Chocolate Drops from Heaven
Katara always has a few tricks up her sleeve to get what she wants. Oneshot.
A/N: Zuko recently joined the Avatar gang and Katara still finds him a jerk. A cat-snail is just a snail with the whiskers and ears of a cat, since this is an Avatar oneshot, I thought I should stick to the Avatar world and combine animals. Okay, on with the story…
"Mmm, delicious."
Katara goggles at him from the corners of her ocean-blue eyes annoyed, poking the branch endlessly in the blistering campfire (made by her) at her feet. The fire is dancing around passionately, the flames fiercely licking away at the firewood underneath and providing heath for the coming night—Katara estimates that the night would cascade upon them in a few hours or so. That is why she decided a bit earlier it would be wise to start a campfire now and she asked for Sokka to help her out politely, but Sokka was arguing with her—mostly because he wasn't in the mood for hard labour because Ty Lee had paralysed him once again in their previous fight with the three Fire Nation devils (to quote Sokka exactly), and he was just still getting the feeling back in his limbs, making it impossible for him to gather the wood and building the fire. Toph and Aang couldn't help her either, because they were off in the woods for some earthbending practice—otherwise Aang would have been eager and would have jumped up immediately if she asked him to help her.
"God, this is so divine."
Rolling her eyes to the back of her head, she groans inwardly and strengthens her grip on the branch, making it snap in two. She stares at the piece in her hand and the other half that had fallen on the grass, and then she throws the chunk in her hand as far away as she can. His loud and obvious moans are really starting to get on her nerves for the last couple of minutes—she knows he's doing this on purpose and she tries to maintain her temper, but she is having trouble with the last matter within every second that flies away rapidly.
"Man, oh man," Zuko enthuses, loudly. "It's like a party in my mouth and everyone is invited."
She senses she is bound to burst in an angry fit any time soon, because she is getting more and more irritated by his tauntingactions as she observes with a detailed eye how he is grabbing one of those tasty truffles between his two fingers delicately—as if he is going to smash it if he lifts one up without gentle care—and brings it to his parted lips. He chews on the little piece of candy slowly and carefully, as though he's going to damage his delight by eating it too fast. That or he is a very, very slow eater—even slower than a cat-snail's pace.
Curiosity is growing in the pit of her stomach, churning in this vicious whirlpool and is currently killing her roughly from within. She has heard many legendarytales from Gran-Gran about those truffles; the wise, old woman told her that they originate from the Fire Nation and are only for sale there or at Fire Nation's territory—nowhere else on Earth is one able to find them—which makes her guess that Zuko must have purchased them at some Fire Nation's market during his obsessive quest for the Avatar (which was just one week and a half ago).
Katara will never forget that one time at her Tribe, when she was discussing with the children which food tasted best, that Gran-Gran joined the debate brusquely and told them about these truffles. She depicted every millimetre of the chocolate and described its wonderful flavour so vividly that she caused all the kids—including Katara herself—drool from hunger for a little bite of the candy. Ever since the lively paraphrase, Katara has always wondered to herself what they are like exactly and vowed that one day she would get her hands on those truffles and find out the answer of her wondering herself. But her hopes and dreams were crushed because she had to stay at the Tribe after all the men left to fight in the war with the Fire Nation, and her helping out with the chores and watching over the younger ones was much more important than a question for some chocolates. Then she discovered Aang in the humungous iceberg and with her accompanying the Avatar to head to the North Pole, she figured they could make a pit stop at a Fire Nation's market to buy a bag of the sweets, but Sokka talked the ridiculous (to him) idea out of her, simply because it wasn't safe to tread on the land of the enemy—which she agreed on, frankly, but a big part of her was still disappointed.
Katara has to admit that after that occurrence, she had forgotten about her little dram completely, until now that is. It had all screamed back at her, when she spotted that obnoxious, pompous, self-concerned jerk nibbling on one of those chocolate drops from heaven—as Gran-Gran called them—right in front of her.
She heaves an exasperated sigh, rubbing her eyes and wrinkling her forehead in thought. She really, truly wants to taste—even if it means just a little bite—a truffle, but how is she able to convince Zuko to allow her a piece? Roughly two weeks ago, this troubled teenager was chasing her around the world angrily to capture her best friend at any cost; he threatened her Tribe at the South Pole, scaring everyone in the process, he burned the village of Kyoshi island, he stole her precious necklace that her late mother had given to her (making it the last thing she had from her), he tied her up to a tree and he fought her at the North Pole to take Aang away from her. And now she is supposed to persuade him to hand her one of his truffles at free will?!
Well, she has to do something and her asking him is the most logical—after all, he is a member of their little gang now, so that makes them allies, friends so to speak. She digs her teeth in her lower lip anxiously and glances around the camp thoroughfully, making sure no one is in sight—which is the case, since Toph is teaching Aang earthbending and Sokka is out to catch fish as dinner. It is just her and Zuko for now, they are all alone for the moment and this is her window of opportunity to receive what she wants in the end.
