Okay! Chapter Eleven! (:
So I'm noticing a pattern. I am getting all of my ideas late late at night.
Which means I'm super tired when I write these.
So there are probably several mistakes.
If something doesn't make sense, please tell me! And I will fix it for you!
Otherwise~
enjoy (:
She led her friend Zuko across the dried river bed and up the other side of the embankment. When they had reached the dirt path they covered themselves up to disguise themselves from any fire nation soldiers should they pass them.
They had small conversations but for the most part they both stayed quiet. Katara looked around enjoying the scenery and the way the birds chirped and the sun danced upon the leaves. She smiled and thought how wonderful it was that even through war nature was still so beautiful. She turned to Zuko to see what her companion was doing and noticed that his eyes were focused straight ahead and his stoic mask was in place.
She wondered if the young prince ever allowed himself a moment to enjoy what was around him. She wanted to grab his hand and hold it with her own; to feel his warmth and to feel his body touch hers. She blushed. She knew where her train of thought was leading.
"Katara" Zuko spoke suddenly as his arm shot out around her and pulled her into the brush that was along the dirt road. "Shhh" He said placing a finger in front of her mouth. He looked back towards the road and saw several fire nation soldiers walk by. He looked back at Katara whose eyes were wide with fear. He had never seen her scared before. He was slightly shocked.
Zuko pulled her closer to him and she didn't object. He hid them both from view by hiding behind the biggest tree that they happened to be by. His back was against the tree and Katara was against him, facing him. They both breathed short shallow breaths, both afraid of being discovered and both heady with desire.
They sat there staring at each other. Zuko held her close to him to keep her from falling but also because he wanted her close to him. He wanted to feel her body against his in a way that he hadn't. Her arms were around his neck; she had no memory of putting them there but she believed she had put them there to steady herself. Their faces were merely inches apart, their breathing harmonious.
Zuko broke the spell by looking behind him. Something had told him to check to make sure the coast was clear. When he looked he saw dust settling but no boots. He smiled with relief and turned back to Katara.
Her arms were no longer around his neck but against his chest pushing away from him. She stood up and looked beyond their hiding spot. Her legs were slightly wobbly from all of the desire coursing through her but she managed to take a step and then another.
"Who do you think that was?" Katara asked. She didn't need to turn around to see if Zuko was behind her, she could feel his heat radiating all around her.
"It was probably a small scouting party for a general or colonel. We should be fine from here though because they send a messenger hawk from their new location and wait for whomever they scouted ahead for. So that means we've got maybe…."The wheels in Zuko's brain started to work again as he thought about this new scenario, "three hours before we see any more fire nation soldiers." Zuko looked down the path in the direction the soldiers had come from. That was the direction they were headed and he hoped that they wouldn't run into anyone they were trying to avoid.
"We should get moving then huh?" Katara said as she began to walk quickly down the path. Zuko's arm snaked out to capture hers and halted her.
"Katara, we're heading northeast which means we won't be on the path for very much longer. We'll actually be cutting through the trees to get to where we need to be going." He looked down at her and saw that her mouth had opened slightly and her eyes had closed just a tad.
"Katara…"He said huskily as he leaned down towards her. She was right there, only a couple more inches and his lips would be on hers.
She pulled away. "Zuko," her voice slightly shaky, "we should get moving, are you going to lead the way?" She asked as she brought a hand up to cover her blush, she could feel it consuming her neck and then taking over her face.
"Uh, yeah", he said as he straightened and looked up at the sky and then back the way they had come trying to make sure they were going in the right direction. "This way" he said as he walked past Katara to across the path and through the trees.
She sighed as she followed. She could only hope that they would get to their destination soon and nightfall would follow swiftly. She did not know how much longer she'd be able to keep her distance from this man.
They had made it to a river that was relatively small compared to the dried river bed they had left earlier. This river was full of fish and it was crystal clear. Sokka is gonna love trying to catch some fish in here Katara thought with a smile. He never did catch any fish.
"Katara I'm going to bathe, please don't freeze the water this time." Zuko said as he walked towards the water and looked at her.
"Of course Zuko, don't worry, I'm not trying to make you my servant now or anything like that. Besides, that was your idea…remember?" Katara said as she walked towards the tree line with a laugh. She was looking for firewood when she heard a splash and turned to look.
His clothes were on the bank in a rumpled mess and when he resurfaced he shook the water from his hair much the way a wet dog would shake the water off of its coat. She was enthralled. The water dripped down his chin and onto his neck where it pooled by his clavicles and then spilled away down his chest. She wished she could see more but blushed at the thought of doing so.
She turned around so that he wouldn't look up and catch her staring and she continued hunting for firewood. She had finally found enough to start a small fire when she heard someone come up behind her.
