Water

Trust

Instinct and habit both told Sokka that he shouldn't like this. That if Zuko was trying so hard to stay close to Katara, there had to be something wrong. After all, the guy was undeniably the reason why Katara had fallen into the lake in the first place. And right now, though she was safe and dry and bundled up in furs, and probably well on her way to being okay again, she wasn't exactly coherent enough to tell her side of the story.

Intuition told Sokka that Zuko wasn't a trustworthy person, and that more likely than not, he was using this opportunity to manipulate all of them and win his way into their good graces.

But the problem was that Sokka's eyes were telling him a very different story. Katara had reached out toward Zuko. Not the other way around. She had leaned up against him, and she'd even protested when Sokka had tried to get Zuko's slimy hands off of her. And as much as Sokka wanted to believe that this was still some strange manipulation tactic, the look of utter terror on Zuko's face made that a very difficult point to stick with. Seriously, when was the last time the guy had breathed?

"You know what I think?" Aang asked nobody in particular. "I think that Zuko needs to stay here for tonight, and then tomorrow, we can see if any of the supplies survived out in the lakebed. If they did, then we can try to find another place to set up the tent where it won't get flooded out like it did this time. And if they didn't, then we can talk to Princess Yue again. Maybe she could get another tent and sleeping bag for us to set up if we can't find the old ones. Or maybe Katara and I could make an igloo somewhere outside the city."

Sokka didn't answer, and judging by the look on Zuko's face—not quite the same look of terror as when Katara had first leaned on his shoulder, but something close to reverence as he stared downward at her—he probably hadn't even heard a word of it.

Which was kind of a jerk move on Zuko's part, wasn't it? Aang was always trying to step in and mediate on Zuko's behalf, and now Zuko was repaying all of that effort by ignoring Aang completely. That was rude. Right?

Or was Sokka just grasping at straws in an effort to prove to himself that Zuko was still the enemy? After all, Sokka was ignoring Aang too. And—yeah, Zuko tended to go out of his way to be close to Katara, but she seemed to like being around Zuko too.

Maybe Sokka was just being paranoid. Maybe he should lay off a little and let things happen. Everything had worked itself out so far.

But then Katara swayed a little, like she was hovering just on the fitful edge of sleep, and after an extended moment of hesitation, Zuko extracted his arm from her grasp and settled it around her shoulders instead.

At that, all of Sokka's big brother instincts went on alert. What the hell? Sitting together was one thing. Sokka didn't like it, but at least he knew that there was a reason for the arrangement, what with Zuko cranking out ridiculous amounts of heat for Katara's benefit. And Katara leaning up against Zuko wasn't great, but at least there was still a reason for it. She was cold, he was warm. That made sense. But this, on the other hand—Zuko was crossing a line by snuggling her like that.

Sokka was just about to reach across and separate the two of them—he could pile up a bunch of cushions and furs for Katara if she was going to fall asleep by the fire—when her face scrunched up for just a moment or two before she settled deeper into Zuko's side with a small, contented sound. Zuko's eyes widened, and Sokka was fairly certain that for once, his own expression matched. This was all completely bonkers.

The only thing that Sokka could be relatively certain about was that Katara was probably fully asleep by now. There was no way that she'd be cuddling up against Zukoif she were awake and aware of what was going on. At least Sokka didn't think that she would. Clearly there were things happening that he wasn't aware of.

"Hey, Zuko," Sokka said, keeping his voice low. He nodded in Katara's direction. "Is she sleeping?"

Zuko turned toward him like he'd just realized that he wasn't actually alone, went bright red, then gave a somewhat reluctant nod. "I—yeah, I think so."

Ugh. That was what Sokka wanted to hear. This was the perfect opportunity to really get in there and drill Zuko for answers. Unfortunately, it meant that he was probably going to get answers. And Sokka wasn't certain that he was ready to hear them.

Squaring his shoulders, he sat as tall as he possibly could. It wasn't quite enough to make him appear or even to feel any bigger than Zuko, but it was at least enough to bring him exactly even with Zuko's eye level.

"I don't like you, and I'm pretty sure you don't like me either."

Zuko scowled. "That's an understatement."

Jerk. Sokka took a deep breath before he continued. "I don't like you, but I guess that it's possible that I may have—you know. Um—I may have jumped to a few conclusions."

