Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Disclaimer 2: This scene gets a little heated. Hope no one is offended. =)

"Dammit, Katara! How could you be so naïve?! These people are exploiting us for our money! And here you are falling into their trap!"

"Well excuse me, Master Jet; I wasn't aware you knew absolutely everything about these people." Katara huffed and walked away from her date leaving him standing outside the restaurant.

"Screw it, Katara, do whatever you want. I don't care anymore. You can walk home."

Katara blanched and turned on her heel to face Jet. "You're seriously leaving me out here, downtown, at night? What is wrong with you? How can you be so-" but Katara was cut off as Jet slammed his car door and sped off, leaving Katara on the sidewalk, shivering in her sleeveless dress and thin shawl.

"What a royal jerk!" Katara fished out her cell phone and began dialing her roommate Suki's number. After three missed calls, Katara sighed and put her phone back in her purse.

"Guess I'm walking," she said to herself as she began walking down the sidewalk. Twenty minutes later, Katara's feet were hurting from the high heels she had been wearing to dinner. She kneeled down to slip her heels off and tuck them safely in her purse. It would slow down her progress because she had to make sure not to step on glass, but at least the pain was temporarily alleviated.

Another thirty minutes later, it began raining heavily but Katara kept walking, finding solace in the cold rain. However, it started lighting and thunder and Katara began to shiver in earnest now. She darted into the nearest business, a teashop.

"Escape from the rain?" the kind shop owner asked her. He was an older and slightly short man, with greying hair and kind golden eyes. Katara nodded, teeth chattering.

"Oh my lady, you must be freezing! Here, come along. There's a fire going in the main sitting area. I will have my employee bring you some robes so you can change into something dry."

The old man walked Katara to the sitting area where she plopped down directly in front of the fire. Katara sat there and closed her eyes, trying to get as warm as possible in her still sodden dress.

"T-Tara?"

Katara whirled around. "Z-Zuko? Wh-what are you d-doing here?"

"Your lips are purple!" Zuko rushed to Katara with the dry and warm robes in his hands. He immediately began tugging on her dress to help her get out of her wet clothing. "I don't have any undergarments for girls, but you can wear my robes, they're pretty insulating."

Katara knew she should not allow her ex to remove her clothing in the middle of an –albeit empty – teashop, but she was so cold and he was so warm, she mindlessly followed his instructions and helped him undress her. When she was just in her underwear, she saw Zuko struggling not to stare at her and just help her cover herself with the robe until she could remove her undergarments as well. He held the robe around her while she removed them, and carefully helped her drape the robe over herself. The robes were so large on her that he had to wrap them around her three times. Once she was covered again, Zuko was finally able to meet her eyes.

"I'll take these to the back to be dried. Wait here, okay?"

As Zuko rose to leave, Katara felt the absence of his heat to her very bones. She reached out and grabbed his arm.

"I ca-can't get warm, please stay?"

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply. "Katara, if I stay while you're like this, I won't be able to keep my hands off of you."

Katara looked down, her wet hair covering her face. She was still shivering. "I unde-derstand-d," she chattered.

When he heard her chattering teeth, Zuko's control broke; he threw her clothes to the ground and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms. Her sigh of satisfaction at the return of his warmth melted his heart and caused his stomach to flip.

After holding her for fifteen minutes or so, Katara finally sat up, no longer shivering.

"Thank you, Zuko, I was so cold."

He nodded at her, staring into the fire rather than looking at her. They sat in silence for a while, both staring into the fire as it continued to rain outside.

"What happened, Katara?" Zuko asked suddenly. "Why were you alone, in the rain, at night, in that dress?"

Katara jumped. "I…was on a date." Zuko stiffened. "It didn't go well…and he left me outside of the restaurant." Zuko's fists clenched. "I started walking home, but then it started raining and lighting, so I came in here."

Zuko was taking deep breathes to calm himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you worked here," Katara said, not understanding Zuko's reaction to what she said.

Zuko shook his head. "It's not that, you are always welcome her. I'm…pissed, that someone would just leave you alone like that. What kind of a man does that?"

At that moment, the shop keeper shuffled in. "Zuko, I am going to lock up the shop for the night. You can keep the young lady company if you wish. If she wishes to sleep here, she can use any of the guest rooms in the back. My lady, you are more than welcome to stay until the rain stops. The news said the storm should be over in the morning."

