Chapter 24

We walked for miles over dusty roads bordered by quaint little villages, through the thick vegetation of leafy Earth Kingdom forests, over the rocky ridges of mountain peaks, and through grassy meadows peppered with golden flowers. The heady scent of early summer tinged the air, both warming me with its welcome fragrance and chilling my insides with the warning of the comet's closeness.

Much of the trip was spent in silence, but every once in a while one of us would break the hush and speak of some little thing from our pasts, or share a hope or idea for the future. I had to admit, it was the most pleasant thing I'd done since the war had begun and had ripped away my quiet serenity.

We'd walked almost the entire day. The sun was just beginning to hover tiredly over the horizon when I heard a familiar crashing sound.

"The sea!" I cried, dropping my pack and sprinting to the distant booming. I leapt over rocks and roots, gathering my skirt into my hands as I broke through the forest and into the wide expanse of the shoreline.

"Aie!" I cried, stretching my arms out wide and running into the midst of the breaking waves. I splashed into the mist of the sea and began to waterbend the waves, playing with them like old friends. I raised my hands over my head and brought three long snakes of water to twist and turn around my body as I danced. I relished their caress against my skin, feeling as if I were a dry, dusty desert getting its first rain in years.

I laughed and danced in the water until I was breathless. Finally, I stopped and let the water fall back into the sea around me. I suddenly remembered Zuko. Turning to the shoreline, I saw him standing on the beach, his head cocked to one side, watching me. His face was calm, his arms crossed casually in front of him. But there was something in the way he looked at me, something in the quick way he was breathing, that told me he wasn't just amused by the show.

Suddenly, to my great surprise, he stepped into the water. I didn't know why, but for some reason I'd always just assumed firebenders had a fear of water. He walked to up to me, his legs moving slowly through the water that was now up to his mid-thigh, and smirked.

"There is no time to play, Katara, we're hunting the Avatar." He crossed his arms and looked imperiously down at me, but I could see the teasing behind his eyes. I laughed.

"You know, if someone had told me a year ago that I would be hunting the Avatar with the Prince of the Fire Nation, I'd have said they were crazy." I continued to laugh until a sudden thought struck me.

No one told you that, but someone did tell you that you would fall in love with a powerful bender. The smile fell from my face and a little shiver ran up my body.

"Life's twists of irony are as many as a seven tailed cat, as my Uncle would say." Zuko grinned as he stared toward the setting sun. "That would be his way of saying that things don't always turn out as you planned." Zuko let a wry smile twist his lips. "I suppose I would have been just as shocked if I'd known I would be the leader of a rebel army."

"Hmm. A far cry from the rabid prince that thought the downfall of the Avatar would bring him everything he wanted." I teased. But Zuko didn't laugh. He stared out to sea, a look of pain clouding his brilliant golden eyes

"For so many years I thought that if I could just find the avatar, then maybe..." Zuko let his voice drop away, unfinished, on the wind.

"What?" I knew the answer, but I drew him out. He had wounds inside of him. Wounds that I could not heal with water... but maybe I could heal them some other way...

Zuko pressed his lips tightly together, a familiar sign that he was struggling against himself. The scarred, mistrusting Zuko warring with the one that wanted to tell me everything. That needed to tell me everything. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and the touch opened his mouth.

"I wanted him to look at me the way he looked at Zula, the way he's always looked at Zula."

"Zula?"

"My sister. The prodigy."

"What do you mean?"

"She was everything a future Fire Lord should be. Merciless, unfeeling, brutal, skillful, without weakness. Perfect." Zuko's look hardened as he stared into the ocean. Fire blazed in his eyes, and I felt his skin warm with a stinging, uncomfortable heat. But just as soon as it came, it went out.

"I convinced myself that if I could just bring him the avatar, I could prove my strength. I could prove that I was worthy... of his..." Zuko didn't say 'love'. His pride forbid it, but his eyes said it for him, and my heart broke.

