Zuko could scarcely contain his excitement when he saw Katara enter the courtyard.
She'd dressed appropriately in a blue tunic and a pair of trousers, as he'd asked her to. Although he hadn't told her what, exactly, he'd had planned for them. Her hair was twisted into a braid that fell down her back. He hadn't seen her wear her hair like that in years, and it was a strange dichotomy between the girl she'd been and the woman she had become.
He was dressed similarly with his hair pulled back into a royal topknot, the Fire Lord's crown stuck into it as always.
It had been a while since Zuko had seen her. She had grown from a pretty girl to a beautiful young woman. So much so, that it made his heart do funny things every time he saw her.
Katara had been busy, working with her father in the South Pole and also making some diplomatic trips to the Earth Kingdom, ever since she and Aang had broken up a few years ago. She'd come to the Fire Nation once or twice during that time, but it was always brief.
Finally, he'd managed to convince her to come and sit in on one of his councils to oversee some international regulations regarding human rights. He would finally have Katara all to himself—or mostly, aside from when they were occupied with politics. Zuko was definitely looking forward to it.
He'd bitten his tongue for the last five years since the end of the war, but now he'd finally worked up the courage to tell Katara how he felt: that he loved her, and he had loved her, since somewhere between the crystal catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se and the Agni Kai against his sister.
The time had never seemed right to tell her before the war ended, and then afterwards, she'd been with Aang. Zuko had been respectful of their relationship, since he cared for both of his friends deeply. He'd been supportive even, no matter how much it pained him, when one of them would write a letter asking for his advice when they'd gotten into a disagreement, or if Aang had asked what he thought Katara might like for their anniversary, and so on.
But she and Aang had broken up amicably almost two years ago, and if Zuko wasn't mistaken, her letters had only gotten more friendly and open since then. And ever since she'd arrived, Katara had seemed...especially friendly?
Zuko was far from an expert on girls, but something was definitely up. Katara was even acting more...girly? than before. She laughed at almost everything he said, and she was constantly touching him: putting her hand on his arm or shoulder, and once or twice now she'd even put her hand on his chest, usually while laughing at something he'd said (and spirits, had that made his heartbeat thunder in his chest).
So, he'd come to the conclusion that maybe...maybe Katara liked him too? Whatever it was, it gave Zuko the courage to come up with a pretty good plan to tell her how he felt. And hopefully, Katara would tell him that she felt the same.
"So, what's on the agenda for today, my lord?" Katara asked with a smile that suddenly made breathing difficult as she walked over to him.
"It's a surprise," Zuko told her with a half-smile.
Katara crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out one hip as she appraised him. "It better be a good surprise. You know I don't get up at dawn for just anything."
"It'll be worth it. I promise," Zuko said. He gestured for her to follow him. "This way."
Zuko led her across the palace grounds towards the stables, his excitement building the closer they got. Katara followed after him, burying yawns in her hand. Zuko couldn't help but smile as an old memory resurfaced and he thought to himself, You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun.
Once Katara realized what their destination was, she narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not taking me riding on a komodo rhino, are you? Because I swear to La—"
Zuko turned to her and gave her a mischievous smile as he led her into the stables. "No. This is way better. Trust me."
"I do," Katara said quietly.
His heart skipped a beat in his chest at those two little words. "Then come on."
Zuko passed the rhinos, mongoose lizards, and ostrich horses in their pens and went up the winding spiral staircase in the corner of the stables. Katara followed him, frowning curiously as she did. She was thoroughly confused now. Where the heck was he taking her?
They reached the second-floor landing and Katara looked around. It seemed that only birds lived up here, and surely Zuko wasn't trying to show her those. But Zuko walked past all of them until he came to a small ladder along the far wall.
"Where are you taking me?" Katara asked with a light laugh.
But Zuko only gave her a mischievous look over his shoulder as he grabbed a rung. "We're almost there."
Katara followed him up the ladder. He pushed open the hatch in the roof and then he was pulling himself up onto the rooftop. Zuko looked back down at her, a crooked smirk on his lips.
"Okay, Mr. Fire Lord," Katara said teasingly as she reached the end of the ladder. Zuko held his hand out to her and Katara allowed him to help pull her out. "This better be—"
Whatever she had been about to say died in her throat as she took in the magnificent creature that was bathing in the warm sunlight on the far side of the flat roof. The red scales glimmered iridescently under the sun, and with each exhale, little plumes of smoke rose from its nostrils as it dozed, its frill stirring in the breeze.
Katara tore her eyes away from the beast and looked up at zuko, who was smiling in satisfaction at her reaction. "Tui and La, Zuko, is that a—"
'"Dragon?" Zuko finished for her, his smile stretching into a grin. "Yes, he is. Katara, I'd like you to meet Druk."
