Chapter 7: What do you want from me?
The Southern Water Tribe is beautiful. At dawn, the sun's rays bounce off the expansive glaciers, basking the entire city in a myriad of dancing lights. This is the view that Katara is greeted with from her childhood bedroom, and the sudden onslaught of delayed nostalgia hits her immediately, her heart tightening in her chest.
Until she sees the stuffed animals on her bed. And the photo frame with a toddler Katara wailing at the top of her lungs next to a slightly older Sokka, who is striking a pose. Then, she notices all the girl and boy band pictures around her room, next to a chart that says, "WHAT YOUR NAIL POLISH COLOUR SAYS ABOUT YOUR CRUSH".
Mortified, Katara spins around and tries to shove Zuko out of her room, but he is already laying his bags down next to hers and looking around in wonder, catching her wrists with ease.
"So," he asks dryly, gesturing with his chin to a stack of magazines partially hidden by her bed, "what does my zodiac sign have to say about me?"
"Shut up," she mutters.
"Why?" he teases. "I'd like to know what your nail polish says about me - I'd also really like to know what the different types of deep-sea kelp are, and is that you with half your hair cut off?"
Katara glares at the offending picture, where a little Katara smiles toothlessly with chunks of her hair in her hands. "Courtesy of Sokka."
"It's cute," he smirks. "Suits you."
Katara rolls her eyes. "Thanks." How come he didn't notice all the posters she added as a teenager, of human anatomy and reproductive systems and really cool bands? Or her very impressive stack of scientific journals on top of her desk?
"You just wait until I get my revenge," Katara threatens. "I bet your room is so much more embarrassing - "
He pulls her to him, kissing her quickly. "You have no idea." He rests his chin on the top of her head, reaching behind her to grab something. "This is a nice picture," he says quietly.
Katara turns in his arms and takes the frame from him, looking at the picture of her mother, smiling down at Katara from where they stand on the shore of the Southern Water Tribe. In it, little Katara smiles cheekily at the photographer.
"That was during my second Winter Solstice. It was the first time I was old enough to be out in the cold for so long, so I got to watch my dad participate in the ice dodging contest. Sokka spent the whole time crying because he wasn't allowed to join."
"Ice dodging?"
Katara nods sagely. "You keep dodging glaciers so that you don't get ripped apart by them."
He looks horrified. "What?"
"We don't build the canoes to rip any more! You just get tipped over now, and there's a crew nearby to save you if you fall into the water. It's not so dangerous."
He rolls his eyes. "Sounds peaceful."
Katara grins. "It's practically meditative. You better get used to the idea, because my dad might invite you to join their next ice dodging contest."
"Yeah, or he'll take one look at me and ship me back to the Fire Nation," he tries to joke, and it falls flat.
Katara sighs. "I'm sorry about Sokka. He's just being an idiot; I'm sure Dad will be different."
Zuko gently takes hold of her wrists from where they rest on his shoulders. "Sokka wasn't wrong, you know. I am too old for you."
Katara scowls. "Sokka is always wrong. He once thought an ear worm was an actual worm that mimics singing in your ear canal."
"Okay... well, musical idiocy aside, I think you should still try talking to him and hearing him out. I really don't want to be the cause of a rift between you two."
She huffs. "Talking to him, fine. Hearing him out, no. If he doesn't get over his bull-headedness then that's really not my problem."
Zuko kisses the top of her head. "Thank you."
She tilts her head up to meet his mouth, and presses herself against him, tasting the ice cream they ate on the plane ride here and something else that's just Zuko - maybe smoke or yuzu. Zuko cups her face to deepen the kiss and she sighs into his mouth, mentally calculating the amount of time they have before they have to meet the rest of her family, and then the ability for her bed to support the two of them. She sneaks her fingers past the hem of his shirt and feels the bunched muscles of his abdomen, shivering in delight and pressing herself closer still. He makes a hungry noise, one hand tangling in her hair -
The door bangs open. "Katara, Gran Gran says it's time to - oh ew, my eyes! My eyes!"
