This is so NSFW and much, much longer and spicier than I intended. There's a very long A/N at the end addressing some aspects of the story if you're interested.
The songs I had on repeat writing this are:
On My Mind - Ellie Goulding
What I Like - Charli XCX
Goodness Gracious - Ellie Goulding
Talking Body - Tove Lo
Oh God - Era Istrefi, Konshens
Hands on Me - BURNS ft Maluma
Thank you Aaliyah92, Harper loves Alex, bailique88, Lucyinthesky1249, ox-AvivA-xo and Silverlight20 and unnamed others so much for your reviews as I wrote this, it makes me happy to know that you have like the story so far.
So here's the last part of A Scorching Hand, hope you enjoy it!
The searing kiss made her breath catch and her heart pound.
She needed to focus.
The heat that rolled off of Zuko's body was blistering, he was simmering the water as fast as she could freeze it. Holding his lips captive she pressed her hand against his scar letting her bending explore beneath his skin, searching for anything abnormal.
Still nothing.
At least not physically. She quickly explored the lines of energy that crisscrossed his body.
There!
Tangled and choking on itself she found what she was looking for.
Katara dragged her mouth from his with a gasp, she found him with his jaw clenched and eyes darkened with need boring into her. The strangling grip he had on the edge of the tub turned his knuckles white. She could feel him pressing into her through the thin material of her sarashi, calling her own desire to the surface. It was becoming distracting. She shifted her weight trying to relieve some of the pressure but all it did was create friction that made her shiver and caused him to grit his teeth. She ignored him and the tightening low in her core the best she could and released her grip on his hair. She finally knew what she was dealing with. Katara had spent a month with Guru Pathik learning in hopes his teachings could help advance her healing abilities. The weeks of choking down onion and banana juice had finally paid off.
Pressing an icy palm over Zuko's solar plexus just above his scar she recited the guru's words through gasping breaths, "Air chakra, deals with love and is blocked by grief."
She pressed her other hand just above his waistband causing him jerk slightly, "Water Chakra, deals with pleasure, blocked by guilt."
"You have energy twisted up in both places," she explained quickly, she brought both of her hands to a soft glow beneath the water's surface. The heaving of his chest calmed beneath her touch.
"I can try and untangle it but resolving it will have to up to you."
"Resolving what?" he nearly growled.
"Connect the two," she tried to clarify, "you need to figure out what's causing the block and let it go. What guilt is keeping you from seeking pleasure, what grief is keeping you from love?"
"Katara, have you met me?" Zuko asked her incredulously.
Frustrated, with no retort and both hands occupied, Katara retaliated anyway. Leaning forward with a mouthful of frost she nipped the fevered skin at his neck. What was meant to be a teasing gesture born of her aggravation quickly developed into something else. Her soft lips felt cool against his heated skin before her teeth dragged sharply across that spot in the junction of his neck and shoulder. The small assault caught him off guard and blurred the lines between pleasure and pain. Sending a shot through his chest, he gasped and arched his back against her hips. The sudden press at her opening pulled a small strangled sound from her before every muscle in her abdomen contracted pulling her back from him with a jolt. She sucked air through her teeth, she could feel the length of him beneath her and she was torturously more aware of the effect she had on him.
"Are you trying to kill me?" he wheezed.
Doing her best to maintain her composure she quirked an eyebrow at him, "Interesting."
"What?"
Filing it away for later she shook her head, "Nothing. Focus, you have to start from the lowest point and work your way up. We need to start with the Water Chakra. What guilt are you holding on too?"
Despite the position they found themselves in Zuko managed to fix her with a blank look, "You're going to have to be a little more specific here."
Katara would have face palmed if her hands weren't already engaged in undoing the tangled mess before her. Taking a calming breath she tried to ignore the fact that she was half naked, wet and straddling the Fire Lord's lap who, judging by what she felt pressing against her, was very happy to see her. Maybe one breath wasn't going to cut it here. If anyone carried guilt it was Zuko, the question was guilt over what?
Watching her bite her lip while deep in thought wasn't helping his control in the slightest. Her hands on his chest, the weight of her on top of him, the way her wet clothing clung to her, all of it was pushing him off the edge. She had been on his mind for months if not years and now here she was literally dropped in his lap and he couldn't do a thing.
Katara's head snapped up, "It only happens when you're like this."
"Like what?"
She gave him another irritated look before rolling her hips, his eyes slammed shut and he flexed his jaw at the friction while he gripped the stone for dear life.
I took a moment for him to regain himself enough to speak, "Aroused, got it." he growled through clenched teeth.
She was doing her best working at the twisted lines knotted within him but it wouldn't be enough by itself.
"What guilt do you have connected to it?"
He dropped his gaze, he didn't even have to think about that one, he already knew. He hated himself but not enough to stop thinking about her, wondering, fantasizing. Even when he was with someone else he found his thought drift to her. They were his friends, how could he let himself to do that to them?
Panic began to build in Katara's chest, beneath her hands the threads of energy pulled taut curling on themselves. Zuko's head hung between them, the black curtain of his hair hiding his face from view. His desire had cooled considerably but the heat that his body was putting out was growing in spite of that fact. The water around them was starting to bubble, her shards of ice quickly disappeared in to the steam, he was warming everything as fast as she could cool it.
"Zuko, talk to me! You're burning up and I can't do much more to slow it down. I can't help you if you don't tell what's going on."
The strain in her voice forced him to speak up, he couldn't hurt her too.
"Aang." the Avatar's name was nearly a whisper.
"What?" she asked confused.
He wouldn't look up at her.
"Aang. He's supposed to be my friend and he loved you and I knew that but it didn't stop me from having feelings for you, thinking about you. Wanting you."
Katara swallowed her shock at his admission, she could process the implications of his words later, right now, she needed to help him.
"I don't belong to Aang's heart anymore Zuko, I haven't for a long time. Please look at me." he lifted his head to meet her gaze, the guilt that weighed on his features made her heart ache.
"Zuko, I thought of you too, more than I'd like to admit." she swallowed hard, why was she telling him this?
