Dedicated to EppyNine, who requested this fic. Much love over yonder, Ash.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. Dude, it's FANfiction.

Blowing Off Steam

Oneshot

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"Did you really mean it?" A questioning look on her face pushed him to elaborate. "Did you - well, stage-you - mean it when you said you loved me only as a brother?"

"Aang," she started, but the airbender next to her let out an exasperated sigh, leaning against the rails of the outdoor balcony at the theatre on Ember Island.

"When we kissed right before the invasion, I thought we'd be together afterwards. But we're not." His voice was tinged with a childish sense of being forgotten.

"Aang," Katara tried again, "I was confused." And her mind did a double-take when the young Avatar leaned up to kiss her. "Didn't I just say I was confused?"

Honestly, she couldn't remember who'd stormed off first.

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And Katara had thought that after the war was over, after Sozin's Comet had come and gone, she'd tell Aang that yes, she'd crushed on him for a while, but got over herself. She'd talked it out with Suki, and again with Toph just to be sure - and both other girls had agreed. Katara honestly didn't love the younger boy, not like he loved her. He was a brother to her, a best friend - perhaps she would fall in love with him in the future, but who knows? Destiny was known to shift, and she couldn't predict that.

When the Gaang had split up to assault different forefronts on the day of the comet, she'd went with Zuko to face his sister. They of course had a plan - one that was shattered when they'd arrived and Azula had demanded only Zuko fight her in Agni Kai. He'd accepted, and Katara couldn't look away from the battle. Most people wouldn't have looked away because of the spectacular clash of fire against blue fire, and that's what Katara told herself, watching.

But every time Zuko had been flung somewhere, wasn't quick enough to dodge an attack, she felt her heart wrench and her eyes slam shut. She was worried for him, that much she knew - what kind of a loyal teammate wouldn't worry when a friend was in for the fight of their life? - but that sudden flash of white hot, the random bursts of her mind screaming 'You hurt him one more time, you psychotic, pyromaniac bitch' left her more confused than she'd been in a long time.

So that time when Azula had struck her brother down - Katara was sure he would end up unconscious that time, she'd try to gain the upper hand by hitting him while he was down - and the psychotic princess-cum-Fire-Lord had turned to fire lightning at her. But instead of her, standing there with that "deer in headlights" look, Zuko had jumped in the way of the attack and took the brunt force of it himself.

It was then that she realized that she'd been more worried about Zuko's welfare than she'd ever been over Aang, crush or not, regardless of the life or death-ness of the situation.

Something was wrong here.

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Soon after the downfall of the Phoenix King was Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord, declaring that the Fire Nation would stop conquering, relinquish colonies and all that political we're-good-now stuff. People were still wary, of course - they'd known how long Zuko had hunted the Avatar, who's to say that he wouldn't have made a quick friendship in order to stab him in the back? - but Aang gave him his full support. Katara was named an ambassador by the (now completely united) Northern and Southern Water Tribes, and also on hand for the new Fire Nation leader's declaration.

Very quickly she realized that her new least favorite part of being an ambassador was political gatherings. All the plastic smiles, the fake allegiances - the things Zuko promised would be abolished to make way for the reformed nation - had always made the waterbender sick to her stomach, but being towards the center of attention was just making it all the more worse. Toph had advised her to pick up a glass of the local firewater, and she was rather close to doing so. But her earthbending friend caught her attention again with "Where's flamey-boy going?"

Sure enough, almost right after his speech ("Paving the way" this and "new future" that, not to mention talk of "prosperity and peace for our children") and the customary plesantries, he was headed elsewhere in the palace for... well, for what Katara didn't know, but by Agni she'd find out.

So with stealth (or as much stealth as a famous ambassador, Gaang-member and girl in blue amongst an ocean of red could manage) Katara made her way to the hallway he'd turned down, catching just a fleeting glimpse of the gold hem of his robes. She'd ended up tailing him to another wing of the compound, hesitation kicking in when she finally figured out where they were - his private chambers. She leaned against the wall next to his door, taking in a deep and silent breath and then-

"You might as well come in," Zuko called from inside the main sitting room, the more-or-less atrium of his private area. He heard her go rigid and her back make a soft thud against the wall, and he smiled. "Don't think that I hadn't spent so much time chasing after all of you that I wouldn't have memorized the way you walk."

"The way I walk?" Katara questioned, now in the doorway but still apprehensive of entering this place where it was undeniably him - the smell, the atmosphere, the decorations all beared his unheard, unseen mark. He nodded, telling her to come in. His hands rushed up to pull the wrap and flame stick from his hair, letting it fall in an uncombed mess around his face.

"The servant's won't bother us, they're all attending the party guests," Zuko attempted to ease her, motioning for her to have a seat on the couch towards the middle of the room. He seated himself next to her, not too far away but not close enough for her to scoot away in confusion at the proximity.

"Your shoes do have an unmistakeable sound," he said, and Katara mentally smacked herself - the shoes she'd chosen, albeit very formal and confortable, had small bells attatched to the sides. "Aside from that, you have a walking pattern all your own."

"I never realized that you, of all people, would memorize the walking patterns of a person. I thought that was Toph's job, being - oh well, I don't know - blind?" She did feel a little more at ease now, tit-for-tat with the Fire Lord. "Why'd you leave the party?"

"Too many people," he said, looking out over the open balcony doors to the sun, now preparing itself to set. "I've been to hundreds of these parties over my lifetime, and only so many of them were in my name. I've hated those the most."

