Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA and I never will. No more jokes or stupid rants coming after this so you can go ahead and read now

Ch 7: Opposites Finally Attract!

After his vision of the two spirits, Zuko found himself under a tree in a green valley, waking up to the annoying beaming of the sun. He pushed himself upright and started to observe his environment. He spotted Appa sleeping on his back, and saw everyone's bags on the floor, abandoned by their owners.

The sun was already high in the sky, which was really odd for him since he usually always woke up with the rising of the sun. It was like a type of fire bender bio-alarm-clock-thing that he had. He then began to look around to see if anyone was with him.

As he rubbed his head from the sore pain he had in his back, he tried to piece together what had happened the day before, but all he could remember was the scene of the lighting strike his sister had formed to hit the Avatar. The image of Katara looking up at him half-frightened and half-frozen flashed in his mind, stirred worry inside of him.

In a panic, he jumped to his feet and started to search for her, turning in every direction to see if he could spot her. Running frantically through the wilderness, he stopped short, finally seeing her in the middle of a shallow river. Her clothes were neatly folded on the riverbed, while she was water bending in the white garments from the Earth Kingdom town. The where so tightly wound all around her that one was able to really appreciate the curves that the young woman had developed. As she practiced, her arms swayed in a graceful, rhythmic motion, and pretty soon the water began to form a blue, stream-like ribbon.

The prince sighed silently, relieved that no harm had come to her after the duel. As he watched her all his worries seemed to melt away, as she danced around with the water, it following her every gracious movement. With every circle the water made around her, it seemed as though the water was being attracted to her voluptuous body, coming closer and closer to her with every passing circle around her. Zuko could only envy that stream of water!

He kept observing her, his eyes becoming hazed as his mind was mesmerized by her exotic dance. Unthinkingly moving closer to her, a loud crack sound was heard as his foot broke a twig in half. Startled by the sound, Katara's lightning-fast defense reflexes kicked in, and she made the stream of water circle her one more time with speed and launched it right towards the sound's origin.

As she looked carefully to what was it she had hit, she saw a knocked-down Zuko, flopping like a fish on the ground.

"Zuko! Are you ok?" she screamed all the way from the riverbed.

Mortified at having attacked her savior, Katara only stammered apologetically, "Zuko, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you!"

Zuko didn't look like he minded being hit by the powerful torrent. He finally turned around, sorry golden eyes meeting Katara's wide cerulean gems. He had a sad, puppyish expression on his face when he answered her conclusively, "I guess I deserved that huh? For deceiving you I mean!"

Katara couldn't break contact with his eyes. They were so golden and pure, but at the same time where full of sorrow and remorse.

Gran-Gran used to always say that a person's eyes revealed the truth about their soul. She had already forgiven him partly for what he pulled off as the Blue Spirit, but she was still interested in knowing why he saved her. Why did he risk himself against Earth benders, a small army, and his ruthless sister?

"Katara…" he started off a little bit unsure about what he was about to tell her. "I know you probably don't like me very much after having fooled you by being someone I wasn't, but I just wanted to tell you that I did it with good intentions at heart.

"At first, I did think of you only as my enemy, but… when I used to capture you as bait for Aang, I respected you for being so loyal to your friends. Then later, when we fought again at the North Pole, I admired your strength and courage as a fighter. Then, when I watched you, as you ran from those Earthbenders, something inside made me like you, and when we were in that room together, I felt something more! I couldn't describe it back then, as it felt so new, but at the same time I knew I wanted to keep that feeling with me always."

"After you left I went after my uncle because I was so reeled in by these feelings for you. They made me feel alive in a way. When I found out he was taken by Azula I knew that you would probably run into her as well, and I was scared that if you were caught I would never see you again. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, only so that I could die again!"

She only looked at him back, seeing tears form in his eyes as he exposed his feelings for her. This was definitely not the same cold hearted, secluded and short-tempered Zuko she had hated. Instead, this Zuko actually opened up, showing that he really was human.

