Hey! I’m back, everyone! Didja miss me?

I’ve received a whole bunch of requests for a drabble of Zuko’s point of view from Dangerous Ground. So, in deference to you, my beloved and cherished readers, I present this drabble. It was originally intended to be the first scene of Dangerous Ground, and in Zuko’s POV. Of course, I changed my mind and decided to tell the whole story through Katara’s POV, but I thought it might be fun to show you the first spark of idea...

Title: Warm

Author: Wilderness

Word Count: 1069 It’s a doozy!

Warning: Fluffy angsty Zuko-y goodness

Cold.

Her forehead was so jarringly icy against his palm that Zuko was almost able to ignore the electric tingle that ran up his fingers and through the muscles of his arm as he touched her.

He didn’t think he’d ever touched something so cold in all his life.

No, wait...

There was that one time. As a bouncing toddler, no more than three and still innocent of the ugliness and betrayal that had come to mark his life, he had managed to wander away from his nurses and lose himself in the many winding halls and corridors of the palace.

It had been fun at first, exploring the many hidden alcoves and dusty, forgotten corners. But his childish enthusiasm soon gave way to hunger and fatigue, and he had begun to look for the nurse who was always by his side.

But she, of course, wasn’t there. He’d lost her a long time ago.

He’d began running. Faster and faster, panic swelling for the first time in his tiny body. He’d yelled for his nurse, for his mother, even for his father, but all that had met his pleas were echoes and the lifeless stirring of the curtains as they bent beneath some heated breeze.

He remembered the feel of his own tears running down his face and dripping hotly on his silk shirt as he ran from room to room, looking for someone... for anyone.

That’s when he had seen the figure standing by the doorway of the war room. Tall and stiff-backed, the man’s warlike features were hardly enough to scare the little prince, who ran toward the figure with exuberant relief.

He crashed into the figure’s legs, only to find himself on the floor a moment later with a large bruise on his forehead. Instead of soft flesh, he’d ran into the solid metal limbs of a statue. Hopelessness had crashed down again on the boy’s shoulders as he reached forward to touch the painted skin, his fingers finding only bloodless cold and reassurance that he was truly alone.

They’d found him a short time later, curled up at the cold statue’s feet, the nurse breathless and hovering between apology and reproof as she comforted the sobbing little prince.

Katara’s shuddering breath broke through Zuko’s memories. He stared down at her still form, which was already as cold as death, though her pulse was still beating faintly and slowly beneath her skin.

They’d been locked in the freezing little dungeon for hours now, and Zuko could see Katara’s life slipping from her with each second that passed. Although the cold sickness was a rare affliction in the Fire Nation, he’d learned enough of battlefield medicine to know with certainty that if the girl wasn’t warmed soon, she would be just as lifeless as the statue. The fingerings of fear began to creep into the Prince’s heart.

“So what?” Zuko shouted as he backed away from the girl. Scowling, he turned to face the wall.

So what if she dies? I’m not a little child anymore, I do not fear being alone. He squared his shoulders and set his jaw firmly. He would not be weak.

But she saved your life, Prince Zuko! Iroh’s admonishing voice was a nudge in the back of Zuko’s mind and he curled his lip at it distastefully. He hated the thought of owing the girl a mercy-debt.

She is my enemy! I owe her nothing. Her death will just be another obstacle out of my way.

You speak so lightly of life and death, nephew. Have you no honor?... to let a woman die in your presence when you have the power to save her?

She is not a woman! She is my enemy!

Is she?

Zuko cringed and grit his teeth at the simple question. He turned to face her again. There, in helpless slumber, lay the same girl who had fought with such vicious agility at the North Pole, keeping him from his goal. It was the same girl who had stubbornly refused to give him information on the Avatar, who had tied him up after the fight in the forest...

...and fed him while he lay broken and helpless on the Bison’s back. She had covered him with an extra blanket when the night had become cold. She had been merciful and gentle with him no matter how much he had taunted and aggravated her, her luminous blue eyes had stared unflinchingly into his, trespassing lines of status. Her fingertips had eased the pain of his bruises with such gentle, delicate touches...

Zuko’s hand trembled a little as he reached forward to touch the girl’s cheek again, and he convinced himself that it was simply the cold that made his muscles feel weak as his skin brushed hers.

He also convinced himself that it was because he owed her a life debt that he was now taking off his warm shirt and laying it on the ground beneath her. He convinced himself that the reason he was gently plucking at the knot that held her cloak around her delicate throat was because no man with any honor would let a woman die if he had the power to save her.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he began to strip her of her clothes, knowing that the only way she would warm in time was for her skin to meet his with as little interference as possible. He tried to ignore the flush of heat that rose to his cheeks as he got her down to only the light shirt and pants she wore beneath her outer layers. He decided to stop there, knowing that she would awake eventually, and if she found herself naked next to him, his life would likely be the one in danger.

He convinced himself that he hated her, even as he curled his body tightly around hers, drawing her delicate frame firmly against his chest as he breathed warmth into her hair and against her neck. Focusing on the inner flame continually burning within him, he raised his body temperature to compensate for her coldness.

But, as he lay there with her in the silence and stillness of their cell, feeling her body draw heat from his with hungry need, he could not convince himself of one thing...

He had never felt warmer in his entire life.

Did you like it? I really really hope so! I went swimming in the waterfalls by my house the other day, and got mild hypothermia. Unfortunately, no angsty, hot firebender showed up to warm me. Alas...