A/N: For your New Year present, I offer you a series of one-shots celebrating one of the best pairings of the Avatar universe :)

The first story is set during Book 2, in what might be the moment when Varrick first realized something about Zhu Li... So the story is mostly from his perspective ~~

Story 1: THE PRISON CELL

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Set during book two. Varrick and Zhu Li share a prison cell and the night coming, they need to go and sleep. As in many stories of mine, the time just before one gets asleep is the most unpredicted one, where things you might have never thought in general jump into your head. Varrick and Zhu Li are no exception to the rule

When your prison cell would make people living in ordinary houses want to swap places with you, then you know that you're in a fancy place. But when you're Varrick, you can make it so a prison would look like a palace. Even Zhu Li, the ideal assistant who never left his side, was here with him. No matter how little place they had, Zhu Li would fit in there, somehow. They had all the space that they wanted here, though. The prison cell had a lounge of sorts, a huge bathroom, and a king-sized bed where they'd sleep.

Zhu Li was a killing machine; that much was obvious to Varrick. Cold, heartless and utterly efficient. Sometimes, however, Varrick wondered what was going on in her thoughts. She was highly intelligent, that was for sure, but what were her dreams, her aspirations? Obviously, the best dream Varrick could think of and assign to anyone would be working for him, so Zhu Li's dreams were probably pretty much the same, and hence, fulfilled. But was there something beyond that? At some moments, Varrick would wonder whether Zhu Li had feelings on her own, but those thoughts would never stay for too long. If there was one thing that he knew about Zhu Li, it was that she was the perfect assistant. Strong and efficient, as the perfect woman should be... The perfect... The perfect assistant, that is. That's what he meant.

Varrick was having a nice time in his awesome cell, when the guards announced visitors. Soon, he saw the Avatar, Asami, and the two brothers, Bolin who was like the kid that Varrick would have wanted to have, and Mako who was a major pain in the ass. In truth, Varrick was happy to see all of them here. Especially Bolin.

"Your assistant is in prison with you?" asked Korra when she noticed Zhu Li.

"Zhu Li never leaves my side!" replied Varrick with a huge grin.

Zhu Li brought him his tea at that, as emotionless as ever. As for the Avatar and her friends, they were still mad at him. Varrick thought for a moment and then found the perfect idea: he would give them his battleship.

"I've called her the Zhu Li," he said, trying to glance at his assistant's face, to try and discern any sign of emotion.

"You named your battleship after your assistant?" asked Bolin.

"Yeah! They're both cold, heartless war machines!" replied Varrick.

Varrick loved that ship and it seemed like the perfect present to make up for what he did. When he named it, for some reason, it seemed obvious to name it after his assistant. Even now, he was glancing at her, hoping to see her flinch, frown, smile, show how she felt about it.

Nothing.

Rich or poor, genius or simple-minded, all humans need sleep. Varrick made sure that this prison cell was equipped with one of the most comfortable beds there was, with thick blankets and two fluffy pillows. Sleeping with a woman generally means what it means, but Zhu Li was no ordinary woman. Sleeping next to her would be like sleeping next to a robot, and neither Varrick nor Zhu Li, for what it seemed, saw anything strange in sharing a bed. Zhu Li was discreet even when eating — Varrick couldn't even remember ever seeing her eat — and it was only because Varrick saw her getting ready for sleep that he could define her as a human being and not as an actual machine.

That night, Varrick realized that he had never seen Zhu Li with her hair down before. It gave her a softer, more relaxed look, despite her perpetually serious face. She was wearing light green puffy pajamas, with large and long sleeves that reached almost to the tip of her fingers. Varrick was already ready and sitting on his part of the bed when he saw her approaching, looking the way that she did. He was staring; he knew it. Whether she noticed or not, she didn't show, but Varrick was staring and he couldn't help himself. In her pajamas and with her hair down, she no longer looked like a "cold, heartless war machine". She simply looked like a girl.

"Good night, sir" she said before lying in bed and putting the blanket over her.

Has she been ignoring Varrick staring at her all this time? Even Varrick himself didn't know how long he stayed without moving. Something had been trotting in his mind, triggered by Zhu Li, but he wasn't quite able to put a finger on it, whatever it was. So he switched the light off and lay down as well, unable to sleep. He was turned towards Zhu Li, who was sleeping on her back.