"You noticed?" Zuko said flatly. "That took you long enough."

"Hey, I don't appreciate the sarcasm. Yes, I made some assumptions, but none of them were that crazy. Believe me, Katara and I have seen a lot of awful stuff from the Fire Nation. I could've assumed a lot worse, and I still wouldn't have been out of line." He paused. "Right now, I'm—I'm just way past confused. So I guess this is your chance. If you have things to clear up, now's the time."

The scowl deepened a fraction. "So, what? You're going to let me talk now and forget everything I said tomorrow morning?"

"I don't know, man. That kind of depends on what you're going to say." It was going to be hard to give Zuko the benefit of the doubt, even for the few minutes that it took to hear him out, and even more difficult to hold onto that afterward. But right now, with Katara right there, in easy reach if Zuko were to try anything suspicious, was probably the best chance either of them would ever get at forging an understanding.

As long as Sokka could ignore the fact that Katara was snuggling into Zuko's side in her sleep. Which could be very difficult.

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth, ideally."

Zuko sighed. "No. I mean—about what? I don't think I've ever lied to you, but you've never listened before. Where am I supposed to start?"

Okay, that was a fair point. They hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot—ever.

"I guess," he began, "start with why you're still trying to warm Katara up with your bending."

"Because her temperature still isn't back to normal," Zuko answered. The way that he managed to convey so much irritation without changing his tone or expression was slightly impressive.

"No kidding, dumbass. What I meant is that you wouldn't have to do any of that. She's already got the fire and furs and stuff. Why do all that extra work when you wouldn't have to?"

"Oh." Zuko stopped and looked down at Katara. His expression shifted, but it didn't return to the same near-reverent look as before. Thank goodness. Instead, he looked a bit puzzled. Then, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Why wouldn't I use my bending?"

"That's it?" Sokka asked doubtfully. "You're just a helpful guy? So you'd do the same thing for anyone, then?"

"I don't know," Zuko answered. Though his voice didn't raise, his tone was harsher than before. "Shockingly, it's never come up before. I haven't spent that much of my life around the poles."

Aang took that opportunity to interject. "I think you're pretty helpful. You helped Katara a few times before. And you helped me get away from Zhao. And there was Crescent Island too. And all of that was way before we were friends."

Staring into the fire, Zuko frowned. "I wasn't trying to help back then. That's a lot more recent. Back then—I don't know. I guess I've just always hated feeling useless."

Sokka frowned too. What a weirdo.

In a way it made sense, he supposed. Back before the whole kidnapping debacle, Zuko had done a few things that were oddly helpful, but he'd never really stepped in unless it benefitted him as well. At least Zuko wasn't giving himself more credit than he deserved for any of that. Still, the guy had to be pretty desperate if he had to go so far out of his way to not feel useless that he ended up actually helping the people he was supposed to fight.

If nothing else, it proved that Zuko never did things by halves. Which had to get pretty exhausting after a while. Sokka considered himself a pretty hardworking person, but he at least took breaks and looked for the most efficient way to get things done. Zuko, apparently, didn't.

"So was that why you got Katara off your ship too?" Sokka asked. "You just wanted something to do?"

Zuko's forehead creased, but it was more a look of pain than of anger. "Sure. Something like that."

An eyebrow raised. "The truth, remember? You're not doing yourself any favors by lying."

"Ugh! I just—I don't think I thought through anything that day. There wasn't time." A pause, and when Zuko resumed, he looked somewhat constipated. "I couldn't think. I just knew that someone was trying to kill us, and I couldn't let that happen."

Sokka frowned. Believing that—any of it—ran so directly against his better judgement and everything he knew about the Fire Nation that it was difficult to muscle his skepticism back down where it belonged. He shouldn't be listening to Zuko's attempts to paint himself as a hero of some sort. But that was exactly the problem. Zuko wasn't trying to paint himself as a hero. Not even close. And it was even more difficult to believe that Zuko might be feigning modesty to manipulate them all than it was to believe that this might be genuine. Manipulation didn't seem to be one of his strong points.

"What is this?" Sokka asked after another long silence.

Zuko looked up. "What are you talking about?"

"This." Sokka gestured vaguely at Zuko and Katara. "You two. You're being all—you know."

"I don't think I do."

