A/N: Thank you again for your reviews, follows, and favorites! You guys are truly wonderful! This chapter contains a lemon toward the end, which will be the last for at least a few chapters as the action starts to pick up again. Sorry to bombard you with them, but this one just kind of happened so I went with it Please, please review and if I don't post again in-between now and the 1st have a very Happy New Year!
Ai shut her eyes tightly and concentrated solely on the sound of her own breathing. In and out, in and out, and finally she felt her heart rate slow and the tension in her muscles start to slip away. She had been hiding high in the branches of a tall pine tree, clinging to its rough bark for the past several hours while stream after stream of Jing Hua's soldiers passed beneath her. Every time she thought it might be safe to descend, another group would pass by silently combing the undergrowth.
Shaking from shock, cold, fear, and hunger she hid and stared up through the branches of the pine to the night sky above. She was ashamed that she had run when Katara told her, but at the time her body hadn't given her a choice. Her survival instinct had taken control and she had fled, leaving Katara to face whatever fate Zhou had in store for her alone.
The snap of a broken twig echoed loudly in the silence of the forest and Ai held her breath, hoping the person below couldn't hear the loud pounding of her heart. Seconds passed, then minutes and nothing happened.
"It would be in your best interest not to fight, or try to run again since there is no hope for escape."
Ai barely contained the scream that was threatening to bubble up her throat and struggled to keep herself from falling.
"I know exactly where you are, and I would hate to risk damaging that lovely body further, even though you have not proven to be a good breeder yet. I have other hopes for you now."
Ai couldn't stop herself, she slid from branch to branch, descending as fast as she could completely unaware of the new cuts and scrapes she was getting in her haste. Suddenly, the branch she was standing on gave out and her hands scrambled and fought to find solid holds as she fell, but found nothing but air.
She gasped as she landed, the air knocked completely out of her and lay stunned while Jing Hua casually dropped from a low branch and walked to her.
"Such a shame really, you have a strong spirit," he said taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him, "but I'm afraid it's time for you to visit Lake Laogai."
_
Hours after landing in the Fire Nation Capital Aang and Katara walked exhausted to their suite, both aware that for the first time they would be staying together in an official sense.
Aang paused, grabbing Katara's hand as they reached the door. "I want to do this right."
"What?" Katara asked sleepily.
"This." Aang replied and swept her into his arms, carrying her over the threshold.
Katara laughed and kissed Aang softly. "You make me so happy."
He smiled and kicked their door shut behind him and walked further into their room. The bed was large, and already turned down, and there was a nicely decorated sitting area just off to the side. Dark crimson curtains covered their expansive windows for the night, but Aang knew that when opened they would provide a beautiful view of the rest of the city.
Aang carried his beautiful wife to their bed and lay her down tenderly. He laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You should try to get some rest, Sweetie. I need to go speak with Zuko for just a little bit longer."
Katara rose into a sitting position and gathered Aang's hands in hers. "Do you think we'll be able to stop Jing Hua in time? It's just so hard to even pinpoint exactly where his army is…the breeding center is a totally separate venture, and for all we know his army could be spread out across all the nations."
Aang sat down on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders drawing her closer. "We know the Fire Nation will back us, Zuko's made that clear, and I think with your help we can convince the Water Tribes, our only real problem is the Earth Kingdom."
"That's a pretty big problem, Aang." Katara laughed darkly.
"It'll be okay. At this point we think the Earth King has been brainwashed and might be helping the Purists, but that's a bridge we will cross when we come to it. Right now we need to gather more information before we can form a plan of attack."
Katara nodded. "I want to do everything I can do to help, anything at all, even if it means going back."
Aang didn't think he could bear the pain she would cause herself if she went back but he nodded reluctantly anyway. "Okay."
Katara turned her face up to him and kissed him softly. "Do you think Zuko could wait a few more minutes?" she whispered.
He smiled and kissed her soundly. "I think he'll make it."
_
Aang tip toed out of their room and shut the door silently behind him, leaving a sleeping Katara alone in the dark, quiet room. He took a moment to straighten his robes and then strode down the hall to Zuko's chambers. He knocked quietly on the door and waited patiently for it to open.
Zuko opened the door himself, hand on his hip, hair in spiked disarray, and impatiently waved the Avatar inside. "What took you so long? You said 5 minutes!"
Aang blushed and slid into the room. "Nothing, Katara just needed to talk for a minute."
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Suuuuuuuure. Whatever, I was a newlywed once too you know."
"We were just talking!"
"Liar."
"Ugh, fine! We weren't just talking. Does that make you feel better?"
