Prompt: #42 - Blanket
Word Count:
321
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: Ah, the infamous Blanket challenge. Don't worry,
this isn't the last one in the miniseries, just the last one I'm
writing at the moment.
"I'm sorry," she begins apologetically as night begins to fall, "but I've only got one blanket. We'll have to share."
He stares blankly at the thin blue square of fabric. It doesn't look very warm. "I'm a firebender," he tells her brusquely. "I don't need a blanket."
She frowns but nods in acknowledgment, glancing towards the dying fire. The wood is almost gone, and there's little chance of finding more in this god-forsaken hole in a rock. The cave is getting colder, and they both feel it.
Later that night, Zuko awakes to a strange noise coming from Katara's direction. It takes him a few minutes of intense listening to figure out what it is, but then it hits him like a brick: it's the chattering of her teeth. He tries to ignore it, tries to fall back asleep, but the chattering is growing louder. The fire, he notices, has burnt out; only a few smoldering cinders remain. By their dim light he can just barely make out her form, curled up on the ground, and visibly shaking.
With a sigh he stands up and lies back down beside her, his back to hers, and pulls the blanket across the two of them. She immediately snuggles closer to him, absorbing his warmth. Within a few minutes he feels her shaking stop and her chattering cease. He closes his eyes again, her hair brushing the back of his neck and her breathing soothing him to sleep, and looses himself to the darkness.
The next morning he awakes to a tiny patch of sunlight streaming in through the storm. The light softly illuminates her face, and before he knows what he's doing he brushes a stray strand of hair from her face. He stares at his hand as if it has betrayed him, and quietly moves out from under the blanket. Some things, he thinks, are better ended before they've truly begun.
END.