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“Why did you ignore me all afternoon?” Azula asked as she collapsed exhausted against the thick, soft wild furs that covered the bed located in the center of the small bedroom where she and Katara were staying. “I haven't done anything wrong... have I?”
“I didn’t ignore you, Azula,” Katara said, rolling her eyes as she walked into the small bathroom next to their bedroom to clean off her makeup.
“Yes, you did,” the firebender replied, pouting even though her girlfriend couldn't see her indignation because Katara was still in the bathroom.
Katara didn't answer and simply left the bathroom in her underwear while she rummaged through the closet to find her nightgown.
“Kat?” Azula moaned exhausted while she, from her position on her bed, attentively observed the curves of her girlfriend and, specifically, her ass.
"What?" Katara answered distractedly as she picked up her nightgown and clean underwear and turned to look at Azula. “My eyes are up here, sweetie.”
Azula cleared her throat to snap out of her daze and grimaced a little when she felt a sharp sting in her throat but she ignored it and with a slight grunt of exhaustion she sat up in bed.
“Why have you ignored me this afternoon?” Azula pouted again. “I had just gotten back from over a five-week trip, Katara, five weeks!”
“And people had arrived injured from that trip!” Katara exclaimed with a slight frown as she sat next to Azula on the bed. “I had to heal them!
“There were more healers to heal Hahn!” Azula said Hahn's name with contempt. The thoughts of seeing Katara healing Hahn's body, knowing that he was in love with her, made Azula's blood boil.
“Are you seriously jealous?!” Katara shouted angrily. If there was something she didn't like about her girlfriend it was that Azula usually got very jealous. “How many times do I have to tell you I don't like him?!”
“It didn't look like that at that moment!” Azula snapped, her jaw clenched and tense. The pained expression on Katara's face after hearing those words was enough to make Azula deeply regretful.
“Kat… I'm sorry… I didn't want to say that,” Azula apologized. She reached out to hold Katara's hand but the waterbender pushed Azula away and stood up to head to the bathroom. “Katara, wait!”
Katara simply ignored her and slammed the bathroom door shut.
“Kat?” Fighting her growing headache, Azula got out of bed and knocked softly on the wooden door that separated the room from the bathroom. "I'm sorry…"
When she didn't hear any response from her girlfriend Azula insisted. “My shoulder hurt when I arrived and… and I wanted you to take care of me a little and not that old woman who smells like incense…” The only response Azula received was a silence broken by the sound of Katara taking a shower.
“Can I join you?” Azula asked with a kamikaze instinct and a slight hope that she could shower with her girlfriend and worship her naked body.
“¡No you idiot!"
Azula let out a defeated sigh and returned to the bed of the hostel they were staying at in the Northern Water Tribe. Under normal circumstances Azula would have insisted more on being able to shower with her girlfriend. She might even have gone into the bathroom even though Katara might have hit her but Azula's head was throbbing painfully and every time she swallowed her throat felt like sandpaper.
When the firebender's back made contact with the soft, thick furs of their bed she couldn't help but let out a soft moan of relief. Azula's intention was to stay awake so she could talk and apologize to Katara but it didn't take more than a few seconds until her body gave in against her exhaustion and she fell into a deep sleep.
Several hours later Azula woke up feeling horrible as if she had been beaten up by a polar bear dog. She pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead in a futile attempt to lessen the sharp pain but all she felt was heavy beads of sweat accumulating on her forehead.
Azula curled in on herself as she felt several shivers run through her body. Next to her a sleeping Katara moved closer to her for warmth. Azula was also cold, which was worrying, so she snuggled Katara into her arms.
The firebender moaned as she felt Katara unconsciously moved her feet under Azula's sleeping pants and pressed them against her skin.
"Stop touching me. Your feet are cold,” Azula murmured weakly as she turned away from Katara and huddled under the thick blankets for warmth.
The sudden cold and Azula's movement were enough to make Katara wake up with a soft yawn. Seeing that Azula was away from her make Katara moved to snuggle closer to her again, it was really cold in the Northern Water Tribe even if they were inside a house.
“Don't touch me,” Azula moaned again as she moved away from Katara to the point where she was resting on the edge of the bed.