Exhaling slowly, as if she's breathing out all her nervousness, she ambles towards Zuko, who is sitting cross-legged in the soft green grass and scoots down next to him. She doesn't really understand why she is this afraid (it's not like her life depends on this), but her hands are shaking visibly and an annoying lump is forming in her throat. Summoning all her courage and strength, she slaps herself mentally to snap out of her angst—which surprisingly seems to work. Playfully, she caresses the long blades with her fingertips, trailing a circle, still too frightened to open her mouth (guess, her little trick doesn't work after all) and instead swallows the nervous lump away from her throat.
"What do you want?" he questions, finally seeming to notice her. His voice is rough and edgy, and pretty much coming out harsher than he intended in the first place. He instinctively tenses up, his body tightening, watching her flinch from the corner of his eyes when his voice was seeping with irritation and immediately regrets his hard tone. He knows perfectly well that she doesn't oppose as a threat to him (for the moment Azula and her lovely friends is the only threat to him), but even so, this nature of his just takes over.
She meets his eyes, briefly though, because she averts her stare as she isn't able to hold his piercingly glare. "I—I—Nothing," she stutters out, pulling her knees under her chin and pulls out a handful of blades angry with herself for being so cowardice.
"Well, then go back to your little fire and stop bugging me," he says, even though she hasn't done anything to hurt him. It's just that—he still has problems with adjusting to all of them; Aang is too cheerful, too bubbly (reminds him a lot of Ty Lee, actually) and yet all of that can be easily dispersed with just one mean word, Sokka is too loud for his taste and has too much hatred built up inside for the Fire Nation (which is all directed to Zuko personally) and Zuko just can't stop laughing with the fact that Sokka dares to call himself a warrior, then there's Katara. She is something special, according to Zuko, she tends to act like the mother of the group, taking care of everything and everyone, always the first to help someone and to think about someone else's problems instead of her own, healing wounds physically and mentally. He admires that amazing aspect of hers and yet it is the one that makes him the most uncomfortable too. (Even though she doesn't act so motherly around him. She's still too wary of him.) The only one he does come near with ease, is Toph, because she is the only one who treats him like she treats everybody else.
Silence descends upon them eerily, but both stay put; him eating his lovely bonbons and her playing with the sap-green blades absent-mindedly. It was like that for a couple of minutes, until Katara dares to look at him side-ways and addresses him sweetly. "Zuko," she pauses, hesitating to proceed, but the moment Zuko looks at her, she takes it as her cue to do so. "I was merely wondering something."
"And what do you need to know?" he questions, muttering dully.
"I—," she starts, pausing to think shortly on how to formulate her awkward question. "I was wondering if you'd mind to share on of your truffles with me?"
His face switches into stone as he ends his chewing promptly and swallow his candy down hard. He frowns deeply, still absorbing her question and he turns his head around slowly to look at her directly, appalled by her question. All he does is gape at her, eyes wide and mouth open—he does nothing else but simply stare. She giggles inwardly for his weird face, yet she feels quite intimidated by his 'look' and she forces one of her biggest smiles to cross on her delicate features, in hope that he won't go all berserk on her—she knows his temper tantrums all too well, Iroh had warn her about his anger fits (all because he has had a very rough past, what exactly he went through she doesn't know) before he left on his own quest (what that is, she doesn't know either, all she knows is that Uncle and nephew are very mysterious).
Much to her surprise though, he doesn't go all Angry Jerk on her, but instead he begins to howl with laughter. It is actually the first time she hears him laugh and she doesn't mind—she actually thinks it is a very cute laugh.
"Oh Agni, for a second there I thought you were actually being serious," he speaks between his laughter, shoulders shaking visibly and slapping his hand on his knee, while the other is placed on the grass for support—otherwise he will fall with his back on the ground.
She frowns annoyed at his sudden amusement. "Well, I was," she comments coldly.
He doesn't seem to listen to her as he wipes the surfacing tears away with the back of his hand.
She heaves an exhausted sigh and shifts to sit on her knees, while folding her arms disdainfully at him. "Zuko," she addresses him on a soft, mellow tone to receive his attention back—which works, because he glances at her, still chuckling. "I WASN'T JOKING!" she yells, sensing that otherwise he won't get it through his thick, stubborn head.
Finally, his laughter dies down, and again his face alters from a happy (he was laughing) one into a shocked one. He arches an eyebrow curiously at her, examining her face closely as though he can read the truth in her cerulean eyes. "You weren't ki—," he begins to speak, but coming more out as a question.
She interrupts him by shaking her head gently while mouthing 'no'.
"So you were ser—," he begins again, only to be intervened by her in his mid-sentence as she bobs her head in affirmation. "Oh," Zuko blanches, clenching his jaw pensively and saying nothing, but recovers from his silence rapidly. "Then, my answer would be—NO!"
When he spat that word at her, he eyes has widened double its size and her face contorts in an extreme baffled look. That facial expression of hers causes him to curl a self-satisfied smirk on his lips and chuckles to himself again, very amused by the scenery. Then he pops another truffle in his mouth casually, while she's still frozen in her spot and shocked expression.
