Steam :::: Chapter 17

Steam ::: Chapter 17 THIS IS A ZUTARA FANFIC.






The Water-tribe girl shaded her eyes as the mid-summer sun blazed high in the sky. She smiled dreamily to herself, drawing in a deep breath of the morning air. With a gentle wave of her hands, Katara bended the dew to lift from the grass. The sun glistened beautifully in the small droplets causing light to dance all around her.

"Helloooo? Katara, are you even listening?"

Toph knocked on the side of the waterbender's head. Katara lost her concentration and the sparkling orbs splashed to the ground. Katara grimaced as she rubbed her skull where the blind earthbender had struck her.

"No, sorry Toph," Katara muttered, suddenly feeling aggravated.

"Man, I've been talking to you for like, the last half hour about—" Toph paused, glancing around. She continued in a whisper, "—about Sokka. I don't know what to do, I'm desperate here. I really like him, Katara."

Katara sighed and focused her attention on the earthbender. "Well, he's with Suki. So what can you do?" she reminded Toph. The waterbender's eyes drew themselves away again, this time falling upon a shirtless Zuko. She gulped. Zuko was a few hundred yards away and hadn't noticed that he'd caught the attention of the Water-tribe girl. His face was stern as he diligently demonstrated some firebending movements for Aang.

Katara's heart fluttered in her chest as she recalled what Zuko looked like without any clothing on at all. Her cheeks grew warm as a small smile spread across her face. Toph nudged the waterbender.

"Look—you know and everyone knows, that I'm a better match for Sokka," Toph retorted.

Katara tore her eyes away from the Fire-nation prince whom she used to loathe and directed her gaze to Toph. "Well, maybe. But..." she let her voice trail away. She wasn't sure if she should be brutally honest or not. Katara pressed her lips together as she contemplated how to finish her sentence.

"What? Is it because I'm not attractive enough for him?" Toph urged angrily. Katara drew in a quick breath.

"No, no—! That's not it at all, Toph. You're beautiful," the waterbender said in earnest. The earthbender smiled and he face flushed, but it all faded once Katara continued, "It's just that... You're just a bit young for him, don't you think?"

Toph twisted her head away from the Water-tribe girl. "I'm 12 years old. We're only 4 years apart," she responded. Katara lowered her eyes. She recalled when the blind bender had suddenly kissed her brother. He didn't push her away then—and to be honest, Katara wasn't sure why her brother hadn't pushed Toph away. Because she knew Sokka would never date a girl that much younger than him. Toph's even younger than Katara, after all.

But the Waterbender didn't know for sure. She hadn't spoken to her brother about what happened that day or how he felt about Toph. All she knew, was that 12 and 16 were very different ages for lots of reasons. Katara sighed and suddenly felt very selfish. The waterbender has only been thinking about herself and no one else recently.

As her eyes fell upon the Fire-nation prince again, she realized that wasn't entirely true.

Suddenly Toph tensed up and gripped her knees closer to her chest. Katara spun her head around just in time to see her brother approaching.

"Hey Katara," Sokka greeted.

Katara sympathized with Toph as she glanced up at her brother. "Hey Sokka. What's up?" she replied.

"Oh, nothin'. Just, y'know, passing by," he stuttered. He hesitated as his eyes fell on Toph, whose back was facing the two Water-tribe siblings. He cleared his throat. "Hey Toph," he greeted quietly. Toph didn't turn.

She mumbled a hello and immediately stood up, scurrying away from Katara and Sokka.

Katara lifted a brow at their awkward interaction and noticed that the atmosphere felt extremely familiar. She looked to her brother. "Hey, did something happen between you two?" she asked her brother bluntly.

Sokka coughed. "Not exactly," he muttered. Katara noticed the pink color creeping from his neck up to his face. "I mean, I might've pissed her off the last time we talked."

"What'd you do?"

