Danu - Capital of the Isle of Jala

"I thought you'd never say yes," Zuko sighed and grasped my hand.

I quickly pulled it away and scooted a foot away from him on the pretense of peeking out the window at my side.

"Don't," I whispered and checked from the corner of my eyes whether the driver was watching us through the mirror. I couldn't risk somebody I knew, seeing us together like this.

We were on their way from Central Danu, where our original hotel was and where my shared flat with Sokka was, to East Danu for the annual Blue Moon Festival, dedicated to spirits, who the people believe have graced us with another full moon within a month. We had to hired a cab from a company, and I secretly made sure it was I never relied on, hoping it would give us some privacy. But there was no way I'd risk us being seen sharing intimacies during the long ride.

Zuko's face grew long and confused for a moment, but he composed himself and folded his arms across his chest as if to prevent his hand from automatically reaching for me. La, he must think I'm a frigid nutcase.

"Why didn't you answer my calls and messages?" he asked.

I grimaced and stared guiltily down at my hands, folded in my lap rather tightly, for I too had to keep my fingers from reaching out to touch him.

"I'm sorry. I – I was waging an internal war on whether or not to give in to temptation."

"Temptation, huh? You make me sound like an enemy your fraternizing with." He chuckled,

I grinned at him. "I never can be too sure."

"Haha. Very funny, love," he jokingly pouted which immediately turned into a matching grin, making him look freakishly handsome.

The word 'love' danced inside my stomach, making it flutter. Damn him and his casual use of endearments he seemed to be comfortable with.

Growing serious, he asked, "So is that what I am to you? Temptation?"

I became serious too, and looked deep into his golden eyes. "You're much more than that. At the moment…you're almost everything to me."

The statement sat between us on the backseat, big, fat and unashamed, making touching impossible and turning the air heavy with the scent of lavender and cinnamon.

I saw him swallow, and his pupils widened. His tongue snaked out to moisten his lips, and I felt a tingle low down in my belly, the fire of desire kindled and ready to burst into flames. To break the spell, I turned my head to stare out of the window, and tried to collect myself. Only it was impossible with him so near. So, I began to reflect on what happened two days ago when we returned to Danu.

The tour group had been dropped off at the hotel, where we would continue to be staying until the next flight out, which was about in a week. I checked out early, telling everyone I decided to extend my stay and spend the rest of my time with family, which was a lie. The truth was that I wanted to head back to my shared flat with Sokka. It was good way to avoid certain distractions and saying goodbye to a certain someone. I know I had promised Zuko I would see him again, but my rational, cowardly mind kept me a hold, preventing from fueling the fire.

When we had arrived at the hotel, Iroh had greeted us and dragged Zuko off hounding him with questions, wanting Zuko to regale him with all the details, to which I smiled at the endearing old man. While being dragged off, Zuko didn't have a chance to speak to me and just looked back at me with and I cast my eyes away from him. At the moment, I thought that it was for the best. Before checking out, I filled Toph and Aang on where I was going and wished them goodbye.

I remember saying, "I'm going to miss you guys. You don't realize how great you made this trip for me."

Aang had brought us all in for a hug, mumbling over heads, "We'll miss you too! You'd be a great travelling buddy!"

I laughed and Toph groaned in between us, "You two are too mushy!"

After our embrace, Toph took me aside, while Aang wandered off somewhere.

"Sugar Queen, are you sure about leaving like this?", she asked.

At this point, Toph knew about all the details happening between Zuko and I. She forced it out of me every night, when I came back giddy or found me huddled on the bed with puffy eyes.

"I – err…I think so. I have my article to get done anyways and slipping away like this will be easier than having to say goodbye."

"God, you're so dumb!" she exclaimed, while I looked at her with shock.

Toph bluntly continued, "Look. All I know is that you're going to look back and regret doing this. This is not the way to end deal with your damn feelings. You need to face it head on, or else you won't even have the chance to get closure."

I looked at this tiny wise girl and my lips quivered, "I can't…"

Toph sighed. "I'm not forcing you, Katara. I just want you to be happy. Honestly, l feel like you're the big sister I never had. Regardless, I know you will end up doing what's right."