Katara frowned at Azula's attitude. Her girlfriend was a firebender and she had never had a problem holding Katara in her strong arms to provide warmth to her, in fact they always slept like that in both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes.
“You're an idiot, Azula!” Katara was really angry with Azula now.
In fact when she came out of the shower last night she was willing to forgive Azula for her jealous outburst, since Katara understood that her girlfriend just wanted some time alone with her after so much time apart.
Not receiving any response from Azula only infuriated Katara even more who, still hurt by Azula's distrust, gave the firebender a hard push on her back causing her to fall to the ground with a thud.
“Ouch…”
“I can't believe you, Azula!” Katara continued with a complete frown and her arms crossed over her chest. “We've been dating for over six years and you still think I'm going to abandon you for every man who looks at me or talks to me?”
Katara stopped talking for a few seconds as a tear rolled down her cheek to her chin and hit the silk dress she slept with.
“It hurts me that you don't trust me,” Katara whispered sadly as she brought her knees to her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. She received no response from Azula which caused more tears to fill Katara's eyes until it was impossible to contain them and they streaked down her cheeks one after another.
“Thank you so much, Azula, thank you for making me feel so bad after more than a month without seeing you. And the worst of all is that you have the nerve to ignore me and not speak to me…” Katara got out of bed to head towards the bathroom and get ready for the day. “I'm not going to let you treat me this badly Azula-”
Katara interrupted her speech when she saw Azula shaking violently on the floor of their room.
“Azula!” The waterbender shouted with worry as she knelt beside her quickly. That's when Katara noticed that sweat covered Azula's forehead as well as her entire body since her shirt and night pants were stuck to her skin. "Oh honey…"
“I-I'm sorry... I was a-an... idiot yesterday Kat-” Azula stopped as a strong coughing overcame her.
“Shush,” Katara whispered softly when she saw how much Azula was suffering. She had never seen her like this, in fact she had never seen her sick in the slightest.
Katara carefully placed the palm of her hand against Azula's forehead and quickly removed it from how scorching Azula's skin felt. Apparently when a firebender had a fever their body reached temperatures much higher than a normal person would.
“You're very hot, Azula,” Katara explained.
“T-thank you,” Azula said, her voice shaking from the chills that ran through her body constantly.
“Dork,” Katara rolled her eyes. It really wasn't the time to joke but apparently any time was a good time to make jokes for Azula. “Come on, sweetie, you have to stand up and lie down on the bed so I can take care of you.”
Azula swallowed and grimaced, her throat hurt too much to speak so she simply nodded and she carefully stood up and with Katara's help she lay back on the bed.
Once she was lying down Azula tried to cover herself with the blankets but Katara dragged them off of her which earned her a dissatisfied moan from the firebender.
“Azula, you are sick, you have a high fever and to make you feel better I need to lower your body temperature,” Katara explained as she put mint leaves in a teapot to boil.
“But I'm cold,” Azula said, pouting. Katara couldn't help but smile in amusement, it wasn't usual for Azula to pout and she looked adorable.
“I know my dorkie dragon,” the waterbender said softly as a small smile appeared on her face.
Katara then poured water into a bucket and bent it to create some ice blocks to keep the water temperature down. She grabbed a cloth and dipped it into the water before placing it on Azula's sweaty forehead. Then with fluid movements she bent the water up to Azula's chest to lower her body temperature a few degrees.
“I'm sorry,” Azula murmured uncomfortably. The firebender placed her hands over Katara's and held them against her chest. “What I said yesterday about Hahn… I'm sorry Kat, I acted like an asshole.”
Katara sighed and continued bending the water over Azula's body without answering her yet which made Azula start to sweat, but this time not because of her high fever.
The teapot began to squeak, indicating that the tea was ready. Katara got up and poured it into a cup before bringing it to Azula who sat on the bed, sending her into a violent coughing.
“Kat,” Azula moaned as she breathed heavily. She held the mint tea Katata had made for her but she didn't drink, still too worried about Katara and how she had offended her last night.
“I forgive you,” Katara finally said. She had her gaze placed on her lap but raised it until she met Azula's golden eyes. “But what you said yesterday, Zula… it hurt me a lot.”
Azula frowned and felt a sting in her chest as she saw the pain in her girlfriend's eyes.
