A/N: Okay, chapter four and cruising right along here in the summer time! (This is good for fans of this story!) I'm so sad because there are about 4 stories I have on Alert and they haven't had the next chapter posted in a while…I'm going NUTS! Two of them are Zutara, and one is a wrestling fic…but that's not the point. Authors of Broken, and Freezing Lightning…I love your stories, and please! More Chapters are needed!! I check my e-mail everyday just for it saying "Next chapter of _________ is up" But I haven't seen it…and it's making me want to cry. Oh well…on with my story…ZUTARA RULES!
"Don't look at me that way. I am not betraying you…You're giving me the eyes, and I do NOT appreciate them. No…don't, don't walk away from me…" Katara's eyes followed him as he walked out of her foyer before she left for work. "JET!!" she called after the tabby. "Just remember who feeds you!" she grabbed her keys off the table and made her way down the stairs. Opening the door to her car she looked up to see Jet looking at her through her bedroom window. "Ingrate," she muttered, before sitting in her car and driving off to work.
"So we saw you talking to that mystery guy after he almost ran you over with his car," Haru and Toph were waiting for Katara to open up for the day.
"Oh, you saw that?"
"His tires screeched louder than most women climaxing."
"And how would you know that Haru?"
"I'm just recently gay, remember Toph?"
"Oh yea…"
"Let's not lose focus here though. Katara, who is the man?"
"I actually do not know his name," they walked past the clothes.
"Well, good; because it's been a long time since we've snooped," Haru pulled out a laptop from his bag. "The office above us has wireless, so we're just gonna borrow theirs," he opened it up and accessed the internet with ease.
"What are you doing?" Katara took off her coat.
"Researching Azula Agni of course, I'm hoping I can find her marital status or family members."
"What about the idea of being gay?"
"Oh, he's not gay," Katara snickered. This received stares. "He kind of asked me for drinks tomorrow."
"And you don't even know his name…does he even know yours?"
"Yes, but I didn't ask for his."
"No wonder you don't date."
"I got it. Azula Agni's profile! Okay let's see. Mother deceased, father is a corporate big shot, and one younger brother whose name is…drum roll please, Toph," she began banging on the counter while Katara stood with her arms crossed. "Zuko Agni."
"That's a hot name Katara."
"I need to be alone for a minute," Katara took her coat with her into her office. She plopped in her chair. So his name was 'Zuko.' Toph was right, it was hot. Hot name for a hot body. Oh, he made her blood boil. His sexy muscles that seemed to ripple through everything he wore. That hot smile which caused his dimples to deepen. It was almost too much for one person to have all to herself. At least she knew he was available. Wait…was he? Wait…she wasn't even sure if he was her brother. Just because she had a brother didn't mean that was him. "Haru, give me your laptop," she shouted through the door. Not even two seconds later, he plopped it on the desk in front of her. "Thank you." Typing in 'Zuko Agni' was easy, figuring out which one he was from the search was hard. The first one sure enough was from Elle magazine. Maybe…she clicked the link and saw his picture pop up next to a column talking about his achievements in his six year run there before quitting and moving to Japan. The article had nothing but rave reviews for him, even wishing him luck in his future. Katara sure liked seeing herself there. However, there was no information on his marital status or his age, or anything personal about him. A total enigma. Mysterious men were sexy, though Katara liked knowing something about him. 'That's the point of going on a date with him,' her mind told herself. Oh, yeah. She'd just have to live in suspense until her date. ~36 Hours Later~
"I CAN'T DO THIS!!" Katara shrieked around six o'clock. All of her employees were there to see her off on her date in four years.
"Yes you can Katara," Song patted her on the shoulder.
"Oh, you'll be fine," Toph rolled her eyes.
"Eat him up honey," Haru was sifting through the clothing.
"You deserve happiness," Suki was sitting with her head in her hands. She sniffled and quickly excused herself before the tears could spill from her eyes.
"No offense Katara, but your brother is an ass," Haru held up a sweater before deciding against it.
"None taken. I'd love to stick up for him and say he's confused right now, his ex-girlfriend coming back into his life professing her love to him and he doesn't know if he still loves her, and then questions his love for Suki. I mean, I'd love to say all of that but I really can't," she glared at her only male employee, although that title wasn't all that true anymore.
"Stay out of it Haru, it's not your business!" Toph fiddled around with her dinner tray from the microwave. "Damn this is hot."
"Don't you dare
drop it," Katara warned.
"Oh, even if I did I'd
clean it up anyway. Or I'd command Song to," she poked fun of the
mousy college graduate. Katara cracked the first smile of that day.
