Author's Note: This quick update is to make up for how long the other one took! It's also much longer. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it!

Warning: I'm going to stop doing warnings now so that I don't give things away;) Keep in mind the story is rated M.

Zuko woke up to a burning pain in his chest. At first, he didn't know where he was, but then he recalled the frightening events of the day before. He was lying on his stomach which was probably the worst position to be in because of his broken ribs. Groaning, he summoned the muscles in his arms to do their job and flip himself over. After a few tries, he successfully managed to turn over and sit up.

The floor was uneven and freezing. He was seriously surprised they hadn't frozen to death during the night. He guessed he had Katara's foresight to thank, since she was the one who remembered to seal the entrance. Her diligence had saved their lives. Speaking of Katara, she was still fast asleep on her side, curled up in a ball for warmth. Seeing her made him afraid. She was so small compared to him, and (even though he knew better) so fragile. He desperately hoped they were able to be rescued as soon as possible so that she could be safe.

Shrugging off his coat, Zuko gently set it on top of her. He watched curiously as she snuggled further into its warmth, murmuring softly something he couldn't make out. He felt relieved when her shivering stopped. With one last glance at the sleeping Katara, Zuko stood up and looked around. The rest of the cave was nearly pitch black. The entrance had let in a little light through the ice, but this soft glow did not penetrate deeper into the cave. The cave itself was fairly large in width from what he could tell, but he was not sure how far inward it went.

Ignoring the burning in his chest, Zuko lit a small flame in his palm. The fire warmed him a bit and cast flickering tendrils of light all around the cave. Now that he could see, Zuko could make out that this was in fact a hunting cave as Katara had mentioned. In the center of the floor was a rock formation that resembled a fire pit, and in several crevasses there were seal oil candles. The candles were basically bowl-shaped containers filled with seal oil. In the middle of the odd candle was a wick. Curious, Zuko used his flame to light the little bit of string and was pleasantly surprised to see it emit a steady flame of its own. After lighting the remaining candles, Zuko grabbed one, ceasing his own flame in favor of the candle. He was still exhausted and bending took a lot of his energy.

Using the light, he ventured further into the cave, hoping he would find some supplies or perhaps some firewood so that he could start a real fire. The candles helped light up the place, but there was hardly any heat to be found from them. Running his hand against the rough wall, he made his way down the passage. After a minute or so, he found what he was looking for. Resting against the back wall were around six sacks made of dense, durable-looking skin. They did not look like they had been here longer than six months, which was good because any food they might contain would most likely still be edible. Opening the first one, Zuko pulled out some fur blankets and extra clothes. The blankets made Zuko sigh in relief. At least they would have something to sleep on besides the cold floor. And although there were only two in all, they were of good quality and quite warm. The clothes consisted of only an extra pair of gloves, a worn fur coat, and a white undershirt.

Moving on to the next bag, he found it stuffed full of firewood. The same went for the next four bags. Although he was overjoyed to find so much, he knew they would need food. Their survival would rely on the last sack. Dragging it towards him, he realized that this one was slightly different than the rest. It seemed to be made from much thicker skins and the knots tying it were fastened much tighter. Giving a final quick prayer to the spirits, he untied it and peered inside.

It was stuffed to the brim with wrapped packages. Grabbing the first one, Zuko lifted it to his nose and smelled. He was met with the tantalizing smell of jerky. Sure enough, the package was full of it, as were many others. There was more than just jerky though. There were dried fruits and preserved vegetables as well. When he reached the bottom, he found a pot and a few eating utensils. Pleased with his good fortune, Zuko repacked the sacks and lugged them back to the campfire. They would be much easier to access if they were closer to where the two of them would be sleeping. The thought of sleeping interrupted his planning and made him stand still. When he had found the blankets, he had not thought of the fact that there were only enough for one decent bed if they wanted to use one to sleep on and one as a blanket. Obviously, he would let Katara use the blankets, but then where would he sleep? The thought of them sharing crossed his mind, but the subsequent image of them wrapped up in each other's arms, pressed against each other for warmth, filled his mind. Oh Spirits, her soft body would be pressed against his hard one, snuggling up against his heat and… Fuck. He could not let that happen. It was hard enough to resist his desire for her, and if he found himself in her bed he doubted his need would remain a secret. No. He would just have to sleep in his coat on the opposite side of the fireplace. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.

With that settled, Zuko finished dragging the sacks over to the cave entrance. With a final grunt, he set the last one beside the others. His ribs still ached. The effort of moving the bags had only made it worse.

