Hello! Another chapter! This one took a while to write because I'm doing final exams right now and it doesn't contain as much action as some of the previous chapters. I feel like it's kind of terrible, so I may go back later on and fix it. So hard to write when one's thoughts keep getting interrupted by real life haha

I would like to thank the kind souls out there who have reviewed thus far: I love you.

This chapter was inspired by the song 'I'm Not Calling You A Liar' by Florence + The Machine off their 2009 album, 'Lungs'.

I hope you enjoy reading!

Chapter 14: Not Calling You A Liar

…

I'm not calling you a liar, just don't lie to me

I'm not calling you a thief, just don't steal from me

I'm not calling you a ghost, just stop haunting me

…

There's a ghost in my lungs and it sighs in my sleep

Wraps itself around my tongue as it softly speaks

Then it walks, then it walks with my legs

To fall, to fall, to fall at your feet

…

Katara… Come back to me… Please

The searing pain in her back subsided as the water washed over her, pulling the agony away with the receding tide. Her breathing was shallow when her eyes finally fluttered open and the world was a blur. As things came into focus, her line of sight was entirely occupied by Zuko on the backdrop of a darkening sky, blues and purples contrasting the amber fire in his eyes. His brow was furrowed in worry as he gazed down at her and she blinked when she thought she saw a tear slip down his unmarred cheek.

"Zuko…" Her voice was barely a whisper, a soft breath that carried evidence of sound.

"Don't worry," He pulled her closer to his chest, mumbling into her hair, "I've got you."

"Zuko… you promised…" She couldn't finish: that you wouldn't hurt me. Whether it had been him or one of his soldiers, Zuko showed up and she had been burned again. The look in his eyes, the tear that she witnessed sliding down his cheek, broke her heart and made her ache for him; to comfort him and tell him it was okay. But it wasn't and she couldn't ignore the voice in her mind that whispered something along the lines of I told you so. Even after all they had been through, they were still enemies.

"I- I know…" He murmured. She could feel his scowl, the way his body tightened around her. Salty tears were silently streaming down her cheeks now too and she hoped the seawater would hide them. As much as she wanted to stay like this with him forever, it would mean giving up herself – everything she held true. It was something she simply couldn't do.

After what felt like an eternity spent in his arms, she heard voices in the distance

"They went this way!"

"Are you sure?"

She recognized Suki's voice and turned her head in time to see her friend leap out of the woods onto the soft sand. When she saw Katara, her eyebrows shot up and she stopped. As the initial surprise passed, her brow furrowed once more and she got back into her fighting stance.

"Let go of her!" Suki yelled at Zuko, who had removed his face from her hair. He just stared, his jaw slack and eyebrow raised, then glanced down to Katara and back up to the girl on the shore, apparently at a loss for words. After he finally seemed to process the situation, his scowl returned and he started trudging back towards the shore. Huan came out of the trees behind Suki and watched the scene unfold in confusion. Zuko laid Katara on the sand, meeting her gaze once more with a pained expression on his face, before turning and walking to the woods without another word.

Suki ran over to her, eyeing Zuko's back suspiciously, as he retreated into the trees, "Katara, are you ok?"

She breathed, "I'm fine, Suki… Thanks."

"What was that all about?"

"I- I'll tell you later," Katara whispered breathlessly, her eyes drifting to Huan. She couldn't keep lying about everything anymore. "Where's Aang? Is he ok?"

"He's fine," Suki helped her up, "One of the soldiers came running out of the woods yelling something about Prince Zuko going crazy and being a traitor. They eventually retreated and left. Aang and Sokka are talking to that old guy- his Uncle?"

"Iroh," Katara nodded, "His soldiers left?"

"Yeah, I guess they finally had enough of following his orders. I think it serves him right," She muttered, clenching her fists. "Let's go find Aang and Sokka. We have to figure out what we're going to do now."