Katara pulls away from Zuko just as Sokka starts to make retching noises by her doorframe. Her fisted hands find her hips as Zuko drops his face into his palms.
"What is it, Sokka?" she asks, disgruntled and not the least bit sorry for what Sokka had found her doing. Sokka shakes his head weakly, clutching onto his knees for support and heaving.
"Sokka, wait - " Suki suddenly appears at Sokka's elbow, scanning Katara's room and landing on Zuko's hair, which looks very much like he's just woken up. She cannot suppress a smirk.
"Katara, your grandmother wants to see you and your boyfriend - oh, be quiet, Sokka - and I think Pakku is there too."
Katara takes a deep breath and extends her hand to Zuko. "Ready?"
He smiles at her nervously and takes her hand. "Ready."
The four of them head to her Gran Gran's house, Sokka muttering mutinously under his breath the entire time.
As the mother of the Chief, Kanna is granted some certain privileges, including a house close to the bustling city centre, and a plethora of guards. But Kanna is no ordinary mother of the Chief; she fled the Northern Water Tribe as a young girl when her parents tried to impose upon her an arranged marriage - uncommon by today's standards, but not unheard of. She settled in the Southern Water Tribe and bore a child, then spent her time raising said child, and then her grandchildren, until her betrothed returned for her from the Northern Water Tribe.
Now, Kanna and Pakku live in a house on the outskirts of the town, by the sea, unbothered by the commotion of the city centre. There is nobody guarding her, in part because she is too beloved by the Southern Water Tribe to need protection, and in part because she is a formidable force by herself.
The hike to her Gran Gran's house is achingly familiar to Katara, who used to trek with Sokka every day after school since her mother passed away to do homework and spend time under the care of her Gran Gran, while Hakoda was still at work.
Katara tries to point out the familiar sights to Sokka in a vain attempt to encourage him to talk to her. There's the spot where we built our first snow wolf-sheep, she'd say, or That's the time when we put on the play for Dad and Gran Gran about the baby leopard-caribou learning to walk, or That's where you got in so much trouble for tripping me over, remember? My knees were bleeding so much, you fainted!
The last one, at least, makes Sokka's ears bright red, but he remains stoic otherwise. Katara sighs and the silent ascent to Gran Gran's house continues, marred only by the crunch of snow underneath their feet.
At Gran Gran's door, Katara looks at Zuko, who gives a resolute nod, and she knocks loudly on the door. Footsteps thud towards the door, and it swings open resolutely. For a second, she stares into the stern face of her step-grandfather, until his face gives way to a small smile - then, he sees Zuko.
Neither of the men knows what to do, but Zuko makes it infinitely worse by sticking out his hand. "Hi," he says, like an idiot, "Zuko here."
Somewhere to the right of her shoulder, she hears Sokka snort, and Suki elbow him in the ribs with a terse "Shh!".
"What - " Pakku begins.
"Pakku, who's at the door?" someone calls, and Katara holds her breath as another pair of footsteps make their way to the little knot of people. Gran Gran beams at the group, her face even more wrinkled than Katara imagines, and her frame even smaller. She and Sokka wrap her arms around the old woman, who pats them both firmly on the back.
"My beautiful grandchildren," Kanna says. "Back from jet setting around the world to see your poor old grandmother."
Embarrassed, Katara catches Sokka's eye. He clears his throat. "We were busy - "
Gran Gran pats his cheek. "As a young person should be. But family is important, too, you know." She moves past her grandchildren to pull Suki into a welcoming hug, and then turns to Zuko.
After a moment of silence, Gran Gran turns a stern eye on Katara. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
"Uh... Gran Gran, this is Zuko. My boyfriend."
Kanna's eyebrow lifts as her gaze shifts to Pakku, who stands by the doorframe rigidly, as though he is holding the whole house together.
