Like Lovers Do (A Zutara Fan Fic)

Frozen, But The World Still Turns

Zuko's side ached. He tried to open his eyes, but they seemed to be glued shut from sleep. When he finally got them open, everything was blurry. Zuko blinked the blurriness away slowly to realize he wasn't in his own bed. This bed was small and stiff. The room was unfamiliar, too. When he tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through his ribs.

"Ah," He moaned, gripping his side through a thick, white bandage. He looked down to see a small, rusty, red stain on the bandage: Blood.

"Be careful," Aang pleaded in the chair next to the bed Zuko had been laying on. Aang's voice startled him.

"What happened? Where am I? Where's Panuk? Where's Katara?"

"Woah, slow down," Aang hushed, handing Zuko a glass of water. Zuko hadn't realized how dry his lips, mouth, and throat were. Zuko took the water in his shaky palms. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was fighting about 20 earth and water benders who were threatening my crew. Ming Lee was down with a hurt ankle. I couldn't take on all of them at once, not when I had to worry about counterattacks for two elements, and a boulder hit me pretty hard and then... that's it. It all goes kind of fuzzy after that," Zuko sighed. Zuko could only see fragments of the fight. Small windows that revealed fire and ice. "Aang, where are we? Where's my ship? My crew? What about Katara?" Zuko asked nervously.

"Your crew is fine! Just a little shaken up. A few scrapes and such, but fine. Your ship was pretty damaged, so we brought it to the Ember Island port for repairs and sailed out on the Earth Kingdom ship Panuk attacked from."

"I'm confused," Zuko admitted. "Where are we going? Where's Katara?" His head felt hazy. His ribs and neck throbbed. He could barely focus on his own words, but he knew Aang had ignored his question about Katara thrice, and that made him feel worse.

"You got hit pretty hard on your left side. We think you have a few broken ribs, and you ended up hitting your head, too. Panuk surrendered... sort of. He and his crew are our prisoners, for all intents and purposes. We're heading to the Northern Water Tribe to turn him in."

"What do you mean by 'sort of?' And for Agni's sake, Aang, I know that I'm damaged right now, but if you don't tell me where Katara is I swear I'll— "

"She's resting!" Aang interrupted. Zuko felt somewhat better, but he could tell Aang was hiding something. Zuko stared at Aang blankly until Aang spoke again. "Katara was able to distract Panuk and his crew long enough for us to detain them, but what she had to do to get there took all of her strength. It was a forced surrender."

"I need to see her."

"No, you don't understand. It took all of Katara's strength. She collapsed as soon as she finished, uh... doing what she did," Aang said, but he didn't meet Zuko's eyes.

"She didn't... bloodbend, did she?" Zuko hoped the answer was no, but he knew that wasn't the truth. Aang merely nodded. "Shit. She's going to absolutely hate herself when she wakes," Zuko said.

He recalled the first time he witnessed bloodbending. It scared and impressed him in ways he'd never been able to explain. Upon seeing Katara's blood bending abilities, Zuko realized what a force Katara truly was. It was then that he first realized that the fluttering he felt around her might be actual attraction and not just a crush. It wasn't because of her ability, but rather the restraint she showed. She could blood bend whenever she wanted (moon phase allowing), to destroy any enemy, but she chose not to. Her moral compass was fiercer than most. Katara spent most of the flight home on Appa confiding in Zuko about how awful blood bending made her feel.

"That's the thing," Aang stared. Zuko's palms began to sweat as his nerves crept back into his psyche. "She's been in and out of consciousness. Even when she's awake, she's pretty out of it. We're going to take her to Yugoda as soon as we get to the Northern Water Tribe to see if she can help her. We think she just needs rest, but we don't know."