…

When he approached his Uncle, Iroh was talking with the Avatar and Katara's brother, nodding and shaking hands. The water tribe warrior – if one could even call him that – muttered something and Iroh laughed jovially along with the Avatar. Zuko scowled. The water tribe peasant looked over Iroh's shoulder to see Zuko emerge from the trees and his grin turned to a frown.

"Uncle, what's going on? Where are the soldiers?" He interrupted. This all seemed far too friendly an encounter given the circumstances. And the Avatar was not in chains as he had hoped he would be upon his return. Iroh thanked the other two and walked over.

"Prince Zuko," He sighed, "I have some bad news. The soldiers left… probably with the rowboat and all of our supplies." The old General's features were twisted into an expression of consternation, an expression Zuko hadn't seen on his face in years.

"What? They left? That's treason!" He was angry again, an indignant rage at being betrayed by his own men. His ship was gone, his remaining soldiers were gone; how the hell was he supposed to capture the Avatar now? "We have to find them, Uncle. They will pay for this treachery with their-"

"Yes, yes, I know. We will find out what happened," Iroh nodded, "But I also have good news: the Avatar will let us stay here with them for the night as long as we agree to a temporary truce."

"What?" Zuko sputtered, clenching his fists.

"I already agreed to the truce. I'm afraid my honor is on the line now, nephew. We will need to abide by their terms for the time being."

"Uncle, this is absurd! We're supposed to be capturing the Avatar… not camping with him!" Behind Iroh, the water tribe peasant was still watching him, eyes narrowed.

"Prince Zuko, you must understand, we have no other choice." Iroh placed his hand on the prince's shoulder and steered him farther away from the others. "Our supplies and transportation are gone. Perhaps you should have considered this possibility when you attacked Private Wong." His Uncle's tone was stern and his words irked Zuko, but he had to admit that the old man was right.

"I- I had no choice, Uncle… he burned her," Was all he could manage to say.

"Is she ok?" The old general's eyes widened.

"She healed herself," he mumbled, averting his gaze.

Iroh sighed, "I'm glad she is not hurt."

"Wong is going to pay for this with his life," Zuko seethed.

"Prince Zuko-"

"He shot at her back when she wasn't looking, Uncle!" He tried to explain. "If the soldiers under my command have no honor, how am I supposed to regain mine?"

Iroh looked to his nephew, as if searching his gaze for some kind of meaning, before letting out a long exhale."What's done is done. Now, we must focus on finding the ship. We should set off first thing in the morning… it will likely be a long walk back up the peninsula."

…

Katara felt weak; drained of the energy it took to heal the wound on her back. She clung to Suki as the older girl walked them back through the woods.

Sokka and Aang were back at the fire when they arrived at the campsite, muttering in hushed tones.

"He seems pretty reasonable… it's Hot-Head the Human Torch I'm worried about…" Sokka mumbled.

"We'll just have to trust their word," Aang breathed.

Suki interrupted their quiet conversation, "What's going on?"

The two boys turned at the sound of Suki's voice and gaped when their eyes fell on Katara. She was dripping wet, exhausted, and leaning on the Kyoshi Warrior.

"Katara! Are you ok?" The airbender and her brother said simultaneously, making to stand up from their seated positions.

Katara waved them off with an "I'm fine, don't worry," as she held steady the tattered cloth that had been Zuko's shirt.

"We were just talking about what we're going to do."

"So, when are we leaving?" Suki asked.

"In the morning. Appa is still tired." Aang added, glancing over at the sleeping beast.

"What? You don't mean that we're staying here... with them, do you?"

"I know it's not ideal," Sokka exhaled, "But they don't exactly have the means to capture Aang right now and Iroh agreed to a temporary truce."

Katara was speechless. She didn't want to entertain the idea of Zuko being so close while all of her friends were around. She wasn't looking forward to the possibility of having to address her feelings for the Prince, but she knew she couldn't stay away. He pulled her in like gravity and she fell back to him every time.