I grimaced and just pulled her into another hug as she grumbled, trying my best to thwart the negative feelings rising within me.

After bidding farewell and Toph promising a future visit, I headed back home. I took a well-deserved shower and nap, and woke up to the ringtone of my cell phone. The phone read 'Zuko' and I cringed inside. I hated myself for succumbing into his request and giving him my number.

I decided to ignore his call and sat down at my desk, distracting myself by finishing my article. Another day had passed and Zuko had sent numerous messages and calls, to which I continued to ignore no matter how much it hurt.

Also, Tonrar had got word that I was back and hounded me with millions of errands to run for him. Buying the present for the wedding we were attending, getting his outfit dry cleaned, booking appointments, the list was endless. When I got fed up with his demands and ungratefulness, I gave into the impulse and in an act of defiance, finally I returned one of Zuko's calls, which led us to making plans to go to the Blue Moon Festival.

While sitting in tense silence, my mind began to wander even further. I had pondered over and over why I had fallen for him so hard. In an angry moment, I had put it all down to the old saying, opposites attract. We couldn't look more different physically, and our countries were like two sides of a spectrum too. But then another voice had overridden the thought, and it had been even more insistent and just as bitter. What about our similarities? What about another old proverb, that love overcomes all obstacles and knows no boundaries? We may be from opposite sides of the globe and look like the earth and the sky, but we shared many common interests and possessed kindred souls. Our love for art, for hearing or seeing what's usually not seen or heard, and the brokenness we both seemed to harbour…Did it count for something?

Zuko's voice calling my name softly made me resurface from the depths of daunting depression.

I snapped my head around.

"If you hadn't answered my call yesterday…I would have pretty much come to find you," he said.

I stared at him, and foreboding momentarily made it hard to breathe.

"But – but you don't know where I was staying."

He shrugged, as if something so trivial could never deter him from hunting me down.

"I'd have started at your aunt's house and asked until I got a lead."

I offered a silent prayer of thanks to the spirits for having stepped over my shadow and smothered my scruples to talk to him yesterday. To think that he could have shown up on my aunt's doorstep, possibly when Tonrar or another relative was there…I nearly shivered with the horror of it.

"You wouldn't understand but…promise me you won't ever do that for as long as you're here. Promise!" I pleaded, my voice shaky.

He glared at me for a minute, a mix of confusion and disappointment written on his face. Apparently, he hadn't bothered combing his hair today, making it look ruffled and messy in a completely sexy way, which added a deliciously roguish twist to his gentleman charm. I wanted to comb my hands through his ink black hair, to feel it tickle my sensitive skin. I wanted to…No!

'Focus Katara!', I reminded myself.

"Zuko, I'm serious. Promise me you won't pester my relatives. You could get me into real trouble. Please."

He huffed out a sigh, and I saw from the bulging muscles straining against his slate-colored shirt that he was tensing up.

"Promise. I guess I was so desperate not to lose you that I completely forgot you are…weirdly tied up."

I flinched. Even though he didn't know the real reasons for my hesitance towards him and my caution, tied up was a nice way to summarize my dilemma. I had half tied the knot, and now I was tied to the man by a rope biting into my flesh.

At the back of my mind, a small voice rejoiced that he had turned desperate during two days of silence…knowing full well it had felt like tearing out my own heart and watching it bleed to death every time I had rejected his call and read a message without answering, deleting it on the spot.

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "It was cowardly not to confront you, and to second-guess what I had agreed to that night at the beach. Can we…can we forget about it and make the most of the time we still have?"

He reached out again as if to touch me, pulling back at the last moment and grinding his teeth.

"Yes, let's do that, love. I have less than a week left on the island."

Pain sliced through me like a blunt knife, pulling and tearing and severing. Trying to take our minds off the impending separation, I talked to him about the festival we were heading to.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the beautifully decorated town the festival was held at. As we started walking around, we noticed that a lot of people were donning masks with the faces of famous spirits. Looking at that Zuko immediately grabbed my hand, dragging me to a booth that was selling some masks, while I laughed at his eagerness.

