Aang sees her on the training grounds. It's not like he was looking for her, not really that is.

He is at a distance but he can make out how fluid her motions are as she flows through her katas. The elegant twist of her hips before a kick and the smooth movement of her arms as she strikes draw his attention.

It doesn't help that her outfit reveals wide expanses of creamy flawless skin; skin which has drawn his eye more than it should. Her chest heaves drawing his eyes to curves he can't quite forget, but has every reason he should. As he draws closer his eyes trace beads of sweat that run down the delicate slope of her neck.

It's times like these he wishes he had someone he could talk to. Someone that wasn't his girlfriend's brother or the brother of the girl he's having highly inappropriate thoughts about. Aang's not even sure what he would say if he did have someone to speak with that was unbiased.

When he's close enough to see how the fabric stretches across her hips as she moves, he stops and waits. Azula doesn't disappoint. She never does.

"Please tell me you're here to spar."Her golden eyes are bright and curious. They sweep over his yellow robes in a disappointed way. "Though you are a bit overdressed."

He tries to ignore the way she walks towards him. The swaying hips and determined look in her eye should concern him.

"The heat is a bit stifling." Aang strives to sound reserved even though she is close enough that he can count the droplets of sweat on her neck.

"Isn't it just." She purrs, breasts still heaving with exertion. Deft fingers trace a line over his robes and begin to work at the ties. "Spar with me." Her voice drops lower as the heavy layer of his outer robe falls away.

Aang stills her hands as they begin to work on his shirt and the look of disappointment on her face pulls at something inside of him so he undoes the ties himself and slips it off.

Standing half dressed in front of a barely dressed Azula should feel strange but it doesn't. Her eyes light up as they sweep up and down. She licks her lips and he begins to feel out of his depth.

"Pick an element." She frowns at him. "It's hardly fair for me to use all four." Aang explains, ignoring the way she pouts at him.

Ruby red lips part in a smile. "Not at all, Avatar. I've been dying for a challenge. Zuko's heart just isn't in it lately."

Aang has a rather good idea about what Zuko's heart has been into lately but this is not the time to think about the Fire Lord.

"If you're sure, Princess." He tries to sound unaffected.

Azula is always sure. "I am."

They bow to each other and square off.

Azula strikes first with a wide arc of blue flames that licks at his feet. He counters with a blast of air that blows those flames back at her. She breaks the arc and hurls discs of fire instead.

Every one of her attacks is precise, controlled, and so eerily familiar. It's not that he forgot what a formidable opponent the Fire Nation Princess is but he forgot what it was like to be so challenged. Few benders are as good as he is and the ones that can match him are close friends that he has sparred with for so long that there is little challenge anymore.

Azula challenges him and more. Eventually, she beats him back enough that she is within reach so he opts for a different approach. The surprised "O" of her lips when he throws her to the ground is appealing on so many levels but even in hand to hand combat she is difficult to beat. Azula flips him and pins his wrists: eyes yellow and shining, heavy hot breaths mingle with his own and heaving breasts barely covered in water soaked bindings in front of his eyes.

Azula's physically strong but Aang's stronger and he easily pushes against her arms forcing her to scrabble against him for leverage. He rolls her and pins her wrists to the ground while she wraps her legs around him and tries to roll him again. With his Earth Bending, Aang holds firm and Azula tires herself out trying to dislodge him.

She lays underneath him breathing hard, heart pounding, skin searing. Aang's not unaffected either. He's breathing just as hard. His heart is matching her beat for beat. His skin singed from the heat pouring off her body.

Just when he's about to let go and declare victory, Azula strikes again. Her lips are firm, warm and demanding against his. At first, he hesitates, but his brain catches up and quickly he's matching her fervor. When her hips roll against his, he pushes back. He answers her moan with one of his own. One of his hands find its way into her hair as the kiss deepens. Her free hand then burns into his back as she pulls herself up against him pressing sweat-slicked bare skin to his. She's matching him bit by bit and he can feel what little self control he has slipping.

A crack of thunder shakes the ground and breaks the spell they are under. It's the rainy season in the Fire Nation and the archipelago is frequently doused with violent rainstorms. The storms hit hard and fast much like Azula's lightening strikes or her kisses.

As the rain pours down on them, Aang stares down at the woman beneath him. The surprise shines in her eyes as well. The line they have crossed is as bright as the flashes of fire in the sky. He begins to move away but she grabs him bringing warm full lips to his again. He resists but she licks and nibbles until he feels the answering heat rising inside of him. It's useless to fight against something as powerful and alluring as Azula. That's what he tells himself when the barely there cloth across her breasts is ripped away by his own hands or how he gasps when her hand tears his pants to grasp him.

There is nothing gentle about the way her nails dig into his shoulders while the rain pounds down on them both. He's not tender when he strips away the last of her clothing and lays her bare to his eyes and hands. She isn't delicate when she tells him exactly what she wants him to do to her. It may even have been an order but it is one Aang knows he will follow.

It's rough, harsh, and demanding. The drops of rain are cool on his heated skin but Azula's core is molten around him as he sinks into her. She arches her back, pressing firm naked breasts against his chest. The sensation of breaking her barrier almost makes him stop but her soft gasps and pleadings spur him onward. It's foolish to think he can tame her but he wants to try. He might die trying to subdue the woman that once pulled him right out of the sky with the electricity that flows so easily through her skin. It may not be a bad way to go.

With each thrust, an energy pulses under his skin, just licking at the edges of his awareness and the sky roars in reply. He's sinking deeper and deeper inside her as white flashes of lightening tear through blackened skies and the rolling thunder rumbles the ground underneath them.

