Chapter 3: Catching Up
A/N: Hello! Thank you for the great reviews thus far! I don't really do slow burns well, so from here forward there will be sexual content. - Kat
Zuko awoke the next day with a strange feeling of excitement for the day in the pit of his stomach. What was wrong with him? Oh yes, a certain beautiful and caring water bender arrived in the Fire Nation last night. He laid in his massive bed and thought of her for a moment. He tried not to notice her beauty considering she was surely to marry one of his closest friends in the near future.
However, he couldn't resist eyeing her up and down. She was so effortlessly beautiful and graceful. Her features were soft and womanly, which was enhanced by her dark olive complexion. La, those eyes. Her eyes were like sunlit pools that could spot any emotion that ran across his steely face. He ran his hands over his face and tried to will the thoughts to stop. Katara was Aang's future wife; even if they had been moments from intimacy years ago.
He climbed out of bed and prepared for his day. He had a breakfast and tea date with the object of his thoughts and his Uncle. Usually he would start his day with training, but today he would make an exception. He dressed in his ornate dark red robes and placed his crown in his freshly done top knot. Fully prepared for his day, he headed out to the Royal Garden.
Once he exited his room two of his personal guards followed him on each side, but stayed behind when he entered the garden. The garden was full of beautiful flowering plant species that caused the air to smell fresh and fragrant. He spotted his Uncle and Katara being served breakfast and tea over at a small pavilion beside the rose bushes. They looked like quite a pair chatting and laughing in the early morning sun. They both sat cross legged on small cushions at a short table.
"Nephew! Just in time." Iroh spoke with a smile as he poured tea into three tea cups.
Zuko greeted them both and sat down to eat. They ate in comfortable silence and a mix of the occasional small discussion on more serious work matters. The attention didn't come to Katara until they were about finished with breakfast.
"So when are you and the young Avatar getting married?" Iroh asked taking a sip of his tea. "I've been awaiting my wedding invitation."
Zuko almost choked on a grape, but Katara looked unfazed as she prepared to answer.
"Never," she said matter-of-factly as she popped a grape in her mouth.
This time it was Uncle who nearly choked on his tea. Katara noticed both Zuko and Iroh's intense stares and she shrugged. "I love Aang, but we decided that our relationship it best platonic." She stated and felt no need to shame Aang by bringing up all the details of their personal life. She didn't even like giving out that small amount of information with the amount of ears around them.
"I see," Iroh stated raising a bushy eyebrow as he eyed his nephew with a mischievous glimmer in his eye. "Well, I must return to my chambers for my morning meditation. I will see you both in an hour." He stated and then exited the garden.
Katara just looked at Zuko for a moment. He looked genuinely surprised and a little shocked. "Are you ok?" She asked taking a sip of her tea.
"I'm just surprised. Aang seemed so in love with you." He stated as he finished eating his meal. He couldn't even imagine what had happened. Aang was a fool if he let a woman like Katara go.
She nodded. "He did ask me to marry him, but I declined." She said so quietly he had to lean in.
Zuko raised his eyebrow quizzically.
She sighed. "We can talk about all of this some other time." She smiled attempting to change the subject. "You and Mai must be preparing for your wedding by now."
Zuko then mirrored her audible sigh. "We broke up a couple of years ago Katara."
"Oh." She stated plainly as she eyed the firebender. He didn't appear upset, but she felt guilty. "I'm sorry." Now she felt like an asshole for bringing it up.
He shook his head and responded before she continued apologizing. "It has been a while since we caught up." He commented as he stabbed a grape with his fork. He had an urge to say a petty comment about her running out on him all those years ago, but suppressed it.
Katara leaned into the table. "Can we catch up in private later?" She looked around at the servants and guards surrounding them.
Zuko nodded. He understood. He was also a very private person. "Tonight in my chambers. We can catch up, just us, no guards or servants." Zuko offered and Katara eagerly nodded.
At that a messenger entered the garden and requested Zuko and Katara's presence at their meeting with his advisors. They headed out for a long day ahead.
Katara headed back to her chambers after a long day of being briefed on the issues with the Northern Water Tribe. Not to mention she had to sit through a bunch of old men bickering and complaining about a woman being in the meeting during Zuko's advisor meeting. It was both exhausting and frustrating. She was unsure how Zuko did it every week. She had split away from him midday and had not seen him since.
She was worried about Zuko. He seemed tired and a fraction of his former fiery self. He had matured into quite a handsome man, but there was something missing inside of him. She was happy he finally had his anger issues in check, but Zuko without a little bit of aggression just seemed wrong. She was eager to talk to her old friend. She instantly knew as soon as she first saw him that something was off.
