The waterbender walked behind Lien to the common area, the din somewhat distant as she lost herself in her musings. The Fire Nation woman had given her another, more explicit lesson on erogenous zones, Katara had not been keen on hearing.

She remembered a time around the fire, where the women, both in her village and up north would speak about their exploits with their husbands. She had done her best to zone out, being far too young and unwilling to listen. The way they touched and were touched by their partners, had at the time, seemed a little too much to share with the younger girls, and even each other, as intimacy was something personal. She had doubted, at the time, the men they spoke of would be too thrilled to be the subjects of laughter, derision, comparisons and even desire by the other women. It was all in good spirit, though, and she saw, now, that it had been a natural way to teach the younger women what to expect and what to demand of their husbands, but also what to give in return.

She had never considered how woefully naive she truly was about the subject, but now that she was in the predicament she was in, Katara felt rather foolish for not paying attention. It's not like she didn't know how a man's body would respond to her, from a physiological standpoint. She was a healer. Of course she knew how bodies acted. And to a certain, very beginner degree, she had seen first-hand what a well-placed kiss or caress of her hand could do. Jet had responded to some of their more heated make out sessions very physically. Still, the waterbender had always shied away from more than rubbing him for a minute or two through the fabric of his clothing.

Oh, how she had hated every minute of Lien's lesson. She had not only given graphic descriptions on how to elicit reactions by paying attention to certain parts of someone's body, but she had made Katara practice on her. As if the mere act wasn't mortifying enough, as the water maiden made progress, the other woman would, give her praise, rather audibly. She blushed at the memory.

In the end, Lien had given a very naughty smirk, and the tribes' woman was sure that she would never be able to look the other in the eye ever again.

They sat next to Xue at the table, Lihua growing stiff in her presence.

"Lihua, when are you going to start speaking to Katara again?" Lien admonished, rolling her eyes. "It's not like Fire Lord Zuko summoned you exclusively, even before she arrived."

The girl gasped indignantly as Katara shoved rice into her mouth, noticeably avoiding eye contact with her friends.

"I….I'm not…. It's not like that, Lien." The Lord's favourite bit her lip. "I'm just…."

The older Fire Nation woman sighed. "You like him, I know." She rested her hand on her friend's shoulder. "But Fire Lord Zuko still loves Lady Mai. His heart does not belong to you. " Lihua hung her head. The four women ate in silence.

.

0

.

Zuko sat in front of his desk, documents in hand. He had been lost in thought for the past quarter of an hour. Two nights ago, the Water Tribe woman had finished the story of Houyi and his lady love. The Fire Lord couldn't help but feel his chest tighten, the pain too much to bear. She had placed her hand on his bicep, rubbing comfortingly, her eyes, her big blue eyes, searching his, the pain mirrored there. She gave his arm a little squeeze and his breath caught in his throat. He was glad his mind had been clear that night, for he would've done something he would come to regret. Yet, in that moment, when all he was saw was blue, the firebender had wanted nothing more than to be held by her, her comfort enveloping him completely.

She had bit her lip, and his eyes had flickered downward to them. His heart leapt up to his throat and the Fire Lord felt he couldn't breathe, like the room was spinning at dizzying speed.

He had dismissed the tribes' woman at that moment, rather coldly, now he thought about it. The sole purpose of getting her close was to try and find something, some inkling of information that helped conquer the Northern Water Tribe. And yet, here he was, consumed by grief and despair.

Zuko knew what was said about him. Here in the palace, the echoes of dissidents, mostly from the colonies, people who were as much Earth Kingdom as they were Fire Nation, reached his ears daily. They called him a monster, a dictator, a murderer. At first, when he had been crowned, the words bothered him, flared his ire. He was not what they called him. He had done what he had to, to earn his father's love.

Love. He chuckled bitterly. His entire life had been lived trying to be loved. His mother had so. Dearly. So much she had sacrificed everything for him. His uncle had also loved him, more than any man could ever love someone, his son, much like Lu Ten.

But he had been amiss. There was a hole, deep and hungry, that had only grown bigger when Ursa had left. It demanded, bereft and violent, to be filled. And so, he became the man his father always dreamt he would be. He murdered a man and in doing so he killed the Ursa in him. And the hole grew deeper still, blind to the fact that Ozai's love, conditional and untrue, was burying him, the man he truly was, under the rubble of his actions.

