Guess what I have for you today, my faithful readers?

Oh, come on, guess. You're no fun.

All right, I'll give you a clue. It's yellow. It's yellow and you can make totally awesome poppyseed cake with it.

Damn, you're boring. Okay, I'll tell you. It's…..*drum rolls*…..

A lemon!

Yeah, anyone who doesn't like lemons, don't read this chapter. Although that's a shame, because lemons are tasty. In more ways than one.

I'm hoping this is actually good. You have no idea how hard it is for me to update with a sex scene between my character and someone that I have a little bit of a nerdy crush on. Or maybe you do.

Anyways, if it's badly written or whatever do tell me. I don't write this kind of stuff very often. And when I do, it never gets shown to other people.

And I made BLEACH references! Because Urahara fuckin' rocks.

Warning: this is a really long chapter. Word Count says it's clocking in at over five thousand. (OVER FIVE THOUSAND!) I couldn't see any way to break it up without detracting from the story.

Vivisection

Chapter 39 - Walking In The Air

For once, Zuko didn't have to knock on my door to wake me up. I'd been awake for hours, restless. I was eighteen today. At home I'd be considered an adult now. Here - I'd learnt that the age of adulthood was sixteen. It wasn't even disappointing that my eighteenth birthday wasn't a milestone in this place. I had too much on my mind.

I'd spent a long time trying to decide what to wear, and had eventually settled on a close-fitting black skirt, my boots, and a red cloak. I had no idea whether to dress for warm or cold weather, but decided to be on the safe side.

There was a knock at my door, and I opened it. Zuko was dressed too, in a loose black shirt which hung open at the throat, the style a little like my karate gi, and matching dark pants. The ensemble reminded me a little of the Soul Reapers in BLEACH, and I smiled, remembering that anime didn't exist here.

'Happy birthday,' he said, pulling me into a hug and kissing me on the lips.

I shoved him away. 'Screw that. Tell me where we're going.'

He smiled in amusement. 'You've been there before.'

'Don't care, want info, gimme now.' I folded my arms across my chest.

'No. You don't find out until we get there.' He slipped an arm around my waist, leading me out of the room. 'Your things are already down there. I got someone to take them over last night.'

'Um…you got someone to take the bag I packed?' I looked at him.

'Is that bad?' He looked puzzled.

I felt my face grow warm. 'No, it's no big deal. Let's go.'

The puzzled look on his face stayed there, but he didn't say anything. We left the palace. It was eerily silent. I wasn't sure what time it was, exactly - there were no clocks here - but the sun was only just beginning to rise, the sky tinged pale pinkish-purple in the east. Strangely enough, there was a morning fog, thin and insipid but still there. I'd never seen any evidence of cold weather in the Fire Nation, not even so much as an overcast day.

'I hope you don't mind walking,' he said. 'We're going to the harbour.'

'I'm surprised you're allowed to walk through the city without a team of soldiers guarding you,' I said, letting an accusing tone enter my voice. 'You know, since your psychotic sister is on the loose, and we both know that I'd be absolutely no help if she challenged you to a fight out here.'

'Relax,' Zuko said, tightening his arm around my waist. 'I'm not that stupid.'

'Oh really?' I shot him a condescending look. 'I don't see any backup.'

'Don't point,' Zuko said, speaking in a low voice but smiling as if making casual conversation. 'Anyone who's watching will see where they are. See that big red building?'

'The one on the left?' I laughed and kissed him on the cheek, in keeping with the charade.

'There's a squad of Yu Yan archers on the roof. You can't really see them because of the fog.'

I took my glasses off, wiping them on a corner of the cloak. 'Hopefully at least one of them knows how to take a headshot,' I grumbled, slipping them back on.

'In the words of a certain Fire Nation admiral,' Zuko said, his voice oddly serious, 'they can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away without killing it.'

I was glad when we finally reached the harbour. The city was just as creepily silent as the palace had been, and the fog seemed oddly thicker there. It was a horror movie murder scene waiting to happen.

To my relief, there was about twenty Fire Nation soldiers standing in front of a ship. The ship itself dwarfed them - it looked like it was steam-powered, probably a coal-burner. Real eco-friendly, I thought to myself. It appeared to be made entirely out of metal, and I wondered how they dealt with the obvious problem of rust.