She was a nervous wreck the day of her date with Zuko, as opposed to
the day before she actually felt excited. Excited was the last
emotion she was feeling today.
"I think I'm gonna throw-up," she held her stomach gently with one hand.
"Oh, you're not going to throw-up because I am going to pick you out the most fabulous outfit, Suki is going to do your make-up ultra sexy, Song is going to do something with that thing you call your hair, and Toph is gonna give you a slap to the face and tell you to 'calm the fuck down,' okay? Nothing to fear, your employees are here!" Haru held up his arm, taking one of Katara's most popular blouses with it. "Oh this could work," Haru studied the garment.
"I don't even know where he's taking me. I mean, do I wear jeans or do I have to dress up?"
"He said he was going to take you for a drink, chances are you're going to a bar."
"A sports bar," Song specified.
"Ew," Haru hung up the blouse and went on the search for pants.
"I'm not really a fan of sports," Katara rubbed the back of her neck, thinking that if Zuko did take her to a sports bar it would be bad. She hadn't watched sports since she lived with her brother…when they were kids…
"I don't think he would take you somewhere specific for specific people," Toph shoved a forkful of asparagus in her mouth.
"Yeah, it's going to be a general bar for fantastic martinis and beer for him," Haru held up a pair of tweed pants.
"I couldn't get a martini; they're two times the cost of Miller Lite."
"Sweetie, he said he's taking you out for drinks, not beer. You get a martini; they are a woman's drink. Especially cosmos!" Haru kept filing through the clothes.
"Katara, you are going to be fine. Now let's get you ready!"
~7:00 O'clock, middle of the street~
Zuko stood in the middle of the street wearing a blood red, button down, long sleeved shirt and black dress pants. His sister was so excited she decided to dress him up. And attempt to spike his hair, however it didn't really want to cooperate and so he was left with 'I-just-got-out-of-bed-head.' Oh well. Always prompt, if not early, Zuko was waiting out in the street in front of his sister's and Katara's stores waiting for her. It was 7:01…she was late. He let out a loud sigh and looked down at his attire. This was way too dressed up for where he wanted to go. He just wanted to go to a bar, have a few drinks, and get to know her. And eventually steal her life away from her by giving it to Azula. But we'll take baby steps at a time. A small, breeze blew through the street, ruffling his hair even more. If she didn't come out soon, he'd just bag the whole thing.
"Hey!" he heard her voice call out to him. He looked up and saw her walking towards him, the door behind her closing. She had her hair halfway up, and her make-up was shades of pink. Her halter was a dark blue with silver rhinestones going around the neck, and she wore tan cargos with high heeled wooden shoes. She approached him, her hair lightly blowing with the breeze. She took one look at his outfit, and her beautiful face fell. "Oh, am I underdressed?" she looked uncomfortable.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry, if anything I'm overdressed. I just wanted to go to Tyro's on 28th and Koh."
"I know Tyro's son, he works in my store!"
"Oh…you still want to go there?"
"Of course, chances are Tyro's in and we might get a round on the house!"
"Okay, let's get going. My Jag is parked behind your store."
"You're parking in my employee parking lot?"
"Is that a problem?" he smiled at her, the dimples coming through. She just suppressed a laugh and walked with him to his vehicle. "So while I was getting ready for tonight, I realized something. You don't know my name, because you never asked for it."
"Actually, I do know…Zuko," she slipped inside the passenger's seat.
"Wait? How do you…?" he started up the engine and roared out of the lot.
"I have my resources Mr. Agni, my competitions brother." OH SHIT! His cover was totally blown. He told his sister not to allow people to post personal info about her, which sadly included him. She was still here though, can't get caught up in your thoughts.
"That's not a problem is it?" might as well get down to the point.
"I hope it isn't," she looked out the window at the lights speeding by. He smiled to himself at her answer. Sadly, and ultimately, it was a problem, because of his motives behind the dates and cute one-liners.
"I don't see why there would be one," he turned onto Koh Boulevard.
"Good," she leaned back in the leather seat watching the street numbers increase.
"So, you're name is Katara…"
"Omashu. Katara Omashu."
"That's a nice name Kat," he was already using a nickname on her.
"My friends call me that," she smiled.
"Everyone calls me 'Their Highness,'" he briefly touched her thigh.
"Ha! Well, I'm not just everyone, Zuko," Katara chuckled at his joke.
"No, you're not," he murmured to himself. She however, caught it and blushed before looking out the window at the familiar bar he was now pulling into. They walked inside together, getting a table near a dart board. After ordering their drinks (Zuko a Guiness, and Katara a Miller Lite) Zuko grabbed the darts out of the rack. "Play?"
