Well, she got her way.
The summit ended successfully with all the key agendas fulfilled to everyone's expectations. Republic City is to remain independent from the Earth Kingdom. They will pay taxes to the Earth Kingdom, however. Which was, quite frankly, unavoidable. Because Republic City is independent from the Four Nations they will have their own currency as well. The summit achieved what he planned for it to achieve.
Which means she will go back soon.
Zuko looked out the window at the harbour. Her ship would be leaving tomorrow morning. He hadn't the chance to meet her privately after the summit; not when the customary dinner was served with all the ambassadors and their entourage present. During dinner he watched her as she talked animatedly to one of the Earth Kingdom's large entourage, a boy that she recognised as one they'd travelled with way back when. She commented on how he looked markedly different with his long hair and moustache and he smoothly countered it by saying she looked even more beautiful than he remembered.
Zuko clenched his jaw as she smiled at the boy gracefully, laughing him off easily. In accordance to the cycle of elements, Katara was seated between the Air Nomad, with her two Air Acolytes and the rest of the Earth Kingdom entourage. Which meant that Ambassador Fook was seated on his right.
He watched as Katara switched her attention to the astonishingly young Air Acolyte on her left, her demeanour friendly but not as cool as her attitude was with Ambassador Yee-Li this morning.
"You're very young to be accompanying an ambassador," he heard her say, her voice wafting over the general chatter smoothly.
He couldn't hear what the Air Acolyte responded with when Ambassador Fook turned to him and tried to strike a conversation. Zuko clenched his glass and schooled his face to neutral interest as he forced himself to listen to the ambassador's meaningless chatter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Katara bend the water out of her glass smoothly and the Acolyte laughed, clapping his hands. The dinner lasted for quite some time and they all dispersed to their respective quarters to rest. Tomorrow his guests would be leaving; one by one.
The sky was red as fire and it rained blood. The rain was hot and sticky as it hit his skin. He was in an offensive stance that could easily be switched to defensive, should the need arise.
He had a hand out stiffly, fingers pointed at her. "No lightning today?" he heard himself say. But his voice sounded strangely different to him. "What's the matter?" He felt his limbs move smoothly into the redirection stance. "Afraid I'll redirect it?"
She bent into the stance he knew so well. "Oh, I'll show you lightning!" she screeched. He was ready to redirect it and missed the tics in her crazed eyes as she took her aim and struck.
Slowly, like the lightning bolt was moving through honey, he watched as it streaked across the yard, its point sharp as an arrow. Uncomprehendingly, he watched as it streaked by him harmlessly. He thought his sister might be more unhinged than he thought when the thought struck him with more force than the lightning would've. Fear seizing his face, he watched as the lightning streaked by him to the girl behind him. The blue lightning lit up her blue eyes and they reflected the light like a cat. Her eyes were wide as her mouth dropped open in shock.
He twisted his feet towards her and tried to run towards her and he felt his feet begin to move forward sluggishly, like he was running in mud. He had to reach her before the lightning. He had to get to her. He stretched out his hands as far as they could go. "No!"
The more he stretched, the further she became and the lightning slammed against her chest before his very eyes, lifting her off the ground as she was flung backwards. She didn't even have time to scream. He watched helplessly as she arced in the air gracefully, her blue clothing stark against the angry sky, and she landed heavily on the ground, sounding uncomfortably like a sack of meat.
Time returned to normal and he sprinted towards her. He tried to scream her name but his tongue became too thick.
He turned her over and she turned to ice in his hands; ice that cracked as he turned it over. He ran a hand gently over her frozen cheek as he gazed into her soulless icy eyes and winced as it cracked too.
A pair of pointed boots came up from behind him and stopped opposite him as he cradled the blue girl on his lap.
"Oh, poor Zuzu," came the cold, cruel voice. "Did I hurt you?" She bent down, grasped his hair and forced him to look at her. Zuko glared at her and gnashed his teeth, afraid to move any more than that lest he broke the blue girl more.
But that was enough. Azula threw her head back and screeched her laughter to the red heavens as they poured down more blood. He watched his sister as flames sprang up from the ground at her feet and engulfed her as she continued laughing maniacally, burning her up until she was ash that crumbled and blew up to join the bloody rain, her laughter ringing in his ears.
Zuko was sitting up before he was even fully awake, the scream in his throat suffocating him. It took a while for him to realise where he was. When he did, he looked around his bed, the sheets rumpled and soaked with sweat. He placed his tightly clenched fists to his face and crumpled forward, a long agonised moan escaping his lips. He stayed that way for a while, breathing in deeply to steady himself.
