Chapter Six: Dancer on Sunset's Shore
Katara prodded and poked a resolutely still, charred pile of wood in the fire pit. Sokka and Aang had gone in search of dinner and Toph had fallen asleep at her post again. The fire just would not start.
"Aarrghh!" Katara kicked at a crumbly-looking piece of wood and immediately fell over, sucking air through her teeth in pain as she massaged her throbbing foot. 'Stupid burnt wood thingy that's really, really solid.'
She sat there on the ground, kneading her foot and glaring at the useless fireplace. Toph rolled over in her heavy slumber, completely undisturbed. But a low moan sounded as Zuko slowly blinked his eyes. Once…twice…then they snapped open.
"Mmmph! Mmph mm emmph!" he yelled; which translated to probably "where the hell am I?!" He struggled with his bonds. Katara jumped up immediately, trying to assemble herself in a readied stance but almost fell over again as her toe seemed to been broken.
"Mmph mnno fffkkk!" he growled, which meant "Get this off me!" Katara was by his side in an instant, her face grim against pain, and clamped two fingers tightly over his nose, blocking his oxygen.
"MMMPHHH!!!!!" he yelled, his eyes widening. He turned his head from side to side, trying to snatch his nose away from Katara's inhuman grip. Katara let go of his nose.
"Don't try and burn yourself out," she said. Zuko narrowed his eyes at her angrily.
"Mmmph hmm hmmm HHMPH!" he snapped, meaning "I wasn't going to!" Katara moved forward cautiously. She still hadn't forgotten how powerful he was. That last encounter at the river wasn't her idea of a little battle.
"I'm going to untie your mouth," she said. "If you do anything I will drown you." His gaze shifted uncertainly to the darkening black water. Her eyes moved with his as she backed away toward the stubbornly still fire pit. He watched her bend, her slender figure crouching. The clumsy Water Tribe dress did not appeal to her; he wished she would just take it off. She looked much better in a wet linen wrap…and perhaps even nothing at all.
He watched her mouth frown as her slim fingers wrapped around two pieces of wood. She rubbed them together, her blue eyes darkening with frustration. Katara lifted a languid finger, pushing dark hair behind her ears. It was like a dance; so graceful yet purposeful. It was a while before he realized that she was actually trying to start a fire.
"Move." Katara, startled, turned to stare at him when an orange flame shot out of his mouth. Immediately, the charred logs erupted in flame, merry warmth radiating from it. Zuko sat comfortably back against his tree trunk and watched as the Water bender peasant's expression from confusion, to relief, back to confusion, then haughtiness.
"Thanks," she sniffed. The waves rolled with their heavy, mysterious push-and-pull motion against the shore, Toph muttered foul language at someone called Pig face in her sleep, and the Water Tribe peasant and the Fire Nation prince sat across from one another in silence, reading each others' eyes across the dancing flames, wondering what the other was thinking.