"Zuko Sozin?" she asks Pakku. He nods tersely at her.
"Well," Gran Gran says, walking with a sudden agility into her house, "this is going to be fun."
She turns to wink at Katara.
Fun, Katara thinks idly as she holds back Suki's hair, is the last word she'd use to describe their lunch. In front of her, Suki retches into the toilet and Katara pats her back with all the stoicism of a doctor-in-training.
The group had reached a tacit agreement on silence, digging into their sea prune stew and kelp tea with vigour. Once or twice, she'd glanced over at Zuko, who seemed to be eating with a single-minded dedication towards suppressing a grimace at the taste. She couldn't help but smile, but refocused on her own stew when Sokka cleared his throat loudly.
It was after the last dish has been cleared away and a custard dessert had been served that Sokka finally broke their truce. "So, Dr. Sozin," he'd asked loudly, "are there no women your age for you to date in Caldera? Or are the just wise enough to stay away from you?"
Mayhem broke out resultantly, nobody understanding each other through their various shouting matches, and in between Katara parrying Pakku's various complaints about the sanctity of a teacher-student relationship and Zuko listing, red-faced, the reasons why no rules had been broken, Suki had leapt up from the table and ran into the bathroom.
Which leaves Katara here, staring at the decorative pattern of her Gran Gran's bathroom. The intricate tides on the tiling seemed to flow into one another, bathing the whole room in azure.
"I think," Suki gasps, resting her head on Katara tiredly, "that the sea prunes didn't suit me."
"They suit everybody," Katara insists, but has to admit her own bias in thinking so.
"I'm sorry to make you wait like this," Suki says, gripping Katara's hand in gratitude.
"Are you joking?" Katara squeezes her hand back. "It's better than being out there right now."
Suki nods, getting up on shaky legs and flushing the toilet. She rinses out her mouth. "I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't think about Pakku and Sokka together."
Katara shrugs. "They can think what they want. I'm just glad Gran Gran seems cool with it."
"So does Zuko. I thought he'd have run for the hills right now."
Katara smiles slightly. "Yeah."
"He must really love you."
Katara hasn't told a single soul about the I love you incident at the Fire Palace. She shrugs noncommittally.
Suki dries her hand and gives Katara her brightest smile. "Let's get back out there?"
Out there, Gran Gran is reprimanding Pakku and Sokka.
" - and I am so ashamed of both of you; I thought you'd have better manners than to ostracise your own family's loves! Don't you remember how I ran away from the north because of how they pushed their definition of love on me? Imagine what Hakoda and Bato would say to the two of you!"
Katara and Suki sneak around, hiding behind the door to listen in on the scolding.
"Katara is old enough to make her own decisions now, and Zuko deserves some modicum of respect, and so at the risk of Katara not sharing anything with her family any more, you will both apologise to Zuko!"
The two girls bravely enter the living room as a united force in time to see Sokka and Pakku turning to Zuko to mumble a halfhearted apology.
Pakku glances at Suki out of the corner of his eye. "I suppose," he says to her, "that I owe you an apology as well?"
"Er," Suki says, tensing up, "no need." Katara eyes the two of them. Is he referring to that time Sokka said they started acting weird around each other?
"You must understand, this is not how I raised my grandson."
The grandson in question is lost.
"Really," Suki insists, "it's fine."
"Perhaps I acted too brashly. I still maintain, however, that the two of you should marry."
"What?" Sokka asks.
"Let's just drop it," Suki says, turning to Katara somewhat nervously.
"Okay," Katara says, confused. "Gran Gran, how's - "
"After all, a child needs both parents to function in a healthy household."
"What?" Sokka repeats, bemused. "Suki, are you..."
Suki, lower lip trembling, puts her hand on her belly and nods.
"Hey."
"What do you want, Katara?"
Katara sits next to her brother on the front steps of her grandmother's house. "Why don't you come inside? Gran Gran just made some more kelp tea."
