When Katara awoke, she felt sore and groggy. But also warm.

Very warm.

She tensed when she felt arms tighten around her. Oh. Right. Snuggling with a firebender. No big deal, she remembered.

Glancing down, Katara watched as a large hand shifted from resting on her thigh to enclosing around her own hands. The thumb softly traced circles over her knuckles until she relaxed a bit.

Zuko gave her hand a squeeze before using it to push himself up from behind her, putting a few inches of distance between them.

He watched as the girl yawned and attempted to stretch out a bit, frowning when she flinched at the pain the movement caused.

Katara looked around for the water, pulling it closer to her side before setting to work healing her knee. Her nap helped to restore her energy, and the food had been able to work its way through her, allowing her to heal herself again.

She saw the boy watching her with interest from her peripheral. She made a show of resting her hands over her injured joint, concentrating on setting it to its rightful position. After stretching it out to test her work, she was satisfied enough to move on to her remaining burns. It was so much easier now that her arms were healed.

As she was redipping her hands into the bucket, she realized that she hadn't said anything since she woke up.

Racking her mind for something to say, all she could come up with was an awkward "Thanks for helping me… be warm."

Zuko graced her with a kind smile before informing her that she had slept for about an hour. "You seem to be feeling better," he noted, nodding at her glowing hands.

Katara crinkled her nose when a particularly brutal burn wouldn't heal all the way. "Not better enough, apparently," she huffed.

"Burns don't heal easily," he said. "Even when they do, they tend to scar easier than other wounds."

"I wouldn't know," she admitted. But he would, she couldn't help but think as she spared a quick glance at his face. She gave up on the part she was attempting to heal and moved on to another area of her stomach.

.

"Why are you here?" she asked without looking at him. She had healed herself to the best of her ability and was now working on separating the dirt from the puddles of water that remained on the ground. She was chilling her drinking water with bits of ice, hoping to sooth her throat that had gone sore from her earlier screaming.

After a few moments of silence, she turned her head towards him and raised an eyebrow, awaiting a response.

The boy shook his head, clearing it before sighing and crossing his legs in front of him.

"My mother and I lived in the Fire Nation capital since I was born. She took in refugees from the Earth Kingdom colonies in secret, helping them get to land outside of the Fire Nation control," he explained. "She did a lot for them, but eventually she was caught about 4 years ago. Fire Lord Ozai had her killed. I was left with a warning," he gestured to his scar. "I visited her grave, once, and was sent here shortly after. I've been here ever since."

Katara thought over the brief story, wondering how a man could be so cruel as to kill a mother right in front of her son. She had heard that the Fire Lord was cruel, but couldn't believe he had a boy imprisoned just for visiting the grave of his dead mother.

She couldn't help but think there was more to the story, but didn't question it, instead taking a sip of water.

"My mother was killed by a Fire Nation soldier when I was little," she offered, knowing that "sorry" would mean nothing.

Zuko shook his head sadly. "There's nothing we can do about it now."

Katara nodded in agreement, lifting small beads of water to dance along her fingers.

Zuko watched her for a moment before asking, "What do they want from you, anyways?"

Still playing with the water droplets, Katara grunted a response. "The man with the white hair thinks I know where a fleet of warships from my tribe is. My father is the chief."

"And you don't know?"

"No," Katara sighed. "I haven't heard from him in years." She paused before continuing stubbornly, "But I wouldn't tell them even if I did know."

Zuko's eyes darkened. "It's that kind of attitude that's going to get you killed in here," he chastised gravely.

She dropped the water, letting it fall onto her scarred stomach "I think I would rather be dead right now, anyways."

"Don't say that. I don't want you to be dead."

"Why? You don't even know me."

"Exactly," Zuko smiled. "So imagine how upset people who do know you would be."

She considered this carefully. Did she really want to be dead? No, of course not. But how much longer would it be before the guards and general actually did kill her? How much longer would they keep her once they realized that she couldn't give them the answers they were looking for?

The sound of Zuko clearing his throat brought her back to the present.

"So um… I know I don't really know you but… I'd like to. I mean," he stammered, "not like that. But I meant just because you're here and I'm here and I don't even know your name and you probably don't even remember mine but it's-"

"Zuko," she cut off his babbling. "Your name is Zuko. I remember." She gave him a small, genuine smile that he swore was the prettiest thing he had seen in his lifetime.

Zuko desperately tried to will away the redness in his cheeks as he nodded and waited for her to continue.

