It happened again. I wrote another Zutara fan fic.

The Spring

Katara was dressing in what had become her room in the sprawling estate that was the Fire Lord's beach home. Looking through the rooms tall gold framed window she saw a black sky twinkling with starlight above a calm beach. It was late, but she had felt restless. Sozin's comet was swiftly approaching, a bad omen that loomed menacingly over everyone. After the first hour of unyielding wakefulness she had begun to contemplate ways to calm herself. After the second she had resolved herself to one.

In her spare time she had explored much of the waters around Ember Island, surfing out where there was no one to see her waterbend. Recently she had found a small island south of the coast. There hadn't been much on the island to see from the water, but she had seen the tropical green vegetation and trees that had taken root in the island's rocky soil. It made her suspect a fresh water spring or lake nestled somewhere on the small island.

It would only take an hour or two to explore the island, find the spring, and burn some energy. Water from the earth had a different feel to it than the sea and it would be nice to practice some bending forms and feel a calm flow for a change of pace rather than the powerful waves and tides that dominated even a calm sea.

She strode out of the house and across the beach, feeling the sand between her toes. She was dressed in her bathing suit for her trip along the shore and over the sea. At the water she drew in a breath and with a smooth gesture formed a board of ice to move over the water. With swift rotational moves of her arms she was off. The trip to the island was pleasant one, stars shimmering over the ocean surface, cool drops splashing against her skin. Soon the island grew from a small rock in the distance to it's true island form.

She strode across the new its stony beach, the pebbles worn smooth by countless tides. The tree line of palms ran close to the shore and in three steps she was swallowed by the vines and fronds. The fresh water, if it was here, would be at the heart of the greenery she knew.

She felt the cool breeze that rustled the leaves around her. Colorful fire nation birds hooted occasionally, but mostly the jungle was quiet in the night. The glow of a gibbous moon through leaves helped her see her way over the rocky soil and moist carpet of plant life.

Then something strange drifted to her through the trees. The thin tendrils of a warm mist began to reach between tree trunks, the sensation clashing with the cool breeze in a way that sent goosebumps down Katara's arms. The further into the mist the warmer it became and soon even the ground under her feet was warm. She pushed past the last of the vines to enter a clearing, and found the spring she had been hoping to find. A hot spring steaming in the cool night air, she was both surprised and pleased to discover. She knelt down and splashed her hand in the water, testing it's temperature. It was a perfect temperature for a hot relaxing soak. Just what she needed.

She threw her bending bota over a branch and brushed the dirt from her feet before stepping slowly into the hot water. The water parted smoothly around her gracefully and without a sound as she immersed herself. She felt stress melt away as she let herself go. Just feeling the gentle current of the water carrying away stress and worry. Her mind followed the soft current of the pool, flowing uninterrupted. Until they were broken by something else in the pool.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard a quiet splash of something else moving in the water. The fog coming off the water was thick and she couldn't see the other side of the pool. She readied herself, reaching out with her mind and feeling the water around her. Readying herself to pull it to her aid if need be. For a moment she chastised the childish impulsiveness of wandering off alone at night to a mysterious island. She braced herself for some dangerous fire nation wildlife. She moved silently through the water and mist, until a form came in to view.

It took only a heart beat to recognize the figure reclined in the hot water, eyes staring almost forlornly at the stars above.

"Zuko?" Katara called out surprised.

Zuko jumped at the words, splashing his arms down as he pushed himself up into a seated position. "Katara?" he called back surprised. His face was flushed and red, Katara wondered if it was from the heat.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"This spring was part of my fathers estate, I didn't think anyone else knew it was out here." he said.

"I just found it exploring the other day," Katara explained. "How did you get all the way out here?"

"I took a boat, it's hidden under some palm frond on the beach so no one see's it and comes investigating," he said.

"Sorry to interrupt your solitude," Katara said teasingly.

"It's fine if it's you," he said flatly as if he missed the tease in her tone. Something in the sentiment made Katara's heart skip, but she refused to dwell on that.

"So I understand the isolation, it's you. But you never struck me as a "lay back and lounge in a hot spring" kind of guy. Why come out here specifically?" She wondered aloud.

"Uncle loved hot springs. When we were traveling he would never miss a chance to rest in one. "Good for healing the body and mind" he told me. I never appreciated them when I was with him, but I feel like I could use some of that right now," he told her as he returned his gaze to the stars.

He had a lot on his mind too she realized. A lot of the same things that were weighing on all of them she suspected, and some problems all his own. She sat beside him, looking him over as he lay there. He had muscle anyone could see clearly, but it wasn't all bulk. He was incredibly lean, almost worryingly so. It was clear he had missed meals in the past. He was probably still missing meals and running himself down. No wonder he needed to rest.

Katara was hyper sensitive in the spring, she though back to the Spirit Oasis at the north pole and wondered if hot springs were inherently spiritual places. Even at a distance she was getting a sense of the tangle of chi running through Zuko.

"Turn around," Katara said.

"What?" Zuko responded confusedly.

"Just do it," she stated with authority in her voice.

Hesitantly he complied and turned his back to her. She took a breath and pulled some of the clear water from the pool around them to cover her palms. She ran her hands across his back and felt him pull away. She grabbed his shoulders to pull him back. "Don't move," she ordered.

