*Disclaimer-I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender*

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Chapter 25

Katara's POV

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"C'mon, Zuko, she misses you." I sat Paxton down on Zuko's bedroom couch and walked up to him. Since the whole Hakoda fight, well, punch, Zuko has been kind of distant from my house, including me and Paxton. "It's been almost two weeks since the whole incident, Zuko. Can't we just forget about it?" I rolled my shoulders back, letting out a grunt as my back cracked. My back, for some odd reason, had been hurting this whole day...

He turned around in his desk chair, facing me. The bruise from where my father hit him was still on his cheek. I winced. "Does it look like I could forget, Katara? Your dad punched me in the face!"

"Yeah, I know, but Paxton misses you...and so do I."

He stood up and walked towards Paxton, picking her up and kissing her on her cheek. "I miss her too." He poked her in her belly, making her laugh. "My little girl."

"Ahem."

Zuko turned around and kissed me on my lips. "I miss you too, Katara, but..." he sat on his bed, placing Paxton between his legs, "your dad doesn't want me over your house, so I can't really be over there."

"You can sneak in, like, you usually do."

"And if I get caught?"

"Well, then you get caught," I said simply. "It's not like we're going to be doing anything promiscuous. You'll be over my house seeing Paxton, your daughter."

He shrugged, handing Paxton a toy ring. "You're just going to have to come over my house with Pax more often, as in, every day."

"I'm not going to come over here every day, Zuko. What if I can't come over?"

He raised his eyebrow and frowned. "Then, you can't come over." He put his head on Paxton's head and ran his fingers down her arm. "You don't always have to bring Paxton with you. Sometimes, I just need some me and you time."

I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked. "What would qualify as me and you time, Zuko?"

He shrugged. "Oh, you know...me and you time."

"As in?" He continued to play with Paxton's hair as if he hadn't heard me. "Are you scared to tell me what you want?" I smirked at his reaction; it was between shocked and playful. "You are!"

He shook his head and said, "see what I go through, Pax? Your mom just wants me to openly express my feelings to her. Not that I care or anything, but that's how we had you in the first place." He shook his head, picking her up and helping her stand on her legs.

"No it's not," I told Paxton. "But I think I have some competition." I sat on his bed and laid back. "My back is killing me."

He looked at me. "From what?"

"I don't know, probably from not getting enough rest," I sighed. "Paxton has been keeping me up. She either won't go to sleep or she's hungry and she starts crying."

"Just drop her off here sometimes. I wouldn't mind, and I'm sure Azula wouldn't mind seeing her...niece?" I nodded a 'sure'. "So what did you do to your back? Been on it too much?" he smirked.

I narrowed my eyes and frowned deeply. "With who, Zuko, with who?" He shrugged. "I don't know what the hell is wrong, but I'm starting to get angry."

He let out a grunt and placed Paxton back onto the couch. "Well, there's only one thing I can do about that. Massage." He got on top of me, resting his knees on the sides of my waist. "Now where does it hurt most?"

"By my shoulders mostly," I said, putting my head into his pillow. She jumped when his fingers touched her shoulders.

"Relax, 'Tara," he whispered in her ear. He firmly yet gently placed his hands on my back, again, using his thumbs to go around in circles to ease the stiff muscles. "How's that?" I nodded, sighing as I felt my shoulders relax, with relief as he continued along my hurt area.

"Better," I let out a moan as he got a little rougher. "That's really good right there."

"You're moaning," he laughed.

"No I wasn't...was I?"

He nodded, letting out another laugh. "It's ok. I love it when you moan, means I'm pleasing you right."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course." He continued to press on my back.

"You know, it'd be better if you took your shirt off," he said seriously. I turned my head to the side, giving him a questioning look, but he continued to massage my back, keeping a straight face. "I'm serious, Katara."

I sat up, propping myself up with my elbows. "Yeah, because Zuko Sozin is so serious when it comes down to taking off my shirt."

"You have to trust me, Katara. Remember, I'm trying to help you out." I rolled my eyes at him and sighed, slipping my shirt off over my head and throwing it on the ground, conscious of Zuko's eyes staring dead at me. "You might wanna take your bra off too."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I snapped my fingers at him, bringing his eye back up to mine. "Just get back to massaging, Mr." I lied back down on my stomach, keeping close eye on Paxton who was intently staring at us. "Or maybe not." Zuko paused in mid massage.

"What's wrong?"

"Look at how our daughter looks at us." Zuko turned to look over at Paxton then back at me, giving me a shrug. "I don't think she should be watching you massage me."

"And why not?" he had begun to massage my back again, ignoring what I had said.

