11-03-2009: OKAY... sorry for any subscribers who had to wait this long for me to update. I had a LOT of things going on in my life... And it wasn't until maybe a few weeks ago that I was able to sit down and fine tune this chapter (and finish writing it). I'm not SUPER happy with it... but I needed to stop tinking around and twisting around a few words and just update my story already. I wanted to add more to this chapter, but I realized that I'll do it next chapter so I have a place to start. I mostly just needed to update and the chapter was starting to get a little long and tedious to write.. but I wanted to write it this way soo... anyway, sorry for the long wait.. it won't be NEARLY as long for the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it. :D

Aiko

A few months ago, things were different. A few weeks ago things were different. A few hours ago things were different.

Zuko had experienced many changes in his life recently, but this had topped them all. This was crazy and impossible, but somehow, it happened. And it's changed everything.

Crazy as it sounded—impossible as it was—beside the prince lay the sleeping Waterbender a few inches away, huddled up underneath his deep red shirt. The Firebender's golden eyes wandered down Katara's body and fell upon her bare legs that dangled out of the bottom of his tunic. He felt his face grow hot. He stared intensely at the beautiful Water-tribe girl and although he knew what happened and was conscious of it while it happened, he still couldn't believe it.

Zuko drew in a deep, jagged breath and felt the cool damp air swirl down into his lungs. He turned his head, pressing his warm cheek against the wet forest floor. The rain had stopped and the clouds cleared away. The forest was quiet. He exhaled a content sigh as the grass cooled his skin.

It was alright. He was dreaming. That was the only semi-logical reason of why this would happen.

When the Firebender opened his eyes, Katara still laid beside him—her skin a rich, golden brown, and her long, thick eyelashes kissing the tops of her cheeks. The sunshine peeking through the thick canopy of the willow's dangling tendrils shone a few bright freckles onto her lightly flushed face. The Waterbender's dark hair laid wildly all around her long, elegant shoulders and neck. The prince drew in a quick breath. She really was breath-taking. He swallowed hard as the scene of the two of them quickly played through his head again.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably as his eyes drifted downward. Zuko shot upward into a sitting position, surprised to see that he was completely naked. The prince frantically covered himself up with one hand and reached around for his trousers with the other. His heart pounded inside his chest as he felt his hand fall on a crumpled pile of cloth. Quickly grabbing his pants, Zuko jumped up and slid his bare legs into the leg holes. He felt a lot more comfortable with the red fabric covering his naked parts. Catching his breath, the prince peeked back at the Waterbender. She breathed evenly, nuzzling her cheek against the forest floor. The red shirt shifted slightly revealing a little more of her naked shoulder. Zuko gulped as the panic bubbled up, competing fiercly with the tingling sensation running through his body.

Zuko felt himself start to gasp for breath again as his face grew hot. "Katara and I..." the prince recollected again inside of his head. He fumbled with the string of his pants, temporarily forgetting how to tie them.

The most confusing part of all this was that, this time, Zuko didn't even make the first move. Katara kissed him this time. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. Her fingers dug passionately into his back as the prince reciprocated and lifted her from the ground.

A gigantic knot formed in his stomach as his face burned even hotter. The Fire-nation prince's mind ran wild with the images of Katara. He could vividly picture her arching her back when his fingers touched her body. The feeling of her soft, bare skin against his lingered on his. The softness of her lips kissing him all over made him want to explode. The sound of her voice sensually whispering his name rang over and over in his ears. As he stood there next to her, his legs started to tremble like they did when he was on top of her, their lips wrapped lustfully around eachother's...

Zuko coughed and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. "No way, no way, no way. Katara hates me, and never, I mean... I would never really... She'd never let me... This is a dream—this didn't really happen. I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming," Zuko whispered to himself as he shook his head. He straightened up. "...I have to be."

That's right, he had to be dreaming. He'd wake up in his tent any moment now. Convinced once again, he slowly opened his eyes.

Katara still lay there at his feet—her pouty lips tugging up into a slight smile.

Zuko felt light headed as he dropped back down onto the grassy floor beside her, feeling his panic return. It really wasn't a dream. This was real.

And even though it was strange that it really happened, it was even stranger to know that the prince felt relieved that it did. He couldn't help it. The way he felt right then was incredibly frusterating. It was irksome to know that how he felt made no sense. That the way he felt drawn to Katara made no sense. The way he couldn't resist her was confusing and irritating.

