Is anybody even around? I highly doubt it. I haven't updated any of my fics in forever and I for one wouldn't blame you all if you guys have jumped the shark. In the highly unlikely case there's anyone still holding on to the hope that I'll update someday, here's what I'd like to tell you.
I am working on original fics now. Somehow I felt like I've learned everything I could from fanfics and it was time for me to move on to greener pastures. However, I do intend to finish Angels & Demons at the very least. So once I'm done with the first draft of my original novel, I will come back to it and end that fic.
As for this, it was fic that was in my mind for a while and had to be put out. My other OTP Zutara. Been having some serious Zutara feels off late. The portions in italics are Katara's thoughts.
I own a lot of characters, but none of them are showing up here.
Beta'd by my sweetest friend Cerice Belle
The Deal
It began, like all good stories do, with a loud sneeze. The sound jolted Katara from her sleep, making her bolt upright. Around her everyone slept on unperturbed. Aang was curled between Appa's legs, using the ten-ton beast's warmth. Momo lounged on the head, his striped tail hanging over the bison's ear. Toph was nestled in her earth tent and Sokka was laying splayed on the ground, somehow managing to crawl halfway out of his sleeping bag. It didn't take her long to realize where the sneeze had come from. A little butterfly-ant had managed to make its way to Sokka's nose and was trying to burrow in it.
With a half exasperated, half amused sigh, she walked up to her brother, plucked the little creature off his face and gently set it on the ground. "Go on little one," she whispered. "You don't want to burrow there, believe me."
As she was walking back to her place, Toph's Earth tent dropped and the little earthbender sat up, looking at her, "Sugarqueen! Stop your stomping."
"I'm not stomping Toph."
"Yes you are."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"What's going on?" Aang asked sleepily. "Why are the two of you fighting in the middle of the night?"
"Ask Sugarqueen!" Toph snapped. "She is the one dancing around like a Pygmy Hippo."
Katara bristled, "I don't stomp like a pygmy hippo. Do I Aang?"
The slightly pink Avatar was saved from answering when Sokka screamed, "People! Sleep now. Fight later."
"There's an idea," Toph said and promptly lay down.
Annoyed Katara turned to Aang for support but the boy had fallen back to his place on Appa. She didn't have to look at Sokka to know he was asleep. His loud snores were indication enough. Throwing her arms in the air, Katara mumbled something about immature people and started to walk back to her own sleeping bag when Toph sat up again, fingers spread on the ground, her pale face worried. She looked like she was about to say something but then her expression froze. Katara's blue eyes grew wide in horror as she watched the earthbender topple to her side, her mouth still open. Next thing Katara knew was a stinging pain at her neck and then blackness.
"Oh good, you're awake," a sickeningly familiar voice sounded in her ears before she could open her eyes.
No, no, no. Please let this be a dream. Please let this be a dream.
"Squeezing your eyes shut won't make me go away, you know," he sounded somewhere between bored and annoyed. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and met the golden ones. His hair had gotten longer since she had last seen him, somehow making his face seem thinner, sharper and angular.
In her opinion, this hair suited him better than that shaved-scalped high pony-tailed look. Somehow this hair made him look less severe, blending his scar with the rest of his face. A lot more human. A lot… sexier.
What? Where did that come from?
"It was either you or the earthbender," Zuko was saying. "Frankly, I was hoping that it would be you, given our history. I haven't really had a chance to meet the other one."
"What?" still rattled from the weird thought that was all Katara could muster.
"Well, the two of you were awake when we hit you with the needles," he elaborated. "You both were the most likely to wake up the earliest."
Instantly her hand flew to the spot she'd felt the sting before darkness enveloped her senses. "You jerk! What was in the needles?"
"Not poison if that's what you're thinking. Just a strong sleeping potion," he drawled as he stood up from her bed. She took the time to study her surroundings, trying to formulate an escape plan.
The room was small, decked completely in Fire Nation regalia. Not a window in sight. Other than the bed she was lying on, there was a low writing desk on the floor and a painting of something indiscernible hanging on the wall. Absently, she felt the pull of water, telling her that there was a large water body somewhere close by.