The walkway was already lowered, and we moved up it. The interior of the ship was unexpectedly warm, torches burning in brackets every few metres along the walls. I deduced that there was probably air vents placed strategically near them somehow, otherwise we would have both been choking with all the smoke.

'So you had this huge ship set up just for the two of us?' I asked him.

Zuko nodded.

'You realise we could have taken something that was a little, you know, smaller,' I said. 'That needed less non-renewable energy sources to make it move.'

Zuko shrugged. 'It's your birthday,' he said, as if it should have been obvious. 'I could have gotten a canoe if I'd wanted to, yes. But this is the nicest ship in my fleet. And the fastest.'

He led me into a room at the end of the hallway we were in, opening the door. 'This part's the control room. You can see the ocean from here.'

I moved towards the viewing window at the front. I glanced only briefly at the water before moving my eyes to the controls. There were a lot of glass-plated meters, little needles all resting at zero. Various levers and gears were installed beneath them.

'I don't get it.'

'What?' he asked.

'Your nation,' I said, turning to face him, 'has invented tanks, yes?' Zuko nodded. 'You've got explosives,' I continued, ticking off my fingers. 'Drills. I know because I saw some workers with them, taking them to the damaged part of the palace. You've got frickin' steamboats, for God's sake. And yet…no one's invented timekeeping devices, or even a method for heating running water.'

'What's your point?' he asked. 'Is the criticism of my country going somewhere?' He leaned forward and pulled one of the levers, keeping an eye on the meter above it.

'My point is,' I said, exasperated, 'what the fuck?'

Zuko laughed at that, and kissed me. 'Do you want tea?'

I nodded. 'Can I drive?' I gestured at the ship's control board.

'You don't need to touch anything,' he said. 'It's set to go due west. We'll be there in a couple of hours.'

'We couldn't possibly be going to Ember Island, could we?' I asked, feigning curiosity. 'I mean, it's the only place that's separated from the Fire Nation by ocean that I've been to before.'

Zuko glared at me. 'Trust you to ruin it by guessing right.' He left the room, and was gone for several minutes.

I sighed, leaning against the control board. I hoped I'd have time to get into my bag sometime soon.

Man, it had been awkward. I had finally worked up the courage to ask Qing yesterday afternoon how the palace concubines managed to prevent themselves from falling pregnant. I'd been even more embarrassed when she'd just explained it to me matter-of-factly. Obviously sex before marriage wasn't taboo in the Fire Nation by any means.

She had even gone and gotten the thing for me, much to my shame. I remembered the little plant she'd put into my hand, a bunch of dried stems with tiny purple flowers on them. I'd looked at her, puzzled. 'How do I use it?'

'Just make sure you chew it - and swallow - at least three hours, but no more than twenty-four, beforehand,' Qing had said. 'Otherwise it won't work.'

That little plant had been carefully wrapped in a silk pouch and stored in the bottom of my bag, which was now apparently on Ember Island. Shit. Oh well, hopefully I'd have time to get to it at some point.

Zuko opened the door again, carrying two cups of tea on a tray. 'It's Uncle's ginseng tea,' he said. 'I know you like it.'

I took the cup off him and breathed in the steam coming off the hot liquid. Taking a sip, I felt it warm my throat and belly.

'I just thought I ought to let you know,' Zuko said after a while. 'Those workers weren't repairing the palace foundation.'

'What were they doing, then?' I asked.

'Well, they were kind of working on your birthday present,' Zuko said, looking down at me. 'I wanted to keep it as a surprise for you until we got back, but I noticed you don't seem to like surprises.'

I waved my hand impatiently. 'What is it?' I was curious, despite myself.

'You don't want a nation that's just come out of a hundred-year-long war to learn things that'd let them create super weapons,' Zuko said. 'That's fair enough. But I know you miss science. So I -' He had the grace to look embarrassed. 'I sort of commissioned a research laboratory for you.'

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

'I actually started it before I found out what day your birthday was.' He was talking faster now. 'I'm really sorry, I didn't know you wouldn't like it! Anyway, it's just about done, and I paid for a bunch of fancy glass stuff, and I got them to install a fume hood, whatever that is -'

'You made me a chemistry lab?' I was still a little shellshocked.