"Ugh." Sokka trailed a hand down the side of his face. "I mean—earlier today, you told me that you knew what this thing with the two of you was. But now you keep making that face at her, and—" And it reminded him a little too much of how he felt about Yue. Sokka couldn't bring himself to say that, though. He could deal with the two of them becoming friends someday. Maybe. But anything more than that was way, way too much to think about.

"What's the goal here?" Sokka asked. "What do you want from her?"

Zuko looked sharply away, and his brow furrowed. Hmm. Subtle. Sokka half expected a stubborn silence to set in, but after just a little while, Zuko actually did speak. "What difference does it make? If she doesn't—if Katara doesn't want me as a friend, then what I want doesn't matter."

"So—in normal-person words, that would mean—"

Zuko shot a brief scowl at Sokka.

"What do you mean that you're not friends with Katara?" Aang asked. "I thought you liked spending time with her."

"So? That doesn't mean—I mean, I don't think it means anything. I've never had a friend before. I have no idea what that's supposed to feel like. But I'm pretty sure both people are supposed to feel the same."

Sokka frowned. Really? Friendship was all that Zuko wanted? Honestly, as much as Sokka wanted to believe that, it didn't sound quite right. He could see that look on Zuko's face. He wasn't stupid.

"Doesn't Katara think that you're friends?" Aang asked.

"I don't know! I mean—I don't think so. It hasn't come up for a while. And I'm—I'm not good at words. Or feelings. Or any of this." Zuko paused when Katara stirred a little, then swallowed visibly when she nuzzled against his shoulder. "She's just—" he tried again when she'd settled back in. "—she's the first person who really gave me a chance aside from my uncle. And allies or acquaintances or whatever we are, I know that I don't want to screw it up."

Damn. If Zuko was lying, he was doing an astonishingly good job of hiding it. Which shouldn't have been possible, because Zuko was an awful liar.

"I'm pretty sure that you guys are friends," Aang said very matter-of-factly. "Believe me. I've had lots of friends in my life. And I think you're a pretty nice person. I'll be your friend."

That wasn't as grand a gesture as Aang seemed to think it was. He made friends with everyone. Plus some distinctly unfriendly animals at times.

Despite himself, Sokka almost laughed when Zuko made a deeply unconvincing thoughtful face. "I'll think about that."

Yeah, right. Zuko clearly didn't care all that much about being close with Aang. Which, Sokka had to admit, made some sense. As different as Zuko and Katara were, Aang was basically on an entirely different planet. And for a person like Zuko, who could barely function around people at all, that had to be a bit of a problem.

The conversation fell into a lull—there wasn't much more that Sokka could say to Zuko, and Zuko certainly wasn't making any effort to humor Aang's cheeriness. After a while, Aang gave up and wandered off to play with Momo, then after another few minutes, Sokka hung a pot of leftover soup over the fire to reheat. Then moved it farther off to the side when he realized that the fire was burning a little too hot thanks to Zuko's bending.

When Sokka finally returned to his seat, a steaming bowl of soup in hand, Zuko still hadn't moved. Which was a little impressive, since Katara was near enough to upright that she would definitely tip over if not for Zuko's arm holding her steady. And after this much time, that had to be getting uncomfortable.

Sokka slurped at his soup, frowning deeply as he watched the two of them out of the corner of his eye. He didn't wantto trust Zuko. He didn't want to believe that this was anything more than an act to convince them all that despite everything, Zuko could somehow be trusted to be around Katara without causing her any harm. That he'd changed, and all the bad things he'd ever done could just be tossed aside and forgotten.

But Sokka had eyes. Much as he didn't want to believe any of this, he could see the way that Zuko was looking at Katara, completely oblivious to his surroundings, forehead creasing in concern every time that even the slightest look of discomfort crossed her sleeping face. If this was an act, it was one hell of a good performance. And Sokka knew very well that Zuko was no actor. Like it or not—and Sokka didn't like it—Zuko was trying to take care of her. Trying to keep her safe.

That, at least, was one thing that they could agree on.


Though Zuko couldn't see any windows from his position, and the only real light in the house came from the fire that he himself was keeping at a high, even burn, he could tell that it was getting late. The fact that the lemur had given up on playing with Aang and curled up to sleep in Zuko's lap—probably just to enjoy the warmth—seemed like a good indication of that. As did the fact that Aang was yawning. And the fact that Sokka was no longer sitting right beside the fire, glaring daggers at Zuko too.

