Ginny Apparated into the palace, a bag with several varieties of coffee in it over one shoulder.
Zuko, who had just snapped shut his laptop and got up to go down the hall, stopped short and peered over his shoulder with a small smile. "Hello."
She smiled back and crossed the room to him. "Hallo, love," she said, dropping her bag on the floor and wrapping her arms around him.
"Mm," he murmured softly and tilted his head to kiss her on the cheek. "How've you been?"
"Good... not doing much. Missed you." She smiled up at him again.
"Missed you more," he said then glanced to the bag she dropped. "Coffee?"
"Several kinds," she said, bending to pick the bag up again and handing it over to him. "I didn't know what you'd want."
"Oooo," he opened the bag and peered inside, grinning. "Thanks."
"I picked good ones, then?" she asked, grinning.
"Oh yes," he nodded, then dropped the bag so he could pull her in for a tight embrace. "I'll quite enjoy it."
"Mmm, good." Still smiling, she slid her hands into his pockets and pulled him closer to her.
Chuckling softly, he cupped her face with both hands and kissed her softly on the lips. "Love you," he whispered.
She gave a contented sigh and kissed him back. "Love you more," she murmured.
Smiling, he pulled back and motioned for her to follow him. "I have something for you."
"Ooh, yes, you said! What's my surprise?" she asked, taking his hand as she followed him.
"You'll see, he said, leading her down the corridor to his bedroom. "In here." He opened the door and sat her on the bed while he went to dig through his closet.
Ginny bounced up and down a bit on the bed. "Zuko you know I'm not good at waiting," she said, and flopped over onto her stomach, propping her head up on her hands.
"Got it," he said and came back out with a dress. It was a black cheongsam with a gold and red dragon and phoenix pattern on it. "Here you go."
Her eyes lit up and she sat back up again. "Oh Zuko that's beautiful," she gasped.
"I was hoping you'd like it," he smiled brightly. "Saw it when I was wandering the market and thought of you in it...."
"Oh it's gorgeous," she said, climbing off the end of the bed. "Here, let me try it on..."
"Alright," he nodded, stepping back to allow her room.
She wriggled backwards out of her dress robes and slid into the cheongsam. "Zip me up?" she asked Zuko, spinning around.
"Okay," he nodded, taking the zipper and tugged it up until it was closed. "Let me see."
She pulled her hair out of the collar of the dress and turned to face him, smoothing the fabric down over her hips. "What d'you think?"
Blushing, he took a moment to glance her up and down before gently grabbing her waist to pull her in close. "Beautiful," he whispered, lightly brushing his lips against her neck.
She smiled and slid her arms around him, tucking her head down in the curve of his shoulder. "You think?"
"You're always beautiful," he told her, letting his hands wander down her waist to her hips.
She looked back up at him. "You're sweet," she said softly, reaching up to tuck a lock of his hair behind one ear.
"Only because I love you so much," he told her, sitting down on the bed while pulling her onto his lap.
"Well, that's good," she said, smiling, "because I do believe I am madly in love with you."
Slowly, he trailed soft warm kisses along her neck and collar up to her ear. "Mine," he whispered, nipping at her earlobe.
She nodded against his neck, smile widening slightly. "Yours," she agreed.
"Hey.... Um...." he murmured softly. "I have to tell you something...."
"What's that?" she asked, pressing her lips to the curve of his jaw.
"Um.... I'm going somewhere tomorrow..." he chuckled nervously, trailing his hands up and down her back.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "That's good."
"Um... Going with Sasuke...." he pressed his lips against her forehead and mumbled. "Toastripbar...."
"Sweetheart, you're going to have to separate your words if you want me to understand you," she informed him.
He bit his lip, his cheeks reddening. "Uh...." He gave her a rather awkward, sheepish expression. "We're kinda-sorta going to -- erm -- going to a strip bar...." Quickly he shot his hands up in surrender. "Just doing a guy thing, nothing against you..."
She blinked. "All right."
"...." He then blinked several times, surprised. "You're not mad?"
"Not so long as you come back to me," she said. "You need your guy-time."
"Of course," he said softly, kissing her behind her ear. "You're the only one that I want."
She lifted a hand to nudge his chin up so she could brush her lips across his. "Go have fun with Sasuke, love. I don't mind."