Zuko looked miserable. 'You can hit me if you want. Or give it to the university. I don't care, as long as you're happy.'

I placed my cup of tea down on the control board, and promptly jumped on him. My arms went around his waist in a hug, actually not so much a hug as an anaconda death grip, and he breathed out sharply.

'You - are - so - awesome!' I exclaimed. 'Hugglesaurus! Hugglesaurus times one million billion!' I squealed, and kissed him on the nose. Zuko looked very happy then. He hugged me back.

I let him go, sensing that I was crushing his air supply. 'Sorry,' I said. 'I just wanted to say that you are the best person in the universe and you are cooler than Optimus Prime and the Master Chief and the Arbiter and Urahara Kisuke and Chuck Norris all rolled into one. And I love you very much.'

'I love you too,' Zuko said, looking more amused than anything else.

I picked up my tea and sipped at it again, a ridiculous grin plastered to my face. Zuko was smiling back at me. I went into some kind of crazy spiel about the stuff I would do with my new lab, and could I commission anything extra, and a whole bunch of other shit, but deep down I knew that anything I said didn't really matter. Zuko knew I was happy, and I knew that made him happy. We knew that kind of stuff without needing to say anything. I'd thought Jimi and I shared that. In hindsight I knew that he'd been smiling and telling me what I wanted to hear when he was disposed to like me, and picking stupid arguments about nothing when he wasn't.

I slipped my fingers into Zuko's hand, and he squeezed them gently.

I looked around the house, more than a little surprised and amazed. 'It's actually - clean,' I said in awe. 'And there's new furniture. And it doesn't smell like old people.'

Zuko snorted. 'That's exactly what I said it smelt like when I was here a couple of years ago.'

'Is my stuff upstairs?' I asked him, trying not to sound too casual.

'Yes. It should be in the bedroom.'

I walked up the stairs, trying not to give anything away. We'd been on the beach for a few hours after we'd landed on the island. I'd been anxious to locate my bag, but the sight of Zuko tugging on my hand, wanting me to walk with him on the shoreline, had been enough to catch me off guard. It was the middle of the day by then, and quite warm, so we'd both gone swimming. I remembered taking off most of my clothes, down to underwear and a light undershirt, and Zuko wearing only his pants. We'd done the typical immature splashing-each-other thing, Zuko had dunked me, I'd dunked him in retaliation, and we'd gotten out of the water.

It was then that his eyes had lingered on my body, my clothing - or lack thereof - plastered to my skin with salt water. He'd looked me in the face, both eyes, scarred and unscarred, alight with lust, and I'd known he was picturing doing naughty things to me on the sand.

And God - I'd wanted him to.

I forced my thoughts away from the memory. It was late afternoon, and if I wanted the little purple plant to have any chance of working I had to take it now.

I went into the room Zuko and I had shared the last time we were here, and did a double take.

Someone had gone to the trouble of completely redoing this room. The walls were typical Fire Nation red now instead of the faded salmon colour they'd been before. The curtains had been replaced, along with the carpet, which was now thick and soft beneath my bare toes. And - the bed had been replaced. It was similar to the one I'd slept in back when I'd had Azula's old room, with red curtains and sheets and about seven pillows.

I blushed madly, like an idiot, and distracted myself by delving for my bag, at the foot of the bed. I found the little pouch, pulled out the purple plant, and wondered how much of it I needed to take.

Better safe than preggers, I thought, sticking the whole lot in my mouth. I'd expected nasty woody plant taste, but instead I was met with a pleasant flavour like rosemary but not anywhere near as strong. I chewed it, swallowed with some difficulty, and went downstairs.

Zuko was sitting on the couch, and looked at me strangely as I entered. 'What were you doing up there?' he asked.

'Oh, nothing,' I said breezily.

He seemed to take my word for it. 'I meant to ask you if you wanted me to hire any research people for you,' he said.

'What?'

'You know, lab assistants and stuff.'

