Denial

[Zuka]

SPOILER: Click to show

This was done just for fun, since we never explored how Kenji and Zuka actually got together. Was never going to post this, it was just supposed to be a fun little indulgence between Elle and I buuuuut since she posted her Neva one shot I felt I had to because it kinda ties in with that...so yeah, enjoy I guess lol. Not all the way done yet, still have to get to the 'juicy parts' but wanted to put what I had.

Also, it all steamed from this, obviously: www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9-W2DkAW9s

”Stop being such a baby” Zuka said through laughter as she poured more water on the open wound on Kenjis shoulder, rinsing out any last pieces of glass she might have missed.

As the clear liquid hit the wound Kenjis shoulder tensed as he let out of muffled groan, trying to hide his discomfort. Zuka stifled another laugh as she set the liquid down and picked up a clean cloth and dipped it into a bowl of warm water. Zuka’s kitchen had become a makeshift infirmary with first aid supplies and bowls of varying water and ointments scattered all around her counter. Once the cloth was submerged Zuka pulled it from the water and rung it out, turning back toward Kenji and looking over the stab wound. It wasn’t terribly bad but there had been bits of broken glass lodged inside that she had to get out. That had been easy but cleaning and making sure it didn’t get infected was proving to be a challenge…a rather amusing challenge.

Normally, Neva would be the one doing this since it was her thing but Neva was out of town visiting family and so Kenji was stuck with her. Zuka might not be as good a healer like Neva but thanks to the time spent with her Grandmother in the Northern Tribe she picked up a few things like how to treat bad cuts like this one. Giving the stab another good look Zuka furrowed her brows as she thought about what to do next. Given the nature of the cut and what he had been stabbed with Zuka thought it best to really make sure it was clean, no telling what kind of germs and infections could set in if left untreated. Beer bottles were not the most sanitary of objects.

Reaching out Zuka leaned forward slightly, being mindful not to press against his shoulder and grabbed a small bowl filled with a purple paste and dipped the cloth in the paste. Once she had enough Zuka set the bowl back on the counter and returned to her spot behind Kenji, hovering the cloth over the injury.

”This is…probably going to hurt. A lot”

’Great” Kenji said sarcastically

”Hey, this is what happens when you get stabbed with a broken bottle.” Zuka still wasn’t sure how it happened. She knew how it happened but she didn’t understand how Kenji had let it happen. She had been there but had missed it in all of the commotion ”and when our regular healer is out of town. “

’I’m sorry, I’ll try to schedule my stabbings better next time….Ow!”

Zuka pressed on the tender skin next to the wound in response to his remark ”I could have just let it get infected, you know.”

’Has anyone ever told you your bedside manner sucks?”

Zuka rolled her eyes and shrugged even if he couldn’t see it. Yeah, ok she wasn’t the gentlest of healers but this had never really been her thing. But, back to the task at hand. ”Ready?” She asked, giving him time to reply. Kenji took in a deep breath and held it before nodding and at his go ahead Zuka gently pressed the cloth and the purple paste into the wound and held it there.

Zuka knew from experience that the paste was no fun it burned like hell but, it did its job. It would kill any and all bacteria and then some. It was a old Water Tribe secret and her Grandmother had shown her how to use it and make it, it was a nice thing to have handy.

It took a minute but Zuka could feel the cloth get warmer under her hand and Kenji’s breathing started getting a little heavier as he tried to ignore it but soon he let out a few pained laughs as he pushed through the pain.

Zuka winced a little, knowing full well how he felt ’sorry..’ she said apologetically and held the cloth there for a few moments longer. Once she deemed it enough gently she pried the cloth off and tossed it aside with the other dirty ones and gave him a moment to calm down before continuing.

”That guy really got you good.” Zuka said while looking at the stab and gently touching the area around it with the tips of her fingers.

Kenji shifted slightly on the stool when he felt her fingers on his back and made a small ‘heh’ sound at her comment ”yeah, it was a bit of a off night” If he was being honest there had a been a few ‘off nights’ lately whenever he and Zuka worked together. Kenji found himself more distracted and more than once he caught himself in a near slip up but he had always managed to recover before something went wrong. Except tonight. It should have been easy, they were meeting one of his informants at a bar and usually all Kenji ever had to do was buy the guy a couple rounds of drinks, pay him and all was good. Bringing Zuka along and having her there should have sweetened the deal since Ty was a sucker for a pretty face and with her there he might be a little more flexible on how much he told them.

Easy. Get in, get the information maybe have a drink or two and get out. But, as Kenji had learned long ago things were never easy whenever he was with Zuka.


*~*~*~*~*

Earlier…

It had been storming hard all day and was supposed to continue late into the night. Storms weren’t unusual here but usually they fizzled out before anything too exciting happened. Not this time and most of the city was quiet, streets empty as all the good and honest citizens of Republic City stayed inside where it was dry and warm. Good and honest weren’t two words he would used to describe him or Zuka but right now he’d rather be inside where it was dry like the rest of the upstanding citizens of the city.

Kenji turned his satomobile down the street of the bar they were supposed to meet his informant at and parked near the front. He had Zuka come with him tonight, it wasn’t often they got to do some plain clothes work which would be good for her and he could use her to help butter Ty up a little.