She narrows her eyes in tiny slits, sending him her most threatening death glare, but he deliberately ignores her to get even more under her skin—and that is working like a charm.
"You know, Prince Zuko," she hisses his name and title through gritted teeth, like they are pure evil incarnated. "Sharing is a human thing to do. It's also a polite and nice thing to do. We all share our stuff here in our group, just as we all do our fair share in the activities; I cook our dinner, Aang puts up the tents, Sokka catches the fish and Toph cleans up. And you, well, you provide us warmth by making a fire—except today, I made the fire. But we can change our parts if we want to, then someone else does the part that you're supposed to do."
He merely shrugs his shoulders haughtily, not caring about a word she just said.
She realises that he just wants to push her over the edge by his nonchalant behaviour—and it is working along nicely, because she just can't help the anger from swelling up inside her. The things she has to fed up with, only because Zuko has agreed on teaching Aang firebending—Jeong Jeong was still missing, Iroh had to do something on his own and the only other skilled firebender they know is Azula, and no way that they are letting her join the gang even if the Fire Princess wants so herself which is very, very doubtful. She, as everyone else, knows perfectly well Aang has to learn how to firebend in order to control the four elements and that's the only reason she has to accept Zuko now. Although Sokka is having the most difficulty by being in the presence of the banished Prince, she is a bit more neutral, though loathes him secretly for all the chasing and fighting, Aang tries to become his friend, though doesn't really succeed, and Toph seems to be the only one Zuko can truly get along with.
"You know, I had this conversation with Toph a little while ago when she joined us. I convinced her to help around and to share. You've become a member of our gang too now, you can also do something for someone else. Or in our case, you can give something," she says.
"Okay, I let you have one," he caves in at her encouraging speech.
Her eyes sparkle brightly and a toothy smile spreads on her mouth. "Really?" she asks hopefully.
"Here," he chirps, holding out a candy from his paper box between his fingers, the chocolate slowly beginning to melt and ooze on his fingers. Katara smiles happily and opens her mouth eagerly, and Zuko leans over to put the piece in as her eyes watch. Then at the last instant, Zuko whips his hand away and places the candy on his own tongue, savouring in its taste as he smirks amused at her stunned expression. "Just messing with you," he laughs.
Abruptly, she stands up with her hands placed on her hips, furrowing her brow madly at him. "Give me one!" she demands, looking red in her face. "It's not like you have enough for yourself in that box of yours and surely you can miss one little candy!"
"Not in a million years, honey."
"Don't call me honey, you jerk!" she screams back, stamping her foot. "Just do this one teeny tiny thing for me!"
"I already said no! Stop forcing me to do something for you! I bought those and they're mine!" he thunders back, mirroring her volume and angry expression.
"THAT'S IT!" she shouts with all her might, fuming and her normally innocent eyes flashing furiously at him. Then she launches her body on him, taking him by surprise and tackling him down in the process. They roll around in the grass, each struggling to be the one to end above the other and dominating the situation and each using their tricks to win; Katara digging her nails into his flesh, scratching and him roughly grabbing her arms, leaving bruises and red marks on her mocha-tanned skin. Apparently, their fight has finished and Zuko has won their battle. He slams her against the ground and pins her to it with his body, a victorious smirk appearing on his lips.
"You are persistent, Katara. I can assure you."
She squirms underneath him, desperate to break his grip on her. Then she bounces up her hips to push him off her, but stops promptly, realising he's too strong to throw him off her by her hips. Instead she tries to get rid off him by pounding his chest with her fists as hard as she can—however, it has no avail whatsoever. He rolls his eyes sarcastically and annoyed by her rash actions, he's getting tired of this and simply grabs her wrists with one hand to tuck them down above her head.
"Get off me," she insists, but he doesn't back down from her tone of voice.
He leans forward so that his lips are near her ear and whispers seductively. "Make me."
"Argh," she snarls.
He claps with his tongue, smiling sorrowfully at her. "Just give it up, Katara. You don't have to put up this brave exterior for me."
She eyes him as he reaches with his free hand for another piece of his sweets and finding its way to his mouth. He doesn't chew but lets the texture melt in his mouth, probably to torture her.
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.
She swallows her pride away, and impulsively moves her head up to advance on him, her lips crashing down on his roughly. He doesn't back away—which she suspected he would have done, that's why she pulling his face on hers by holding the sides of his face—and kisses her back with the full amount of strength as she. Her tongue trails his lips, seeking entrance desperately and then slips in when he parts his lips as he senses what she wants. She traces every little corner and every millimetre in his mouth, searching for the truffle, but she's too late, the truffle has already disappeared from his mouth.
Even though her target is not in there anymore, she doesn't seem to want to retract her tongue. She realizes that she's actually revelling in this very moment, their tongues passionately dancing with one other.
Forget the truffles, nothing can beat this taste.