Angry No More

Summary—takes place after 'Sozin's Comet-the Pheonix King' when Aang disappears…

When Zuko asks Jun to find Aang and then Iroh—something happens between them and Jun realizes Zuko is no longer the 'Angry Boy' she dubbed him, but a man. Seeing Jun's reaction to Zuko, Katara realizes feelings she's kept hidden too and in a fit of jealousy, the Waterbender gives in to her longing for the exiled Fire Prince.

Rating M-NC-17

Pairings: Zuko/Katara with a splash of Zuko/Jun

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The gang entered the seedy Earth Kingdom Tavern that Zuko had directed them to in their search for Aang. It was a dive bar with definite elements of dangerous elements to boot.

Katara glanced around the place, holding her breath as she tried not to breathe in the raunchy scent of sweaty unwashed bodies and booze. She gave Zuko a sideways glare as she asked, "And you brought us to a seedy Earth tavern…why?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and ignored her snide comment. Katara may have forgiven him, but she could still make him feel lower than a slug-snake with her snarky comments. "Because we need her," he said, pointing to a shapely brunette arm wrestling a mountain of a man at one of the nearby tables. "She's the only one who can track the Avatar," he finished firmly, giving the group a determined look.

Both Sokka and Katara recognized the woman dressed all in black.

"Hey, isn't she the woman who helped you attack us last year?" Sokka commented.

"Yeah…the good old days," Zuko shot back, smirking.

Katara gave the exiled Prince another glare, but didn't comment as Zuko led them to the table where the woman was slowly defeating the huge brute she was pitted against. She was much smaller, but in moments she had the burly guy beaten. Katara couldn't help but be impressed even if she was the bounty hunter who had attacked her, knocked her unconscious with her beastly shirisu and nearly taken Aang last year. Her name was Jun and while Katara sincerely didn't like the woman—or her beast of a tracker, if she could find Aang…well, she'd put her hatred aside—at least for now.

Jun gave them a smirk as she pulled her winnings across the table. "Well, if it isn't Prince Pouty…" she said glancing up at Zuko and the rest of the group. She raised a brow, "where's your creepy Grandpa?"

Zuko gritted his teeth to keep from snapping at her. "He's my Uncle and he isn't here," he replied with a scowl.

Jun pocketed her winnings and leaned back in her seat, smiling broadly as she took in Katara and Zuko obviously traveling together. "Well, I see you worked things out with your girlfriend," she said flippantly, her grin only getting bigger as the two turned red in the face.

"She not my girlfriend!" Zuko snapped.

Simultaneously to Zuko's vehement denial, Katara spat, "I'm not his girlfriend!"

Jun chuckled at the two of them. "I think you both protest too much, but whatever," she replied with a grin. "So what do you want?" she asked in a bored tone.

Zuko explained their situation; Aang's disappearance and how they wanted to hire her and her shirisu to track him.

June laughed softly. "So you're still after the Avatar?"

Zuko counted to ten in an effort not to lose his temper. "No," he said. "It's not like that—I'm helping him now."

"Oooh, so now you're part of his group?" She grinned. "And that includes Water girl here, right?"

Zuko expelled a long sigh. "Yes, but that isn't why I'm here—I told you we need to find Aang. The only tracker I know who can find him is you," he stated, ignoring her comments about himself and Katara.

Katara made a face and added to Zuko's comment. "Zuko and I are allies now, nothing more," she insisted.

Jun rolled her eyes and laughed again before she winked at Katara and let her eyes travel over Zuko's leanly muscled form in a manner that could only be described as hungry. Not only had he grown his hair out, but he seemed more manly and sure of himself, not so desperate and immature. It was a turn on and Jun felt a strong stirring of attraction for the young Fire Prince. She definitely wouldn't mind having a taste of his sexy body. "So you wouldn't care if I take Hot-Pants here," she waved a hand at Zuko, "out for a test drive, right?"

Zuko's brow furrowed as if trying to figure out what she meant by that, but Katara; having been a midwife of her tribe and privy to discussions of what happened between a man and a woman when they had sex knew exactly what she meant by that. She bit back the snarl that rose to her lips, more than a bit surprised at her own reaction to Jun's lewd comment. She sucked in a deep breath, refusing to show how pissed off it made her when she thought of Zuko getting seduced by the leather clad bounty hunter.