”Remember” Kenji began once the car was parked, turning in his seat to look at Zuka and go over the plan one more time ”calling Ty a dog is a insult to dogs but he’s got his hand in a lot of pots all over the city and will have some good information about what Jaya is planning. So, as long as you can keep it together and behave” He put a little more emphasis on behave because Kenji knew Zuka well enough to know how hard that was going to be for her. ”We’ll get through the night just fine.”

Zuka, who had been sitting quiet most of the car ride there gave a heavy sigh ”I know” she told him with just as much emphasis ”as long as his information is good then I’ll be the flirtiest date I can be” Kenji had to know he was asking a lot of her but…Zuka would do it if it got them a lead. With another big sigh Zuka unclicked her seat belt and got ready to open the car door but stopped before she did and pointed at Kenji ”You owe me” she reminded him for the hundredth time before she opened her door. The rain was pouring down in a heavy, constant stream and Zuka stuck her hand out of the car and swooped it upward until her palm was facing up and bending the water. The rain curved around the invisible field and arched long enough to keep her whole body dry. Once she had her waterbending umbrella Zuka moved and pulled herself out of the car and waited on the sidewalk for Kenji.

”Yeah, I know” Kenji told her as she reminded him -again- about how he owed her. He didn’t tell her this but Kenji didn’t like the idea all that much either but, unfortunately Zuka was the only one he could use for this so they both had to deal with it. Grabbing his umbrella from the back seat Kenji opened his car door and stuck the umbrella out. Quickly getting out and running to the sidewalk where Zuka was waiting and leading her to the door of the bar. As soon as they were both inside Kenji shook the water off him and looked around to see if Ty was there.

The bar was a dive. Small, smoke filled and full of down on their luck people it would be hard to miss a loud, flashy Triad informant like Ty. Not seeing him there Kenji shook his head at Zuka and walked over to the bar and found a seat near the end and holding up two fingers to the bartender.

Zuka followed him, removing her coat and sitting in the stool next to Kenji, setting her coat on the stool next to her. ’Nice place.” she told him while glancing around. The booths and stools were dotted with people, all at various levels of intoxication and some that look like they had been there for days.

”Eh, its off the beaten path. No one pays attention to anyone here, there all here for the same reason” Kenji answered, defending his choice of location.

Zuka shrugged as if to say ‘fair enough’ and she turned back to people watching but stopped once a drink was set in front of her.

Time ticked on. Minutes passed and once the hour mark crossed Kenji looked over his shoulder one last time toward the entrance; still nothing. With a sigh he turned back forward and downed the rest of his drink, slamming the empty glass a little too hard on the bar once he was finished.

Zuka, sipping on her own drink glanced at Kenji with a raised brow. Well, it didn’t look like Ty was coming which was bad for them but secretly she was thankful. The last thing Zuka really wanted to do tonight was entertain some sleeze ball. ”Maybe he’s just running late..’ Zuka set her glass down on the bar "really late.”

Kenji shot her a small look ”I’ve never known Ty to refuse a pay day” he said with a sigh while bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck ”something must have spooked him” Kenji continued to rub his neck while he thought about what to do now. They could go hunt down Ty and press him for answers but knowing him he was either dead or long gone.

Zuka watched as Kenji worked through whatever was in his head and knowing where this was going she turned in her stool to look for the bartender. Spotting him at the other end of the bar Zuka flagged him down and held up two fingers to which the bartender nodded. A few moment later the bartender was walking toward them with a bottle of cheap earth kingdom liquor to refill their glasses. He filled each glass again and turned to walk away but Zuka stopped him before he could ”leave the bottle” she told him. The bartender looked at her and then to Kenji and back again unsure. Seeing his reluctance Zuka reached for her jacket and pulled her wallet out, pulling enough yuans to pay for the bottle and putting them on the bartop. With the yuans on the table the bartender reached across and grabbed them before setting the bottle on the bar between both Kenji and Zukas glasses before walking off.

Kenji turned his head slightly and watched the whole exchange, confused. He waited for the bartender to leave before reaching over and lightly tapping the bottle with his finger ”am I missing something?” he asked, turning a little so he could see her.

”Since the night didn’t go as planned and you dragged me out to this place..but, since were here’ Zuka started, pushing his glass closer to him before grabbing her own ”we might as well take advantage”

Kenji picked up the glass and brought it close to his mouth, getting a whiff of the strong alcohol ”by drinking cheap liquor?” He asked.

”Yes” Zuka clinked her glass with his and took a quick swing and swallowed, lips puckering almost instantly as she shook her head somewhat. Spirits that was awful, she may have spoiled herself on Torch and other expensive liquors but at least they were smooth, this felt like gasoline going down her throat. Burned like it too.

Kenji watched her with a amused smirk and set his glass back down on the bar, something Zuka did not miss. ”Oh no” she told him ”you’re not making me drink this alone she reached over and pushed the glass closer to him again. ”Besides, you need to relax a little, you’ve been working too hard, time to take a break”

”By drinking cheap liquor?” He reiterated. Kenji wasn’t usually picky but he just wanted to clarify.

Zuka just waved her hand at him in a ‘go on’ motion and once Kenji finally picked up his glass again and took a drink did she do the same with hers. The second drink wasn’t as bad, her throat was still numb from the first gulp and once her mouth became completely desensitized to it it made things a lot easier.

Kenji and Zuka sat there for a while as the amount of liquid in the bottle slowly got less and less. They talked and laughed and were having a good time. The first time in a long time that both of them were actually able to sit and relax together.