Zuko walked over to the dragon and Katara trailed after him in a daze, a hundred questions burning on the tip of her tongue. She finally found her voice to ask one.
"I thought there were only two left," Katara remarked breathlessly. "Where did you find a young dragon?"
Zuko glanced back at her from over his shoulder. "So you know how, when Aang and I went and saw the Sun Warriors we found that egg and I thought it felt alive? Turns out, I wasn't wrong." He jutted his chin in Druk's direction. "The Sun Warriors gifted that egg to me. Druk is the first dragon to be born in over a century."
"Wow," Katara breathed as her eyes fell back on the dragon. "That's amazing." Then she narrowed her eyes at Zuko. "And why am I just now hearing about this? How long have you had a pet dragon for, Zuko?"
"About two years," Zuko admitted, a bit sheepishly. "No one really knows about Druk. Everyone thinks dragons are extinct, and I didn't want anyone finding out, in case they got some wild idea about hunting him for glory, like firebenders used to. I also didn't want him to become a spectacle."
They stopped in front of the dragon. It was huge, definitely bigger than Appa. Katara could smell brimstone faintly emanating from the dragon. She couldn't help but marvel at it.
Zuko walked in front of the dragon's scaled snout and patted it. "Wake up, Druk. Come on, it's time to get up, sleepy head." The dragon snorted out a puff of smoke and kept sleeping even as Zuko coughed and waved the smoke away. "Really, Druk? Honestly, what kind of a dragon are you anyway? You're supposed to be one of the original firebenders. Sun's up! Let's go, buddy!"
Katara chuckled as she put one hand on her hip. "I guess not all firebenders rise with the sun, huh?"
Zuko furrowed his brow as he stared at his dragon and sighed.
"Apparently not."
Zuko was annoyed. Druk was making him look bad. Then he had an idea. With practiced ease, Zuko pulled himself onto Druk's broad neck. He grabbed the dragon's yellow frill and tugged. "Come on, buddy!"
Finally, the dragon stirred, its intelligent golden eyes blinking open. In spite of herself, Katara took a step back as Druk lifted his head and yawned, blasting her with a warm breath of air that smelled like smoke and sulfur. Then Druk blinked at her as Zuko slid back onto the roof. He patted the dragon's cheek before he gestured to Katara.
"Druk, meet Katara," Zuko introduced them. "She's a good friend of mine, and we're going to take her for a ride." Zuko smiled at her. "What do you say?"
Katara looked between Zuko and his dragon and grinned. "I'd love to. If it's ok with Druk, that is."
She gently raised her hand towards his nose for him to smell. Druk did so and then gently nudged her hand with his snout as if he was asking for pets.
Katara giggled and rubbed his nose affectionately. "It's nice to meet you too, Druk."
She received a low grunt in reply.
Zuko patted Druk's neck affectionately. "Good boy."
He beamed at Katara before he pulled himself back onto Druk's neck. Then he held his hand out to her, and Katara readily took it. Zuko pulled her up effortlessly, and Katara settled onto Druk's neck in front of him. She held onto the dragon's frill and glanced back at Zuko.
"Is it anything like flying on Appa?" Katara asked him.
Zuko chuckled as he reached around her to grab onto the dragon. "It's better. Druk flies a lot faster." He appraised her. "Ready?"
Katara nodded, and Zuko tugged on the dragon's frill. "Let's fly, Druk."
The dragon did not take flight the same way that Appa did. Druk rose to his feet and spread his wings, beating them against the air with enough force that it lifted Katara's braid. Then he pushed off of the ground and took flight with a dizzying speed that left Katara's stomach on the roof of the stables.
The velocity pushed her back against Zuko, and he steadied her with a hand on her waist. She couldn't help but let out a small shriek. "Zuko!"
"Hold on," he murmured, his voice a velvety purr in her ear.
Katara blushed but felt more secure when she felt his arm tighten its grip around her. As an added precaution she strengthened her grip on the dragon as well. It was chilly up here in the early morning air with the wind whipping past them, but Zuko was pleasantly warm at her back. And he hadn't taken his hand off her waist either.
Druk rose steadily in the sky until the royal palace—and all of Caldera—was a distant blur on the ground far below. Katara took in the beauty surrounding them, her heart soaring happily in her chest as the dragon carried them out towards the sea.
Zuko guided him easily with one hand, and Katara marveled at the obvious bond between them. It rivaled Aang and Appa's bond. Katara wished she had an animal companion like her friends did.
They flew at a high speed for almost an hour, but then Zuko gave Druk a command in an odd language she didn't understand. The dragon began to descend towards a small island below them.
Katara turned her head to look up at Zuko. "What did you say to him?"
