[A/N]: Due to popular demand, I NOW PRESENT YOU WITH THIS. It just happened. Seriously.
She sits with General Iroh every morning while Zuko trains. The tea is delicious and the entertainment is more than she'd ever hope for. Tea and a shirtless Zuko are the upside to each and every day aboard this ship.
Katara has been a prisoner for two weeks now (though most prisoners, she's sure, don't share a bed with the prince). Zuko had dragged her away from that muddy little village in the rain and only some quick thinking and shouted warnings had given Aang and Sokka the chance to escape. They're still traveling north (and Zuko is still following). She hasn't bothered to escape; distracting Zuko is a rather pleasurable task and she figures that her opportunity will eventually show itself. So she drinks her tea peacefully and discusses bending with Iroh. Katara follows Zuko back to him room when training is finished.
"If it isn't my favorite peasant." He says when she slips in.
She unties her sash and slips off her outer robes. "That's ironic, considering that you'll be the one screaming my name in fifteen minutes." she says.
He snorts, "Is that a challenge?"
She slips into the steaming tub, raising an eyebrow. He crosses his arms. Katara stretches gracefully and begins washing herself. His pants drop before she can count to five and he joins her before she reaches ten.
Katara comes to sometime later, damp and drowsy and well-satisfied on the bed. She's alone, wrapped in towels, but Zuko is meditating in the corner. It's rare that the prince is so quiet and so calm for long. She watches, tracing the width of his shoulders and the expanse of his back with appreciative blue eyes. Katara takes a moment to mourn the dressing robe he'd seen fit to wear.
After a few long minutes, he seems to sense her gaze. Zuko turns and offers her a rare smile. She emerges from the pillows and finds her outer robe. Katara pads over to him and he pulls her close. He's warm and safe, as irrational as that seemed to her. Zuko, she must remind herself, is her enemy. His mission is to steal the world's hope and her mission is to distract him long enough for Aang to reach the north. She should hate him for what he's done to her and yet Katara snuggles closer, inhales the clean smell of soap and the underlying steel and smoke and spice.
Zuko rubs her back and in the quiet intimacy of the moment, Katara wonders if she could love him. If she loves him. If she should.
He leans down and kisses her. It changes from sweet to heated within seconds. His hands stop caressing and pull her into his lap. Her heart speeds, adrenaline racing through her, and in her haste she knocks him over. Zuko grins and settles her on top of him. He makes a gesture, as if to say show me what you've got. She laughs.
"You'll regret that." She says and positions herself over him.
There is a sudden explosion and half the outer wall is torn away. Katara throws herself down, shielding Zuko. A shard slices through her hair, barely missing her neck. The dust clears and they sit up, Zuko frantically checks her for wounds. Katara stares at the gap in the wall.
A bison has come into view and her brother swings into the room. The blood drains from her cheeks.
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