"Who knew masks get you this excited."

He pouted adorably and defended jokingly, "They're cool, okay!"

I shook my head at is childishness and turned to look at the of selection masks, finally seeing one that caught my eye at the far end of the booth. I walked away from Zuko to ask the lady tending the booth about the special mask.

"Oh, that one! It's almost like a kit, hat and face paint all included."

"Oh wow! I'll take that one! Do you by chance have a mirror I can use to put this on?", I asked while proceeding to pay for the mask I bought.

"Yes, over there are is public bathroom," she pointed and replied, to which I thanked her.

Before heading over to the bathroom, I let Zuko know and rushed to the bathroom, excited to show him my surprise. It took a few minutes in the bathroom to spread the paint over my face and I placed the wide brimmed straw hat, that contained an attached veil, on top of my head. I looked back into the mirror, pleased at the transformation. Red paint swirled over my cheekbones, chin, and eyelids, while yellow paint smeared into a shape of crescent moon was on my forehead. I looked ethereal and otherworldly, just like the Painted Lady.

When I headed back to the booth where I left Zuko at, I noticed that he was nowhere to be seen. I looked around frantically, trying to catch a glimpse of him within the crowds. It was hard to distinguish faces, the ones that weren't covered by masks, due to the dusky sky and dim fairy lights. When I was beginning to give up, I soon felt arms snake around my middle and a very firm, male body press up behind me, causing me to yelp in surprise, ready to attack the pervert.

"You know…some say that the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit were forbidden lovers," the familiar raspy voice whispered against my neck.

I turned around still within the arms that circled my waist, seeing a fearsome blue mask with white accents highlighting the facial features and prominent fangs.

"Zuko…?"

In question, his hands left my waist to lift the mask, to reveal a grinning Zuko.

"Shit! You scared me! I was about to attack you!"

Zuko chuckled and the gazed at me, intensity increasing within his pools of gold. He pulled me in for a bear hug, as if in gratitude for remembering a spirit from one of his favourite tales.

"You look beautiful," he said softly, "Agni…did I ever tell you that I never would have had even half the fun or such memorable experiences without you."

I wanted to move away from the intimate embrace, but I couldn't. In what was probably the sweetest gesture yet, Zuko pressed a kiss on my head forehead, one that spoke – dare I think it – love more than desire, of closeness rather than attraction.

For a heady moment, I felt the carpet being pulled away from under my feet, and I was glad he still had his arms fully wrapped around me. Although, reason took over soon and I stepped away reluctantly.

"Come on, let's explore my charming Blue Spirit."

His laughter shook the butterflies in my stomach into a fluttering frenzy. He took my hand, holding it so firmly that I knew he'd be hurt if I pulled it away. We weaved through booths and stages, stopping to admire the trinkets or to be entertained by the spectacles performed.

While walking, Zuko offhandedly commented, "I think this Isle within the ocean holds enough wonders to warrant a longer trip, even though in the beginning I wasn't thrilled to be here."

I laughed in somewhat agreement.

Zuko then leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Shall I be completely honest? It's not just the sights…you're the real reason I want to stay longer."

He brushed his lips over my ear in a feather-like kiss before drawing back and closing his face off, and I battled with longing and pleasure.

Not daring to look at him, I asked in hardly more than a whisper, "Can you? Prolong your stay, I mean?"

"As much as I wish I could, I can't. If I don't show up in Kyoshi on time, I can lose my first free-lance gig. And I don't want to return to Ignisia to search for a meaningless job or to live in limbo until a different option pops up. My father would also be livid if I was jobless."

I tried to ignore the pain. I had known all along that he'd leave, and that everything wonderful we had shared would be over, once and for all. Then why did tears prickle the back of my eyes?

"It's been a dream of mine to travel to anywhere in Achalaregno. I heard Kyoshi is lovely," I said, trying to keep my voice light."

