Slight Warning: Hints of attempted forced sexual activity (polite way of putting in) and a shaken Toph.
Disclaimer, for good measure: If I owned Avatar, I wouldn't be saving up for Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus. (Yay Vincent!)
There were no more parties aboard the ship. They were too close to the Fire Nation and could not risk it. The only ones who were even on deck were the Fire Nation people of the crew and the non-benders dressed in Fire Nation clothing. (There were only twenty benders out of a crew that numbered around sixty.) This meant that Zuko had nothing to do except stay out of sight below deck or in the cabin.
At the moment, he and Katara were talking about plans after the war.
"I know one thing Aang's gonna do," Katara was saying as she propped her head up on the pillows. "He wants to ride the giant hog monkeys first chance. Toph's probably gonna go with him. We know what Sokka and Ty Lee are going to do." Zuko rolled his eyes. No one called them just 'Sokka' or just 'Ty Lee', the two were always together. "What are you going to do?"
Zuko lay down on the bed next to Katara. "Well, if Uncle tries to make me Fire Lord, I'm going to turn him down. By rights he should be Fire Lord anyway."
"That would make you Prince Zuko again."
"Right. Anyway, I'll ask Uncle to make Sokka an ambassador, so it's not too much ridicule for Ty Lee that she's marrying a Water Tribe warrior. I'll do the same for you, if you'd like."
"Why? So you can marry me later on?" Katara teased. Zuko put an arm behind Katara's neck and brought her closer.
"I'd marry you anyway. It'd just be easier on you if you were an ambassador. Anyone who insulted me would be thrown in prison, and I can take it anyway. You, on the other hand, shouldn't have to take that from anyone." Katara smiled and kissed Zuko.
"Thanks." She kissed him again; this time Zuko kept her lips on his, raising his head to hers when she tried to pull away.
"No," he whispered, wrapping one arm around her neck and the other around her waist. He adjusted it so Katara was directly on top of him. Katara nestled her head on Zuko's chest.
Suddenly, the ship stopped, throwing the two teenagers off the bed. "Fire Nation ahoy!" Zai called.
"Is it nighttime already? We aren't supposed to stop until tonight," Katara muttered. Zuko sighed.
"Forget about that for now. Can't we have one moment not interrupted by the war right now? We might mot get this chance for a while." Katara looked outside the window. It was still day, and they were barely in sight of a Fire Nation shore. Zuko rolled his eyes and came up behind her, wrapping her in his embrace. "Ignore everything else for a bit, Kata."
Katara relaxed in Zuko's arms. "I just want to let you know you're the only one who can call me that." Zuko smirked and kissed his lover on tender flesh of her neck. Katara shuddered. She took his hand and led him to the bed.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked softly, caressing Zuko's cheek.
"What?" Katara pulled his ear down to her level and whispered something in it. Zuko smirked and nodded. He sat down, allowing his legs to hang over the side. Katara took the hand he offered and sat down on the floor between his legs.
Zuko helped Katara remove her shirt, leaving her in the white tank she wore underneath. Slowly, Zuko began to massage the tense muscles of Katara's shoulders. "Ohhh…you're so good," she moaned, tilting her head back. "Are Fire Nation men trained to do this?"
"No. Only the nobles, and only the Firebending ones," Zuko replied, kissing Katara gently. With that, he heated his hands up, ever so slightly, to a comfortable temperature for Katara.
"I'll do you next, if you want me to," Katara said softly.
"If we have time."
They had time for that and a lot more before anyone came to get them for the landing party. "We've docked in some small inlet," Toshi explained as everyone grabbed weapons and any armor that wouldn't hamper their bending abilities. (Namely, anything leather. It was also the only type Toshi had. The metal armor Azula had had was too bulky and didn't blend in as well to the night environment.)
Everyone who was going stood on the deck, ready for Toshi's commands. Lakai was not going, saying she'd rather help fix the injuries from battle than inflict them. Ty Lee had also agreed to stay behind with some of the other fighters to keep an eye on the ship. (Sokka had practically begged her to stay.)
"Ready? We're meeting the Earth Kingdom troops about three miles from here and we'll plan our strategy then." The crew nodded. Toshi motioned to Aang, who was on Appa with his original traveling partners, Zuko and Iroh included.
"Appa! Yip-" Before Aang could finish his customary call, Appa had taken off. Momo flew up after him after grooming Shi-Shi in a lemur's goodbye. "See you at the rendezvous point!"
By air, the journey was no more than maybe five minutes. When they landed, an Earth Kingdom general named Huang greeted the group.
"Ah, Avatar Aang. Where are Captain Toshiyan and Chieftain Hakoda?" Huang asked.
"They should be arriving soon. There's only room for roughly six people in Appa's saddle and two on his head," Aang explained, bowing. General Huang nodded and looked at Zuko and Iroh.
"Relatives of the Fire Lord?"
"Prince Zuko and General Iroh are working for our cause now. You can trust them," spoke up Katara. General Huang nodded.
"If they are with the Avatar, then I believe it. Would you like a tent until the remainder of the attack force arrive? I'm sure you must be tired." Aang looked at his friends.
"I'm just hungry," Sokka said. "I haven't eaten since lunch several hours ago."
"Sokka, you ate a bowl of fried rice with pepper steak and vegetables soaked in soy sauce thirty minutes before we left!" Katara exclaimed.
"How much soy sauce?" Iroh asked, curious.