I shook my head. 'No. I like to do stuff myself. Even the boring stuff like distilling water. It means you never take anything you use for granted, and you never waste chemicals.' I sat down on the couch next to him, and we talked for a while, about all kinds of stuff. He told me about his time in the Earth Kingdom as the Blue Spirit, and I told him why I loved chemistry, and watched his eyes glaze over when I described the chemical structure of N-bromosuccinimide and its properties.

'I'll teach you one time,' I said. 'So you don't have to look blank every time I go into Chem land. Have you people come up with the concept of the atom yet?'

He shook his head, looking more than a little amused. I changed the topic, and we talked about music. Zuko told me about something called a sumki horn which his uncle had tried to get him to play at some point, and I told him that I'd hoped to someday become a singer, in a metal band like Nightwish.

I told him the storylines of my favourite movies, and explained the rudiments of gaming, and why I liked Halo and BioShock so much.

'My world must seem so backward to you,' Zuko said, looking at me in wonder. 'It's like you're a more advanced species than me.'

'Nope, I'm one hundred percent human,' I joked. 'Although maybe I am genetically different to you. The bending thing - some people can do it and others can't, right?'

He nodded, and I went on. 'That means it's got to be a genetic thing. I'm not going to try and explain genetic science to you, because that'd take way too long and I don't know enough about it. But the basic idea is that your body is made up of tiny components called cells, and in the centre of each cell there's a genetic code, made of a chemical called DNA. The code is the same in every cell of your body, and basically that code gives each cell instructions. Like how to grow, what colour to be, what jobs to do. For example, the job of a red blood cell is to carry oxygen around your body.'

He seemed to understand that, at least. I continued. 'Everyone has different genetic codes. Essentially, your genetic code determines what you look like, how tall you are, the rate at which you heal, whether you bruise easily -'

'And whether or not you can bend,' Zuko finished for me.

'Exactly.' I smiled. 'When scientists where I come from looked at the human genetic code, they found that a whole bunch of it seemed to be unnecessary and pointless. They called it junk DNA, because it didn't seem to do anything useful like give instructions to cells. It just sat there. Maybe the junk DNA is what makes up stuff like bending here.'

'It's kind of late.' Zuko turned to look at the window. 'Do you want to eat now?'

'Sure.' Inside, I was nervous. The sun was just disappearing below the rim of the horizon. Had it been three hours yet? It must have been. It could only have been four or five in the afternoon by the time I took the plant.

Zuko came back into the room. 'I have sushi. And Uncle tried making this for you after you told him about muffins. I don't know if it worked or not.' He handed me something which looked and felt like a fruit muffin.

My eyes widened. 'Iroh tried making a muffin for me? That's so sweet.'

'He likes you,' Zuko told me. 'He thinks you saved me. I was so depressed all the time, before I met you.'

I smiled at him. 'Your uncle is great. And so are you.' I took a bite of the muffin.

It was good, fluffy like cake was supposed to be. It tasted kind of like apples. I handed it to Zuko. 'Have some.'

He obliged, passing me the sushi at the same time. When I'd finished my food I felt more nervous than ever. Neither of us had said anything on the topic of sex all day, and I wasn't sure how it was going to play out. I felt like a chess player who'd been seated blindfold in front of a game.

'I'm going to go and wash,' I blurted out, heading into the laundry to heat myself some water. I stood against the wall in there, freaking out just a little. The water was done far too quickly for my liking, and I carried it upstairs bucket by bucket.

I stood in the bathroom, shutting the door behind me, and pulled my clothes off. The things I'd worn swimming were stiff with salt. I looked down at myself, naked, and wondered if I was good enough for him, if he'd like seeing me like this.

Don't think too much, I told myself firmly, and stepped into the hot water. I washed myself slowly, trying to let the warmth unravel the tension in my body. Would it hurt this time around? I didn't know, but tried to relax and not think about it, which was easier said than done.

I soaped my hair, rinsed it out and got out of the water, towelling myself dry. I managed to get my hair almost dry, but still a little damp. I went to my bag, taking out the dress I'd gotten.

