A/N: No bending, (again) sorry guys! Takes place in modern times, AU...some place in the states... Enjoy this oneshot! I had fun writing it :)

Rating: T

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ring Of Fire

To sum me up in a couple of faulty words, I'm not the type of boy that your parents would want you to bring home on prom night.

The thought of bringing a girl to the prom makes me laugh so hard, my heart becomes sore, and I have to stifle my grin with sadness. Of course, someone with my family history would not have a normal high school experience.

I've been raised in a household where my father sometimes does not come home at night, and would instead take my younger sister with him to horse shows and baseball games. My father is insane, and I have no mother to embody the role of mediator. They all claim that she hung herself on the day I was born from the shower curtain in her bathroom, but by the look of the blood stains on the wall, I believe differently. If that's not enough proof of my father's insanity, I have the scar across my left eye, generously given to me as a result of him throwing a log from the fire place at my face on Christmas Eve. I had closed the bathroom door on Azula's hand by accident. She wasn't even bleeding.

Every morning, I am haunted by my life; the memories looming in the back of my scarred head. One morning, I thought of this abstract concept as I stared into the black hole that is my locker, only to awake by the sound of it slamming shut. As I turned around to face the day, to face the peeling dripping halls of High School, I saw something.

More than an object, it was an orb of energy. It was a spirit that moved into the corner of my amber eyes; a spirit that fashioned dark blue jeans and a flowing green top, hugging each curve of her body. A girl who paraded down the halls, strutting almost, holding her books in one hand, the one on top entitled "Psychology for Dummies". She tossed her head; her hair secured with an embellished blue headband that rain across her forehead and around the back of her head. She moved so swiftly, so quickly that I feel as if I barely caught a glimpse of her...Yet I can't seem to forget whatever image I was able to see. I processed her, internalized and stared at her as she sauntered. One boy even cocked his head as she passed him, his eyes running down her hour-glass figure. I felt a burning desire to punch him in the face. He clicked his tongue, and she turned to look at him. Her cerulean eyes twinkled as she scolded him with her gaze. Batting her eyelashes, she turned on her heal, and floated away.

Just like that, she was gone, and I was forever lost.

The remainder of the day was spent concentrating on nothing but my image of her, the strange beauty that had graced the west end hallway. How could I have never seen her before? I had been in the school for all four years. How could such a beauty pass me by? I headed to the library to think about something else, waiting and wishing for a distraction. Then, at around 6:00, just like every other day, I watched the librarian drive out of the parking lot and onto Main Street. Just like every other day, I sneaked around to the backside of the library, and pulled out my lighter. And just like every other day, I watched the cloud cover roll in as I smoked all my pain away. It was an unhealthy habit, but I had forgotten the definition of healthy a long time ago. And as I blew the smoke into the cooling air, the unexpected happened.

She seemed to be in a hurry as burst through the back door of the library. She took off her silver flat shoe, and pelted it at the closed door. There were strands of hair falling onto her face as she frantically paced back and forth in front of the wall. It was about thirty seconds later when she noticed me staring at her through my cloud of smoke. I quickly leaned against the wall and turned my head towards the sunset. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her fold her arms in front of her chest and cock her head towards me. She began to approach my leaning body, her bare foot leading the other one. She stopped and gave me a once-over, waving my smoke from her face.

"You got a light?" She cooed. I nearly melted.

"Uh, yeah. Here." I forced myself up and reached into my pocket, handing her my black lighter.

"It's a little dysfunctional." I said. She got it on the first click.

"Thanks," She muttered, handing me the lighter. I stuck the cigarette in my mouth and rand a cool hand through my hair.

"You alright?" I asked, "You looked pretty shook up over there."

"I'm fine…Just fucking fine." Her hand was shaking as she leaned her back against the wall next to me. She inhaled a rather long draft of the cigarette and blew the smoke into the air.

"Ah. I'll keep quiet then."

"No, wait, sorry, that was kinda rude of me." She stammered, adjusting her headband with her free hand. "I'm Katara. People call me Kit Kat, but I really hate it."

She laughed in spite of herself. I could feel my cheeks burning.

"I'm Zuko. People call me Zuko, and I kinda hate it, but I deal."

She smiled at me, and I smiled smugly. Her eyes twinkled again.

"Zuko. That's an elegant name. Strange to think I've never met you before."

"It's pretty strange, but not uncommon in a school as big as ours."

She nodded. "Yea, I guess you're right. What grade are you in anyway?"

"I'm a second semester senior...Definitely has its perks." I sighed and blew smoke into the wind.

"Well I'm a second semester junior, perks yet to be discovered." She flicked the cigarette butt. "I was just in there meeting with my math tutor."

