Borealis: A Zutara Story

Chapter 224

Two hours later Katara finally decided to return to the real world.  She could have stayed longer but she could tell Zuko’s back was starting to hurt and she needed to find Amayu so the doctor could examine him.

Zuko giggled when she stood up. She wrapped a towel around herself then asked, “What’s funny?”

Zuko tried to straighten his face but laughed again when he saw her, “You’re wrinkled.”

“Yeah, well so are you, Sonny,” Katara replied hoarsely while shaking her finger at him mimicking the actions of an elderly person. She pointed between his legs, “Back in my day men didn’t laugh at naked women. They knew as punishment from the spirits their penis would shrivel.”

Zuko spread his legs and looked down. His magnificent dragon looked more like dried out earthworm. He laughed even harder at it than he did at Katara, “It hasn’t been that size since I was in single digits.”

He smirked and stepped out of the water.  Unlike Katara he didn’t bother covering up before walking towards her and dropping to his knees.  He wrapped his arms around her thighs, “Oh please great spirits forgive me for mocking this naked woman. I promise to pay her proper respect if you restore this caterpillar you’ve cursed me with to the magnificent dragon it was earlier.”

He lifted the bottom of the towel to expose more of Katara’s thigh and burst into another bout of laughter, “If only I were fifty years older, this would be such a turn-on.”

Katara batted his hand away giggling, “If you were fifty years older I’d ask if you had a young sexy family member.”

“Are my shriveled penis, wrinkled hands and saggy pectorals unattractive?” Zuko pouted as he flexed his chest muscles so each side did a little dance.

Katara’s mouth dropped. The action would have been sexy of not for the prolonged exposure to water’s after-effects. “That is wrong on so many levels. Please don’t do that again, well at least not until your skin dries out.  Mr. Yao was outside shirtless one day and he did that for Hama.”

“Mr. Yao?” Zuko asked trying to remember why that name sounded familiar.

Katara nodded, “Yeah.  His grandson is the slender guy delivering your letter.”

Zuko’s eyes grew impossibly rounder.  Commoners usually did not make bethrothal arrangements or get married in their teens like nobility.  They usually worked and saved money for several years before starting a family. Yao appeared to be in his mid-twenties so his grandfather had to be at least sixty. Zuko paled, “And he went outside shirtless? And flexed his muscles?”

“He sure did.  That’s why I told the two of them to talk to him about courage.  He was flirting with my…” Katara stopped abruptly. She didn’t know what to call Hama. “He was flirting with the innkeeper who let us stay with her.”

“She was dainty, petite and just as wrinkled as you are,” she explained flicking the tip of Zuko’s nose.

“Ow,” he squealed rubbing it. “You know what. If I were a wrinkled old man and you were a wrinkled old woman I’d still think you were beautiful.  I’d flirt with you, flex my muscles, and wouldn’t care if I threw my back out doing something stupid to impress you.”

Katara’s smile faded, “If you were a wrinkled old man and I were a wrinkled old woman and I knew you hurt yourself doing something stupid to impress me I’d me just as frustrated and angry at you as I am now.”

“Huh?” Zuko asked realizing she was no longer joking.

“Your back. Why didn’t you tell me it was still hurting and the pain was getting worse? That was over a week ago, Zuko, you should know better,” Katara huffed.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s a little ache and just a few bruises,” Zuko said upset he’d be scolded.

“Yes it does! You have blood poisoning Zuko! That little ache and few bruises are killing you!” Katara argued, stomping her foot and causing all the water in the room to slosh violently with the outburst.

“Blood poisoning?” Zuko repeated letting go of her legs and falling backwards on his rear.  He had no idea his condition was so critical. He’d seen it listed several times as the cause of death during his brief time in the Fire Nation after his banishment while doing paperwork. It ended Ty Lee’s father’s brilliant military career. His legs had to be removed to save his life.

He’d seen it firsthand during his travels. Some of the men they’d transported had been too far gone to be saved by amputation; the infection had spread to their organs.  The antibiotics only served to prolong a painful death in hopes the sufferer made it back to the Fire Nation to see their family one last time before their body shut down. Those people most often had blotchy or yellowed skin. His skin was fine. He didn’t realize he’d said that out loud until Katara yelled at him.

“It’s your back Zuko! How can you say it is fine when you can’t see it? It’s not like you are a contortionist and can look in the mirror. You don’t even like to use them for shaving!”

Katara took a deep breath after seeing the stricken look on his face. It forced her to remember what Zuko had told her earlier about being perceived as weak for seeking medical treatment. Her voice softened and reached out with both hands to help him up. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.  It’s not your fault you couldn’t see it.  I know you were raised not to show weakness in front of anyone, but I’m not anyone Zuko. I’m not like them.”

“I won’t judge or make fun of you because you’re hurting or because you ask for help. It takes strength, true strength, to admit that. If I wouldn’t have noticed it when I was washing your back earlier I could have lost you,” Katara said leaning back and shifting her weight to use a leverage to pull his larger, heavier body up. “Let’s get dressed and go find Amayu. I’ll do everything I can, but you need antibiotics, Zuko. We’ll tell her to come here when it gets dark so only the three of us will know.”

He nodded and let go of her hand, tilting his head in confusion after noticing that she still held onto his. 

She smiled sadly up at him then and looked at the privacy screen, “It’s not the same as what we talked about earlier, but I like this little world you created for the two of us.”

Katara noticed that Zuko still appeared very upset so she switched to her old lady voice and pointed at what hung between his legs, “Now put on some clothes and cover that wrinkled thing up. You’d really have problems if it fell off due to pneumonia.”

In spite of himself, Zuko smiled. He had been wrong in thinking it was only pity. He had finally found another person who truly cared for him.