Katara blinked. She would've thought that a nice reception for the exiled prince returning home to rule would've been all he wanted. "So you ran off to your room."

"You can't smell the alcohol from here," he supplied, and she nodded. "So why follow me?"

"I don't like these gatherings much, either." She hadn't had much time to celebrate much of anything after she and Sokka had encountered that single iceberg - the huge party was a little bit too much for her to take. "Now the dance party Aang had, for his classmates? That was fun. At least there weren't so many stuffy people trying to fake nice."

"I wasn't aware that you liked to dance," Zuko stated, with a hint of what Katara thought was... curiosity? She nodded. "I don't get the opportunity to dance often."

"You should," she said, standing up. "Come on, we can still hear the music if we listen close enough." She grabbed his hand, pulling the older teen up from his perch on the flame-tinted couch. "Please?"

And who could fight those puppy-dog eyes when they were on the most beautiful girl of the Water Tribe? Even he admitted it, she was harder to refuse than Mai when she wanted something from the servants. So he stood, telling her to go out onto the veranda. "There's a pool down there, to the right- yeah, that's it right there. You can waterbend us some steps, so we can get down into the courtyard without having to walk twenty minutes through the palace."

"Well that's useful," Katara commented, bringing her arms up to form a set of snowy steps. "I'd be willing to bet niether of us are wearing shoes with decent grip, so I didn't use ice. Plus the snow looks all sparkly in the twilight," she said, hopping the highly detailed red laquer railing onto her makeshift stairway. Zuko, ditching his topmost robe, followed suit in a more comfortable manner.

"I hate the court tailor," Zuko commented, his feet touching solid stone. "I should fire him for stitching me that evil brocade... thing." Katara laughed - honestly the first time she'd laughed that night for legitemate reasons.

"Come on, shut up and have fun," she said, putting a hand up; he touched it with the back of his, the two starting to turn clockwise in more formal style of court dancing. The music from the dancefloor on the other side of the palace was faint, the two only able to pick out the beats and none of the melody. The girl lifted her free hand, switching so that this time they could spiral in the opposite direction, pulling up a few small strands of water to lightly mist over them, in an effort to combat the heat of the night. They solidified to small beads of ice; Zuko responded by manipulating a little bit of fire and causing the ice to heat up and dissolve into the atmosphere. "What was that for?"

"I was letting off some steam," he said simply, pulling her closer as the beat of the ballroom's tune halted and picked back up at a much slower cadence. Luckily Zuko had grown, resting his chin on the top of Katara's head as they moved, else he had seen the rosy blush that now covered her face. She seemed to get it now - the worry, her rejection of Aang - her romantic interest was elsewhere then, but now it was right in front of her, dancing with her.

"You feel tense."

Those three words took her by suprise. "No, I'm fine," she assured, oblivious to the fact that Zuko knew she was bluffing. She hadn't even noticed that he'd shifted so that he was behind her, hands on her waist, in a position where he could easily manipulate her and she wouldn't have a care in the world.

"Come on, shut up and have fun," he whispered in her ear, repeating her previous words to her. She shivered - the good kind of shiver, the one that Suki had described when she was asked to dish on hers and Sokka's first kiss - and he smirked. Ah, the magic of experience. "I'm glad you followed me here to join me," he said, his head still next to hers, her hair (only partially pulled back) tickling his cheek. "It would've been rather boring, otherwise." He was absentmindedly drawing circles on her hips, the girl in his hands only mustering a 'Mhm' in response. Her hands found their way up and around his neck, tangling themselves in the hair he'd let down, pushing her back closer to his chest.

"Do you know what you're doing, Zuko?" Katara asked in a moment of clarity. Judging by his response of breathing hotly on her neck, he knew full well.

"The question is," he said in hushed tones, "Do you know what you're doing to me, Katara?" And as if by dumb luck she'd craned her neck up to get a look at him the same moment he'd bent lower, and their lips met, tentatively.

"Don't look now, but you've got an audience," they heard a voice call from the other side of the courtyard - the offshoot door from the ballroom that wasn't supposed to open until the sun had gone down - oh wait, it had gone down. The courtyard itself was now hazily lit by thousands of paper lanterns, along cris-crossing wire that spanned the high opening to the skies. Toph tapped a foot on the brick ground, with Sokka fuming and a laughing Suki trying to hold him from beating the living daylights out of the new ruler. Aang's smile was bittersweet, though, coming to terms with himself, now reassured that she wasn't his.

"Caught," Zuko muttered in defeat, realizing that no matter how much they could try and deny that they'd been dancing like that in the courtyard of the castle, there was no way they'd flub off a kiss easily. He sighed, not letting the crowd see that a sudden idea had burst into his mind. "Wanna give them a show?" he uttered seductively in her ear; she smirked. She spun around, placing borh hands on the sides of his face, kissing him with as much force as she could. The horde of international nobles had mixed reactions, among them suprised, annoyed, amused and cheering.

Sokka, somehow managing to break free from his warrior girlfriend's grasp, stomped up to them, ears steaming and face bright red. "And what do you think you're doing to MY sister?!"

The Fire Lord smirked. "Blowing off steam," he proclaimed, announing to the guests that he may or may not be returning to the festivities that night, and picking Katara up bridal-style, headed back up the (now melting) snow steps that Katara has never un-bent to his suite of rooms.

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You like? Yeah, I know sometimes the beginning might not seem to mesh too well with the rest of it, but hey, it came together.