Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm sick of writing disclaimers…. Zuko is still very cute and sexy. Whoever agrees with me, raise your left foot.
CHAPTER 8: Multiplying Chills
"I told you that they should leave our village—now!" Katara half-yelled to Jing that cold morning. Jing, Gran-Gran, and she were in her office, having a heated debate, mostly from Katara and Jing. The chieftess wanted Zuko and his stupid ship to leave, but the wizened old man wouldn't hear of it.
"Look, Katara, they can't leave our ports until their ship is fixed or the ship they called for is here," Jing explained calmly, though he also was starting to feel annoyed.
"They have to leave…" the fifteen-year-old almost wailed.
"Katara, seriously," Gran-Gran finally broke her silence. "I have no idea what's gotten into you all of a sudden and made them want to leave. The soldiers are pretty nice and they have not bothered anyone. They keep to themselves and they socialize a bit. Plus, the revenue they've given this tribe is great with almost all of them buying our products."
"Yes." Jing nodded. "Why do you want them to leave so suddenly?"
"It's because…." How could Katara say the reason she wanted them to leave was because she hated for that spoiled king to be so near? She wanted him as far away as humanly possible. But how to tell the two elders? She just couldn't say that she wanted them to go because Zuko kissed her…. Memories of yesterday's kiss haunted her all night and the horrible eye bags under her blue eyes proved that she wasn't able to sleep last night as the only thing in her head was how Zuko's lips felt like when crashed upon hers…. She shook her head, chasing the thoughts away.
Jing and Gran-Gran noticed Katara's hesitation. They both knew that this was something she couldn't spit out easily, not yet anyway.
"Katara, we just couldn't kick them out of here, you know that," said Jing. "They have done nothing to us to merit this kind of treatment from us. We just have to wait until they're ready to leave."
"But…."
"No buts." There was finality in his tone that Katara just gave up and slumped back in her seat. Jing saw her surrender and he and Gran-Gran left the room.
Now how am I going to face him after what happened? But then again, why am I the one thinking that way? He should be ashamed because he was the one who took advantage of me. That's it; I'm definitely showing my face again to him and show him I'm not affected by what happened yesterday…. But, damn it all! WHY IN THE FIRST PLACE AM I AFFECTED?
Disgusted at herself, Katara got up from her seat and went outside. Her feet stomped on the fresh snow and she barely noticed where she was going as her mind drifted. It was until noise had interrupted her thinking that she took notice of her surroundings. In horror she realized that she was at the port, standing in front of Zuko's ship.
What the hell am I doing here?
"Hey, miss, whatcha doin' here?" asked a Fire Nation guard. "A lovely little girl like you shouldn' be in playces lyk dis. Now go off before sumone hir tries to take you into bed."
Katara stared at the burly man in shock. He, apparently, was guarding the ship from any intruders from the tribe.
"I…I'm sorry, I guess I wandered off…." Katara stammered before turning on her heel and going back to the safety of her house.
Katara collapsed on her bed the second she got back.
I'm really confused…. What is this I'm feeling? It's kind of like what I felt with Haru and Jet, but somehow, it's more painful….
"Katara, come outside," called Gran-Gran, knocking behind her door. "We have some visitors."
"Fine," Katara grumbled, getting up and fixing herself in front of the mirror; her fur blankets seriously mussed up her bun and her pearl comb was askew. After a few seconds of haphazardly trying to fix her hair, she went out to the tea room where they accept their guests.
"I'm here," said Katara as she went inside. To her surprise, the guests were the last people—person—she wanted to see: Iroh and Zuko. She stayed glued to the floor, her eyes wide as saucers as she stared at the man who had brutally and brazenly taken her first kiss. Memories of that kiss came flooding to her brain and it took Jing's loud fake cough to get her back to earth.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me," Katara apologized, taking a seat—far, far away from Zuko and avoiding looking at him in any way. "I just remembered something that I needed to do after this."
"Then we better make this short, don't we?" remarked Iroh pleasantly, accepting the teacup Gran-Gran proffered.
Katara blushed. "I didn't mean it that way…."
