A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites, and follows! This chapter is mostly lemony, but not all. I just felt like our poor lovebirds deserved to make up for some lost time I hope you all have a very Happy Holiday!
Late that night the group finally made camp along the coast of the Fire Nation, having traveled along it for some distance. The camp where Katara had been held captive was located on one of the very last islands in the Fire National archipelago so they still had at least one more full day of travel before reaching the Capitol.
Katara tried to pretend that nothing had happened and started to gather firewood, but Sokka stopped her. "You need to rest, just go set over there and relax by Appa and I'll take care of this."
"Sokka, I need to stay busy…"
"No, you need to rest, you always push yourself too much."
In fact, too exhausted to argue, she did walk over to Appa and sat, leaning back against his furry side. She absent mindedly stroked his coarse fur and nearly jumped out of her skin when Momo curled happily into her lap.
"Aw, Momo,"she said to the little lemur, "I missed you, too."
She was surprised by how the presence of the two loving furry bodies made her feel better. There was something about them that made her feel calm and peaceful and she caught her head dipping as she nodded off.
After what was probably only half an hour Aang sat by her side gently waking her and handed her a bowl of rice. "You need to eat something."
She took the bowl from him and smiled her thanks before taking a bite, and then another, and another. She surprised herself with how hungry she was. It was the first time since she had been kidnapped that she had really been able to eat.
Aang smiled slightly as he watched her. It was good to see her eating with appetite, especially since her cheeks had hollowed and the night before when they had made love, he had easily been able to count each of her ribs.
"I know you're tired," he said quietly, "but I thought maybe when you're finished we could go for a swim? I found a small pool off the beach a way down that I could warm for us when low tide hits."
Katara, mouth completely full, turned to Aang and nodded happily.
He chuckled and sat back against Appa, content for the first time in nearly a week.
After dinner they wondered down the beach together hand in hand until they found the small, but deep pool Aang had mentioned earlier. Katara eagerly stripped her clothing, putting them in a neat pile out of reach from the sea and turned to Aang who silently stood watching her, completely hypnotized by the play of the moonlight on her bare skin.
"Aren't you coming in?"
He coughed a little and sheepishly rubbed the back of his bald head. "Yeah, I just, erm, yeah, just a minute." He turned and fire blasted the water for several minutes and then reached down to test it. Nodding satisfactorily he turned back to Katara who still stood completely naked, hand on her hips and taping her foot impatiently.
"Strip," she said gesturing at his still fully clothed body.
He blushed, but watched her carefully as he slipped his robes from his head and moved his hands down to the tie of his pants.
She watched wordlessly, mouth going slightly dry. She knew he didn't realize exactly how attractive he had become, but she certainly did. His shoulders were broad, muscles rippling as he pulled his robes over his head, his abs becoming even more defined as he untied his pants. They fell well under his navel and she could see the little trail of hair leading from it down and disappearing beneath the cloth.
She knew what lay beneath it though, and could feel pressure already building between her legs in anticipation. His pants slipped down his long legs, followed quickly by his underwear leaving absolutely nothing behind. His body was pale and perfect in the moonlight, his tattoos a sharp contrast against the whiteness of his skin.
She closed the gap between them quickly, overcome by her desire for him, and kissed him deeply, her hands sliding up his back to curl around his shoulders. He responded in kind, his hands moving down to wrap her legs around his hips. He held her there, pressed against his hard length while her arms wrapped around his shoulders, stroking the hard muscles that rippled just beneath the skin.
He slowly walked them into the hot water, stopping at Katara's sharp intake of breath when the steaming water hit her bruises and cuts. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said between clinched teeth, "I'm fine, I'll heal them some in just a moment, but right now I have my priorities."
She kissed him again, her tongue flicking his lower lip before nipping it. Her blue eyes stared into his gray and he surrendered. Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, he would happily give.
He moved them down into the water and pressed Katara up against the slightly muddy wall of the pool, his hands roaming to her breasts. He kissed his way down her neck and then bit her shoulder hard, letting go of any prior concern of hurting her. He wrapped her legs around him again and was inside her a second later. He groaned at the slick wetness he discovered and was still for a moment, collecting himself before he began to move, slowly sliding in and out.