"Big calculus test coming up?"

"Tomorrow," She hesitated, "But the stupid jerk started hitting on me…" She started shaking again. "I picked up my things, called him a bastard, and ran out as fast as I could."

"Sounds like an asshole." I coughed, my free hand forming into a fist over my mouth. "You did the right thing, getting out of there."

"I know, I know, but I'm just really freaked out by the whole thing. I mean, look." She placed her hand on my arm. It was ice cold "I'm shaking like crazy."

I smiled at her, and she smiled back, pressing her thumb into my forearm.

"Your arm is warm…" She murmured.

"Your hand is freezing…" I whispered. She giggled softly and ran her hand down my arm and placed it at her side.

"You know, you could get in trouble if you're just seen with me around here." I sighed, tossing my cigarette to the ground and stepping on it, grinding it with my toes in my converse shoe.

"I'll take the risk…Zuko." She stated, winking her right eye and taking in another long draft of smoke.

"I'm not surprised…"

Suddenly, she dropped her cigarette onto the grass in front of her. She turned, positioning her hands against my plaid button-down shirt, and thrust me against the brick wall of the back of the library. She pressed her body against mine, taking my shirt collar into her fists and jerking my lips to her mouth. It was the most ferociously romantic encounter I would ever experience. She began to run her fingers through my hair, and I tried to gasp for breath, but she swallowed my tongue in her tobacco mouth. She grabbed my biceps, squeezing them and running her fingers along the veins. I began to quiver from the coldness of her body, and she ran her hands down my forearms. Taking my hands, she fixed them on her waist.

"Hold me," She whispered. I attempted to speak, but she took over my lips with an indescribable intensity. She threw her arms around my neck, and I stumbled slightly, hitting my ankle against the brick wall.

Suddenly, she broke the kiss, and stared at me with her ghost-like eyes. She didn't blink at all, and her lips were parted ever-so slightly as she breathed heavily. I stared back, unafraid but at a loss for words. I saw her hand twitch out of the corner of her eye, and she began to raise it, her green fingernails reaching towards her damn headband. She adjusted it, turning it slightly to the left, but never broke her gaze. Swiftly, I took her thin hand and placed her thin fingers over the skin of my scarred left eye. She kept her fingers still, cooling my face and melting it at the very same time.

All of a sudden, I grabbed her waist, and whipped her around, thrusting her against the brick wall. I hit the wall with both hands and attacked her pretty lips, devouring her scent of flowers and smoke. I nipped at her neck and collar bone, and she moaned breathlessly. Returning to her lips, I could feel my body heat radiating tremendously, and I could see the sweat beads forming on her hairline. The air around me became rugged; all around me was turning to a dry wasteland before my eyes. The abandoned cigarette on the ground behind me burst into flames. The smoke was rising up the back of my neck. Katara's eyes began to water, and the flames nipped at the souls of my shoes.

And there I was. Encased in a ring of fire. Captive in the hands of a perfect stranger. Freezing to the point of melting. In pain to the point of ecstasy. Her fingers spinning, spinning, running down my body and over the zipper of my jeans…

Thunder clashed, and I awoke abruptly in the front seat of my car. My hands were sweating, stuck to the steering wheel. My foot was over the gas pedal, and the dashboard was fogged to completion. I looked at the clock. The time was 6:45, and the rain was just beginning to pour, shattering the listless silence that I had kept so dear for the passing 45 minutes. I peeled my hand from the leather steering wheel, which left a wet mark, and placed it on the dashboard. Lifting my hand, I saw the girl from my dream through the glass, smoking on the side of the library building. From my watching post, I stared at her as she looked straight up at the falling rain drops. Shivering, she took sweat shirt out from her over-the-shoulder bag and pulled it over her body. She tossed her cigarette to the ground and poured the remainder of a Gatorade bottle onto the dying end. As she stepped on the cigarette, she moved to adjust her headband on her forehead.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw me staring at her from my foggy driver's seat. She squinted her eyes to try and recognize me, but she did not.

Flustered, she adjusted the bag on her shoulder and shot me her middle finger, mouthing the word, "Creep."

She walked off the grass, quickening her pace as she passed my car. I cleared off the window next to me and watched her walk to the other end of the parking lot and get in her car. The parking lights went on, the bright red light blinding my glazed eyes, and I watched her drive away onto Main Street.

It took me exactly ten seconds for me to decide that I was going to follow her.

Oooh interesting take on zutara, no? Well, whatever your oppinion is, send me your reviews! I love reviews (the good, the bad, and the ugly) so your input will be appreciated :D

Happy Summer in the States!! Hope you're enjoying my one-shot series!!

~ zutara4lwayz