Zutara Week- Spark

    Cold. Teeth chattering, bone chilling, joint freezing cold. That's all she could feel. She couldn't feel her body at all. Not even when the freezing water lapped up against her face. She thanked Agni for the life vest, aiding her in swiming, because otherwise she'd be at the bottom of the ocean just like the ship. She looked up into the dark night sky, looking for even the slightest movement of a flying bison. Nothing. She was going to die out here. Alone. 

Earlier That Day:

    They had just conquered another Fire Nation Army ship, this time with the aid of Zuko. Zuko knew all of the military plans and was able to evade other ships easily unlike the last time. Of course they ran by one every now and then but none that were threatening. It had been a few days since Azula had attacked them at the Western Air Temple and they were now on a course for a beach house at Ember Island that Zuko mentioned. Ever since Zuko took Katara on that "life-changing field trip" as Toph says, Zuko has been acting... friendlier towards Katara and vice-versa. Aang saw it the moment she hugged him on the dock. Although it broke his heart, he felt like this was how it should be.

    "How long 'till we get there Cap'n?" Katara asked as she walked up to Zuko's side. He chuckled.

    "Few hours." He said leaning up against the railing. Katara put her hands on the railing and looked at the approaching land on the horizion.

    "So what are we going to do with the ship? I mean we can't just dock it, can we?" Zuko shook his head.

    "No. We're going to have to sink it. That way there's no suspicion of a Fire Nation ship with missing Fire Nation crew at Ember Island."

    "Won't they see the smoke?"

    "Yeah but by the time they get out here, the ship will be underwater."

    "But what about survivors? Won't they look for them?"

    "Water's too cold. They'd freeze before any help comes."

    "Isn't Ember Island a beach vacation area? Why is the water so cold?" Zuko turned and faced Katara.

    "The water is cold out here, especially at night which is when we're going to sink it. Firebenders keep the water warm by the beach." Katara nodded.

    "Don't you think it's strange that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?" Katara asked.

    "I told you. We haven't been there since my family was acually happy. Which was a long time ago." Zuko said as he turned away. Katara put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

    "Things will get better."

    "I hope so." An awkward silence fell over the two after Katara dropped her hand from his shoulder.

    "Well, I, uh, should probably get going. You know. Check on everyone else." She said as she backed away.

    "Yeah, uh, see you later."

    "See you later. Um, so tonight we sink the ship?"

    "Tonight."

    "Okay, bye." Katara turned away and blushed. This is how all of their conversations seemed to end. Stuttering and rambling. As she was walking down the corridor Toph stopped her.

    "That was pathetic." She stated.

    "What was?" Katara asked innocently, knowing there was no point. Toph knew everything.

    "Don't play dumb sugarqueen. When are you just going to tell him?" Katara scoffed.

    "Never."

    "Why?"

    "This is different than just telling a guy you like him, Toph. I see him every single day. That would be absolutely awkward and there would be no way avoid him."

    "It wouldn't be awkward if he likes you too."

    "Which is doubtful."

    "I really do wonder sometimes who the blind one around here is." Toph said as she walked away casually.

_____________________________________________

    "Alright guys, so when this ship starts to go down, and it'll go down fast, we need to get on Appa as fast as possible." Zuko said. "Katara, Aang, you're going to need to help Toph go under water and metal bend a hole in the ship. Sokka, you and I are going to go down and destroy the engine. Suki, you're going to need to fly Appa. Everyone got it?" They all nodded once. "Good. Let's get going. Be careful in that water guys. It's freezing. And make sure you bring a life vest just in case."

    Katara handed all of them life vests and jumped in the water with Aang and Toph. Once she hit the water she realized how right Zuko was. The water was absolutely freezing. Especially without the sun. Katara had to keep a grip on Toph to make sure she wouldn't bob away in the choppy waters. Once they heard the explosion, and saw Zuko and Sokka jump off onto Appa, Aang and Katara got to work bending a bubble around themselves and Toph. The cold water made it harder to bend let alone swim but they were able to lower themselves down to the bottom of the ship where Toph bent holes in the sides.

