I own nothing... except my plushie Zuko. I do own him. XD SO CUTE!

~Cooling Off~

Night had fallen and Zuko was bringing Appa down in the Northern region of the Earth kingdom. Zuko picked this area because it was heavily forested and along the coast and beside a fresh water river system. They were surrounded on two sides by water and had a thick forest that no one traveled through on the other.

Zuko glanced over his shoulder to Katara. She was curled up with her bedroll as a pillow, his bedroll had her leg draped across it and his cloak was serving as her blanket. Zuko smiles as he moves over to her.

"Katara," he speaks softly.

Not even a twitch.

He brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, "Tara, we've stopped for the rest of the day. It will be night in a few hours."

He groans as she fails to show any signs of waking. With a sigh, he gives her shoulders a gentle shaking.

"What? Huh? Who's there?" Katara shouts as she springs up, successfully knocking foreheads with Zuko, who is now laying flat on his back. Katara blinks and looks around before spotting the dazed and shocked firebender, "Oh! Zuko! I'm sorry!" She scrambles over to his side, "Are you ok?"

Zuko blinks… "bahahaha!" He clutches at his stomach as his musical laugh fills the air.

Katara blinks before snapping her jaw closed and pouting slightly, "You should know better than to shake me awake," she gathers her things and some of Zuko's grumbling all the while.

Zuko regains his control as he sits up, "*chuckle* you are so cute when you're angry," he watches her grumbling with a goofy smile. His Uncle's words run through his head, 'You should talk with Katara and tells her your concerns. Only in an open and honest environment can the bloom that is love blossom.' Sokka's words follow, 'you need to talk to Katara about this… and that guilt you two have been lugging around.' Zuko sighs. He stands and moves over to Katara and begins helping her to unload things (and even taking some of her load).

They hop down off of Appa, who promptly plops down and yawns.

Katara pats his leg, "I know it, boy. You've been flying us around everywhere haven't you."

Zuko can't help but smile as he watches her lovingly petting Appa, the big furry bison's tongue flopping out almost like a puppy.

Drawing himself from his revere, he sets his load down and approaches the adorable scene before him. "Here, Tara," he holds his arms out, "let take that from you," he gestures to the random things in her arms.

Katara stops scratching Appa shoulder and shoots Zuko a steely glare, "I'm fully capable of handling it myself," she turns her nose up and marches around him. She sets down her load angrily and then goes about stomping as she pretends to be doing things that were important.

Startled and caught off guard, Zuko stands watching, staring dumbly with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

After a minute or two of angry stomp and needless "setting up", Katara pauses and places her hands on her hips as she steadies her breathing. She glances over her shoulder with a huff and a glare. She freezes, the anger melting away.

What was she doing? She was lashing out at Zuko when he was only trying to be nice. Why was it so hard for her to stop turning to anger around him when she was hurting or stressed. Her shoulders slump as his heart breaking expression stings her to the core.

Zuko pulls his eyes away from her hypnotic gaze and her full lips. 'Maybe she is realizing that she made a mistake with me. Maybe she finally decided that she could never be with the enemy… I don't blame her if she did,' he ponders to himself as he stares at the ground. Why else would she treat him so unnecessarily rudely?

Zuko winces slightly at the thought, "I, uh…" he clears his throat, "I'm just gonna go get some wood for the, uh, fire…" He looks back up for a second before forcing a smile that ended up looking ridiculous; then turning around and heading off into the forest.

Katara stands frozen in place long after he has gone, staring after where he disappeared into the trees. She groans and rubs her hands over her face, "What is wrong with me? I am ruining my relationship over stupid, unfounded feelings of guilt!"

She looks around camp trying to find something to do to take her mind off of her own stupidity. "Ugh! That's it," she grabs her bag off 'essentials'… which reminded her to thank Pakku. It was his refusal to "allow" a young girl traveling with men to do so without a female "essentials" bag. She had been annoyed, but Spirits has the thing came in handy. It was nice to be able to have some feminine luxuries while traveling and camping in the outdoors all the time.

"Time for some much needed girl relaxation time," she sighs contentedly as she heads of to follow up the river to the left of camp.

Elsewhere, around in the forest somewhere…

"Ugh!" Zuko yells as he kicks another log simultaneously smashing it to pieces and charring it. He had been destroying more potential firewood than he had gathered.

"I just don't understand women," he grumbles as he heads off towards one of the rivers around camp. A nice dip in the river might help him to control his growing frustrations… of different types.

He and Katara were still very early in their relationship and they hadn't gotten intimate. However, Katara's very being calls to his in way that should probably be illegal. He groans slightly as he pictures her waterbending. Her body moving in a sensual dance as she twist and twirls the water.

…Yep, a splash of cold water is exactly what he needed right now.

He steps out of the trees and up to the bank as he eyes the "river". "Pft, more like a deep stream with a river rock bottom," he mutters as he eyes the narrow, clear, deep waterway.

He sets down his firewood by a tree trunk and unties his sash, slipping off his shirt and laying atop the wood pile. He yanks of his boots and stares longingly at the cool waters. This was going to be nice.

With a cautious glance along the tree lines on both shores, he unties the strings holding up his silk pants and lets them fall as he steps out of them and walks to the edge of the stream where a kind of pool had formed.

Zuko takes a deep breath and dives into the waters.

'What the Spirits was that?' Katara thinks to herself from under the surface of the water. She had been sitting on her perch at the bottom of the river for quite a while after she had bathed with her scented oils. Being a waterbender most definitely had its "up-sides". She could form an air pocket around her nose and stay under water as long as her air lasted her.

Katara's ears perked again as odd muffled sounds carried through the water. She focuses in attempt to figure out the noise.

Finally, her patience just couldn't take it anymore, and with the thing not leaving or discovering her things on the shore, she decides to investigate.

She swims to the waist deep waters before emerging and gathering up a water whip, just in case.

…

…

…

…

…

"Huh…" she blinks, "that's odd," she quirks a brow as she scans around and sees… nothing. She lowers her whip. "The moon must be close to full," she thinks aloud, "I'm too tightly wound up."

She turns around to head to a small pool she had spotted before just a few feet up stream. "Oh… my… spirits," Katara's mouth slacks. In front of her stands Zuko… in barely waist deep water… with water droplet rolling down his exposed skin… with the stream steaming around his pale, chiseled form…. Her eyes drag over his form. Had Zuko always looked this good under his clothing?

Her eyes focus on a droplet as it appears out of his hairline, trailed down his unmarred cheek, down his neck, over his muscled chest, around his navel, down his dark and curly trail of air that headed down, only to witness it disappear in another hair line that was just visible. She only barely recognizes that her breathing is slightly quicker.

"Katara?" her eyes flick to his startled face.

Her eyes, however, stray back down his body and back to his parted lips. Her tongue darts out to dampen her own. Oh yeah, the moon is most definitely close to being full.

Reviews are tasty treats.

If you like this, check out where it came from: Keep Your Friends Close & Your Enemies Closer

:P