This is just a quick oneshot I did. It's based off the events of chapter 4 in my story 'Purity' although this can stand alone. It's just a quick extra in Zuko's POV. Enjoy!

Rise with the Sun

The door to Zuko's cabin opened with a small squeak. Zuko ignored it, and buried his face even further into his silk pillow. If it was the Captain, whatever it was could probably wait. He listened as the soft footsteps padded closer to his bedside.

"Zuko." Somewhere in the bleariness of being half-asleep, Zuko realized that it was Katara talking.

"Mmphf." He mumbled into the black fabric below him. Maybe he was still dreaming. Or maybe she'd go away, and let him sleep in. Zuko raised his internal temperature slightly, Katara had obviously let a breeze in.

"Zuko wake up." A hand that Zuko didn't see nudged his shoulder. Katara tapped her toes on the carpet beneath her. "I know you're awake Zuko." Damn. "I know that firebenders rise with the sun." There was a pause, and Katara elaborated loudly. "The sun has definately risen."

Zuko smiled into his pillows. She wasn't going to give up, was she?

"Get up. We're about to dock" She said, and Zuko opened his good eye. She was kneeling at his beside, putting them both at eye level.

"So?" Zuko asked, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"So get up! We're getting off this boat. You need to get out of your room once in awhile." She pushed at his arm. Zuko inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and began to stretch out on his bed like a cat-hawk. Katara sat at the edge of his bed, and the was a squishing sound and she wrung water out of her hair.

"Who told you firebenders rise with the sun, anyways?"

"You did. Don't you remember?" Katara stood up. "You rise with the moon-" She walked into Zuko's view and stood in front of the porthole. "-And I rise with the sun."

Zuko frowned down at himself. "Oh. Right." He looked up -he looked up at her- and time stopped. The sun flooded in behind Katara, and it wrapped around her curvy silhouette. Her hair was down and loose and weighted by the water still in it; and she was wearing something white and tight and still slightly damp. She was dripping all over his floor, but Zuko couldn't bring himself to care. The room suddenly smelled like ocean and something pretty. Flowers, maybe, or ginger, or sugar? Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly...

Her skin glowed where the sun touched it, and her eyes glittered. Zuko was grateful she hadn't notice he was staring at her body, and her exposed waist and hips, and the way everything clung to her, and...

...And why exactly was she wearing that? How many other people had seen her like this? How many curious eyes on board had-

"What...What are you wearing?" Zuko felt himself blush.

Stupid...Stupid...Stupid question...

Katara crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously.

"Training gear. I was training."

Zuko found himself speaking against his own will. "You were training in your underwear?"

"It's no different from you training without your shirt."

Zuko's eyes darted to her backlit figure once more.

It was very differentfrom when he did it.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, avoiding her gaze.

"Agni help me." He muttered. He wasn't sure if it was a request or a statement.

He grinned. It was probably both. It wasn't every day a situation like this came along.

"You waterbend in your white underwear?" It was probably not the best idea to point out that the underwear in question was entirely transparent. It was also probably best not to keep staring.

"I've always trained in my underclothes." She looked surprised.

Actually, she looked cold.

Probably best not to tell her that either, at the moment.

"They're easier to move in."

Zuko shifted uncomfortably. Did she really have to say that? Zuko closed his eyes briefly, but it didn't help. In fact, the images that danced in front of his eyes only made it worse.

"I thought you knew." She continued.

"How would I? You've never worn your-um, training clothes when you were sparring with me."

She stuck a hand on her hip. "Well its not like it would have mattered even if I had."

Zuko blinked slowly.

"I think it would've mattered." It's definately an unfair advantage...

"Huh?"

Change the subject, Zuko...

"I'm up." That's an understatement. Zuko bit his lip hard, trying not to laugh.

"Now what?"

"We're going shopping." She said, smiling. She was trying to cheer him up.

It worked.

Oh how it worked.

After all, just because they were best friends didn't mean he couldn't notice how beautiful she was, did it? Zuko knew everything else about her, knew what he admired and why they were friends, so knowing how she looked while training couldn't be much different...

"Shopping?"

"Shop-ping." Katara drew out the word, like she was talking to a small child. "For Supplies."

"And what if I don't want to go shopping for supplies? A Fire Lord doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to."

Although it was very likely she could make him want to do anything she wanted.

Katara lifted her chin. "A Fire Lord isn't stupid enough to disagree with a master waterbender on board a ship."

His eyes narrowed and Zuko fell back into his pillows. "You wouldn't dare. It would be an international incident."

Sages.

He was egging her on, on purpose.

Katara met his stare- "Try me." -and Zuko knew that very moment he would have lost any argument he might have had with her.

Zuko sighed, and a small flickering flame escaped between his lips.

"Just supplies? No random statues or Tsungi horns? Because I am not doing music night anymore, no matter what Captain Jee suggests."

Katara snickered. "You play an instrument?"

Expertly.

Being a good musician was supposed to have other merits after all.

"No." He said a little too quickly. He couldn't figure why, but playing any instrument for Katara would have made him even more nervous that anything else. "I don't. I can't play at all, and I have absolutely no musical talent, none whatsoever."

"I didn't know you played an instrument."

Damn.

"My real love is acting." Zuko deadpanned.

"I didn't even know you had a musical night." Katara mused, twirling a lock of hair around her fingers.

"Don't get any ideas. I refuse to play."

"Spoilsport." Katara stuck out her tongue.

"But seriously, just supplies? This isn't a grand scheme to get me to buy out an entire marketplace?" Zuko looked at her suspiciously.

"It's a grand scheme to get you out of your room for a few hours. You can't ignore the world forever."

"Fine. For a few hours we can all take a break and-What are you doing Katara?"

"Hold still!" She commanded, and Zuko froze in place, unable to breathe. She was leaning over him, trying to tamp down his unruly hair.

A lone droplet of water slid down from her hair, onto her neck, and down her chest, disappearing into her bindings. He watched, mesmerized.

Zuko could only pray Katara wouldn't notice that the room had become stiflingly hot. She shifted again, and it was just too, too much. Her sea-scent, the way her skin was glowing, and the vivid blue necklace that was tamped to her throat from water. Even the heat she was throwing off, and the tempting urge to lean forward and inhale her neck, it was all overwhelming.

The fact that her chest was directly in his face...

He swatted her hands away. "I'll take care of it in a minute. Let me get ready, and then we can go, okay?"

Whatever it took to get her out of there.

Katara nodded then stood up, and headed for the door.

"Katara, wait." She paused, and Zuko found himself standing up and walking for his chest of drawers. He pulled out a red and gold shirt, one he would wear at night if he felt like it, like he had been doing now, and tossed it to her. She snatched it in midair.

"It's cold outside." He said, trying hard not to grin at the reason why he knew that.

She pulled it on over her wraps, and tugged it tight around herself before tying it with the gold sash. It was big on her, falling just to her knees; and the cut was a little low, revealing a sliver of white bindings, but she was pretty in red.

She stood for just a glimmer of a second, and Zuko realized that she looked good in his shirt, and it was so much better than seeing her in her training outfit. She looked like she belonged in his shirt, or at least much more than he ever would.

"Thanks." She smiled, and opened the heavy metal door, slipping out as quietly as she came in.

Zuko groaned and slid to the floor, her teasing voice echoing in his head once more.

"Firebenders rise with the sun..."

She had to say that when she woke him up, didn't she?

Reviews appreciated.