lighting a fire in me that was almost too much handle. I knew Zuko felt the same way when his muscles tensed and his breaths grew faster and faster. He held my chin and brought my face to his.

It was a short kiss, but it assuaged the burning inside us both. As soon as we parted, Zuko let go of me. "You should stay sitting down, but get up and move from time to time," he said. I nodded and slowly sat down.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, though I thought I knew the answer.

"Search for a way out of this cursed place," Zuko replied. "I think it's haunted. I'm not one to believe in spirits and hauntings, but this place is starting to change that."

"There hasn't been any trouble since Aang-" I was cut off by Zuko's hand covering my mouth.

"Hush. My uncle once said something similar to that and he got a broken leg the next day. You might jinx it." I nodded silently. Good point. "I'll be back." I watched as Zuko left the grove.

For the next…three hours I suppose, I sat, walked around for a little bit, and ate lunch. I left one fish for Zuko to eat when he returned.

He did return, bloodied up and bruised, with the most cuts on his face. "How did that happen?" I asked upon seeing him. I limped over to him. (It still hurt to walk.)

"Violent Willow Trees are truly violent," he replied, wincing. "It's not the willow itself; it's the squirrels that inhabit them. Archer Red Squirrels."

I looked at him. "Why are they called Archer Squirrels?"

Zuko looked at me. "They are dead aim with nuts," he said seriously. He got offended when I began to crack up. "It's not funny; they really hurt."

I smiled. "I know. It's just funny to think that a bunch of little squirrels did this to you." I uncorked my flask and began to heal some of the worse injuries. I couldn't help but giggle every time he winced.

"Who'd have though nuts could be so painful?" Zuko muttered darkly. He felt the now normal skin of his cheeks. "Thank you, Katara."

"No problem," I replied, corking my flask. "Could you help me stand up? I'm kinda in pain right now." Zuko stood and gave me his hand. He slipped his hands around my waist and let his body heat flow into me again to soothe the pain my back. "Oh, thank you," I said, the pain fully nonexistent. "I left you some lunch if you're hungry."

Zuko nodded and took the fish I pointed out. Silently, I wished there was some way I could repay him for comforting my stiffness. It came to me in flash. What if I could relax him? He was always so tense and tight, even when I was near him.

I walked slowly over to Zuko, who was sitting by the fire. (We kept it lit at all times to keep the ants at bay.) I knelt behind him and began to rub his shoulders. I had done it a few times for Dad when he had worked too hard and Mom was dead.

Zuko tensed at my touch, but relaxed when he realized what I was doing. It only took a few minutes before I felt him begin loosen up. About twenty minutes later, Zuko had loosened up so much, I wasn't sure if it was the same Fire Prince. (Okay, minor exaggeration. Nevertheless, he actually seemed more normal and less hurt.)

Before I moved my hands away, Zuko grasped one and pulled my ear to his mouth. "Thank you again," he whispered. He gave my hand a squeeze before letting go. I blushed slightly and mumbled "no problem" as I stood up again, gingerly.

For the next hour or two, nothing was done except talking and me making dinner. (Roast fish takes forever to cook.)

The fish finished cooking just as night rolled in. (The bag had a lot of fish in it. I kept having to freeze it.) It wasn't until after I finished eating that I noticed the pain in my back had returned. "I think the pain only goes away for about three hours or so and then it starts to return," I muttered as I lay down for bed, far away from any tree roots. "I'm going to be sore in the morning."

No sooner had I rolled over and shut my eyes did I feel someone come up behind me. At first, I tensed, but the increased air temperature made me calm down. It's just Zuko.

I heard Zuko get down next to me and felt his arms wrap around my body. "What're you doing?" I whispered, terrified Momo might come flying out of nowhere and see this.

"You said the pain was coming back," was all he said. I was happy he said that; I didn't want to argue. He pulled me tight against his chest; his heat dulled the pain that had returned to my back. Gradually, I feel asleep, listening to his steady breathing and rhythmic heartbeat.