Sokka stares down at his old boomerang he dug up from Kanna's house. "Why won't Suki talk to me?"
"She just needs space. I don't think this is how she wanted to tell you."
"Did you know?"
"No." At his suspicious glance, she crosses two fingers over her heart. "I promise. But hey, it's pretty great, huh?"
Sokka smiles slightly. "I guess."
"I bet it's a girl."
He rises to the bait, shifting to face her, a little more cheery. "You would. But it's a boy."
She mock-frowns at him. "If it's a boy, then you better get busy to give the kid a little sister."
He grins, catching on quickly. "Why? So she can run after him, nagging him constantly?"
"I did not nag - "
"Sokka!" He pitches his voice high. "Put the boomerang down! Give me your dolls! Let me paint your nails!"
She smirks. "You let me do the last one."
"'Let' is a very strong word, Katara. You threw a tantrum and wouldn't shut up until I gave in."
She laughs. "Dad was so mad. Remember how he came home and we accidentally spilled nail polish on Gran Gran's antique woven carpet?"
"Do I remember? My hands are still calloused from trying to scrub the polish off!"
She nudges his shoulder with her own. "We're a good team, Sokka."
He puts his arm around her. "Yeah."
She frowns. "I need you to be there for me. With Zuko. You've seen how Pakku's going to react, and I don't know what Dad'll think, so I really, really need you on my team."
"It's just - "
"Remember that time when you broke your arm and Gran Gran wouldn't let you go to the beach because she was scared you'd get your cast wet? I drove you there anyway and made sure you were okay!"
"That's not the same - "
"And remember when Pakku wanted you to stay with Yue even after she cheated on you? Just because Pakku doesn't sanction 'breaking up'? Who stuck up for you? And remember when I came home drunk that one time? Who covered for me? And do you think, even for a second, I'm not going to support you and Suki having a kid and not getting married? We need each other, Sokka. Please."
He sighs deeply. "You're not breaking any university rules?"
She shakes her head vigorously. "No. None."
"And he's not being a creep? He's not forcing you into something?" He grimaces.
"Ew! No! And you know better than I do that I'd kick his ass if he tried."
"And... you love him?"
She stares at the snow, at the way its crystalline structure resembles a rainbow up close, but looks like a sea of white from afar; another world to just dive into. "Yeah, Sokka. I love him."
He nods grimly, sticking his hand out to shake. "Team Super Cool Water Tribe Siblings, unite."
She shakes his hand.
Everyone puts up a more united front when Zuko is introduced to Hakoda. Suki had finally let Sokka in Gran Gran's guest room, where she had been previously crying, and the copious amount of kissing noises coming from their side of the door told Katara that they had made up, to Katara's relief but also disgust.
Gran Gran had scolded Pakku into sullen acquiescence of their relationship.
"Zuko," Pakku had said, grudgingly, "I've got a new immunology papers I'm working on in my office; do you want to take a look?"
Dr. Sozin had smiled. "Gladly."
Now, both Hakoda and Bato seem relaxed about Zuko, perhaps because they're both trying to wrap their heads around the fact that they'll be grandparents, but she can nonetheless see Zuko sag in relief when Hakoda claps him on the back and invites him join tonight's festivities in preparation for the next day's wedding.
In the evening, the festivities are in full swing, complete with fire dancing, ice cold milk wine, and heaps of food brought in from guests. Everyone is getting tipsy very quickly, save for Suki, Pakku, and Gran Gran. At one point, Sokka ambles over to Suki, gives her a loud kiss, and proclaims that he'd like his child to be called Sokka the Second, regardless of gender.
Zuko has managed to gravitate towards the knot of doctors that Pakku had invited and seems to be chatting animatedly with them about his newest pathology paper, impressing everyone, including Pakku. He, too, seems to be slurring over his words and sloshing the cup of milk wine Katara had handed him earlier. She giggles into her own drink, arm-in-arm with Suki, as she recalls the night of Toph's party. Zuko and Katara have come far since then.