Suki pursed her lips in thought before sighing, "Whatever you say. I'm taking Katara to get another shirt and some more firewood. It looks like we're running low."

Aang stood, looking at Katara like he wanted to say something, but Suki whisked her off before he was able to.

They searched for dead wood and tree branches in silence for a while as Katara mulled over how to explain everything to Suki. The older girl glanced at her occasionally, clearly waiting for her to say something. Could she really tell her everything? She wanted to – she wanted to confide in someone about Zuko – but what would Suki think of her if she knew the truth? Though, Katara wasn't entirely sure herself what the truth was.

Whatever this was between her and Zuko, it was unfamiliar territory. She was certainly attracted to him – every time he was close her heart threatened to break through her ribcage. His eyes were like the sun and she was blinded to all else. Her heart ached to know him, to learn all the things that make him tick. He was infuriating and cold at times but breaking down his hard exterior had been such a gratifying experience. He encouraged her to be better, to reconsider things she believed to be fact, and she was inexplicably drawn to the challenge.

Finally, she sighed. "Suki… I lied. I'm sorry."

The older girl broke a large branch, "You don't have to lie to me, Katara. I'm your friend."

"I know. I just… I don't know how to talk about this. I want to but… promise you won't hate me."

"Why would I hate you?" Suki laughed, "I promise."

"Ok, well… you were right, my tunic was cut open. I don't even know why I lied about it. I guess I was embarrassed and… keeping secrets. The first day we left Omashu, the camp got attacked by bandits and well… luckily nothing else happened."

"Katara…" Suki frowned at the implication. "Are you ok? I wish you would have told me earlier."

"I- I'm fine, really," She shook her head, not wanting to discuss her experience with the bandits any further. "It was one of the bandits that did it, but that's all that happened."

"So it wasn't the Prince of Hell?" The Kyoshi bent down to pick up another stick.

"No, it wasn't. He… really isn't that bad, you know. He saved me."

Suki looked up at her then and Katara dropped some of the sticks in her hands.

"Look, I- I don't know how to explain what happened between us but he's not who everyone thinks he is. Well, he is-… and he's still attacking Aang… But he's been through a lot and… he can be really kind. He wants to put an end to the war, Suki."

"Are you sure? Him trying to capture Aang doesn't really scream ending the war to me, unless you mean by a Fire Nation victory."

Katara averted her gaze and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. Seriously, I'm here to listen," Suki waved her arm, "Go on."

"Maybe it's stupid. No, it is stupid. Maybe I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid, Katara."

"I just- we talked a lot… and I think there's more to him. There's good in him. He jumped in front of a swamp monster for me. He trained me, challenged me. He gave me that waterbending scroll and pushed me to improve. It's so complicated and I'm angry at him for coming here and trying to take Aang again... but the anger never seems to last very long. I don't even know how I feel."

Suki exhaled, her eyes on the collection of sticks in her arms, "What happened back there on the beach?"

"One of his soldiers… burned me. Zuko brought me into the water so I could heal."

The Kyoshi Warrior's eyebrows shot up. "And you healed it? Can I look?"

Bending to set down her own sticks into a heap on the ground, Katara lifted the back of the shirt Suki had given her to borrow.

"There's… hardly anything there. Just red a mark," The older girl inhaled.

"A scar?" She asked, not having seen her own back.

"Maybe…" Suki pondered. "That's pretty amazing that you can use your waterbending to heal like that…"

She nodded with a sigh, releasing her shirt. "I just... I don't know what's happening, I'm just so confused. Despite everything, I don't hate him… I can't."

"Well… it seems like a lot happened during those days you were with him," Suki considered, "Just… be careful, Katara. If anything, it seems like…" She paused before saying his name, "Zuko is confused too and I don't want to see you get hurt. Again. How could you think that I would hate you?"