"I never could understand why my chest ached each time we parted ways, it took me too long to understand that it was because every single time you left, my heart left with you.", his eyes widened at the confession spilling from her lips, "You can't help who you fall for, who you love, but you can control your actions and you have done nothing dishonorable and nothing to hurt Aang or myself. You have to allow yourself believe that in order to let the guilt go. Can you do that?"
She was trying to hide it but Zuko could see it behind her eyes, she was baring a vulnerable fragment of herself simply to reassure him.
To help him.
He nodded, leaning his head back against the edge of the tub he shut his eyes. He needed to make peace with this and move on.
Katara felt the slow rise and fall of his chest as he took one deep breath after another. Beneath her hands the lines of energy relaxed, she immediately shut her eyes too and he lines appeared to her as threads that glowed like hot coals. Using what she felt as a guide, she worked to carefully untangle them one by one. Once they came apart she aligned them on their correct course, restoring the flow of energy on their paths.
To Zuko it felt like a tourniquet had been released somewhere low in his abdomen, achingly allowing things to flow. It was only then he recognized a sharp tightness in chest, exactly where Katara had her hand pressed above his scar.
"I can feel the other one." he winced lifting his head to look down at his chest.
"Good that will make this easier. Next, Air chakra.", she slipped her hand up from his waistband so both were on his chest, "Love blocked by grief, most likely romantic love."
Katara's heart tugged, what if his grief was because of Mai? Then helping him through this could mean that everything she confessed would be out in the open and unrequited, it made her something in her chest ache. After a moment she pushed it aside. First and foremost she was a healer, she needed to put the person in front of her ahead of her own feelings and deal with the fallout later.
Pressing the water into his skin she found tangled lines in his chest just as before. They were wrapped up in each other choking the flow of energy through him.
"Think. What are you grieving?", almost immediately the lines pulled taut and another wave of heat rolled beneath his skin. Katara was coming up on her limits. Balancing healing and bending at the same time was taking a delicate control and a massive amount of concentration on her part. The water began to simmer again filling the room with a fog of steam. He was burning up under her again. Keeping one glowing hand on Zuko's chest she placed the other in the water behind her, frost poured from her hand in a crackling ripple freezing the water's surface. The ice climbed up her fingertips coating her forearms in what looked like bracers forged of glass. The temperature of the room plunged and caused the steam to condense and fall like a fine mist around them. She pressed her power outward from her palms maintaining the split in her abilities, healing with her right and bending with her left.
"Zuko, please!" she cried.
"You left." he blurted.
The light in her hand flickered in her surprise, she looked at him confused, those two words rendering her speechless.
"It makes no sense," he continued painfully, "I know you had to go, you had Aang and I had Mai and there was still so much work to be done after the war but you left. You pulled me from the brink of death, stood hand in hand with me in stabilizing the Fire Nation and then suddenly you were just gone. I was alone and I couldn't help but feel abandoned."
"Zuko, I'm sor-"
"No." the quiet word cut her off, "That's not fair to you, you have nothing to apologize for. The Fire Nation is my responsibility not yours. I missed you and Agni I wished you could have stayed by my side but you had already done so much. Lost so much. How could I ask you for more?"
"I'm here now." she said softly.
"But only for so long. You won't stay." he stated as a matter of fact.
"You're right," the lines pulled tighter under her hands, as she spoke "I still have a responsibility to my tribe but that doesn't mean that I would abandon you."
"You've been gone for a year." his sadness hid behind a thin protective veneer of anger.
"I know, for that I am sorry. I needed time, I had these feelings and I didn't know what I know now but I didn't know if my heart could endure seeing you with …", her words trailed off.
He understood what she meant, helping Aang create her betrothal necklace was the right thing to do. But it hadn't torn apart something inside of him? Why would seeing him with Mai be any different for her?
With a sad look she brought her ice coated palm to the ruined skin running her thumb along his cheekbone. He wasn't sure if she knew it but aside from the one exception he made for Toph's understanding, Katara was the only one he had allowed to touch his scar.
"You can call on me for anything at any time and I will be there for you. When you need me to stand by your side again, I will. That has never changed. Will you trust me to keep my word on that?"
He nodded closing his eyes and letting his head drop, at that she felt the lines begin to relax enough that she could begin unraveling them.
"Zuko," she spoke eyes closed as she worked apart the glowing ember threads, "the paths that separated us after the war, maybe it was because we weren't ready." her words came in an uncertain rush.
She kept aligning the threads, one by one, only a few left, "Maybe those paths led us to here, because we finally are."
Before he could respond she set the last line, Zuko could have sworn he felt it snap in place. He threw his head back with a gasp as the pressure in his chest dissolved. Slowly it was replaced by the deep ache of flow finally being restored.
Katara felt his heat rapidly die down, the temperature of everything began to drop with it. She quickly released her hold on the let the ice letting it dissolve back into the bathwater. She kept her eyes on him observing carefully when as he started to move ensuring things were okay.
The all too familiar flame slowly receded from beneath his skin, draining back to the center of his chest. He finally dared to release his grip on the tub only to reveal scorched stone. The white marble had turned a black streaked ash grey under his hands, he was going to have one hell of a time explaining that one to Shin-don. Cautiously he let his fingertips hover over Katara's shoulder. She nodded her permission, bracing for the possibility of being burned. When she didn't immediately jerk back in pain he met her eyes with a look of awe, relief flooded him and he enveloped her in a hug, pulling her flush against him and burying his face in her neck.
"Thank you Katara." he sighed against her skin.
"Of course." she murmured in his ear, she couldn't help the chill that coursed through her giving way to shivering.
Now that Zuko was in control of his bending her efforts to quell his unbounded heat had chilled the water past what would be considered comfortable, even for a Southern Water tribeswoman. Zuko chuckled, the sound reverberated through his chest against her skin. He dipped a hand into the water raising the temperature of the water until it steamed. Pulling her back against him, he held her quietly, her chin on his shoulder and arms wrapped around his waist. Neither moved or spoke, almost as if they held still enough, they could suspend the moment in time. So much had been said, so much of their concealed selves was now exposed all in such a short time. The sun had set and the sky's yellows and oranges had ripened to deep pinks and purples that painted themselves across the white marble. Were they ready like she said? Or had his confessions broken whatever fragile threads they had started with?
