"Katara," Zuko said softly and shook her. "Katara wake up, we're at Uncle's tea shop," Zuko said a little louder when she didn't stir. He shook her again, and her eyes snapped open and tears ran out.
"Oh, Zuko! I thought it was real!" Katara said breathlessly, tears running down her ceeks. Zuko gathered her is his arms.
"What was real?" he asked softly. The others were still sleeping, and Aang was waking them up.
"The nightmare. It was Azula the day of the comet. You…died from her lightning saving me. And I couldn't save you…" Katara got choked on her sobs. Zuko was bewildered,m and couldn't think of anything to do. He hadn't ever comforted anyone before. So he sat there holding her until she ran out of tears, which wasn't long. He smugly suspected that this was because she cried so often.
"I'm sorry I ruined your shirt," she eventually whispered. "It was so vivid…it's the first time I've had a nightmare in a long time."
"It was about Azula's lightning?" he asked.
"She sniffled. "Yeah. But it's okay, I'm alright," she dismissed.
"No it's not okay. Azula had no right to do that. She broke Agni Kai rules," Zuko said hotly.
"I know. Thanks for saving me," Katara smiled and stood up. Zuko followed her up.
"And thanks for saving me," Zuko replied, matching her smile. "Aang, I'll show Katara to her room. Find my uncle and he'll show you to your rooms," Zuko told Aang.
"Okay, Zuko. See you tomorrow, Katara!" Aang said.
"Goodnight, Aang," Katara said, and climbed off of the saddle.
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
"Your room is right next to mine," Zuko said in a low voice. He was trying to win Katara's heart, and he had to start somewhere.
"Katara shot him a look, "Of course it is." She rolled her eyes. Zuko led her into the room next to his, but instead of going to his own room he shut the door behind him. "What is this, Zuko? What happened in the tent isn't going to happen again," Katara said, fully serious now.
"I respect that. I just need to tell you something. And I want you to just listen while I say it, and I'm going to ask you a question," Zuko explained. "But I don't want you to answer until we leave Ba Sing Se for our homes. Okay?" He was making it up as he went along, forming a plan in his mind. He would tell her now, and prove it to her until she left for her home.
"Katara, I'm falling in love with you." Katara opened her mouth to speak, but Zuko silenced her with a look. "I know you think you love Aang, but I don't think you do. You said you thought you could love me, and I know you aren't one to say that lightly - even though our lives were at stake. So what I'm asking is, are you falling in love with me?" Katara opened her mouth to try to speak, but Zuko pressed a finger to her lips to quiet. "But like I said, don't answer until we leave for our homes. I plan to spend this trip impressing on you the true extent of my feelings for you. Okay?"
"You do realize you'll have to break up with Mai, right? She's in love with you, she'll be crushed," Katara said.
This caught Zuko off guard. Mai was his backup plan, as much as he hated to admit that. If he broke up with her he didn't know if he'd get her back again. He didn't even know if Katara would choose him. As much as he would love to marry for love, that might not be an option for him.
"Consider us broken up for this vacation. If you aren't falling in love with me, I'll have to be with Mai," Zuko decided.
"Fair enough. Woo me," Katara joked.
Zuko smirked, this was his chance. He swooped in, as if to kiss her lips, but kissed her cheek instead. He stepped back to see the effect. Katara's lips were parted, and her big blue eyes were wide.
"I won't if you don't want me to," Zuko whispered. "Just say the word and I'll go to my own room, and spend the night there." His hands ran down her arms and she shivered. She said nothing. His heart beat fast as he leaned in to close the excruciating distance. He saw her eyes close slowly, before his slid shut. He closed the rest of the space quickly and their lips touched once more.
It wasn't anything like their previous kisses. Those were impassionate, hurried. This was sweet, but definitely not short. The kiss betrayed real feeling between them. Zuko knew for sure now that Katara had lied to him, she could love him. She felt obligated to make Aang happy. Zuko brought his arms around the water bender and brought her closer. She broke the kiss for air, and opened her eyes to look at him.
"You don't have to make him happy, you know," Zuko murmured. He expected her to yell at him for that, but she wrapped her arms around his neck instead.
"I know, but…he loves me so much. I don't want to break his heart…" Katara trailed off, and she looked down. But Zuko's eyes widened in triumph.
"You don't love him?" he said in a low voice full of hope. He had never guessed his feint would have gone this well.
"I don't think so. I mean, I don't think I'm in love with him," she said.