I hadn't wanted white. That seemed too clichéd and symbolic. Instead I'd chosen a deep cherry red colour. It had shoulder straps and would come down to my knees when it was on. I reached further into my bag, pulling out my underwear, and blanched. I couldn't do this, couldn't do it. Then I remembered that Zuko was down there waiting for me. That snapped me out of it, and I dressed. Maybe buying fancy underwear had been going a little too far. It fit me surprisingly well, black silk with what looked like red lace trim. I pulled the red dress over the top. I'd taken so long wool-gathering that my hair was completely dry now. I brushed it out with my fingers, deciding to keep it long and loose.

I walked downstairs, and Zuko, sitting on the couch, stood up. His eyes widened when he saw me.

'Do I look all right?' I asked him.

'You look more than all right.' He walked over to me and took me into his arms, and I felt very small and fragile next to him.

'Do you still want to do this?' he asked.

I swallowed. 'Yes.'

Zuko pressed me closer to him, holding me gently as if I were made of glass. 'I love you,' he said. 'I won't hurt you.'

Strangely, that made my eyes start tearing up. 'I - I trust you,' I said, my voice surprisingly steady.

With that, Zuko leant down and kissed me on the lips. It was different now, because I knew what the kiss was leading towards. He lifted me around the waist, and my legs wrapped around him. That made him smile, and he carried me up the stairs and into the bedroom, laying me down carefully on the bed.

He leaned over me, kissing me again, first on the forehead and then down the bridge of my nose to my lips. I could tell he was being very careful, very considerate, not wanting to frighten me or rush me.

I reached to the back of his head, undoing his hair in its Fire Lord ponytail. It fell loose and dark around his face, and he lifted his lips away from mine, looking down at me.

'You look sexy like that,' I said, surprising myself.

He smiled, and I looked into his beautiful gold eyes. My hand moved to his cheek, tracing the wrinkled skin of the scar with my fingertips. Zuko lowered himself down on top of me, kissing me on the mouth again. I parted my lips, letting him in. His hands slid up past my hips to rest on my upper ribs. I felt very warm, and my skin tingled, my lips aching and tingling most of all as he kissed me. He moved his mouth away from mine to kiss my eyelids, then my temple, then down the line of my jaw and onto my throat.

I felt very vulnerable like that, with my head tilted back and my neck exposed. It reminded me of how much I was trusting him, how much I was relying on him not to let me go and let me fall.

Zuko's mouth moved down my throat, teeth occasionally nipping the skin. I liked that, liked it a lot to my surprise. He kissed my collarbone, moving down below it until he was stopped by the dress. His hands went to the ties at the back, and paused.

'Can I undress you?' he asked.

I nodded, and sat up so that he could reach the back more easily. He undid the ties with unexpected ease, and slid the dress off me, pulling it over my head. I was left sitting on the bed in my lacy underwear, feeling awfully self-conscious. That feeling went away when I noticed the look on Zuko's face. He looked the same as he had on the beach, eyes darkened with lust.

My hands, almost of their own accord, went to his waist, reaching under his loose shirt and slipping it off. I stared at his chest, feeling a little shy and also a little undeserving. I wondered what right I had to him. He was gorgeous, and there were probably a million girls, all more attractive than me, who would kill to be where I was right now.

As if he could tell what I was thinking, he laughed, and lay down on top of me again. 'I feel almost like I'm cheating you,' he said.

'How so?' I asked, running my hands up and down his bare back.

'This is more like an early birthday present for me,' he murmured, moving his lips to the base of my throat again.

I snorted. 'God, that's corny. But sweet.'

'Don't laugh at me.' His mouth moved down past my throat, to the tops of my breasts, and I obeyed him. His hands moved to my back, undoing the clasp of my bra, while his mouth was busy paying careful attention to my nipples through the silk. That made my train of thought almost incoherent. I made a tiny noise in the back of my throat, and he raised his head and smiled.

'Do you like that?' he whispered.

'What is it with you and stupid questions?' He pulled my bra off, tossing it on the floor, and licked one of my nipples cheekily. I squirmed, my hips jerking off the bed momentarily.

Zuko moved his mouth down my ribs, tickling me lightly with his fingers, which made me giggle and arch my back. He kissed my navel, and with that I knew where he was going next. I remembered Jimi giving me head. He hadn't known how to give me an orgasm, but it had still felt warm, as if my insides were melting.

Zuko's fingers slipped inside my underwear, sliding it off down my thighs. He bent his head down between my legs. 'I haven't done this in ages,' he said. 'Tell me if I'm doing it wrong.'