"Because," I moaned, taking a deep breath before I continued talking. He was doing this on purpose. "when she gets older and she ask a guy for a massage, she'll think back and remember us doing this, thinking it's okay to be shirtless in a room with a guy."

He cocked his head to the side and grinned. "You're overreacting."

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are," he poked me in my neck. "You need to just let me please you...with this massage. Paxton's not going to know anything, Katara." I sat up completely and got off the bed, putting my shirt back on. Zuko sighed. "You leaving?" I didn't answer him. "Katara, you didn't even let me finish your massage."

"If I would've let you continue, there would have been more than just massaging going on, and I'm not going to let our child watch that."

Zuko stood up and groaned. "You aren't going to be one of those overprotective parents are you, Katara. Paxton is just two months old!"

"Almost three months! She's going to start getting the hang of things, Zuko, and when she does, she's gonna catch us in the act!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he stood up next to me.

I sighed. "I just don't want our daughter to end up like us, ok!?"

He smirked mischievously. "She won't. You're taking this too seriously, Katara." He leaned down just enough to press his lips against mine. "Just...relax."

"That's one way to teach a kid," Azula said coming up behind us, clapping sardonically. "Wow, you guys just can't stay away from each other, can you?"

"Just like you and another somebody we're not going to name," Zuko pointed out.

She shrugged. "At least we have the intelligence to not do anything in front of a two month old kid! You guys are just asking for her to end up you guys." She stared at her nails interestedly. "Oh, and by the way, Jet's downstairs so he'll be...coming up soon."

"What does that have to do with me?" Zuko asked.

"It doesn't. I'm just telling you."

"I should probably go, too," I told Zuko, picking Paxton up from the couch. "I've got to get Paxton home."

"Hey, guys," Jet hastily said, then turning to Azula, then back at Zuko. "Um...was I interrupting something?" Azula shook her head. "Ok, good, I didn't want to be a cock blocker and shit." His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, sorry, didn't see your kid there...uh...I'm going to go. I'll meet you in your room, 'Zula." Jet gave me one last glance before turning around and leaving.

"Ok, well I'm leaving too, so..." I headed for the door.

"I—I'll walk you out," Zuko said.

"It's okay, you don't have to."

"No, no I want to."

Azula rolled her eyes and groaned. "Just go with her, Zuko!"

...

Meanwhile

"Sokka! It's so great to hear from you!"

Sokka inwardly sighed. "I bet it is, Suki. But you called me. What is it?" He was seriously not in the mood to talk with his ex, well, something like a girlfriend. He had really hoped she wasn't going to bring up anything about Kyle, or he would hang up on her.

"Shit, Sokka you sound so down," she continued in a softer, less bubbly tone. "You make me regret leaving you for France. Are you okay, no one died did they?"

He frowned. She was trying to lighten up the mood. "No."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Sokka, I know you too well," she chuckled out. "And I know that there is something wrong. You can't keep anything from me."

But apparently you keep things from me. Sokka thought, grimacing at Suki's happy tone. "Like you'd care."

There was a long hesitation before she spoke again. "I care for you, Sokka. I really do." The second after she said that, Sokka actually felt apologetic for thinking Suki had cheated on him...for just a second, however. "Why wouldn't I care? Should I not care—?"

"Stop." She immediately stopped talking. Taking a deep breath, Sokka continued, "I know, Suki."

"Know about what?"

"Kyle."

"Kyle?" she questioned with a slight pause. "What does he have to do with anything?" Sokka could hear the anger in her voice.

"He has to do with everything!"

"Then tell me, Sokka. What has he done?"

"What has he done?! Are you bullshitting me!?" Sokka almost threw his phone at the wall. "You know what he's done, and I know what you have done! Don't act dumb with me, Suki!" Before she could speak, Sokka continued. "I know about you and Kyle! I know about you guys' little games you play when I'm not around, and I know that he's in Paris with you!"

"What the hell gave you that idea?!" she screamed back.

"You can't deny it, Suki," he pointed out.

"So you think I'm cheating on you with Kyle?" she questioned with a dry laugh. "You'd think that I would stoop that low? You'd think that I would just go on a France trip just to cheat on you with Kyle," Sokka nodded to himself. "Sokka, how could you think that?!"

"Easy, I thought about it."

"I wouldn't do that, Sokka."

"Do what? Cheat on me, or go to France to cheat on me with Kyle?" the blue eye teen waited for her response. She was hesitant. "Tell me this, Suki; are you cheating on me with him?"

"I wouldn't cheat on you, Sokka," she said somberly. "I would never."Her voice was shaky, barely covering the sob that was about to break out. "You mean so much to me, and for you to have the audacity to think that I'm cheating on you says so much about our relationship."