She ignored her twisting gut and shrugged. "That's none of my business," she fired back, just as flippantly.

Jun actually laughed. "Sure sugar…keep telling yourself that," she said, "but if you're sure…" Her dark eyes glittered as she crossed her arms over her chest and kicked up her feet on the table in front of her. She put her hands behind her head as she surveyed the Aang gang one at a time, but her gaze rested on Zuko—Katara felt her belly clench as Jun said, "Sure, I'll find the Avatar—for a price."

Zuko had expected that and he nodded easily—totally unaware of where the bounty hunter's desires lay. "Name it," he said firmly, relieved she was finally getting down to business and not wanting to talk about his personal life.

Toph leaned closer to Katara. "Uh…Sugar Queen, I think you might want to put a claim on Sparky—I don't like the feel of the way she's looking at him."

Ignoring the bizarre way Toph (in her blindness) seemed to know how Jun was looking at Zuko, Katara clenched her fists as the feeling that Jun wasn't after money this time made her sick and lightheaded at the same time. She opened her mouth to tell the woman that they'd pay her in gold and nothing else when the bounty hunter's next words confirmed her worst suspicions.

Jun licked her lips. "You," she purred, her eyes raking over Zuko in a way that practically made him feel naked. "I want you in my bed to do with as I want. The fee will be paid in full before I go after the Avatar—which means tonight…take it or leave it," she said with a smirk, stunning the entire group into a shocked state of quiet disbelief.

Toph was the first to break the silence. "I told you so," she muttered in Katara's general direction. The Waterbender scowled in response but didn't say a word…

Zuko on the other hand had plenty to say, but it was mostly babbling, nonsensical half sentences as he tried to wrap his mind around what Jun had just demanded of him. "Huh? What did you—? Why are you—? You can't mean—you're kidding right?" he finally finished, a small nervous laugh completing his rambling.

Jun simply shook her head. "Not kidding at all," she said. In a second she was sitting up straight, feet on the floor. She reached out and grabbed Zuko by his collar and dragged him down across the table so that he was leaning across the scarred wooden surface, at eye level with her. "I want you…" she whispered, brushing her lips across his. "Now are you willing to pay the price or not?" she asked, arching a dark brow as she let his shirt go and crossed her arms again, waiting for his answer.

"Wow, I didn't see that one coming!" Sokka said and added a "way to go Zuko!" which made Katara glare at him.

"No!" the Waterbender snapped. "He's not—"

"Fine," Zuko said softly. "If that will get you to find Aang so we can defeat my Father…" He sighed, "then fine. I acquiesce to your demands," he told her, fully willing to do whatever he had to finally achieve the end to this war.

Katara whirled on him, eyes blazing. The Aang gang all gaped at her as she exploded. For a water bender—she almost looked like a fire bender at that moment with the furious anger rolling off her in heated waves. "The hell you do!" she growled, poking a finger in his chest. "You can't—I won't let you!"

Zuko's jaw dropped and he backed away from her. She was acting like a jealous girlfriend and the rage and possessiveness he saw in her eyes was intriguing to say the least. He held up his hands in a mock surrender pose. "Uh…okay," he mumbled. Katara was still seething and he scratched his head, staring at her with a surprised, yet curious expression. "Why do you care?" he asked very quietly.

"Yeah!" Sokka interjected, scowling at his sister. "Why do you care anyways?" he asked, shocked at her obvious jealousy.

Katara's mouth opened and then closed as she realized how she looked. "I don't," she spat, trying to minimize the damage, but everyone was still staring at her with an open-mouthed kind of stunned look on their faces', except Jun; she was grinning like the cat that just at the canary-mouse and the cream. Katara wanted to smack her.

The young Water bender took a deep breath to soothe her wildly beating heart. "It's just…"She paused, her words dying off as a suitable excuse for her rage eluded her. "It's just—we can't let him do it!" she said, glaring at the rest of the group. "I mean, come on…it's…" She stuttered, then slammed her hand down on the table in anger, "well, that's prostitution and not only is it morally wrong, it's disgusting!" Finding that argument was more than acceptable she smiled as she turned to Zuko. Her voice softened and she reached out to him, taking his hand. "You can't sell yourself like that, Zuko. It's not right," she said, giving him a small smile. "You're better than that." He tilted his head to the side, staring at her curiously, but he nodded as if in agreement and Katara let out a sigh of relief before turning back to Jun. "Find another plaything," she gritted out with an 'aha—there, take that' kind of attitude, glaring balefully at the bounty hunter. "He's not for sale!"

