Judgement

Chapter Eight:

Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?
-Frank Scully

Zuko turned over, waking up. He hated waking up in the middle of the night. He never got any sleep after he woke up. He opened his eyes and looked out the window to see the moon still high in the sky.

He turned over to look at Katara. Maybe I should apologize. He thought. But when he rolled all the way over, he found the bed empty.

His eyes shot open as he sat up fast enough to get a head rush. His eyes scanned the room in a fast haste as kicked off the covers and stood up. He found the door open, her clothes still at the foot of the bed, but still no girl.

His heart raced as he went for the wardrobe for a robe. He threw it on and left the room to search for her.

Zuko didn't really realize he was feeling another emotion he was taught not to feel; worry. As he searched, only to find every room without her, his worry grew. His worry was not that she had escaped though, like some would think.

One of my men couldn't have gotten her without me waking, could they? He asked himself. He became aware of the feelings washing over him but had to let it pass. His worry washed over him too fast for him to think about what he was feeling, to think that he might care about her more than he should.

Zuko finally went up to the deck to search. He was a little surprised when did find her, calm and safe just standing by the rail. It made him a little mad as he went over to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded. Katara jumped at the unexpected sound of his voice.

"I'm relaxing, or I was at least." She said turning to face him. "And don't scare me like that!"

"How did you get out?" He questioned as he examined her. She was still in the nightgown, her hair blowing in the soft breeze.

"The door locks from the outside so when you go to sleep, its left open." She stated smiling. Zuko glared at her, upset he hadn't thought of that.

"You shouldn't have come out here when all my men could see you and attack you." He said putting it nicely.

"I'm right by the ocean. I can bend and I'd be fine. I'm not helpless." She said turning back to look at the ocean. She saw him stand beside her.

"You still shouldn't be out here alone." He told her.

"I wanted time to myself, away from you." She rolled her eyes.

"Do you know how worried I was when I saw you weren't there?" He shouted. Katara faced him a little surprised.

"You were worried about me?" She smiled a little at the thought. Zuko's eyes went wide when he realized what he had said.

"No!" He shook his head. "That's not what I meant." He quickly tried to recover. "I just thought you…might have escaped."

"Oh." She didn't sound too convinced. "Well don't worry then. I'm not going anywhere." She said gently, not sure herself if that was good or bad.

"Good." Zuko said sternly, noticing the confusion on her face. They both turned back to face the water in silence. It was comfortable though. The tension was very light somehow.

Both of them were wondering why he wasn't yelling at her anymore. It was like his anger had evaporated, almost replaced with embarrassment and guilt.

Zuko took a good look at the girl standing him. Despite what he wanted to believe, he was attracted to her. Of course it was hard not to be. She was very pretty, beautiful in his eyes even. It was very hard to deny it when she looked like she did.

He found it hard to look away from her. She had a sad look on her face and it made him wonder if he could make it go away without letting her go. As he watched and thought, he saw her shiver slightly.

Katara found it hard not to look at Zuko. She knew he was watching her but she didn't really mind. It was strange. He wasn't looking at her like prey again. But it scared her at the same time too. She wanted him to like her but didn't at the same time.

She was too deep in thought to realize that he had moved behind her. She felt something soft and warm covering her shoulders. She turned her head to see that it was Zuko's robe around her and his hands holding it on her shoulders.

"You should have put your clothes on." He stated unmoving.

"And risk you waking up in the middle of my dressing?" She smiled reaching up to her shoulders to take the robe. "Thanks." Her hands brushed over his as she took the robe from him and a strange feeling washed over her. It was like a tingle in her stomach but it felt good, and even made her blush a little.

When she slipped the robe over the arms, Zuko's arms snaked around in front of her, tracing her waist as he went along. He crossed the robe over her closing it around her, his arms enveloping her in the process. Then he took his hands down and let them brush the tops of her thighs when he took the ties at the sides of the robe. He wrapped them around her and tied a knot in front of her to keep the robe shut.

He pressed up against her back and put his cheek right next to hers. He let his hands rest on the knot in front of her. The actions made Katara freeze in place as a warmth swept over her and she had to smile. She liked having his arms around her.

"Don't mention it." He whispered harshly in her ear. His hot breath tickling her ear made her shiver once again. He squeezed her in a protective way quickly before letting go completely.

Zuko had not only surprised Katara with his gesture but himself as well. He had no clue as to what had possessed him to do that. He should have let her freeze and he definitely should not have put his arms around her at all! But he did, and he couldn't take it back.

Katara shivered again, this time from the lack of his body heat. She clutched the robe and took a look at him. She was trying very hard not to focus on the fact that he was shirtless. It was very hard not to stare. He was very attractive.

