Update 5/15/2012
Sooo this chapter was fun to write and a lot easier to write than the last chapter, actually! Hope you enjoy it. :D
Aiko
"Ugh!" the Fire-nation guard grunted before slamming into the floor, knocked unconscious.
Katara relaxed from her fighting stance. She looked over her shoulder, grinning behind her helmet. "Told you I could handle it," she said smugly. Zuko stepped out from the shadows, eyeing her.
"Yeah. Great," he said flatly, still a little angry with her. His heart pounded in his chest as the prince noticed just how light the palace's guard duty was. There was only one soldier guarding the weapons room when there was usually three to five. He didn't mention anything about it to the Waterbender—he didn't want to worry her even more. Zuko opened the door and peeked into the armory, making sure no one was inside. Finding it empty, he waved Katara ahead and slipped in behind her. The prince headed straight for a Fire-nation guard's uniform, lifting a burgundy cuirass from the wall of armor.
"Wow," Katara breathed, looking around at the massive room of Fire-nation arsenal. She removed her helmet, her dark hair falling across the broad shoulder plates of her stolen, dark red armor. The walls inside the armory were covered in smooth, dark metal paneling with a wide assortment of weapons and armor hung all around the room. Dark wooden shelving covered one whole wall and Katara knew Sokka would be jealous if he ever found out she'd been in such a room. She took it all in, amazed at the variety of swords and other sharp looking instruments that covered the shelves. As her blue eyes made their way around the room, she noticed that there were a lot of weapons that she'd never seen before and had no idea what they did.
"We don't have time to be impressed," Zuko muttered. He untied his sash, folding it out of habit. Katara frowned, but didn't respond to his snide remark, knowing how upset she would be if the roles were reversed in this situation. His angered words were coming from a place of concern and she knew that. Thinking about it, she was amazed how the two of them happened across each other in the vast palace. And the way his face looked when she took off her helmet—she'd never seen him look so genuinely happy. Her heartbeat fluttered warmly inside her chest.
She glanced over at him while he pulled his shirt off over his head. The prince didn't bother to smooth down his messy, ruffled hair that was sticking up in every direction. The warm light from the wall torches lit up his lean muscles and she watched his concentrated gaze as he unfastened the straps of the armor. The room suddenly seemed smaller and hotter and the Waterbender had to avert her eyes. Her heart was pounding and she swallowed hard. This was the other, unspoken reason she hadn't asked him along—he's a huge distraction for her. Katara bit on her lip, trying to keep her eyes away from the Firebender.
"Katara," his voice spoke her name in the gruff way she loved so much. She turned towards him, her face flushed. Zuko's golden eyes widened at the flustered expression on her face. "W-What? What's wrong?" the prince asked, holding the cuirass, still shirtless. Katara lowered her eyes to his chest before looking away all together.
"N-Nothing," Katara muttered embarrassingly, her inappropriate thoughts running wild.
Noticing her lingering gaze, his own face flushed to a warm shade of pink. "..Can you grab me some under clothes from that armoire behind you?" he asked quietly. Katara nodded and promptly spun around, opening the wooden doors of the armoire. She pulled out a matching set, taking a deep breath. What was the matter with her? There couldn't be a more inappropriate time for her to be thinking like this. She exhaled deeply. The Waterbender pulled roughly at her armor—she suddenly felt like she was suffocating. When she bested the female guard earlier and stole her armor, Katara was surprised to find how light and comfortable the Fire-nation armor was to wear.
Now she felt like she was sitting in a hot spring on a humid day dressed head to toe in a thick fur coat.
She shook her head and shoulders, trying to physically shake away her feelings. Straightening up, she turned and tossed the clothes to the Firebender as nonchalantly as she could. He caught them, his golden eyes meeting hers. He swallowed hard at her easy-to-read face. Even in the unflattering Fire-nation armor that was easily a size too big for her, Katara managed to look alluring—the fire in the room danced around in her blue eyes and reflected beautifully off her dark colored hair. He licked his lips that felt suddenly dry. He shook his head. No, there was no time for that—even if she was the one looking at him that way. She'd probably hit him if he tried anything. "Thanks," he said stiffly. He slid the gray shirt on over his head. The Firebender began untying the drawstring of his deep red pants, but hesitated, his eyes snapping back up at Katara's. Her reddened cheeks deepened in color and he watched her quickly turn away. Zuko couldn't help a smile, his face growing warmer, too.
