In stories Princes were supposed to be suave, dashing and debonair. In reality Price Zuko was no Prince Charming. Most of his time as crown Prince had been spent searching for a myth or in exile, and left him little time to practice his wooing skills.

But he couldn't help but feel that now, that as the newly instated Fire Lord, he could expend some effort on his seduction techniques. Not that there were any women he wanted to entice to bed, seeing as he was hopelessly in love with his wife of three weeks, but he was sure Katara would be pleasantly surprised with his efforts nonetheless.

The Fire Lord made sure he had everything ready. Countless candles lit the huge bedroom, ringing the edge of the room and placed on any available surface. Next to the bed he had placed a chilled bottle of wine, some chocolate (melted courtesy of Zuko) and a dish of strawberries; but what Zuko was really looking forward to using was the shallow dish of cream, he certainly had high hopes for that. For afterwards he had drawn a bath scented with lily petals and big enough for two.

He heard the outer door to his and Katara's chambers open and he settled himself on the bed.

When Katara stepped into the outer chamber of the royal suite, she was surprised to find it in almost complete darkness. The only light was coming from the bedroom, a soft glow escaped through the panel of silk that hung in the doorway.

Crossing the room quickly (and being careful not to trip in the dark) the Fire Lady pushed back the silk and froze. Her entire bedroom was lit by hundreds of candles and there were more in the bathroom to her right where she could see the reflections of water as it flowed around the bathtub. There was a sweet aroma in the air and in the midst of all the grandeur, on the bed lay Zuko, propped up on one elbow with a panda lily clenched between his teeth, clad only in a pair of crimson silk trousers

Katara grinned at her husband and waited patiently as he got up from the bed and approached her.

When he reached his newlywed wife, Zuko gave her the flower he held between his teeth and scooped her up in his arms. Katara giggled as he carried her to the bed and placed her on the silken sheets.

"Welcome milady, my name is Zuko and I will be catering to your every desire tonight."

Katara stared at Zuko dumbfounded. She hardly ever saw him act like his; well, there was that one time Sokka had tricked him into drinking cactus juice, but that was an unpleasant memory for everyone involved. She placed the flower on the bed next to her and watched with increasing excitement as Zuko straddled her thighs and untied the knots on her robe.

Once her smooth dark stomach was revealed to him, he reached behind and picked up the dish of cream from the floor.

Katara gasped slightly as the liquid hit her stomach and stifled a moan as she felt her husband licking the cream from her skin.

Zuko smirked as he made her gasp and proceeded to kiss the length of her stomach, eliciting another gasp and a throaty, "Zuko!"

He continued his ministrations on her stomach and smiled when he felt her hands trailing down his back. He felt her hands pause on their journey as she gasped again, this time louder than before.

"Zuko! Zuko stop!"

Barely lifting his lips from her skin he murmured his reply. "Ah Katara, don't be a tease."

"No Zuko, the curtains are on fire!"

Zuko bolted upright and stared at the window set across the length of the left wall. Sure enough the trailing silk curtains were ablaze, no doubt due to the fact he had placed the candles extremely close to the edges of the room.

He sat there in utter confusion and watched as Katara jumped from the bed, a large amount of water following her, and extinguished the blaze.

Zuko stared at the pile of soggy petals on the floor and realised that there would be no bath for the pair of them tonight.

Katara turned to him and glared with such a ferocity that he wanted to hide under the bed sheets.

He smiled in what he hoped was an endearing way and cleared his throat. "Well love, we were going to change them anyway."

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Insomnia can work wonders for the Zutara side of my brain. I hope you enjoyed it.