Zuko settled down on the floor facing her, his elbows resting on the writing desk. Sighing Katara sat up and felt a surge of relief when she realized that she was not bound or injured in anyway.
"Where's Aang?"
"The Avatar is in a prison," Zuko answered levelly. "We'll have to keep him sedated. Can't afford him bending his way out."
Strangely, Katara understood his point. "Sokka?"
"He's in a cabin, much like yours."
"Toph?"
"Same."
"Appa and Momo?"
The prince rolled his eyes, "Where exactly was I supposed to stow a ten ton bison on a ship? And who's Momo?"
"The lemur."
She watched as the young man's right eye twitched and his mouth worked furiously as he mumbled something under the breath. His tone was dripping with sarcasm when he next spoke, "Forgive me for not keeping tabs on a lemur when I was dealing with three powerful benders."
"You mean you let Momo go? He's family you know! We just found Appa and now you're taking Momo away!"
Zuko made a motion like he was swatting a fly, "Are you sure you're same waterbender I met at the spirit oasis?"
Her face scrunched in confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Back then you were really worried about the Avatar," he answered. "All you could think of, was his safety. But now, I tell you the Avatar is in prison and you don't even bat an eyelid. You're more concerned about a lemur. I'm wondering if the sleep potion somehow addled whatever little brain you have."
"You…You –"
"How eloquent."
"Shut up!" Katara grumbled. "I'm not worried about Aang or Sokka or Toph because I know we will beat you. We always have."
From his place on the ground, Zuko arched an eyebrow, "Really? Because I distinctly remember taking the Avatar from under your nose at the spirit oasis."
"And we took him right back! If I remember, we saved your sorry ass," she snapped back. "You weren't looking too good your royal prissiness."
"My 'sorry ass' was being whooped by the weather," Zuko shot back. "You had zero contribution to it."
"We saved you. That ought to count for something!"
"I got the Avatar out of Zhao's grasp, so the 'favors' are nullified."
"You're a jerk."
"Very mature."
"I expect you will take us to Fire Nation and hand us over to your father? Prize for the Fire Nation from their pretty boy prince?"
"Pretty boy prince?" He raised his eyebrow questioningly. "No. Contrary to your beliefs, I'll just handover the Avatar. As far as the Fire Lord is concerned, the rest of you are dispensable."
"Then why capture us?" Katara shot back, annoyed. She realized that while she was on a ship but there was no water around her to bend at that minute. She contended herself with picturing lashing at him with a particularly long water whip.
"I couldn't really leave you there. I know how dedicated to the Avatar you are. You'd have followed me right into the Fire Nation and tried to rescue him. I couldn't risk that."
"You're damn right we would! You think we would have just let you take away the only hope of our world to Fire Nation? No sir! You were smart in capturing us as well," A chill ran down Katara's spine as a horrifying thought occurred to her, "Wait. So what exactly do you plan to do to us?"
A thin, half smirk ghosted his features as he stood up and in four strides, covered the distance to Katara. Something in that expression scared her and she scooted down to the end of the bed, her back pressed against the wall. Zuko put his hands on the wall, trapping her as he moved very close, his face inches from hers.
He smells of sea and smoke.
"What are your plans for the day of the black sun?"
Katara gasped, "What?"
"The Eclipse," he whispered in a way that made her break into goose bumps. "I know you all are planning something. What?"
His proximity was doing something to Katara. Her thoughts had become sluggish, her tongue heavy and her body hot. Shaking her head she forced herself to look into his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, hating the way her voice squeaked.
"You better talk now waterbender," he continued in that purr that was wreaking havoc on her nerves. "Or else I have other ways of finding out the truth."
In a show of defiance that she didn't feel, Katara raised her chin, "You mean… torture?"
Zuko's confidence seemed to falter for a moment before he hoisted the façade back up. Pushing himself from the wall he looked at her down his nose, "If that's what it boils down to."
Her eyes grew wide as her mind started to paint horrifying pictures of her brother's, Aang's and Toph's broken bodies. "No!" she screamed. "Please don't hurt them."
"Then tell me what I need to know."