And then, when the last shred of humanity was about to expire, she had loved him. And it breathed new life into his heart. The hole diminished, only a crack on a wall, for it was exactly what love was supposed to be. Unconditional, gentle, accepting, kind and healing. Still, only a reflection of his former self remained.

He wasn't the banished Prince Zuko, son of Ursa, anymore. He was Fire Lord Zuko, son of Ozai. That ghost however, haunted every word, every kiss, every sigh that escaped his lips when Mai was around. The kind, gentle boy of his youth possessed him violently and he liked the man he was with Mai. He had left the more grewsome parts of war to Azula, too afraid to see what was truly happening outside his palace, too afraid the ghost would completely take over, that weakness Ozai always loathed in him, strong and binding.

When his lady wife announced her pregnancy, Zuko had pressured for the taking of Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom's last stronghold. He wanted a world of peace for his child, one in which he could nurture his true nature, had it been anything like his or his uncle's.

He had Ba Sing Se now. Peace was within reach. But they were gone. And so, the hole reopened, a gash larger than it had ever been, bleeding inside his bosom. He had taken to drinking heavily for the months after their passing, now using it as a crutch whenever that perfidious darkness proved too be all too consuming. His father's son he had become, learning his lesson far too well. Ozai was right. Pain had been his teacher. And so, the world was falling around him, and he would take everyone else along.

But that night, surrounded in blue, the ghost had come back. Prince Zuko, son of Ursa had wanted to cry in her arms. There was love in her touch, there was love in her eyes, love for humanity, love for the people around her, love for weakness, unconditional, gentle, accepting, kind and healing.

Zuko sighed. There was nothing to be done. If even the love of his beloved wife, directed only at him, had only bound the ghost, how was a love directed at mankind could ever revive it?

.

0

.

She sat, leaning against the window, the setting sun dyeing the sky oranges, reds, pinks and purples. Katara figured it made for a beautiful scenery. She had never noticed that the Fire Lord's chambers had a view of the beautiful garden she had taken a liking to. It contrasted strikingly with the sky, the life around the palace betraying the state of the world outside the capital.

She could see the baby turtle-ducks following their mommy into her nest, ready to call it a night. The tribes' woman smiled, her hand supporting her head. She wondered if her Gran-Gran was tucking Sokka into bed back home. He would grumble about being a man now, but she would have none of it. The heaviness settled inside her chest and the waterbender sighed into her palm. Soon. Soon this will all be over, she thought. She would be reunited with her family soon enough. Katara dared not think of any other possibility.

The door opened and she spun on the chair, facing the Fire Lord directly. He looked tired and weary and his golden eyes became guarded when they spotted her.

Katara smiled at him sweetly, standing up and taking a few steps toward the man, before bowing slightly.

"My Lord."

Zuko cleared his throat and turned to the fire mantle, lighting it with a small burst of flames from his fist.

The tribes' woman felt the distance he was trying to put between them. But she would have none of that. She strode to his side, eyeing the bright orange flames.

"I hadn't noticed your chambers overlooked the garden, milord." Her voice was delicate and sugary. She was fond of the palace gardens, truly. She had long decided she would do this, but as Katara. She would not use any deception other than what was necessary.

The firebender turned to look at him, his face blank. Still she saw something behind his eyes.

"It's my favourite place in the palace, my Lord." The waterbender smiled at him. "I am always glad in the mornings, when General Iroh spends a little of his time to have tea with me there." She raised her hand to the mantle, still eyeing the flames. Zuko just looked at her quietly. She straightened and walked to the cabinet, pouring rice wine into two cups. The woman walked back next to him and handed him the glass.

"I'm not sure if you have noticed, my Lord, but the turtle-ducklings are starting to shed their baby plumage for their adult one. Soon they will take flight." She turned to him and took a sip.

After a pregnant pause, he doused his own wine and strode towards the sofa, where he sat.

Katara puzzled at his behaviour. It was most unusual for him to stay quiet, for him not to threaten her with punishment for speaking with permission. Katara was starting to worry. Had he caught up to her scheme? Had Ryu outed her as a waterbender? Panic was settling in her stomach.

"Are there turtle-ducks in the Water Tribes?" The firebender asked, looking at her.

Katara walked to him and sat on the floor before him. She took another sip of the wine, the alcohol burning her oesophagus, and then she looked up at him.

