Chapter 12: First Date

Looking at the bathroom mirror, Katara straightened her skin-tight cream-colored tube dress and rearranged the chunky black necklaces around her neck. Right now, nothing made her more nervous than her first public "date" with Zuko. The moment they stepped out of the car and into the restaurant, all eyes were on them. Seconds later, the whispers started and Katara panicked even more. At the moment, she was grateful for Zuko's arm around her waist, slightly squeezing her to give her reassurance. After running her fingers through her curly brown locks one last time, she got her black purse and her matching cream shawl from the marble sink and made her way out of the women's bathroom. She saw Zuko standing on the far end of the restaurant lobby and walked towards him as fast as her black five-inch heels could take her.

"Hey…" she said, interlacing her fingers with his. Because of their agreement, they had to have physical contact when they were in public. "I thought you went in without me."

"Well, that wouldn't look so good to the press, would it?" Zuko whispered in Katara's ear. He snuck a quick kiss on her cheek before she could react.

Katara resisted the urge to hit him on the head. He was really making the most of their agreement. Zuko smirked, greeted the maitre d' and the couple followed him to a booth in the back part of the restaurant. Before he left, the maitre d' left menus on their table.

"So… what do you feel like eating?" Zuko asked, browsing through the menu.

Katara stared blankly at the extensive list of food and put it down after a few seconds.

"You know what?" Katara said, unfolding the napkin and laying it on her lap. "Why don't you order for both of us? I'm fine with anything, really."

"Uhh… Okay then…" Zuko replied. After a few more minutes of staring at the menu, he called the waiter to their table and gave their order. "We will have the crab cooked in butter, the roasted pork belly, the prawn salad and the pork wontons."

Katara practically drooled when she heard what Zuko ordered for them.

"And, your drinks, sir?" the waiter asked, tucking the menus under his arm.

"Are you okay with wine?" Zuko asked Katara.

When she nodded, Zuko addressed the waiter again.

"Bring us a bottle of your best wine and two glasses." he said

"Will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you."

With that, the waiter walked away and left Zuko and Katara to themselves.

"Would you chill out?" Zuko said after a few moments of silence. "The more nervous you look, the more suspicious the public gets."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Katara said. "I'm not used to this like you are."

"Seriously…" Zuko said, sliding a bit closer to her. "It's fine. Just imagine you're on a real date."

"Seriously?" Katara replied, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Okay, fine. If it's that bad then imagine I'm some other guy – a guy you'd actually go out with."

"Look, it's not that-"

"Come on. We can't argue now. Just… Just imagine you're having a good time even if you think I'm a horrible human being."

"….Fine."

There was an awkward silence for a few more minutes before Zuko cleared his throat.

"Umm… Nice dress…" he said, looking away and rubbing the back of his head.

"Uhhh… Thanks…" Katara answered, scanning his outfit for something she could compliment. "Nice turtleneck."

Zuko wore a black suit with a thick royal blue turtleneck sweater underneath instead of a long-sleeved shirt.

"Please don't make fun of me." he said, blushing slightly.

"I'm not! I mean, I do question your idea of wearing a turtleneck in a place as hot as this but it's… alright." Katara replied, trying to suppress her giggles.

"It's not my fault! My stylist forced me to wear this!"

Katara burst into laughter at his reply and mentally thanked Zuko's stylist for letting her get a little taste of revenge. Zuko buried his face in his hands and started laughing with her later on.

"What is this?" Katara asked, wiping tears away from her eyes. "Is it like a librarian-chic kind of thing?"

"Oh my god!" Zuko said, exploding into laughter once again. "That's exactly what he said!"

When the food arrived, the two were just winding down from laughing. The different aromas engulfed the air and made Katara's stomach grumble. They quickly dug in and started tasting each dish.

"Wow, I absolutely love the prawn salad." Katara said between bites.

"You should try the pork belly." Zuko said, handing her the plate. "It's awesome."

Moments later, Katara paused and looked around. A lot of the other people in the restaurant were staring and whispering about them. She elbowed Zuko and took a sip of her wine to wash the food down.

"What?" Zuko said, ready to shove a crunchy wonton in his mouth.

"People are looking." Katara whispered from the side of her mouth. "Maybe we should be more… poised." She immediately sat up straight and started eating as properly as she could.

"Oh… Good idea." Zuko agreed after scanning the area around them and seeing the whispers and the stares. "Sorry. I got carried away."

"So did I. Well, at least it looks like we're having a great time."

"Yeah… So… Are any of your officemates treating you differently since the incident?"