It was late. So at least it made sense that it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open.

Zuko scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. No matter how tired he got, he couldn't succumb to sleep. Not now. Katara was, at last, back to a normal temperature, but he didn't dare to leave her recovery up to chance. Not until she was awake and able to call for help if something went wrong. Until that happened, Zuko would just have to stay with her, keeping her engulfed in the warmth of his bending so that nothing could go wrong. So that she couldn't slip away from him.

"Hey, Zuko." Sokka's voice startled him out of his thoughts, and Zuko looked up to find him crouched on the opposite side of the fire, the last lit lamp in his hand. Aang had apparently gone off to bed already, not that Zuko would have noticed. "Uh—how's she doing? Is she back to normal yet?"

Zuko gave a one-sided shrug to keep from disturbing Katara. "Maybe." Cautiously, he raised a hand up to almost brush against her forehead. It was too difficult to be certain without disturbing her sleep, but the shivering had ended a while ago, and the worrisome coolness seemed to have faded. "Better than before. Hopefully she'll be okay by morning."

Sokka nodded a little stiffly. "Good. That's good." A prolonged pause. "So, uh—are you good with keeping an eye on her for the night? I mean, I'd do it but—you know. You're the one who can make extra heat and everything."

Zuko raised his eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to kick me out so I'd have to sleep in the snow in my underwear."

"No, I wanted to kick you out so that you'd have to sleep in the snow in a different stolen parka. Big difference." Sokka hesitated again. "But, uh—I guess that's probably not what Katara would want. I don't exactly want to deal with a pissed-off sister on top of everything else when this is all over. And—I mean, maybe kicking out the guy who brought my sister back and who's feeding us information on the Fire Nation fleet isn't the best idea after all."

Zuko stared at him, both unimpressed and too tired to find a response.

"Anyway. My point is that I'll give you a chance. Just for tonight. And—you know. If you don't try anything funny, I might think about trusting you a little bit more. Just a little."

Zuko managed to muster a faint scowl. "You still think I'm going to go back on my word?"

"Well, wouldn't you? It's not like you have a flawless track record." Sokka scratched behind his ear, then gave an exaggerated shrug. "I get that you've done some helpful stuff recently. I really do. But—you've also kidnapped my sister and tried to do the same to Aang, and probably a bunch of other shit that I haven't even heard about. The helpful bits don't wipe away everything else."

Zuko looked down, watching the soft curves of Katara's sleeping face for a moment. He hated that he could understand exactly what Sokka meant. He hated the knowledge that for much of his life, Zuko had been exactly the person who Sokka thought he was now. Zuko hated that person too. The anger and the despair had chewed at his insides for the first years of his banishment had made him miserable, and it was only recently that he'd begun to find something like a respite from that misery.

He couldn't go back now. He didn't know what he was going to do once the battle was over, but he couldn't just accept his banishment and Father's conditions for ending it anymore.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Zuko said quietly. "There's no way I would've come this far if I wanted to go back to the way things were before."

Sokka twisted his mouth up and made a displeased-sounding grunt. "I hate that I almost believe you." But then after a moment, he slapped his hands on his knees and rose. "But anyway. Spare furs are there. You know where to find the firewood. And there's still some soup left by the fire if you want any or if Katara needs something to eat when she wakes up." Another pause. "So—I'm gonna go, then. Don't try anything funny or I'll be out here in a second to kick your ass."

To Zuko's considerable surprise, Sokka did leave after that, backing across the room and closing the door to the second bedroom so slowly that his face lingered in the opening for what felt like several minutes, but he did go. Leaving Zuko alone with Katara. Almost as though, despite all the posturing, Sokka somehow trusted Zuko to look after her.

Zuko didn't have the energy to mull over why that was. Something had obviously changed Sokka's mind, but for now, all that really mattered was that his mind had been changed. That Zuko at least had a place to spend the night, and that he could stay close to look after Katara.

Exhaling, he looked down at Katara again, at her peaceful, sleeping face framed by mounds of dark, fluffy curls, and his insides turned warm and fluttery. He couldn't identify the feeling, but whatever it was felt more familiar than it used to. The sensation had been following him around for a few days now, peaking whenever he was with Katara. If this was friendship, or something close to it, at least, he thought that he liked it. Possibly even too much.