"I…I really don't know what you're talking about," Katara whispered. Then feigning a bravado she didn't feel, she spoke, "Besides, you're the one handing over the Avatar to the Fire Lord. You've already taken the hope away from people. Why do you care about what people are planning for the eclipse? You've ensured we will lose anyway."
"You're right. I don't care," he answered in a flat sort of voice. "All I care about is restoring my honor…"
"And so you'll torture us, just so that you receive a grand welcome back at home?"
Zuko remained silent at that, fuelling Katara's desperate fury.
"You're deplorable!"
"I've been called worse," he answered halfheartedly.
"I'm not going to let you take Aang to the Fire Nation!"
"I'd like to see you try and stop me."
"I will."
"How exactly? I'm not letting you near a source of water. That means you remain thirsty till you tell me what you all are planning for the eclipse."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Katara insisted. "I can't help you there."
"I believe you can. Either you speak or you watch your friends pay for your stubbornness. Choice is yours."
Desperately she clutched at straws, "Look. I really, really don't know. All we were tasked with is letting the Earth King at Ba Sing Se know about the eclipse. What he plans to do from there, I don't know."
"Why don't I believe you?"
"Because unlike you, I'm not a liar."
For a moment, he looked stung but he quickly covered it. "Then you leave me no choice," he spun on his heels and strode towards the door.
"No!" she shot out of the bed and grasped his sleeve. "Wait. I'm telling the truth. I don't know what they're planning."
Zuko continued to stare straight at the door.
"Please! You have to believe me. Please! Don't harm them."
"Why should I listen to you? What's in it for me?"
"Please! I'll…I'll do anything you ask me to, just…just don't harm them."
Zuko froze. Very slowly he turned and looked at her, as if seeing her for the very first time. Gently he tucked a finger under her chin, lifted her face and peered into her eyes. The contact sent little sparks along Katara's body, making her toes curl. His voice dropped to whisper, "Anything?"
She licked her lips and absurdly wondered what it'd be like to feel his lips on her. Brushing aside the disturbing notion she looked at him, "Anything," she swore breathlessly.
His thumb ran along her jaw and Katara found her eyes fluttering close. Giving herself a mental shake, she forced herself to look straight into his eyes. His lips stretched to a smile, "Are you sure?"
Unable to speak, she nodded.
"Fantastic. It's a deal then," he said in a honeyed voice. "Rest now. Come to my cabin after dinner. My guards will escort you."
He dropped his hand and made to leave when he suddenly paused, "Oh and you'll be sent a bending suppressant tea shortly. I can't have you water whipping your way out of this ship."
Katara simply stood there, unable to move.
What did I just agree to?
A red rose was trapped between his teeth as he sashayed towards her. Katara sat demurely on the bed, looking at him through her lashes. With an extravagant flourish, he pulled the rose out and smiled sexily.
"Katara," Zuko's husky voice washed over her. "You are the rain to my desert. My barren life has become a grassy grassland after you graced it with your presence."
He kneeled down on one knee, held out the rose to her and said, "Please my beautiful one, take this little, insignificant flower as a delicate token for my undying devotion to you. Come to me and fulfill my deepest desire."
A soft, coy smile graced Katara's lips as she accepted the rose, "Oh Zuko! You are so romantic."
"My dusky maiden," Zuko said standing up and settling next to her. "My heart only beats for you. You are the heat to my fire, the beat of my desire. You are the reason I live. Allow me to kiss your tantalizing lips for I yearn to feel them against mine."
"Oh Zuko," Katara sighed. "My lips are yours to kiss."
With a smile he leaned forward and gently placed his lips on hers and she trembled. With slow, sinuous movements, he undid her robe and lay her on the bed, while still kissing her. Her trembling hands trailed his toned, muscular body as she shivered beneath him.
"Katara, my gorgeous maiden," he whispered. "My heart desires for you. It aches and burns, much like the element I call mine."
"Zuko, I find myself melting in your heat," she replied. "Not even my element can quench the thirst in me that you have aroused. Sate me Zuko, take me."
"That will be my honor, Katara."
Katara slapped her hands on her reddened cheeks. "What were you thinking Katara?" she wondered aloud. But then, what else was she supposed to think anyway?