Zuko tilted his head and studied me. I had the distinct feeling the wheels in his head were turning, especially because he stayed quiet for some time before asking, "Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Many reasons, I guess… It's such a wide country full of a little bit of everything. Cities, small towns, emptiness and wilderness. I could get lost in the vastness, leaving life behind for some time."

"This has got to be the strangest reason I've heard anyone give for wanting to travel to Achalaregno."

He was smiling, so I took no offense.

"Yeah…It is a weird reason. What about you? Are you going to live a nomad's life, travelling from place to place?"

It was his turn to shrug and think.

"Not really. Ignisia will always be home, but I like to get away from its confines sometimes. Now that I'm following my free-lancing dream, I'll be travelling wherever it takes me."

He continued as we sat down on a bench, "Speaking of dreams, what other dreams do you have?"

Why was he asking me all these things? Why get up close and personal and dive so deep if he'd forget all about me in a month or so from now?

I gave it some thought, my gaze fixed on the crowd flitting by because looking at him made the urge to touch him unbearable.

"Well…I kind of want to become an editor, publishing stories and unique pieces of writing."

I wanted to be at least somewhat truthful to this personal question. When I glanced at him, I saw he was frowning at me.

"Why kind of? Why aren't you sure?"

I made a face and hoped I didn't sound too disillusioned or filled with self-pity when I answered, "Right now that's the most realistic dream I have, but then again still far-fetched due to circumstances. I don't have much time to dream. And I've sort of given it up. I had so many dreams some years ago, but they were foolish."

Zuko leaned back in his seat, turning slightly and crossing his long legs so he could look at me better.

"C'mere, let me hear it. I don't care how foolish you think they are, they're still your dreams, and everyone should be allowed to dream. Where would humans be in life if they hadn't dared to dream and didn't strive to fulfil those dreams?"

I almost smiled. He had such a philosophical side to him too, probably rubbed off from his uncle.

Feeling happy that he was so intent on learning more about me, I thought some more and finally gave him his answers, "Well, it was also my dream to travel and learn other languages and cultures."

"My knowledge-seeking, knowledge-giving smartass," he joked, the words a tender caress in his velvety voice, making me blush and pout, all the same.

"What else? Nothing adventurous like mountain climbing or holding a snake or whatever?"

I grinned and nodded.

"Yeah some adventurous dreams, like wanting to jump off the top of a waterfall. But I'm more boring than that. I used to dream of a huge house in the middle of the forest, with several bedrooms, each painted in one different color with furniture of many shades of the same color."

Telling him about it made me blush. I felt so ridiculous…but at the same time I didn't. I had never told anyone about this, but the few days with Zuko had made me feel so close to him that it felt right to let him in. As mortified as I might be on the outside, I wanted him to know, wanted to give all of myself, wanted him to share intimate insights too.

Zuko seemed to understand, and to value the gift I was giving him, for he shifted his position so he was closer. Draping his arms across the back of the bench, he laid one hand on my shoulder. It rested on the bare sliver of skin between my blouse's collar and my neck. His fingers pressed lightly into my skin, in a sort of a massage which made me want to stretch and purr like a cat.

"Interesting. What else would you like in that house?"

I shot a glance at him to see whether he was making fun of me, but it looked the contrary.

"Err…a library room would be a must, stocked with so many books that I'd never run out of reading material."

"Sounds perfect," he murmured, his hand wandering to massage the back of my neck with more pressure, sending pleasure coursing through my body.

When my thoughts scampered off into the wood to picture him with me in such a house, both of us curled up on the couch with a book, our bodies entwined, our hearts as one, I searched for a way to return to reality.

"What about your dreams?"

His hand stilled for a second before he let his fingers brush upward into the hair at the nape of my neck, making my scalp tingle.

"I've always had this goal to create a portfolio that I could publish of my works which captured details in our world that people miss, you know?"

I smiled, leaning into his touch and biting my lip because his caress had a moan travel up my throat.

"That's a wonderful plan, Zuko. Don't give up on that dream."

We stayed silent for a while, Zuko never taking his hand from my neck until I moved away.

"I'm starving. We should get some dinner," I suggested.