When he was calm enough, he took a deep breath and sat up straight, squinting against the gloom of the room. His curtains were still drawn. Which meant the servants haven't come in yet. He eyed a pair of curtains that weren't properly closed and saw a sliver of sunlight stream in. Remembering himself, he threw the damp sheets off him and threw the nearest curtains open, wincing against the bright light.
Dawn was long gone.
Seized with sudden panic, he grabbed his dressing robe from the back of a chair, stuffed his arms in the sleeves and fairly ran through the corridors.
Please don't let him be too late, he thought.
He reached her door and without preamble, threw it open, his eyes already searching.
At first glance the room seemed to be empty and he couldn't stop the wave of crushing disappointment.
But that was before he heard her.
"Zuko!"
He turned his head and saw her silhouette behind a lattice screen. He saw her quickly stuff her head through the top and stuff her arms into her sleeves before rounding the lattice screen to greet him.
"I'm so glad you're awake!" she enthused, a genuine smile on her face even as her long hair was unpinned and rumpled. "I was afraid that I'd have left before we could see each other again."
Barely registering the actions of his own body, Zuko crossed the room and before he knew it he was facing her and she was looking up at him in confusion.
"Zuko?" He tried to ignore the way his spirit lifted at the lilt of her voice as she said his name. "What-"
Before she could finish her sentence he bent down, slipped a hand behind her head and kissed her fiercely, almost desperately as the force of his advance threw her off balance and she tripped backwards and slammed into the lattice screen. She nearly stumbled backwards even further before he brought her to him and steadied her.
Initially, he felt her body stiffen and she gasped in surprise into his mouth but he greedily swallowed that small intake of air. He moved his lips against hers and groaned as she responded. She was here. She was real. He couldn't stop himself from stroking her wherever he could, his fingers wild and quick against her skin as she moaned.
He felt her warm lips move against his before she let out a sigh and tilted her head back, kissing him back and deepening the kiss with a moan of her own. If his spirit lifted at the sound of her voice as it shaped his name, it fairly soared at her reaction to his lips. He opened his mouth to allow her tongue easier access, which she took to her fullest advantage.
He trapped her lower lip between his lips and nibbled on it, eliciting another moan from her as his tongue flicked at it as he was nibbling on it. His hands had moved from the back of her head to her hips as he tried to bring her closer to him, even though she'd done that just fine on her own. She brought a hand up to caress his face but when she touched his scar she felt him jolt and stiffen. She pulled away from him and bored her eyes into his.
His eyes watched hers for a moment before he closed them and looked away. Furrowing her brow, she gently pulled his face to her and planted a gentle kiss right where the tissue bunched the most, right where he tried to pull away from her. Keeping him firmly in place, she whispered his name as she planted light butterfly kisses at the places where he felt the ugliest, her fingers deft and quick as they lightly stroked.
"Katara," Zuko whispered as he tried to pull away. What was he doing?
Not to be defeated, especially since he had woken her so, she firmly pulled his face to meet her eyes. "I don't care," she replied as she brought his lips to her own. Katara ran her hands up his back before tangling her fingers in his long hair, darker than her own. She breathed deeply through her nose, inhaling his scent as she instinctively lifted a leg and wrapped it around his hip to bring him even closer to her.
He groaned as his inhibitions faded away like smoke in the wind. He ground into her gently and she threw her head back in ecstasy as she elicited small, quick gasps. Greedily, he dipped his head down and nibbled on her neck, his tongue flicking against the seam where her necklace met her skin. He was rewarded with a low moan as she tightened her grip on him to steady herself. Sensing the predicament she was in, he opened his eyes a bit to get his bearings and gently guided her to a wall, which was arguably much more stable than the lattice screen. There he put one hand on the wall to steady himself as he ran his tongue over her collarbone and his other hand found a breast and started to tease her through her clothes. Katara gasped as her body arched toward him, pressing her chest against his hand as she did.
He thumbed her nipple through her top and she gave out another gasp as his mouth traced invisible patterns behind her ear and down to her neck. She ran her hands up and down his back feverishly before noticing that he never bothered tying his robe. Putting her hands on his shoulders she ran a finger underneath the edge of the robe and pushed it off his shoulders, where it hung around his arms.
Pulling back from her he shrugged off the offending piece of clothing. But before he could continue, she grabbed his head towards her and kissed him back in equal fervour, a growl rumbling in her chest, startling him a little. Katara's knee lifted slightly as she placed it between his legs and moved it slowly forwards and backwards, sending Zuko over the moon. This was what she felt like, what she tasted like. He rolled his neck backwards as she trailed butterfly kisses down his pulse, nipping lightly as she did.