    When their work was done, Aang swam up to the surface and Katara pulled Toph to the surface. When they were able to breathe again, they saw Appa in the water right next to them with Suki, Sokka and Zuko. Aang and Katara bent a wave to carry Toph up onto Appa. Katara was thankful for Aangs help, the cold was making it harder to think, let alone bend. Once Toph was safely on the saddle, Aang climbed up Appa's tail. Katara could see that he was weak too. Katara tried to start climbing but the cold had finally gotten the best of her and her arms wouldn't function to pull her up. She saw a hand reached out to her. She looked up and saw Zuko had climbed out onto the tail and was trying to help. Katara reached for his hand. As soon as he grasped it, Katara felt a force pulling her away. Zuko used both his hands to pull her up but the force was too strong and she slipped. Katara realized that the force that pulled them apart was the suction of the ship and she was pulled down with it. Before she went under she heard Zuko call her name frantically.

    Suki pulled tightly on Appa's reins to save him from the suction. Sokka quickly pulled Zuko back onto the saddle before he could be thrown into the water.

    "We have to go back! Katara's still in there!" Zuko said.

    "You didn't grab her!?" Sokka asked.

    "I tried but the suction pulled us apart."

    "It's too dark. We won't be able to see her." Suki called. "We'll have to wait until morning." Zuko was shocked at Suki's words and almost threw her over until he realized that she wasn't wet. She had no idea how cold that water was.

    "She'll have frozen to death by then." Zuko called back.

    "C-can't she water b-bend her way out of t-there?" Toph asked, shivering.

    "N-no." Aang said, also shivering. "It was almost im-impossible to m-make a wave to g-get you up h-here. It's t-too cold."

    "So then we stay and look for her." Sokka stated looking at Zuko. Zuko's face scrunched into a frustrated look. "What's wrong?"

    "We can't do that. Then they'll freeze." Zuko said motioning to Aang and Toph who were huddled into balls. Sokka looked over at them and thought for a moment.

    "Suki and I will try to keep them warm. You look for Katara." Sokka said as he picked up Aang and put him with Suki who put her arm around him. Sokka went over to Toph and held her close offering up his body heat.

    Once Katara resurfaced form the forceful pull under, she looked around for Appa but he was no where to be found. Her teeth chattered uncontrolably as she tried to waterbend a platform, but her body was too tired and resisted. She could mistake herself for being in a thunderstorm with the force of the waves that sucked her under every now and then. She coughed up the cold sea water and gasped for air. There was still no sign of Appa. After a few minutes which felt like four excruciating hours, Katara began to feel tiredness overcome her. The waves had settled down enough to stop threatening to drown her and now she was just bobbing in the middle of the water. She tried to look around to see if she could find the stip of land she had seen before but it was too dark and she was too tired. If she could only just close her eyes for one minute..

    "Katara! Katara! Is that you? Please answer me!" She heard his voice shout from above. She opened her eyes and saw Appa looming above her, with Zuko looking down. Zuko looked down at the figure that could only be Katara. When she opened her eyes, he saw the beautiful blue and knew it was her. Without a second thought, he jumped down in the water and swam over to her. Her eyes were fading and she was shaking uncontrolably. Zuko pulled her over to Appa and lifted her onto his tail. Sokka was already there and pulling her up. Once they were all back into the saddle, Zuko pulled off her life vest and held her as close to him as possible. "Katara? Katara, stay with me okay? Don't close your eyes." Zuko said.

    "But I'm s-so tired." Katara said quietly.

    "I know, I know, but you have to stay awake Katara. Please try to stay awake. We'll be there soon." Zuko said softly. "Sokka, get out a blanket." Sokka scrambled over to the fastened things and pulled out a heavy blanket. "I know she's going to kill us when she comes to, but we need to take her clothes off." Sokka stared at Zuko at shock.