We dined at the restaurant by the lake which had a romantic view of the sunset. Zuko insisted on me telling him about all the food on display at the buffet, picking a little of everything. Once we sat down, he started feeding me choice morsels, and I couldn't help but feel like any other couple in love. Sightseeing, a lake sunset, this dinner…if only we were lovers touring the island and not an engaged-to-be-married local in disguise and a traveling Ignisian bound for Achalaregno!

"What's on your mind?"

I blinked and focused on his handsome face so close to me.

"Nothing," I said hurriedly, trying to stem all the feelings inside me.

He frowned slightly. "Your face just showed the strangest mix of happiness and longing."

I swallowed and stabbed at a squid tentacle in my dish of tentacle soup, breaking eye contact. After a few moments of silence that grew heavier and heavier, Zuko spoke again, his tone quiet and meaningful.

"Today has been one of the happiest and nicest days I have spent on this beautiful island. And I should thank you for that, Katara."

"I don't want you to thank me for this," I protested, his sexy growl wreaking havoc with my senses.

"Then what do you want me to do?" he asked, and my head snapped up to stare at him.

There were countless answers brewing inside me, waiting to be spewed out, but none of them would do. On impulse, I wanted to ask him to tell me more about himself—but then fear snaked in that he'd ask me to reveal more about myself in return.

When I just remained silent, clenching my hand into fists on the table cloth, Zuko reached out. He laid his right hand on my left one and squeezed. Gently he pried my fingers loose and unclenched my fist before brushing his fingers over my palm. He let his index finger follow the lines in my palm in a feather-like touch which tickled and travelled straight to my core.

"I know something's up Katara and you feel confined or restricted by your life in South Aquam," he said while tracing my palm, "but one day you'll tell me about it all, won't you, love?"

Unable to form a coherent reply, and wishing with all my might that I'd indeed receive this chance one day, I nodded. Then I snatched my hand from his touch and tried to compose myself.

"We should go. We need to get to the Lantern Ceremony and then we have a long journey home," I mumbled and waved to the waiter.

As the black night sky blanketed itself above us, we approached the lakeside. We bought a few lanterns that we got ready to release. The tradition was to light a lantern, whisper a wish, and let the lantern float away into the night sky all the way up to Tui, the Moon Spirit, so that she could answer it. The first one we lit together and released together, settling to wish for happiness for each other, even though deep down inside he has lately been the reason for my happiness. The next lantern, I lit and released alone. I made a simple wish to Tui, whispering a wish for freedom.

Click!

"Again?"

Zuko looked sheepish, with his camera that was moments ago pointed at me and I giggled.

With a blush on his cheeks, he looked down at me and smiled. "I couldn't help it. You looked surreal with the light of the lantern shining on your face, pronouncing the spirit makeup…I like to think you're becoming my muse."

I blushed hotly and felt the need to be tender with him. I stepped closer to him and pressed a hand against his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath my palm. He had his mask off and just sunglasses pushed up into his hair. I wanted to run my fingers through his locks, so I lifted myself on tiptoes and picked the sunglasses from his head. In a gesture that struck me as strangely intimate only after I had completed it, I stuffed the sunglasses into his denim pocket, my fingers brushing over his thigh. Zuko's body tensed, and I realized how closer my fingers were to decidedly more intimate parts of his body. As if scorched by the imagined heat, I quickly pulled away and ran my fingers through his hair.

Ruffling his hair, I smiled at him saying, "I'm honoured," and stepped back.

After, Zuko lit his lantern with a smirk and an oddly thoughtful expression on his face, wishing for spirits knows what. Once, all the lanterns had floated out of sight, we made our leave. Zuko laid his arm on my shoulders and walked me to the exit. It felt so right that I left my defenses down. I wouldn't have this opportunity again, would I?

Under the cover of the dark, in the cab during the ride back to Central Danu, we held hands. I asked him questions about Ignisia and past photography projects, as I slowly drifted off to sleep. The last thing I remembered before sinking into sweet dreams was Zuko drawing me close until my head rested in the crook of his neck and one my arms draped across his chest.