Carefully, very carefully, Zuko stretched out his free arm to extract one of the furs from the pile and draped it gently across both of their laps, trying not to disturb either Katara or the sleeping lemur too much.

Maybe it was a good thing that he couldn't sleep tonight. Maybe after a night left alone with his thoughts and his feelings, he might come away with a better grasp on them.


Katara's neck was stiff. Even before she opened her eyes, she noticed that much. Stiff and a little sore, but not as bad as it might have been.

It was the warmth that captured her next. Though her mind and her memories were clouded, she could remember being cold. Terribly cold. Too cold, but now there was nothing but soft, pleasant heat enveloping her from all sides.

And, she noticed after another moment, her head was resting against something warm and firm, while something equally firm wrapped gently around her back, holding her steady. A shoulder and an arm, she realized. Zuko's shoulder and Zuko's arm, to be more precise. That should have bothered her. She should have been stunned to find herself nestled in against his side, but instead, she just felt—safe.

With a small, sleepy inhalation, she rubbed at her eyes and blinked, only to press her eyes back shut against the brilliance of the firelight.

"Katara?" His voice was soft—probably softer than she'd ever heard it before. Soft enough that the raspiness dissipated, leaving just a faint, even whisper behind. "Are you awake?"

"Mmm."

"How are you feeling?"

She gave another small grunt. She was tired, achy in places, and half-convinced that she would freeze if she pulled too far away from Zuko. But right now, with her eyes shut, her head resting against his side, and furs wrapped snug around her, she was almost perfectly comfortable.

"How long was I sleeping?" she asked groggily.

"I'm not really sure," Zuko answered, voice still soft. "A few hours, I guess. Your friends went to bed a while ago. Are you hungry? Sokka said that he left some soup by the fire."

She shook her head and made another attempt at opening her eyes. She had to squint for a while, but she could eventually make out the fire, still burning bright despite the fact that its fuel was almost entirely depleted. "Are you doing that?"

"What do you mean?"

"The fire. It looks like it should have gone out a while ago."

"Oh." Zuko paused for a little while and shifted just enough for her to notice that the furs covering her lap were also draped over his. And that Momo had apparently decided that Zuko's lap was the best bed in the house. "Yeah. I was meaning to go get some more firewood, but I didn't want to move and wake you up. It's really—it's not a big deal. I would've been firebending anyway."

There was a slight heaviness to his voice, and Katara frowned. "For how long?" Her thoughts still felt muddy, but if she'd been sleeping for even a single hour and Zuko had been firebending all that time, he had to be exhausted as well.

Zuko sighed, and she felt him lower his head a bit. "I'm not sure, Katara. I don't know how late it is, so—"

"But you started firebending when we got here, didn't you?"

He hesitated. "No. It was—earlier than that. Back at the lake." Another pause. "Do you remember that?"

She thought that she did. Of course that, like everything else, was a bit hazy around the edges, but she remembered the ice collapsing beneath them. She remembered Zuko grabbing her hand, pulling her from the water, then pressing her hand against her stomach, urging her to firebend. She remembered the warmth flaring up inside of her for a second or two before it failed and she had no choice but to press herself into Zuko's chest, searching for even the faintest hint of warmth.

"Yeah, I remember." She sat a little straighter, staggered by the amount of effort it took to move. "Aren't you getting tired?"

"No, not really." His tone was utterly unconvincing.

Katara craned her neck, and when she couldn't get a good look at his face, she reached up to pull his chin closer. "Liar. You are tired."

She felt his breath catch and watched his lips part just a little. "I'm—" He sighed. "It's not a big deal. I don't mind."

That sounded a fraction more convincing. Only a fraction, though. "Why are you still awake if you're so tired? It's nighttime."

"Because," Zuko answered, voice just a tiny bit hazy. "You nearly froze today. I know that I can keep you warm with my bending. Why would I take any chances when there's a way for me to help? All I have to do is stay awake and keep bending." A pause. "Plus your brother tried to threaten me into keeping an eye on you tonight."

"Tried to?"

