Little Temptress

Toph was enjoying the sound of one of the Kyoshi Warriors singing over the announcement pipes when a harsh grumbling echoed from a nearby room. Although Toph had learned to really like metal (especially when it was time to fight), it had some unpleasant characteristics, too, the most annoying being its tendency to transmit all kinds of sounds and vibrations without any regard for Toph's sensitive hearing. Sighing, the Earthbender girl changed her destination and walked into the room that was the source of the cacophony.

Although the "Imperial" was the only airship class outfitted with extensive crew quarters for long voyages, it still wasn't particularly roomy, and most certainly not designed to house both genders in a respectable manner. The men were using the normal residential facilities aboard, but the girls had all taken control of some unused cargo space and re-purposed it as best they could. The room Toph followed the grumbling to would normally have contained explosive ammo for the ship's cannons, but now it served a much different purpose. Toph pushed open the ajar door and stepped in to discover a large metal basin filled with water and a griping Katara. "Stupid Fire Nation ship doesn't even have a- TOPH!"

The Earthbender smiled. "Got it one!"

"Toph, shut the door! I'm not wearing any clothes!"

"Hey, it was already open. I just followed the sound of your bellyaching."

"Well go ahead and close it now. I swear, these doors are warped or something, because I just cannot get them to close right and the locks-"

"Closed," Toph reported as the door shut with a clang. "So, what's got you this crazy? Because usually, it takes a lot of work to drive you up a wall like this, and if I have any competition on this ship, I want to know about it."

Katara stepped out of the water and actually gave a little snarl. "I just wanted a few minutes to relax and take a bath, but first I find that someone used up all the water without telling me, so I had to go out and pull some more moisture from the clouds, and then I find that there's no way on this stupid ship to heat a tub of water without dragging it all the way to the engine rooms and back, and while I grew up in the South Pole, a cold bath is not something I enjoy." The Waterbender stopped, turned to look at Toph, and sighed. "I'm sorry for ranting. It's just that things have been so crazy, and even now we're so busy taking care of Sokka, running and fixing the ship, training, making plans... doing nothing while my tribe could be fighting for survival... I just need to a moment to be regain my balance, you know?"

Toph smiled and leaned back against the wall. "I understand. And I think I have your solution."

"Oh?"

"Invite Aang to join you. He's a Firebender. He can keep your bath hot for you."

Even through the metal, Toph could sense Katara's heartbeat double in speed. "Toph! That's completely inappropriate!"

"Eh."

"I... Aang... we... it wouldn't... I couldn't do that to him! He's... and I'm... it just wouldn't be right." The growling tone had returned to the Waterbender's voice. "If you can't act like you're... huh."

"What?"

"Actually, it's not a completely bad idea."

"Woo! Go, Sugar Queen!"

"Not like that. Anyway, Aang is in the engine room trying to follow Sokka's repair instructions, and it would be mean to make him hang around with a towel over his head, heating my bath, while I'm... not wearing anything. But I could get Zuko to do it!"

"Zuko?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't mind, and he's older and more mature, and not the type that would be put off balance by a girl taking a bath near him."

"...are you sure?"

"Of course. He's so Honorable and formal, I can't imagine him peeping on a girl in the bath. He's like a brother to me, now. He can just not look, and I'll get my warm bath!"

"I think the stress is rotting your brain."

"Could you go find him and ask him to come here? I could, but then I'd have to get dressed again, and find him..."

"No worries, Sugar Queen. I'll handle it for you."

"Thanks! You're a good friend, Toph."

Whether Katara would have maintained that sentiment a few minutes later is a question Toph would love to have answered. The Earthbender found Zuko back in the infirmary, making plans with Sokka, Mai, and Suki, and announced her presence and request to the group as loudly as possible. "Zuko, Katara wants you to join her in the bath!"

Everyone was speechless.

Sokka was the first to recover his voice, but his, "EEEEEEAAAAAWWWAAAAAAA?" hardly improved the situation.

Zuko's response was much more coherent. "What?"

"Katara's taking a bath, and wants you to use your Firebending mojo to keep the water warm for her. She says she trusts you not to look at anything, you being an Honor Freak and all. Seriously."

Dead silence again. Zuko turned a pleading look at Mai, who didn't move, but Toph could hear the amusement in her voice. "I'm not providing any excuses. I trust you, do you trust her?"

Sokka sounded much less entertained. "Zuko, if you-"

Suki put a finger to his lips. "Don't you that kind of thing is more Aang's responsibility?"

"Yeah, but he's not here, and he's so weird he'd probably be okay with it, and-"

"Then what's the problem?"

Zuko slapped his forehead. "She's going to owe me big for this."

When Zuko arrived at the room Toph directed him to, the Kyoshi Warrior Ani was still singing as part of Uncle's crazy musical marathon. The current song was, if Zuko was hearing Ani's tinny voice properly through the broadcast pipes, a Kyoshi Island classic, but Zuko doubted it. What kind of place considered a song named, "Little Temptress" to be classic entertainment? (Neither was Zuko deaf to the irony, but he was used to life treating him that way.)

He knocked on the closed door lightly, his unease leading him back into habits of stealth. Unfortunately, Katara still heard it. "Zuko? Is that you?"

"...yes."

"Good, come in, it's okay."

