Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers apply! Naturally any character that is not associated with the show belongs either to someone I have permission to use or to me. Please ask permission to use any character that I own should you desire to do so. Thank you. If there are any similarities between my work and another author's then I apologize. I suppose great minds DO think alike.

Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Title: A Good Day

Author: Tiasha

Type: One-shot/Drabble

Word Count: 1,830

Completed: 2006.02.19

The shift in the mattress alerted her to the possibility of her traveling companion leaving her to fend for herself, and so she rolled over, blinking at him sleepily. She watched as he pulled on his arm guards and boots, forsaking the armor plating for a reason only he knew. His hair was also tied up in its usual ponytail with the same piece of cloth she had seen it with since the day he had joined them.

She rubbed the sleep from one eye as she looked towards the window, sunlight barely creeping in through the closed blinds. The movement caught her companion's attention and he turned his head to look at her, his golden eyes roaming over her face before a frown settled over his slightly angular features. Brow furrowed he opened his mouth to speak but she made a sound of disgruntlement and buried her face back into the pillow beneath her.

There was the sound of air being released and she surmised that he had sighed and was preparing to leave, figuring she'd go back to sleep. Not likely. She never liked the idea of falling asleep alone when in a strange town; it was too unsettling for her taste and the possibility of being captured while sleeping hardly appealed to her. Nope, the moment he walked out that door, she'd be wide awake. Jerk.

A hand came to rest at her temple before slowly pushing the tresses and bead away from her face, the movement somewhat hesitant and unsure. Silly boy…still trying to act as if he didn't care… Her lips twitched upward at the comforting gesture and a sigh of contentment escaped her.

Blue eyes opened to meet gold; she waited for him to speak—it was too early for her to spark an argument first.

"Go back to sleep."

She frowned at the authoritative tone he had spoken in just now. He really expected her to be able to put her nerves at ease long enough to do such a thing? Not only that, but he really expected her to just follow orders from him? As if! She had yet to do such a thing and she wasn't about to start now!

"What are you doing? Why are you up so early?" she questioned, almost fully awake now; although, that sweeping motion of his hand on her face was soothing and making her eyes start to droop again…

"It's not early and I'm going to speak with the inn keeper—see if we can get another night or two here since word from your brother and Aang hasn't arrived yet."

She nodded and once again sighed in contentment, the bed warm and cozy and inviting. If that was all he was going to do then maybe she could get another hour or so of sleep…

"Oh…okay…" she slurred slightly, rolling away from him and snuggling back down under the covers. When he didn't move right away, she maneuvered her legs so that she could give him a good send off and he growled at her in annoyance.

"Watch it!" he warned, face stern and angered. She paid him no mind.

"Get off…I wanna get some more sleep if that's all you're going to do. After all, you snore, Zuko; so this is my one chance at some real sleep," she jeered good-naturedly. Truthfully, it was his uncle who snored, not him but she still couldn't resist the jibe.

"Yeah, well…you hog the blankets…and you're feet are like ice." And Zuko knew she was teasing too. They're teasing made the situation somewhat easier. Having to share a room was one thing, but having to share a bed was another. They both had just come to terms that they liked one another, that what they felt was going beyond companionship and friendship. That didn't mean they were ready to—to—to—she didn't even want to think that far ahead! That was just too much for her to handle right now…

"Shmuck."

"Wench."

"Jerk."

"Idjit."

"Arrogant prince."

"Stubborn peasant."

"Go away! Let me sleep!"

"Fine! But only because you need it! Bags are starting to show!"

Her eyes shot open, lips twisted in a frown and she gripped the corner of the pillow in her hand. Glancing out the corner of her eye, she gauged where he was and where he would most likely move to the moment she showed signs of retaliation, before sitting up in bed and throwing the pillow at him. She watched him swat the pillow out of its trajectory path towards his face, eyes closed and shaking his head at her display of "childish" behavior and then turn around with his back to her.

A growl of determination escaped her throat as she launched herself off the mattress at him, arms raised and outstretched to tackle him. He had barely begun to turn back to her upon hearing her growl, when she collided with his broad back and knocked him off his feet. They both crashed to the wood floor, her trying to ensnare both arms behind his back and he trying to flip her off of him. Limbs banged against one another and thudded against the floor as the two wrestled for dominance over the other before Zuko finally "won." He pinned both her hands on either side of her head and sat just below her kneecaps, a look of displeasure on his face as his hair fell haphazardly into his molten gold eyes.