"Well, last night we were talking about stuff—just regular stuff, and Toph..." Sokka covered his mouth with his hand, feeling increasingly embarrassed as he talked about his love life with his younger sister. "..She didn't say anything to you?" Katara shook her head. Sokka drew in a deep breath. "Well, she suddenly blurted out that she liked me and that I should be with her, not Suki."

"Wow. That's pretty bold of her—didn't know Toph had it in her," Katara thought out loud, feeling both surprised and impressed. Sokka's face was now a bright red. Katara eyed him. "Well, what did you tell her?"

"Uh, that's the thing. I didn't really say anything. I told her I was super tired, got up and left," the Water-tribe teen mumbled. Katara frowned disapprovingly at her brother's cowardly move. He put his hands up and plopped down next to his sister. "I know, I know. Lame," he sighed, "Y'know, it's not like I haven't thought about it. Toph, that is. It's just... She's so young—I mean, I'm sixteen and she's twelve. That's huge."

Katara pressed her lips together, not wanting to tell him that Toph didn't care at all about their age difference. "Why didn't you just tell her that instead of fleeing the scene?" Katara questioned.

Sokka stared ahead of him, thinking of his answer. "Because, to be honest—age aside, I do like Toph. I feel like I can be myself around her, goofy or not. She understands when I'm serious and she's there to joke around with me when I'm not. And well—of course," he paused to cough,"God, I feel like such a creep."

"Uh, that's 'cause you kind of are," Katara teased.

"Shut up," Sokka grumbled, not in the joking mood. "Anyway... she's cute, of course. Really cute. When she told me that she liked me, I was actually going to tell her to wait until she was a little older, but.. that doesn't feel fair. I don't want her waiting around," he admitted. Sokka felt his insides turning. "And I could never do anything with her while she's this young—I mean, she's twelve. I would feel like such a creep."

Katara's eyes widened at his second emphasis of her age. She glanced at Zuko and the Airbender practicing Firebending. "..Aang's only twelve," Katara recognized.

Sokka froze, realizing he wasn't being very careful of his sister's feelings. "Oh, well... I mean—he just turned thirteen, actually, right? Besides, technically, he's one hundred and thirteen years old. And he's the Avatar so that makes him more mature," he rambled off quickly, "So, y'know, it's cool. Completely different circumstances."

Katara smiled a little to her brother. He was such an idiot sometimes. "Hm. So technically, he's ninety nine years older than me, right? That's almost 100 years age difference, and you're okay with that?" Katara teased, sticking out her tongue. Sokka nudged her, laughing.

"Shut up," he laughed.

Katara laughed with her brother—it felt good to talk and laugh with him. It's been too long since the two of them had a chance to talk, just by themselves. She grinned at her brother and thought about their conversation.

"You know what, Sokka? I don't think age really matters. I mean, you and Toph will always be four years apart in age, just hold off on being physical," Katara explained nonchalantly. Sokka's face burned as Katara mentioned being "physical", but Katara didn't notice. "And if you really don't want to be together until she's older—if you want to tell her to wait for you, tell her. It's her choice whether she actually waits or not." Sokka stared at his sister. It wasn't bad advice. Katara smiled at him. "All I know is... Toph really likes you. And if you like her, I don't see any problem in going for it in whatever capacity you can right now," Katara finished. Sokka blinked, taking in the new outlook to the situation. He rubbed the side of his head, his hair tangling in his fingers a little.

"Yeah, I know. But.. Suki," Sokka said quietly, "I really like Suki a lot, too." Katara's heart beat hard in her chest. Sokka half-smiled at his sister and shrugged a little. "I know," he sighed, obviously disappointed in himself, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Katara gulped as she realized that she and her brother were in very similar situations.

"N-No, there's nothing wrong with you, Sokka," she said, reassuring herself as well as her brother. She gazed over at the firebender and airbender. Aang caught her eye and waved happily. He began showing off his firebending moves and Katara froze as the Fire-nation prince glanced over. She gave a small wave to them and thought she saw Zuko smile a little, but she couldn't be sure. The prince immediately turned away, putting his shirt back on, much to her dismay.

