The Warrior's Gambit (Zutara)

XII

IT WAS 80 HERE TODAY! HAPPY SUMMER MY PEEPS!

Thank you, as always, sincerely, to those that continue to review. Y'alls are the true MVPs!

My beta has dubbed this story the 'funniest chapter yet', so I hope you all enjoy it!

Once in her room, Katara set her bag on her bed. She went to the bathroom, and when she came back out, Yue was carefully folding her clothes into a chest on the left side and hanging some dresses. Katara was glad for the cue; chances are, she'd have just left it all crammed in her basket had she not seen Yue unpacking.

As it was, it took far less time for Katara to organize her things (and re-organize them, frankly) than it did Yue. She, besides Toph, had probably packed the least extensively. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps she should have brought more.

"Yue, we're here for two days. You have four dresses hanging up." Katara frowned, peeking inside the cabinet. She knew there were even more clothes in the drawers, and to be honest, she was worried she'd misheard Zuko. Maybe they were supposed to be here for a week and two days, not just two singular days.

"Oh, I know," Yue sighed, sitting back. "But I couldn't decide what I might want to wear. And Prince Zuko was a little...vague." She frowned. It was perhaps the meanest thing she'd ever said. "Which is fine, I like surprises," she amended swiftly. "But I don't know what to expect."

"Beaching, probably," Katara said, shrugging.

"Yes, we should get changed," Yue said, perking up, opening a small drawer. Katara simply shucked off her dress, but left on the wrappings that were underneath her three layers. She took care to slip her beads out of her hair, pulling all of it into a bun on her head.

Yue vanished into the bathroom.

"Are you nearly ready?" Yue asked when she returned out.

"Uhm, I'm ready now."

Yue blinked at Katara, as though she didn't understand.

"Princess Katara, you're in your underclothes," she said slowly.

"Yes?"

"I just," Yue cut herself off, studying Katara, "Did you forget your swimsuit?" she asked in a near pitying tone.

"What do you mean?" Katara frowned, crossing her arms, feeling embarrassed but she did not know why. "This is my swim outfit."

Yue frowned, pressing her hand over her lips. "Princess Katara, you can't wear your undergarments in front of the Prince and the other ladies!" She sounded scandalized. "It wouldn't be...it wouldn't be right."

"Well, I mean, I usually take this piece here off when I sleep." Katara tugged on a knotted end of the fabric. Yue was still staring at Katara like she had just announced she was marrying Ozai.

"What do you wear when you go in the water?" Yue asked in a different way.

"We don't," Katara said flatly. Until recently, she hadn't even been aware that people went in the water for pleasure, at least not prolonged amounts of time in the water. Swimming in the South was basically suicidal. The most people ever did - and it was idiots like her brother - was dare each other to dive into the ocean and then get out very quickly. They warmed water for bathing, but that was done in the nude, and Katara had never lingered in the bath, knowing others needed it and it was a process to re-warm the water. The closest approximation they had were the sweat huts, but people just wore...well, what Yue was calling undergarments. There really wasn't room to be shy about one's body. Besides, the huts were always separated by gender.