Suddenly, the urge to act childishly swept over him. He wanted to poke Zhu Li's cheek, to see whether she'd move, whether she's a robot indeed. He put a hand over his mouth to suppress the chuckle that the thought had brought up, and extended the other one to accomplish the deed. Yet, just before he poked her, he stopped himself. He didn't want to disturb Zhu Li's sleep. He was certain that she had a light sleep and automatic reactions that would include immediately breaking whatever disturbed her, and Varrick didn't want to lose his arm. Besides, this was the only time he had ever seen her look peaceful. Her face didn't have its trademark strict look and the view of her features wasn't obstructed by either glasses or the mask of implacability. Seen like this, she was actually pretty. And there seemed to be something else to her... Some sort of vulnerability, invisible during the day, in plain sight when she was asleep.

His hand moving quicker than his thoughts, Varrick ended up caressing Zhu Li's cheek with the back of his fingers. When he realized what he had done, Varrick froze. Still, Zhu Li didn't react.

Varrick sighed with relief. So she had a heavy sleep after all... He would never have guessed. Automatically, he continued to gently stroke her cheek. He wanted to do something for her, something bigger, something better than having a battleship go by her name.

"Thank you, Zhu Li," he silently muttered, thinking of all the help she was providing.

At that moment, he felt something on Zhu Li's cheek. He took his hand back and noticed that tears were flowing from her eyes. She had tried to keep her expression stern, but she was crying.

"Zhu Li!" started Varrick, sitting up and starting to shake her by the shoulder. "Zhu Li! Wake up, you're having a nightmare!"

Zhu Li opened her eyes. "I'm awake, sir," she said, resuming her strict act and sitting up.

"Are you fine?" he asked, "I thought you had a nightmare, or..."

"I'm fine, sir." she replied.

"You were crying..." said Varrick.

Zhu Li has brought, no, slapped her hand against the outer side her cheek, where tears were supposed to flow. She tried to keep her emotionless mask on, but her eyes gave it out: she was terrified.

"I'm... I'm... I'm sorry sir..." she said, trying to wipe the remnants of tears. She sniffed once more and put her serious face on, managing to keep it this time.

Overcome with a sort of tenderness that even he couldn't really understand, Varrick hugged Zhu Li. Maybe it was the fact that she had let her guard down for a moment, maybe it was the fact that she looked inhumanly cute in her pajamas and with her hair down or maybe he just wanted to comfort her. Zhu Li put her arms around him and allowed her head to rest on his chest for a moment. It was hard to tell what she might have felt because, true to herself, Zhu Li didn't betray any additional information. She didn't cry anymore, and with her face hidden, it was even harder to try and guess what she might be thinking.

"There there, Zhu Li," Varrick said awkwardly, unaccustomed to this sort of situation. "Don't let the monsters grind you down!"

Zhu Li pulled away ever so slightly, but still not enough to break the hug.

"Monsters?" she asked.

"Vile beasts, hiding in our nightmares!" said Varrick, more theatrically.

Zhu Li didn't answer.

"And sometimes even under our bed!" exclaimed Varrick, breaking the hug and throwing his hands in the air.

Zhu Li tried to keep a stern expression, but she couldn't help raising an eyebrow. But Varrick approached his head to hers and whispered:

"But we are in the best cell in the world, here! There are no monsters underneath. The troubles..."

He approached Zhu Li and hugged her once again, maybe for her, maybe seeking some comfort for himself.

"The troubles of the world can't reach us while we are here," he whispered. "We're gonna be fine, I promise..."

Zhu Li kept quiet. The embrace was lasting for just a couple of moments suspended in time. But it happened. It wasn't their first physical closeness, but it was the first one of that kind.

"Thank you, sir," said Zhu Li finally, resuming her flat tone.

They pulled apart and ended the hug for good. Zhu Li gave a suspicion of a smile, however, before lying flat on her back again. Following her example, Varrick lied down too.

Falling asleep immediately was not an option; it wasn't even possible right then. Varrick's heart was pounding way too heavily to allow for an easy sleep. He spent the next following hours laying on his side, looking at Zhu Li's profile and thinking of what might have gotten her emotions to take over her, even for a moment. What dream must she have dreamt to move her so much, he wondered.

What he didn't know, though, was that Zhu Li never actually had a nightmare. That night, she had never even fallen asleep.