When she noticed that twilight had brushed past them in its quiet fade to darkness, Katara made the decision that one of them had to be brave. Zuko had started this with his questions and his admissions, both those forced before their time, and those given freely. Everything he told her, everything he did, spoke to him wanting her in more ways than one. It was a want that like hers, did not have a clear beginning but had spanned years. All this time her feelings weren't one sided like she had blindly led herself to believe. How deep they went, she wasn't sure but she would risk her heart to find out. Leaning back she pulled herself from his embrace to look at him, his golden eyes shone in evening's last rays but his features were tinged with worry. She wasn't surprised, after all, they had poured the most vulnerable parts of themselves out on the floor and waited to see if the other would run.
What was that one single sort of sane thing Azula said? 'Fortune favors the bold'? She hoped that, for once, his sister was right.
Katara caressed Zuko's scarred cheek taking in its ribbed smoothness under her fingertips, his raven hair that now hung like a black silk curtain nearly as long as hers, his broad shoulders dotted here and there with scars and marks from various skirmishes in their early days. She took in all of the things that made him up and slowly pressed a soft kiss to his mouth.
It was just a light brush of her lips yet he melted under her touch like shaved ice in the summer sun. The uncertainty drained from him only to be replaced with unbridled need. His arms wound back around her waist drawing her to him, he pulled back from the feathered kiss, leaving just a hair's width between them. Drawing a diver's breath, he crushed his mouth against the cool softness of her lips. Every thought, every fantasy, every feeling he had every felt for her in the last six years, he poured into that kiss.
The intensity of it made her breath catch and her heart stutter, she barely had a moment before his tongue teased at the seam of her lips. Granting him entrance she let him slip past, to delve and explore her but then he slowed. He took his time, gentle, slow and courteous. It reminded her of her first few times, shy and clumsy under the shade of the treehouse and secluded away in the temples. But here and now, neither of them were inexperienced, he was not her first, nor was she his. She was not a mystery to him, sparing, healing and living in open quarters meant he had come to learn her form and she his. His movements were like a flickering candle, they held the slow caution of wo strangers meeting for the first time, when between them was a coal seam fire, quietly stoked over years, finally fracturing up through the earth beneath their feet. His quiet actions, put simply, made her impatient.
The feathery stokes of her tongue met him light and probing at first, until it dipped and swirled along his pulling a moan from his chest. Before he realized it she had pressed him back as her tongue coerced it's way past his lips. Under the water her hand slipped down his scar and across his abdomen, hovering teasingly above the waistband of his crimson trousers. Zuko released his grip on her and went in search of skin. Finding the high slits in her ao dai he slid a calloused palm along her bare waist skirting a thumb along the edge of her breast. Again she faltered at the touch and he smiled against her lips at his discovery.
Knowing two could play that game Katara consulted her notes and twined her fingers in his hair, breaking their kiss she pulled at the strands of black silk laced in her hands exposing his neck. Setting her teeth in to the sensitive skin she gently bit down. The effect was immediate, he jerked under her so violently she had to clamp her thighs against his hips to keep from being bucked off his lap. She held on and suckled his pulse point like hard candy caught between her teeth. Electric spindles shot through him where her mouth met hot skin. His breath to came in gasps, he set his nails into her back and clenched her hip with a bruising force.
She liked the way he writhed and shuddered under her, she could feel him harden and press against the thin layers of her sarashi making her heart race. Katara halted her assault leaving a small red and purple mark in her wake. She pulled back enough for him to catch a wickedly mischievous look in her eyes.
Nothing between them was ever mundane was it? Even after all these years they still managed to surprise each other. True to her nature it was push and pull neither ever yielding. He had gotten so used Mai's cold apathy it left him unprepared for how Katara burned him up with only a press of her lips. What had started as a quiet and cautious exchange was quickly evolving into a challenge between the them. She was good but he would not be outdone, Zuko dragged his nails down her back, the adrenaline blurring the lines between bliss and agony created an exquisite feeling. She sucked in air between her teeth and arched her back grinding her hips into him. The friction along his sex made him groan, he grabbed her hips in an attempt to steady her but he rarely got her to comply without a fight and this was no exception. He traced the lines where he hips and thighs met sending a thrill up her sides and earning him a shudder. She felt the familiar building up sensation at the junction of her thighs, his hardness beneath her spurring it on calling for more pressure, more friction.
Aang had sprouted past Zuko and Sokka years ago and staying within his comfort zone of positions meant that coming face to face while in the act rarely happened if ever but now Zuko's unflinching gaze was locked on hers. His breath warm against her cheek, every way she affected him mirrored on his face. The intimacy of it was so much more than she anticipated, she had to root herself to keep from looking away at everything he laid bare to her. The molten gold of his eyes bored into her, warning her of the barely contained heat and want he'd kept locked away all these years. Her heart thrummed at the sight, she wanted all of it and she'd tear the hinges off to get to it. Still gripping his hair she tilted his head back and kissed him roughly capturing his lower lip lightly between her teeth, she gently dragged her nails down his side and let her hips roll against him like a lazy ocean current, slow and deep.
The friction, the kiss, her grip on his hair, the pleasurable pain of her nails against his skin, it overwhelmed him. An assault on all fronts drowning him and overloading his senses. With this she broke him down, burning up the last vestiges of his restraint. Fisting the edges of her ao dai, he growled against her lips and pulled apart the translucent cloth. The stitches yielded one by one creating a tear that raced up her side exposing the white sarashi beneath.
She rocked back giving him room to pull apart the body hugging garment. Somewhere in the back of her mind she recalled her grandmother's words a small smile playing across her lips. Working in tandem he pulled it up over her head while she dragged her arms from the wet cloth freeing herself. Never taking his eyes off of her he threw it on to the stone floor with a wet slap. Zuko took no time in exploring her, touching every inch of mocha skin that had been on his mind since he was 16 and he found that he took to the way it contrasted with the warm ivory of his own. Tracing her curves, lush and supple beneath his calloused hands, he could feel where they hid a strength earned over her years of training.