"I guess you should just make your decision from who you think would be a better fit for you," she said quietly, "It's as simple as that." Sokka pressed his lips together.

"Hm... Yeah. I guess you're right," he agreed. He mulled over his sister's words and added, "I wouldn't say it's simple, though." Katara gave a single nod of agreement and for a moment, the Water-tribe siblings sat there quietly. Sokka eyed his sister, smiling at her surprisingly good advice. "Hmph. When did you get so good at this relationship stuff?" he asked lightly. Katara shrugged.

"Not sure. Guess I'm just naturally amazing at giving advice," she answered with a smirk. Her eyes led themselves back to Zuko. He spoke with Aang quietly. Katara sighed and wondered what they were talking about, running a few hypothetical conversations through her mind.

Sokka followed her line of sight and his blue eyes widened, "Ahh—You and Aang haven't..." Katara snapped her head around, looking away from her brother.

"What? Sokka!" Katara exclaimed, covering her reddening face.

"Never mind, never mind—you're right, I don't wanna know," he stuttered quickly. Katara frowned at him, her embarrassment still bright on her face. He drew in a breath. "But...You guys haven't though, right?" Katara's eyes widened. She socked her brother in the arm.

"No! I—" Katara paused, she couldn't say it, "I never—with Aang!"

Sokka threw his arms up. "Okay okay! Sorry! I had to ask. You're my little sister. I would hate to have to try and fight the Avatar," he joked awkwardly. Katara resisted actually gagging. She couldn't believe this conversation was really happening—what an antiquated idea it was to protect your sister's honor.

"Rest assured, you don't have to fight the Avatar," Katara said sarcastically with an equally sarcastic thumbs up.

Obviously, Katara has done what her brother asked about—but not with Aang.

Thinking about the who did do those things with her, Katara became light-headed. It wouldn't be the Avatar that Sokka would have to fight.

Sokka didn't know why he'd brought this up. He sighed, "Well, that's good. I mean, heh, I haven't even done—" Katara's face flushed and so did Sokka's. He didn't finish his sentence and stood up in a jolt. "A-Anyway, I think I'm gonna go, uh, take a nap. I'm super tired," he faked a yawn and stretched.

Katara didn't care that he was lying—she just wanted this conversation to be over immediately. The Water-tribe teen nodded awkwardly to his younger sister. "Well, see ya... sis," Sokka stammered. Sokka hesitated, looking sheepish. "Um, please don't tell Toph what I said," he requested quietly, "About anything." The waterbender waved her brother away, still feeling massively embarrassed and slightly traumatized by their conversation.

"Don't worry," she promised, "I won't."

With that, Sokka was gone. Thank Gods. As Katara sat with the different parts of their conversation, Katara's guilt swallowed her up all over again—literally everyone expected her and Aang to be together.

She thought of the Fire-nation prince, closing her eyes so she could better picture his face. It's only been two days since she and the firebender met under the willow tree, and while there's been millions of stolen glances, they haven't spoken much. Her heart skipped a beat as she reminisced about that night. Her cheeks flushed as another smile spread across her face—Zuko liked her.

Suddenly, something was blocking the sunlight from her face. She opened her eyes, seeing Aang standing over her. He was shirtless and his skin was starting to get a tan, which made the bright blue arrow tattoos on his skin really stand out. His back and shoulders were noticeably more muscular with all the firebending training he was doing. She swallowed hard.

"Oh, hey Aang," she greeted as casually as she could. She averted her eyes from the Avatar. When did she start noticing things like how big Aang's shoulders had gotten and how low his shorts were hanging on his hips? Aang smiled as he caught Katara looking. His face blushed a little.

"H-Hey Katara. I was just coming by to see if maybe you'd wanna go play some Water-ball at the river?" the airbender asked. Katara tore her eyes away and forced an indifferent smile at the airbender. Out of the corner of her eye, she snuck a glance at the firebender. His back was turned as he wrapped his knuckles with tape. She knew that they agreed to act as though nothing has changed between them, but she really wanted him to look over. She lowered her eyes, cursing herself—it was mainly her idea, after all. Neither of them liked the idea much, but they both understood that no one could know about the two of them. It would pull focus away from defeating Ozai, and, in all honesty, they didn't fully know how they felt about it all yet.

