Title: The Taming of the Shrew
Author: setlib
Rating: T-rated for language and sexual content
Setting: Alternate Universe – modern high school, no bending
Pairings: Zuko x Katara
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Summary: Zuko and Katara are seniors in high school. He teases her, then ignores her. She despises him. But when Zuko's father kicks him out of the house and he has to move in with his hippie Uncle Iroh, he begins to see Katara in a new light. But as the bard warned, "the course of true love never did run smooth."

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The Taming of the Shrew, Chapter 10: Foreshadowing

I am such an asshole.

I had tried so hard not to spook Katara. I'd bitten my tongue while she ran her clever little fingers all over my body. I'd kept my hands to myself while she stared at my cock under that thin white towel with a potent mixture of embarrassment and curiosity. I hadn't tried to touch her when she leaned over me, her breasts inches from my face, her hair tickling my chest, her pink lips parted. If I had made a move, she would have panicked and backed away. But by lying still and letting her take the lead, letting her discover the strength of her own arousal, all I had to do was wait and she would come to me. I swear, if that damned timer hadn't rung, she would have kissed me for sure. She would have thrust those sweet breasts into my hands, climbed up on the table, spread her legs and slipped my cock inside her….well, maybe not. That last part was probably wishful thinking. I was going to spend a lot of time tonight imagining every possible way that session could have ended, most of which involved her naked and screaming my name.

Considering how turned on I was, I deserved a fucking medal for holding it together that long. When that timer went off and she pulled away from me, I wanted to chase after her, grab her by the hair, and drag her back to the table. Instead I managed to walk away, putting some distance between us. But all that tension found a different release, in the form of biting comments and cruel insinuations. There she was, so aroused she was ready to throw herself at me, and with a few words I managed to infuriate her to the point she probably never wanted to see me again. I realized I had no choice.

I was going to have to apologize.

I finished getting dressed, gingerly easing my pants over my still raging erection, and walked over to the window overlooking the ocean. I leaned my head against the cool glass, taking a few deep breaths, trying to get a grip on myself. Had I just destroyed the fragile truce I had worked so hard to build? Was I ever going to get her to treat me as a friend again? Well, I wasn't going to find out by hiding up here. Time to face the music. Or in this case, the shrew.

I slipped on my shirt and shoes and headed downstairs. I half expected her to have run away, but there she was, leaning against the desk in the lobby, arms crossed, five feet of pissed off female waiting for me. Let the groveling begin.

"Katara, I'm so sorry." Surprise flashed across her face. I guess I'd acted badly around her so often that she'd come to expect it. Is that really what I was like? "I was a total jerk. You have every right to be angry at me."

"I'm not angry," she said in that cold, tight voice that women only used when they were really angry. "You're a client who paid for a service. No more, no less."

Ouch. "I'd like to think that I'm more than just a client to you, Katara. I thought we were friends."

"Friends treat each other with respect."

I nodded my head. "You're right. I screwed up. I was just, well – turned on, and frustrated, and I didn't handle it well. I wouldn't go talking to the guys on the team about you. I don't even know why I said that. I really am sorry."

She sighed. "I think I owe you an apology, too. I overreacted."

"It was my fault you were upset."

"Well, yes, it was your fault. But I could have handled it better."

"So do you forgive me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Okay. I forgive you."

"Does that mean I get a hug?"

"Don't press your luck."

Just then someone walked into the room carrying a plate of candy or something. I did a double-take when I realized who it was. "Aunt Jun! Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Well, 'hello' to you, too, Zuko. I work here part-time."

I nodded awkwardly. Jun was the last person I expected to run into this morning. Father would go ballistic if he saw her. I can't count the number of times he had lectured Azula and me about our responsibility to represent the family name with honor, using Uncle Iroh's pathetic degenerate lifestyle, including his choice of wife, as an example of the shame we were to avoid at all costs.

"Katara, these chocolates are divine!" She picked up one and bit into it, groaning as she chewed. "I've got a friend who owns an erotic bakery in San Francisco. She would definitely be interested in these."

"What in the world is an erotic bakery?" Katara asked.

"Oh, you know. They specialize in cakes shaped like penises, edible underwear, that sort of thing. Like, for bachelorette parties."

Katara was turning a faint shade of pink. "Why on earth would they want my chocolates?"

Jun raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you shape them like this on purpose?"

"Like what?"

I raised a hand to my mouth and coughed to stifle my laughter. I had just gotten out of trouble with Katara not thirty seconds ago. No way was I going to comment.

Jun laughed. "Katara, these chocolates are shaped like boobs! The little cherries even look like nipples!"