She let him run his hands up her arms and down her back reveling in the contact. It had been months since she had been this close to someone and years since she had first imagined being this close to him. He laid kisses along her collarbone while his hands below the water's surface continued to roam along her back and up her thighs making her core tighten. Zuko kneaded her breast through her sarashi while lightly nipping at her neck, his touch was warm and intoxicating, she wanted more of him. Katara kissed him and with a bold caress of her tongue she demanded entrance. When he let her in she her hands down his chest to his waistband. Resting her hands on his hips she let her fingertips trace the 'v' shaped dips at the edge of the crimson silk eliciting a shudder. Letting her thumbs dip below red cloth she traced firm circles into his pelvis, the pressure pulled a moan from his throat. Satisfied she reached for the gold ties of his trousers pulling them loose but he grabbed her wrists pulling them away from his hips and stilling her. Breaking the kiss she looked up at him concerned.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing." he gave her a quick kiss, "Just hold that thought."
With a mischievous half smile he shifted her off of his lap and hoisted himself out of the tub leaving her alone in the steaming water. Katara out of habit, absentmindly pulled the water from his clothes before he could evaporate it himself. Taken aback by the sudden halt in their velocity her eyes followed him to the other end of the room where he disappeared into the darkness his silhouette defined only by the sun's dying light. In the distance a she could hear metal container being shuffled with, the gentle clang bringing realization, contraception.
It was customary for girls be taught the methods right after their first monthly bleed. Even before she left home with Sokka and Aang, Gran Gran had made sure she was educated it. He grandmother directed her how to dry and shape sea sponges, harvest animal membrane from their hunts and instructed her on how the items were to be used in tandem. Their cousins, the swamp benders processed a resin they bled from trees to be used in a similar manner. Suki later introduced her to a diaphragm, thinly spun copper wire was tightly woven into a concave circle and covered with animal membrane on one side to create a seal.
Contraception had always been her responsibility, Aang was too young for the monks to teach him of it and he had always been too shy to discuss it. Even in her passing interactions with Jet it was never a concern of his, leaving the burden to fall to her. Men did not bear the results of intercourse so why would they care to try and prevent it? She had too frequently swallowed that small bitter anger toward her lovers and dealt with it herself, either beforehand or in a few awkward moments during the act. So when Zuko returned lighting candles in his wake and carrying a capsule the size of a bacui berry she was pleasantly surprised.
The capsules were not unfamiliar to her thanks to Ty Lee's enthusiastic lesson, though from what Zuko told her it was unlikely the bubbly warrior used them now. The red sphere contained a mild powdered acid and a gelling agent. When placed inside her the capsule would dissolve into a thick acidic gel that blocked the entrance to her womb and rendered it inhospitable to his seed. While her blood bending had proven to be effective in the past a backup had never hurt. She reached to take the capsule from him but he pulled it away from her grasp.
"Let me." there was a question in those two words, they sought permission and held a promise.
She gave him an appraising look before nodding.
Zuko stepped into the water settling on between the scorch marks the tub's stone edge. Holding out a hand he motioned her toward him, she let him pull her up from the water's warmth to stand on the bench. He spun her and pulled her down to his lap, the water from her skin and sarashi soaked through the cloth of his pants doing nothing to cool the heat of his desire. Forcing himself to be patient he Grasped her knees and eased them apart. He hooked her legs over his and settled her so that she straddled him. Katara let herself lean her back against his chest, his warmth surrounded her and chased off the Autumn night's chill. Zuko lit the remaining candles with a wave bathing the room in dim gold light. Seeing was just as important as feeling.
His fingertips were light in brushing aside her long damp hair, exposing the wet skin beneath it. She felt the rough smoothness of his scar slide along her ear as he trailed wet open mouth kisses along her neck and shoulder. He snaked and arm across her torso, its warmth traced a line between her breasts from hip to shoulder pinning her against him. She was here with him, he had no idea if there would be a next time so he was going to draw out right now for as long as he could.
Still clutching the capsule in his free hand he ran a thumb along the junction of her hip and her thigh drawing out more shivers from his captive, he Rained kisses across her shoulder pausing tounge the sensitive spot on her neck reveling in the slight jerks and tremors he elicited from under her mocha skin. Spreading his knees he forced Katara's legs apart, opening her up and giving him the access he was looking for. Never letting up on her neck he took his time tracing a line from her knee to her core making lazy swirls on the creamy skin of her thighs along his way. He gently pulled aside the thin, wet fabric of her sarashi and with a fingertip traced up her slit from opening to ember.
She shivered at his feather touch, then felt him gently press in delving past her lips where he found what he was looking for. He swirled tight circles around her pearl, she felt her inner walls contract at the contact and her knees tried to slam shut but they pressed fruitlessly against the outside of his thighs. He kept tracing the line down to her opening and back encircling her pearl, spreading her wetness along the length of its path, drawing out more with each pass. The first threads of need began to build and burn in her core, she fisted one hand the silk of his trousers and the other dug her nails into the forearm that trapped her against him.
Holding the capsule between his middle and index fingers he paused at her opening drawing out her anticipation. Mirroring her earlier move he pressed his lips to her neck before he plunged the capsule into her and bit down tenderly setting his teeth into her pulse point. She jerked against his iron grip as he suckled her neck, her back arched and thrusted her hips forward, pushing him deeper inside of her. The slick heat that engulfed his fingers made him growl against the skin caught between his teeth. He pressed the small orb deeper into her but still not far enough. Keeping her trapped against him he leaned them forward until her breasts brushed the tops of his thighs pushing the capsule further into her until he felt the slight firmness of her cervix. He released his hold on the capsule and let her pulse point slip from between his teeth. He continued to suffuse her skin with open mouth kisses. Taking his time he withdrew from inside of her, slowly pulling them upright. Her fluids coated his fingers like hot slippery honey, he rubbed his thumb across index and middle fingers coating it in the slick wetness. It would take some time for the capsule to dissolve but he had an idea of how to pass the minutes.
Everywhere they touched, he bled warmth into her skin, his erection pressed into her back creating an aching emptiness and yearning to coil in her groin. She shifted in his hold a feeble attempt to generate some kind of friction and relief. Zuko relentless, held her fast and pushed his knees further apart spreading her wider.