Katara was still sleeping under his coat. He knew he should wake her so that she could get warm by the fire he was going to build, but at the same time she looked so peaceful. Deciding to wake her only after the fire was built, Zuko started pulling out wood from the nearest sack. It only took him a minute or so since duh he was a firebender. While he was adding logs, he briefly wondered how the smoke would escape. But his questions were answered when he looked up and saw a small hole in the ceiling above the fireplace. It let the smoke out well enough and wasn't big enough to let too much cold in.

Satisfied with his fire, Zuko glanced back toward the sleeping waterbender, only to find she wasn't sleeping anymore. Katara's ocean blue eyes were staring at him. She must have awoken from the noise he had made. She looked briefly confused, before seeming to remember where they were.

"You found firewood?" Katara asked sleepily.

"Yes," he replied. "There were supplies and wood in the back. I brought them here so you could easily reach them."

She took a few seconds to process his words before exclaiming in concern, "Oh Zuko! But your ribs… you were injured! You shouldn't be straining yourself." Suddenly using the motherly tone he knew so well, she said, "Come here so I can see how badly you're hurt." When Katara sat up, his coat fell off of her, and she seemed confused to find it on her own shoulders. Looking back at him, her eyes widened. "But weren't you cold without your coat?" Her concern for him warmed him more than that silly coat ever could, but he did not tell her that.

"I'm a firebender, remember?" He said with a small smirk. "I can create my own heat. And although it's not a permanent solution, it does keep me warm enough temporarily." Then with a slight burning in his cheeks he continued, "Besides you needed it more than me. I would not be alive if you hadn't found me in the snow. I owe you one."

A little flustered, she looked away from him for a second, before tugging off the rest of the coat and holding it up toward him. "Thank you, Zuko. I appreciate it, but you can take it back. I feel warm enough now. Oh, I still want to check your ribs." Katara looked around the barren cave once more before looking back at the fire. "Let's sit by the fire while I take a look at you." Zuko chuckled slightly at her word choice, and her cheeks turned a little red. "Look at your injuries," she corrected quickly. Oh this will be fun, he thought to himself.

Once they both settled down beside the fire, she hesitated again. "Need me to take off my shirt?" He asked, grinning. Her answering blush answered his question for him. "Would you like to do the honors or shall I?" The widening of her eyes made him chuckle again. He knew he was being cruel, but he couldn't help it. She seemed as flustered as he usually was around her. It made him wonder if perhaps she found him as physically attractive as he found her. But reason returned, and he rejected that foolish idea. She was probably just nervous being alone with him. A horrible thought occurred to him then. What if she thought he would force himself on her? He would 'never' do that, but did she know that?

But before he could tell her so, she put on a straight face and said calmly, "You can do it… if it does not cause you too much pain that is." She looked at him expectantly, and he felt his arms move almost on their own accord. His shirt was a tad bit more complicated for him to get off since it was not his typical Fire Nation clothes. But he managed eventually without too much pain.

He knew he was muscular, but seeing her eyes sweep over his exposed skin gave him a confidence he hadn't had before. He watched as her eyes turned a deeper shade of blue, but it was when she bit her lip that he almost groaned out loud. She had no idea how much he would give to be the one to bite that lip. And seeing her doing it while looking at him made his cock twitch. Oh no. He should not be getting hard from this. She was his friend, and it was disrespectful to think of her like that. But spirits he couldn't stop. Katara at least seemed clueless as to his situation, and he was determined to keep it that way.

Now for the true test of his control. Her soft hands reached forward and pressed against his chest. Zuko groaned. He couldn't help it. But luckily for him Katara seemed to think it was a groan of pain because she looked up at him and whispered "Sorry." She did not use water because she was not yet healing him, just checking how badly he was injured. Zuko at this point almost wished there was a barrier of water between them. When the clueless waterbender requested he lie down so that she could reach him easier, he almost burned hot enough to catch his clothes on fire. Shifting slowly, he lay down on the blanket Katara had just set on the ground. He hoped the slight bulge in pants was not too visible. Spirits give him strength.

From this angle, Katara could definitely reach his chest better. Speaking of the temptress, she was now carefully, so as not to hurt him, running her hands over his torso, testing which ribs had been injured.

After three excruciatingly long minutes, Katara finally stopped. Giving him a concerned look, she said, "You have one broken rib and a couple of cracked ones. I'm surprised you could have even walked, let alone made the trek through the snow all the way here yesterday." Recalling the day before, Zuko remembered his chest hurting like hell, but he had tried to ignore the pain and focus instead on moving forward so that Katara would not have to help carry him. He had wanted her to save her own strength, even if it cost him his. Katara's voice broke the silence, "I want to try to heal as much as I can now. But I'm not sure how much I can do at the moment. I still do not have much energy to bend." Despite not having her full strength, Zuko watched her bend some water from the ice at the door and bring it over to them. He did not want her to waste her strength, but at the same time he knew she would not take no for an answer.