An image of his two friends "not just talking" jumped into his mind and he shook his head frantically to dislodge it. "No, no, actually it doesn't."
He shuddered. "Let's just get down to work, all right?"
Aang nodded and stared at the maps Zuko had spread across his desk.
"So, the breeding camp was on this last island here," Aang said pointing at the last island of the Fire Nation archipelago.
"I've sent scouts out to cover that area as well as some of the nearby islands, but our problem is we don't have any way to know what's going on in the Earth Kingdom. If the Earth King has been brainwashed I would expect them to have a major base of operations there, but where?"
Aang studied the map of the Earth Kingdom thoughtfully for a moment. "What about Lake Lagoai?"
"What about it? It was destroyed back before you defeated my father."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they couldn't easily make a new underground base," he said shifting the map so Zuko could see, "Look, it's near Ba Sing Se, but secluded enough that no one would notice them if they weren't really looking. I mean, how long did the Dai Li hide out there without any of the Earth Kingdom citizens knowing?"
Zuko stroked the dark growth of stubble he had grown while on their mission and nodded in agreement. "You're right, Aang. That's as good a shot as any, but I'm going to have trouble getting scouts over there without the Earth Kingdom's permission. They are going to have to be careful not to get noticed or caught and that's going to make them move slower."
Zuko walked purposefully to the door to his chambers and grabbed the attention of one of his guards. Satisfied that the scouts would be sent out that night Zuko returned back to his desk. He poured a glass of tea for himself and his friend before collapsing into one of his desk chairs. "Is Katara really okay?"
Aang shrugged, slightly uncomfortable. "You know Katara, she's strong. She will be fine, it's just going to take some time…"
Zuko sipped his steaming tea quietly for a few moments. "I don't know what I would have done if that had been Mai." He studied his friend closely, noting the bags of exhaustion under his eyes. "Are you okay?"
Aang said nothing for a moment, but then replied, "She's here, she's safe, and she's my wife." He took a sip of tea before continuing, "I'm better than okay."
Zuko nodded and they sat in companionable silence before finally Aang stood placing his empty cup on the desk. "I need to get back to her."
"I think I'll stay out here a while longer. Mai's been hogging most of the bed lately. Says she can't get comfortable and it's my fault for knocking her up, so I might even just camp out here tonight."
Aang chuckled and slipped out the door back into the dark hallway. Back in their room Katara still lay peacefully asleep and he took a moment to simply watch her. Her dark brown hair was spread out around her, her cheeks were faintly flushed with health again and her skin still faintly glowed from their love making. He watched her eyes flutter in dream and was completely shocked when she let out a loud moan.
He watched in startled amazement as her breathing quickened and she shifted in the bed her hand hiking her gown up to expose her long legs. Aang's mouth hung slightly open in shock as her hand slid beneath her underwear to touch herself and he found himself responding despite his exhaustion.
Quietly he stood and stripped his clothes, hastily discarding them in a pile near the bed and gently pulled the rest of the covers back. Katara let out a little whimper of frustration as she tried to remove her undergarment completely.
"Here, Love, let me help with that," he whispered his hands caressing her hips as his slid the silky fabric down her legs.
She moaned and her eyes fluttered open when she felt Aang firmly pausing at her entrance. Without thinking, acting only on animal instinct she grabbed his hips, pulling him to her and thrusting her body up, taking him deep within her.
Aang paused, making sure she was completely awake, but Katara didn't like that at all and thrust her hips toward his again and again, concentrating on the wonderful friction she was creating. She wiggled underneath him and then flipped them over, so that she straddled Aang. She stretched back, letting her hair fair down her back and began to rock back and forth.
Aang, shocked at the sudden turn of events, lay motionless until Katara started to move. Then his hands moved to her hips, up her taunt stomach, to her breasts. She bent over him, kissing him deeply as she continued to move against him.
Katara could feel her body tensing, could feel the building pressure that told her she was very close and quickened her pace. Aang was trying desperately to wait until she climaxed before letting himself go, but his body and mind were completely overwhelmed by the pleasure and sight of his wife and he came hard, jerking his hips up sharply and shouting out. Katara was right behind him, her own body clinching his, drawing out every last spasm of his orgasm as they cried out together.
Katara limply collapsed to his chest, her hair clinging to her slightly sweaty temples, panting heavily, her body still feeling the glorious aftershocks of their joining.
"Mmmmm," she sighed, nuzzling his neck.
Aang lazily trailed a hand up and down her back, leaving little tingles following in his wake. "Mmmmm indeed."
They lay there together, safe and content and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.