The slight buzz the two of them had helped too.

Kenji had just finished a story about one of his early run ins with the Rat Viper Triad that Zuka had run with years ago, back when the two of them first met. Zuka covered her mouth as she giggled a little.

”You’re kidding? He really did that?”

”He really did that” Kenji smirked and nodded

I don’t remember Sifa being the brightest but…wow” Zuka giggled again as she asked a few more questions about her old gang before having to excuse herself to use the restroom. While Zuka was gone Kenji sat there and sipped at his drink, he was about to take another sip when he heard a voce to his left.

”How long have you two been together?” a gruff voice asked which caused Kenji to turn and look at a man sitting at the end of the bar. The man had been there since the two had arrived but like most of the others in the bar he had his head down and had kept to himself, Kenji had honestly thought he had passed out drunk and didn’t pay any attention. Now that he was speaking to him though Kenji got a good look. The man looked like he was in his mid 50’s, had heavy bags under his eyes and judging by the glossed over look on his face and his unkept appearance he had been here for a few days.

I’m sorry, what?” Kenji asked, not really hearing the guy the first time.

”I said, how long have you two been together?”

Kenji looked puzzled for a moment, not sure who the man was talking about but it finally clicked that the guy was talking about Zuka. Kenji quickly looked at the side where Zuka had been sitting before back to the man ”We’re not together” he answered.

The drunk scoffed a little ”right” and went quiet again and Kenji was going to leave it be just in time too as Zuka came back and slipped back into her chair.

”Looks like you need another drink” Zuka said while she reached for the bottle and topped off Kenjis glass before doing the same to her own. Kenji didn’t protest and let her fill his glass back to the brim. The two resumed their chat only for it to be interrupted a few minutes later by the same man.

”I bet I can guess something about you both. If I can how about you give me some of that bottle of yours?”

Kenji and Zuka both looked at each other. Kenji raised his brow at Zuka and she shrugged ”could be fun” she told him. Kenji wasn’t sure about fun but amusing for sure. It would be interesting to see how off this guy was, he was curious to see what this old man said about him. ”Ok,” Kenji said, turning back to look at the man at the end of the bar. ”You’ve got a deal.”

”Alright.” the old drunk said, lazily picking up his hand from the bar and pointing at Kenji ”I’ll start with you.” The drunk sat there for a brief moment watching Kenji and Zuka looked back and forth between them with a amused look. This guy had no idea what he was getting into, Kenji was like a steel trap, picking out something about him was almost impossible unless it was something he wanted you to know.

”You like to pretend like you’ve got everything all figured out and maybe you do most of the time but there’s something stopping you from doing what you really want…. “

Zuka looked at Kenji with both brows raised and a slight smirk as the man continued to list and rattle things off about Kenji. Oh, this was fantastic. It wasn’t every day she got to see Kenji get roasted.

but your biggest problem is you’ve got trust issues” He said once he was doing listing the other things.

Kenji had been sitting there with a slightly amused face throughout the whole thing but as soon as the man brought up trust issues did his face briefly change before he was able to get a handle on it and return it back to how it was.

Zuka was getting ready to take a drink from her glass and she listened as the guy talked. The moment he said Kenji had trust issues Zuka made a ‘pfft’ sound into her drink as she laughed which caused some of the liquor to splash up into the back of her throat causing her to cough. Zuka continued to laugh and cough as she lightly hit her chest to help clear the air trapped.

Wow, that old guy had really hit the nail on the head with that one.

”I don’t know what you’re laughing at missy” the drunk turned his attention from Kenji to Zuka now and her laughter died down now that the spotlight was on her. ”He might have trust issues but you’re afraid.” Zuka opened her mouth to protest but the drunk quickly cut her off and this time it was Kenjis turn to be amused. ”You’re so afraid to do anything or to make a move that’s why you two are sitting here drinking this shit in this shit place instead of enjoying your company elsewhere and after you’re done you’ll retreat back home, alone because you’re scared.”

The guy finally stopped his analysis of the two and sat there to give them both a chance to mull it over. Little did the two of them know but the old drunk was actually a ex Earth Kingdom military officer, it had been his job to read people and get a feel for them. It had been something he used to be very good at before he was discharged. Was a skill that never went away only now instead of using it to help his country he uses it to help secure free drinks.

Well, that was less fun. Zuka gave a small huff now that the man was finished and took another drink from her glass to mask her annoyance from being called out. Afraid? Her? That was ridiculous. Afraid of what?

Kenji sat there while Zuka got hers and his line of thinking was the same. Trust issues? Sure but that wasn’t holding him back from anything. Was it? No, of course it wasn’t.

Judging by how Zuka was handling hers Kenji thought this night was just about over…at least it was over in this bar and he picked up the bottle and was getting ready to hand it over to the drunk for the effort when a loud noise to his right made him pause and look toward the commotion.

”Get yer hand off my glass!” A drunk at one of the small tables yelled at the bartender who tried to take the half empty glass from him.

”You’ve had enough Shiro, I’m cutting you off.” The bartender said while reaching for Shiros glass.

”I said get yer hand off my drink!” Shiro yelled as the bartender grabbed and started to pull the glass of liquor away. When the bartender didn’t stop Shiro pushed his chair back and stood, bringing his left arm back and swinging at the bartender, hitting him right in the jaw. The bar was silent for a moment and even Zuka had stopped her grumbling to watch what was happening.