Though he looked older and wiser than ever, he seemed to be more like that child that Iroh told about the night when Zuko beat his sister at the Agni Kai duel.

Katara was finally able to get the complete view of him for the first time, without her usual feelings of repulsion or spite against him for being a Firebender. As the Firebender kept on talking about how she really made him feel, she took tiny steps towards him, until she was only inches away from his chest, and she slowly wrapped her arms around him, surprising him with a kiss.

As her gentle, moist, rosy lips, met his rough, red ones, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, but quickly settled into the sudden show of affection. But then, Katara pushed away. She felt as if she had no right to have cut him off like that while he was in the middle of spilling his feelings out to her. But when she broke off, Zuko wouldn't let go of her. He watched her and gently pulled her back to him.

He pulled her face, inches away from his and whispered to her softly, "Katara, I love you." His fiery breath tingling her lips, he crushed his mouth against hers passionately.

The first kiss was soft and playful, but this one was more passionate, more lustful. He wrapped his arms around her thin waist gently; she began to feel herself being pulled even closer to his chest, as though they were to somehow merge into one.

As he pressed her into his chest, their heartbeats seemed to synchronize, beating faster and faster together. Intoxicated and aroused even more by the sweet fragrance of her silky brown hair, he never wanted to let go of her.

Opposites have finally attracted. His fiery desire was quelled by the ongoing hold she had on his lips. Just as in the real world, Water was putting out Fire's flame, Katara satisfying Zuko's burning emotions. Hot breaths came as steam their mouths as they took tiny breaks to breathe.

Neither of them wanted that moment to end… until a familiar clearing of a throat buzzed through Zuko's and Katara's ears.

"Well, Prince Zuko, it seems as though you have recovered your fiery strengths!" sarcastically observed Iroh, chucking at his nephew.

At that moment the lip-lock broke, but Zuko was still left with his hands on Katara's thighs, a couple of inches nearly from grasping her rump, while she was with both her hands inside his shirt all over his back! And to make matters even worse, Iroh was being accompanied by Toph.

"Bu-sted!" yelled the Earthbender with a tone of playfulness. "Sokka's going to bust an artery when he hears about this!"

Now flushed with embarrassment rather than lust, the two jumped away from each other as if having been burned.

"Uncle, who do you think you are sneaking up on somebody like that, don't you have any respect for other people's privacy!" Zuko yelled at him, with a throbbing vein pulsing on of his forehead.

"Aww the wittle pwince is mad 'cuz we messed up the good part!" taunted Toph in a baby-ish tone.

"That's not funny Toph! I've never barged in on you like that when you were alone with Aang, now have I!" Katara snapped.

Toph's face went crimson red after that. When did she find out about us, she thought furiously. Darn you twinkle toes you probably bragged to her about us, or worse, even that block head Sokka might know now!

"Alright we won't say anything sheesh, why do you have to be such a Sugar Queen about these things!" replied Toph, again arousing the anger of the new lovers. "Thinking about it, you guys make a good match together. Sugar Queen and Prince Hot Temper! Fire and Water!

"I have to hand it to you Sugar Queen, when you pick them; you go straight for the cream of the crop!"

Blushing, Zuko looked away from his uncle and the tiny Earthbender after hearing the bizarre compliment, shifting his gaze to the sun while he put his arms behind his head.

"Toph, just beat it! You're not making this any easier!" screamed a furious Katara. She was about to pound a world of hurt into her, but Zuko managed to hold her back while looking to his uncle for help.

"Toph, I think it would be wise for us to go back to the campsite. I'll prepare you my favorite blend of Jazmine tea!" coaxed his uncle kindly so that the girl would give up her teasing.

"Ok," the girl replied with a sigh of disappointment.

Pouting that her fun had to end so soon, Toph actually more than approved their relationship. Unlike everyone else, she didn't really meet Zuko until he was given the chance to save them and, from the tales that his uncle told them that night, he seemed to actually be a nice guy.