After studying him for what felt like an eternity, she finally graced him with a response.

"Katara. It's… Katara."

"Katara," he repeated, enjoying how it sounded in his own voice.

.

They spent the next hour talking about mundane things.

Zuko explained about how life in the prison worked, telling her of their daily chores, meals, and the general layout of the facility. He even told her a few stories about some of the other inmates, including his perpetually-angry bunkmate.

"He really threatened to shove a broom up a guard's butt just for putting him on sweep duty two days in a row?"

"Yeah," Zuko laughed, "and when he finally got out of solitary, he wasn't even allowed NEAR the brooms. And I swear, that guard never walked the same way after that. I call him Waddles."

"So you've got Waddles, Red, and Juicy?" Katara couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculous nicknames for the guards Zuko had come up with. It was nice to know a sense of humor could be maintained in here.

"And my sister had a pet snake named Charlie once who looked just like Zogen. Of course, she did end up lighting it on fire…"

"The guy with the scaly scars? I could never think of him as Charlie. He's too scary," Katara shivered as she remembered what he'd said to her the first day.

"He doesn't bother much with most of us. I just stay out of his way, and I've been fine."

Katara thought that the odds he'd ever leave her alone were slim.

.

"And then my brother Sokka grabbed the penguin by his tail feathers and didn't let go until it had dragged him through the entire camp. We weren't allowed to go penguin sledding after that," Katara finished her story.

"Your brother sounds great," Zuko chuckled, wishing his childhood was as fun as Katara's.

"He's just a big idiot," the girl scowled. "Once, he spent three hours trying to build a fire by rubbing sticks together just because he wouldn't use my flintrock when he dropped his in the river."

"I've never had that problem," Zuko smirked.

He opened his palm and produced a flame in an instant before shooting it at the piece of cloth that had once contained Katara's food. The girl rolled her eyes before splashing water over it to put it out.

She felt much better now. She didn't hate him like she had when she'd first found out he was a firebender. He was right; no one could choose if they were a bender or not.

She laughed when Zuko had attempted to spin little sparks in his hand as she had with the water. He had gotten frustrated when one shot up unexpectedly and almost lit the collar of his shirt on fire. Katara had offered to show him other tricks sometimes, while he had told her he could explain how he bent fire with his feet, a skill that Katara had never understood.

His fire fascinated (and terrified) her, just as her water intrigued him.

"Can you heal people other than yourself?" he had asked.

She responded by getting up to kneel in front of him, laying her hand on his wrapped arm as she looked up at him under her eyelashes. He nodded in answer to her silent question, and held his breath as she gently unwrapped the cloth, revealing the multitude of shallow cuts she had caused earlier. She skimmed her fingers along his arm, sizing up the wounds.

He shivered, even as heat rose to his cheeks.

Zuko sat still and rigged as the girl gathered water into her hands and focused on healing the cuts. They weren't even that bad—he had nearly forgotten about them—but she seemed to be concentrating on him with her entire being. He watched and could have sworn he could see each individual cell connect with another, stitching each laceration back together with incredible precision. The dried blood that stained his arm seemed to be drawn back into his body, leaving nothing but pristine skin.

After she had finished, Katara ghosted her palm up his limb one more time before settling back to sit onto her heel.

Zuko nearly leaned forward to follow her, his skin tingling where she had touched him.

Katara saw the awe in his eyes and felt a surge of pride. "Does that answer your question?"

Zuko moved his gaze from her hands to her face, unable to hide the longing. "You, uh. You didn't need to do that. But, um, yes."

Katara shook her head. "It was my fault you were hurt in the first place. It's the least I could do."

They sat across from each other in comfortable silence, just perusing the other.

She noticed how his thin arms still showed muscles beneath the surface, and wondered how he was able to keep in shape in a place like this. She imagined him doing pushups in his room in the space between the two bunk beds. Or maybe they were from stirring the large pots of stew that he sometimes was tasked to do while on kitchen duty.

She also looked at his shaggy hair, and wondered if inmates were allowed sharp objects for personal maintenance. She could tell that he shaved, as stubble dotted along his jawline. Did he even care that his hair was so long that it wouldn't be long before it fell into his eyes? Sokka always pulled his up, but maybe that was just a Water Tribe thing. Katara had never seen anyone from other nations, save for Fire Nation soldiers.

And now there was Zuko.