“I know, my love, and… you don't know how much I regret what I said,” Azula lamented. The firebender tentatively moved her sweaty hand to hold Katara's. “It's not an excuse but... Hahn spent half the trip talking about how much he likes you! I… I was afraid that you might like him back…”
Katara could have feigned surprise but she knew how jealous Azula was and even more when it came to boys who openly showed that they were in love with her. Honestly, Katara was bothered by Azula's jealous attitude and it caused a lot of arguments between them, but she could understand it. She could understand that Azula was afraid of losing her, that she might abandon her like her family did when she was a child.
“I know, Zula, but you know I only love you.”
Katara wouldn't lie if she said she wasn't jealous either, she was very jealous too but she was better at hiding it. In fact Katara was glad that Azula's wounds were healed by an old woman and not any of the young girls who had been drooling over Azula since the moment they arrived at the Northern Water Tribe.
Azula's response was a pout which Katara found so cute she leaned down from her sitting position and placed a tender kiss on Azula's hot and sweaty cheek.
Azula was still pouting and, feeling like she had been thrown to the bottom of the icy northern waters after a polar bear dog beat her up, wrapped her trembling arms around Katara and pulled her into a hug.
Despite Katara being surprised she let out a pleasant sigh as she felt comforted by how warm Azula's body felt against hers.
“Zula,” Katara said, snuggling further into Azula's arms. She still had to continue healing her but it was cold and Katara needed some warmth and cuddles after last night.
Azula simply tightened her arms around Katara's waist and nuzzled her nose into her girlfriend's long, silky brunette hair.
“You said earlier that Hahn spent half the trip expressing her love for me…” Katara lifted her head from her girlfriend's shoulder and looked at her, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “What made him stop?”
Azula blinked a few times. “I'm sick, Kat,” Azula responded again with a pout on her face as she ignored her girlfriend's question.
“Azula,” Katara said firmly. She knew the answer to that question but she still wanted to hear what her girlfriend had to say.
The firebender sighed and placed Katara's head back on her shoulder and rested her cheek on her head before answering.
“Maybe and just maybe…” Azula began with her hand caressing Katara's back, “…accidentally my fist collided with his stupid, ugly face several times until I knocked him out…”
“AZULA!” Katara exclaimed, quickly separating herself from Azula to look at her eyes. Katara expected the answer to her question to be a fight but she didn’t think that Azula would have knocked Hahn unconscious.
“I said accidentally,” Azula shrugged, she clearly didn't feel too guilty.
Katara simply stared coldly at her with her blue eyes.
Azula replied by pouting again which seemed to have no effect on Katara until Azula convulsed slightly from another strong coughing that made Katara's heart soften.
“You're an idiot,” Katara rolled her eyes. Then she leaned in and kissed Azula, this time on her lips. “But you're my idiot.”
Azula smiled weakly and grunted a little to move so she could give Katara a kiss on her forehead. Every muscle in her body hurt and both moving and staying awake caused her a lot of pain and discomfort but she was willing to do anything to not worry Katara.
“I love you, Kat… so much.”
“Me too, Zula, me too.” Katara smiled before getting up and heading to the bathroom. “Drink the tea, it will help reduce your sore throat. Meanwhile, I'll go and prepare a cold water bath for you to lower your fever."
Azula nodded and brought the cup to her lips to drink the mint tea her girlfriend had prepared for her.
“Kat?”
"Yeah?" Katara answered from the bathroom.
“Would you be angry if I don't drink the tea?” Azula grimaced as she sipped the tea again. “It tastes horrible… have you added poison in it?”
“Ugh!” Katara growled, she certainly didn't like Azula's sincerity about the tea she had prepared but she realized that Azula was very sick and gave in to her. "Alright…"
Azula nodded and continued to stare at the tea when an idea crossed her mind.
“Kat?” Katara came out of the bathroom with an unamused look on her face and simply raised an eyebrow for Azula to continue speaking. “You should make this tea for Hahn, surely his love for you would disappear after tasting this.”
A laugh broke the serious and annoying facade Katara was pretending to show.
“Azula!”
"I'm serious!"
The only response was Katara's laughter which in Azula's opinion was the most beautiful sound in the world and seeing Katara happy made Azula's general malaise diminish.