"Oh, I have no accuracy for those things," Katara said before Zuko chucked one hitting the bulls-eye. "Holy shit," her jaw opened. "How did you? You do this a lot don't you? Take out random girls to this bar and practice so you can show off?"
"I only show off to the pretty ones," he threw another one, still inside the bulls-eye circle. "Here, try one," he held out the pointy dart to her.
"Okay, but I'm telling you I'm not good, so don't judge!" she stood behind the line and after much concentration threw it on the outside of the circle. "Yea, no points for me," she was ready to sit at their table when he grabbed her wrist.
"That's because you weren't standing right," he pulled her back behind the line.
"There's a way to stand at darts?"
"Yes, there is, now quiet," his left hand slinked around her waist pulling her body against his. She immediately stiffened. "You're way too tense, just loosen up," YEAH! Easy for him to say. "Okay, now you need to shift all your weight on your front foot," he leaned his body forward into her causing her to do the same. His right hand grasped hers and held the dart up. "You also took way too much time staring at the board, and your wrist movement wasn't snappy enough," he bent her wrist quick showing her how fast it should be. "Like that, okay?" his breath was hot against her ear. Without speaking, she whipped the dart at the board, an inch away from Zuko's previous darts.
"Oh, my gosh! I've never been that close before," she turned to look at him, her face an inch away from his, like the darts. Their beers were set down on the table by the waitress, breaking their gaze. He disengaged himself from her to put the darts back, and she immediately shivered from the loss of his body heat. She sat down by her beer and took a quick sip.
"I have to admit, I thought you were the type of girl to get a fruity drink," he sat down opposite swigging his beer as well.
"Well, I enjoy both beer and fun stuff like martinis or margaritas. Since we've just met, I thought I'd be safest with the beer."
"Safest?"
"I didn't want to cost more than you, it's not fair."
"Oh, you were under the impression I was paying," he smiled at her. She looked up at him, until she realized he was joking. Her eyes relaxed from their state of being extremely wide. "You're a little gullible aren't you?"
"I can be," she drank more of her beer.
"Me too. My sister likes to lie to me a lot, and I used to be a fool and listen to her."
"My brother was always extremely sarcastic, and I didn't always catch on."
"Is he older or younger than you?"
"Older, what about your sister?"
"Same."
"How old are you?"
"29, and if I remember correctly from a previous conversation, you're 27?"
"Mm-hmm," she was sipping again. "So, you're not originally from Japan are you?"
"No, I was born and raised in South Korea."
"You know, I've always wanted to go there," she leaned forward.
"It's a great place. I used to live in the city and it's almost like Tokyo and New York combined."
"You've been to New York," her eyes the size of golf balls.
"No, but I've seen pictures," he said thinking back to the building Mai sent his sister for ideas for her outlet in NY.
"That's all I've ever seen on the internet. I hear it's dirty though. Lots of garbage and stuff like that. So I don't know if I'd want to go there."
"I've heard that too, but South Korea isn't like that all, I just meant size wise."
"They're also the most intelligent country in the world," she gazed into his eyes.
"I fall in that category," he plowed a hand through his hair, puffing out his chest.
"I'm sure," she took another sip of beer. He followed suit, before watching a blonde behind Katara throw the darts, badly. Katara followed his gaze, and her face fell.
"Going to show her a thing or two?" she tried to make it sound like a joke.
"I already told you, I only show off for the pretty girls," his eyes fixed on Katara once more. She blushed the color of his shirt, diverting her eyes elsewhere in the bar, and landing on white hair. Long white hair, the only person that could be was…YUE!!
"Oh my God!" she put her head down. Zuko became concerned.
"What's wrong?" he put his hands on her shoulders.
"I see someone I know."
"I'm gonna assume it's someone you don't wanna see," he looked about the bar half expecting his sister to be there, to ruin his date. Wait; did he just say 'date'?
"Yes, she had an affair with my brother while he was in a serious relationship with someone who loved him with her whole heart," she sneaked a peek at Yue, who was with Hahn laughing and drinking rum and cokes. "Oh, and she's here with her ex-boyfriend. God, I gotta get out of here without her seeing me," unfortunately they were right by the exit. Zuko still looked around the bar, but had no clue who this woman was.
"You're gonna stick your face in my shirt, okay?"
"What?"
"Just do it," he dropped money on the table for their drinks and pulled Katara close to him. She pressed herself against the material of his shirt to find it incredibly soft. "Who are we trying to avoid?" he whispered.