Between Aang and the heat of the pool Katara felt as though she would burn alive. Her skin was on fire, her heart hammering, and wave after wave of delicious pleasure was riding her body. She could feel the pressure in her building and dug her nails into Aang's backside growling, "Faster."
"No," Aang murmered as he held Katara's hips exactly where he wanted and kept up the slow burning pace. After what seemed miraculously like both hours and seconds she found her climax and screamed out his name as she clung to him helplessly.
As soon as Aang felt her body clinch around him he quickened his pace, riding her orgasm and using it to bring his own. He felt his entire body tense as his own release came and he poured himself into her.
"I'm dead," Katara laughed breathlessly afterwards, "You've killed me."
Aang laughed and kissed her forehead. "You better be alive, I'm not done with you yet."
His hands roamed almost casually down to her center, pausing there before he began to lightly part her with his fingers. "I have an idea…," he whispered as he quickly bent an air bubble around his head and sank underneath the water.
She gasped when his tongue found her and quickly discovered she was actually still very much alive.
_
Sometime in the early hours of the morning Aang and Katara stumbled, warm, damp and loose limbed back to camp and crawled into their hastily erected earth tent to sleep the few remaining hours before sunrise.
The next day dawned almost painfully early, but everyone was eager to get to the Fire Nation Capitol. Especially Zuko. Things were still slightly awkward between Katara and the rest of the group, but no one pressed her and slowly they were easing back to the way things were before.
Toph sat next to Katara in Appa's saddle across from Suki and Sokka who were snacking on some seal jerky while Aang was at Appa's head, trying desperately to stay awake after having only roughly two hours of sleep the night before.
"So, Sugar Queen," Toph said casually as she picked gunk from between her toes, "Twinkle Toes knocked you up yet?".
Sokka choked and sputtered on jerky while Suki slapped his back and Aang, suddenly very awake, had to maneuver creatively to stay seated on Appa's head.
Katara blushed fiercely and pretended to pick a stubborn piece of lint off her sleeve to avoid looking anyone in the eye. "Um…No?"
Toph shook her head. "Gotta up your game, Twinkletoes. Those babies just don't happen magically!"
Aang lowered himself flat on Appa's head to avoid Sokka's red faced glare and shouted back, "Shut up Toph, my game is just fine!"
"It's true," Katara said without thinking and then hid her face in her hands, hiding her bright red blush. "I can't believe I just said that."
Toph and Suki laughed at Katara's embarrassment. "Does Aang give lessons?" asked Suki between giggles.
"HEY! We are not having this conversation!" shrieked Sokka.
Zuko, laughing now decided to join the fun. "What the matter Sokka? Sensitive subject? You know I could give you a few tips-"
"You are all the worst!"
"Agreed!" muttered Aang.
The rest of the day continued much as it hard started, with easy conversation, teasing, harassing, and lots of laughs. Finally, Katara felt normal again. As normal, that is, as she could, considering she was the Avatar's wife and about to discuss her kidnapping and assault with world leaders who not only looked down on her, but wanted her husband to sleep with multiple women to produce more airbending offspring. On second thought…maybe she didn't feel so normal after all.
Her hand drifted down to her flat stomach. Maybe in time she would give them a child, an airbender, a water bender, a nonbender. She knew in her heart that Aang wouldn't care, he would love their child regardless, but she couldn't help but feel the never ending pressure of being responsible for bringing an entire race back from the brink of extinction.
Was she being selfish to keep him to herself? As hard as she tried she couldn't stand the thought of another woman touching him…or of him touching another woman. He was hers, and she was his, and someday, if love was enough, their children could be the foundation of a new Airbending Nation.
Katara turned her face toward the setting sun, letting the fleeting warmth wash over her and looked forward at the Fire National Capital. Even though little had changed to its structure since Ozai's rule it looked like a very different city. Maybe it was her outlook, maybe it was the end of the war, or maybe even it was just the positive influence of a sane and kind leader, but the city seemed warm and welcoming the fading light.
As they neared the palace she could hear their arrival being announced by tsungi horn and guards began to stream out. She watched as Zuko struggled to find his wife and uncle amidst the growing crowd and braced herself for the onslaught of questions.
Moments later they landed and Aang quickly jumped back into the saddle and knelt silently beside Katara while the others vacated. He waited patiently, not uttering a single word, until she looked at him and nodded her head. She was ready.