"No, milord. But we do have penguin-otters." She smiled. "I used to ride them when I was a little girl, with my brother, back at the south." Her voice took on a longing tilt.

He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I don't remember anything but tigerseals back in the north." She focused on remembering. "Oh!" Katara exclaimed, excited, her eyes crinkling on the sides at the memories. "I remember koalaotters. They were so cute, all furry and small. And turtle seals as well." The fondness in her tone made the Fire Lord blink. The tribes' woman looked at him from underneath her lashes.

"At this time of year we would all gather around a bonfire, big enough to light up the sky in the dead of night. And we feast in honour of Tui and La, for blessing our Tribe with enough food to enter the winter." She got up and walked back to the mantle. "In the North festivities are a bit more solemn. But my brother always liked the merriment best. Even in the North he would…." She drifted off and the Fire Lord couldn't help but seize her up.

Her eyes took a faraway quality, her lips quirking at the corners, almost a smile. He could not help but be reminded of his late wife Mai, on her last fatal days, the look she would get on her face while fondling her growing stomach.

He eyed the Tribes' woman closely, truly taking in her features for the first time. The shape of her jaw, round and soft, her angular chin, her long eyelashes, that soft, fond smile, the warmth in her blue eyes, dancing in the hearth fire, how that same fire danced against her dark rich skin, making her look like some kind of ethereal spirit, tempting Agni himself. She looked so beautiful in this moment.

Zuko shook his head mentally and cursed his treacherous thoughts.

Katara wasn't stupid. Innocent and naïve still, but not stupid. She could see the Fire Lord stealing glances at her from the corner of her eye. The woman turned to face him, looking at him from under her dark lashes, the way Lien had told her to do.

"I heard your Highness has a younger sister."

The firebender stiffened at the mention of Azula. The waterbender quickly diverted the subject so she wouldn't lose his attention. "My brother, the one I was talking about, he is also older than me. His name is Sokka." His eyes darted towards her face, interest peaked. Ha! Gotcha.

"He must be around your age, your Highness." Her eyes cast down into the flames. "I haven't seen him in so very long." Her voice, low, managed to crack. "I don't even know if he is still alive." Her hand reached up to trace her mother's necklace but something unfamiliar weighed upon her neck, heavy and cold. Zuko watched her intently and a pang of something burrowed inside his chest. Sympathy? No, that wasn't right. I am the Fire Lord. Some sacrifices are necessary to bring the great vision of my ancestors to fruition. His jaw clenched. After he took the Northern Water Tribe no other girls would lose their brothers. He would make sure of it.

Zuko's hand lifted slowly, making for her shoulder but stopped mid-air, dropping heavily to his side.

"He liked to make fun of me for….well for everything." Her tone was coloured with affection. "But….but he would always compliment my cooking and allow me to follow him everywhere. Which girls shouldn't, obviously! But there were so little people in the South at that time, we needed to hunt and fish, all of us."

She smiled and took a step closer. The firebender thought, distantly, about his uncle's advice. Caged birds sing no tunes. He would treat her closer to a lady of his standing, and then when she sang him the information he needed, he would end this war. There would be no more dead brothers.

"You remind me of him. I don't know why. You are as different as they come." A pause, and then the woman bit her lip "Maybe…..because you take care of me." Turning fully towards him, she got on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his lightly. The man did not move, only stiffened, alarm bells ringing in the far recesses of his mind.

He was used to this kind of behaviour, of course, ever since the crown was placed upon his head. Even women who had previously been repulsed by his disfigurement would now do everything in their power to gather his attentions. Yet, he reckoned the Water Tribe woman, with her sharp tongue and cold eyes would probably never care about his standing as Fire Lord. It had been obvious before she found him vile.

That seemed not the case anymore. Maybe the intricacies of harem life had gotten to her, and just like every other concubine, she now felt his interest could serve her.

Zuko didn't really care, at the present moment, though. He didn't even care about information, if he was being honest with himself. All the man really cared about was the feeling of this woman's lips on his. They were warm and soft, and ever so hesitant, he noted.

Tribes' women usually reserved their affections towards their husbands, if his teachings on their culture were to be believed. Rumours about their passionate proclivities also abounded in the Fire Nation. He wondered now if they were true. If this shyness she was displaying with him would turn to lose abandon were she kissing her husband.