At one point, Sokka drags Katara out on the dance floor, where they both demonstrate Sokka's Southern Smoothness, complete with falling all over the floor and laughing. Hakoda helps his children up, either significantly more sober or significantly better at hiding his inebriation. Hakoda gives Bato a significant look and leads Katara to an empty room in the reception venue.
"Hey, Dad," Katara laughs, wrapping her arms around her father. He hugs her back tightly, kissing the top of her head.
"Hi, little snow pea. You feeling okay?"
She nods. "I'm great. But it's honestly your fault for buying so much milk wine."
Hakoda laughs. "Zuko seems to be enjoying himself."
"I hope so. He's had a hard day today; both Sokka and Pakku jumped all over him for a while."
Hakoda winces. "Well..."
Her jaw drops and she steps away from him. "Oh no, dad, not you too! Firstly, I'm twenty-five, so I can make my own decisions, and secondly, we're not breaking any rules, and thirdly - "
"I don't have a problem with the age difference, Katara." Hakoda pats the air in reassurance. "It's the fact that he's a prince, right? Pakku told me."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, dating him isn't going to be easy. There's going to be paparazzi following you around everywhere; you'll never have a moment of peace or anonymity when this becomes public. And royal life is restrained in so many ways. You're going to have guards at some point if you two get married, and marriage isn't out of the question for the two of you. And a strict protocol to follow. Is this what you want?"
She looks her father in the eye. "Yeah, it is."
He smiles. "Then I don't have a problem with it."
When she goes back to hug him, he says, "I really didn't have a problem with the age difference. Your mother was ten years younger than me, you know."
"Really?"
"Really. But she wouldn't let a single person dissuade her or bully her into not marrying me."
"She sounds amazing, Dad."
"She sounds just like my daughter."
She squeezes him tighter and buries her face in his chest, smelling his scent. Charcoal and crisp snow. "I really miss her."
"Me too, snow pea. I wish she was here today."
"She would have liked the ceremony, I think."
He smiles. "I think so too."
That night, Katara leads Zuko back to their room, both stumbling over very little and laughing. When they get back, Katara slams the door shut with her foot and turns to him. "Did you have a good night?"
He nods, squinting at her. "Yeah. I think I got Pakku and your brother to warm up to me."
"That's not difficult because you're already warm... get it? Because you're from the Fire Nation?"
He rolls his eyes and plucks the air. "Come here."
She straddles him where he's sat on the bed, kissing him. "Thank you for doing this with me."
"Thank you for inviting me," he murmurs, fisting one hand in her hair and pulling her head back to deepen the kiss. She clambers on top of him and pushes him against the bed. He grunts and tries to pull her parka off, tugging at it with increasing annoyance.
"Stupid - million - layer - clothing," Zuko grumbles, irritated. If he could wield fire she's sure he would have burnt the clothing off them. She pulls the parka off the two of them and kicks her boots off, swaying as she does so. Zuko grabs her hips and she laughs against his mouth, feeling impossibly light due to the milk wine. She kisses a track down his neck and he makes a sound in the back of her throat and flips her over, holding her wrists tight against the headboard.
"I really miss the tie," Zuko murmurs against her mouth and she arches against him as she remembers the first time she was tied down by his silky black tie.
"Yeah, well, we had a maximum weight for our luggage," she pants as he sets his mind to biting on the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He slides his hands up from her waist to cup her breasts, tweaking her nipples over her thermal shirt. He pulls that off, too, with a single-minded focus that nearly overcomes his inebriation. Twice, she gets stuck in her own shirt as he yanks it off, but with a mighty tug it falls to the floor. He's cupping her breasts and licking her nipples, making a hungry sound when she whines.
"I did bring something for you," he pants. "Couldn't help it."