He hooked a finger under her chin before she could go any further and gazed into her eyes, marvelling at how glazed they were. She faced his gaze steadily, as he knew she would, as she always have; her gaze unflinching and unafraid. He quirked a corner of his mouth and wound his fingers sneakily around the drawstring of her trousers, yanking them undone in one smooth motion, shocking her. She let out a small gasp as he brought her lips to his, effectively silencing her. He slipped a finger right at the centre of her legs, unashamedly parting her lips with his fingers.
"Zuko!" Katara gasped in shock as she attempted to pull away.
He flicked a thumb over her pearl and she gasped his name again, this time more of a whine as he delved his fingers into her core and rubbed her with the heel of his palm. He watched her twist underneath him with wonder, her body twisting and undulating like the water she so easily controls. She gasped and keened as his fingers explored the most intimate parts of her. Suddenly, one hand flew to grip his shoulder and the other slapped against the wall as she arched her back, grounding her mound into his hand as she finally released, drenching his quick fingers. She bent forward weakly, spent.
Feeling very much unlike himself, he lowered his hands to her behind and lifted her up, grinding into her as he did. She moaned his name breathlessly as she threw her arms around his head to steady herself. Zuko found a low dresser and pushed the sparse knick knacks off unceremoniously before he placed her on it. Now she was eye to eye with him as she moaned his name into his ear over and over again, her nails making new lines down his pale back, her breath sweet in his ear. Sometimes her hair would get in the way of their feverish kisses and sometimes it was his. But neither of them cared as they tasted each other for the first time.
Katara ground herself against him coaxingly and Zuko gritted his teeth, refusing to relent as the sensation of her so close to the one place he needed her. Finally, he had to pull away, both of them gasping and panting like they'd battled an entire platoon on their own. Katara placed her forehead gently on his, breathing hard, her heavy breathing mingling with his.
They remained that way for a while, her sitting on the dresser with arms around his neck and him standing with his hands on her hips, both of their chests heaving.
"You have no idea," Katara whispered as she tried to control her shaking, "how long I've been wanting to do that."
Her words sent a jolt through Zuko. "Then stay," he murmured, unable to meet her eyes. He could feel her head move and felt her gaze on him as shock came off her in waves. "You don't have to go back," he continued, finally forcing himself to look into her eyes. Gold meets blue.
He could see the immense joy that crossed her face give way to sadness. "I can't," she said finally.
Another jolt ran down his spine. "Can't or won't?"
She considered the question for a moment. "Both."
He pulled away from her then, staring into her eyes. Her eyebrows are set. He knew that look. "What do you mean?" he asked as he searched her face.
She met his gaze unflinchingly. "I have a duty for me at the South Pole and you have a duty to the Fire Nation."
"There's no harm in doing both," he argued.
She closed her eyes slowly, as if she was in pain, and shook her head slowly. "It's not our time, Zuko." Her voice quavered and he could see how hard she was trying to control herself. "The Fire Nation is not ready to have a Water Tribe Queen," the words she said were forced out of her mouth, dropping like stones between them.
"They don't have to be ready, they just have to accept it," he said fiercely, his eyes blazing like the stubborn embers in a dying hearth.
Katara shook her head sadly. "We did not end a war just to start a new one." She felt her eyes beginning to water and she scrunched them tight. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, though," she whispered as she placed her hands on either side of his face gently, forcing a smile even as her voice cracked.
He was silent for a long time as he considered this. His first reaction was to feel the flames of anger leap up and threaten to consume him. But time had given him patience and he smothered the angry flames. She was right, of course; and he knew it, even as the flames of anger tried to burn away his reasoning. How he just wished it wasn't so. "Neither do I." Taking his hands off of her hips, he reached out behind her and slowly took off her necklace. "Let me give you something to remember me by," he growled into her neck.
Katara was from the South Pole and should be used to the cold. But for some reason, the winds were extra biting today, and she hasn't even left the Fire Nation port. She pulled her light jacket around herself as she scanned the crowd for him. He stood out in his cape and hood. But she knew that she would still know him without it. She knew that her eyes would always seek his.
She placed a hand on the pendant of her necklace for reassurance. Then her hand slid to the side, at the place where she knew there was an angry red mark. The place where he had marked her. It nestled underneath the band of her necklace, hidden from view. Unless if you knew where to look.
The boat gave a mighty bellow and they began moving forward. The boat was slow at first but she knew that they would pick up speed when they reached open water.
Her eyes sought his and she raised her hand, waving it around in fervour. She saw his receding figure raise an arm and wave back in a more sedated manner. The cold grew worse the further away they went.
Two lovers, forbidden from one another,
A war divides their people.
You're out.