Tension was quickly rising in the air as patrons were pulled out of their drunken stupors and given something else to focus their energy on. It happened almost in the blink of an eye. Everyone jumped to their feet at once as some came to the bartenders aide while the rest started swinging on anything and everything within range and soon the whole bar was in a brawl.

Kenji set the bottle back on the bar and got to his feet once the punches started being thrown. He loved a good bar fight as much as the next guy but that wasn’t something on his agenda tonight so better to slip out the door now before anyone noticed them.

”I think that’s our que to leave” He said while grabbing his coat and umbrella, nudging Zuka a little on the arm to get her attention.

Zuka turned away from the brawl in front of them and looked back at Kenji when she felt him pull on her arm and she nodded. Honestly, she wouldn’t fight throwing a punch or two right now, would make her feel better but, he was right. It was time to leave and let them duke it out on their own. If she wanted a fight she could suit up later and go looking for one. Zuka slipped off her barstool and grabbed her jacket and purse and went to step around the front of the stool when a pair of fighting men crashed into a table near them, shattering it to splinters and rolling to the ground. The men continued fighting with each other and Zuka was just going to step around them but the fights in the bar quickly started to shift in their directions as people spread out more through the bar.

As Zuka moved to step around one of the men reached out and grabbed her ankle. Zuka didn’t know if he did it on purpose to stop her or if he was just wildly grasping for anything to use to hit the other guy with but whatever the case, he was not letting go. ”Get off!” Zuka said while grabbing on to the back of the stool she had been sitting in for balance and bringing her free foot up, stomping her heeled foot down on the guys arm.

Kenji had made it back to the entrance and turned back to look when he heard Zuka yell ‘get off!’ and saw her still back by where they had been sitting as the fights moved to that end of the bar. He watched her stomp her foot on who had a hold of her and heard the guy yell out in pain while he recoiled his hand from her. ”Lets go!” Kenji yelled at her, motioning for Zuka to follow him but her interference with the other fight and the guys yells caught the attention of others and a handful of men started to close in toward Zuka and the other fighters. ”Great” Kenji swore to himself as he watched, knowing what was about to happen.

Leave it to Zuka to cause more trouble.

”Lets go!’ Zuka heard Kenji shout at her. She was trying! Once the guy let go of her ankle Zuka was able to make her way past them, but she only took a few steps before more fighters found their way on their side of the bar and blocked her path. Oh hell. Zuka looked for another path she could take but people were fighting everywhere with tables and stools being thrown which didn’t leave her many options. If she wanted out of here she was going to have to push her way out. Looking back to the 5 or so guys in front of her Zuka saw an opening between them and decided she was going to take it and started to push her way through them. She almost made it but someone grabbed her left arm to stop her and that was when Zuka had enough. Tired of people grabbing on her she balled her right fist and turned, swinging back and hitting the guy in the jaw. He let go of her and dropped to his knees but Zuka’s freedom was short lived as her swing made her an open target to the remaining four and they turned their attention to her.

”Oh hell” Kenji watched the scene unfold and he knew as soon as Zuka made her hit that all hell was going to break lose..again. Seemed he was right as the guys all stopped fighting each other and focused on Zuka. Kenji threw his stuff down and stepped forward, grabbing the closest guy to him by the shoulder and pulling/turning the guy toward him, bringing his own fist back and hitting the guy in the face.

Zuka brought her hands up, ready to fight when she saw Kenji out of the corner of her eye. Now that he was here helping the group of four split in half with one guy going to help the other guy Kenji had pulled away and leaving two to deal with her. Zuka ducked as one of the guys tried to swing at her which caused him to fall forward a little. Zuka used that to her advantage and after moving aside out of his attack she grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt and pulled him down more and brought her knee up to meet with his gut and brought her elbow down in the middle of his back. The man went down like a sack.

Kenji had taken care of both of his and Zuka looked at the one she had left, grabbing him by the arm and swinging him in the direction of Kenji. Zuka whistled to get Kenjis attention and pushed the man in his direction and he stumbled right into Kenjis waiting fist. With the last guy taken care of Zuka took a moment to breathe and bent down to pick up her jacket and purse. With those guys down and out there was nothing blocking their path out now so long as they didn’t linger too long and someone else come and block them.

Kenji shook his hand in the air to try to ease the pain in his knuckles from that last punch. That guys jaw was hard but made of glass and Kenji looked down at the small pile of unconscious bodies he and Zuka had. Well, this night had taken a interesting and unexpected turn and he couldn’t wait to get out of here, maybe have another drink and call it a night. He noticed Zuka bending down to pick up her stuff and he figured he should do the same so they could get out of here before more trouble found them.

He looked around to see where he had managed to throw his things before giving a quick glance back toward Zuka. As he did he saw the guy that had grabbed her ankle earlier get up and start to come up behind her, it was hard to tell but it looked like he had something in his hand. ”Zuka, watch ou-!” Kenji started to yell at her to watch out but he stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Kenji groaned in pain but he quickly turned around to see the guy that ankle grabber had been fighting earlier behind him with a broken bottle in his hand. Seems the two had made amends and decided to come after them instead. Seeing what he had just been stabbed with and annoyed that it even happened, even more annoyed that he had been more concerned about Zuka that he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around him Kenji reached out and grabbed the guy with his injured arm and held him in place. Once he had him Kenji brought his left arm up and punched the guy hard a few times to get the message across and eventually the guys knees buckled as he lost consciousness, the bottle falling to the floor and shattering more.