"The girl with white hair by the exit." His eyes scanned the exit and finally found her. She was right by the exit, damn it! He might not get Katara out of here without being seen. They briskly walked toward the door, his arms wrapped around her and her face pressed against his chest. A little too intimate for just a first date. They were almost home free when this woman bumped right into Zuko with a lot of unexpected force. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have budged, but while holding someone so close to him, he stumbled and they bumped against a table spilling the drinks of some not so nice looking biker guys. Katara's eyes opened wide, but Zuko was quick to his wallet.
"Sorry gentlemen," he laid down a twenty and hoisted Katara up against him so her feet weren't on the ground anymore. He jogged out of Tyro's to his Jag before he finally set her down. "That was an adventure," he looked back at the bar.
"I'm so sorry," she wiped at some beer that had spilt on his shirt. "Oh, you're stained."
"What?" He looked down immediately, before realizing that wasn't what she was talking about. Sure it had been great with her small figure pressed against him, and his mind was a little dirty, so he was just being safe.
"Thanks though, it would have been so awkward if she had seen me and wanted to talk or something," she looked up at him, thinking not a lot of guys would have dropped twenty dollars on the table for those guys, and awkwardly walk out of the bar so she could save face. "I'll reimburse you for the twenty you laid down," she opened up her little purse, but he put his hands on top of hers.
"Don't worry about it, I did that so I wouldn't have gotten the shit beat out of me," his smile was just too beautiful for Katara to look at. He opened the passenger door and she sat down, closing up her purse. He ran around the front and quickly got in and pulled out of the parking lot. The car ride back seemed to go by faster than coming to the bar. Katara explained the situation with her brother vaguely, but wanted to clear up why she didn't want Yue seeing her. They pulled into the parking lot where Katara's Camry was sitting in. He parked two spots away from her car and walked her to it. She opened the front door but didn't sit in it.
"Thanks for the drinks," she looked at his tall, broad frame. God, he was hot.
"You're okay to drive home, right?"
"Oh yea, I only had one beer," but before she could go into explanation that if they had stayed longer at the bar she might not have been, Zuko's lips were pressed against hers. His mouth sought entrance inside hers. She parted only a little, and he swiftly got a small taste of her before pulling away.
"You still okay to drive?" his voice a little throaty as he looked into her dazed face.
"Mm-Hmm…"
"Good…" her eyes were still closed, but when she finally opened them he was back at his car, getting in. "Good night Katara. We should do this again," and with that he drove away. She watched his car disappear before quickly sitting inside hers. Oh God! She sat there for about ten minutes just thinking about his hot lips against hers. She hadn't had a kiss in years; she'd been so busy with her career she didn't even miss it. But thanks to Zuko Agni, she did. She craved more from him. Didn't he say something like doing this again? Did he mean the drinks or the kissing? Did it matter? Just being around him made Katara's stomach get butterflies, and goosebumps rise on her arms and neck. Oh, Lord, she pulled out of the parking lot, heading home.
"Jet, food," she was home now dumping cat food in a metal dish. He jumped down from somewhere and began eating it. He was always coming down from somewhere in the house, he loved climbing. She pet his furry head before getting undressed and taking a shower. After her shower, where the only thing dirty were her thoughts, she put on her nightgown and slid under the covers of her bed. Even though she had a fabulous time with Zuko, would she be able to have a healthy relationship with him? She had screwed up badly with Aang, and he moved on without her. Would the same happen with Zuko? As these horrifying thoughts flooded her mind while she drifted off to sleep, a small part of her realized what she was doing. Zuko wasn't even in her life yet, and she was already pushing him away.
A/N: Okay, this chapter took a lot of imagination on my part, since I've personally never been on a date in my entire life…I'm only 18 though, so it's not incredibly pathetic yet right? Slowly but surely, they will fall for each other, that much is predictable about this story, but what about Zuko stealing her sketches? Will he still do it? Will Katara find out what his intentions are? Will Azula ruin everything like she does on the show? Only I know these answers, you just have to tune in and find out. I changed where Zuko and Azula are from. It was Vietnam, now it's South Korea, I've gone back and changed previous chapters. Also, I got a review that said "What about Sokka?" well, what about Sokka? I just want everyone to know that I am really considering doing a sequel for Sokka and his problems with Yue and Suki. But that won't come out til this one is over, or almost over. And I have so many more ideas for this story, so it might not be for a while. Although, I am busting out the chapters pretty quickly. Hope everyone likes this, and again, any questions let me know. REVIEW! Thanks!
