Work Text:
It’s an obnoxiously hot day.
The whole group has dispersed across the beach property in an attempt to distract themselves from the beating sun. Katara can hear Toph and Sokka arguing about who gets the last moonpeach somewhere inside the house, and the last time she checked, Aang was sprawled out on the porch with one arm sluggishly bending the air around him to manufacture a breeze.
As for Katara, she’s forgone most of her outer layers of clothing and decides that a swim at the beach is just what she needs.
She crosses paths with Suki on her way down to the shore. The older girl has also stripped to just her bindings, and her fair skin is tinted pink from the sun. Her metal fans, tied together at their handles, are slung over one shoulder.
“Hey, do you know where Sokka is?”
Katara nods and points to the house, too overheated to do anything else. Suki hums in thanks and continues up the hill.
When Katara reaches the beachfront, she can’t help but blink. Zuko’s prone, shirtless body glistens with sweat, his dao swords sprawled on the sand beside him.
“I thought you were taking a nap.”
One golden eye slides open to regard her before shutting again. “I asked Suki to spar. Wanted to see if swords or fans would come out on top.”
Katara grunts as she flops down next to him. She digs her toes into the sand and shields her eyes from the glare of the sun off the ocean waves.
“So?”
“Hm?”
“Which one came out on top?”
“Oh. Neither. It was pretty much a draw.” He exhales and a flickering flame escapes his lips. “Plus, it was too hot to keep it up.”
They sit like that for awhile, the sound of the waves and the parakeet-gulls only serving to emphasize the lazy mood.
But all too soon, Katara begins to feel antsy. Her hair keeps sticking to her sweat-slicked skin, and a thin coat of sand covers most of her body. She looks to her side where Zuko remains spread-eagled on the floor, his sharp features the perfect picture of relaxation.
A strong urge to ruin his peaceful countenance overcomes her.
With a flick of her wrist, a small jet of ocean water hits him on the cheek. She watches him scrunch up his aristocratic nose before he merely turns his face away from her. Another wave of her hand and he can’t help but splutter as a larger jet splashes him again.
He wipes a hand over his face and shoots her a glare.
“Quit it.”
Something playful glints in her eyes and she just splashes him again, this time on his bare chest.
“I’m serious, Katara.” His voice is a low growl, but it lacks his usual bite.
She stands up, a grin beginning to curl her chapped lips.
“Oh, you’re serious. I’m really scared now.”
She starts walking backwards towards the shoreline, flipping her thick hair over her shoulder. He rolls his eyes and lets his head thump back down onto the sand. But Katara can see the tension coiling in his muscles, like they’re preparing to spring, and she knows that she’s got him.
So, she lets a tall wall of water crash over his body.
Finally, he sits up, dark hair plastered to his face and spitting out salt water. By now, she’s already calf-deep in the ocean, her knees bent in anticipation.
Zuko shoots her a dark look. “I said, cut it out.”
“Come over here and make me.”
She won’t lie and say that the way he sizes her up in that moment doesn’t make her stomach flip.
And suddenly, he’s on his feet and charging at her, fists encased in flickering flames.
She’s a little surprised that he immediately goes for a close-combat spar, but mentally shrugs. Less effort this way.
They block and strike and try their damn best to get one over on the other, but the fight remains at a stalemate. Zuko punches out with one fist, but Katara quickly catches it in a block of ice. He swings with his other arm before that too is frozen.
Katara smirks and prepares to deliver the final blow, but Zuko inhales and ducks underwater before she gets the chance.
Her eyes narrow, searching the water for his shadow, but the reflection of the sun off the waves keeps her from locating him. And right as she resolves to go in after him, a strong arm wraps around her stomach and tugs her under.
She yelps and gets a mouthful of seawater before she pushes against the ocean floor and half-kicks, half-bends them both back to the surface.
They burst to the top, Zuko’s arm still caging her back to his front. She coughs and lamely tries to shove her elbow into his head, but she’s laughing too hard and her limbs have all but turned to jello from the exercise.
She hears his chuckle by her ear and twists to catch a glimpse of his rare smile before it disappears.
His bad eye is closed against the water droplets slipping down his forehead, but the other is alight with mirth, and his cheeks are flushed from the exerted effort of their spar.
She laughs again, the tip of her pink tongue pinched between her teeth, and raises her free hand to poke him on the nose.
“Okay, okay, I forfeit.” She almost regrets it when he releases her to float a few feet away. “But you gotta admit that it feels nice to get in the water.”
He scoffs and a little spew of fire carries on his breath until it fizzles out an inch or two away from her face. She sticks her tongue out at him.
“Yeah, whatever. I was already tired from sparring with Suki, and now I’m exhausted.” He relaxes in the water, turning to float on his back.
“Aw, is poor baby Zuko all tuckered out?”
“Yes. Yes, he is. In fact, I think I’m too tired to keep swimming. I’ll just go ahead and blurbaghab—“
A startled laugh escapes her when he lets himself sink underneath the waves, garbling the last of his words. She rolls her eyes and freezes a thick sheet of ice underneath him, effectively lifting his body back up to the surface.
He spreads out on his makeshift raft and rolls his head to the side to look at her, his cheeks puffed out. Zuko purses his lips and water streams out from his mouth, hitting her square on her nose. She ducks under the spray and hoists herself onto the block next to him.
“Gross, you Drama Queen.”
He snorts, and watches her wiggle across the ice into a comfortable position. He has a smug grin on his pale pink lips, a hint of teeth flashing at her. And with his shaggy hair poking out at all angles from the sticky saltwater, and the sun illuminating all the different shades of gold and brown in his irises, it suddenly hits her how boyishly handsome he really is.
Her stomach clenches from more than just the cold ice against her skin. She quickly hides her face in the crook of her elbow, and misses the soft look that he gives her.
Zuko closes his eyes, face turning back towards the still oppressively hot sun, and let’s himself unwind.
They wake up two hours later when Aang and Sokka sneak under their ice-raft and flip them back into the water.
Needless to say, their evening does not remain peaceful for long.