Zuka, watch out!” Zuka looked behind her at Kenjis warning just in the nick of time as the guy that grabbed her earlier swiped at her. Zuka moved and wrapped her arm around his outstretched hand and pulled it close to her so he couldn’t pull it back. With his arm extended like it was Zuka brought her other elbow up and then down in the crook of his arm until she heard a ‘snap’ The guy cried out and dropped whatever was in his hand and Zuka heard glass shatter as it hit the ground. A bottle, really?! Peeved that he tried to stab her Zuka brought her foot up and kicked at the inside of his leg until he went down on his knee. With the guy down Zuka released his arm and brought her fist up again, swinging hard at the side of his head and this time ankle grabber was down for the count.

Hearing a pained yell behind her Zuka spun around and saw Kenji hit the guy behind him. As he turned Zuka could see blood on his shoulder. Quickly Zuka bent down to grab her things and went over to Kenji, bending down to get his stuff so they could get out of there. Now that Zuka was there Kenji ushered her out of the bar and back to his car, it was time to put some distance between them and this place.  

~*~*~*~

Which brought them back to now. Zuka had convinced Kenji to come back to her place so she could heal him and clean his wound and Kenji didn’t put up much of a protest. With Neva out of town he didn’t have many options unless he wanted to go to one of the cities healers and Kenji really didn’t want to do that.

”Are you ready?" Zuka asked

”Huh?” Kenji said, looking back slightly at her. Having been lost in thought of the nights events

”Are you ready?” Zuka asked again, she had given him a moment to calm down from the burning the disinfectant caused but it was time to close up that wound.

’Oh, uhh..yeah.” Kenji told her, turning back to face forward so Zuka could do her thing.

Zuka waved her hands over a large bowl of water once he said he was ready and the water formed around her hands. ”Just relax’ Zuka told him softly while bringing her water cased hands up to the wound on his shoulder. As she touched her hands to the wound the water began to glow and Zuka moved her hands in gentle circles.

Kenji closed his eyes and let out a small sigh as the burning slowly subsided and his pain eased. Maybe it was the cheap liquor he had earlier or that he was coming down off his adrenaline rush but Kenji was feeling pretty content right now.

Zuka kept her hands on him for a few minutes, letting the healing waters do their job and once she thought it was enough she removed her hands and sent the water back to the bowl it came from. Now that the water was gone Zuka got a good look at Kenji’s shoulder. The wound had closed somewhat but given that she was a mediocre healer at best there was a good chance that it could open up again. Maybe if she tried again when she hadn’t been drinking she might have better results. ’It’ll do for now” she told him ’but I’m going to wrap it, just in case.” Better safe than sorry and if something happened between now and then at least the dressings would stop the bleeding. Zuka looked over Kenjis shoulder at everything she had scattered on her counter and spotted the roll of gauze in the middle. Resting her hand in the middle of his back Zuka leaned forward, pressing herself against his back as she reached over his uninjured shoulder for the roll.

There were thoughts in the back of her mind clawing their way to the surface and she briefly entertained the ideas but Zuka pushed them back. No, that was a horrible idea.

Straightening herself up Zuka started to unroll the gauze and bandaged his shoulder the best she could. ”Well, its not perfect but it should hold until the morning.’

Kenji who had been sitting quiet the entire time, fighting back his own bad ideas slowly nodded his head. ”Thanks.”

’Don’t mention it.’ Zuka took a few steps back now that she was done and leaned against her sink. There were still thoughts racing through her head but Zuka was going to blame them on the liquor. These thoughts usually snuck up on her whenever she and Kenji drank together so why would this be any different? It was different though, all the other times Kenji still had a shirt on.

Spirits help her, what was she even saying?

Shaking her head slightly Zuka looked around for something else to focus on and saw Kenjis bloody undershirt resting on the edge of the sink. Without missing a beat Zuka turned around and turned on the faucet, grabbed his shirt and some soap and started to wash his shirt by hand.

When he heard the water turn on Kenji turned in the stool and rested his back against the small island they had been using and watched Zuka. His eyes traveled up and down a few times and lingered longer on her curves. They were both feeling this right? He didn’t think he was imagining things but neither of them had ever been bold enough to make any kind of move. He could do it right now, why not? What was there to lose?

There was a lot to lose actually. The two of them had just finally mended things not that long ago, had started working together and had rebuilt their friendship. It was all still so fragile and Kenji didn’t want to risk breaking it all on taking some chance. That and the fact that he couldn’t get the old drunks words out of his head. Trust issues. It wasn’t like Kenji didn’t know that, he kind of based his survival on having trust issues but it was the other part that bothered him. Was it really holding him back? Did it really matter? This was a horrible idea, he shouldn’t even be thinking about it and he really shouldn’t be looking at Zuka the way he was.

Zuka focused her energy on scrubbing out the red from his shirt and when she got all that she could Zuka rinsed the shirt and wrung it out. Setting the shirt on the counter and waving and circling her hand around it, pulling the excess water from the fabric and drying it. With the shirt dry Zuka turned and tossed it to Kenji. ”It’s not perfect, but..its better than nothing”

As she started to moved Kenji quickly looked away and focused his eyes on something else so he didn’t get caught and when she tossed him his undershirt Kenji reached out and grabbed it. ’It's fine” he told her while carefully slipping the tank back on.

