concoursec | backdated to yesterday [dec 20]

Entry tags:

backdated to yesterday [dec 20]

Character(s): Katara, Zuko
Location: Katara's dormitory
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Unbeknownst to Katara, it's the night of the lunar eclipse-- and her body isn't responding well.

Katara, to put it lightly, was feeling horrible.

She wasn't sure what had happened to make her fall into such a state-- she had been perfectly fine just the day before, showing absolutely no symptoms of sickness. When she woke this morning, though, she couldn't even manage to muster enough energy to get out of bed, her body completely drained of energy. She'd grown up in the cold so the change in setting to the northern continent certainly couldn't have contributed to the change in her physical well-being. But at the moment, she was curled up in her bed with the covers drawn up to her chin, her body shivering with fever-chills and limbs aching from fatigue. But as tired as she was feeling and as much as she closed her eyes to try and rest herself to recover from her illness, sleep wouldn't claim her.

Katara shifted onto her side to try and find a more comfortable position, her hands drawing the blankets up over her head completely in a futile attempt to warm her freezing body.

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Despite the fact that Katara knew she was alone, she couldn't help the soft whimpering sounds she unconsciously made through clattering teeth. Over and over she shifted in her bed, trying with no avail to find a comfortable spot and position that would appease her body. Knowing that no matter what she did wouldn't help, Katara finally gave up and pulled her blanket down just slightly so her eyes would peer over the edge of the thick comforter.

A quick glance over to the clock by her bedside told her that it was nearly evening now. She had no appetite, so not having eaten the entire day didn't bother her much. She wasn't sure how much longer she could bear being forced to stay in her bed, though; she was growing restless, and not even a full day of her illness had passed by. Without anything for her to do, Katara resorted to simply staring up at her ceiling, willing time to quickly pass her by.

Several minutes later and Zuko found himself standing outside Katara's dorm room. He stared at the metal door and let his eyes drop to the keypad. The red light was on; her door was locked. Was she even inside?

There was only one way to find out, even if he only had to go to the cafeteria and ask for a mug of milk if he wanted to without having to rely on the waterbender for help with the kittens.

Zuko brought a hand up to knock quietly on the door, and waited, hand slipping back into his front pocket.

It took Katara several moments to realize that someone was, in fact, knocking on her door and the sound hadn't merely been a result of her pounding head. Part of her wondered who could possibly be at her door-- maybe Aang? Perhaps he'd want to go sledding in the snow, though it was obvious that she was in no condition to do so.

Mustering up the energy to finally get out of bed to answer the door, Katara first made sure to wrap the heavy blanket around her body, tugging it over her head to mimic a hood before trudging out of her dorm room and into the common area, before finally making it to the door. She hadn't even bothered to look through the peep hole, and instead pressed the button to let the door slide open-- and her eyes immediately widened upon seeing who was on the other side.

"Z-Zuko?" Her voice was raspy from lack of use, slightly stuffy and thick with her sickly state.

Her appearance was surprising, particularly the thick blanket wrapped around her and hanging over her head. Was something wrong? Why did she sound like she was sick? Was she sick?

Zuko blinked down at her, straightening up slowly from his usual slouch. "You look terrible."

No wonder she hadn't come by his room at all today.

Even in her sickly state, Katara managed to look indignant with Zuko's obvious words. Without so much as a word, she slammed her palm against the button on the panel of the wall which would cause the door to slide shut in his face.

Served him right.

Zuko jerked back, eyes widening. "H-hey! Great going," he then muttered to himself, rubbing at he back of his neck.

His fist met the door again, the side banging against it, a scowl twisting his features. "Open the damn door, Katara."

"Go away!" Her voice was muffled due to a combination of the thick steel of the door separating them, the blanket she had pulled further over her head, and the raspiness of her sore throat.

"I'll go away after I get what I came here for." He stopped knocking and waited, lips pressed together in a thin line while he glared at the door.