Zuko watched in wonder as the water engulfed her hands and glowed. She had healed him before, but it always seemed like magic to him. Katara brought her hands down and laid them gently on his chest. The water was cold, and yet it felt soothing. Zuko gazed at her face as she worked. She had a determined expression, and her eyes were shut in concentration. He noticed that one of her ebony pieces of hair had fallen out of her braid and was now dangling enticingly in front of her eyes. Unable to resist, Zuko reached his hand up and swept the strand behind her ear. At the unexpected touch, Katara's eyes flew open and met his gaze. They stayed like that for a long second. Blue eyes meeting gold. It was only when Katara's pretty little mouth opened slightly that Zuko looked away. He couldn't stand seeing her lips part and not being able to kiss them.

Katara swallowed and looked away a heartbeat after he did as if she too remembered something. The rest of the healing took only five more minutes, in which Zuko spent trying to calm down his heartbeat, lest she realize why it was truly racing. After she had done as much as she could for the time being, Katara wrapped his chest with a spare piece of cloth that was discovered in the clothing bag and said, "That should be good enough for now. Of course your ribs are not fully healed yet, but if you do not exert yourself too much you should be okay for now."

"Thank you, Katara. It feels much better already." And it truly did. He could move his arms without much pain, and the ache was much less severe now. "Do you think this blizzard will last a long time? I don't think Appa can fly in this weather, so I highly doubt we will be rescued until the storm subsides. Plus no one knows where we are."

"Blizzards in the South Pole usually last a week or more," Katara said gloomily. "I think we should expect to be here at least that long."

Looking at the sacks of wood and food, Zuko said with as much joy as he could muster, "At least we have enough firewood and food. If we only eat a certain amount each day there should be enough to last a week."

"Ya, this hunting cave seems to have been stocked pretty well, although it's too bad it was meant for only one person since there are not very many blankets or clothes. I guess we will have to share." Before Zuko could protest, Katara had gotten up and was laying out the blankets to make a makeshift bed. "If we squish there should be enough ro…"

Zuko interrupted her. "No!" At her confused look, he continued hurriedly. "I mean… I'm going to sleep on the ground. I have enough clothes to keep me warm, plus I can warm my body with my bending. There is truly no need to share the bed." He was just fishing for excuses now. He just hoped she wouldn't pressure him because it was for her own good. He did not deserve to sleep beside her, let alone touch her.

Katara looked like she was about to argue, but in the end she closed her mouth and said, "Well, if that's what you want to do… then okay." She sounded a little disappointed which Zuko could not understand. Why would she be disappointed to not be sharing a bed with him? Before he had the chance to think much about it, Katara spoke again, "I am going to see what food we could cook for supper." It was still early evening, but because they were still very tired neither of them were obliged to stay up a lot longer, even though they had slept most of the morning and afternoon on their first night. But for now they would eat supper.

Katara grabbed the pot and started heating up some vegetables in water. It was a crude meal since there were no seasonings and the food was not exactly fresh, but Katara did a good job of making it as tasty as possible.

When they were done eating, they sat and stared at the fire. Finally Katara broke the silence, "I noticed that the scar on your stomach from Azula's lightning was fading. Does it hurt much anymore?"

"Not really. I mean sometimes it will ache if I train too hard or if I do anything too strenuous. But for the most part it doesn't bother me."

Katara smiled, "That's good news. I was worried that I did not get to properly finish healing you when we were at the palace." Zuko forced himself to ignore the memory of Katara straddling him as she healed his wound. Now was not the time. Now was not the time. Now was not the time. He would let himself 'take care' of the insistent bulge in his pants only after Katara was asleep. He knew by now that willing it to go away did not work when the cause was Katara.

"Do you like your apartments in the palace?" Zuko asked curiously. He had chosen them specifically for her when she had decided to stay in the Fire Nation. They were situated like a suite and had their own gardens and pond. He had taken one look at the pond and knew Katara would love it. He had even told the gardeners to plant blue orchids all around the garden because he knew they were her favorite flower.

"Oh the apartments are lovely!" Katara exclaimed. "Sometimes I wonder how I got such a nice place. It's like my own little house… and the gardens! The gardens are so beautiful that sometimes I sleep outside on the grass. The moon always reflects onto the water making the whole place glow!"