He traced her slit slowly pulling a mewling sound from her lips. Slowly he slipped his fingers back into her and laid his coated thumb against her ember, the slight pressure made her push back against him jutting her hips forward into hand. His thumb began to swirl small circles over her ember pushing back the hood. The small motion caused her to shift in his lap and grind against his length. He gritted his teeth at the friction, painfully dragging his focus back to her. When he curled his fingers into the slickness of her front wall a low strangled sound erupted from her throat.
The slow leisurely movements of his hand were torturous, she could feel the build inside her coiling as he ascended her up to that familiar peak at an agonizingly slow pace. The back forth curl of his fingers and the brush of his thumb against her pearl were a steady march that stretched on for minutes but felt like an eternity, it made her fight and roil against his grip. She pressed her hips forward trying for more, pressure, friction, something that would relieve her tight aching need.
Zuko was fighting to keep her steady, Fire Nation nobility had servants and staff they used to live lives free from toiling work but in the Water Tribes everyone pulls their weight, even the chieftains daughter. Skins and furs concealed strength built from the duties to her tribe and constant training. Beneath her feminine form laid toned muscle that flexed against him when she writhed in his grip. Holding her in place was becoming a struggle, he had intended to take his time, to take pleasure in slowly bringing her to the edge but she wasn't having it. He could feel her drenched walls clench down on him, the strangled sounds that broke free from her throat and the rock of her hips against his manhood. She was force that threatened to drown him, pushing his pace, stoking his desire and demanding more. Agni he already knew it was a losing battle, to contain her was to try and hold the entirety of the ocean in your hands. He had held out as long as he could, giving in he ran his thumb over her ember at a fervent clip, his fingers pressing firmly inside her.
When he picked up the pace the agonizing tension in her core gave way to a quick build, it coiled inside her winding tighter and tighter with each pass. Her nails dug so deep into his forearms she almost swore she was drawing blood. She felt wvery muscle in her body pulled unfathomably taut, with her eyes squeezed shut, she waited for the inevitable fall. He had brought her tremoring to the crest before the tension in her limbs snapped and came crashing down over her. Something between a shriek and moan escaped her lips as her orgasm ripped through her burying her in an intense pleasure before slowly pulling back like a tide out to sea. It left her lethargic and boneless in his hands.
Zuko drew red stained fingers from her core, the capsule had dissolved. She slumped in his arms and he drew her closer. He faintly felt the racing of her heart as it began to calm against his cheek. His muscles burned from the effort of pinning her, a sharp ache in his forearm let him know she had broken skin. It didn't matter, he kissed her forehead, a contented smirk gracing his lips as a sense satisfaction descended upon him making it all worthwhile but he wasn't done yet.
He unhooked her knees from over his thighs and slipped her from his lap laying her against cool stone floor letting her legs dangling off the edge into the warm water below. He stood on the submerged bench and moved between Katara's knees. Hovering over her he met her gaze, running his palms up her thighs he let his thumbs drag near their still sensitive apex. She jerked at the contact her stomach pulling tight and her back arching up off the floor. He smirked teasingly down at her, she, less amused, quirked an eyebrow trying to look stern, Zuko's smirk broke into a low chuckle.
"Really?" Katara's flat tone held a challenge.
Zuko not trusting himself to not laugh just nodded. Lighting quick she reached up to grab a fistful of black hair dragging him down to her. With no choice but to yield he followed, dropping down to his forearms on either side of her head and his face millimeters from her own.
"You really like this hair pulling thing, don't you." he asked keeping his cool the best he could.
"You seem to like it." she teased back.
"Maybe I do." he admitted his words brushing across her lips.
"Get back in the water." she ordered, the blue fire that burned in the pools of her eyes led him to comply.
He pushed up off of her slipping from the bench and into the depth of the tubs warm water. She followed him in, circling around so she stood before him. With a hand on his chest she walked him back a few steps until backs of his knees bumped the edge of the bench. Katara took his hand in hers, drawing him to the edge of her upper bindings. Following her lead he grasped the tucked end tugging it free, carefully he unwound the wide strip of white cloth from her body letting it sink into the water below. Zuko took in the sight of her before him, her long dark hair clung to her back, hanging to her hips, water droplets ran in rivulets down her neck and chest, her mocha skin flushed, evidence of their previous exertions. She was beautiful and he wanted all of her for as long as she would have him. Reaching for her he wrapped an arm around Katara's waist pulling her close enough to press a soft kiss to her lips. Running his free hand up her side, he palmed one of her breasts the soft firmness yielding to his touch. He swallowed the small sound she made at the contact, he let the soft mound roll in his hand. He leaned back from the kiss to look at her with eyes of molten gold before lowering his head. He took the brown areola gently between his lips, she let her head fall back at the warm, wet feeling of his mouth hungrily engulfing it. Slowly his tongue began to trace tighter and tighter circles bringing it to a hard peak and making her shiver. He released it with a 'pop' before reaching for her other breast. Brushing his thumb over her nipple he rolled it between his fingers before giving it a light pinch. Pressing his forehead to hers he smiled wickedly when the small pain caused her to jerk against him.
"Hey!" Katara tried to feign annoyance but fell flat, instead she bit her lip looking up at him shyly.
That look and the way she bit down on the soft pink of her lip almost drove him over the edge. Using his moment of distraction to retaliate, she plunged a hand below the water's surface between them reaching between them she palmed him through the thin silk of his trousers causing his hips to jerk in her hand. She gave him a self-satisfied smirk traced the seam of his jewels with a fingertip, his abdomen tightened as she continued drawing a line up from the base of him up to the tip. He hissed tilting his head back when she circled his shaft with her hands, working the length of him through the crimson cloth and eliciting something between a moan and growl from his throat. He clamped down on her hands to stop her from pushing him any to closer to the edge. She looked up at him mirroring his teasing look from earlier.
Leaning into her his lips caressed the shell of her ear, he spoke in a ragged whisper, "Not here, I want to spill my seed inside of you."
Those words set fire to her cheeks and made liquid heat pool in her center all over again. He guided her hands to the ties of trousers, and she fumbled with the ties, distracted by the way his teeth grazed against her earlobe as he suckled it. When she finally got them free she pushed the fabric down his hips, letting his erection spring free. She palmed him again, brushing her thumb over the sensitive head and he twitched in her hands. Katara released him and laid a palm on Zuko's chest pushing him back, the edge of the bench buckled his knees forcing him to sit back down. When she began unwinding her lower bindings, he took the hint and worked off his trousers tossing them to join the soaking shreds of her ao dai on the floor.