    "You wanna what now?" Toph asked. She was still cold but she wasn't shivering as much.

    "Her wet clothes are making her colder. If we take them off and bundle her, it'll better her chances. I would ask you to just do it but I still need to keep her warm." Zuko explained. Sokka helped stip Katara to her undergarments and then bundle her into the blanket. Katara tried to keep her eyes open as Zuko asked but the dark sky played tricks on her and she couldn't tell if her eyes were open or not. It wasn't until she saw Zuko's face that she realized they were open.

    "Zuko.." She breathed.

    "Shh I'm here Katara. I'll keep you warm." Zuko said. Even in the darkness, Katara could see the tears glistening on his cheeks. She tried to wiggle her hand out of the cacoon she was in. Once she did, she placed her trembling hand on his scarred cheek.

    "W-why are you c-crying?" She asked. Zuko tried his best to smile.

    "I'm not crying. I think you're seeing things Kat."

    "But-"

    "Shh try not to talk." Zuko said as he took her hand into his. The heat of his hand shocked Katara and she realized why he was crying. She was going to die. It was too cold for her and her body was shutting down. A warm tear slipped down her cheek and left a cold trail. Zuko tried to create a fire by snapping his fingers but all that was coming out was a simple, indifferent spark. Not enough to keep her warm.

    "Zuko?" She asked.

    "What is it?" Zuko asked, not looking at her and trying to focus on making fire.

    "I l-love you." Zuko snapped his head to look at her.

    "Don't you dare. Don't you start saying your goodbyes. Not yet," Zuko said fiercely.

    "But I'm so cold." Katara whimpered.

    "Katara, listen to me. You're going to get warmer, you're going to live. You better live otherwise you're going to ruin everything. You're going to ruin all of our plans of us getting married, and having kids, and then our kids having kids. You're not going to die. Not here, not now. You're going to die an old lady.. warm in her bed. You have to promise me that you'll live to see it through. Hold on to that promise and never let go. Do you promise me?"

    "I promise. I'll never let go." Zuko kissed her cold lips and held her tighter. As much as Katara tried and tried, her eyelids eventually betrayed her and she fell asleep.

    The next time she opened her eyes, it was daylight. She was looking at the face of a beautiful, sleeping Fire Nation prince. She tried to move her hand to caress his cheek but she realized that not only was she still bundled, but she was bundled in four more blankets. The other blankets were silky and red. She looked around and realized that she wasn't on Appa anymore, but in a luxurious bedroom. She looked back at Zuko. His face still looked worried even in his sleep. Even though there were five blankets separating them, Katara could still feel his heat coming off of him. Trying to make as less movement as possible, Katara tried to wiggle one hand out of the cacoon. Her efforts not to wake Zuko failed, when he opened his eyes. It took a moment to adjust the situation but when he saw Katara's beautiful eyes staring back at him, he was overcome with joy.

    "Katara." He cupped his hands around her face. "Are you okay? Do you need more blankets? Are you still cold?"

    "No, I'm hot. Seriously, five blankets? And I've also got a firebender laying super close to me. Not that I'm complaining that you're close to me." Zuko smiled and kissed her lips.

    "I'm just glad you're okay." He said as he held her as close as the blankets would allow.

    "Me too. Now a little help?" Katara said as she rocked back and forth. Zuko chuckled and began unraveling her. Once he got down to the last blanket, Katara got feeling back in her arms and she noticed something was missing. Zuko began to unwrap the last blanket. "Wait!" She said. Zuko stopped and looked at her confused.

    "What?"

    "Zuko, do you want to explain to me why I'm not wearing any clothes?" Zuko's face turned a bright red.

    "Uh, about that.." Zuko slowly moved out of the bed and slowly backed up towards the door, still keeping eye contact with Katara. "Sokka did it." He said quickly and bolted out of the room.

    "Zuko!"