"That's all right, child," said Iroh, nodding, saving Katara from further embarrassment. Katara smiled at him and mouthed a silent thank you while Zuko looked away irritably.
"Honestly, Uncle, I have no idea why we came here," stated Zuko tetchily. "I could be back at the ship doing something…something else."
"Patience, Zuko," reprimanded Iroh lightly. He faced the three water tribesmen. "We came here to say our goodbyes, as it is time to leave for our ship has been repaired. We were just missing a screw. We thought it proper to leave you some gifts to show our appreciation for letting us stay here as long as we needed."
"That isn't necessary," replied Katara graciously, the diplomat in her resurfacing again as she tried to ignore Zuko's stares. "We are happy to have you here and you've already done much to our village."
"My dear, you were the ones who have been helpful."
"But you were the ones bringing in these profits for our people. Our lives will have improved greatly after the trade is accomplished."
Iroh just nodded; he knew that arguing with Katara would be futile.
"Very well, then, but you still will receive our gifts, won't you?"
As Katara opened her mouth, Zuko cut in harshly.
"Just accept what we're giving you and be done with it, girl! I have better things to do!"
Katara glared at him viciously but she was not the only one; Iroh, Jing, and Gran-Gran glowered at him as well. He muttered something under his breath and walked out of the room.
Iroh shook his head sadly. "You must forgive him. He has been through too much stress. He gets angry easily and I cannot control him. He's been like that since yesterday. I wonder why." He threw Katara a look but Katara must have imagined it because he was speaking again, this time it was directed to Jing and Gran-Gran.
Yeah, I wonder why as well…gets angry easily…that's the understatement of the year. He was as mad as hell yesterday and I'm lucky to be alive, thought Katara dryly.
"Well, as this, er, meeting is over and the king walked out on us, I wish to be excused and get out for a while. I need some air." Katara stood up from her seat.
"Sure, child, take as much time as you want. You look like you need it," said Jing.
Katara went back to the cave where Zuko took her yesterday. She needed to pull back her thoughts—they were distracting her too much from her work. She needed a place that will remind her strongly of that moment and will make her immune to those weird emotions she was feeling lately. And what better place would that be where it all happened?
She went inside the dark cave, the light from the opening more than enough to help her navigate without her tripping or bumping into large rocks. Gran-Gran and Jing would wonder why she had mud all over her immaculate blue robes when she said she was only taking a walk, not mud-wrestle with some gorilla.
She stood on the same spot where he gave her the punishing kiss. She closed her eyes and relived the moment: how strong Zuko's grip was on her slender form, how he gave that kiss, how she responded….
"Done with your daydreaming, girl?" asked a voice behind her. It was the last voice she wanted to hear; the voice of Zuko.
"What are you doing here?" Katara demanded, turning around and seeing Zuko leaning lazily on a huge boulder. She had to admit he looked pretty good—okay, he looked pretty hot—leaning like that.
"I should be asking you that," he retorted, his eyes fixed on the ceiling of the cave as if avoiding her gaze.
What, I look that horrible to him?
"I was here…to think…I needed a quiet place and this is the only one I could find. What about you?"
"I also needed a quiet place to think. It's noisy as hell in that ship. Now, leave. I was here first."
"Who are you to tell me to go? This is my territory! For all I know, you came here after I did. You were always sneaky in your ways, just like the time you tried to capture Aang."
"I was here first," he repeated, stressing every word. He gave her a stare that was neither menacing nor gentle yet it gave Katara the chills. "I saw you almost slip on that rock over there, clumsy peasant."
Katara charged towards to him and was about to give him another slap when Zuko caught her arm and brought it down painfully.
"You're not catching me off-guard again," he warned. "My cheek still stings from that contact yesterday. Though the second kind of contact was something I didn't mind, even if it was from a peasant like you."
All the blood went rushing up to her face and she knew Zuko was aware of the terrible flush that came on her cheeks.