"I mean, he did burn down Kyoshi Village and he tried to capture Aang and he's been chasing us for weeks…"

"But you didn't burn down my village. And if you did, I bet you'd have a good reason for doing so," She shot Katara a sly grin. "So, what? You're in love with the Prince of the Fire Nation. I mean, it's not ideal because of him hunting Aang and all... but I thought it was something way worse."

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she stammered, "What? N-no, no, no… I wouldn't say-… I don't love him."

Suki just gave her a knowing smile that made her face flush further, "I'm just glad it's not nearly as bad as I thought it was. You have a thing for bad boys, I guess?"

A smile tugged on the corners Katara's lips as she fought the heat from her cheeks, "Just, um… please don't tell Aang or Sokka. I need to figure out if I should tell them and I'm not sure how they would take it…"

"I don't blame you," Suki joked, "I love your brother, but he can be a little overprotective at times. I won't say anything to either of them."

"Thanks, Suki," Katara embraced her over the forgotten pile of sticks at their feet, "You're such a good friend. I really needed to talk to someone about it."

"Just be careful," Suki sighed, "Even if everything you said is true and Zuko really isn't as bad as he seems, he's still on the hunt for Aang. Not to mention he seems kind of… turbulent."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Katara breathed, relieved to have gotten the pent-up feelings off her chest; like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders after being bogged down for days.

…

Zuko sat next to his uncle at the campfire, trying to keep his eyes on the bowl of stew in front him; On anything but Katara, really. The hospitality wasn't particularly warm, but as much was to be expected. He was surprised that they had agreed to let him and Iroh stay for the night, let alone feed them. Zuko tried to suppress the anger he felt at having been abandoned by his men. Normally by this point, he would be burning things, muttering expletives, and threatening the memory of his soldiers with death or imprisonment. Actions as such, however, would do him no good in the presence of the Avatar and his friends.

Instead, he quelled the burning rage in his core and sat quietly, staring into the bowl in his hands. His uncle was carrying on a rather lively conversation with Katara's brother and the Kyoshi Warrior, while Katara and the Avatar murmured about waterbending, interspersed with the occasional giggle. When Zuko tried to lift his gaze, he caught the stare of the other man – they had called him Huan – eyeing him suspiciously. Scowling and returning his gaze to his food, Zuko slurped up some stew and resolved to ignore everyone.

When it finally came time for the group to disperse and head to bed, Katara's brother – Sokka was his name – put a hand on Zuko's shoulder and steered him towards a large tree near the edge of the clearing they were camped in. Zuko had half the mind to rip the hand off his shoulder and threaten the peasant boy for touching him, Fire Nation royalty, so casually – clearly, he was still in a sour mood. But he didn't do that. He scowled and let the boy lead him to the tree. He was going to have to figure out how to reconcile this situation – the sudden lack of resources and transportation – with future opportunities to capture the Avatar. For the time being, it seemed best not to offend them, threaten anyone, or make a scene.

"No offense, bud," Sokka said, motioning Zuko to sit at the base of the tree, "but you've been chasing us for weeks trying to capture Aang and you kidnapped my sister, so I don't exactly trust you."

Zuko nearly smirked at this, not at all surprised, until he saw the length of chain that Sokka bent down to pick up.

"If you're going to stay here for the night, I'm going to have to ask that you remain chained to this tree until morning. I can't risk anything happening to Aang or… my sister." He glanced over at Katara who was sitting on the sleeping bison, mending her tunic by the moonlight.

Zuko scowled again, sitting with his back against the base of the tree, "Fine. Whatever you have to do," He muttered, not meeting Sokka's eye.

After chaining him up, the peasant boy sauntered over to the campsite, stretching his arms with a yawn, and Zuko was left to lean against the rough bark of the tree behind him, feeling like an utter failure. It wasn't long until Katara slid down the flying bison's side and came to stand over him.

"I bet you find this amusing," Zuko murmured, "Me being tied up."