"S-Sorry! I—" Katara stuttered, flustered and quite possibly more embarrassed than she'd ever felt before. She didn't know why she was feeling this way, they'd seen each other naked plenty of times. Maybe it was just the adrenaline from the mission or the warm lighting of the room, either way she needed to pull herself together.
Now that she was thinking about it, it had been a few days since the two of them had been together that way, but now was definitely not the time. "Um.. I think—I think I should just go wait outsi—" Suddenly the prince's arms were wrapped around her and the back plate of her armor was pressed up against his chest. Zuko held Katara against him with one arm, using his other hand to brush her hair away from her neck. He kissed at her earlobe before his lips found their way down her neck. She swallowed hard, her breath shuddering with each of his kisses. The Firebender's calloused hand clasped onto the side of her face, pressing her neck harder against his mouth while his other arm gripped her body firmly against his, even though she wasn't resisting. "Z-Zuko—" she whimpered, "We can't—" Zuko's lips released the skin he'd been nibbling on and he smiled, turning her to face him.
"Then stop staring at me like that," he demanded. Katara scoffed, pulling away from him. She wondered if he had found out just how much control he had over her in this way and her old reflexes were prodding at her, telling her to get angry and defensive. She resisted the urge and the Waterbender headed toward the door, attempting to regain some self-control. It helped her greatly the further away she got from the Fire-nation prince. Zuko smiled as she reached the door.
As if she could sense his victorious grin, she turned back to face him. Her cheeks were still on fire and a small smile spread across her lips. "You're such a tease," she said.
"I'm a tease?" Zuko asked, lifting his one good eyebrow.
Katara grinned, taking back some control. Her blue eyes lit up with flirty mischief as she said, "Yeah, I'm not the one taking my clothes off in here."
Zuko could feel his whole body burning with desire for the Waterbender. How he wished they weren't standing inside of a Fire-nation weapons room in the Royal palace on a mission to save Aang. He would've already had her out of all that armor and pressed up against the nearest wall.
"Anyway, I'm going to keep watch outside," she informed, grabbing for the door. Zuko just smiled. "Hurry up in here," she added, trying to sound more dominant.
"Fine. I'll be quicker now that I can get undressed without you ogling me the whole time," he rebutted. Katara wrinkled her nose at him as he smiled. She swung the door open and he added, "Yell out if you get into trouble."
Katara replaced her helmet and nodded with an unseen smile. Exiting the room, she closed the metal door behind her. She immediately felt cooler and lighter standing in the dim hallway—away from Zuko and the warm lights that lit up his seductive eyes.
In this quiet moment outside of the armory, the Waterbender found herself in a serene state of mind. Which, considering all that was going on, was a bit shocking. She closed her eyes, finally allowing her mind to drift to the thoughts she'd been avoiding thinking about since Zuko had joined the group—thoughts she had been harboring since Ba Sing Se, actually. Thoughts that, once he betrayed her, fueled her rage and abhorrence of him. Thoughts that built walls up all around her, protecting her from him ever having an effect on her again—walls to protect her from herself, even. Katara leaned back against the large metal door and felt peaceful as those walls finally crumbled to the ground. When she and Zuko first started this relationship, the Waterbender told herself time and again that it wasn't anything other than an outlet for sexual tension and that she could end it at any point. But standing here now, it was evident that what they had was a lot deeper than she ever thought it would be—or could be.
She loved him.
The Waterbender sighed, a surprising feeling of relief rushing over her. Even if it was only in her thoughts, Katara was glad to finally be able to admit that to herself and be okay with feeling that way. The Waterbender knew that she'd fallen in love long before this moment. Katara had loved him since the short time they'd spent in the caves so long ago, but refused to acknowledge her feelings after being so betrayed and hurt by him. Katara refused to feel anything for the prince ever again and when she couldn't be indifferent, she transformed her feelings to anger and concentrated on loving Aang. And, while she really did love Aang—it wasn't in the same way she loved the Fire-nation prince.
She was never sure just how different the two loves were until she left the camp with Azula that night—which was strange because she had been so furious with Zuko earlier in the day and so concerned about the Avatar. But as she carried the shackled Fire-nation princess through the dark forest on her way to save Aang, all she could think about was Zuko.
She smiled. It seemed like so long ago that the Fire-nation prince had come into her room that one misty morning and kissed her for the first time. When they finally managed to save Aang, she would have to sit down with the Airbender and be honest with him about what was going on and how she felt. Her stomach lunged at the thought of it and her guilt ate away at her insides because she knew just how badly she would hurt the Avatar. It would hurt more than she would ever want to hurt anyone—especially him. But, he deserved to know. And she deserved the chance to be happy and to be honest with herself and what she wants.
