When he opened the door to her room, Zuko saw she was already about to go to bed.

"Good, you're here. I need to ask you a favor, Zuzu."

"First we need to talk" he said as he closed the door.

"About what?" she feigned innocence.

"About our... situation" he didn't want to do this. He definitively did not want to do this. He didn't want to ever think about this whole thing again.

But he had no choice.

"How did you get Chise and Mayu to back off?" he asked, already fearing the answer. Azula's grin and that devilish look in her eyes didn't help calm him down at all. He wanted to believe his sister really had changed, but he couldn't help but imagine all kinds of horrible things she could have done to her poor doctors.

"I just gave them a warning. It's not their place to question their Fire Lord, and they should have been doing their job instead of wasting time wondering what we do when we're alone."

"You threatened them" he corrected. This wasn't good, but at least it wasn't as bad as he thought.

"If that's what you want to call it" Azula rolled her eyes.

"What did they think was going on?"

"They thought I seduced you. They just didn't know if I did to gain power or because I wanted to be with you" she answered bluntly.

Zuko took a deep breath and went on "And which one is it?"

Azula smiled maliciously and walked toward him "You don't trust me, brother? You're hurting my feelings" she said in that sarcastic tone that he hated "I'll admit, being close to the Fire Lord has it's benefits, and I obviously took advantage of it. But I didn't plan it."

He had fight back a smile. It had all been genuine. She cared about him.

"When did you start feeling that way?" he asked somewhat awkwardly.

She paused to think about it for a moment "I'd say about four or five months before you were banished. I thought I had gotten over it a few times, but having you around for too long always seems to bring it all back."

Zuko took a step back, completely shocked by what he had just heard. "That long ago?"

Azula nodded, but he still couldn't believe it.

"But you hated me - you said as much!" he was absolutely exasperated "You laughed when father burned me! You tried to capture me! You tried to kill me!"

"Yes" she was perfectly calm "But I still had feelings for you" she shrugged as if saying 'go figure'.

He knew Azula's way of dealing with her emotions was bizarre. She loved their mother, but would die before admitting it. She cared about Ty Lee and Mai, but she still mistreated them and was not at all above coercing them into doing anything she wanted. He had suspected she had always had at least some positive feelings towards him, but he could have never predicted she would want to be with him.

"That's insane."

She laughed "In case you haven't noticed, so am I" she smirked and got closer to him - too close.

Zuko fought the urge to keep her at arm's length.

"Now that I've answered all your questions" her tone was low and dangerous, causing his breath to get caught up in his throat. "Tell me, dear brother, what do you want from me? I have a pretty good guess, but I want to hear it from you" she said as she tugged on the fabric of his robe.

"I-I don't know" he stuttered, trying desperately to avoid looking at her. His resolve was immediately broken by her chuckle.

"You're such a bad liar" she whispered, her nose almost touching his. Zuko created just a little distance between them, gently pushing at her sholders, but he couldn't find the strength to really get away from Azula - or the desire to do so.

"How can you be okay with this? Don't you ever feel guilty?"

Her face softened, and she raised one hand to gently touch the scar on his eye. "I feel guilty and ashamed of many things, Zuzu. This isn't one of them."

Azula leaned in, and Zuko felt his heart beating so fast he could swear it was about to explode. The mere brush of his sister's lips against his felt like the shock that had hit every single one of his nerves when she had shot her lightning at him.

Slowly and completely unsure of himself, he started to respond. The kiss was gentle and sweet. Strangely enough, it felt almost innocent.

But it wasn't enough for him. He kissed her harder and grabbed her waist, wanting to have her as close to him as humanly possible. He felt her smiling against his lips, and wrapping her arms around his neck. The second he slightly parted his lips, Azula deepened the kiss.

It shouldn't be this easy. It shouldn't feel this good.

Zuko could feel his sister's passion in every little action and reaction. Her tongue toying and sparring with his own, tasting him, exploring his mouth. Her nails gently scratching his scalp. Her hands touching his chest and his back, grabbing his arms, feeling every muscle. Her teeth delicately biting his lower lip. Her gasping for air whenever one of them would pull away for a few seconds, and then melting against him when he'd kiss her again. Her little moan against his mouth and the shiver that went through her body when his fingers slowly traced her spine, from her neck to her lower back, then quickly went back up.

"Careful now, Zuzu... don't start something you can't finish" her tone felt both like a warning and a dare.

Before he could decide if he wanted to take the bait, they heard frantic knocks on the door and instinctively got away from each other.

"Your highness, is your brother with you?" the person on the other side sounded desperate.

"What do you want?" Zuko didn't even bother to hide the anger in his voice.

"My Lord, a hawk has arrived!" Zuko recognized Xang's voice "The message has a black ribbon on it!"

Zuko and Azula shared a panicked look. A black ribbon. The sign of an emergency - usually one that was a direct threat to the Fire Nation.

Or to the Fire Lord himself.