Zuka watched him put the shirt back on and she quietly sighed. It was better this way though.

Now that that was done Zuka felt like she needed something to pull herself together more and since going back out tonight seemed out of the question the only other option was to drink some more. Going to her cupboard Zuka pulled out two small glasses and a bottle of vintage torch and turned around to show Kenji.

Kenji saw what she had in her hands and he shook his head ’I should probably get going..” It was the best idea.

Zuka knew he was right, him going home would be best but despite the part of her that didn’t want him to go there was a more concerned part of her that needed him to stay too. ”You should stay” she said, letting it hang there for a moment. But the old mans words repeated in her mind and Zuka quickly tacked on ”I did a crappy job on your shoulder and you’re probably going to need another healing session in the morning.” Zuka told him while stepping up to the center island and pushing some things out of the way and setting the bottle and glasses down ”and, its still pouring rain out and we’ve been drinking. Just stay, you can sleep on the couch and in the morning I can patch up your shoulder again.” Zuka opened the bottle and poured some liquor into each glass ”besides, after the night we had I think we both could use some good liquor.” Zuka picked up one of the glasses and held it in her hand and looked at Kenji giving him a ‘well, what do you say?’ look.

Kenji looked at Zuka and then the glass on the counter. She did have valid points. If he would just have to come back here in the morning then he might as well stay and the rain had not let up at all yet and driving in that after the night he had didn’t sound appealing. Kenji thought for a moment, he could still hear the old mans words in the back of his mind but he ignored them and picked up the glass. ”If it gets me access to your supply of good torch then, sure, why not?” He smirked a little before taking a sip of the amber liquor and savored it for a moment. That was so much better than what they had been drinking at the bar.

Zuka smirked back at him ”you did get stabbed, I guess you earned it this time.”

The two eventually made their way from the kitchen to the living room and were sitting on Zukas couch. Zukas record player was playing music in the background and the bottle of torch was significantly less full as the two of them picked up where they had left off at the bar, laughing and sharing stories. Eventually they made it back around to the events of the night.

”So, don’t think we can ever go back to that bar huh?” Zuka said with a small chuckle.

”Yeah, probably not. Odd crowd there anyway” Kenji commented while taking another sip from his glass

’Yeah, what was with that old guy anyway?” Zuka asked. They were both probably thinking it and the more she thought about it the more it ticked her off.

”Right?” Kenji started ”he listens to us for a couple of hours and thinks he’s got us all figured out.’ Even if he was pretty spot on.

”Excatly!” Zuka exclaimed while sitting up more, leaning over and setting her glass down on her table.

”He was so drunk”

”Completely wasted.” Zuka agreed. Now that they were talking about him however she could hear his words in her mind like he was sitting right next to them. Maybe drinking more wasn’t the greatest idea because now there were a lot of things running through her mind ”Right..I’m glad we both feel the same way…” Kenji wasn’t bothered by what the guy said so maybe she was reading too much into it. Yeah, that had to be it. She was overthinking this whole thing.

’Yeah, me too..” Kenji answered while drinking down the rest of his drink.

He could do it now, there was nothing stopping him but the mood in the room changed once the old guy was brought up again and it was not lost on Kenji.

Zuka noticed the change as well and she decided that it was best to end the night right here. Things had obviously gotten awkward. ”So….guess I should get to bed.” Zuka tapped her hands against her legs slightly before standing from the couch. She stood there for a moment. There was nothing stopping her, if he didn’t respond then she could blame it on the liquor and leave it at that. Things might be weird for a little bit but eventually they would even out and be fine again. She could do it, Zuka wanted to do it… ’Goodnight” she told him, defeated as she turned and headed to her room.

”Goodnight.” Kenji watched Zuka walk to her room and close the door and as soon as she was out of earshot he let out a large sigh and rested his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. All of the thoughts in his mind had to be from the liquor, they had drunk quite a bit and that cheap stuff from earlier had been brutal. It had to explain why he was even entertaining the idea of getting up and following Zuka to her room.

It was such a bad idea, a truly horrible idea. There was a reason why Kenji had never done anything prior to this, never mind her issues before with the black fin and the bloodbending but He had learned his lesson with Jaya and knew better than to mix business with pleasure like that again. Sure, Zuka was good looking..he would have to be blind not to think that. Hell, the first time they worked together all the way back in Ba Sing Se when he was teaching her and he saw her in that dress Kenji had been stopped in his tracks for a second. He had thought about it then too, all their time spent working together, the late nights, the many drinks shared after a lesson or a job. Yeah, of course he had thought about it. At the time Kenji figured Zuka would eventually get herself caught and he would never see her again so in his mind there would be no harm done but, he never acted on it.

He wasn’t really sure why but he never did.

Things were different this time though, Zuka just didn’t go away and now that they were closer he didn’t want to risk that. He didn’t want to ruin anything either and given his track record it was best to keep his distance. Kenjis taste in women was..horrible, he would be the first to admit that. He had a type and it was the type that always spelled trouble for him and Zuka was more trouble than she was worth, a lot more. It was like trouble followed that girl everywhere she went. Tonight at the bar was a prime example, they just couldn’t get out of there without incident. Nooo, he ended up getting stabbed because he was with her.