"Your father is a fool to base his love on strength and power! He knows nothing of the emotion. Did the massacre of the women and children look like the work of a loving father to you?" Tears burned at the edges of my eyelids. I reached up to caress Zuko's face with my palm. My fingertips slid gently over the scar, the toughened, wounded skin a testament to Zuko's heart. If only I could heal him. But scars and hearts were out of my knowledge to heal.

"It's okay, Katara." He brought his hands up to my face, his warm fingertips tracing shivers of fire in my skin. "There is someone far more deserving of my love." A shiver wracked my body and I felt him pull me close to him, felt his heat warm my body with a shower of sparks. He leaned forward and rested his cheek on my forehead.

His breath caressed my ear and warmed my hair as I leaned into his touch. My heart sped as his hands moved from my face to my neck, down over my shoulders and onto my back. My skin was alive with the pulses of a thousand fireflies. I closed my eyes and pulled myself into him, my face pressed tightly against the masculine lines of his chest, listening to our hearts race as one.

I opened my eyes to gaze at the spectacular sunset. The sun was throwing its last flames into the sky, now half-buried in the ocean. I turned my eyes to other horizon and gasped at what I saw.

The moon had risen! Of course, I'd seen the moon share the sky with the sun before, but I'd never really paid attention to it. Now, with my arms wrapped around the Fire Prince, with my heart beating with emotions I had never known I possessed, the sight of the sun and moon both dancing in the heavens at the same time took my breath away.

Slowly, I felt Zuko's hands rise from my waist. His hands twisted up my shoulders, his fingertips gently brushed my neck. I closed my eyes. A moan escaped my lips as electricity hummed through me. Zuko must have felt it too, for his whole body tensed. He did not stop his journey, though, bringing his hands beneath my chin and lifting my face so that my eyes met his.

Our faces were inches apart. The ocean crashed around us, the sun illuminated his golden eyes. My body was on fire. My heart was pounding.

He brought his face closer.

I felt his breath on my cheek.

My body ached with unknown hunger.

I closed my eyes, and closed the distance.

I felt his lips, hot and soft, cover mine. An explosion of electricity raced from my lips to my feet. At first I was sure I'd been struck by lightening, but if I had I would be dead, and the frantic beating of my heart told me that I was very much alive.

My hands tightened around his shoulders as I hung on for my life. He lifted his mouth and kissed my upper lip as he pulled me tighter into his embrace. Hunger awakened like a flame inside of me. I kissed him back. His lips were so warm. The warmth spread inside of me, trickling through my veins like a spring. The warmth grew to a roaring heat, until I was so hot that I was sure I must be on fire. But I wasn't in pain. The fire filled me, but didn't consume me. If anything, I felt peaceful. I felt... balanced.

Finally, our lungs screaming for air, we broke the kiss. I lowered my face to rest on his chest as I panted and tried to calm my wildly beating heart. Zuko, too, was breathing rapidly. I could feel his pulse beat in his wrists as they rested on my neck, warm, liquid fire flowing in his veins.

When we'd caught our breath, I looked up at him. No words came to my mouth... but then... no words were really needed. Smiling with a soft, peaceful smile I'd never seen on Zuko before, he took my hand and led me out of the water.

He helped me spread out the mats and light the fire. The moon was now high in the sky, providing a pale, shimmering light to guide us to our mats after we'd eaten our supper. Zuko lay down and pulled me beside him, wrapping his strong arms around my waist. I closed my eyes and let the crashing of the waves lull me to sleep. Distantly, a lullaby came to my mind.

Sun and moon dancing together.

Fire and water mixing.

When the elements are balanced,

None are consumed.

And there it is! The moment you've all been waiting for! I do hope it lived up to your expectations! hopefull Anyway, that's how I wish my first kiss was, lol. Thank you all, dear readers, for your truly wonderful reviews. If I could compare them to something, it would have to be something grand like shoe shopping when all the shoes are free, or listening to a CD where all the tracks are your favorite. Or swimming in a pool filled with pudding. Thank you, all!