Katara bathed in the ornate bathroom attached to her suite and slipped on a simple long white night shirt as well as a robe and sandals. She headed out of her suite and followed the directions Zuko had given her before they went their separate ways this morning. She came in front of a large and beautifully carved gold door. She was in the right place. Katara lifted her hand to gingerly knock, but her first knock caused the door to be pushed open.
She opened the door and walked inside to find a large room with a desk and a small sitting area beside a fireplace. It was empty, but she spotted another door on the opposite side of the room.
"Zuko!" She called with no response. She gently closed the large ornate door and walked through the first room to knock again at the second door. No response. She slowly opened up the second door to find another empty room. This time she was sure she was in his bedroom because of the absolutely gigantic bed in the center of the room. She was surveying the room, when another door beside the one she was standing in swung open.
"Ah!" She shouted as the doors collided. An alarmed Zuko exited the bathroom looking reading to attack.
When he saw her standing there frightened he relaxed. "Spirits Katara, I thought you were being attacked!"
She stood there with a shocked look on her face, but this time it was because Zuko stood there in just a red towel slung dangerously low on his hips. She was right when she had initially noticed that his body had filled out. His previously slender frame now featured broad muscular shoulder and a defined chest. Her mouth went dry when her eyes followed the path of a water droplet down his chest...down his stomach...between his hip bones.
"Wait for me in my study." Zuko demanded nearly closing the door on the gawking woman. The rumors about Zuko growing into a sexy man were not a lie, she noted as she sat down on one of the couches in his study.
Zuko walked into the room moments later clad in dark red drawstring pants and a lighter red robe tied around his waist. The robe was almost completely open revealing most of his pale chest. "I'd appreciate a warning next time Katara." He stated plainly sitting in front of her. His dark hair was still wet and stuck to his head like a mop. "If you wanted a show you could have asked." He teased with a smug smile.
She rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. "I knocked." She said throwing her hands up. She was going to ignore his last comment. She'd always found Zuko attractive, but now he was a man and they were both single. Small flashes of their fiery first kiss flashed through her mind but she forced them away with a shake of her head.
He laughed. "Ok, ok." He watched her think about something and bite her full lower lip. Spirits, he wanted to take that lower lip between his teeth and gently tug at it. "So, I want to know the details about you and Aang."
Katara shook her head and gave him a stern look. "You and Mai, first."
He sighed. He sat down on a couch in front of her and pressed his palms together, while leaning forward toward her. "There isn't much to know. She cheated on me with one of my closest royal guards and then blamed me for not being available enough for her."
Katara's eyes widened. She never imaged that the frail and moody woman would do such a thing. She opened her mouth to say something but Zuko's look of 'don't' stopped her before she could even formulate the words.
Zuko nodded for Katara to go.
"Uhm, so you know Aang is a monk." Katara said and Zuko nodded. "Problems first started happening when he got older and I started wanting..you know."
Zuko raised an eyebrow. He knew was she meant but he wanted her to say it anyways.
"I wanted to start doing sexual things and he did not. I kind of just let it go for a couple years until more recently when he realized he needed to repopulate the Air Nomads. He began insistent on sex all the time, but I am not ready for children yet."
Zuko nodded for her to continue.
"Aang proposed to me and I couldn't say yes knowing he wanted me as a baby maker. I'm not a baby maker, Zuko." She stated the whole thing in an angry tone with arms folded across her chest.
"I understand," he repeated her and watched her features relax a bit.
"I couldn't be with a man who had no interest in being with me unless it meant the possibility of a child. That's not a life I want to live." She sighed audibly.
"Are you really ok?" He asked her seriously and he leaned forward toward her.
"I really am. It's been six months since Aang and I split. I'll never stop loving him but I know we are both happier this way." She stated seriously.
"Are you really ok?" Katara asked him with a raised eyebrow. He better not simply say yes.
Zuko sighed. "It's been a long few years." He explained simply. The sadness in his golden eyes caused her to stand up from the couch and approach him. She stood in front of where he sat on the other couch and cradled his head in her arms. He leaned appreciatively into her affection.
"A rebellion started shortly after you left the Fire Nation. It was particularly large." He said as she sat down beside him with a hand over his. "It was led by Lee."
Katara's jaw almost fell to the ground. She realized she hadn't see Lee the whole time she had been here, but wrote it off as he was out of town. "Lee? You're most trusted advisor."
Zuko simply nodded with an angry glow to his golden eyes and a tensing jaw. He stood up abruptly. "I must retire to bed now."