"Down, in ancient Fire Tongue," Zuko replied. "It's what the Sun Warriors use, and Druk seems to understand it better than the common tongue."
"I didn't know you could speak another language," Katara remarked, and Zuko shrugged. She eyed the dragon. "And how does he know it?"
"It's because dragons and man used to be companions," Zuko explained as Druk began to lower himself into a clearing. "I guess the dragons still understand the old tongue."
Zuko expertly guided the dragon down into a clearing. They were surrounded by lush rainforest and the air was heavy with moisture. Zuko slid off of Druk before he helped Katara down.
Katara took in the dragon once again, still not quite believing. She started petting Druk's neck before she felt Zuko's hand on her back. She looked up and found that he was smiling softly at her.
"What did you think?" Zuko asked her.
A grin spread over her face. "That was...incredible, Zuko. Words can't even describe it." She looked back at Druk and ran her hand along his scales again. "I've heard you and Aang talk about the dragon masters but...it's nothing like the real thing."
"I'm glad you liked it," Zuko said, his voice huskier than usual.
She turned back to him then and poked him in the chest. "But you're not off the hook. I get why you didn't tell anyone else about your new pet, but you could've told me."
"Yeah, you're right." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before he looked at her apologetically. "I just...wanted to surprise you. With a ride. And I had to wait until Druk was big enough, and trained enough…"
Katara was looking up at him, her brow creased as her eyes widened.
"What?" Zuko muttered, feeling heat rise in his cheeks.
"Why me?" Katara breathed.
Zuko swallowed hard. "Um, why you what?"
Her eyes flickered to Druk before they landed on him again. "I mean...why me? Why not Toph or Sokka or Aang or anyone else?"
His cheeks were burning now. This was not exactly how Zuko had envisioned this conversation going, but things rarely went the way he planned them. Thankfully, Zuko was good at improvising.
"Well…" He took a step closer to her and dared to take one of her hands in his. He took a breath and steeled his nerves. "Because you're special, Katara. You mean more to me than the others."
Katara stared at him, unblinking. Was he...saying what she thought he was saying? The thing she'd hoped for when the moon was high in the sky? When she would listen to her own heart and admit the feelings that she had for him that she wasn't quite brave enough to face during the light of day?
"What do you mean?" Katara asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.
She watched the knot in his throat dip as he swallowed hard. He released a breath that shook slightly. His hand was warm and his skin was callused, and he stroked his thumb across the back of her hand as he got the nerve to say whatever it was, clinging to the tip of his tongue.
"Katara...I love you," he murmured, his eyes smoldering. "I've loved you since we were just kids...since even before the Agni Kai. And I've loved you every day since then. Irrevocably."
Finally, she blinked, but only because her eyes burned with the tears that had sprung up. One tear slipped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. Zuko's brow creased as he watched its descent before he swiped it away with his thumb.
"Don't cry, Katara," he said with a note of panic. He released her hand. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
Katara cut him off by throwing her arms around his neck in a loving embrace. Zuko startled for a moment, but then he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer, pressing his face into her hair.
"I'm not crying because I'm sad," she whispered in his scarred ear. "I'm crying because I'm happy."
"Happy?" Zuko rasped out, nearly choking on the word in surprise. He pulled back until he could look her in the eye.
She looked happy, if the grin curving her lips was any indication (although he was still worried about the tears he could see sparkling in her eyes). Could it be possible that she felt for him as strongly as he felt for her?
Her fingertips traced the border between scar tissue and pale skin. She met his gaze.
"I love you too," she said softly. "I have for so long now."
Then Katara stretched up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. One of Zuko's hands buried itself in her hair while the other pressed against the small of her back and drew her closer to him. Katara cupped his marred cheek in her hand, feeling the rough scar beneath her touch. It was like all the stars and planets in the sky had aligned.
Katara pulled back first, but Zuko followed her, pressing soft kisses to her lips before he finally let her withdraw. He looked into her eyes, part of him wondering if this was a dream.
The moment was interrupted by Druk snorting out a cloud of smoke at them as he nudged his wide snout between them.
"Hey, don't get jealous," Zuko scolded the dragon lightly. "You can share me."
He watched in surprise as his pet nuzzled against Katara. She let out a laugh as she stroked Druk's golden frill.
"I guess you'll have to share me," Katara giggled, mirth dancing in her eyes.
Zuko stepped around his dragon and slipped an arm around Katara's waist, drawing her against him. He kissed her then, deeper than before, and she was breathless when he finally released her.
"I don't think so," he said huskily.
"Alright," Katara said. She smiled demurely at him. "I'm yours."
He arched his brow at her. "You're mine?"
She kissed him again. "I'm yours."