Toph was able to perceive not only the Prince's strong-willed determination, temper, and sternness, but alas his kindness. His personality seemed to meld perfectly with Katara's characteristic over-protectiveness, patience and understanding. It was almost a bit mystical: he was Yin she was Yang. He was a son of fire and she was a daughter of the ocean. Two halves of a single perfect whole.

As Toph walked along the old man, he smiled and looked back at them for an instant just as they were headed for the clearing, "My nephew is so lucky to have finally found someone that revives him in such a way."

"I think that the same thing goes for Katara."

After Zuko and Katara were finally left alone they looked at each other and saw their crimson red faces after the embarrassing moment they went through and suddenly they started laughing. Katara's laughter died a little sooner than Zuko's, but it was to better enjoy his recent change in personality. His laugh was refreshing to hear. He seemed like if he was finally acting his age, as a regular seventeen-year-old boy. She gazed at him as he laughed, but as soon as he noticed her, he stopped, clearing the mirthful tears from his eyes that he so long had bottled up inside.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just like to hear you laugh, that's all; it's a whole lot better than when you used to shout orders at people." she said in a sincere loving tone. Zuko frowned as he remembered those times, when he acted out his rage to prove his father had been wrong in considering him weak.

Zuko looked back at her. "Should we go back to camp?"

"I guess so; it's already past noon, so Sokka should be back from hunting food."

As they started to make their way back to their campsite, he asked her something that had been troubling him for sometime.

"One question" he said to Katara.

"Only one?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you knew what happened to me after I passed out?" he asked, curious to know why was he still with them, when her brother would have probably tossed him from the bison if he had had the chance!

"Well, the thing is that Aang wanted to repay you for saving our lives by taking you and your uncle along with us to a safer location. When we finally got here, we found out that Aang's had planned to ask you on the journey to become his Firebending master, since you were so capable of beating Azula… But you were still asleep."

Zuko felt guilty again, when he heard her say that he had beaten Azula when it wasn't his power to begin with. "How long exactly was I asleep?"

She looked back at him smiling, "you were a regular sleeping beauty! You were asleep for three whole days! It was really funny too, because Sokka was trying to convince everyone that you had died and that the proper thing was to bury you twelve feet under ground. The extra six feet coming just in case if he gets up and goes pyro-psycho again!"

Zuko started chuckling at the image of her brother pleading with them to please bury him alive. "I'm glad that no one took his side!"

"Yeah, me too." He smiled when he heard that, it meant a lot to him know that she really cared.

"So," she went on, "in order to keep you around, Aang said that Iroh was going to be his temporary Firebending master until you wake up, so your uncle's wishes had to be respected since both of you were now Aang's new teachers."

Zuko pondered on the idea on just how it was that he was reeled in to be the Avatar's teacher, like the vision said he would.

"Something wrong?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice, as she noticed his far-away look. Still lost in thought, Zuko didn't respond.

"Zuko, you ok?", she repeated, frowning as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, don't worry, I'm fine!" he managed to blurt out the last minute, hoping that she didn't perceive his temporary absence of mind.

Zuko, I hate to tell you this, but you're a horrible liar, at least to me anyway."

He stared back at her. She was so right in that department. He was able to hide for so many years his true thoughts away from his crew members, his enemies, and even his uncle at times, but she could see right through him, as if he were made of glass.

Knowing that there was no point hiding it, especially after having gotten her to forgive him for deceiving her, he took a small breath and looked at her.

"Katara, this may sound crazy, but when I was asleep for those three days, I had a vision about how Aang has to defeat the Fire Lord."

He began to tell her of how he met with his late cousin and the great Avatar Roku himself, and about how Aang was going to fail if he fought alone since he needed at least five years of training. He told her about the spirit infused in him, minutes after his birth and how he was destined to help Aang defeat his own father so that nature's balance would not be disturbed.