"It is a little ironic…" Katara replied lightly, "Don't forget that you tied me up that first day. I guess there's a protocol to these kinds of things, taking prisoners and all," She shrugged, sitting down against the tree next to him, threading a fish bone needle through her tunic. After a moment of silence, she said, "I'm sorry your soldiers abandoned you, though."

Zuko frowned. He didn't want her pity. "It doesn't matter. They were honor-less cowards."

"Well, either way… thank you for… bringing me to the water." Her lip found its way between her teeth, but she kept her focus on the tunic in her hands.

He sighed, "I'm... sorry you got burned. I was worried that you died."

Katara met his gaze then, surprised, "Was it really that bad? I mean, it hurt like hell, but I never saw the damage."

When he turned away from her, his face was stone, thinking back to the mess her back had been, the skin melting off muscle. "Yeah. It was."

"I guess all that time I spent healing you in the swamp must've helped," She thought aloud, returning to her sewing, "You had a lot of internal damage and it took me forever just to find it. You should still be careful with your shoulder, though."

Zuko scoffed and Katara turned to him.

"What?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"You worrying about my shoulder when you nearly died today. You're so self-sacrificing."

"You can be pretty self-sacrificing too, if I recall correctly… the swamp monster?"

"That was just an instinctive reaction."

"So, you're instinctively self-sacrificing. How is that any different?"

Zuko frowned, turning away. He really wasn't self-sacrificing at all. Very few times in his life had he set aside his own interests to benefit another, particularly since his banishment. He had been ruthless at times in his hunt for the Avatar. The fact that he truly wasn't self-sacrificing by nature was what worried him – he hadn't even thought about the consequences when he jumped between Katara and the oncoming attack, he just felt like he needed to protect her. She was changing him, bit by bit. Chipping away at his stony exterior to reveal the weakness underneath. He hated it but also longed for it, for someone to know him; for someone who could begin to understand what he was like, how he thought and felt. Let me love you…

"Katara… what you said the other day…"

"Let's just not talk about it, ok?" She waved her hand dismissively, not averting her eyes from her threading. "Thank you for the waterbending scroll, though. I didn't get the chance to say thank you before… It was a really kind gesture."

He let out a long exhale before responding. "I found it in Daiyu Village. Apparently it was from the Southern Water Tribe, decades ago. I thought it should belong to you, being the last Southern waterbender."

"It's already been really helpful in teaching Aang so far." She unfurled the tunic to eye her work, pursing her lips at the stitching, "I thought you were a really good teacher, you know, whenever we trained. You went over everything in such detail and with so many practical examples. Maybe it's dumb, but… I think one day, if I ever get any good, I'd like to teach waterbending. I'd probably have to work on my patience, but… I feel like it would be really rewarding."

"Who needs patience?" Zuko scoffed.

"True, neither of us have any and we're doing just fine," She flashed him a mischievous grin.

"Katara, you're already good. You put in so much time and effort… it's only a matter of time until you become a master," Zuko mumbled.

Katara fought the smile that was pulling at the corners of her mouth as she looked at him. When their eyes met, she bit her lip and leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder, "Thank you."

In response, Zuko rested his head on top of hers, and they sat in silence for a while.

"Zuko… why don't you let anyone see the good in you? You can be kind and thoughtful… why do you hide it?"

He let out a long exhale, before answering, "Because when people see good they see weakness."

After a pause, Katara whispered, "I don't…" She suppressed a yawn, "I hate that we're enemies."

Zuko bit the inside of his cheek, feeling her relax into him. They were enemies and whatever was going on between them was inherently a bad idea and potentially disastrous.

"Me too…" He whispered back eventually, barely audible.

He listened to her breath deepen as she fell asleep, her head still resting on his shoulder. He didn't want to be her enemy. He didn't want to fight her. He wanted to protect her, to keep her by his side, to train with her, to do everything he could to make her happy because the light in her eyes when she smiled at him was like dawn; brilliant and rousing.

At some point, he drifted off into a light, dreamless slumber.