"Well, my friends are okay with it. Toph doesn't really care as long as I'm happy and Ty Lee's totally excited. She thinks we should double-date with her and Jet."

"Wow… I guess she's gets Jet more excited than usual."

"So, they're going steady?"

"Jet? Oh please… If that guy even senses a serious commitment within a five-kilometer radius, he runs like a gazelle being chased by a cheetah on one of those animal channels on TV."

"Right, right..." Katara said, giggling a little.

"So are there people trying to bring you down because of the incident?"

"Uhh… I guess there are a few girls I work with that give me glares when I pass by and whisper behind my back."

"Yeah? What would they whisper about?"

"Nothing, really… I just overhear them saying bad things about my hair or my clothes or my personality…"

"You know they're just jealous…"

"Well, sometimes they have a point." Katara said, taking her last bite from her meal and wiping her mouth with her napkin. "I mean, my hair could use a little more conditioning and I guess I could be a little less outspoken at work and-"

Before Katara could finish, she felt Zuko's hand gently rubbing her bare knee for comfort. She looked up and saw him giving her that same sweet smile she saw during breakfast.

"No…" he said, inching a little more closely to her. "They're wrong. Believe me; you don't need to change anything about yourself…"

"I…Uhh…Th-Thanks…" Katara said, avoiding his gaze and trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

Zuko couldn't take his eyes away from her. He had been mesmerized with her since they met. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her hypnotic blue doe-eyes. It took all of his willpower not to move his hand to a riskier part of her body.

I could kiss her… he thought. That's not against the agreement… But, is it too soon? If she hates me as much as she makes it seem, she might slap me right here, right now if I do that. Plus, I'll permanently ruin my chances with her. Ugh! Why does she always have to look so hot? My god, that dress, that body… Her skin's really soft too… Is it soft on other parts too, like her legs… or her back… or-NO! Stop it. It's just the wine. Calm down, boy. Take it slow…

"Umm… Maybe we should ask for the check already." Katara said, still avoiding Zuko's gaze.

Zuko snapped out of his trance, asked for the check and told the waiter to wrap the leftovers. After he paid the bill, they took their leftovers and entered Zuko's car, which was driven in front of the restaurant entrance by the valet. Zuko couldn't find words to say all the way home. He was about to make idle small talk again when he noticed Katara fast asleep beside him. Minutes later, they arrived at his garage and Zuko parked the car.

"Katara…" he softly said, gently shaking Katara. "Katara, wake up. We're home."

All he received in response was a sleepy mumble.

"Come on, Katara. I'm not going to leave you here to sleep."

Again, he was answered by another sleepy mumble. Sighing, he climbed out of the car and opened the passenger side door. While gripping the bag of leftovers and his keys in his left hand, he carried Katara out of the car with both his arms and shut the door with his foot. After locking his car, he entered the elevator and arrived at the second floor. He set the leftover on the kitchen counter then brought Katara upstairs. He laid her on the bed and went back down to lock the elevator and to turn on the security system. After placing the leftovers in the fridge, he climbed back up the stairs and reentered his bedroom. There he saw Katara sleeping soundly on her side of the bed. Breathing a sigh of exhaustion, he removed her shoes, her shawl and her necklaces. He placed them neatly on the couch in his room and changed into his boxers. As he was lying down to sleep, he noticed that Katara had moved to the middle part of the bed. When he tried to pick her up and move her to her side, she rubbed her eyes and woke up.

"Zuko?" she groggily said. "Where are we?"

"We're home." Zuko replied, lying down and facing her.

"How'd I get on the bed?"

"I carried you in. You wouldn't wake up and I couldn't leave you there so I had no choice."

"Oh…"

Maybe it was exhaustion or maybe it was the wine – whatever the reason was, Katara scooted closer to Zuko and slept again with her back just inches away from him. Zuko tried to roll her away but when he held her side to move her, she guided it so that it wrapped around her waist, leaving his hand on her stomach and her arm on his.

"Uhh… Katara?" Zuko whispered, raising his head slightly to check on her. He saw her already dozing off with a small smile on her face.

Hey, who am I to complain? he thought, bringing himself closer to her and holding her tighter. He buried his face in her long wavy hair, closed his eyes and waited for sleep to engulf him. I bet she's going to beat the crap out of me when we wake up… Ugh, who cares? She's tired and needs rest… And she probably won't wake up until morning anyway… And she looks too beautiful to be woken up right now… And her hair feels really soft and smells like strawberries… And this is just really, really nice…