'Come to my cabin after dinner.'
That was as good as saying that he wanted to… But then she herself had offered to do anything for him. He was a teenage boy, who had been on a ship full of sailors for three years. He probably had not been this close to a girl for a very long time. And now, when a girl so close to his age had offered to do anything for him, what healthy teenage boy would refuse?
Katara slapped a hand to her forehead. What a mess! She was responsible for this. She had gone and dug her own grave. There was no way Zuko was going to let go of this opportunity. What would Sokka say? He would be furious if he knew how the Fire Nation Prince had deflowered his beloved sister. She could picture him screaming and running at Zuko, his boomerang held aloft.
And Dad? What would her father say if he knew that she had been in the bed of a man before marriage? Her dad would probably banish her. Wouldn't that be poetic justice? A banished prince would be the reason for her own banishment. That would be so weird.
What would Toph's reaction be? She didn't think it would matter to her one way or the other. She would probably laugh, tease her a little or make a crude joke or two. But overall, Toph wouldn't judge and for that Katara couldn't be grateful enough.
Aang's hurt, confused and betrayed grey eyes came to her mind, making her stifle a small sob. That boy was so obviously, head-over-heels in love with her. She had tried to let him know, as gently as she could, that while she did love him, it was not the kind he wanted from her. For Katara, he was and always would be the little boy she'd rescued from the ice berg and who had asked her to go penguin sledding with him. She just couldn't imagine herself sharing a passionate kiss with him, not for the lack of trying though.
Speaking of passionate kisses…
Zuko's golden eyes bored into her cerulean ones, holding them in a smoldering gaze. His fingers dug into her bare arms in a tight grasp. Katara's breath hitched when he pulled her closer, flush against his toned six pack abs. Her soft curves against his rock hard muscles were driving Katara to distraction. Very slowly he lowered his head and nestled against her neck.
Katara forgot to breathe and her eyelids drifted shut. "Oh Zuko!"
"Katara," his breath tickled against the delicate skin of her neck. "Your innocence, your beauty, your voice…it hurts me. I'm pulled to you like a moth to fire!"
Suddenly he pushed her away and whirled around, hiding his scarred side. Bereft of his warmth, Katara felt a hollow settle in her abdomen. "Zuko, what's wrong?"
Wordlessly he walked a few paces, his eyes fixed on the blazing fireplace. Katara walked up to him and touched his sleeve. "Zuko, talk to me."
He jerked his arm from her grasp, "No! You should go."
"What? Why?"
"I'm a monster Katara, a monster," he said, his eyes shut in pain. "You deserve so much better."
"But I don't want better," she insisted. "I want you, Zuko."
"No! How can you?" He turned to face her. "How can you? After everything."
She lifted her hands and touched his scar, feeling him shudder under her touch. "Zuko," she liked the way his name sounded on her lips. "Zuko, I don't care about the past. It's all over, it's done."
"Oh Katara, you're an angel," he lowered his head and captured her lips. With a suppressed growl, he tore her clothes from her body. Zuko's muscles flexed as he easily hefted her in his arms and walked over to the bed. He put her down none too gently and positioned himself atop her.
Katara looked up shyly to meet his golden gaze devouring her. She shivered.
"I shouldn't do this," Zuko's husky voice ground out.
"Forget everything Zuko, do what your heart tells you to do."
"You will be the death of me," he murmured as he lay on her, sending little lightning bolts all over her body when skin touched skin. He claimed her lips for his, bruising her lightly. "Mine," he snarled.
"Yes, yours," she whispered.
A shiver ran down her spine and she touched her lips. "What is wrong with you Katara? Why are you thinking about this?"
She sat down on her bed, pulling her legs up to her chest. Yes Zuko was attractive. Scratch that, he was gorgeous. The most masculine and sexy man she had ever seen. His voice did things to her that she wasn't entirely prepared for. Not that it was unpleasant. Quite the contrary.