Kenji let his head hang against the back of the couch as he argued with himself and after a few minutes he brought his head back and sat up realizing he was still holding on to his glass. Leaning forward Kenji set the empty glass on the coffee table and looked between it and the half empty bottle of torch. Did he want more? Not really, drinking more could lead to a lot of trouble but maybe he could drink until he passed out. It wasn’t the best plan but it was a plan that kept him out of trouble. Kenji sat there thinking of what to do and the longer he did the more his thoughts of drinking were replaced by others.

Kenjis mind raced and he didn’t even realize that his leg had started to bounce as his thought process shifted from ‘this is a horrible idea’ to outweighing the pros and cons.

Right now, the pros were winning.

~*~*~*~*~

Zuka walked to her room and shut the door. Staying there and leaning against it for a second and lightly hitting the back of her head on the wood.

”No, stop it” Zuka scolded herself as she tried to rationalize turning back around and heading back to the living room. ”It’s a horrible idea. A really bad…just the worst idea” Zuka continued arguing with herself as she pushed herself off the door and walked more into her bedroom. She just needed to crawl into bed and go to sleep and in the morning things would be normal again.

Why was this even a debate? It had never been this hard before. Any time she might have felt a flicker of a feeling all Kenji had to do was speak and give some smart ass ‘I’m better than you’ remark and the feeling was gone just as fast as it came. So why was it so hard to let go this time?

Zuka didn’t understand it, well, maybe she did but she didn’t want to acknowledge that…it was somehow worse. Way worse.

Letting out a frustrated groan Zuka forced herself to get ready for bed. She was going to change, lay down, go to sleep and forget that this even happened. Zuka got herself ready in record time and after turning out her light she crawled into bed, laid down and shut her eyes.

She lay there for a few minutes, ignoring what was going through her mind and hoping that eventually the liquor she had would lull her to sleep but..no luck. Zuka’s thoughts kept jumping back to the image of a shirtless Kenji and things just ran wild from there. Why was she acting like this? It wasn’t like she’d never seen him like that before. There had been plenty of times while Neva was healing him so why was this any different? It wasn’t she was just being ridiculous. ”Get a grip” Zuka scolded herself as she turned in her bed to try to get more comfortable so hopefully sleep would come faster.

Zuka tossed and turned for a few minutes, her mind jumping from thoughts of Kenji and her just getting giving in and walking out to the living room. She could do it, nothing was stopping her. All she had to do was get out of bed and walk up to him. Simple, not complicated at all. Even if it was as simple as getting out of bed and going to the living room Zuka didn’t move. Why? She knew why and she could hear that old drunks voice in her head.

”You’re afraid.” It repeated over and over in her mind like a broken record and the longer it went on the more it was starting to piss Zuka off. She tossed some more, trying to ignore it but the voice kept repeating and eventually she had enough and sat up in a huff ”I am not afraid.”

”All you do is retreat”

That made her even more annoyed ”I do not retreat”

Zuka had never been afraid of anything and being afraid now was just stupid. She wasn’t scared. In fact, she would show that old man. Zuka was going to make the first move.

Zuka flung back her covers and got up and walked toward the door, pulling it open and stepping out into the short hall and taking a few steps toward the living room but she stopped when she noticed Kenji was walking toward her. He looked just as surprised to see her coming toward him and he stopped dead in his tracks.

”Hey..” Kenji said cautiously

”Hi.” Zuka answered back the same way. What was he doing? Judging by the look on his face he seemed unsure and just kind of stood there awkwardly. Whatever courage Zuka had been feeling seconds before was quickly starting to disappear the longer the two of them stood there.

”So, I…” Well this was just horrible. It had seemed like a better plan in his head but he hadn’t expected her to meet him half way. That was a good sign though, right?

”I uh…” Ok, obviously he was feeling the same way this was proof of that. It wasn’t one sided like she had maybe thought so all she had to do was take a few more steps and give them both what they wanted. Just a few steps…. Zuka started to step forward ”I forgot my drink.” she said while walking past him to the coffee table where she had left her half full glass from earlier.

”Oh..” Kenji said as he watched her walk past him to her glass. Well, that was a shot in the dark that didn’t work ”I was just looking for the bathroom.” ’Nice save” he thought to himself and mentally rolled his eyes at his own comment.

Internally she was screaming at herself. They had been so close but she chickened out. The old guy was right, she was afraid. Picking up her glass Zuka turned and pointed to a door a few down from hers ”that one” was all she managed as she quickly walked past him back toward the safety of her room. Goodnight…again.” Zuka told him before going in and shutting her door once more and as soon as she was inside Zuka felt like screaming. Well, she just blew that. Glancing at the glass in her hand she contemplated finishing off what was left and while normally she would hate to waste good Torch she set the glass on her nightstand. It was better if she didn’t. No, instead she climbed back into bed and sat there.

”Night..” Kenji watched her retreat back into her room and close the door and he offhandly wondered if she locked it this time. Kenji stood there in the hall for a moment. Soo..yeah, that was a total bust and he turned around and walked back to the couch and laid down after turning out the small lamp on the table. Best to just go to sleep and forget all about it.

He wasn’t crazy though, obviously she was feeling it too. At first he hadn’t been totally sure but after that he was almost positive. Maybe she was just being more levelheaded for once. Both of them wanted it but they both knew it was a bad idea and clearly Zuka was the one sticking to that.