She'd worry about her father's and Sokka's reaction another time.
Suddenly Katara could hear footsteps approaching, causing the Waterbender to straighten up and pretend to stand guard. Her blue eyes widened as her breath caught in her throat. She glanced around the hallway floor quickly, not seeing the guard she had beaten earlier. Her heart started to pound as the footsteps drew closer and she cursed herself. Should she just call out for Zuko? What if this was just an unaware guard passing by? Was it worth blowing their cover if she could play it off? Katara stood still, fighting back and forth with herself—her eyes straight ahead and her arms behind her back—in what she assumed a guard's pose to be. Shifting her eyes to the side to size up her possible opponent, her stomach churned painfully inside of her.
Azula stood a little ways down the hallway, her eyes narrowed on hers and her lips upturned in a small, all-knowing smirk. Panic built up inside of her, but the Water-tribe girl couldn't freak out and call out to Zuko now. Katara wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
"Hello," Azula greeted in a falsely sweet tone. Fear tore through the Waterbender as she tried to keep herself from shaking too noticeably. She nodded to the Fire-nation princess, hoping that would suffice and that she would continue past her. The Fire-nation princess walked up to her, standing directly beside her.
"Anything to report?" Azula pressed, her voice sending shivers down the Waterbender's spine. Katara bit the inside of her cheek, taking one last glance at the princess's cold smile and firmly planted stance—she wasn't going to leave.
In a single motion, the Waterbender took a swift step backwards, uncorking her water pouch and swinging her arms upward—but she wasn't fast enough. The Fire-nation princess blasted a fireball at her before she could complete the move. It hit Katara squarely in the chest and she fell hard against the floor, her helmet flying off. "Oh. Is that the Water-tribe peasant?" Azula cackled sarcastically, "How shocking." Katara growled and leapt up from the floor. She moved her arms swiftly and angrily, bending a large wave of water and blasting it ferociously at Azula. The princess countered easily, taking the offense with another blast of bright blue flames.
Katara did her best to dodge Azula's non-stop attacks in the narrow hallway. Ducking under yet another fiery kick, the Water-tribe girl battled with the idea of calling out for Zuko's help—quickly deciding against it. She refused to scream for help like some weakling. Katara stood and planted her feet into a solid stance. The Waterbender brought her arms up, a wall of water following them and temporarily disintegrating Azula's fiery assaults. Flexing her wrists and pushing her hands forward, the wall of water barreled down the hallway, crashing into Azula. It didn't knock her down, but it did break her stance. The Fire-nation princess's eyes were suddenly furious and was now thrashing her way down the hall toward the Waterbender. Katara smiled at her, standing her guard. She decided to take the offense, shooting lash after lash of water at her, hoping to take advantage of Azula's careless movements, but the princess was very agile in her livid state, dodging all of Katara's rapid attacks.
Suddenly, as the princess drew closer, Katara found that she was quickly on the defense and doing her best to block the Firebender's close-combat strikes.
Azula snarled before jumping up in the air and landing behind the Waterbender. Katara was turning as quickly as she could, but the princess caught her in the back with a bolt of lightning. Katara shrieked in pain as the electricity flowed through her armor and into her body, setting her nerves on fire. Azula cackled, watching the Waterbender writhe in pain at her feet. The female Firebender reached down, grabbing Katara by the back plate of her armor. The Water-tribe girl could feel the princess's heated breath closing in on her ear. She tried to move, but her nerves and muscles were temporarily paralyzed. Azula's lips smiled against her earlobe. "I'm going to make you regret ever capturing me and making those death threats earlier, Water-tribe peasant—you're my prisoner now. Aang is dead and Zuko will never get to you in time," she threatened quietly in her ear. Katara tried again to move, the painful aftershock of the lightning still coursing through her body. Katara fought back her tears and her lips trembled as she tried to form Zuko's name. Azula scoffed at her weakness, shoving the Waterbender's face against the ground. "And you should know that my father is just dying to meet the Water-tribe commoner who Zuko's become so involved with," she sneered into her ear, "Believe me, you'll be begging for me for to kill you once my father has hold of you—"
The Fire-nation princess was suddenly engulfed in flames and tumbling to the floor—out of Katara's line of sight. The Waterbender still couldn't move, but she knew the warmth of those bright orange flames. "You'll be the only one begging for mercy," Zuko growled, unleashing another blast of flames at his sister.