The words never said

Early in the morning

Katara

I wake up much earlier than I usually do.

I'm not sure why, my eyes just open themselves groggily at some point in the early morning.

I don't know how much time I've slept since I returned to my room after being with Zuko last night, but I get the feeling that if I don't wake up now then I won't wake up until noon. I push away the sheets and head outside.

Ember Island is nothing like the Western Air Temple, the weather here is already warm even when the sun is barely coming out. There are tiny spots of yellowish and pinkish tones on the grayish blue sky. I take a deep breath of the sea breeze.

Nobody is awake yet, I can use this time to start to make breakfast. I'm going to need some water to boil the food... And, since we only have salty water around here, I'm going to need to boil and filter the water first...

(One would think that, as a waterbender, I could bend the water away from the salt; I can't.) (Believe me, I have tried.)

Well, better start off with today's work! Maybe I can bend the water to come here to me from the beach... No, better not. I don't want to rely so much on my bending to the point of using it for such mundane stuff.

I grab a couple of cooking pots – I have to make a mental note to look for more of these; these are the last ones that we have, all the others got lost during our many quests around the world – and head to the beach to grab the water by myself.

Walking down the hill is reminiscing of last night, it brings a smile to my face. I should thank Zuko again for being so nice to me after that nightmare that I had. Who could have known he could be so sensitive and understanding?

Maybe it is because of his "big brother-status" – Sokka has had his moments through the years, too. Then again, I can't imagine Azula having a nightmare. (More like being the nightmare.)

I reach the bottom of the hill and head to the shoreline. Zuko is near the water... Shirtless.

He's soaking wet from head to toe, noticeable drops run down through his torso, glistening his skin. In the faint daylight, it looks more rosy instead of pale; I can discern the toned, tense but relaxed muscles underneath it. One of his hands grasps his discarded shirt, and he uses the other to hold some water and splash it on his hair. The muscles of his shoulders and underarms shift with the motion.

I let go off the pots in my hand.

And I wish, wish, wish I hadn't, because their clacking sound as they hit the ground calls out Zuko's attention.

He smiles when he sees me. (Zuko has a different kind of smile.) (One that can break your heart. One that reveals all the pain inside him, so the joy shines against it.)

Is it hot in here? It feels hot. I feels steamy! – I'm having trouble controlling my breathing, I hear my own heart hammering inside my chest, I think I'm shaking but it feels more like I am... vibrating.

"Good morning." Zuko approaches me... with his shirt still off.

(Does he has to walk around without a shirt?)

(Do I want him to put on a shirt?)

"Good morning," I say, belatedly. And a little breathy. I don't know why I feel so embarrassed, I've seen boys shirtless before... I've seen Aang and Sokka shirtless before!

But, yeah, Sokka is my brother and Aang, well... he doesn't has Zuko's broad back and taut muscles. (Why can't I stop thinking about his muscles?)

"You're up early." The words leave my lips unconsciously as my eyes follow the droplets of salty water roving Zuko's torso, they run down the pronouncedly curvy trail of his abs.

"You, too." Zuko pushes his wet hair off his face, I watch the muscles of his underarms shifting again. (Is he doing that on purpose?)

"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." I don't take the time to notice how automatic my words are coming out. My eyes don't limit themselves to the droplets, they roam all over Zuko's torso. "I decided to come get water to start breakfast."

Apparently oblivious to my... (not ogling. I don't ogle. Gran-Gran taught me that respectful ladies don't ogle.) (Besides, I have more dignity than to ogle!) stare, Zuko says: "I couldn't sleep, either. I came to practice my bending since before the sun came up."

"Mm-hmmm," I nod. I don't ogle. Why do I feel like I'm ogling?...

I drag my eyes away from Zuko's naked chest and up to his face. He's smiling, more relaxed than what he has been since he joined the group. I have the feeling it is because I don't hate him anymore. Meanwhile, this that I am feeling right now – this heat – makes me wish I still hated him...

A thought crosses my mind. "You didn't sleep in the entire night?"

Zuko's kind of freezes at the question. "Of course I did. Until...," he sheepishly avoids my gaze.

Until I woke him up with my childish nightmares.

Right.

Blood flows to my face so quickly you would think it's being bended. "I'm sorry – "

"You don't have to apologize," Zuko cuts me off, his smile turning sympathetic – although, a little awkward. He looks like he isn't really used to receiving apologies.

For all that I know, Zuko isn't really used to social interaction.

He slips his arms into the sleeves of his shirt; the motion displays his broad, sculptural chest in all of its splendor. He starts putting on his shirt, and I oddly feel relieved, angered and baffled at it. I take one last glance at his perfectly defined abs, amazed by how his perfect, god-like body complements his classical good-looks.

I wonder if he resembles his father, I refuse to believe that such a vile man as Firelord Ozai can be so... nice to look at.

But, then again, I had considered Zuko just as vile not too long ago... So maybe I just don't know anything.

"You want me to help you with breakfast?" He takes the pots from the ground and hands them over to me. For the first time, I notice how nice-shaped his hands are. And how calloused they are, too.

Nothing about Zuko resembles a prince, I think. Everything about him is so raw and unrefined. Real.

"You know how to cook?" I don't mean my voice to come out so disbelieving, but it does. I take the pots.

"Um... A little bit. I mean, not much – not very good – but, when at the Earth Kingdom, my uncle and I were all alone and we needed to feed ourselves, so he taught me to cook somewhat decently. Besides, we... we kinda worked at a tea shop. As waiters but..."

"You worked as a waiter?" If my voice was disbelieving before, now it's plain skeptical. I feel the urge to laugh out loud, but I press my lips together to hold back. (I remember how Zuko reacted last night after he thought I believed he was lame.)

He looks away and scowls. And blushes.

And that's it, the laugh comes out of my mouthloud and ringing. This is going to be agreat day.