"Yeah. He's a lot less intimidating than he thinks he is. And I was already planning to stay up before he said anything." Zuko looked off toward the fire, and Katara followed his gaze, allowing herself to relax against his side again. "You wouldn't have needed to warn me at the lake. I could've gotten out on my own."

She looked up just far enough to see the muscles in his jaw working. "Are you saying that you're mad at me?" Exhaustion was beginning to settle over her again, turning her thoughts hazy at the edges.

Zuko shook his head forcefully. "No. Of course not. I wouldn't have had anywhere to go without you, but I just—I hate that you put yourself in danger. You shouldn't have to take risks like that for me."

"Mmm. That's what friends do," she mumbled. Then, "If you're really tired, you should lie down. It'll make you feel better."

There was such a long pause that Katara's eyes had already closed, and she felt herself drifting away before he spoke again.

"Where would I even go to lie down?" His voice sounded strangled, and his muscles tensed beneath her head. "There—there's really just the floor out here."

"My bed," she mumbled in reply. That was the sensible answer, wasn't it? Beds were the best places to lie down, and they always would be.

Perfectly contented with her answer, she dropped off to sleep.


Ever since he'd scooped Katara up and carried her off to settle her down into her bed, Zuko had been fairly certain that he was going to regret this decision. There was every possibility that her bedroom could be freezing, and that taking her away from the fire—which was scarcely more than Zuko's bending hovering over a depleted fireplace—could be disastrous. And going into her bedroom would look weird to everyone.

But by the time that another hour had passed, she'd begun to toss in her sleep, apparently less than comfortable in her mostly-upright position, and with the firewood reduced entirely to ash, the fire wasn't doing her any good that Zuko couldn't do on his own—and possibly better—in a smaller room where the heat had less opportunity to escape. He wasn't going to lie down, but he could at least get Katara tucked into her bed and find a more comfortable place for himself to sit while he continued warming her with his bending. Katara would be every bit as safe there as she was here, and undoubtedly more comfortable. By morning, she'd be well rested, and Zuko might be slightly less stiff and sore than he would be if he spent the whole night here.

At least that was what he'd thought. But now it was morning, and he'd definitely just woken up from a deep, deep sleep, curled up beside Katara in the bed. He couldn't even remember how he'd gotten there—though if he had to guess, he would probably say that he'd gotten tired after carrying Katara to the other room and decided to lie down for a few moments of rest—but he was in Katara's room, in Katara's bed, and he had clearly slept there for at least an hour or two.

As he scrambled up and ducked into a corner to conceal himself from whoever was making scuffling sounds in the adjoining room, he was half convinced that his face would burst into flames.

"Katara!" Zuko thought he recognized Yue's voice through the door. "Thank goodness that you're here. I was so worried that something might have happened last night—"

"Yue! Good, I was worried that there might have been someone else out there."

There was a soft scuffing sound as the front door closed. "No, of course not. I wanted to come sooner, but this was the first chance I had to slip away alone." A pause. "Are you okay? And Red—did he make it out safely."

"See for yourself." There was a light tap at the bedroom door. "Come on out," Katara said softly, her voice muffled through the door. "We're safe, it's just Yue."

At the moment, that wasn't exactly reassuring. Sure, Yue wouldn't turn him in, but he was very obviously hiding in a bedroom. Katara's bedroom. And probably looking every bit as sleep-rumpled and disoriented as he felt. There was no way that he could get out of this with anything even resembling dignity.

Still, there wasn't much he could do but come out and show himself. After straightening his tunic, which had somehow twisted sideways at the waist sometime in the night, and running a hand over his hair, which probably did nothing at all, he opened the door and took a cautious step out.

"Thank goodness!" Yue surged forward and wrapped Zuko in a quick embrace.

He immediately went stonily still, and his eyes widened until he thought they would pop.

Yue apparently noticed how much he had stiffened and pulled back. "I'm sorry. It probably isn't entirely customary to hug like that in the Fire Nation. But I'm just so relieved that the two of you are both okay."

No matter how hard he tried, Zuko couldn't bring his expression back under control, and his face was already burning. He brushed off his tunic as though Yue might have left behind some dust or grime after the hug. "I don't think that's customary anywhere." He hoped that it wasn't. He would never survive in a place like that. He would quite literally die of embarrassment after the first dozen or so hugs.