Zuko smiled as he listened to Katara chatter about how much she adores her rooms. He could never get tired of listening to her beautiful voice. It reminded him of when they used to talk while she was healing his lightning wound. It used to be his favorite part of the day.

"Do you get to spend much time in your gardens? If you have gardens I mean…" Katara's question brought him out of his daydream.

"Yes, I have gardens, but I rarely have time to walk in them. When I am not busy with paperwork, I spend my time training or sleeping."

"That's too bad," Katara sighed. "I should take you to see mine sometime. It is the most beautiful at night… But of course we could go in the daytime if that would make you more comfortable!" She rushed clearly thinking he would be opposed to being in her apartments at night. She couldn't have been more wrong, but obviously he wasn't going to tell her that.

"Night sounds perfect." He smiled, and she visibly relaxed.

"I'll be looking forward to it. If we ever get out of this cave that is." She sighed. "What a strange way of spending a vacation. Not what I was expecting at all."

"Well there is not much of a way to plan this type of thing," he teased.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Katara giggled. The sound went straight to his heart. "I just thought we would be vacationing like normal people. But I guess we have never really been 'normal' ourselves, so why would our vacation be?"

"Ya I guess so." He chuckled. "Want to know a secret?"

"Sure."

"I think I prefer being stuck with you in here than spending the whole vacation surrounded by overexcited people who are trying to do as many activities as possible in a week and a half."

Zuko watched Katara's cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink. "Even with the broken ribs?" She asked quietly.

"Even with the broken ribs." He responded. For a moment they just watched each other in silence. Everything he had said to Katara was true. He would rather be here. But if her comfort was the consequence, then he would gladly pray for rescue. He still remembered the fear and panic he had felt when he saw her sliding towards the edge of Appa's saddle. He hadn't been that afraid since he had watched Azula point her lighting toward Katara during their Agni Kai. He hadn't thought either time. All he knew was that he could not let Katara die. So he had flung himself on top of her during the blizzard without regard for his own safety.

They talked about life at the palace for a few more hours. Katara seemed quite interested in what he did everyday, which seemed strange since it was quite boring in his opinion. However, he was quite content to tell her everything as long as she returned the favor. He loved hearing about her hospital work. She obviously adored helping the patients there, and talking about it made her face light up.

By the time it got dark, Zuko had nearly forgotten about the sleeping arrangements. But he was painfully reminded when Katara let out a big yawn. While she set up her makeshift bed, he added more wood to the dying fire. Once it was crackling steadily and giving off a good amount of heat, he looked over at her.

Katara was watching him from her spot between the furs. "Are you certain you do not want to share?" She asked once again.

Shaking his head and gritting his teeth, Zuko prepared his own sleeping spot. As soon as he lay down he knew he would not get much sleep. The cave floor was hard and cold. Rocks jutted into his back as he shifted. He had to remind himself again that this was for his and Katara's own good. Shivering, Zuko pulled his coat tighter around himself. He was still facing the fire and could see Katara watching him with a worried frown on her face. Oh no here it comes…

"Fire Lord Zuko, I can see you shivering. Get your royal ass over here and keep me and you warm with your firebending powers." Katara was narrowing her eyes at him. Zuko knew that voice. It was her no nonsense 'do as I say voice'. Zuko knew he was fucked.

Getting up with a muttered curse, he made his way around the fire. As he slid in between the furs, he was careful not to touch her. But about five seconds after he was settled precariously behind her, Katara shifted backwards until her back was pressed tightly against his chest. Zuko almost groaned as her ass settled directly against his crotch. He tried to move away again, but Katara's arm grabbed him.

"Please don't move away from me," she whispered sleepily. "You are so warm…" Katara interrupted herself with a yawn and pulled his arm over her body so that he was spooning her. Oh Spirits, how could he move now? Zuko sighed in resignation. Trying to ignore the feeling of her body against his, he closed his eyes. This was going to be a long night…

I personally love this chapter:) It was soo much fun writing about how much Zuko loves Katara. I have found that I like writing fluff too much to focus mainly on the spice, but I promise I will still include plenty of sexy times. I took my inspiration for the seal oil candle from a Magic Tree House book. Haha;] I tried to make them having food etc seem realistic enough, but forgive me if there are some flaws. (p.s. The food was in a thick bag so I'm pretending no animals could get at it) This is my longest chapter yet! It's 4k words and I binge wrote it in one day :) When I was writing this I just wanted to walk up to Zuko, slap him in the face and tell him to wake up and see that Katara loves him too :)' But I guess I'll have to wait like the rest of you until this story is completed. Stay tuned for more!