- A/N: This is a little different to my normal style. But, I've wanted to write a zutara FIC for years but never thought of a good plot line or had the time. But since I've just finished high school (whoop whoop!) and have three months off, I thought, No time like the present haha. Also, I just wanted to have a stab at writing something all cute and fluffy. So, in this FIC I'd expect to see a lot of fluff and not any angst or anything as I need a place to put all of these ideas! I hope you like it and for my other klaroline FIC, I will try to get back into writing it but I've lost my plans and actually, I haven't been watching the vampire diaries for a while due to school, etc. Anyway, this has been a really long authors note but I felt like I needed to explain a few things. I hope you like this story! It's been a long time coming! :D -
Katara opened her eyes as a knocking on the metal ship door awoke her out of a slumber full of Zuko dreams. After 5 long days, she would finally be seeing her boyfriend. It had been a very long, and hard month. If moping around the South Pole hadn't been enough evidence of this, then the number of letters she has sent to the leader of the fire nation proved it. A month ago, Zuko had returned with Katara to the South for Sokka and Suki's wedding after she had spent a few months in the fire nation which is where their relationship blossomed.
Since the end of the war; two years ago, both had felt this magnetic pull towards each other which ultimately ended their previous relationships and caused them to come together. Katara could remember that one night on the fire nation beach adjacent to the palace where Zuko had said, "I love you, Katara. I have no idea if you feel the same but I needed to say it. I couldn't go on pretending that I didn't. And, if you feel the same, I'd very much like to be with you." Inside, she had squealed like the teenager she was but, on the outside, she had tried to hold it together and had replied with, "I was starting to think I was the only one. I love you too, Zuko." They has embraced and then, tilting her head to the stars, they pressed their lips together softly in a sweet kiss to seal the deal. Katara sighed happily at the memory and jumped out of bed to answer the door.
"Good morning?" She started to the soldier who was stood at the door as she opened it.
"Good morning, Lady Katara. The captain has sent me to tell you we will be docking in about 1 hour. He has already sent word to the palace to alert them."
"Thank you, Sir." Katara said and closed the door as he turned to walk away. An hour until she would get to see Zuko! She ran to the bathroom in her room and immediately ran herself a bath. Since she was the only one travelling on the boat -excluding the crew - meant she got the biggest room which meant it came with her own bathroom.
After bathing, she quickly dressed in Fire Nation attire - a flowy long dress that reached below her knees and tied around her waist with a black sash that matched her sandals. She brushed her hair and left it in the smooth waves she knew it would dry as. After she was ready, she joined some of the crew on the deck for some breakfast.
The great ship's engined stopped with a jolt and the ship rolled into the harbour. From where she was stood, Katara could see Zuko standing patiently as he always did when she was visiting. As soon as he saw her, his face broke out into a grin - a grin reserved only for his love. She hastily returned it and disembarked the vessel in a sprint that lead straight into his arms.
"Zuko!" She shouted as she was about to reach him.
"Katara.." He whispered into her hair as he gave her a hug. "I have missed you so much."
"As I have missed you." She replied and lifted her head to capture his lips in a short but sweet kiss.
"Come on, let's get back to the palace." He said, putting an arm around her waist and leading her to the palanquin. Letting her in first, Zuko held open the light, breezy red material that acted as a curtain and allowed Katara to settle before joining her himself. He wrapped an arm around Katara and pressed a kiss to her forehead before they both settled in for the 10 minute ride to the palace.
Arriving at the palace showed a welcome party of Uncle Iroh and Lady Ursa. A few weeks after the war had ended when they had cleared out Ozai's office had revealed a few leads to where Lady Ursa was and so, after a few weeks search, the Fire Lord's mother returned to her home. Everything settled back to normal for the two years it has been since the war, until the council had told Zuko that he had to find a wife soon as he was already past the age. They knew about his relationship with Katara and were pushing him to propose. Sure, he wanted to marry her, but he just wanted to make sure they were ready and it would mean something when he did - not just because the council wanted it so.
"Uncle! Lady Ursa!" Katara exclaimed and embraced both of them.
"It's so good to see you. You look well." Uncle said.
"Yes, you do. I've missed having another girl round here." Lady Ursa said with a smile.
"Now, Zuko why don't you go show Katara to her room and then we can all catch up with some tea?" Uncle suggested.
"Okay, did the servants get the notification about the changes?" Zuko replied.
"Yes. Everything is set." Uncle said. Zuko nodded, took Katara's hand and started to lead her towards the royal wing.
"How was your journey?" Zuko asked.
"Good, I spent most of the journey holed up in my room trying to make the time pass so I could see you." Noticing what she had said, Katara blushed slightly but Zuko just smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips and then each of her rosy cheeks.
"I changed your usual room to one in the royal wing so we were closer..." He explained when they passed the corridor she usually lived in. "It's also bigger." He added quickly when realising his slip up.
"It's fine. I'd like to be closer to you too. But... I thought that wing was just for the royal family?"
"It is, but, well, I see you as family and I know that my mother and uncle do too and we're the only occupants of this corridor." He retorted. Leading her almost to the end of the corridor where he could see his ginormous golden doors at the end. The last door on the left before you got to Zuko's room and a more dialled down elaborate design on the front than Zuko's. It was the Fire Lady's room but Zuko decided to withdraw that information until later.
He opened the door and allowed Katara to step in and take in the surroundings before continuing. "I had the room redecorated to make you feel more at home when you aren't at the South Pole."