He was obviously upset and she stood up and hugged his large frame. "Ok." She responded into his bare chest as his arms snaked around her waist. Gods, she loved his hugs. He was hard where she was soft and they melted together. He buried his face in her dark curly hair and they stood like they for several long moments. There was something about his energy that was absolutely addicting to her.
She pulled her face away from his chest and looked up at his face.
Zuko's golden eyes were still glowing from the emotion of his confession when he took the liberty to duck his head down to hers and place his forehead against hers with a sigh. It was a surprisingly intimate moment from the firebender as their breath mingled. Katara couldn't help but notice how close his lips were to hers. She wanted to kiss him, but before she could talk her Zuko drunken mind out it, her neck tilted only slightly and her lips pressed gently to his. Their lips gently pressed together, almost timidly.
His arms tightened around her until their bodies were flush and her breasts were nearly pressed flat against his chest. Her arms reached up to encircled his neck as she opened her lips for his demanding tongue. She moaned into his mouth with the pure intensity of his kiss. Their tongues danced together until he pulled away to pull at her bottom lip with his teeth. She kissed him again hard until she was nearly breathless. When they broke for air he took the liberty of trailing his lips down her neck. He lavished her neck with his lips and tongue caused her to make incoherent noises that sounded like nothing but music to his ears.
He had completely lost his control and the woman had only kissed him.
He picked her up abruptly and covered the short distance to his bedroom in a few large strides. He placed her in the center of his large bed and she propped herself up on her elbows to watch him with hooded eyes. She watched as he untied the robe around his waist and threw it into the ground. He climbed onto the bed and over her like a predatory animal and the sight sent heat radiating to her core.
Zuko settled between her thighs and captured her lips for another searing and aggressive kiss. All of the intense emotions from their first kiss came radiating back. Fire and water shouldn't mix, but their bodies were not listening to that logic. They were undeniable attracted to each other body and soul. La, she wanted him so desperately. More than she ever wanted any man. Her own hands worked on the knot of her robe before it fell open. She wanted to feel him against her, which she could do easily in her thin night dress. The hand that wasn't propping him up above her was caressing her thigh. He ran his hand over the outer edge of her leg and over her hip.
His eyes popped open. "Mm, you're not wearing any panties." He growled into her neck before he gently dragged his teeth across the sensitive skin.
Gods, she wanted him right then and there. "Maybe I wanted to see what you would do about it." She breathed huskily as he began bunching up the night dress around her hips.
He growled in response and slid down her body. He paused for a moment to gently bite her hard nipples that were protruding from her thin night dress. She moaned in response and bucked her hip. He didn't want to keep her waiting much longer so he settled his head between her legs. Her womanhood was already open to him like the most beautiful flower he had ever seen.
Her eyes popped open suddenly when she felt the tip of his tongue slide over her sensitive bundle of nerves. Her hand came down to fist her hand in his hair when he suckled the little bud between his lips.
"Zuko," she moaned his name and he began stimulating her more aggressively.
He slipped his tongue down to dip into her center before he continued his attack on her clit. She moaned loudly and bucked against his face as he lashed her sensitive bundle with his tongue. Gods, she tasted like honey and he could devour her all day. Her noises of pleasure were like music to his ears.
He climbed back over her body to capture her lips in a hot kiss. He settled between her legs and she began to grind her hips against him. He was going to orgasm in his pants if she didn't stop.
That was when reality hit him like a train. He was about to sleep with Katara. He had to get her verbal consent before he could continue. He couldn't bear the pain of her regretting sleeping with him. Especially when she regretted kissing him all those years ago.
He paused and caught her cheek in the palm of his hand and forced her to look at him. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked as calmly as he could with an erection and a half naked sexy woman beneath him.
She just looked at him for a moment as if she was realizing all the things he had just done to her body. She wanted him, but this was a lot to process so quickly and the only man she had been with was Aang. She felt the doubts and fear creep over her.
She was going to be honest. "I want you, but this is so sudden and."
She didn't finish her sentence before Zuko dismounted off of her gracefully even with a large bulge in his pants. He offered her a hand and she took it. He helped her slide to the side of the bed and helped her straighten out her nightdress. She put her robe back on.
Zuko kissed her forehead. "I didn't mean to pressure you into anything you weren't comfortable with." He stated quietly. "I just kind of lost it." He looked genuinely concerned.
She shook her head. "I kissed you." She assured him. "You were completely fine." She stayed honestly looking up at him with bright blue eyes and flushed cheeks.
She left the room and they bid each other goodnight. They both needed time to process what has just happened.