Katara threw the long strips of white cloth over the tubs edge before climbing up on to the bench, once again straddling Zuko's lap only this time there was nothing separating them, they were finally skin to skin him bleeding warmth into her with every touch. Pressing her hands to his chest she kissed him running her tongue along his, her teeth nipping at his lips. Zuko ran his hands up her thighs grabbing handfuls of her lush ass and pulling her closer. His tip bumped against her center stoking the need growing low in her core and making her shudder. Her heart raced knowing what came next, Zuko's pulse thundered under her palm, his breath hitched when she reached into the water to guide him to her entrance. She lowered herself arching her back to better accept him and pressing the swollen head of his member into her. Slowly she worked the first inch of him in and out of her tight opening until her body yielded stretching and adjusting to his girth.
Zuko's fingertips dug into her hips, whatever restraint he had was spent on not slamming her hips down on him and fully sheathing himself into her. She took her time impaling herself on him, taking in the rest of his length inch by agonizing inch until her soft, wet warmth surrounded him right up to the hilt.
She lifted her hips and brought them back down letting out a choked moan at the movement inside her. The first few strokes were always the most intense but this time the lingering sensitivity from their earlier activities only heightened the experience. Zuko was new to her in this, his length, his girth, how he felt inside of her, it was all unexplored. She continued to shift and move slowly learning how they fit together. She took her time swaying her hips bringing him deeper until his length rubbed up against what she was looking for, that singular quiver of pleasure. She pressed in deep, rocking her hips and finding her rhythm, Katara grasped the stone edge of the tub for leverage and rolled her hips, using him to hit that pleasurable spot over and over. The ascent was easier this time, her first orgasm was always the hardest with the second coming quicker building off the first. That coiling tension between her thighs grew faster, each hit more addictive than the last, more intense than the one before it.
The glazed over blue of her gaze never left his as she relentless moved her hips against his. She was tight, hot and wet around him her driving hips shoving him to the edge to fast. He desperately needed to slow himself down and speed her up. Zuko sunk his hand into the black brown waves of her hair and tugged her head back lifting her chin and he continued grind down against him. He pressed open mouth kisses down the column of her throat. Loosening his grip on her hair he let head drop, he left a wet trail on her skin as he followed the line down her chest to the dip between her breasts. Turning his head he pulled her toward him and circled her areola with the tip of his tongue, her chest lifted at the contact pushing her breasts to his lips. Complying without a thought he sucked a brown nipple into his mouth gently swirling his tongue over it before gently dragging his teeth along the peak. The electric sensation ran down her chest through her navel into her core, it did nothing to deter the movement of her hips, but made her shudder above him and caused her walls to clench and undulate around his shaft. He pressed his forehead against her chest groaning at the pressure, she was going to be the death of him. Surrendering to the force of a woman above him he ran his hands up her back, wrapping his fingers over her shoulders for leverage. He dug his fingertips in to her skin pulling at her shoulder he thrusted his hips up to meet her down stroke pushing himself into liquid heat of her depths nearly bottoming her out.
She cried out at the intensity, he was so deep pressing at the end of her, the pleasurable ache pushed her further to that edge. He matched her rhythm rising to meet her while pulling her further down his length. It caused something to light up inside her, like spark rocks being struck against each other. She moved faster, more of her muscles tightened pulling at her bones as Zuko's hips bucked harder against her pelvis. Her breathing was ragged, her pacing becoming erratic in a frenzied race to fulfillment. What had started as small winks of pleasure had merged into a roaring unending line, it made her grit her teeth and drew a whine from her throat, pulling at her until she shattered. Her orgasm tore her through her like a battering ram making her shriek and clamp down on his shaft. A roar emanated from Zuko's chest, she could feel his length throb against the clenching pressure of her slickness as he spilled himself inside her, her walls convulsed, milking him for all he had.
Panting Zuko let hands slip off her shoulders to her waist and pulled Katara close as she collapsed against him. She wound her arms around his neck letting her forehead rest on his shoulder, he kissed her temple letting his thumb move lazily back and forth on her hip. They stayed like that for minutes, slowly coming down from the narcotic pleasure that had flooded their systems.
"So much for taking a bath and getting some rest." Zuko chuckled breaking the silence.
"Well who's fault is that?" Katara's murmur was muffled against his chest.
"I did tell you we could do this tomorrow." he teased.
"Which part of this did you want to put off until tomorrow?" she looked up at him quirking a brow.
"Absolutely none of it." he kissed her forehead before a frown fell on his face worry returning to his features, "Katara, what happens from here?"
"Is that a discussion you really want have while you're still inside of me?" she deadpanned.
Zuko reddened releasing his hold on her, Katara smiled cupping his face she pressed a kiss to his lips and sat up pushing herself off of his lap. She felt his softened length slip from inside of her leaving her an empty feeling and earning a small groan from him. She stood eyes closed stretching the stiffness from her joints, between the healing, the confessions and the sex she was mentally and physically drained. When she opened her eyes she found Zuko staring.
"What?" she asked.
"I've never really been able to tell you how beautiful you are."
Her cheeks pinked and she suddenly felt very shy, "You're not too bad looking yourself Flameo Hotman."
He stood shaking his head, "Will that nickname ever die?"
"Not as long as I'm alive." she chortled, "Come here, we need to get cleaned up, I was promised pastries and we need to discuss some things."
"Good things I hope." he asked warily taking her hand.
Standing on her tip toes she feathered kisses along his jaw, "I certainly hope so." her voice was soft and sultry against his skin, she leaned away from him and looked up at him with a more serious look, "It's just that Toph is going to know the second we see her and Sokka is … well Sokka and-" she faltered her eyes dropping away from him, "I want to be on the same page after," she gestured at the water, "all this."
Zuko nodded his understanding and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I'll take you however you'll have me." he told her softly.
"We should probably get cleaned up, or Yami really will have your head." she murmured against his chest, "Hold your breath and close your eyes." she directed him.
