Zutara Month: Day 1: Mistletoe
A/N- Fic from my Zutara Blog - December 30, 2016.

"Suki, why are you hanging that in the kitchen? You already brought all the food out to the table, no one's going to come in here."

"It just looks nice, Sokka, now come on everyone should be here soon."

Sokka had been right. It had been two hours, they'd all had dinner and were hanging out in the living room. No one went in the kitchen. No one, but a certain waterbender who insisted upon doing the dishes herself.

'Suki, please, I can do it. It's not even work.'

She had of course agreed to let her sister-in-law go ahead and clean all the dishes herself. And like she said it was no work at all. She was done in five minutes flat, but she didn't join the rest of them back in the living room. Instead she hung around, enjoying some time alone, picking at the cookies that had 'mysteriously' made their way back to the counter, not fighting off Aang's advances and not thinking about Jet, who'd broken up with her already two months ago now.

Aang was staring at the boxes under the tree trying to figure out who had brought what and if Katara was his Secret Santa. But thanks too some very biased selection from Suki, she was not.

Zuko was asleep on the couch, until Toph 'accidentally' tripped Sokka and made him fall on top of the sleeping firebender.

"Sorry, buddy!" Sokka sat up, pushing off of Zuko and whirling around to Toph, "You did that on purpose!"

"Did not, you idiot! I'm blind!" she waved a hand in front of her face.

Their shouting continued as Zuko glanced around, still a bit confused from being pulled from his sleep so suddenly. "What—What happened to Katara?"

"She's in the kitchen, I think. You should go check on her, it's been awhile… I'd do it myself, but I have to keep these two from killing each other," hoping her smile was unreadable she pulled Sokka back to the couch telling him it wasn't worth it. Though she didn't actually care about the argument, she just wanted to hear what happened in the kitchen as Zuko strolled slowly through the doorway.

"So why are you hiding in here?"

"I'm not hiding. I'm just… relaxing."

"Couches are for relaxing. Kitchens are for hiding."

"Fine maybe I am then,"

"Mind if I join? The children are causing trouble," he leaned across the counter breaking off a piece of the blue snowflake-shaped cookie he'd picked up.

"Yeah… I guess, that's fine… If you tell me who you had to get a gift for."

"Can't."

"Why?" She leaned back against the sink, "What is it me?

"No," he replied to shortly.

"It is! What'd you get me?"

"Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on tell me!" she snatched the cookie from his hand and bit off a corner.

"Katara, give that back!"

"Make me," she grinned holding it to her mouth. But she couldn't go on her threat.

"Hey! You two better be careful!" Suki called over her shoulder, putting a hand on Sokka's mouth. "I think someone put mistletoe above the sink… you know the rules."

Both bender's eyes shot up and then fell back down meeting each other's gazes with pinked cheeks.

"She's right, it is, uh, it is a rule," Zuko's hand went behind his neck, rubbing nervously. "But, uhm, I didn't see anything, if you didn't."

Katara stood up on her toes, not warning him of her actions and pressed her mouth to his for the briefest of seconds. "It's christmas, we shouldn't break rul—"

Zuko dipped his head to meet hers, kissing her again. It was a deeper, fuller kiss then the one she'd given, but he stopped after a few seconds. "If you're gonna do it, you've gotta do it right, Katara." He was blushing at his own sentence and stepped back.

"You guys are so cute!" Suki was leaning in the doorway an immovable grin on her lips, "But don't let me interrupt." She grabbed the plate of cookies off the counter and left them alone again.