"So that's how you beat Azula!", she cried, surprisingly happy at the knowledge that the fire wench never had a chance at winning against a real fire spirit.

"You're so lucky to have so much power… I wonder why I couldn't get infused with La's spirit?" she pouted her lower lip.

Zuko found it very funny when she did that. She looked adorable, like a small, disappointed child.

"But it's not all fun and games, unfortunately" he finally said. "There are some serious consequences when using his powers!"

"What do you mean? You look alright."

"Since I did not allow my body to develop properly enough to be a efficient carrier of the Spirit, when I used his powers to the maximum for the first time in the duel, I took myself beyond the limit and I seriously reduced the amount of chi I had in my body and now I'm not able to summon his powers, if ever again."

"My cousin and Avatar Roku told me that I had to train with Aang in order to become strong enough to summon the Spirit's powers again when we fight against my father, that that's the only way we'll make it out alive."

"Katara, please understand that you can't tell anyone about how the Avatar Roku saw how Aang fails especially him. If he finds out then he will probably run off and then there won't be any stopping to the Fire Lord!

Katara was speechless at what the fire prince had revealed to her. Suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable, she shivered, wondering how she could keep this to herself, with the knowledge that any moment it could all be over.

Zuko had noticed how her worry began to fill her azure eyes with tears.

Zuko took hold of her hand and gave it an assuring squeeze. He smiled at her and with all the confidence he could muster, he said, "But don't worry about it. If we were going to die then why would the Avatar and my cousin waste our time telling me these things? I'll make sure Aang gets the training he needs and so will I and soon enough the war will be over!"

"Plus," he added, "if we do die, then at least we don't have to see the world turn into ruins and we would have an eternity to spend with each other!"

She giggled at the dark joke he made. Then there was silence for a while, until a curious thought had crossed Zuko's mind.

"Back earlier; when that little girl, Toph was it, yeah, you said she was with the Avatar… as in romantically involved?" he asked, very intrigued.

"Oh Aang and Toph being together, that's probably being going on for a month, maybe more!" she said with an air of c'est la vie carrying her voice.

"Woah, I guess breaking taboos has really gotten popular! I mean Earth and Air? Now that is surprising! So young and already trying to save the species!" he stated happily, his hand reaching out to grabbing hers as they dangled around her thighs.

She laughed at the strange image of Aang and Toph, still being together and being married and everything. She looked at her hand, her hand almost encased perfectly in his.

"Zuko," she asked with her face a lit with a pink streak across her face. "Zuko, do you think, we would be able to be together? I mean after the war and everything?"

"Why not? If everything goes according to the plan that Roku made and succeeds, then I'll succeed to Fire Lord, and stop the war. And then, surely for the treaties to work out, the other nations will need some kind of trust of the fire nation to see if they're serious of peace with the other kingdoms. They'll probably want to see a mixing of two nations. If we're lucky they'll have nothing against us being together, probably end up marrying us by force; and that's when the real fun will begin!" He leered at Katara, making it as obvious as possible for her to get his the idea.

In that instant, her eyes went wide open and she puffed her face out, a bit offended that he could be actually thinking of such things when they had just gotten involved with each other that same day.

She laughed and pushed him away in a playful manner and ran up ahead of him. He was glad she was happy; it made him really happy too.

"Catch me if you can!" she hollered back to him. He dropped his head down and swayed it like if he was shaking something off of his head and jolted it right back up, and he started to chase after her as she led him on to the campsite.

Well I hope you like it. My ideas are back and going through a rigorous process of organization, but I really need input from all of you. Lately I noticed that the reviews have been going down and well I'm just hoping for the best that you're all just very busy lately.

Ch 8 will be up and I have to warn you that this story might just bright up a bit from here on after, maybe some interaction between Zuko and Sokka. Well any ways I'm off to start up the fic and please make sure to leave your reviews