But, remembering that she kissed him first this time, realizing that she might feel the same way... Zuko's head spun. He'd never felt this happy, nauseated, and overwhelmed in his whole life.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched Katara sleep and more questions crashed into his already crowded thoughts. How could she be asleep? What time was it? How long had they been out here? What were they going to do? Were they together now? Did he want to be together with Katara? Did she want to be with him? What was going to happen?

He glanced around, seeing nothing but vines as he sat under the willow beside Katara. A warm breeze blew through him. Turning his attention back to the Waterbender, Zuko wondered if he should wake her up. He was actually dreading facing what happened and he knew that he didn't have an answer for any of the questions he'd just asked himself. What if she woke up and asked him any of those questions? He didn't have any answers. So, the prince decided that he shouldn't wake her just yet. The Firebender wanted to get a good grasp on what his reaction was to what happened between them before he could think about what her reaction would be.

Zuko's heart beat hard inside his chest as his mind overflowed with images, thoughts, and questions.

The truth was, that as much as he tried to deny it, Zuko cared about Katara. He liked her ironically fiery, feisty attitude. He liked how caring she was, even if it was never directed toward him. He liked when she would show her vulnerable side. He liked the way her cheeks flush and her eyes widen when she's surprised. He liked when she'd puff up her chest when she was feeling defensive. He liked when she'd pout and stamp her foot. He liked how graceful she was with her fighting style. He liked her soft hands and how whatever she was eating would always end up on her face somewhere. He liked her spirit, her voice, her smile—he realized that he liked just about everything about Katara.

But could he be with Katara? They were hardly friends, even now. Which only made the idea of them being together like this even weirder. Not to mention the fact that a few months ago, they were enemies and Zuko didn't look at her as anything other than a pesky, loud-mouthed Waterbender.

It was true that Zuko had always found her attractive—anyone would. But she was a young, Water-tribe peasant. The Fire-nation prince thought little about her and mostly about his main goal—which was to capture the Avatar to regain his honor.

The last thought froze in his mind as he felt guilt start to bubble up inside him.

Aang.

The Firebender felt his insides painfully twisting around as he thought about his new friend and how he'd already betrayed him.

Katara and Aang weren't really together, but Zuko knew—everyone knew—that the Avatar was very much in love with Katara. The Firebender had kissed the Waterbender a couple times and although he didn't want Aang to find out about it—Zuko didn't feel guilty like he did right now. This was a lot more serious than a stolen kiss first of all, and the idea that Katara might feel the same meant that Aang's love would go unreciprocated. Zuko didn't want to be responsible for that. He didn't want Aang to feel hurt because of him.

The prince choked on his breath and felt a little nauseated. His mind ran wild as his guilt started to overrun him. His thoughts frantically flew from Aang to Mai—the prince and her were technically broken up, but with what happened at the boiling rock, he couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Mai obviously still cared about him, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't care about Mai. His mind drifted to the idea of Sokka finding out about them... he felt like he'd betrayed him in a way too. Zuko wasn't very knowledgable about friendships or relationships in general, but being with a friend's sister didn't seem right.

Especially when the friend who's trying to date your sister is your ex-enemy and a prince from a world-dominating nation. Zuko panicked. Who was he kidding? There was no way he could be with Katara.

...But what if she wanted to be together?

Zuko looked over at the Waterbender.

Katara was beautiful.

The Fire-nation prince realized right then that if there was any chance that she felt even remotely as drawn to him as he felt towards her, regardless of how crazy it would be, nothing else would matter. He smiled as the panic melted away. He lay back down next to her and reached a hand out, lightly tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers. She shifted in her sleep as his fingers moved gently through her thick hair. Zuko smiled warmly and leaned in to kiss her softly.

"Katara!!"

Zuko's eyes flew open and his head snapped up towards the sound of Sokka's voice. The prince's stomach churned painfully—anxiety immediately returning.

"Katara~!!" Sokka called out again. Zuko held his breath, even though Sokka wasn't nearby. He could hear that Water-tribe warrior was at least a few hundred yards away. Katara groaned in her sleep and squeezed her eyes shut as her brother called out her name again. "Katara!!" he yelled.