Kenji sighed and brought his arm up and draped it over his eyes.

Just forget about it…

~*~*~*~

A few minutes had passed and Zuka was still sitting on her bed. Having moved to her knees and hugging a pillow while she chewed on her nails. He had been coming for her, that bathroom thing was just a cover, a bad cover. Kenji had been here before and knew where it was. He was coming to see her and she blew it. She had let her fears stop her but the longer she sat there the more her courage started to return. She was being ridiculous. Both of them were adults, they knew what they were doing and they could handle the consequences.

The longer Zuka sat there the more she hyped herself up and she looked at her door as her face set into a look of determination. She wasn’t afraid.

Tossing the pillow aside Zuka slipped off her bed and walked to her door, determined to not make the same mistake again. Opening the door Zuka was ready to step out and had made it halfway until she was blocked by someone in her way.

Kenji had laid there on the couch trying to will himself to sleep but he couldn’t shut his mind off. Both of them were thinking the same thing and he was certain that if he hadn’t caught Zuka on her way to him things would have played out much differently. He tried to ignore it but finally after some time he made up his mind. He at least had to try again. Since the first time had been derailed by bad timing he was going to give it another shot and if this time she refused or made excuses he would drop it. Sitting up Kenji pushed himself from the couch and walked toward Zukas room. He didn’t want to be too arrogant, but he was feeling confidant that this time things would go to plan.

Before he could knock on her door it was opening and Zuka was starting to come out but she stopped once she saw him.

The tension was thick between them and for what felt like the longest time the two of them just stared at each other, no one moving or saying anything but eventually Kenji had enough of that. He wanted to make his move before Zuka had too much time to think. Obviously, she wanted it too if she was coming back again and he stepped closer, reaching out and putting his hand on her waist and pulling her close. Closing the distance between them and meeting his lips with hers.

Everything in Zukas mind just kind of stopped when she saw Kenji on the other side of her door and she looked at him. Her eyes searching his as the unspoken question hung between them: What now? Zuka wasn’t sure how long they had been standing there. A few seconds? Minutes? She didn’t know it was like she lost all sense of time and thought. Should she say something? What was she going to say? Should she just pull him to her?

Kenji beat her to it and as he grabbed her waist and kissed her it didn’t register right away in Zukas mind what was happening and she pushed him away and took a small step back few seconds later.

Slowly, her mind started to work out what had just happened. He kissed her. Right? Yeah. He had come to her door, pulled her to him and kissed her…..and she had pulled away?

What? Why?

Shock. Zuka had been in shock and didn’t know what to do but now that she had pulled away Zuka looked up at Kenji who looked uncertain himself. No no no, she didn’t want that. Zuka wanted this and she had to show him that before he thought he did something wrong.

Now that she knew what the hell had just happened Zuka took the few steps toward him reached her hand out to grab a handful of his shirt and pulled him to her. This time there was no hesitation as their lips met and she moved her other hand to the back of Kenjis head to pull him closer. Their kisses quickly turned from slow and uncertain to passionate ones as the years of convincing themselves that this isn’t what they wanted finally caught up to them.

Zuka felt her back hit something hard as Kenji pushed her against the door frame and she rolled her body forward as he pressed against her. The two of them stayed like that for a few minutes, hand exploring each others bodies and somehow Zuka had managed to slip her hands under Kenjis shirt. Her hands slid up his chest as she brought the shirt with them and Kenji lifted his arms, breaking the kiss and stepping away slightly so he could get the shirt off. Once it was off Kenji tossed it to the floor and looked at Zuka. There was a fire in her eyes now, whatever hesitation she might have felt earlier was gone. Good.

Kenji stood there for a moment, looking at her. He knew Zuka was expecting him to come back to pick up where they had left off and he was going to but first…

Kenji reached out and put both of his hands on Zukas waist and pulled her away from the door and to him. As soon as he felt her against him Kenji dipped his head down and put his lips against her neck, Zuka rolling it to the side to give him better access. Kenji lightly bit and sucked on her, something Zuka seemed to like because he could hear her soft moans in his ear.

Finally, he returned his lips to hers as his hands moved from her waist to her back and began to slide down to her thighs.

Zuka poured as much as she could into their kisses. Years of desire finally catching up to her and she wanted all she could get. Honestly, now that she had it it didn’t feel like it would ever be enough and Zuka didn’t want this to ever stop.

When she felt Kenjis hands slide to the back of her legs and him grab hold she knew what he was trying to do and she happily jumped up to help him. As she jumped Kenji pulled her up and Zuka wrapped her legs around his waist while he held her there. With the new angle Zuka hooked one arm around the back of his neck as her other hand moved to the side of Kenjis face. Kenji held her there for a while and slowly he started to walk with her toward her room.

Kenji almost made it but since he was walking blind he missed the doorway by a few inches and ran Zuka’s back into the doorframe. Zuka let out a groan which turned into a laugh. That wasn’t going to stop her and Zuka took her hand off of Kenjis neck and blindly felt around to try to help guide him. Eventually the two of them made it through the threshold and Zuka switched arms, feeling around for her door. After a few tries she found it and pushed it shut and Kenji kicked his leg back to close the door the rest of the way before moving them toward her bed.



Sometimes its helps to have a visual aid >.>