…

Suki wriggled out of Sokka's arms and stretched, figuring it was probably about time to switch watch with Katara. Ambling away from the campsite in the light of the moon, she was surprised to find her friend sitting next to Zuko against the tree. Her head was on his shoulder and his was resting atop hers as they slept. When a branch broke under Suki's foot, his golden eyes opened, staring at her, but he didn't move.

His gaze was intense, like he was daring her to take away what was his; the implication made Suki gulp. Even if his affections for Katara were true, as it would seem, he was mercurial. He was a volcano, on the verge of exploding any minute, and Suki didn't want Katara to be around when he spewed lava.

Averting her eyes from his glare, she reached out to Katara's shoulder, jostling her.

"Hey, Katara…" She whispered. Zuko picked up his head and turned away as the girl woke.

"Mmm?" Katara groaned, still half-asleep.

"I can take over, now. You should go get some rest. Come on," Suki held out her hand to help her friend up as she mumbled incoherently.

When Katara finally found her feet, she stumbled towards Appa and collapsed onto his side, curling up in his long white fur.

Suki sat down in front of Zuko, a couple steps away, glaring. She didn't trust him with her friend, but she could hardly tell Katara to stay away from him. Apparently, that wasn't possible. After a staring contest with the fire prince that must have lasted half an hour, Suki released the breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding.

"Katara told me what happened, you know," She nodded over to the sleeping waterbender.

"What?" His frown deepened. His voice was husky, but betrayed surprise.

"With that soldier. And her back. Even if you didn't burn her, you gave the command to attack. The reason she got hurt is because you came here with your soldiers and tried to capture Aang," She paused, trying to gauge his reaction. His face was cold, set in a frown as he glanced over at Katara's sleeping form.

"She's not going to give up on protecting Aang, you know," Suki continued after a moment, "She's not going to stop fighting the Fire Nation. Your country has caused her so much pain."

Zuko was still looking at Katara, his face twisting into a pained expression as Suki watched.

He muttered, "I know."

"Katara is like a little sister to me. If you hurt her again, I'll have to kill you. And I haven't forgotten that you burned down my village either."

At that, Zuko's single eyebrow raised and he turned back to look at her, "I- I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Suki responded, not convinced, "That's the problem with fire, though, isn't it? When it catches you can't do much to stop it, regardless if you regret starting it in the first place. You better think more about the consequences of your actions. You started the fire that burned Katara," Her voice was stern.

Zuko was staring back at her, his scowl returning, "I'm not going to let her get hurt again."

"I hope that's true for her sake," was Suki's reply as she pulled out one of her fans. She opened and closed it with a flick of her wrist, spinning it in her hands, between her fingers. They sat in silence, neither paying much attention to the other, until Suki heard rustling from the campsite behind her. Zuko heard it too and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

Sokka came trudging up behind her, yawning as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You doing ok?" He whispered.

Suki nodded.

"I can finish watching him. It'll be dawn soon."

"Thanks, Sokka," She got up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss, then walked back over to where she had been sleeping hours ago.

…

Zuko heard the Kyoshi Warrior leave and Sokka sit down against a tree nearby, sharpening some kind of weapon. He didn't dare open his eyes to face another awkward conversation with one of the Avatar's friends. Instead, he mulled over what the girl from Kyoshi had said. Even if you didn't burn her, you gave the command…

The truth of her words sickened him. She was right; he hadn't intended for Katara to get hurt, but he had given the command, he had started the fire. He couldn't risk losing her, he couldn't allow her to get hurt again by his actions. If he wanted to capture the Avatar, he would have to change his tactics, for Katara's sake. Without his ship or his soldiers, he was going to have to figure out a better way of navigating this. Zuko wasn't going to give up on his destiny, he wasn't going to stray from his path, but he wasn't going to hurt Katara in the process either, not again.

He heard Katara groan in her sleep from her resting place on the bison.

