Tattoos
Zuko didn't have a thing for tattoos. At least that was what he told himself. It was a lie of course. No one could say they didn't like tattoos and then spend hours at night tracing the edges of their lover's and not like them. That was, after all, what Zuko did at night, every night. It gave him a strange sense of peace. Of course it wasn't just anyone's tattoos that Zuko liked; it was Aang's and only Aang's.
Zuko was never able to really pinpoint the moment when he had fist gotten obsessed with Aang's tattoos. It had definitely been long before he'd first been allowed to touch them, and for sure before he realized he was in love with Aang. It had been difficult for him at first. He couldn't understand why he longed to run his fingers along the edges of the blue skin. He had assumed it was only because no one had seen an Airbender for 100 years. Of course that wasn't the reason. He knew that now.
Much like every night when Aang's slept, Zuko was next to him in bed letting his fingers trace along the edges of Aang's tattoos. Zuko loved to touch Aang's tattoos because they were Aang's tattoos. That was the whole reason that he though he didn't have a thing for tattoos, only for Aang's. They were a thing that so represented Aang. This was Zuko's nightly ritual, touching his lover's tattoos as Aang slept.
Zuko could recall in detail the first time he had touched Aang's tattoos like this. It had been when they went to see the Sun Warriors. It was pretty late by the time they had seen the dragons, and were invited to stay the night. Of course they had to share a room too. At first Zuko had been nervous about it. He had plenty of dreams about Aang, and at the time he had never wanted to share them with Aang himself.
It was completely unintentional, the first touch. They were both getting ready to sleep and Zuko had caught sight of Aang without his shirt on. It was the scar from Azula's lightning that called to him. Before he knew what he was doing, he had reached out and his fingertips were running along the edge of the scar. It wasn't quite like his, but it was pretty close. Of course once Zuko started touching he couldn't stop. His fingers moved from the scar along Aang's tattoo. He could feel Aang shiver lightly from the touch, but the Avatar didn't try to stop him. It was eventually Zuko who stopped himself when he realized what he was doing.
Zuko hadn't known at the time that Aang was attracted to him as well. He didn't realize it until that night when Aang turned to him, eyes full of desire and lust that Zuko finally got that his desire wasn't just one sided. The resulting passion that followed was definitely not what Zuko had expected. He had always dreamed that if he ever did get to be with Aang that it would be the most amazing thing in the world. In a way it was, and yet in a way it was awful. Neither of them had any experience with this sort of thing, and that mean they had no stamina for sex. They went down in a tangle of limbs and mouths and it was over way too fast. Of course all that aside it was still amazing because it was Aang that he was with.
Zuko had also assumed that things would change afterwards, but it really hadn't. They didn't have the awkwardness that he expected they would. Actually they seemed to work even better together. Aang seemed to pick up firebending even faster. Aang did however, seemed to need more correction on his stance than Zuko had thought possible. Of course he eventually figured out that was only because Aang apparently liked touching as much as he did.
Zuko didn't get to have another night with Aang until they had to move to the Island. Aang had shown up in his room in the middle of the night. Of course it really wasn't his room, since he had taken his mother's old room instead. That night had definitely turned out better than the first. This time they were more sure of themselves and took their time in exploring each other's bodies. And once again, Zuko found himself touching Aang's tattoo, only it was while Aang was sleeping in his arms.
The next day things went much the same as they had been, they were back to just being student and teacher. At least that was until they saw that horrible play. That night he made it a point to drag Aang aside after dinner and kiss him senseless. That play had done a number on all of them.
It was long after dinner and everyone else was sleeping when Zuko found Aang that night. He didn't hesitate to grab the Airbender and kiss him senseless. He couldn't remember how they ended up in bed, but they did. Zuko hadn't known that their times together could get better than the last, but tonight it did. In fact this time they spent the whole night together, and Aang was still there asleep when he awoke in the morning. Zuko was sure that was the moment that Aang realized that Zuko loved his tattoos. After that moment, Zuko knew Aang feigned sleeping so Zuko could indulge himself in his obsession.
There had been many nights like that for Zuko and Aang. In fact once the war was over, Zuko figured that he could now have as many nights he wanted with Aang. He had been right. The very first night they got to sleep in the palace, Zuko didn't even bother arranging for Aang to have his own room. Instead he had just dragged Aang off with him when he went to bed.
Now many years later, Zuko could still remember those moments as if they were just yesterday. He felt as if he was literally reliving those moments every morning when he awoke at the first rays of the sun broke through the window and cast light on Aang's tattoos. Every morning since the end of the war was the same; Zuko woke up and let his fingers relearn the feel of Aang's tattoos. Even after all these years he still found them just as fascination as the first time he had touched them, and he knew that would never change.