I felt his lips and then his tongue down there, and gasped. 'Oh God.'

He was licking and kissing and sucking at me, and it felt like my insides had skipped right past the liquid phase and vaporised instantly. I glanced down at him, looked at the messy head of dark hair between my legs, and then he looked up at me, lifting his mouth away.

I saw his eyes travel over me, all of me naked in front of him. He smiled again, a naughty smile, and I knew he liked what he saw. He lowered his head down again. I felt the fingers of one hand sliding in and out of me, and nearly fainted. It was almost like I was a musical instrument, a violin perhaps, that had only been played once, and then by an amateur. Now I was in the hands of a virtuoso, and every part of me was singing.

I laid back on the bed, panting. Zuko pushed himself up onto his hands, sitting in front of me.

'How do you feel?' he asked.

'I feel…empty.' It popped out of my mouth, and I realised it was true. There was an intense warm feeling between my legs, need almost, but I felt like I was missing something.

Zuko leaned forward and lay on top of me. 'What do you want me to do?' he asked, and right then I knew.

I moved my hands to his hips, trying to find where his pants did up. Zuko smiled again at that, and helped me. His pants went onto the floor with my dress and underwear, and suddenly we were both naked on the bed.

'Is it safe for me to do this?' he asked, and I knew what he meant.

I nodded. He was hovering above me on his hands, hair hanging in his eyes, which were fixated on my body. The self-conscious feeling returned, and I crossed my arms across my chest.

'Don't do that. You're beautiful,' he said, and that was when I lifted my head, looking down the length of his body. What I saw made me blush. He was very well-endowed, and part of me wondered again if there'd be any pain.

The rest of me didn't care. I put my hands on his shoulders, wrapped my legs around his back, and felt him push very slowly and carefully into me. His hands went under my legs, pushing them up higher.

He was pressed against me now, and I could feel him shaking a little with the effort of holding back. 'Am I hurting you?' he asked, gold eyes unfocused.

There was a brief twinge, of something that might have been pain, but then it was gone. The warm need between my legs had returned, more intense now.

My breathing was unsteady. 'Zuko…' I sighed, my eyes fluttering shut just momentarily.

I saw the smile curve across his lips at that, and his eyes shut. He buried his face in my shoulder, and his hips rocked backwards and then forward again. I let out a little cry at that. He gradually picked up the pace, and my fingertips dug into his back. I cried out again, and heard him breathing heavily into my shoulder.

'Faster,' I whispered, and he obeyed, turning off most of my mental faculties at the same time. It was almost unbearable now. I'd lost awareness of virtually everything else. I just wanted him, all of him, now -

Zuko pulled his face away from my shoulder, and kissed me, deep and urgent. It was then that it became unbearable. I jerked my hips forward as it tore through me like lightning, instantly boiling anything it touched. My mind turned off, and I gasped, my eyes flicking open for a split second.

Zuko cried out just as I had before. His eyes were shut, not tightly but just closed, and the expression on his face was one of indescribable bliss. As my orgasm died away I had the sudden irrational thought that he looked like an angel.

He lay on top of me, still inside me. I could feel the warm exhausted glow of him and smiled.

'Did you enjoy that?' he asked.

If I'd been myself I would've made a smart remark, but I wasn't anything like myself now. 'Yes. Very much.' I reached my fingers to his forehead, brushing strands of black hair out of his eyes.

'I'm sorry if I was a little out of practice,' he said.

That made me snort. 'Do you see me complaining?' Zuko chuckled at that. He levered himself off me, and I felt him pull out. He pulled back the bed sheets, and I slipped in between them. He held me in his arms, and I lay across his chest, feeling small and fragile again. His hand traced the back of my neck, then my shoulder blade.

'You really are beautiful,' he murmured. 'And I don't understand your ex-boyfriend.'

'Why's that?' I kissed his collarbone.

'He saw you naked. And…broke up with you? It makes no sense.'

I laughed. 'Thank you,' I said. 'For my birthday present. Both of them.' He didn't reply, and I looked down. 'Zuko?'

He was asleep, breathing softly. I smiled. I could always punch him in the arm tomorrow.