"What do you want?" Katara asked, her annoyance evident even in the state she was in. She wanted nothing more than to just crawl back to her bed and curl up, and as she looked back towards her private room she wondered if she would even make it all the way on her own. Maybe falling asleep in the common area wouldn't be so bad seeing as she was roommate-less once again.

"They're hungry." And that was all he had to say; she'd know what he was talking about.

How could she forget?

Katara instantly felt horrible-- she knew there was something she'd forgotten, but in the midst of her bedridden state she had completely missed the usual time she went to Zuko's dorm to feed the kittens. With a hasty "Hold on!" directed to the door, Katara moved as quickly as she could to retrieve the carton of milk from her room, still encased in ice.

The journey took a bit longer than usual, though, as with every step she took there was an extra sway and almost stagger of her body as though her legs couldn't support her weight. By the time she had returned back to the door, she was practically leaning against the wall as she pressed the button of the door to slide open, quickly shoving the container of milk into Zuko's arms.

"Keep it for the next couple of days-- get some snow from outside to keep it cold between feedings." Those were the only words Katara spoke to Zuko before she quickly retrieved her arm to her side of the door, promptly slamming the button again to cut him off.

Did she happen to forget that he was a firebender? That his internal heating system was probably a few notches higher than the average human body? He'd melt the snow before he even got it back inside Garden let alone to his dorm room.

Screw this--

Zuko relied on his fast reflexes in the next instant, hurriedly leaning forward to jam a foot in between the door and its frame to stop it from closing entirely, the jug cradled in his one arm. The door slid back open and the firebender pressed a hand against its edge to keep it open, his hand large enough to grasp the frame on either side, fingers curled over it.

"Something's wrong, what is it?"

Edited 2010-12-22 08:51 (UTC)

Katara was sitting on the floor next to the entrance now, back leaning against the wall as she pulled the blanket even closer to her body. It almost seemed as though she hadn't registered the fact that Zuko had managed to stop the door from shutting, leaving it completely ajar with how he was holding it open.

"What do you think?" Katara asked, eyes glassy as she looked up at the male. But rather wanting to explain her situation, Katara forced herself onto her feet, struggling for just a moment before pulling the blanket further down over her head. "Never mind, nothing's wrong. You got what you wanted, didn't you? You said you'd leave when you did."

She was going through her cycle, wasn't she? That had to be the reason for why she was so snippy with him, especially when yesterday she'd been fine, and the day before that and that.

Zuko watched her struggle for a moment and wordlessly stepped into the room, releasing the door to let it slide shut behind him. He'd decided that he'd stay another few minutes out of concern, maybe see if she needed anything. She was without a roommate, she was alone here in this room. He didn't want to leave her alone if something was wrong.

"I'll leave when I know for sure that you'll be alright on your own." The container of cold milk was set off to the side on a side table.

"I'm fine," Katara mumbled. She watched with a small frown as Zuko moved to set the carton down, and she attempted to stand to her full height once he turned back to face her.

But it was more than obvious that she was lying, her pale skin and glassy eyes just a couple of the many signs of her illness. She was growing clammy now, a mixture of both hot and cold consuming her body; a light sheen of sweat was glistening on her skin despite how cold she felt, and she was trying desperately to suppress the shivers she was experiencing. Her blanket was pulled closer to her body when a sudden chill passed through her body, one she couldn't manage to hold back that caused her teeth to clatter for the briefest of moments.

"You can go now," she muttered before turning to head to her own room, but not two steps later was she swaying, threatening to fall over.

Woah, wait a second- who was the member of royalty here again? And who was the peasant?

About to demand just who did she think she was talking to, the words died on the tip of his tongue as he stared after her and watched her begin to sway. "Oh no you don't--" Zuko had lunged forward, an arm curled to catch her just in case her body did fall over entirely.