In her hand was his hair-tie and she had no intention of returning it until she got an apology out of him. His comment about her being "ugly" was uncalled for and she knew he knew it. He huffed, a vain attempt to move the locks of hair from his sight, but the air fell against her exposed neck, warm and humid. She swallowed nervously as she realized how…compromising they looked at that moment and strained against the hands that held her arms in place.

"Let go."

"You let go, girl."

She frowned and glared up at him, the fist that held his hair-tie captive tightening even more; "Not until you apologize."

"I don't have to apologize to the likes of you. And besides, what do I possibly need to apologize for?"

Her jaw clenched in anger and she was sure that if he hadn't been holding her hands stationary, she surely would have let her fists fly at him for the arrogant tone he had just spoken to her in. "For calling me ugly!" she shouted at him, straining up as far as she could so that she was almost nose-to-nose with him, challenging him to contradict her.

He frowned and narrowed his eyes at her, "I never said anything of the sort, wench!"

"You did too! So apologize already!"

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did! You said I had bags!"

His face scrunched up in confusion before giving her an odd look. "I was joking."

She frowned and looked away, "Still…you didn't need to go that far."

Heaving a sigh of annoyance, he released her and stood up, silent as she sat up and stared at the floor. What a jerk…calling her that and then pretending that he hadn't meant it.

"Are you going to sit there and sulk or are you going to join me downstairs?" he asked her, and she looked up at him in anger and confusion. His face was neutral…a rare occurrence for him but she had noticed that even though she could spark his anger faster than anything else could, her presence did seem to calm him just as often.

"You think this will resolve itself by forgetting that it happened? Fat chance, Zuko!" she said heatedly, arms crossed and she looked away. He continued to stand in front of her, watching her—she could feel his gaze on her—and chanced a glance at him. A contrite look had manifested itself on his face and she looked at him fully when he shifted his gaze to the floor between them.

"I didn't mean it. It was just bantering."

She eyed him carefully and upon seeing the sincerity of his words, she nodded briskly. "All right…but don't say that again about me!"

A cocky grin replaced the look of contriteness and she rolled her eyes heavenward. "Don't worry. Next time I'll only say it if it's true."

Blue eyes hardened and narrowed at laughing gold. He could be a real jackass sometimes… "Do and I'll drop kick you so hard you'll land at the North Pole!"

He actually had the audacity to laugh at her threat and that fact caused her to pout and grab her shoes. Slipping them on as she headed to the door, she ignored his amused call for her to wait. Nope. Sorry. Not happening. If he was mean enough to laugh at her, then she wasn't going to wait for him at all.

She had just reached the middle of the hall at the inn when she felt his hand on her shoulder, pulling her to a halt. A sigh of exasperation escaped her and she gave him a dead-panned expression. He still had that cocky grin on his face and amusement was still evident in his eyes but…oddly enough, there was a tenderness in his eyes that she had seen perhaps only once or twice before.

"What?" she voiced nervously when he said nothing. His grin changed to a smile that matched the look in his eyes, and she felt her stomach flutter as if she had swallowed a hundred draconi butterflies.

"Let's go get breakfast."

And with that, he released his grip on her shoulder and continued down the hallway. She blinked a few times, staring at the spot he had occupied only a moment beforehand before turning and glaring at his retreating back. How dare he make her feel that—that—that nervous! Jerk…

She jogged lightly to catch up to him, the growl of her stomach telling her that calling peace in favor of food was perfectly acceptable right now; and as she stopped beside him at the top of the staircase, he did something so unexpected that she nearly took a tumble down the stairs. He turned to her, brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss, and then turned to descend the staircase, not bothering to see if she would follow.

Again, she was left blinking and staring at the spot he had previously occupied only seconds ago, only this time, a hand hesitantly reached up to cover her mouth in surprise. He had just…kissed her… No way… That was the first time he had done anything remotely…intimate…aside from holding her hand for perhaps ten seconds at the most…

"Katara! Are you going to eat or not?" he called up to her, his tone annoyed but she ignored it in favor of a genuinely bright smile. Today, she decided, was going to be a good day…