"Mmrmmm.. Whaat?" she murmered, "Sokka?" Zuko turned back to Katara, his golden eyes wide. Sokka's footsteps stopped. Katara's eyes shot open as she saw who laid beside her. She partially sat up and let out a small yelp and the prince panicked. He immediately dove onto her, covering her mouth with his hand.

Sokka's feet started moving again, his voice drawing closer. "Katara?"

Zuko froze, laying on top of the Waterbender. Katara held her breath, her eyes wide. The prince gulped and slowly pulled his hand away from her lips. He could feel her heart pounding inside of her chest. She bit lightly on her bottom lip as she kept quiet, lying beneath him. The Firebender had to fight his urge to kiss her. He felt warmth grow inside him as they stared at eachother in silence. Her eyes were such a bright blue and her cheeks rosy, her breath soft against his face. The prince started to feel dizzy.

Then Zuko realized something. Somewhere along the road, whether it was a month ago, a week ago or an hour ago—he'd fallen for the Waterbender. He wanted her—he loved her.

Sokka's footsteps stopped as the two benders heard another voice sound out, "Hey, did you find her?"

Katara closed her eyes painfully and Zuko felt another pang of guilt as the Avatar's voice pierced their ears.

"No, she's not out here," Sokka answered, turning and heading back towards Aang's distant voice.

"How about Zuko?" Aang asked.

"No, he's not out here either. Maybe we should go see if Toph found them," Sokka suggested. The Fire-nation prince could hear their footsteps trailing further and further away. Once he could no longer hear the footsteps, Zuko leaned back.

Katara immediately sat up. Zuko's eyes widened and he averted his gaze as the red tunic fell away from Katara's naked body. The Waterbender gasped and pulled the fabric back up over her body. "Uh, ah—Sorry," he stuttered quickly from habit. Katara glanced at the Firebender—she looked over his bare chest and his strong arms. She thought about how tightly they held her as the two of them kissed and how rough his hands were against her skin...

She gulped, her face burning.

Zuko glanced back at the Waterbender. Her face was flushed and in her eyes the guilt was plain to see. He couldn't blame her though, he felt guilty too. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Um--" she paused. Her throat felt so dry. "W-Where are my clothes?" she mumbled. Zuko glanced around the shadowed, enclosed area of the weeping willow. He spotted them a few feet away. He stood up and headed over to pick them up for her.

Katara started to get up. "W-Wait Zuko, you don't have to—"

Zuko walked back over to her and held the crumpled ball of clothing out to the Waterbender. "Here," he whispered gently. Katara stared up at the Firebender. Her eyes met the tender look on his face that hardly matched his normally rough personality. She reached out and took her clothes from him.

"...Thank you," she whispered. Zuko nodded and turned away so she could get dressed.

Katara stood up slowly, letting his tunic fall to the ground. She clutched her clothing against her chest as she stared at the back of Zuko's head. She pulled on her under garments, dressing rather slowly, trying to get a good, real grasp on what she and Zuko just did together. She went over the scene of the two of them in her head over and over again. Tying her sash tightly around her waist, she still wasn't sure how she felt about what happened. She leaned down and picked up his shirt.

There was only one thing she was sure about.

"Um, Zuko?" she started, turning her eyes away. The Firebender turned around. Katara's face was bright red as she fidgeted with the hems of his red shirt. "Um... please, don't tell anyone about this," she pleaded, lifting her eyes to meet his. Zuko froze as her gaze met his and his heart wrenched.

Zuko wasn't going to tell anyone, so he wasn't upset that she asked him not to, but it was the way she asked—the sound in her voice. He could tell it was more than guilt.

Katara regretted what she had done.

Zuko dropped his eyes to the ground. "Don't worry. I won't," he answered flatly. Katara stepped up to him, holding out his red shirt.

"Thank you," Katara whispered, placing the shirt in his hands. She didn't smile at the prince before she turned away to head back to camp. As she pushed open the vines of the willow tree, she looked over her shoulder at the Firebender. "Uh.. Maybe you should wait for 20 minutes so we don't get back at the same time?" she suggested. Zuko pressed his lips together and gave a single nod, tightly clenching the red fabric in his hands.

"Sure Katara," Zuko agreed. With that, the Waterbender nodded politely to him and left.