"It looked more like pepper steak rice and veggies soy sauce soup," replied the young Waterbender. Iroh gagged.
"That much salt will make you ill, Sokka," he warned. Sokka shrugged.
"Iroh stomach. So, can we get some food?" General Huang nodded.
"Of course. We only have war rations, but they are better than Fire Nation rations or sea rations."
"Then he's never tasted Chen's cooking," Toph muttered to Iroh. "Except the eggs. The eggs were nasty."
General Huang had the cook serve them, and they were finishing their soup as the others came in. Hakoda's warriors were organized and Toshi's crew…not so much. They looked like the pirates they were. As Toshi approached them, Toph noticed something in the way he walked.
"Toshi limps," she stated. "I didn't notice it on the ships because there's no earth there and I was practically blind. He favors his right leg when he walks."
Zuko studied Toshi. Sure enough, he was favoring the right leg. "How did you get that limp?" he asked quietly. Toshi looked at him.
"Oh, y'mean this?" He hit his leg. "I got pierced by a Yu Yan arrow while Lakai was on the mainland. Ash bandaged it, but not being able to heal like Lakai can means I'm stuck with this limp. It doesn't hurt, just twinges when it's cold or wet."
"If everyone's here," Huang said, "I'd like to start the meeting." Toshi nodded. Aang and his friends stood, ready to follow the general to the meeting.
"Okay, the eclipse is coming tomorrow, that much we know. But what do we do know?" One of General Huang's captains was throwing a fit because everyone else seemed content to camp there and head out in the morning before the comet arrived. "What if it comes early?"
"If I tell you what we'll do, will you shut up?" Toph asked. Everyone who had traveled with her for any length of time recognized the danger signs and looked anywhere but the poor captain.
"Yes."
"We're gonna stay here until around dawn then leave, but, and this is if it's okay with the general, you'll be staying behind." The captain gaped.
"You're some little blind girl! How dare you order me around! Do you know who I am?"
"Some idiot who can't recognize a Bei Fong when he sees one and has a mouth the size of the Serpent's Pass," Toph offered.
"You little wench!"
"Captain Jang! That is enough!" General Huang pointed. "Out this instant! Lieutenant Guan! Keep an eye on Jang." The mentioned soldier saluted and took Jang away. "I apologize for my captain's behavior; he's an idiot. Now, where were we?"
It only took a few more minutes to lay out the entire plan, including a back up one. Everyone bid everyone else good night and went to the tents. Zuko and Katara insisted on sharing one, to which no one (Toph stopped Sokka from spouting off) objected. Toph was content to sleep in her little rock tent. Aang was going to groom Appa before bed, and would probably end up sleeping on him.
Zuko led Katara to the tent they had been given; as soon as they entered, she tackled him to the pallets. "Oof. Care to explain why you just knocked the wind out of me?" Zuko grunted, brushing hair out of Katara's face. Katara giggled and nestled her head in the crook of Zuko's neck.
"It's easier than kissing you down, though not half as enjoyable." Zuko rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around the girl.
Just as they were about to kiss, Toph's screams and the sound of something breaking rent the air. "Get away from me, you sick, sick man. Twinkle Toes!" Zuko looked at Katara, who scrambled off him and ran to check on Toph.
The captain, Jang, was lying on the ground with what appeared to be a broken leg and broken arm. He was shirtless.
"Is everything okay?" Hakoda asked from his tent. Toph shook her head, shaking nonstop.
"That…pervert came into my tent and…well, I think I took care of him." Aang, who had indeed fallen asleep on Appa and was now awake, went over to his sweetheart and embraced her. Toph stopped shaking.
General Huang looked down on the pitiful soldier. "Captain Toshiyan, is there a prison hold on your vessel?" he asked.
"Yep. I'm way ahead of ya. Gian Li! Saki! Take him back to the ship and tell Lakai don't try to water heal him, just set his bones." Two pirates stepped forth and lifted Jang off the ground. Huang halted them.
"Captain, when you recover, you can have the option of being dishonorable discharged or demoted to a private. Take him away."
"Demotion? That little blind witch is the one who got me in trouble!" What he said next was not fit for anyone to remember.
"Never mind. You will be dishonorably discharged. Dismissed." With that, Huang walked away. He looked at one of the pirates at Jang's profanity. "Is there anyway to shut him up?"
"Let me do it." Sokka walked over and gave Jang a resound whack! with his club in the head. Jang fell limp. "There we go. Sick-o."
After the excitement, everyone returned to his or his tents. Toph joined Aang on Appa to sleep, never leaving his arms. Hakoda smiled at his daughter before returning and Toshi merely yawned. Sokka muttered something about how leeches were everywhere before heading back to his tent. Zuko and Katara followed suit.
"Why were you staring at that…idiot?" Zuko asked as soon as they were alone.
"I'm not attracted to him, if that's what you're implying," Katara said. "He was shirtless! It's not my fault if my natural reactions take over at times."
"So…you're saying that it's a natural reaction? To stare at a half-naked man?" Zuko asked.
"Only if they're well built." Zuko came up behind her, pressing her close.
"What about me?" he whispered in that low voice he had. Katara shivered and tilted her head back to meet his face.
"I'd stare any way if it were you," she replied. Zuko kissed her softly.
No, Zuko and Katara have gotten any more intimate than kissing and massages. Yet. (In my fics, there won't be description of anything more intimate.)