Zuko did as he was told feeling the water begin to swirl around his legs and climb up from the surface along his torso. The liquid warmth engulfed them sliding along every inch of his skin washing away the remnants of the day. Suddenly the rushing water came to a halt and crashed back into the tub. Opening his eyes he found the Water Tribe beauty smiling back at him.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Yes." he smirked giving her a small kiss.
Zuko helped Katara out of the tube and she dried them off. The sudden absence of moisture from his skin was one sensation he never seemed to get used to. He left her to dry their clothes while he headed to his closet, dragging on a pair of sleeping trousers he pulled another garment from a drawer and returned to her.
"Here." he held out a sleeveless tunic made of a dark red silk and trimmed in gold, she could see the red dye had begun to fade and the gold satin had lost some of its luster. The fabric was well worn and soft under her fingertips, she realized it was probably one of his favorite things to wear.
She surprised him by holding her hands up in the air indicating he should help her put it on, a soft lopsided smile formed on his face. He pulled silky cloth over her drawing it down her shoulders, he let his hands run down her sides skimming her hips and waist smoothing out the fabric. He brought her arms down and he reached behind her to gently tug her long waves from beneath the tunic. Brushing a few rogue strands from her face he leaned in and peppered kisses from her temple down to her jaw before pressing a kiss to her lips.
"How does it look?", she stepped back and gave a little spin.
The tunic dwarfed her, hanging to her knees the collar fell just a little too low showing the line of her cleavage while the vented sides gave small flashes of her thighs as she moved.
"Perfect."
His eyes stayed glued to her as they moved through the rooms of his bed chambers in search of smoked coconut.
"Katara?" she had made it to the entrance of his sitting room before she froze at the sound of her name, her hand hovering over the ice coated door handle. She turned peeking around the partition to look at him.
He looked at the floor his long hair only partially covering the red that flushed his face, "Could I, … hold you for a while?"
A bittersweet feeling flooded her chest, like her, he had harbored feelings for her for years. She had not quite come down from the headiness of that revelation but the echo of loneliness in his voice made her heart ache. She closed the distance between them and took his hand, brushing a few locks of hair from his face.
"Of course." she looked up at him with a reassuring smile, "La knows you're warmer than any of my furs back home." she teased breaking through his wariness of his request.
The anxiety in his expression quickly fell away to mild indignation. He grumbled something about always being used as a campfire making her to chuckle while he led her by the hand back to the massive four poster. Drawing back the sheets he got into the bed pulling a still giggling Katara down to join him. Having enough he tangled his fingers in the soft waves at the back of her head and pulled her in for a heated kiss that silenced her laughter and pulled a soft moan from her throat. When he pulled back her lips were swollen and her cheeks were flushed.
"If you keep doing that, we're never going to get any rest." she told him slightly breathless.
It was his turn to chuckle, he pulled her tight to his chest, enveloping her in his warmth. Pressing a kiss to her forehead he tucked her head under his chin
"Where do we go from here?" he asked her the light moment disappearing under the weight of his question.
Katara's heart squeezed, she wanted to live in the contentment for a little longer but he was the Fire Lord and she was the princess of the Southern Water Tribe. They did not get the luxury of blurred lines and undefined connections. She picked up Zuko's braid and took the blue bead in her fingertips, the sister to the one she wore in her own hair. Tracing it's facets she found the surfaces warm and worn smooth almost shiny. It was ludicrous how what he unknowingly chose to do with the small bone fragment signified so much. But was it what he wanted?
"When Sokka was at the Northern Water Tribe a few months back he did some research into whatever records they had on the our tribe. To see if we could start piecing together some of the history we'd lost."
Zuko grimaced, even though he took no part in the tribe's loss, even if it had been years since peace had been established and the tribe had started to flourish, guilt still ate at the pit of his stomach hearing her words, but that guilt meant nothing. He had learned early on to use those feelings, to push for more aid, more reform, more change, anything that would serve as restitution for all of the damage his ancestors had inflicted upon the world. His guilt was his own to deal with and it meant nothing to those his ancestors had hurt without any effective action. Zuko filed the new assignments he had for the history committee away for later and pulled back to watch Katara intently as she continued to fidget with the carved bone.
"He found some scrolls on our old customs, coming of age, blessings, courting rituals …", she let the words hang in the space between them for a few beats chewing her lip before continuing "As you know in the Northern Water Tribe, men present a betrothal necklace to their intended, a custom my tribe is beginning to now adopt, but according to those scrolls the Southern Water Tribe used to do things a little differently."
"How so?"
"Well in the Northern Water Tribe, even today, only men can ask for a woman's hand. As it turns out the women of our tribe did not have to wait for a betrothal request. They could ask for anyone's hand in marriage that they wished, usually by making and presenting them with ceremonial clothing." she sighed, "But things are a little different for Sokka and I being the children of chieftain, the rules always seem to be different when you are a noble or royalty or something of that sort, it doesn't make any sense and -" realizing that she was rambling she cut herself off.
She took a breath to get herself back on track, why did telling him this make her so nervous? She knew why, she needed to tell him and she was afraid of what his reaction would be, of what he would think.
"The hair beads my father gave me after my coming of age ceremony, they are a bit like your fire crown, they symbolize who I am in the tribe - that I am my father's daughter."
She was beating around the bush and she knew it, it was time to get to the point.
Keeping her eyes on the bead in her fingers she continued, "According to the scrolls when I presented you with my hair bead five years ago, I asked you for your hand in marriage and when you decided to wear it in your own hair, you accepted."
"Oh." Zuko's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped at her revelation.
Katara ducked her head to hide her face from his panicked expression. The heat of embarrassment flushed her face. This was a mistake. She rolled to move out of the bed while she still had some of her dignity intact but warm hands held her in place. She turned back to Zuko but he wasn't looking at her. The panic was gone and his face now held a serious expression, he was focused on the blue satin at her neck. He took the carved pendant between his fingers, turning it over to reveal his gold seal on its back.
The polished metal caught the light of the various lanterns and reflected them back on Zuko's face illuminating his scarred cheek.
"It's my turn to give a lesson on our customs." he told her with a small tugging up at the corner of his mouth.
