Chapter 3

4 Years after the Hundred Year War
Mo Ce Sea

"You're going to keep me bound like the Dai Li for the rest of the way?" Azula glared at her rescuer as they floated on the large sheet of ice in the relatively calm waters of the Mo Ce Sea.

"I'm sorry, I merely thought that removing water from your lungs should take precedence, Princess," Katara replied, making Azula frown at her impudent tone. Using her bending, Katara created another tentacle of water, it's tip frozen and sharp like a razor, using it to cut the ropes that bound Azula's body. The princess forced herself to remain calm and unmoving, not wanting to be sliced by accident, though Katara seemed to be taking great care not to injure her. Before Azula could even ask whether Katara would remove her manacles as well, the razor-sharp ice lance had cut through them, leaving the princess free from any restraints.

"Now you can tell me what the fuck you were up to with that... rescue plan of yours," Azula snapped, rising to her feet.

"What do you mean, Azula?" Katara asked her, looking directly at the princess.

Weird how I had never noticed just how blue her eyes are. Probably a water peasant thing. Nobody in the Fire Nation has eyes like that. I guess that little traitor Ty Lee also has eyes as wide and expressive, but not of this color. But what really bugged Azula about Katara's eyes was how penetrative her stare was. It made Azula feel as if Katara was able to look deep inside her, and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. "Azula?" Katara asked again. "What do you want to know about my rescue plan?"

"What?" Azula snapped out of her thoughts, quickly turning away from Katara's stare, feeling embarrassed and angry for getting distracted. "I mean... if you didn't want the Dai Li to take me, we could have just taken them out when they boarded that little fishing boat. Why go through all this elaborate charade?"

"A fair question," Katara nodded at her. "There were a lot of them, and I simply was not certain of our chances. But I knew that I would have an easy time sinking their ship later, when I had the element of surprise on my side and they had no way to retaliate." The waterbender pointed at the sky above them. "Not to mention that tonight is full moon and my power is at its greatest."

"Right, and your fabulous plan nearly got me killed," Azula frowned.

"I knew exactly where you were the whole time, Azula," Katara smiled at her. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have endangered your life needlessly like that. I would never do that to Zuko."

"Pfft, like he cares about what happens to me," Azula scowled.

"You know he does," Katara sighed.

"Right, I'm sure," Azula shrugged. "Well, maybe next time just warn me in advance if you're about to pulls some crazy shit like that."

"Sorry, but there was no time for that, Azula," Katara offered apologetically. "Besides, it would have required for you to trust me. Would you do that?"

"What kind of a stupid question is that, of course I can't trust you," Azula laughed. "I don't even know why you would go along with this entire... plan of yours, but I'm sure you have something nasty in mind for me."

"That is completely ridiculous, but once again, even if I told you the truth of why I am helping you, you would never believe me," Katara sighed in resignation. "So, I think I just won't bother wasting my breath."

"Good," Azula nodded at her. For a while they just stood there, stubborn defiance oozing from them both. "Ugh," Azula finally gave up with a grunt, starting to pace back and forth along the large block of ice, serving as their transport. "Did you at least take care of those traitorous sailors who betrayed us to the Dai Li?" she eventually asked.

"I did not sink them to the bottom of the ocean together with their ship, if that's what you're asking," Katara replied. "But as soon as we reach Republic City, I'm going to inform Zuko about their actions in a letter."

"You're such a boring do-gooder, aren't you?" Azula smirked. "Never letting yourself to have any fun."

"Pfft," Katara scowled. "I had plenty of fun sinking that Dai Li vessel, thank you very much. I'm quite sure not all of them made it to the lifeboats in time."

"Ah, right," Azula coughed, feeling a little embarrassed. She was having so much fun baiting Katara that she had completely forgotten about her sinking the Dai Li ship. "Well done, I guess." She then realized something, snapping her fingers. "Wait, did you say that you're going to send Zuko a letter from Republic City?"

"That's what I said, yes," Katara nodded.

"But the Dai Li surely know that Republic City is our destination," Azula said. "I mean, I'm completely fine with burning them by the dozens, but you seem like someone who might not be comfortable with that."