"You sure?" he kissed her back. "If you really don't mind..."
"Promise I don't," she said, kissing him briefly again.
"Thank you," he nodded, scooting ack a bit, taking her along with him so she could lay on him if she so wished. "...Anything you want to do while you're here or do you just want to cuddle?"
She stretched out on his chest, reaching up to play with his hair. "Did you have something in mind?" she asked, a smirk curving her lips.
"Not really," he shook his head, smiling at her. "We could go out somewhere, if you wanted to.... Or I could just make a random fire and watch you giggle and point at it for an hour."
"Funny," she said sarcastically, though she smiled. "I'm happy just staying here with you."
"Mmm..." Zuko murmured softly, fiddling with the collar of her dress. "I like it when you're with me."
She smiled, catching his hand and playing with it as she looked up at him. "I love you."
"Love you too," he whispered, pressing kissing the top of her head. Sighing softly, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Don't think I could ever stop."
"Please don't," she whispered back, snuggling against his chest as he hugged her.
"I promise, I won't," he held her tighter. "I love you too much... Can't imagine living without you."
"Oh, Zuko..." She lifted her head to kiss him, feeling tears welling in her eyes.
"Don't cry...." He frowned, bringing his hand up to stop the tears. "It's alright..."
She smiled and kissed him again. "I'm happy," she said softly.
"I have something else, for you," he said after a moment. "It's in a drawer. Shall I go get it?"
"Okay," she agreed, reluctantly climbing off of him.
Smirking, he crawled up along the bed to the side-table and opened the drawer. "Here it is," he said when he pulled something small out of it. It was a cocoon of some sort, a very dark shade of greenish-blue with light yellow spots. "I found it in the garden the other day. Thought you might like it."
She blinked. "...What is it?"
"A chrysalis," he told her, taking her hand and placing the small object in it, then closed her fingers around it. "In some time, it will be a butterfly."
"Won't I hurt it?" she said uncertainly.
"I don't think so," he shook his head and smiled. "Not if you have patience and give it the space it needs to grow and hatch. Right now it's sleeping and waiting for the right time. But when it does decide to show itself to the world, I can assure you it will be the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. ...Just make sure you leave it some flowers to eat." He then added with a wink.
She looked down at the cocoon, blinking back unexpected tears. "Thank you," she said finally, leaning over to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "I'll be sure to keep it safe."
"It makes me happy when I see you smile," he whispered, and then cupped her face with one hand as he leaned in a bit for a deep kiss.
She exhaled slowly as she kissed him back, smiling against his lips.
"I love you," he said softly when he pulled back from the kiss. "I wish there was more I could do to show it."
"You don't need to," she assured him, shaking her head. "I believe you."
"I can give you anything and everything you could ever need or want," he told her, looking into her eyes. "You know that, right?"
"I know." She smiled at him.
"I don't think I could ever stop loving you so much," he murmured softly, nuzzling against her neck. "...and you look amazing in that dress. It fits you well."
She reached over his shoulder and put the cocoon on the nightstand, not wanting to crush it when she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled up against his chest. "You picked a good one."
"Perhaps it was my heart that made the choice," he said softly, sliding an arm around her waist to pull her even closer against him.
Her smile wobbled a bit as she started to tear up again. "Sometimes I swear you're a bigger sap than I am," she murmured, hiding her face in his chest.
"Would you rather I act like a macho pimp and treat you like dirt?" he frowned.
"Of course not," she said, tucking her head up under his chin and nuzzling her nose into his neck. "It's cute, is all."
"I'm not 'cute'," he pouted. "I'm manly."
"Mmm." She reached up and ran her fingers along his collarbone where it showed above his shirt. "Cute."
He pouted at her some more, his bottom lip sticking out a bit.
She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him, brushing a thumb across his lips. "Sulking, are we?"
"M'not sulking," he pouted more so, looking like a sad puppy.
"Yes, you are," she said mildly, sliding the hand on his face up to cup his cheek.
"You called me cute," he said softly before leaning in to brush a light kiss against her lips.
"'Cause you are," she replied teasingly, kissing him back.
"Yeah...well..." he tried to form a proper statement. "You're sexy..." Smirking, he pressed his lips against her neck.
She giggled at him. "Well, I am a model."
"You're so modest," he said sarcastically, snickering at her.
"Realistic," she corrected him, amused.