The Fire Lord opened the door, and stepped through with every bit as much trepidation as he felt when first meeting his father upon returning from Avatar-hunting exile; he wasn't sure this situation would be any less dangerous. Katara was inside, next to a tub full of water, with a thick towel wrapped around her. "Zuko, thanks so much! I just need you to heat this water, and then keep it warm for a few more minutes while I wash up! I owe you big for this!"

"Yeah. Okay." He stepped over and put his hands on the side of the metal tub. He began breathing deeply, sending his chi through his arms and out again in the form of pure heat. The water rippled a bit, and even just standing next to it, Zuko could feel the air reflecting the increase in thermal energy. "Is this good?"

Katara checked the water with a finger, and smiled. "Perfect. You can keep it like this?"

"I'll sit down here next to the tub, with my back against it. I'll just watch the door, and I can keep my hands on the tub behind me to keep the heat up."

"Great! Really, I'm very grateful."

Zuko said nothing. He just took his station.

As was often the case, Mai was right- people always misjudged the quiet ones. (She would know.) For some reason, it was usually assumed that if you weren't as expressive as Ty Lee on chi-enhancing tea, you had nothing to express. For people like Mai and Zuko, nothing could be further from the truth. They were just more in control, for reasons that Zuko didn't feel qualified to diagnose. (Parents were probably to blame; they always were.) Zuko was always surprised when someone assumed that he didn't care about what went around him, just because he was well-behaved (usually). Brains didn't require mouth movement in order to work. Nevertheless, such assumptions continued.

The silliest was when people assumed he wasn't really interested in girls.

Was he really so stoic, that Katara didn't think he would care that she bathing naked right behind him?

The towel hit the floor, the water splashed slightly as the Waterbender sunk in, and Zuko struggled to keep his nervous swallow inaudible.

"Ah, that's much better. Thanks, Zuko. My tired body really needed this."

Argh.

"Oops, I left my soap on the floor. Could you hand it up to me?"

Another surprising thing about Zuko was that he was a good strategist. That's how he freed Aang from Zhao's fortress as the Blue Spirit. Thus, he involuntarily thought of six different ways he could 'accidentally" catch the view in the process of handing the soap up. He didn't, of course. But it hurt.

"Thanks." Was the sound of a bar of soap rubbing against skin supposed to be so intriguing? "You know, Toph actually suggested I get Aang to do this. I'm blushing just thinking about it! Especially with this lewd song playing. I don't know what your uncle is thinking letting that Kyoshi Warrior sing that thing. And I'm surprised Suki allowed it."

Zuko bit back his first response. "I bet Toph is appreciating the soundtrack."

"Yeah. Toph is just too much trouble. We need to get her a hobby for as long as we're traveling in this thing."

Zuko felt an evil urge coming up. For all that he had struggled to earn redemption, he still had some dark, malevolent shadows in his soul. (It didn't help that Mai tended to encourage them.) Keeping his voice level, he replied, "Trouble is one word for it. When she came to get me for you, she announced to the whole room- everyone was there but Aang and Ty Lee- that you wanted me to take a bath with you."

"SHE DIDN'T!"

A splash of warm water spilled down onto his shirt, and then a dripping on his head caused Zuko to look up before he could stop himself. It probably wasn't by design, considering the wild look in her eyes, but the edge of the tub was just barely preserving Katara and Zuko's easy friendship after she had rushed over to confront to his tease. "Um..."

She blinked, blushed, and shrank back from view. "Sorry." Zuko heard more water sloshing, and felt some more spilling out to fall on him, soaking the rest of his shirt. When Katara spoke again, the strength was back in her voice. "I'm going to kill Toph later. Or at least make fun of her disability."

"You do that. Almost done?"

"I just need to get my back. But that's easy for a Waterbender. It's actually a pretty nice perk."

"I can imagine." Unfortunately, Zuko's imagination kicked in at that point to prove him right. He hoped Katara didn't notice the sudden surge in heat.

"Okay, all done. But... oh, darn."

"What?"

"My towel dropped. I'm getting out to get it; don't turn around."

"Of course not." If Zuko didn't know Katara as the worst liar he had ever met outside of himself, he might have suspected her of doing this on purpose. She could be just as bad as Toph, sometimes.

"Okay, I'm set. Thank you, Zuko. I knew I could count on you to be a gentleman about this; I've come to feel so safe around you."

The Fire Lord turned around to see Katara once again wrapped in her towel. She bowed quickly to him, and he told himself he didn't at all notice the way the wet towel clung to her. "My pleasure, Katara. I hope you feel better after this."

"Zuko..."

"Hm?"

"Really, I'm sorry I bugged you with this. I know you must be feeling pretty bad about everything... Ozai... but I want you to know that we all really love you, and we'll face this together. You doing this for me just shows how great a friend you want to be, and I hope you know that we feel the same about you. We're your family now, and I'm your new annoying little sister."

Zuko bowed formally, but couldn't help but smile. "You get Sokka to give you baths, too?" Katara laughed, and the Fire Lord beat a hasty retreat just ahead of the a tub's worth of water being thrown at him.

He headed for Mai's quarters, where he was stashing his spare clothes until Uncle let him move out of the infirmary, so that he could get himself a dry shirt. When he opened the door, he found the girlfriend in question sitting leaning against another metal basin full of water, wearing only a towel. She smirked, and waved him in. "I was thinking that a bath sounded good. Care to provide the heat? Or are you too tired out?"

Zuko smiled and shut the door. Perhaps a dry shirt wasn't his first priority, after all. "I think I'm hot enough for you."

"Ugh, no puns, please."

To Be Continued...