Zuko breathed in, held the breath for a moment and then released it; the power of fire lies in the breath. Across the clearing, he could see Katara gathering water around her arms. In a normal fight, Zuko would have struck before she could gather her weapon to her. But this wasn't a normal fight. This was a practice session, a time to hone their skills. He would wait until she had as much water as she wanted before he would strike. Zuko didn't have long to wait; Katara made the first move.

They started off simply enough, a few strikes to gauge the other person's strength. The intensity of the fight grew as each strike became faster and more powerful. Soon, the entire clearing was filled with steam as water and fire clashed. It was exhilarating. While it was still practice, and he wasn't striking to really injure or kill, he wasn't holding back either. He enjoyed the fact that he could spar like this with Katara. He didn't need to be careful or gentle. And it was always helpful to spar against a different element, especially one that was so at odds with fire.

The moon was a sliver in the sky. Katara wouldn't be drawing much strength from it, and still Zuko had to give everything he had to keep up. Zuko was once again amazed at her skill, her power. She stopped a mudslide during the day, and now was very close to kicking his ass.


Katara was getting tired. She was giving everything she had to spar with Zuko. She hoped he wasn't holding back. It would be very disappointing to learn that she was barely holding on and he wasn't even breaking a sweat. She need not have worried. At nearly the same instant, they both faltered. Without speaking a word, they both just stopped, coming to a mutual understanding that practice was over. Katara let out a sigh before sitting on the ground. She was tired and at that moment, she didn't care if Zuko knew it.

She hoped Zuko would come and sit with her. She was not disappointed. He slowly made his way over to her, his eyes dark in the scant moonlight. Katara felt her heart speed up and knew she could no longer deny what she was feeling. She was attracted to Zuko and in a way she had never felt before. When he sat next to her and gave her a bright, if tired smile, Katara felt a fluttering in her stomach that was entirely unfamiliar to her. Oh, she had heard the term "butterflies in your stomach" when it came to liking someone. But this was the first time she had actually felt anything that could be described as butterflies. It was a pleasant and unpleasant feeling all at the same time. She felt joy that she found someone who made her feel this way.

But there was Aang to think about.

Katara pushed thoughts of Aang to the back of her head as Zuko settled next to her. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. For Katara, it was a silent meditation, an example of how communication did not always need words.


Zuko was on the verge of a miniature panic attack. Sitting on the grass with Katara at night was far too reminiscent of the wedding and the brief kiss he gave her. She seemed so at ease, unconcerned with the parallels of that night. Zuko didn't know how she could be so calm, because he felt his blood pumping through his veins as though he were still bending and it was all he could do to keep his breathing normal.

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to do more than just kiss her. But he couldn't. She was with the Avatar, and Aang deserved her. No matter what he wanted, Zuko knew he wasn't worthy. He didn't know how much longer he could sit in this torturous silence. He looked over at Katara; she was once again admiring the starts. This situation was eerily close to Mai's wedding. Zuko was tempted to make the similarities even more apparent. They were sitting so close; all he had to do was lean over. And she clearly wasn't angry about him kissing her before. He dared to let himself hope that she didn't mind his kiss at all. In a way, this whole situation would be easier if he had never kissed her in the first place. Being this close to her, inhaling her scent, when he knew exactly how soft her lips were and just how good she tasted was driving him crazy.

But he dared not make another move. He was too late, not that he'd ever had a chance. He certainly couldn't have said anything during the war. She hated him most of the time, and was with the Avatar for the rest. And he was too wrapped up in his own misery to even think about Katara that way. No. He would never have a chance with her. But that didn't mean he couldn't think about kissing her anyway. Not that he would kiss her…again. No matter how much he wanted to.


Katara was content to sit for a while, but now she was getting anxious. Sitting here, next to Zuko, was quickly becoming torture. Katara wasn't used to feeling unsure of herself, but she really had no idea what to do in this situation. Was she supposed to just sit here? Was Zuko going to try and kiss her again? And if he did, was she going to let him? Most of her decided that if he did try to kiss her again, she would put a stop to it. She was with Aang. She couldn't be kissing other people. It was wrong.