Aang's rapidly losing control and the elements scream around them. The howling winds blow fiercely. The water sizzles against their skin as it falls in sheets soaking the ground. Azula's as lost as he is and the keening sound of her voice calling to him is swallowed in the tempest.

Something gives. It always does. Azula comes apart underneath him. It's such an incredible sight that for one brief moment the storm stills as he watches the lightening flashing in her wild golden eyes but he's soon chasing after her and the storm crashes back down with a sharp, violent vengeance. A final snap of electricity is all it takes. The bright white light flashes before his eyes and he comes apart as well.

The last streak of lightening cracks across the clouds and the thunder gently shakes the ground under them before slowly receding into the darkened skies. The rain, no longer furious and pounding, continues to fall in a tender caress. The wind dies to a slow breeze. He finds her lips, savoring her taste. His lungs burn; starved for his own element. Warm hands caress her curves almost apologetically. Gray eyes seeking out the already forming bruises. He wasn't gentle, was incapable of being gentle. Azula didn't want him to be.

His clothes are muddied and soaked. Her clothes are just ruined. She pulls him into the tiny outbuilding on the outskirts of the training grounds, far away from the palace and those contained within its walls.

While the rain continues to fall outside, she leads him into the shower. He's gentler this time and takes his time really exploring what she has to offer. It's no surprise that Azula is a quick learner and when the winds kick up outside and the lightening crashes around them again he realizes that she will be the one to break him first. He's at her mercy and as she surrounds him in her heated flesh again he finds he doesn't mind. He wants to be broken. He wants to be broken by her.

It's not until the storm dies down that the guilt of what they have done finds him. They lie side by side in the tiny bedroom of the building, skin flushed and touching. The weight of guilt is almost crushing. Suddenly Azula's warm hands are on his face, her eyes blazing in the dark of the room, thighs already straddling his hips.

"No regrets." She whispers against his lips as she begins to move above him and around him.

It's an order he's not sure he can follow.

ooooo

Zuko watches the storm rage outside his open office door. The sky is dark but the flashes of lightning are nearly blinding. The harsh sound of the rain splattering on the stones outside beats a chaotic staccato that is nearly lulling. The Fire Lord stares out in the haze of the water in the air and contemplates his life.

"Is it usually this bad?" it's the voice of an angel speaking softly.

She stands off to the side of the couch, blue eyes wide staring out the door to the chaos outside.

"This is worse than usual actually. I've not seen a storm this bad before." He could tell her it's nothing and alleviate some of her worries but he's tired of hiding things.

Katara sits beside him, eyes laced with concern. She turns the same concerned look to him.

"I'm worried about you, Zuko." She bites her lip as she watches him.

He smiles. "There's nothing to worry about, Katara." His life has actually mellowed a great deal. Zuko's starting to feel in control of it again.

"I wouldn't have come if I wasn't." She won't let it go.

He knows better than to think she would.

"What are you worried about?" Zuko reaches out and takes her hand in his.

"Azula." Her blue eyes darken and she all but spits the name.

Zuko looks away from the anger in her eyes and focuses instead on tracing the back of her hand with his thumb. He has had to defend his decision concerning Azula to everyone. Mai doesn't understand. His advisers don't understand. Uncle doesn't even understand. They don't see Azula for what she is. Only what they think she is.

"Azula and I have an understanding." It's more than that but Zuko is reluctant to reveal details.

Her other hand covers his. "The understanding that she'll kill you?" It's only about half sarcastic.

He sighs. "I know my sister. She's the only person outside of my friends that I can trust."

The room fills with Katara's laugh and the lightening cracks outside in protest. She shakes her head as they watch the thunderbolts streak through the sky.

"Where was this understanding before when she tried to kill you?" Katara's words are laced with bitter anger. "I healed you myself, remember?"

He meets her eyes and answers quietly. "I do remember." Zuko remembers more than she thinks he does. He remembers her tears and her tender kisses; the soft pleas for him to fight and to survive. "Azula is loyal to the Fire Lord." The Fire Lord could be anyone but for now it is Zuko.

Katara looks away from him shaking her head. She wants so badly to rail and argue but right now she doesn't have it in her.

Her eyes focus on the storm as it rages outside. The thunder shakes the palace, knocking loose bits of masonry, jarring tea cups on the table. The deluge will bring flooding and briefly she wonders if anyone is outside in the downpour.

"Is it dangerous?" Her eyes lose focus as she watches her own element beat down furiously.

"It can be." There are so many things right now that are dangerous, Zuko thinks, the woman next to him for one.

He loves Mai. He really does but Mai is cold and distant.

Katara is warm and full of life. She is open. She makes him want to be open.

"Are you happy?" His question catches her off guard and the surprise shines in her eyes.

She furrows her brow at him. "What do you mean?"

Happiness can mean so many different things to different people.

"You either are or you aren't." His golden eyes are burning into hers.

"I don't know." Katara whispers. "I think that sometimes I'm just doing what everyone expects me to do but it's not what I really want." These are thoughts she has kept to herself but wanted to write to him so many times.

He laces his fingers with hers. "If you could do it over again, would you?" Azula's taunts about his decisions have hit uncomfortably close.

The question is loaded with so many layers that she nearly wants to cry. Katara has regrets, too many to count.

She loves Aang but something feels off about it. There isn't the burning passion to be more. When she dreams of a future, it's not him at her side. It's not right. She shouldn't yearn for a man she can't have.

"It's useless to try to change the past." It's a neutral answer. She's not sure what else to say.

The lightning flashes shine in his golden eyes as Zuko decides it's time he listened to his sister.

"You can change the future."

It's the last thing Katara hears before Zuko's lips cover hers.

Can you tell I was in a metaphorical frame of mind when I wrote this part?