He was so different from anyone she had ever met before (not that she had much experience with boys). He wasn't like any firebender she had ever heard of. He had the same golden eyes as the guards, but his were different. Softer. More careful. Every time she caught him looking at her when he thought she didn't notice, he seemed to be almost studying her, calculating her thoughts. She would have been weirded out by it, but she did the same thing to him.

She wondered if they would have been friends, if things were different. If he had been born in the Water Tribe or if she had been from the Fire Nation.

Across from her, Zuko was still reeling over his healing session.

He had never been much for water, hating rain and never really choosing to swim on the hot days that frequented the capital. But watching Katara move the water with as much grace as the koi that had swum in the pond in his yard, he was willing to rethink his opinion. The way she ran the cool liquid over his arms made his stomach flip and heat rise to his face. When she had stopped, he wished she would manipulate the water to cool the suddenly feverish flesh on his cheeks.

He gazed at her stomach, no longer the angry red of before, but now a deep tan, with lighter patches from where the burns had scarred. Even with the imperfections, he couldn't help but note that she had a beautiful body. Her shape shown off by the limited tight clothing she wore tempted him in ways he hadn't felt in years.

He longed to run his hands over her stomach, to bury his nose in her smooth neck and inhale the smell that was just so her. In the time she had slept against him, he had been able to catch the scent of her hair as it tickled his nose. It was light and salty, though tinged with smoke from the guards' fires from earlier.

Her body had become warm against him as she borrowed his natural heat, and Zuko was not ashamed to admit that he loved the way her form had seamlessly melted into him when she fell asleep.

He was admiring the soft skin on her arms when he noticed goose bumps pricking their way to the surface. Without thinking, he reached out and smoothed them out with the knuckles of his fingers.

Katara shivered, but she wasn't completely sure it was from the cold.

At her movement, Zuko took his hand from her, rubbing his palms on his pants before standing up.

"I should, uh," he began, "I'll be expected in my bunk soon."

Katara nodded, accepting the hand he had reached out to her. Once she stood, she looked around for her robe, suddenly aware of how naked she was.

I can't believe I've been undressed in front of this stranger all day, she thought.

But Zuko wasn't really a stranger. Not anymore. She felt like she knew him. She enjoyed his company. Trusted him, even.

Trusting a firebender? Damn. Prison's changed you.

Zuko had retrieved her robe from the ground, shaking it off before holding it open for her.

Katara gratefully stepped into it, letting the boy pull the sleeves in place before tying it shut. She frowned as she caught sight of the hole singed into it, but was happy to be in her warm clothes again.

"You'd better take another drink before I go. I can't leave water in here with you."

Katara nodded, bending a few gulps into her mouth. After swallowing, she suddenly realized how badly she needed to use the bathroom.

"Uh, Zuko?" she asked, a little embarrassed. "Is there a specific corner that would serve as a little girl's room?"

Zuko drew his eyebrows together in confusion before understanding. He barked out a laugh as he responded, "Over there. You just kick the grate aside. Don't forget to replace it though. Wouldn't want to accidentally fall in," he joked.

Katara looked at the hole she had noticed in her first cell. "…Oh."

"They're all like that, here," Zuko explained. "Even the guards use them. Reduces waste and all."

Katara nodded slowly, still a little uneasy about having to sit above hole in the ground whenever she had to… go.

She handed Zuko the bucket, which he took before raising a hand to the door to knock to be let out.

After knocking, he turned to say "Um, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I guess, yeah. Thanks. Sleep well?"

"You too," he responded as the door opened a crack.

He gave her one last smile before exiting her room, leaving her alone once again.

.

It was the red-haired guard that let him out.

"I thought I was going to have to come in and drag you out," he said gruffly. Red wasn't exactly kind, but he certainly wasn't as bad as the majority of the other guards. He'd been known to joke around with the inmates when the mood suit him.

Zuko laughed uneasily. "I just lost track of time, I guess."

The man looked at him for a moment before grabbing the bucket from Zuko's hands.

"I'll take this. Get to your room. They called light's out ten minutes ago."

The boy nodded before heading down the hall that led to his room.

As he settled down for the night, he found himself hoping that the girl, Katara, would have an easier day tomorrow.

.

Back in her lonely cell, Katara lay on the mattress after relieving herself in the hole.

She couldn't help but notice how much harder it was to fall asleep without Zuko's warmth against her.

Comments encouraged! Thanks for reading.

UPDATE: i think i figured out the formatting issue. the breaks should show up now. grrr. sorry about the confusion.