But right now, with Aang standing before her the way he did now, she mentally begged for Zuko to turn around and look at her. A lump formed in her throat and with one last unmet gaze, she led her attention to the Avatar.

"Um, sure. I'm down for a game. Let me go change and I'll meet you by the river?" Katara suggested.

"Sure—I really need to cool off after all of that firebending training," Aang explained with a grin, "I'll see you out there." He waved as he entered the forest. Katara smiled a limp smile, waving back.

She immediately turned her eyes away once Aang had gone. She scanned the campsite for Zuko one last time, but he was gone. The waterbender's face fell and the disappointment settled in on her shoulders. She didn't know how it was so easy for Zuko to go back to completely ignoring her existence—she was having an extremely hard time ignoring him. But that wasn't surprising. Even when they hadn't done anything together, she found it nearly impossible to ignore Zuko. It's why she resorted to completely avoiding him.

Katara stepped into her tent and froze. Zuko sat on her sleeping bag, shirtless. He looked up as she walked in.

"Hey," he said. Katara's body warmed up instantly with the sound of his gruff voice and the serious look on his face. She gulped.

"H-Hi," she whispered. She couldn't have been happier to see him. But the thought of Toph sensing them together ruined the moment and snapped her back to the reality of the situation. The waterbender cautiously glanced around. "Zuko, what're you doing here? If we get caught—" she whispered hastily. Zuko leaned back on his hands.

"I heard something about you going to change," he answered coolly, "I thought I'd check it out." Katara eyed him—smiling at his smugness.

"Get out of my tent, Zuko," Katara ordered as she folded her arms across her chest, still smiling.

He leaned forward, his lips stretching into a grin. "Make me."

"Look, I would love to throw you out, but I reaaaallly don't want to embarrass you and make a whole scene," Katara retaliated, crossing her arms.

"Why not?" he teased, "Sounds fun. Besides, we know what happened last time you tried to best me." Katara's face flushed and her heart skipped a beat as his eyes met hers. "I didn't know that kind of thing did it for you." Katara gulped. This was no good. If the conversation continued this way, she'd be climbing into that sleeping bag with him in no time and if Toph sensed that—there'd be no explaining that away.

"Zuko—seriously, you need to leave! I'm not going to change in front of you!" she said in a hushed tone.

"Aw, c'mon. It's not like I haven't seen—"

Katara shushed him as she pulled him up from the ground. He leaned in until his face was inches away. His lips ever-so-lightly touched hers, and the waterbender tried to tamp down the desire settling in. Suddenly, she knew how to get rid of him—she would just have to double down, because ultimately, neither of them wanted to have a conversation with the others about their relationship. Which meant that he didn't want Toph to sense anything that he would have an impossible time explaining.

"Either kiss me already or leave," Katara challenged, her eyes bright with mischief. The Fire-nation prince's gaze shifted into lust as he smirked at the waterbender.

"Don't tempt me," he growled, staring at her lips. Katara didn't back away and neither did he. A breath later, Zuko pulled back. "Fine, I'll go, I'll go," he relented. Before he left, the prince leaned into the waterbender once more. "Do you want to meet at our place tonight?" Katara drew in a quick breath, her face blushing red. "Our place," she thought to herself. She knew exactly where he meant and exactly what they'd likely do when they met. Her heart raced as the anticipation hit her. She nodded, biting her lip.

A warmth swelled up in the pit of his stomach. Zuko wanted to kiss her so badly. But it was already too much of a risk to even be together like this. "Then I'll see you tonight," he whispered before quickly making his exit out of the backside of her tent. Katara stood in the center of her tent, her heart pounding and knees quivering.

Swallowing hard, she realized how badly she needed to go cool off in the river, too.