"You don't think so? How could you not be sure!" he said with a little too much force. Katara tried to break away from him but Zuko held on, determined to finish this conversation with her in his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Katara." She still struggled against his grip. "Katara, please!" he begged her to stop. One of his arms loosened and he slid it up to rest on her neck. Zuko planted his lips on her fervently and the struggle ceased immediately, to be replaced with Katara passionately returning the kiss.
Her hands tangled in his shaggy hair and pulled. Zuko groaned and pulled her warm thigh up to wrap around his waist and held it there. After minutes like that Katara had to break the kiss and stop for breath, but Zuko's lips didn't leave her skin. His mouth traveled down her jaw, up to nibble on her ear, and finally down to her neck. Zuko kissed her pulse point and the Water Tribe girl squealed. He smirked and gently ran his teeth over it, earning a gasp from Katara. She tightened her grip on him.
"I can show you what love it. I'll start by sleeping here if you want me to," Zuko whispered. Of course, the Fire Lord had no intention of doing anything more than what they had already done and dishonoring her. She now knew that he wanted her, all that he needed to do now was prove his growing love.
"I most definitely want you to sleep here," Katara said breathlessly.
"Good, I don't want to leave." Zuko guided Katara to her bed and laid her on top of him. "Don't want to crush you," he smirked.
"Please," Katara scoffed and rolled them over. "I can handle it."
"I just thought you'd want to be in control…" Zuko taunted.
"I would usually take that as an insult, but I'm taking your lead right now…so I don't really care," she said. Zuko was hovering above her, not touching her at all. Katara's body strained to make contact with his, and so he settled himself on top of her with his arms holding most of his weight instead of Katara.
"This feels amazing, Zuko…" Katara moaned.
Zuko chuckled darkly. "I'm glad, because this is about as far as it gets tonight."
"Under one condition," Katara said confidently.
"Anything," Zuko said, desperate to keep Katara where she was.
"Take off your shirt. I ruined it, after all," Katara said, and her smile grew as Zuko grinned at her request. Zuko pulled off the simple brown shirt easily, and threw it somewhere on the ground.
"Is that better, my water bender?" Zuko asked playfully.
"I'm not yours, Fire Lord," Katara reminded him.
This didn't disturb Zuko, "Not yet. Will you be mine?"
"I'm not supposed to answer that question for a couple of weeks, I' m going to stick to that promise. Now, where were we?" Katara asked, and pulled Zuko's lips to hers.
Katara's fingers tangled in Zuko's hair once more, and Zuko held himself up while trying not to grind into her. He promised himself that he wouldn't cross the line to dishonoring her tonight, and feeling her core against his would just push him in the wrong direction. He settled for running his hands up and down her sides, learning the curve of her waist.
Zuko broke the kiss this time, but this time he went directly for her neck knowing he'd love the sounds he'd get out of her now. He started by kissing the sensitive spot, making Katara squirm under him. Zuko was glad there was some kind of friction, otherwise he'd have gone crazy. In what some would consider a fortunate turn of events, his groin ended up grinding in between Katara's hips, making her moan and push back.
"We can't…Katara…it makes me crazy…" Zuko said in between steadying breaths. Zuko caught her biting her lower lip, and prepared to tell her it wasn't her fault, when a smoldering look replaced the unsure one.
"I always make you crazy, why stop now?" she asked.
"That's a great point," Zuko replied, and gave her a fiery kiss while she rocked into him.
Katara held herself to him while they rocked into each other, Zuko groaning and Katara moaning. Zuko kissed and sucked on her neck, but this time hard enough to leave a love bruise. Katara's fingers searched lower, and Zuko froze.
"Katara, we should stop," Zuko said breathlessly.
"Mmm…why?" she asked in a sultry voice. Her fingers had poked under his waistband now and were teasing him.
"Because I'm going to lose it, and you'll regret it tomorrow," Zuko told her. Katara gave a dramatic sigh at this, because she knew he was right.
"Fine, but don't leave," she commanded.
"Like I said, I'm sleeping here tonight," Zuko laughed. He pulled down the sheets and the two slipped underneath them, both still breathing heavily. Katara scooted close to him and pressed all of her curves into his body. She laid her head on his chest and wound an arm around his waist.
"Goodnight, Fire Lord," Katara whispered, just realizing she was sleepy.
"Don't call me that," Zuko whispered back.
"Goodnight Zuko," Katara tried again.
"Goodnight my water bender," Zuko smiled at his name on her tongue.
"I'm not yours…" she said tiredly.
"I can only hope," Zuko said, and they both fell asleep.