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate that."

"Yes, Iroh, thank you."

Iroh left the young adults alone again.

"Katara?"

"Yes?"

"Who was it that left you like that?"

"You don't know him. His name is Jet. He's in one of my psych classes. I thought he was a good guy, but he's kind of a jerk."

"What did you fight about that caused him to leave you?"

"Charity, believe it or not. He thinks that charity is exploitation and that I'm naïve for believing in it."

"And for that, he leaves you, alone downtown at night?"

"You act like I'm a delicate little thing that needs constant protection."

Zuko's golden eyes blazed. "That's not what I'm saying! It's just that, he picked you up from your home to take you somewhere; it is his responsibility to get you safely back home. No matter what fight we had, I never would have just left you somewhere."

Katara noticed Zuko's hand clenching into fists again, instinctively, she reached out and grabbed hold of them, rubbing soothing circles into them until he released the tension. As she rubbed his hands, she felt him staring at her. Looking up, she saw his face inches from hers, his breath slightly quickening. He got closer to her, his lips centimeters from hers.

"Katara…" he breathed.

"We shouldn't…it will just get confusing again."

"I know…"

He closed his eyes to break the spell so that he could pull away, but suddenly, he felt her lips against his. He inhaled in surprise, but tasted her scent on his tongue, and for the second time that night, his control broke. His arm snaked around her middle, and even through three layers of fabric, he felt goose bumps on her skin. Her hands found his way to his hair and she crawled into his lap as he pulled her still closer to him. Teeth grazed lips and tongues teased each other while the couple got closer still. Katara's hand brushed the small scar on Zuko's left jawbone sending shivers down his spine. Ever since Katara found out the story behind Zuko's small scar, she never failed to run her fingers along it, always making Zuko melt when she did so.

Zuko kept his left arm tight around her waist but his right hand found her face, cradling her cheek in his hand and pulling her even deeper into the kiss.

Breathes hitched and small moans could be heard deep in their throats. Finally, Zuko pulled his lips from Katara's and trailed down her throat, peppering her throat with kisses. When he reached the fabric of his own robe at her collarbone, he growled, she looked so sexy in his clothes. Not wanting to push Katara, he kept his trail of kisses up and down her throat and along her neck, Katara throwing her head back to give him better access. As she threw her head back, she moved slightly on his lap, causing the tension to rise continuously. She began to push Zuko into a laying position, keeping hold of his hair and following him. As they collapsed next to the fire, Zuko turned them so he was above her, and he kept kissing her lips, her throat, her neck. Getting brave, he nipped at her collarbone, causing her to moan loudly.

"Shh, sweetie, my boss is in the back."

Katara nodded and captured his lips with hers again, spreading her knees so he was laying between them, his chest still pressed against her. Through all the clothes, he felt her shivering.

"I'm gonna take a guess that those shivers aren't due to the cold this time," he chuckled against her lips.

"Mmm, no."

Zuko let go of her face and reached down to the sash that kept her robe closed, but he hesitated, making eye contact with Katara. "Is this alright?"

"I, um, I…" she trailed off. "I can't think clearly right now."

With that, Zuko got off of his ex-girlfriend, his love, his angel. When Katara protested, Zuko shook his head. "I don't want to do anything you might regret later. If we do this, it will be a decision you made coherently." Zuko sat up and scooted away from Katara, close enough for her to reach out to him if she wanted to, but far away enough that she wasn't tempted.

Katara sat up, still breathless, her chest heaving. She gazed again into the fire, thinking. "I hate that you never let me make stupid decisions like this," she said softly.

"I don't ever want to be a stupid decision for you," he said equally softly.

"You could never be a stupid decision." She said this so quietly, he wasn't sure he heard her right. "You could never be a stupid decision, because in my heart, you will always be the right decision."

Zuko's breath hitched. "And in my heart, you will always be the right decision."

"So why aren't we rolling on the floor right now?" she asked chuckling.

"The same reason we are broken up…" Zuko covered his mouth after he said that. Katara looked at him with watery eyes.

"I should go…" She stood and began remove the robe he had leant her.

He caught her hand. "If you take that off, you won't get out of here for a while."

"Are you leaving this decision to me?"

He nodded.

She removed the robe.