Katara's hands perched on his shoulders, pressing her lips fully to his, after a few moments. She had talked herself into just going for it if her plan were to work. No time for hesitation. The Fire Nation never had.

She bit his lower lip like she used to do for Jet, hoping she would get as great a response from this man as she had from her lover. At the action, the firebender gripped her hip tightly with one hand, his other resting on the black marble behind Katara's head. She jumped at the action but did not pull away. His fingers were scorching against her skin, and his tongue pressed against her lower lip. She parted her lips for him, and his tongue darted into her mouth to press against hers.

The Tribes' woman was vaguely aware that she should be hating this, this man's hands upon her body, his mouth claiming hers, his heat burrowing into her, and yet she couldn't force herself to care. It felt good, this kiss, passionate and hot, his digits pressing deeper into her flesh, the taste of wine and smoke and longing on her tongue. Her body was betraying her in the most intimate way, in the worst way she could possibly imagine.

The waterbender recalled Jet's kisses, Haru's one-time adventure against her plump flesh, but none were quite this scorching, all consuming. It sent jolts of electricity coursing through her veins, and it terrified her, how much she wanted this to continue. Maybe it was necessity, maybe it was hate, maybe it was fear, maybe it was loneliness, or maybe, La forbid, it was desire.

Katara wasn't blind. Even scarred, this man was handsome.

He pulled on her hips with both hands now, guiding her towards the sofa, kissing her over and over, some just small pecks, others passionate and searching. She fell in his lap when he sat down, his hand resting in the back of her knee and the other on the small of her back.

He pressed his lips against her jaw, sucking and nipping at her skin while moving upwards towards the junction between then jaw and ear. Katara gasped at the feeling. The man was eager, and she counted that as a small victory. He nibbled on her ear lobe and she crooned pleasurably at the sensation. Zuko kept his attentions on her ear for a while, before once again taking her lips.

Katara's head was spinning, fire shooting through her veins, in a way she hadn't felt in a while.

She gasped when his mouth found her neck, open and hot, scorching her skin in his desire. The waterbender could feel her thighs tremble, and she thought, distantly, that were she still by the fire, she would no longer be standing. His teeth found her flesh with just enough force to mark it but not enough to truly hurt. The Fire Lord licked at it after, soothing her taught flesh, before travelling down towards her collarbone to suck until the capillaries beneath it broke.

The waterbender was moaning, she knew. Low and sigh like still, but they were still moans, and she hated herself for it. Her stomach dropped at the things he was coaxing out of her, but it felt oh so good.

The hand behind her knee travelled upwards, gripping her thigh firmly, squeezing it pleasurably, before it entered her garment to touch the skin of her inner thigh, close to her sex.

The action sobered Katara up, immediately. The Tribes' woman pushed against his chest, trying to distance herself from him.

"My Lord please…" Her voice was husky with desire, but the hint of whatever it was paused Zuko immediately. He looked into her eyes, still panting, still flushed.

She could feel her own heat pooled beneath her skin and she wondered what it looked like to him, her lips kiss swollen, dark skin flushed and warm, eyes dark with her own pleasure.

"I just…." Katara felt the need to explain, looking away from him. His hand had slipped away from her inner thigh, resting now only a little bit above the underside of her knee. He started rubbing the skin there soothingly and nodded but kept quiet.

The waterbender could see his process of sobering up. His hand kept his ministrations on her skin, and she swallowed hard at it's meaning. Naïve but not stupid. The firebender placed a small peck against her lips, letting her know he wouldn't press for anything.

After clearing his throat, he spoke. "I think you should rest." There was no harshness in his tone. Just restraint and understanding. It surprised her. She always thought that if she acted, he would not hold back, a true Fire Lord bent on conquering. Instead, she found he respected her need to stop, understood how this was, for now, going too far.

He caressed her cheek with his knuckles and once again kissed her, something only fleeting and reassuring.

Katara could cry. She was going to kill this man, seduce him so she could end him, and here he was making her feel better about a situation she caused. Looking away, she held his hand on the back of her knee.

"Thank you." It was heartfelt.

Standing up, he guided her to the door. Part of Zuko wanted to walk her back to the women's quarters but he stopped when opened the door. She was looking down, but bit her lip, and once again, on her tiptoes pecked him before leaving.

Zuko looked at her retreating back, wondering where this had come from and if he could have the both things he now knew he wanted.