He kept his eyes on the gold piece between his fingers as he spoke, "The Fire Nation has its own customs when it comes to courting and betrothal. The Fire Lord may bestow his seal on various people of importance for different reasons and one of those instances is when he wishes to become engaged. He is to present his seal to his intended and if she accepts the proposal she is to then wear it at all times until her wedding day where she is then bestowed the seal of the Fire Lady."
He looked up at her, the gold of his eyes carried a small hopefulness.
He ran his thumb over the ridged metal before continuing, "So by both of our nation's customs you have accepted my proposal and have been wearing my betrothal necklace all this time."
It was Katara's turn to look surprised, she sat up causing the tunic to slip from one of her shoulders, her brow furrowed in confusion, "We're betrothed?"
Zuko sat up next to her, the idea of being betrothed to Katara may have filled his chest with a warm contentment but she might not feel the same.
"Technically speaking, somehow … yes.", his words were cautious, he was afraid to hope, he had inadvertently laid his heart in her hands.
He kept talking, "Katara, I think you were right, our paths had diverged because we weren't ready." he held the up the bead in front of her letting her take it between her fingers "But without knowing what we were doing we managed to bond ourselves to each and maybe we're here now because we finally are ready. But as much as that may mean something, what we do from here is still ultimately our choice."
He brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear and kissed her gently before leveling a look on her that managed to be both heavy and fragile at the same time before confessing it all to her.
"I want to be with you as your friend, boyfriend, your betrothed, however you'll have me but I don't want to be the one that causes you to diminish yourself for the sake a title either. I'm not asking you to commit here and now but it would be unfair of me to pursue you if Fire Lady wasn't a title you wished to take on."
'I'll take you however you will have me'
He wanted this but he was still giving her an out, a chance to put the last few hours behind them without a word if she so chose it. He would not have her trapped in the circle of a crown simply because he loved her, because the reality of royalty is that his love of another came second to the nation he served. Katara sat quietly worrying the blue bead between her fingers, considering the Fire Lord attached to it. The longer the silence stretched on the more Zuko felt that sinking feeling he had watching her leave six years ago. Finally she let his braid drop from her hands and looked at him.
"I already told you I won't cut myself down to fit a title and I won't give up my potential for anyone." Katara told him gently, "The requirements for a Fire Lady, what you are looking for in a partner are not simple or easy demands but it is a role that I would be willing to learn how to grow into, that is, if it's what we both want?"
Zuko's eyebrow shot up, "Are you saying yes?"
Katara out of habit ran her thumb over the ridged metal, she turned the pendant over revealing the gold seal and gave a playful smile"I mean, we kind of already did, didn't we?"
Zuko had no words, just the relief and elation that flooded him. He pulled her back on to the bed holding her tightly he kissed her over and over. Her smile broke into laughter as she pulled him close snuggling into his warmth. There was so much to discuss and do but for now they would relish in their beginning.
Yami entered Zuko's sitting room expecting to find a rested Katara and hopefully the Fire Lord who had been missing for several hours. Instead she got an empty room and an untouched plate of pastries gone cold. She approached the door to the bedchambers and found that for the first time in six years the lock was encased in ice. She would tell Shin-don that everything was fine and to stop his search. As she quietly took her leave a knowing smile formed on her face. The Fire Lord and the Water Tribe Princess had finally found each other once again.
…
After the Autumn holidays news about the various war hero's had broke. The chief of the Southern Water Tribe was to start training his successor his son, the Fire Lord had ended his years long courtship, the Beifong Brewery business was now funding additional metal bending academies after a successful exchange, the Avatar had ended his companionship with the Southern Water Tribe princess and the Kyoshi warriors were expanding chapters into both Omashu and the Fire Nation. The six heroes had been quite busy indeed, making their impacts on the post war world and developing the promising peace between the nations.
…
Months later, the Fire Lord attended Southern Water Tribe's Winter Solstice celebrations to seek an ambassador in the chieftain's daughter. He returned with a single blue bead in his hair. It was said that it was gift from the Water Tribe Princess' own crown and in turn the Fire Lord had gifted her his golden seal. Despite the rumors and implications, they had maintained that it was simply thanks for saving the other's life - at least for now.
The End
I hope this lived up to expectations, I did struggle with bringing it to some kind of satisfying end and hopefully I didn't miss the mark. It had potential to be a longer story but I didn't have a clear cut path and I don't think adding poorly written chapters for the sake of length would have been fair to readers. I hope you enjoyed my first Avatar fic it was a bit of a rollercoaster to write but let me explore a lot of ideas I want to use in other fics. If you're looking for more I am working on another much longer fic - The Spaces Between - which will update next Monday (Apr 12/21)
I truly do live for your reviews and definitely have been obsessively checking my story stats as I've been posting this fic. Letting me know what you think has helped immensely while writing this and again I hope you enjoyed it.
If you're interested here are a couple things I thought readers might want to know about:
On my treatment of Mai:
I didn't like the idea if villainizing Mai for convenience. I loved the idea of her with Ty Lee and Ty being one of the few people who could make Mai genuinely happy. I really disliked the constant feeding off of each others spiraling darkness and apathy that she and Zuko had. Getting her out of the boxed expectations of nobility seemed to be the best path for happiness for her.
On my treatment of Aang:
My use of Aang is not flattering and with good reason. Throughout the series his behavior was not great (blaming Toph for losing Appa, forcing a kiss on Katara, hiding the chance for Sokka and Katara to see their father, running away from challenges ect.) He does all of this and there are almost no consequences for those actions - and yes I get he is only 12 in the series but unlike the rest of the gaang he has no parental figure to tell him when his behaviors are out of line. Without that discipline, which as far as I know he doesn't get in the comics either, I can't help but think - and have seen in real life examples - that he grows up to continue to act this way only worse.
Why'd I add the contraception bit?
Because someone in a writers group complained about contraception in ATLA fics always being tea and how unrealistic it was and they were right. All the methods are based on some real form of contraception. Water Tribes lambskin/latex condoms and sponges, Earth Kingdom diaphragms and copper is used in IUD's because it had spermacidal propeties and Fire Nation is based on a new type of contraception called Phexxi. If you're a writer and also tired of tea, by all means steal these ideas.
If you want to know about other stuff, ask and I'll see if I can answer.
Thank you again for reading.