"Yeah, you're really fine, Katara," he growled under his breath, helping her stand, turning her around to face him. His hold tightened at how hot the blanket felt wrapped around her, brow knitting. He could almost feel her feverish skin through the thickness of the blanket. "You're burning up..."

She tried to swat his arm away from her, though gave up halfway with a small sigh. His words had her brows drawing together though, her head lifting to look at him with a perplexed expression.

"Burning up? What are you talking about? I'm freezing--" A chill ran through her body then as though her body wanted to show just how cold it felt, her small frame practically shaking in his hold.

He wasn't about to argue with her. Instead he gripped her upper arms through the blanket and concentrated the heat in his body to his palms, as he began to rub his hands up and down her arms to help warm her up.

"How long have you been like this?" His eyes searched her face, noting the light sheen of perspiration on her brow, the flush of fever on her cheeks.

Oh...

Katara certainly hadn't expected the sudden burst of warmth from Zuko's hand to radiate into her arms and through her body. With the way her body had been freezing since the moment she woke up despite the many layers of clothing she wore and the couple of thick blankets she had wrapped herself in, nothing had successfully warmed her up. Zuko's touch, however, had somehow done the trick; she found herself unconsciously leaning into his touch, found herself taking the smallest step closer to be near the furnace of his body so she could try and absorb some of the heat.

"Ever since... ever since I woke up," Katara answered somewhat distractedly, her eyes closing as she concentrated on the warm in her arms.

"What? And you never thought to come and get me or Aang? You're alone in here, Katara--" But Zuko cut himself off, feeling oddly irritated that she hadn't sought them out to help her. Ever since this morning? That meant the entire day practically that she'd been ill in her room.

He continued with rubbing her arms, looking away to look towards her room, not noticing how she'd stepped closer.

"You should be in bed, not up and walking around."

"Why do you think I haven't gone to look for one of you?" Katara asked, irritation quickly seeping into her system once again. "I could barely move from my bed when I woke up-- I couldn't exactly just waltz over to the boys' dormitory with no problems.

"Besides, you're the reason why I'm still up and walking around. Now, if you'll leave, I'll go back into my room and try to sleep whatever this is off."

The muscle in his cheek jumped in his irritation.

"Right. Blame me. Always the easiest thing to do," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He removed his hands from her arms and stepped back. "I'll let myself out, don't worry."

Just as she'd been unconsciously leaning into his touch, his sudden removal of his hands and the step back had Katara suddenly stumbling forward and, unfortunately, directly against him; her hands had released the grip on the blanket as she reached out to steady herself, the heavy material falling to the ground as she hastily tried to right herself.

"Sorry--" She mumbled, her body swaying against when she tried to stand straight; her fingers curled tightly around his upper arms, trying to steady herself.

Again with the quick reflexes; Zuko's hands caught her at the waist, slender in his grasp, her body burning through her clothing beneath his palms. She seemed barely conscious, her body leaning towards him, her fingers digging into his biceps.

"Don't worry about it," he murmured back in return, his voice a quiet rasp of words. He said nothing more and shifted his weight from his right to his left foot, deciding that he was going to cart her back into her room himself, as he leaned down and curled an arm around behind her knees and swept her legs up from under her.

Zuko pulled her up into his arms, one wrapped around her shoulders, and stepped over the blanket, heading for her room, trying not to think about how little she seemed to weigh. As feverish as she felt, he could feel the tremors in her body, the way she shivered against him.

Katara certainly hadn't expected that.

The moment her feet had been swept from the ground, Katara instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on, the flush on her cheeks deepening once it sank in that Zuko was actually carrying her. The moment was short-lived, though, as the feeling of his warm body was finally lulling her, but not into a state of sleep... it seemed as though the dehydration was setting in, the lack of both food and liquid and the lack of energy in her body causing her head to suddenly fall against his shoulder, her eyes rolling back as she went limp in his arms. Her arms slackened their hold on his neck then, hands falling and dangling down.

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