Stepping inside was a complete contrast to the surroundings outside. The whole atmosphere was different. Outside, it was warm and humid, while in here, it was significantly cooler. Or well the blue and white theme tricked the body into thinking that. The walls and furniture were all pure white while little accents scattered around the room were shades of blue. The bed spread for instance, looked like it had the texture of ice and was a light blue colour but instead, felt soft and oh so inviting.
"Zuko..." Katara breathed. "It's... Perfect. Thank you so much!" She continued and spun on her heel and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend in the most loving embrace she could ever give.
"You're welcome. It was a pleasure. And seeing your face now... That is simply perfection." He smiled and then kissed her on the forehead before Katara lifted her head so his lips landed on hers and she captured him in a sweet kiss.
Iroh, Ursa, Zuko and Katara all sat around a table in one of the many gardens that the palace had. "So, how are things in the South Pole?" Uncle Iroh asked.
"Great. We are almost finished rebuilding the village and it now resembles more of a nation. Dad is currently training Sokka on how to run things once he steps down as chief." Katara answered.
"It's starting to sound great. We'll definitely have to pay a visit, don't you think, Ursa?"
"Yes. Absolutely!" She replied and smiled. Katara nodded and picked up her cup containing the hot tea and blew on it before taking a small, careful sip of the hot liquid.
"So, anything new in the Fire Nation?" Katara asked with a smile.
"A new hospital has been set up for anyone still affected by the war and the general public at no cost. It's been greatly appreciated from what we have heard." Zuko answered her.
"That sounds... Amazing. What a great idea! I'll have to go down and see if there's anything I can do. Wow!" Katara replied with a grin on her face. Her tea was now cool and so she took a few sips. Uncle and Ursa smiled at her response. They both thought what a great Fire Lady she would make. They all sat for about another hour before Iroh said, "we all better get going. I know for a fact Zuko has some meetings to get to." He said with a laugh.
Zuko glanced at Katara sadly and realising what he was about to say, she said, "it's fine, go... You need to! I'll unpack and we can meet for lunch?" Turning to everyone at the table she proceeded with, "we all can meet, can't we? I haven't seen you in so long!" Lady Ursa smiled at Katara before saying, "I can meet for lunch, I'm free all day. We can go into town this afternoon if you would like?"
"Yes please. That sounds like a lot of fun." Katara liked Lady Ursa, she could see a lot of Zuko in her with how polite and nice they both were.
"Great. I can meet for lunch also. We can eat in the private dining hall and then you can go to town from there?" Uncle chimed in.
"Yes, that sounds great. You two better run along if you don't want to be late." Lady Ursa said in her 'mom' voice.
"Yes, mom." Zuko replied and stood from his place between his mother and Katara. Leaning down, he kissed Katara's forehead before walking away with Uncle.
"Ive got to go sort a few things out with some of the servants and then I'll be in the library if you need anything." Lady Ursa said before standing and following Zuko and Uncle out.
Katara was left by herself for a few moments before servants came in and started collecting the cups from the tea the four had just shared. Katara nodded to the servants before making her way to her new room.
When she arrived there, there was a girl in there who looked no older than herself tidying up. "Oh, hello Lady Katara. I am Song, Zuko assigned me to look after you."
"Oh, okay. How come I haven't seen you around before? Are you new?"
"Yes, I started a few weeks ago after my mother left on maternity, Lady Katara."
"Oh, please, call me Katara!"
"Sorry, La- Katara." Song said with a smile. "I should get back to my work. I'll be back later to check on things."
"Okay, thank you, Song." Katara replied as she left the room and shut the door behind her.
Katara exhaled slowly and looked around her room with a smile. Not being able to resist any longer, she dived on to the rather large -and comfy looking - bed. Rolling onto her back, she stretched her muscles and let her joints pop before sitting back up and glancing around. Zuko had really gone all out on her room.. It looked almost like her one at home - only it wasn't made out of ice. He'd even gone as far as getting a similar rug next to her bed so she swung her legs over the side to get up and allowed her feet to sink into the soft fabric, she felt like she was at home.
Looking at one of the corners, she saw that her bags had been brought to her room so she began the long task of unpacking. She never brought much, just enough for every situation.
After she finished that, she went through into the adjoined bathroom to see the colour scheme followed throughout her entire suite. Katara went over to the sink and rinsed her face with water as the humidity made her feel a bit grimy. After, she grabbed a waterbending scroll from the shelf she had emptied her belongings on to and went to sit on her bed to read it for a while.
Her stomach grumbled signalling that it was lunch time; she guessed anyway. And so, coming to that conclusion, she left her room and made her way to the private dining room - or what she thought was it anyway. Zuko, Lady Ursa and Uncle Iroh where already there and upon seeing Katara enter, Zuko grinned at her. "We were about to come find you. We thought you had gotten lost." Uncle said.
"Oh, sorry! I got caught up reading a waterbending scroll."
"It's fine! Let's eat!" Uncle Iroh said as servants brought their food out.
- A/N: I hope you liked it and I feel like my writing may have improved? (4 English exams can do that to a person) I'm sorry it ended kind of sudden but I don't want the chapters to get too long as I probably could carry on writing forever. Another thing I forgot to mention is that there is no structure/plan, I have a few ideas but I'm literally writing this off of the top of my head which I don't usually do. I'll also try to upload whenever I can, I've got prom coming up and then a university summer school which I probably won't be able to write through. I'll update when I can though, since I hate waiting ages for updates. (That is if anyone reads this) Well thank you for reading this, and maybe leave me a review to tell me what you think or any ideas you think I could put in (since there is no plan haha).
- Holly.