"What's wrong? Having a fever?" Zuko taunted though he really knew why she blushed like that. His face came closer and he breathed into her ear, "You know, you should be thankful that I, Lord Zuko, was merciful enough to let you go after what you did…and you've gotta admit that what I gave you was the sweetest punishment ever. Maybe I should have let you slap me again so I have reason to kiss you for a second time."
All the headiness Katara felt from having Zuko so close to her and having his mouth near her ear and expelling a sweet, warm breath dissolved at his words. She tried to get out from his confining hold on her, while saying hotly, "I do not need your mercy, Lord Zuko. After what you did, all I want to do in my life is slap you back and forth until you die."
Zuko laughed. "As I am leaving tomorrow, would you mind giving me a memory?"
"Yeah, the memory of me smacking—"
But before she could say another word, Zuko had stolen another kiss from her. This time, it was not as brusque as before. It was filled with intense passion, yet still sought to punish. It was what Katara wanted in a kiss: fiery and ardent but she wished it was without force. His lips were warm and fired up not only her lips, but her whole body as well. Just as about she was to give up and succumb to his arms, he broke off and smiled.
"I knew you enjoyed that kiss." He smirked. "Nobody can resist me, not even you. Don't worry, girl, this is the last time you'll get to taste my lips. And rest assured that I don't want to associate with you anymore. I just wanted to see how you'd react to a different kiss. I'm just sorry that it was without what you girls want—love, isn't it?"
Katara was too dazed to take note of what he was saying, but she caught his last words and that shook her up.
"I never asked you to kiss me and I don't want to kiss you again. Not ever. You make me sick. Just thinking about kissing you wants to make me vomit to no end. I despise you and never want to see you again. Just leave!"
The words hardly left her mouth when Zuko gave her a small smirk, let go of her arms, and walked out.
"Don't worry; this is the last you'll ever see of me."
Katara sank to the hard floor of the cave once more after Zuko's kiss. It had such effect on her that made her weak-kneed. She hoped that the visit to the cave would clear her thoughts, but it left her into more turmoil. Her heartbeat was going crazy and everything else didn't matter. She looked at the opening of the cave and saw a small red dot disappearing into the distance.
Zuko…I hate you.
----------
"The plan is going very well. I saw them both enter the cave, dear friend," said the blue-robed man as he and his red-robed friend sat around a fire. Both were in the boiler room of the Fire Nation ship.
"I'm just sorry that we have to leave so soon, but my nephew is getting too much agitated and I'm afraid our plan might not work if they spend too much time with each other, with him being too hot-headed and all. The young lady is also getting uncomfortable. We better not push our luck," answered the red-robed man pensively.
"Yes, yes, I understand. We must separate them for a while to let them think and then…."
"I love your deviousness. Ever consider a post as a tactician in our army?"
"What do you need a tactician for? The war is over and the armies only serve as security for pissant robbers and vagabonds."
"Anyway, we could always contact each other by letters."
"Yes, let's give them around…six months."
"That sounds good. They say that separation works wonders."
"I feel that they are falling for each other. I just know it. My kneecaps say so."
"So does my tea-laden stomach. They say one word: Grandkids!"
They both stood up from their seats and did a dance reminiscent of Sokka's happy dance with their arms waving in the air. Only did they stop when a gurad came inside.
"I'm so sorry, General," the guard apologized, turning away, embarrassed.
"Mr. Fuko, let it be known that if word escapes of what has happened here, I will not rest until the culprit is known and his testicles boiled in stew," the red-robed man said seriously and it was all the blue-robed man could do not to laugh.
The gurad started and ran off, startling the whole ship with his screams of, "I love my balls! Don't let him take my testicles! I don't want to be castrated! Aiyeeee!"
The splashing sound of water broke the silence of the night.
I'm not very much into fluff, so I hope that the fluff in this chapter is enough to satisfy you guys for a while. But the next chapters will be all, pure unadulterated Zutaraness! Okay, prove to me that you love me guys and….
REVIEW!
No reviews, no more fluffs for Zuko and Katara! I'll make Zuko pair up with Meng and Katara with…with…Haru, or Jet, or the cabbage vendor!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I know I'm evil. But you still love me, right? Right?
Rienne ;p