"Zuko…" she moaned breathily, and the sound of her brother sharpening his weapon abruptly ceased.

He fought the smirk that tugged on his lips.

…

His hands were running down her sides as he pressed her further into the tree at her back, pushing her legs apart with his knee. He was leaving a trail of kisses down the length of her neck, reaching up to tug at the neckline of her tunic. His hands grazed her breasts as he pulled it down to expose her bare shoulder, then his mouth was on her again, kissing, sucking, and nipping at her exposed skin. Katara's breath was shallow and rapid as he grabbed her waist, kneading her flesh through the fabric with his thumbs, rocking his hips against her.

She wanted him. Her core burned, aching to taste him, to feel his hands roam her body, to wrap her fingers around that hard lump in his pants that he was grinding into the space between her legs. Hooking his arm under one of her knees, he lifted her left leg and the resulting angle was exquisite as he continued to rub against her.

Zuko… She moaned, trying to convey her want with just the sound of his name on her lips.

He pulled away from her shoulder and looked at her. The fire in his eyes, the desire, melted her and she realized in that moment that she wanted to give herself entirely to him.

I've got you…

His voice was raspy with need, sending a shiver up her spine as he crashed his lips into hers like the ocean battering against the shore in a storm. She gave into him, letting him flood her; overwhelmed with bliss as the surge washed over her.

Katara… Katara… Katara!

Her eyes shot open when she felt the hand on her shoulder, shaking her from her slumber. It was Aang, leaning over her with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you ok? You were making noises and I thought you might be having a nightmare."

Katara swallowed, trying to forget the images from her dream, still so vivid in her mind. She forced herself to ignore the warmth and moisture she felt, lingering between her legs. How embarrassing. At least it was Aang who woke her and not Suki or her brother. Aang was still a kid and, to her knowledge, was generally ignorant to the more… carnal desires of adulthood.

"Yeah I'm ok, Aang," She breathed, actively expelling the sight of the lust in Zuko's golden eyes from her mind, "I was having a nightmare, just like you said."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Aang questioned with the best of intentions.

"N-No, absolutely not," She stuttered, before catching herself, "It's fine, it was just a dream."

She sensed movement over Aang's shoulder and sat up to see Zuko still chained to the tree, eyeing her with a smirk. Heat rushed to her face and she wondered what had given her away.

"Was I saying anything in my sleep?" She asked Aang.

"Not really… you were mumbling a lot and making weird sounds."

Katara squeezed her eyes shut and brought her hands up to cover her face, groaning; thank the spirits for Aang's innocence.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? Nightmares can be really worrying sometimes," Aang continued.

"No, Aang. Honestly, I'm fine. I'm just still kind of tired," She mumbled into her hands, "Just… give me a minute."

"Ok, well, Suki and Huan are making some breakfast and Iroh made tea. You should come get some!" He grinned, leaping into the air and landing gracefully in a run towards the gathering at the campsite.

Katara shook her head and removed her hands from her face.

"That didn't sound like a nightmare," Zuko's raspy voice rang in her ears. She could hear his smirk as he repeated Aang's words, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Flustered, she gaped at him before stammering, "Definitely not with you."

"Really? It sounds like I'm the best person to talk to about it."

"W-why do you say that?"

"Katara," his smirk was wicked and the glimmer in his amber eyes brought back the details of her dream, "You say my name in your sleep."

She had no response, unable to muster any words to defend herself. Instead, she just stared, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks. Great. Now she would have guard her tongue when she was asleep as well. Mortified at the thought, she turned and headed towards the others, intent on putting some distance between herself and the banished prince.

Thoughts? What did you think of that bit from Suki's perspective?

And, erm... I was sort of doing a trial-run for writing a lemon... or lime? I've never really written any kind of citrus before, so some feedback would be much appreciated!

I'm really looking forward to posting some future chapters that I have already mostly written... :)

Please review!

...

With love,

A Storm