Katara couldn't pinpoint when exactly it had started but she couldn't deny that off late, she found that her body reacted in an unexpected way in his presence. His eyes clenched her stomach, his voice made her quiver a little and in the off chance he came close to her, a pleasant heat would envelop her and she became extremely aware of a tingling sensation between her legs. Katara wasn't sure why but she felt this crazy desire to kiss him.
And now, Zuko had invited her to be in his cabin for the night and Katara wasn't sure what to feel. A part of her was scared and worried. She knew that she could land in big trouble if she did go through with it. But she was the one who had offered to do anything for him. She couldn't back out of this, not now. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to. But what she was doing was tantamount to treachery. She was about to fraternize with the enemy.
A knock on the door caught her attention and Katara saw a guard walk in with dinner. "Finish this and then you go to the Prince's cabin."
Katara swallowed and nodded. She couldn't tell what she was eating because the dinner tasted like ash.
The walk down to Zuko's cabin was probably just a few minutes long but to Katara it felt like hours. Her thoughts were a mess. She couldn't stop the accusing glares and voices of her friends from resonating in her mind.
Relax Katara. She tried telling herself. There's nothing to be so worked up about. You're doing this for your friends. There's nothing to be scared of. And you have to convince him that you hate doing what you're doing and you're not excited about it. If you happen to enjoy anything he does… think of something odd. Something weird.
Sokka's socks?
Yes, that's as good a mood killer as any. This is war! You are doing everything you can to ensure your side's survival, remember that. You are not here to enjoy.
But damn! That man has the body of a God. And those golden eyes, they are so distracting.
Focus Katara, focus! He is the enemy. Focus!
And don't tell Aang, Sokka or Dad about this. Ever. Toph…How are you going to hide things from her?
The guard behind her reached out and rapped the door, snapping Katara out of her reverie. A gruff 'Enter' was all she heard before the door was thrown open and she was shoved inside unceremoniously.
No! I'm not ready!
She blinked a couple of times, letting her eyes adjust to the change in light before she could take in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was a bed. Nowhere as large or grandiose as she'd expect from a Prince's habitat, but a fairly basic and utilitarian one. The Fire Nation flag and a pair of dual swords were the only decorations on the walls. A large cupboard, one desk and a lounge chair with the Prince sitting upon it, completed the room. The Prince. Katara saw him and felt her throat go dry.
There he was. Lounging on the chair, garbed in a silken robe that showed off part of his rippled, muscular chest. His single brow was crunched up in a frown and his lips pursed as he read a document in his hand. Katara felt her knees go weak as a now familiar heat started building in her nether regions.
Get a grip Katara!
After what seemed like eons, Zuko spoke, without looking up from his reading. "Can you read?"
Huh?
"Don't just gape at me! Can you or can you not read?"
Katara bristled at the condescension in his tone, "Of course I can read. What do you think I –"
"Excellent," he cut her tirade as if she hadn't even spoken. In one fluid motion, Zuko stood up from his chair and pointed at the bed. "Sit."
It took all of Katara's will power to not jump on the bed or run away screaming, given how tantalizingly appealing both choices seemed. Instead she walked to the bed, telling herself repeatedly to calm down. She perched on the bed, a picture of poise.
Zuko, in the meantime had walked over to the table, not sparing her a single glance. Katara's heart was beating so loud that it was drowning out every other sound, forcing her to close her eyes. Since she was putting all her effort in controlling her hyperventilating heart, she didn't realize that Zuko had moved in closer. A muffled thump alerted her to his presence, her eyes snapping open.
Looking up Katara found Zuko slowly walking towards the chair, his back already turned. A quick glance in front of her showed a bundle wrapped in a piece of cloth, tied with a twine string.
Does he want me to dress up or something? Katara mused, perplexed.
With slow, trembling hands Katara undid the twine and removed the cloth to find herself staring at a thick bunch of parchment. The top most sheet read 'Production and Export of Rice in the Fire Nation in the Reign of Fire Lord Ozai and Its Effect on the Fire Nation Economy'.
Huh?
Meanwhile Zuko resumed his seat on the chair, eyes still fixed on the document he'd been reading, "I need a four page summary of that by tomorrow afternoon. Get to work."
Yes, offering to do anything for the Fire Nation Prince had been a really bad idea.