Jun chuckled. "So you do care about him more than you're letting on…"

Katara's eyes bulged. "No, I don't!" she said crossing her arms and turning her back on Zuko.

Zuko looked hurt at that and glared a bit at Katara. Jun sighed as she got to her feet. "Fine," she said with a wave of her hand. "I named my price…if you won't meet it then find another way to reach your friend."

Just then Toph stomped her foot sending a huge burst of earth shooting up from the floor. "Stop!" she demanded with a snarl. "Look, we need to find Aang…" She turned her blind eyes to Zuko. "I know asking you to do this is like yuck, but she does want you—I can feel her heart—it beats hard for you." Jun scowled a bit at that and Toph grinned. "She wants you…bad," Toph added, chuckling as she felt the anger rolling off Jun at being fronted off like that.

Everyone turned to look at the exiled Prince and Zuko tugged at his collar, putting his head down a bit as a blush suffused his cheeks at being the center of such attention. "I—um…" He glanced at Katara as if willing her to give him a reason to say no. Katara stubbornly clenched her jaw, arms crossed she refused to say anything that might give him hope she had feelings for him.

He sighed. "I..." he didn't know what to say, this was a new experience for him. Sure he'd had women offer themselves to him-he was a Prince, but to have someone 'demand' him in their bed, well that was a new one...

Toph sighed as the silence stretched out. "Look Zuko, no one will be mad if you say no, but like I said before..." she said motioning to Jun, "this chick is like really hot for you," she said with a smirk. "Her heart pounds really hard when she looks at you and she shivers too-that's a good sign. I'd guess from her age she's experienced-more than you I'd bet so here's the deal," she said, rationalizing the situation. "You can either go have your kicks with a woman of the world who's really in to you…" Toph ignored Jun's scowl at the accurate portrayal and went on, "or not—your choice—either way, we'll all respect your decision…"

Jun nodded. "Smart girl." She reached out and ran her hand down Zuko's jaw. "Oh sweetie, the things I could show you…I could make you scream in pleasure and teach you how to make any woman you're with after me do the same…"

Zuko swallowed hard, his body springing to life with that statement. Katara stubbornly remained silent and suddenly Sokka looked jealous as he muttered under his breath about what a lucky bastard Zuko was…

Toph noticed Katara's clenched jaw and leaned in close to the Water bender, "If you have a reason for Zuko not doing this Sugar Queen…now is the time to speak up," she whispered.

Katara ignored her. "As if I care," she hissed.

Her statement made up Zuko's mind. He raised his head, all traces of his blush gone. "I'll do it," he said firmly. He turned to Jun. "Meet me at the Inn down the street in one hours time and you will have your payment," he said, giving Katara one last lingering glance before he strode out of the tavern like he was the conquering hero and not the payment for services rendered.

Sokka chuckled. "Leave it to Zuko to get laid and paid all in one shot!"

Katara turned and smacked her brother upside the head. "Shut up!" she snapped. She wrapped her arms around her stomach to hold back the bile that rose in her throat, threatening to swallow her. She wanted to gag, throw up and definitely beat the crap out of something, preferably Jun, but the bounty hunter had jumped up and exited the tavern as soon as Zuko left. Katara gave a soft snarl; spinning on her heel she made a slashing motion with her hand as she headed for the door too. The water in the air swirled around her, glasses of beer and tea shattered as she stormed past tables, spraying everyone in the place as she stomped out of the tavern.

Toph nudged Sokka as she felt the change in the earth due to Katara's volatile emotions. "I think your sister likes Zuko."

Sokka rolled his eyes at her. "Uh…really, ya think?" he said sarcastically. He sighed as he glanced around at the destruction Katara had left in the wake of her unwillingness to admit her feelings for the Fire Prince. "I just hope she can get it under control before we get to the Fire Nation," he said softly as he and Toph left the Tavern, "because if she can't…Azula or Ozai will use her feelings for him against us and that could be bad…really bad," he warned as they headed down the street towards the Inn that Zuko had mentioned.

Ok, hope you guys like this so far. Click that little button a let me know-this IS a Zutara fic BT...I'm just using Jun to get Katara to admit it. Muwahahaha!

Now feed my muse! teehee!