"Uh huh, sure," he grinned, then leaned in a bit to nip at her neck.
"You don't sound like you believe me," she purred, twisting her hands into his hair.
"Cause I don't," he said, pushing her back down on the bed as he crawled on top of her. "It's okay to be immodest sometimes..." he murmured, kissing along her jawline. "Cause you're my bad little girl, right?"
She grinned wickedly up at him. "You know I am."
"Mm... Naughty girl..." he whispered in her ear then blew in it softly. "I spoil you rotten with all the attention I give you..." His tongue flicked out to lick behind her ear and he nipped at the lobe.
"Mmm... it's because you like to hear me scream," she said, still grinning as she slid a hand down his stomach to run her fingers along the waist of his pants.
"Oh you know I do babe..." he said, growling softly as he placed soft kisses along her jaw then bit into her neck. While his right hand braced him on the bed, his left slid down along her chest and stomach to the slit in the dress, which he pushed up a bit so he could stroke her thigh.
"Make me scream, Zuko," she breathed in his ear, simultaneously sliding her hand down the front of his pants and squeezing him slightly.
"I'll make you do more than that..." he whispered, his face flushing. Biting his lip, he looked into her eyes for a moment before capturing her lips in a rough kiss, sliding her dress up farther so her could tug her undergarments down and spread her legs.
She kissed him back with equal force, digging the nails of her free hand into his scalp, the other squeezing him again as she bit down hard on his lower lip.
Zuko murmured when she bit his lip, then slipped his tongue into her mouth. All the while he somehow managed to work himself out of his pants and slammed into her as hard as he could. He'd learned his lesson about being gentle with her when it came to things like this.
She yowled, arching her back instinctively against him. Her hands slid up under his shirt to rake her fingernails down his back as she ground her hips against his.
"That's my girl..." he chuckled, nibbling along her jaw and neck as he thrust hard into her. "Fucking scream for me."
"Faster," she snarled in response. She slung a leg up over his hips, trying to draw him in deeper.
He moaned, lifting her hips a bit so he could get a better angle as he thrust faster and deeper into her, trying to find that spot he made her cry out for him. "Like that...?"
He got what he wanted a moment later when she threw back her head and screamed, her fingernails digging hard into his shoulderblades.
"You feel so good..." he groaned, slamming as hard as he possibly could without tearing her apart. "So hot and wet..." He ran his tongue along her neck and sunk his teeth into her throat.
Far past rational thought, she cried out again when his teeth dug into her skin. "Zuko..." she moaned, her voice breaking halfway through the word.
"Ginny..." he moaned in response, clawing at her as he felt himself near release. He lifted her a little more, pushing her knees back as he got as deep as he could possibly get himself.
She screamed again as she came, her entire body going stiff for an instant, her nails digging deeper into his skin.
His mouth opened and closed for a silent cry as a shiver racked his body at the sound of her scream and the feel of her stiffen and clench around him. This brought him over the edge, kissing her fiercely on the mouth as he came, forcing himself deep in her so not a single bit of his essence would escape her.
She kissed him back, sighing contentedly against his lips as her body relaxed. "Mmm... love you," she murmured.
"Love you too," he panted, sliding out of her so he could lay beside her and hold her close to him. Humming contentedly, he kissed the side of her neck.
She smiled at him, pulling her hands out of his shirt and lifting one to cup his cheek. "You do spoil me," she said coyly.
"I give you everything you could ever want and then some," he grinned, peering into her eyes lovingly as he rested his forehead against hers.
"Yes, you do," she replied, her expression going serious. "I'm glad I have you."
"You'll always have me," he said, smiling. "Forever."
She closed her eyes and snuggled up against hin, smiling again. "I like the sound of that."
"I'm so happy to have you," he whispered after he tugged his pants back up and wrapped an arm around her. "You mean the world to me, my love."
"And you to me," she said, opening her eyes again to meet his gaze. "But would you be terribly offended --" she yawned. "If I fell asleep?"
"Not at all," he smirked. "I'd be honored to be your pillow." Zuko kissed her forehead and cuddled up close to her, letting her head rest against his chest.
Moments later her eyes fluttered closed and she was sound asleep witth her head on his chest, fingers resting curled next to her face.
"Good night my love," he whispered, then snapped his fingers to turn off all the lights at once.