To him, it was a mystery. Just a fleeting thought when he was younger and just learning about these things, and then not at all once he was banished. He didn't have time to concern himself with trivial matters like women. He had an avatar to catch and his honor to restore, who cared if he had no idea what happened when making children. It wasn't like he needed to know now anyways. He was a monster. Well at least looked like one. He didn't need to understand because it wouldn't ever happen. So that was that. He moved on.
As he came to terms with his new life in Ba Sing Se he suddenly found himself in a new position that he had never known before. As he served tea, he heard things and began to wonder about them. He heard the men in the later hours talking about the hidden wonders of a woman's body. They told stories about the way their wives could make them crazy or how hot and wet it always was. He realized that he didn't need to ignore those needs anymore and once he finally went on the date with the local girl that his uncle had set him up with he began to realize that maybe some women wouldn't mind his disfigurement.
So he started to explore his curiosity. His first time pleasuring himself was when his uncle had gone to the neighbors to drink and he was alone in the shanty of a house. He lay on the rough bed and used his mind to think of what it might be like. Replaying the words of the men from the tea shop that spoke of the intense feeling of being wrapped in wet and warmth (he assumed that was what his hips kept thrusting for) and the feeling of the girl's breasts who had taken him on that date and clung to his arm. With those thoughts he learned what it felt like to climax for the first time.
With his new restored honor and position next to his father as the prince once more his curiosity for the unexplored was forgotten as he focused on his duties. The arrival of Mai as his girlfriend though reminded him of his carnal wants that he had tried to ignore. But though he learned how to kiss properly Mai as he continued with their relationship, he was reluctant to go further. His hesitancy was frustrating to her and him at times but they both were far to reserved to bring it up. For now he would settle for the kissing and the pleasure that he could bring himself in his own time.
Living with all of these new people, most of who were around his age, was a drastic change from his uncle or the solidarity he experienced at the palace. As he became more and more part of the group his reservations on his own wants and needs returned. His awareness of not only the opposite sex but of his own needs grew as well. With Katara, Toph, and Suki being the only women that he associated with it was clear to him that none of them were available for obvious reasons. Katara hated him, Toph was much too young for him, and Sokka would kill him if he so much as looked at Suki. So, he didn't try and think about them in any other way than as friends and allies.
He had always admired Katara, even when he was her enemy but seeing her in her daily routines and noticing how much life and strength she held without even fighting amazed him. She had grown up drastically since the last time they had met. She had gotten slightly taller, slimmer from her water bending and strenuous activity, her hair longer than ever before and her skin darker from staying in the during her time in the firenation. Her curves were much more pronounced than he remembered and she seemed to walk with a certain fluidity that made him stare at her bum as she brushed past him several times. His one on one mission to the southern raiders with her hadn't helped the staring at all either. In fact it made it worse. Now she paid attention to him.
Now it wasn't just the men from the tea shops words or the thought of Mai's tongue against his that got him aroused. No, now it was the softness of caramel brown skin. The shape of her blue clad breasts and bum. The feeling of her waist when he caught her from tripping when they gathered herbs together from the temple shrubs. The look that those blue eyes gave him when he accidentally brushed his fingers against hers when passing food over dinner. These images got him to his release faster than anything else had ever before.
Her tongue had teased him relentlessly as of late when he had watched her eat. Or when she concentrated while water-bending and stuck it out. Or when her lips were dry and she swiped it across to wet them. And now, he was sucking on it. How glorious it felt to lav his tongue against hers finally! Her hands clawed at his shirt and waist while his groped her chest softly and held her head and neck firmly so he could kiss her mouth eagerly. He had her pinned against a wall somewhere deep inside the temple. This was where they had met for a long time. At first it was just because they both needed a break from the chaos that was the gang but then it was something more. They met each other in the nights where they just talked for hours on end. Then it was to touch hesitantly until today, when zuko couldn't take it anymore and pinned her to the wall and proceeded to claim her mouth with his.
The feeling of something other than yourself touching the most private parts of your anatomy was the most glorious thing zuko had ever experienced. And as he sat on the edge of his bed in his room in the dead of night and watched katara as she stroked him over and over again he relayed this thought to her. She giggled and rewarded him for his praise with something even better. He almost choked out a sob when he saw her dip down and take him into her mouth but refrained because he knew that even though toph was at the other end of the temple, she might be able to hear them.
This is what they were raving about, the men at the tea shop. That was the first thought that came into zukos head when he finally sunk into kataras warmth. After almost an hour of teasing, touching, stroking, licking and sucking at each other they both were in a lustful frenzy, and almost didn't make it to her bed from the frantic removal of the last pieces of their clothing. Zuko knew this was her first time, and as so did she for him. So they took it slow, as painful as it was from the earlier work up they agreed to go slow. Zuko was gentle and concerned until Katara eventually had to start the rhythm for them. Zuko took this as a good sign and proceeded to bring them both to the peak and over. As she expected he orgasmed first, leaving her unsatisfied. But he more than made up for it as he kissed his way down her body and brought her arching up off the bed with his mouth and fingers.
The night before the battle they made love like they hadn't ever before. She cried at first. She cried for aang, and her worry over his disappearance. She cried for her mother and all that the firenation took away from her. As she cried zuko had cradled her and wiped away her tears, reassuring her of her strength .He had cried at the end because of all he had lost and what he had to lose now again. She held him and murmured soothing words and her love to him. And in the morning they held each other once more and said goodbye, hoping that it wasn't forever.