"Hmm..." Katara appeared thoughtful. "I hate to say it, Azula, but you bring up a good point. Republic City is probably swarming with Dai Li agents by now. I am not afraid of facing them, but... why fight a battle when you don't have to? Besides, innocent citizens could be caught up in the middle of it all."

"Exactly, so we can't go to Republic City," Azula nodded. "See, isn't it so nice when we can agree on something?" she added with fake sweetness.

"I'm still taking you to the North Pole, Azula," Katara looked at her sternly. "Don't even think for a moment that you can wriggle out of that."

"You are very confident of that, waterbender," Azula stepped up to Katara, drawing herself up challengingly. "I wonder what exactly makes you so certain."

"Believe me, Azula, you will not enjoy finding out," Katara replied in an even tone. Much to Azula's surprise and frustration, the waterbender hadn't even flinched at the threatening expression in Azula's eyes, a glare that would intimidate most people who were not suicidal. She just simply could not figure out how and why Katara was completely unafraid of her. The sheer gall of it all really ruffled Azula's feathers.

"But if we fought, surely I could use the fact that you would try to go easy on me," Azula pointed out. "You admitted that already when you said that you couldn't let anything bad happen to me because my big brother would become so very sad."

"Don't worry, I have a way to disable you without hurting you... too much," Katara smirked. Azula could not believe it, but not only was Katara unafraid, now she was baiting her! What did this girl think, that she could insult a Fire Nation princess like that? Still, Katara's supreme confidence worried Azula just a little bit. Azula also knew that she was not in her best firebending shape, and that it would take some intense practicing over the course of several weeks for her to get back into shape. It was so frustrating to be subjected to these taunts of this lowly waterbender and not being able to do anything about it, but for now, Azula supposed she had to just suffer through it. She had other ways to mess with Katara, after all. Azula always found some way of getting to people. Katara was no different from others, she just needed to find the right buttons to push.

"Hmph," Azula finally looked away. "Fine, I'll play along," she snorted, crossing arms on her chest.

"Good," Katara nodded at her. "I know a few smaller settlements south of Republic City. Those should be perfectly safe." The drifting block of ice changed the direction it had been swimming in ever so slightly, Azula realizing that Katara had been guiding it along all this time with her waterbending. Maybe Katara's element wasn't so completely useless after all. It was annoying to admit, but being stuck out on the open sea, there was not much use for her firebending in her current circumstances.

"I'm glad you're seeing reason," Azula smirked at the other girl.

"I'm sure you're delighted about it," Katara smiled thinly. "Now I just need to figure out how to contact Aang and Sokka when they return to Republic City. I would prefer to travel North on Appa's back than by some other means."

"Mhm," Azula nodded absentmindedly, already plotting ahead. She definitely did not want the Avatar catching up with them. That would make her escape very difficult, if not impossible. She needed to somehow ditch Katara before they had reunited with the Avatar. Or... ideally, maybe she could convince Katara to go along with what she wanted. The trouble was... Azula wasn't yet certain of what she wanted to do with her long-coveted freedom.

5 Years after the Hundred Year War
Republic City

Katara's right hand gripped tightly at the headboard of the bed, her left palm cupping and squeezing her own breast as a throaty purr escaped her lips. Her long, disheveled hair fell into her face like a curtain, but she did not care. The only thing she cared about at that moment was how amazing Azula's tongue felt against her clit.

Through the first few awkward weeks of their physical intimacy, Katara had quickly learned all she needed to know about Azula as a lover. She had been a little worried that Azula's inherent selfishness would make her too focused on her own pleasure and neglectful to Katara's needs, but fortunately for Katara, Azula was also extremely prideful and Katara by now knew perfectly well how to use it to her advantage. It took only the briefest mention of how she had been worried that Azula might be too selfish to make for a great sexual partner. Azula immediately jumped at the chance to prove Katara otherwise, and she did so with her usual fiery passion and determined drive.

Across the following weeks and months, Azula had patiently observed and studied just how to satisfy Katara better, her pride wounded just by the slightest insinuation that she might not be the absolute best at something. The end result of Katara's subtle manipulation was that every time she and Azula made love, she could be absolutely certain of having all her needs taken care of before they drifted off to sleep. Azula's pride and honor demanded it, there could be no other way.