Katara leaned over the plate, frowning, and then gasped. "Ohmygod. I didn't realize!"

"What were you going to call these?"

"I hadn't decided on a name yet. Don't worry, I'll make them a different shape!"

"Why? These have so much marketing potential, especially if you name them right." Jun popped the rest of the candy into her mouth. "You could make a sign, like, 'Grab a pair of Katara's Breasts.' That would get business."

Okay, I'm human. I couldn't stop myself. My shoulders shook with laughter as I took one of the chocolates. "Personally, I prefer 'Come and lick Katara's Nipples.' It's very tempting." I waited until she looked at me and then ran my tongue along the top while her eyes widened.

Katara set her jaw and then looked over at the chocolates with a gleam in her eye. She picked one up and then glanced back at me. "I thought you might enjoy 'Eat Katara's Cherry' even more." Her pink tongue darted out and swiped the dried cherry off the top, then she gave me a saucy little smile. I grinned back. There's my girl.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs again and I quickly set the chocolate back on the plate and wiped off my fingers, standing up straight. Jun froze like a deer in the headlights, without enough time to make a run for it. My father came down the stairs and into the room, some old hippie trailing behind him. I knew the moment he saw Jun – his eyebrow raised questioningly, his mouth stretching into a sneer.

"Don't you perform background checks on your employees?" he said to the old guy. "I'm afraid I have to question your judgment in letting ex-felons work here."

Jun snorted. "It was a misdemeanor, as you well know, because not all of us can afford to bribe the cops when we get caught with a bag of weed."

"Well, you can be sure we won't be coming here again." He glanced at Katara, looking her up and down. "We're used to much higher quality service than you're capable of providing."

He left the lobby, heading out to the Bentley, and although I knew I had to follow him quickly, I couldn't leave without saying something to ease the stunned silence in the room. "I'm sorry. He doesn't mean to be rude. He's just—"

"An arrogant asshole who doesn't care about anyone's feelings," Jun finished for me.

I started to leave but Katara reached out to grab my arm. I looked at her in surprise and she blushed, then dropped her hand. "See you Monday," she said.

"Sure. See you Monday." I walked out to the car and climbed in.

Father peeled out of the parking lot without saying anything. I was too irritated to risk speaking. It was bad enough I had to spend the morning watching him suck up to his industry cronies during our golf game. He was considering a run for governor of California in two years and was already trying to secure major corporate donors. One of the CEOs playing with us had brought his son, so Father brought me. Like an accessory.

After we were on the highway, he spoke. "So that's why you wanted to go there."

Baiting me again. I waited.

"Who is she?"

"Jun? My Aunt?"

"Not her, you idiot. The girl who grabbed your arm. Is she the reason you've been neglecting Mai?"

"I – I haven't been neglecting –"

"Azula tells me you've been ignoring her. Now I know why. The girl's pretty, in a coarse kind of way, I'll give you that. So, how much did you pay her?"

"A hundred dollars."

He laughed. "Pretty expensive for a hand job, don't you think?"

"She didn't do anything like that!"

"Look, I understand. Every man needs a little release. But you don't flaunt it in front of your girlfriend by fucking someone as the same school." He pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial. "There's an excellent local service I like to use. Very discreet. I'll have them send someone to the house for you tonight."

"I don't want one of your whores!"

He glanced at me and snapped his phone shut. "Oh, I see. It's like that, is it? You think this girl's special?"

I didn't answer. I had already said too much. He was going to make me regret it.

"What do you think that girl sees when she looks at you? Hmmm? A big, fat, paycheck. All she needs to do is get knocked up and it's like winning the lottery. She's nothing but a gold-digging little piece of trash."

My blood was pounding in my head, my jaw clenched, but I didn't take the bait.

He smiled. "Maybe I should go there again by myself sometime and check her out a little more thoroughly. If she worked you over this good for a hundred dollars, I wonder what she'd do for me for a thousand?"

I whipped my head around to look at him and my hands curled into fists. I wanted to punch him right in his artificially whitened teeth. I wanted to wipe that sneer off his face. But I realized his insults had a familiar ring to them. Hadn't I said something similar to Katara when I was angry? How could I be so disgusted by what my Father said and yet, when pushed, act exactly like him?

He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the steering wheel. "Perhaps I haven't made myself clear." Each word fell from his lips, cold and heavy as ice, and chilled me to the bone. "You are forbidden to speak to that girl again. Azula will be watching you, to make sure you're paying proper attention to your girlfriend. If you disobey me, you will regret it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." I swallowed my anger, closed my eyes to block out his smug expression. After trying so hard to get Katara to accept me as a friend, I was going to have to cut her out of my life completely.

I really am an asshole.