"Hey I'll carry those. Do you want to wash up? You'll feel better. I know I do." Zuko said as he took the firewood from Katara and walked towards the middle of the little clearing they had found. He placed the wood on the ground and turned back to Katara. She was standing there with her mouth open just looking at him.
"What?" He asked.
"Do I stink or something?" Katara asked as she stormed off towards the water. She began talking to herself under her breath.
"Huh?" Zuko said as he started to walk towards her then stopped when she began to disrobe.
"Zuko, don't look I'm bathing." She said shortly as she dropped her clothes and without looking back to see if Zuko was staring or not she disrobed leaving on her bindings because Zuko was present and walked into the water. Her nerves strung at their tightest by his little comment.
"I didn't mean to insult you Katara." Zuko explain as he sat at the edge of the water watching her.
"Hey! I said no looking." Katara said as she sent water his way. He moved out of the way before his clothes were soaked.
"Katara don't make me come in there." Zuko said with a serious look on his face. He was getting tired of her being angry with him for no reason. She'd done the same thing last night after they'd kissed. She had been short with him and irrational. He wanted it to stop.
"Oh please Zuko. You can't do anything to me in here and besides you wouldn't come in here anyways." She said, dismissing him as she turned around to rub the cool water over her body. Her eyes widened when she heard a splash, He didn't…she slowly turned to see another clump of clothing on the bank next to hers. He did. She looked around for him. She didn't want him to get close to her.
"Why wouldn't I come in here?" His voice carried from behind her. The water was noticeably warmer that was coming from behind her.
"Because," she said as she slowly turned towards him, "this is my element. You would be a prisoner in my water if you came in here." She lifted her arms as she talked.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Zuko said with a smile as he moved closer to her.
"And why is that?" Katara asked now worried that he knew something she didn't. She dropped her arms slightly and tilted her head up towards his to see what he was going to do.
"Because Katara, if you start pushing water around it might draw the attention of whoever that patrol had been for that passed us earlier." He spoke as if he were imparting a deep secret and it made Katara move in closer and completely lower her arms.
Then he splashed her.
"WHAT? Oh my GOSH Zuko!" She said as she splashed him back. He went under the water and swam behind her. When he resurfaced he dunked her from behind and got a face full of water. She turned around and dunked him back, surprising him with her strength. He grabbed her hips and lifted her out of the water and threw her. She splashed only a couple of feet away. She came back up and looked at Zuko. He smiled and splashed her again. She smiled back and water bended the water around him to lift him up and throw him.
He had not expected that. He went flying and landed some ten feet away from Katara. She was dying of laughter when he resurfaced. Her hair had come out of its braid when she had been thrown and was now falling loosely around her face. He saw that the laughter that had entered her eyes had been real and looked like it meant to stay. He walked back towards her holding his hand out.
"Truce?" He asked because he did not want to get thrown again. He smiled when she took his hand and shook it firmly.
"Truce…."She said as she let go of his hand and went under the water. He was slightly worried that she'd pull him under with her but decided it would be best if he just got out of the water.
He turned to leave when he felt a hand on his ankle and he grinned. He turned around to see Katara's form under the water before he was pulled under. She moved over him to propel herself off of him when he caught her arm and pulled her down towards him. She water bent an air bubble around them and looked at him weirdly.
"Yes?" She asked as she fell onto his chest now that the water was no longer suspending her above him.
"I'm sorry if I've been a jerk since we've been traveling. I didn't mean to insult you earlier. And no, you don't stink." Zuko said as he let go of her arm. He looked around them and was in awe.
She was shocked. Her mouth was open like the fish that surrounded them. She closed it and looked down at Zuko.
"You're something else you know that?" She said as she moved to get off of him.
"Wait. Have you seen this?" Zuko said, secretly not wanting to lose the body contact. When she moved to lay down next to him he moved her back on top of him and tried to think of something to cover up what he really wanted. "You can only see it from right here. It's simply amazing." He said hoping she believed him.
She grudgingly lay back down on his chest and allowed him to point out to her what he found so fascinating.
"I have never seen anything like this. You are truly an amazing bender Katara." Zuko said as he watched the fish swim around their air bubble and further upstream. He watched at the sun danced along the river bed, casting little irregular octagons along the floor. He felt like a little child watching all of this. He watched as the small plants on the river bed swayed back and forth in the current, they seemed to dance with the fish as the fish swam by.
Katara watched him. His face denoted a child like joy that she had never seen on his face before. She looked to see what he was looking at and turned to look at him again. She then became fully aware of their body contact. She was simply great full that Zuko had kept his bottoms on when he had jumped in after her. She wanted to blush because she was only in her undergarments and on top of this man that was simply gorgeous. She had to get away from him before she did something she might regret later.