Once she got out of the daze, she realized he had a look on his face like nothing had happened. Maybe to him it was nothing. She thought. Maybe I read too much into those things.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" Zuko asked breaking her thoughts.

"Hmm?" She caught his stare up at the sky.

"The stars," He confirmed. "My mother and I used to look at them all the time." His gaze was steady at the sky.

"My mother and I would do the same thing when we could." She smiled and looked up. "I haven't really looked at them since her death." Her voice turned to a whisper as if she wasn't sure if she wanted him to hear her.

"I hate it when Uncle's right." Zuko groaned looking at her.

"What?" To Katara, that was random.

"You and I do have a lot more in common than we thought." Katara was still confused. "I haven't really looked at them since she died either."

For quite a few minutes they were silent. They just stood and looked at each other in understanding and question. Neither wanted to ask about the other's experience, knowing how painful it was.

There was something in the air between them that neither really understood. They just knew it was comfortable. Katara didn't want to take a chance of ruining it.

Zuko wasn't one to sit back though. He was supposed to be a risk taker and he was going to make the first move if he hadn't already. So he took a single step forward and that was enough to make her hold her breath in anticipation.

"Katara." He whispered her name and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into his eyes and tilted her head slightly. She gave him a small smile before nodding, encouraging him to continue. "We should get back." He said and turned to leave.

"I forgive you." She said not moving. She watched as he stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around.

"What?"

"For before," She said walking up to him. "I forgive you." Zuko had to hold back a smile. He nodded instead.

"I'm sorry." He finally told her. Katara smiled at their reverse apology. Suddenly the ship rocked heavily against a wave, throwing her forward into his arms.

It took her a few moments to realize where she was exactly. The force of the rock and the force of catching Katara had made Zuko fall backwards. She was now on top of him, his arms around her waist, steadying her.

"Sorry about that." She said softly, turning red from embarrassment and from catching herself looking at his bare chest again.

"You're such a klutz." He told her groaning as his back ached with pain.

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" She told him thinking he was insulting her but then she saw a smile play on his lips and she laughed. She shifted her body weight so she was more comfortable. "You're so annoying."

"And you're any better?" He asked, moving one hand from her waist to brush a few strands hair behind her ear. The short contact made Katara get that funny feeling again. It was like her stomach was tingling. She couldn't help but smile wider.

Zuko ignored what he was doing and how it made him want to smile even more than he was. He knew what was happening and he couldn't really stop it. To try snap himself back, he almost threw her off of him so he could get up.

The action surprised Katara and she let out a slight yelp. She then looked up at him and gave him a half glare until he held out his hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her up.

Their hands didn't let go of the other when she was up though. He looked down at her and held her gaze like he held her hand, somewhat hard but soft and gentile at the same time.

"C'mon," He said, his voice becoming softer as well. "I'm ready to back to sleep."

"Me too." She nodded and let go of his hand. "Let's go." She turned to walk back to the room. She was amazed to when Zuko's hands grabbed her shoulders lightly. He gently pushed her down the short flight of stairs. "I thought we established that I wasn't going to run."

She got no answer as his hands moved down to her upper arms and walked in unison with her. He seemed to just rest his hands on her arms now. She didn't really mind and started to enjoy the feeling of his hands holding her gently, even though she knew she really shouldn't. Maybe I should go out on a limb this time. She thought as they walked rather slowly back to the room.

Zuko didn't understand it but he had the urge, the need, to touch her, to hold her. He knew this was not going to end well for him.

He wasn't supposed to fall for her. Then again, he was one to take chances.

They continued to walk slowly to the room, each secretly enjoying the comfort of his touch. His hands had dropped down and hovered over her hands slightly before brushing them with his own.

They saw the door approaching and they slowed down even more but they eventually reached it and had to walk in. Zuko had let go of Katara and she walked swiftly to the bed to lie down while he closed her door slowly.

Katara untied the robe and had it slowly slide down her shoulders and arms. She saw Zuko watch her and she felt exposed to him. She blushed and had to look away before climbing back into the bed.

He followed suit and climbed in right after her. They didn't speak as they rolled over to face each other. She gave him a smile before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Zuko on the other hand stayed awake watching her fall asleep.

When he was sure she was asleep, he reached out and took hold of her hand that was resting between their bodies. He squeezed it slightly before falling asleep himself.

Okay, shorter than I intended but it's quality not quanity right? (Meaning it better be good lol) And I know you guys were suspecting some big plan or something but that's not really what I intended sorry. She just wanted some alone time. By the way there will be seven more chapters plus an epilogue and I hope to have it all done by the end of March.

Now for some self-promoting. I just got another one-shot drabble up called "Spilled Tea" you might be interested in. So anyways, I'll talk to you all in the next chapter. (Drop a review plz and thank you)