concoursec | 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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"Ow-- Okay!" Zuko abruptly snapped at the chicobo when it tugged particularly hard on his hair. "Knock it off already--!" He turned back around to face the bedroom. The chicobo gave another tug, not happy yet; it wanted him inside the bedroom and near the waterbender.

Muttering to himself about getting a cage for the little bugger, Zuko stepped back towards the room, making his way back in. He saw that Katara had turned her back to the door and he grit his teeth, muscle in his cheek flexing, glaring at the bundle of blankets. He folded his arms over his chest.

Stupid Avatar, stupid Sokka, stupid Toph--

The bundle of blankets, however, was shaking; the cold had become so unbearable that instead of coming in passing chills, her body wouldn't stop shuddering. Her body was curled and huddled against the wall, the blankets cocooning her in an effort to provide some warmth. She hadn't even noticed that Zuko had reentered her room, having assumed that he had left as soon as she had turned her back to him.

He can only imagine how hard Sokka would try to kick his ass if he turned and left her the way she was now, visibly trembling in her blankets, in need of help, pressing to the wall as much as she could in the hopes that it would help keep her warm. Damn friendships. Damn them all. And damn him for caring and damn his feelings.

Zuko said nothing and walked over to the bed. One knee pressed into the mattress caused it to dip beneath his weight as he reluctantly leaned over her. His arm curled over her waist and he pulled her away from the wall, bracing himself for her to struggle and resist. The chicobo hopped down and waited, standing on the nightstand. Zuko didn't think about it as he laid down behind her, making sure most of the blankets were piled on and around her, his arm tightening to pull her back against him.

He was a firebender, he could warm his hands, he could warm any part of himself. If he did that he could help her, right? But how high would he have to go in heating himself up first in order to get her warm through all the blankets? There was no way in whatever hell existed in this world that he would slide under the blankets with her. Hell no.

It was better to warm the blankets and then warm her, or at least that was the best option in Zuko's mind, which is what he did, awkwardly sliding his other arm under the pillows to settle in behind her, his other tightening around her in reflex.

The struggle was weak, practically nonexistent; there was only a small gasp of surprise and a brief wriggling of her body before even Katara couldn't muster up enough energy to shake him off, nor did she exactly want to after feeling the heat that emanated from his body.

She gave a small, shaky sigh of contentment as she twisted in his arms to face him, an unconscious movement that she was barely aware of. All she knew that she was cold, cold cold, and his body was the only source of heat that managed to finally seep into her clammy skin, reaching her aching muscles and finally soothing out the tremors of her body. Her head tilted forward to rest her brow against his collarbone, her body curling beneath the blankets to press as close to the heat as she could beneath the layers and layers of fabric.

"Warm," Katara murmured in a small voice, the single word a signal of her acceptance of his help.

At first Zuko was fine with holding her - he was only doing it out of the goodness of his heart (read: his friendship with Sokka) and because she really, really seemed to need it, the heat. But then she turned around to face him. That was when everything got weird for him.

He found himself growing more and more conscious of how close she was, the way she was breathing against his chest and how his hoodie blanketed most of it, her hair soft but tickling his jaw and chin. How her body was so close to his; all of this didn't help the fact that he was a sixteen year old male teenager, nor did the blankets wrapped around her help much either.

Zuko held his breath when he heard her utter that one word, cheeks heating up, his body unbelievably stiff.

What was he supposed to do now? he wondered, heart beating a notch faster than usually against his ribcage.

But Katara picked up on none of the subtle changes in Zuko's body that the change in her position brought, a sudden heaviness in her eyes as her mind started to drift. It was a wonderful feeling, this alluring warmth that was radiating from beside her, breaking through the freezing cold that had been consuming her body all day. It was unconscious, how her body scooted closer to try and absorb more of the heat, enough to warm her up completely.

With the warmth came sleepiness as well, something she welcomed with open arms; despite her sluggishness and lack of energy, she had been so restless with her illness all day. With a soft sigh of contentment, she let her fatigue descend upon her completely as her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parting as her breathing evened out and she fell into a light, but comfortable sleep.

It wasn't until he knew that she was completely out when he relaxed, finally. His arm weighed heavily draped over her side, hand unconsciously pressing to her back between her shoulder blades.

Agni ... what now?

Zuko swallowed heavily and forced himself to take a deep breath; a big mistake, the scent of her shampoo filled his nose. He wrinkled it, making a face (not that it was unpleasant, just strong). He tilted his head back against the pillow and sighed to himself, the chicobo hopping around with a quiet peep to check on Katara. It nudged Zuko in the forehead and hopped up settle and snuggle down near his arm.

"Great..."

It was going to be a long evening.

backdated to yesterday [dec 20]

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/kills typos before you can see them....