As it was, Azula was the perfect student when she set her mind on mastering something. Everything about what she did with her tongue was just perfect, the light pressure, the cadence with which it circled Katara's swollen clit. It was hard to keep herself in check when Azula truly set to her task, especially when the fingers of her left hand teased Katara's breast so delightfully. There was only one way in which the entire experience could be improved, and Katara's mind was spinning merely thinking about it.

"Babe, I think I'm just about ready for your fingers," Katara moaned, feeling a tremor of anticipation passing through Azula's body from the invitation. She always got so extremely turned on from bringing Katara to orgasm, in the aftermath it took very little to get Azula off as well.

Katara threw her head backwards and cried out as she felt two of Azula's long and elegant digits penetrating her extremely soaked folds. She loved how Azula always used her firebending to adjust her body temperature to match Katara's, so that the fingers entering her did not feel cold and clammy, instead they felt just right as Azula picked up a slow and steady rhythm of thrusts.

Katara loved the fact that she did not have to hold back. Having a private estate all to themselves in Republic City meant that they didn't have to worry about any meddlesome neighbors complaining about their erotic escapades. Katara could be as loud as she wanted to be, and by the spirits, when Azula fucked her like this, she just couldn't help herself from getting pretty damn loud, especially when she knew just how much her cries served to arouse Azula as well.

When Azula removed her hand from Katara's breast, the waterbender knew perfectly well why her lover had done that. Forcing herself to rear her head just a little, dazedly peering through the curtain of her hair, Katara could see that perfect ass of her lover slightly raised upward as Azula's left hand now moved frantically between her own spread legs, trying to push herself to an orgasm together with Katara.

That sight alone was too much for Katara. With a strangled cry, she allowed her head to tumble backwards as the first wave of an encroaching culmination hit her so indescribably hard. Colorful circles spun before her closed eyes as her passion crested, but Azula simply kept going, undeterred, shaking with her own orgasm nearing, never stopping from her task of giving pleasure to her lover.

Another wave of intense and overwhelming pleasure followed soon, then the third, Katara's voice breaking, her chest rising and falling powerfully. From the powerful contractions seizing her body, Katara guessed that she was making quite a mess of the sheets, but she couldn't give a damn. If Azula didn't set the sheets on fire, then she would just clean them by waterbending later.

By the time she called out for Azula to stop, Katara had lost the count of the peaks and falls of the ride her lover had taken her on. Through her half-lidded eyes, with the room still spinning slightly, Katara looked down her sweat soaked body to stare into the face of her lover. Azula's wild beauty always took her breath away, but never more so than during their moments of intimacy. The way she looked now, flushed deep crimson, the lower part of her face glistening with Katara's juices, Azula was incredible. There was a look of wild desperation in Azula's eyes as her fingers still worked her swollen clit, and when their eyes finally met, it seemed to serve as the final push to get Azula over the edge. With an exhausted cry, her body shuddered and she tumbled forward, collapsing on top of Katara's hips.

Katara wasted no time in leaning downward to seize Azula and pull her up and on top of herself. She kissed Azula's damp brow before they began to exchange full open-mouthed kisses, both slowly coming down from their highs, exhausted. "I love how you just can't help yourself, Princess," Katara smiled lovingly at Azula. "What would the others think if they knew what a needy little slut you are, babe."

"I'd have to kill them all," Azula purred contently, happy to just lay there, be kissed and held.

"But they'll never know what you're really like, my Princess," Katara whispered to her. "That's just for us two to know and share. For always and forever."

"Damn right," Azula smiled sleepily, slowly starting to drift off.

"Sometimes I still can't believe that I got you to take that chance and put your trust in me, Zula," Katara smiled softly. "It was a miracle. A wonder that I'll never betray."

"I know..." Azula replied. "I'm just as shocked that I was even able to trust someone. But I'm glad it's you. Because I know you'll never betray my trust."

"I won't," Katara spoke earnestly. "I love you, Zula."

"Love you, Kat," Azula smiled at her, letting a yawn escape past her lips. "Sleep now?"

"Sleep now, babe," Katara chuckled, as the two of them drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.