But a small part of her knew better. This part knew that if Zuko kissed her again, she would make sure it lasted longer this time. Katara tried to ignore this part of her. Unfortunately she was having some difficulty. Sitting this close to Zuko was wreaking havoc on her emotions. And the longer they sat there, the worse it got. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stalk off back to her tent or have him kiss her. Or maybe she would kiss him this time? But maybe he didn't want to kiss her again? He had been drinking that night. Katara convinced herself that she was the only one having these feelings. It actually made her feel better. Dealing with unrequited love was so much easier that having to actually face feelings and the confrontations that would inevitably result from them. She took a deep breath in, pleased that she had resolved the dilemma.

"Well," Katara wasn't speaking loudly, but after they had been quiet for so long, her voice cut through the night, "I'm exhausted. I think we had both better get some sleep." And with that, she stood, leaving Zuko sitting on the ground. This was for the best, really it was. She walked towards her tent and didn't look back.


Zuko had eventually made his way back to his tent, even if he didn't quite remember making the trip. One minute he was sitting alone in the grass completely baffled, and the next he was pacing in his tent, and absurd idea bouncing around in his brain. There was something he wanted, no needed to do before they got back to the city. Once they got back, he might never get another opportunity like this. The Avatar would return and Katara would leave with him. It made sense. But Aang wasn't here now, and Zuko was going to do something he would probably regret in the morning.

He quietly snuck out of his tent and silently made his way over to Katara's. He spared a moment's thought for how creepy he was being right now, but he dismissed the idea as a necessary consequence. He was just glad Katara was so tired right now. She probably would try to kill him for what he was about to do. Despite everything though, he had to know. So he slipped inside her tent.

She was already sleeping. He glanced around and could see that she clumsily discarded her outer clothing before slipping into her bedroll. He swallowed thickly at the thought of how little she could be wearing right now. He knelt down beside her and shook her gently. As creepy as he was being right now, it would be even creepier if she stayed asleep.

"Katara, I need you to wake up."

She stirred instantly and opened her eyes, concern easy to read within them.

"Zuko…is something wrong?"

"No. Everything's fine."

"What time is it? I feel like I just fell asleep."

Zuko blushed and was glad it was so dark.

"Um," he replied, "it's late. You haven't been sleeping long."

She sighed in irritation. "If nothing's the matter, could this have waited until the morning?"

"No. There's just something I need to know, and if I don't know now, I'll never know. I just…"

"Zuko?" Katara sounded worried. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer her. Instead he reached out and ran his fingers through her hair. She sat all the way up and stared and him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"I just…I wanted to…to know what your hair felt like."

He thought it would be soft, maybe a bit silky. But it was more than that. Her hair ran through his fingertips like water. He threaded his fingers through her tresses once more. Her hair felt better than he imagined.


Katara wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Was she to just sit there and let him finger comb her hair? Should she kick him out? At least he had stopped. He had his hands in his lap now and he looked extremely embarrassed. Katara thought it was adorable.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Katara, I-"

She didn't let him finish. Instead she reached out and gently cupped his cheek in her hand. Her thumb brushed over the bottom part of his scar. He closed his eyes. Katara, not quite sure what she was doing, leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was similar to the one they shared at Mai's wedding. But when Zuko moved to pull away and break the kiss, something snapped in Katara. He wasn't going to keep doing this to her! She moved her hand from his cheek to the back of his head and crashed their lips back together. For one agonizing instant, he didn't respond. But then he wrapped one hand around her waist and tangled the other one in her hair.

The kiss was deep, and had just a hint of desperation. Katara gasped into Zuko's mouth when he pulled her body flush against his. Heat flooded Katara's entire body. The kiss slowed and they broke for much needed air. Katara was breathing heavily and was pleased to see Zuko was breathless as well. He had a questioning look in his eyes, but whatever was showing in her face obviously pleased him. He smiled slightly before leaning back in and planting a kiss along her jaw. Her eyes fluttered close. He moved from her jaw to the side of her neck and…

Oh.

She could get used to this.


A/N: Question: What has two thumbs and finally found her missing flash drive with this story on it? THIS GIRL!