"What does it say?" he crossed his arms over his chest childishly.

"It means that we can't trust each other."

"No, correction, it means I can't trust you."

"I can't believe you would think I would cheat on you with Kyle. I mean, how could I even do that when he's not even here in France," she laughed sadly. "Though, on the other hand, it's funny because I heard you were with someone as well, so I guess we both had our mistakes."

He scoffed. "I wasn't with anyone."

"Oh, so now Azula's nothing to you then."

"Where did you hear that from?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"It's doesn't matter, the point is—"

"It does matter! Azula is only a friend! Quit trying to turn this around on me!"

"I'm not turning anything around!" she yelled confidently. "I already told you the truth, Sokka! Kyle isn't here in France with me! To be honest, I don't know where he is! So quit being such a dick and think! Would I honestly be that much of a hoe to leave you for someone else?!" She cursed under breath. "Sokka, you're getting worked up over nothing. I don't know where you are getting these...accusations from, but I'm your girlfriend and I would—"

"You're not my girlfriend," Sokka said bluntly cutting her off. There was a loud gasp in the background and a couple of whispered words. Sokka guessed that it was Suki's roommates in the room with her.

"Then what are we?" she asked softly.

"I don't know."

"Fine." Suki ended the conversation first, hanging up immediately.

Sokka hit the end button on his phone and lied back in his bed. Placing the pillow over his head, he yelled, coming to realization, "What have I done?"

"Yes, son, what have you done?" Sokka turned to see his father standing in the doorway of his room with his arms crossed over his chest. "No, son of mine should ever talk to a woman like that. I don't care if you have any type of accusation on her."

"Dad, you don't understand," Sokka protested.

"No? I understand that you need to call Suki back and apologize." Sokka started to argue, but Hakoda cut him off. "You didn't even listen to what she had to say. If you were going to accuse her of something at least let her explain herself." Hakoda took a deep breath a sighed. "I understand that you are angry, son, but don't let it get in the way of how you truly feel. I'm sure Suki would never cheat on you, because I know that she cares for you deeply, and I bet I could say that she even loves you." Sokka continued to listen to his father. "Call her back, son, and apologize. It will be the best thing you've ever done." Hakoda smiled at his son and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Sokka rubbed a hand down his face as he dialed the familiar numbers. He already knew Suki wouldn't answer the phone. As expected, after the five rings, he heard the friendly answer machine.

"Hey! You've reached the voicemail of Suki Kyoshi! I'm sorry I can't be on the phone with you right now, but if you leave your name and number, I'm sure that I will be in touch soon. Thanks!" A long beep was heard afterwards.

"Hey, Suki, this is Sokka. Um...I know the conversation we had a couple minutes ago was not what you expected to hear, but uhhh...I want to apologize for the way I was criticizing you," he groaned loudly, trying to find the right words to say. "I guess I was just a bit jealous about you leaving me to go to France, and I heard Kyle was going to be up there, and I just went berserk. And I—" he could hear his phone start to beep, he was getting another call. Putting Suki's voicemail on hold, he answered the other call. "Hello?"

"Sokka," the shaky voice said. The person sounded like they had been crying, keeping their voice low and speaking slowly to relay a sense of steadiness.

"Is that you, Azula?" Sokka questioned, hearing a couple sniffles in the background. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"It's Jet...he—he broke up with me."

Sokka's eyes widened, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He never thought that anyone would break up with Azula Sozin; it would always be Azula who calls it off. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't think—"

"Could you come over? I really need someone to talk to right now," she was desperate.

He thought about the message he was supposed to be saying to Suki. "I'm kind of in the middle of something, 'Zula." He winced, waiting for her to shout an insult of some sort back at him, but surprisingly she didn't.

"Sokka, please," she begged. "I—I need you."

"You need me?" he questioned. Azula never spoke of her true feelings out loud; she would never ask for help or support, she would always do things on her own. And for her to actually need him, well, she must be really desperate or she was actually telling the truth. "Alright, I'll be there."

"OK."

He ended the conversation with Azula, and turned hold off on the phone call with Suki. "I'm sorry, Suki." He pressed the end button and got his keys.

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*Read and Review—sooo I think this story has went on a little longer than I actually thought it would, because I thought that it would end when Katara had her baby and whatever, but now I've added more dramatic scenes...I don't know if I should or not, but I'm thinking about ending the story here. I might add another chapter, maybe, but I don't know...Give me feedback on what I should do, cuz I'm seriously thinking about pressing the complete button on this story lol, but we'll see. Thanks!*