A/N: This sooo needs a better title! Lol. Just a little one-shot about how many times people have tried to kill Zuko, and some Zutara fluff mixed in. Zuko, your sooo smooth. . "Ahoy! I'm Admiral Zhao!" - Aang. Avatar: The Last Airbender (c) Mike and Bryan
"So, has anyone ever tried to kill you before?"
Zuko smirked, and took another sip of his tea. Today it was Sokka's turn to ask Zuko his questions, and the teen had asked nothing but odd ones. Zuko guessed his friend wasn't prepared for the answer, because when he told him, the water tribe native fell out of his seat.
"Actually yes. Quite a few people have tried to rid themselves of me." He was smug, because the thought of all those failed attempts gave him confidence. Sure, they had scared him to the very core at the time, but now that he thought about, they made him laugh.
"And your still living, how?" Katara asked, sarcastically. Everyone laughed, and Zuko took another long sip of the steaming drink in his hands. He looked around at the gaang, and scratched the back of his neck. "You tell me. If I remember correctly, he tried to kill me once to." Everyone snickered, save for Katara who crossed her arms and looked away.
"He got you, Sugar Queen!" Toph said. "Oh…whatever!" the water bender spat, running her hands threw her hair. Aang looked at Zuko, interested in his fire bending teachers near death experiences.
"Okay, besides Katara, who else has tried?" Zuko put his hands in his lap, thinking for a moment about which ones he could discuss with having an emotional breakdown. He finally settled for the time Zhao tried to have him assassinated by pirates.
"Alright. Remember those pirates I teamed up with once?" Aang and Sokka nodded, and Katara blushed at the memory of Zuko tying her to the tree. Zuko noticed she was caught up in the memory of what he did to her, and used this as an opportunity.
He winked at Sokka and Aang, who were trying to contain their laughter. Zuko smiled a small smile, and then started to scoot closer to a daydreaming Katara. When he was next to her, he blew in her ear. Her face turned red and she tried to hit him. He dodged and was suddenly hugging her from behind.
"What's a matter? Can't keep up?" He asked teasingly. She continued to blush, but wrapped one arm around his. "Shut up." she said, not caring if everyone got the hint.
Zuko smirked a triumphant smirk, and let go of her. He sat down next to her, wrapping one loosely around Katara's shoulder. Aang snickered at him, thinking how perfect they looked next to each other. He had let go of his crush on Katara completely when Zuko joined them, because he could feel the tension between them. The way they acted around each other always gave them away, and it was pretty funny to watch.
"So what do pirates have to do with you being killed?" Sokka asked. Zuko ran his hand through his bangs like a model, pretending to be flirty. Everyone laughed, and Katara giggled, putting her arm around his again.
"Zhao hired them to kill me so he could capture you." He said looking at Aang with an apologetic look in his eyes. Aang just smiled, letting him know that they were cool. "They placed a bomb on my ship, and of course it just happened to go off in my face."
He sighed, and Katara leaned her head on his shoulder. She remembered fighting him at the North Pole, and how bruised and bloody his face had been. Besides his scar, he had a couple burn marks and a few scratches. Zuko leaned his head against hers, and sighed, happily this time.
Silence followed after that, but nobody cared. And after a little while, everyone had fallen asleep besides Zuko. He looked around, smiling at the scene before him. Toph's head was in Aang's lap, and Aang and Sokka had fallen asleep back-to-back. The Duke was sleeping on a blanket, with his helmet in hand. Haru had been smart enough to fall asleep against the wall, and Teo was just sleeping in his chair.
The Fire Nation Prince smiled again as he buried his face in Katara's hair. He sniffed her brown locks, and groaned at the intoxicating scent. She smelled like the ocean, mixed in with something else he couldn't quite put a name on.
If this was his destiny, then so be it. He had finally found friendship, and with the people he had tracked all over the world no less. He had also found love, no matter how weird it was, with the gorgeous water tribe peasant. Zuko sighed, letting himself be wisked away by the best dream he'd had in years.