Katara stepped just a little closer to him while Yue backed up just a bit more, looking embarrassed. Katara gave him a small, teasing smile and nudged his arm. "Maybe you just look huggable sometimes."

Zuko managed a slight scowl. "That's a horrifying thought." Having Katara lean against him and fall asleep on his shoulder last night had been one thing. He was used to her. Well, not used to any kind of contact with her, but at least accustomed to her company. The idea of anyone else even coming close to that level of familiarity made every one of his muscles clench.

"I am very sorry," Yue said again. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." She turned to Katara. "If you don't mind, may I ask what happened last night? Kriisax and I stopped by the lake an hour or so after you left, and there was nothing there anymore. Just an enormous hole in the ground."

"I got there just before they started," Katara explained just as a bit of rustling began in the other bedroom.

Good. Apparently Zuko had somehow managed to wake early enough to keep Sokka and Aang from realizing where he'd spend the last part of the night. It was a small mercy, but a mercy nonetheless.

"It was close," Katara continued. "I was able to keep a bit of fog following us so no one could see us out there on the lake, but I wasn't sure it was going to be enough. And then the ice collapsed underneath us just before we made it to shore, so maybe I should have been in a bit more of a hurry."

"You had to swim?" Yue looked dismayed.

A nod. "It wasn't pleasant, but we made it. Thanks to Zuko." She glanced up at him, not quite smiling, but with an immense amount of warmth in her eyes, and her pinky finger brushed against his.

Zuko's heart skipped, and the warmth in his middle burst outward with so much force that he half expected to melt a hole through the floor. With difficulty, he shoved the wash of feeling and heat back down just as Sokka and Aang emerged from the other bedroom.

"Morning, Princess Yue!" Aang said, looking as bright and cheerful as ever. "Morning, Zuko!"

"You're still here?" Sokka rubbed his eyes, speaking through the tail end of a yawn. He froze and fumbled to fix his disheveled hair when he noticed Yue.

"Where else would I be?" Zuko demanded. "In case you've forgotten, my whole camp got washed away last night." All of his belongings. His spare clothes, the few bits of frozen, unappetizing food that he had left from the ship, his blankets, the stolen twin swords that he'd never even gotten the chance to use—all of it was gone, along with Katara's tent and Sokka's sleeping bag.

He felt his shoulders hunch. Damn it. He'd lost everything again.

"We'll figure something out," Katara said, and her pinky looped gently with his. "I have some ideas, but until we decide what to do, you'll stay right here with us."

"Yeah!" Aang said excitedly. "It'll be loads of fun having you here, even if it's just for a little while."

"If you need anything at all," Yue interjected, voice light as always, "I'm more than happy to help. I do have access to the armory, and I'm sure that I could find any supplies that you might need within a day or two."

Zuko's insides felt all strange and wiggly. Instinct told him that he shouldn't—couldn't—trust the others to stay true to their word, to help him out when he needed it. No one ever had in the Fire Nation, except for possibly Uncle, and years and years in the past, Mother. He hated the idea of being reliant on the others like this. And yet as hard as he tried, he couldn't convince himself to doubt any of them. He trusted Katara, and—ugh. He thought that he was beginning to trust Yue and Aang as well. And Sokka—probably a bit less than the others.

It came as something of a relief when Sokka spoke up. "Yeah, having another morning person around sounds like loads of fun, Aang. You're all just trying to make me miserable, aren't you?"

Katara marched over and gave him a light whack on the back of the head. "Go back to bed if you're going to be grumpy, Sokka."


Author's Note:

I feel a little bit disappointed with myself for giving Zuko's first real non-family hug to Yue rather than Katara, but... the boy did get to snuggle with Katara for an ENTIRE NIGHT. And he will get plenty of Katara-hugs in the future, I promise (plus one of the biggest hurdles that Zuko has to overcome is that he feels unworthy of love and affection, AND he thinks that his friendship with Katara is basically a once-in-a-lifetime thing for him, so if I can pile on the warm fuzzies from other characters, I'm going to).

I hope you enjoyed the self-indulgence! I would say that we're going back to less self-indulgent stuff with the next chapter, but honestly... this whole fic is self-indulgence in slightly different flavors at this point, so I'm not going to make a liar of myself. See you in two weeks, feel free to visit me on Tumblr, reviews are always appreciated, and all that good stuff!