"Sorry," he said. Katara noticed how even his ears were flushed pink.

She moved her hands over his back, tracing the flow of energy through his body. Her palms felt the knots of muscle under his skin and beneath that she felt tangles of chi. She worked her way up his spine, she found the chi tangled in his lower back. She remembered her few short healing lessons at the north pole. This was a chakra, one linked to guilt. That made sense.

Only he could truly open his chakra, it can't be done for you by another. But she could help to ease the flow and guide his chi along. She found another damn at his stomach, the chakra of shame. She loosened some tangles there too, where she could. As she worked she used her palms to massage the knots along his back, working them out. She felt a flush of pride as his body eased beneath her touch. She reached the confused flow at his heart.

The meaning of that chakra was immediately obvious. Katara felt something in her falter. Was someone on Zuko's mind? In his heart? Some old flame in the fire nation? Katara had never really asked him, she didn't want to think about it. There was an uncomfortable sensation in her stomach. Jealousy? Envy? She refused to think about it. There was too much going on with the war and the impending comet to get caught up on something so trivial. She took a deep breath and went back to her task, trying to help along his chi.

The last of his knotted muscles melted under her hands, his chi flowing more smoothly. "There, how does that feel?" Katara asked.

In response Zuko slumped back against her.

"Zuko?" Katara let out in a shocked yelp. His sinewy body and wet skin pressed against her own. She flushed with embarrassment for a moment. She suddenly wondered how long Zuko had been in the hot water. Too long for someone sleep deprived and underfed it was obvious to see.

He was heavy but with a motion from her shoulders to her wrist she made to pool surge, helping her move him to the shore.

She sat beside him and placed his head on her lap, his face was bright red. She was certain she was pretty flushed herself after all that time in the hot water. With a motion of her hand she pulled water to her hand, drawing from the vines around her rather than the hot spring and ran the cool liquid her his head and shoulders. Outside the pool there was a gentle breeze and the night air was cool.

She sat there for some time with his head in her lap, cooling off by running fresh water over herself and Zuko and calming down. She felt herself begin to nod off. She brushed more cool water along his face, and with half lidded eyes began to trace the outline of the ragged scar over his left eye. After some minutes she was pulled back to wakefulness by a firm but gentle hand on her wrist, moving her hand from his scar. His golden eyes were open again, peering up at her from above faintly pink cheeks.

"Sorry, I don't know what happened," he said sitting up.

"That's what happens when you sit in a hot spring for too long. You pass out. You should know that since you own one apparently. It's a good thing I was here or it could have been bad," Katara explained. Her relaxing him like that probably hadn't helped keep him awake either, but she felt it prudent to keep that to herself.

"I know. Sorry," he said again.

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize. Just bring me with you the next time you decide to go bathing in a hot spring," Katara said. His face seemed to flush a little more red at her words. His unspoken though struck Katara a second later, bring a blush to her cheeks to. "Not like a BATH bath though, get a guy like Sokka or Aang for that. But for a lounge in a hot spring in our bathing suits bath grab me. If you want..." Katara spoke in a rushed self conscious way.

"Right! Of course. I knew that," Zuko's said in a tone just as rushed and self conscious.

A moment's awkward tension passed quietly between the two.

Then Katara asked, "So how do you feel now?"

Zuko paused for a moment. He stretched out his arms over his head, every muscle in his back flexed. He leaned forward and backwards, working his muscles. "I feel great! I feel almost... lighter somehow," he said sounding genuinely surprised and enthused. "What did you do?"

"There's nothing worse than a bath with a water bender who hates you, and nothing better than a bath with a waterbender who likes you," Katara said with a teasing smile. Zuko blushed again, but this time she didn't try to push away whatever thoughts were embarrassing him. She would let him enjoy whatever fantasy was in his head this time. She was going to entertain a few fantasies of her own though she'd never admit it to anyone, perhaps not even herself.

"So where's this boat of yours? You're taking us home." She said, pulling him away from his thoughts. "Since you had yourself a nice nap and I'm exhausted." She was tired now and it had gotten very late.

As she sat in the back of the boat and Zuko navigated them home, she looked over to the moon just beginning to sink behind the ocean. She smiled to herself, not truly ready for this late night adventure with Zuko to be over but knowing it would end soon anyway. As she had worked on his chi some of her own chi had started to flow stronger, and she had grown relaxed alone with Zuko. Even if she had been forced to nurse him a little bit. Even though a few emotions had been stirred up the hot spring had, on the whole, helped her to clear her head and calm down. And she would sleep deeply when she got back to her room on Ember Island.

…

Anyone else notice any trends in my writing? I think I have. I like vulnerability. When characters care deeply about each other, they let down their guards and make themselves vulnerable to each other. In a lot of my shippy stuff this manifests as people going to sleep around each other. Here we see it in the form of bathing (albeit PG bathing in bathing suits, though I strongly considered NOT going that route) together. I often enjoy these kinds of scenes in manga and anime as well so, I guess it shouldn't come as any kind of surprise.

Any one else like baths? Wait no, that's too personal a question don't answer that.

Any one like this story? That's a better question. Arigatou Gozaimasu!