"We should probably be getting back to shore Zuko, the air in here will run out soon and we need to make a fire." She said as she moved to get off of him again. He frowned slightly at the loss of contact from her body and took a deep breath before Katara released the air bubble and they were both covered by the water once again.
They had made it back to the shore and both had gotten dressed. Kataras mood had gone from angry to happy to confused.
"Okay I'll make the fire and go get some food." Zuko offered as he sent a small flame towards the wood Katara had collected earlier and then walked towards the tree line. "Will you be okay here by yourself?" He asked turning around to look at her.
She looked at him, processing what he had said and nodded. "I'll be fine." She said as she walked towards the fire. When Zuko had returned with the food Katara had prepared it and cooked it. Zuko had caught enough for them and the rest of the group when they showed up later that night.
"I'm gonna take a nap." Zuko said suddenly as he lay down and crossed his arms behind his head. "Wake me when they get here." So he had fallen asleep.
He didn't know where he was but he didn't really care. All he cared about was the young woman walking towards him. She had a seductive look in her eyes and he knew what she wanted. He could feel his desire for her growing. He had known she wanted him but he didn't think she'd act on it so soon.
Zuko sat there watching Katara walk up to him. He began to lose it when she circled around him with her hand on his bare chest leaving goose bumps in its wake. She stood behind him and leaned in, her mouth by his ear.
"Zuko," she whispered, her cold breath dancing lightly over his bare skin. "You're so tense….you should relax." Katara said as she circled in front of him and placed her hands on his chest as she sat on his lap. She faced him and leaned in close. She looked into his eyes and smiled.
"Zuko, will you kiss me?" She asked timidly, "Or do I have to beg?" her voice a little rough from her desire for Zuko. She bit her lip to hold back a smile and Zuko's control slipped and spilled away.
"Katara…" Zuko growled before he captured her lips with his. He had no idea he had wanted her this much. His hands roamed her body as he laid her down on the ground. He moved his lips from her mouth down to her ear and then her throat. Oh how he wanted her. His hands went from her breasts to her waist.
"Zuko…" He heard Katara breath. Oh Spirits he thought he was going to lose it if he heard her say his name like that again. His hands tugged at her bindings, he had no idea when they'd both shed their clothes or where they were for that matter but he didn't care.
"Zuko…" She was in his ear now as she ran her hands through his hair and tried to bring his face back up to hers. He allowed her to and then he kissed her lips. He didn't want to hear what she had to say. He wanted her and she wanted him. That's how he saw it and that's how he wanted to finish it. He finally removed her bindings from around her waist. When he felt a light shove on his shoulder, he turned to see who could possibly be bothering him.
"Zuko, wake up." His eyes opened and he saw Katara standing over him, nudging his shoulder. He blushed crimson when he felt himself throbbing. His hands shot out to cover himself up as he nudged Katara away with his shoulder.
"Are you all right? You were moaning in your sleep." Katara said. She had no idea what had happened. He was moaning in his sleep, she was pretty sure it was her name he'd been moaning too. She had decided to wake him up when he started groaning.
Zuko cleared his throat. "Ahem. Yeah I'm fine. What time is it anyway?" Zuko asked as he tried to nonchalantly rub his boner away. OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS! He wanted to scream out loud. He had just had the hottest dream about the water bender only to be awakened from that dream by said water bender. He was surely going to die from lack of release before he found his uncle.
"About an hour after sun down…Zuko I'm worried." Katara said as she sat down on the other side of the fire. She looked at him and tried not to show just how worried she was.
It had been seven hours since they had left the abandoned town. Katara had bid her friends farewell for the day and had walked forward believing she would see them again that night.
"Zuko, why aren't they here?" Katara moved closer to him. It had become decidedly cooler that night and she was beginning to shiver. Zuko's body temperature was higher than hers and she needed heat right now. When she sat next to Zuko she could feel his heat emanating towards her and she smiled with pleasure.
"Could be because Sokka needed to use the bathroom, Katara don't worry about it, they will get here." Zuko said as he rubbed her shoulders and stood up. He searched through their pack and withdrew a blanket. He handed it to her and she accepted it happily.
Just then they heard a loud noise come from over the treetops and they heard a girl laughing.
"That must be them!" Katara said as she shot up to try to get a better look. She stood there for a second before a giant shadow formed over the treetops. She smiled.
"It's them Zuko!" She said and she turned to him. He looked at her and smiled tightly. He had been enjoying their trip alone together. He had gotten close to her earlier and he had enjoyed the contact.
"See, I told you they'd be here." Zuko said as he watched the giant shadow take shape to form the flying bison that was the young avatars animal guide.
What do you think?
AHA! It has come to my attention by Starcatrose that it was unclear whether or not Zuko and Katara were naked while playing around in the water. I have fixed it, I hope, so that you better understand what is going on. Sorry for the confusion!