She takes a while to blink away hazy stars from her vision. "What's that?"
He gives her a wicked look, leaning over to grab something. He pulls himself back on the bed, his hand curled into a fist. When he opens his palm, Katara spies the training butt plug they've been using - they've been able to go up a few sizes since they began.
"I thought," Zuko breathes, "we could keep practicing."
She bites her lip and looks up at him, trying her best to clench her thighs together despite having him in between her legs. "My favourite," she says, her nerves turning to steel, abetted by the milk wine. "But I'm not sure we'll need it any more."
He stills above her and swallows. "What do you mean?"
Her nerves turn back to liquid and sink somewhere to her feet. She turns beet red and looks away.
"Katara," he exhales. "I need to hear you say it. I don't want to accidentally do something you're not comfortable with."
She tries curling up on her side with embarrassment, but he holds her fast and steady. She whines, halfway between aroused and mortified. When he doesn't let up, she takes in a shaky breath. "Fine," she acquiesces. "I'd like to - I mean, we've been practicing for a while, and I think I'm ready to - or rather, ready for you to - do it, but only if you want to, of course, or else we can just go back to the plug - "
"Katara," he interrupts smoothly, "do you want me to fuck you in the ass?"
It sounds so crass when he says it like that, but as the apex of her thighs gets slicker at his words, she nods shyly.
A beat passes before he bends down to kiss her dizzy. He bites at her lips in the very Dr. Sozin way of his and swallows down her eager moans, releasing her hands to cup her breasts and tug on her nipples. She whines against his mouth and he bares his teeth in a snarl, one hand sneaking down to prop her leg up around his waist. He grinds against her and she sees white.
"Little girl," he growls, "I'm going to make you beg me for it by the end of the night."
It's not going to take much, she thinks dimly, and it is her last coherent thought before Zuko yanks her underwear down and laps at her open and vulnerable pussy. She moans recklessly and his hand comes up to cover her mouth.
"Quiet," he commands, his lips quirked up.
She nods and he resumes his task, driving any semblance of coherent thought out of her mind. His tongue fucks into her opening and she bucks her hips. He holds her down licks her clit relentlessly, sneaking one, and then two, fingers inside her and curling to hit the right spot.
"Z-Zuko - " she breathes, and his answering groan has her fisting his hair in her hands. She flings one leg over his shoulder and grinds shamelessly into his face, chasing the peak that's racing towards her.
"That's it, good girl," he murmurs against her oversensitive pussy. "Come for me, come all over my fingers, need to get you nice and relaxed before I fuck your ass..."
The orgasm hits her. She stuffs one hand in her mouth and bites down on her knuckle to keep from screaming, and he's persistently lapping at her through her entire climax. When the first wave of exhaustion hits her, she tries to pull him away from her now oversensitive body, but he refuses to budge.
"Zuko, please," she whispers, knowing what's coming. Many times, Zuko would tie her up and make her orgasm again and again with just his mouth, but now that her hands are free she tries to tug his head away.
"Another one, Kitten," he purrs. "Be a good girl and give it to me, or else when we get home I'm going to bend you over my knee and spank you so that you can't walk the next day, understood?"
She nods shakily. "Yes, sir," she whispers, and wraps her hands around her headboard, holding on for dear life as he dives back in. He eats her out with the same determination he has when he teaches a class, or works through a paper, and it gets her going every time to see his look of concentration. She tries her best to stay still and he helps her in this task, his grip on her hips like iron as he brings her to her second peak. She looks down at him and sees him watching her, and when he catches her eye his expression darkens and he moves one hand down to play with her opening. His thumb pushes in and she bucks against the sensation, but then he withdraws it and draws his thumb down, tracing her rim. She lets out a choked-out moan and he eases his thumb in, still eating her out steadily. As she hurtles close to her climax, he eases his thumb out and two fingers in, scissoring her, and her eyes squeeze shut as she's thrown over the edge.
When she comes to again, he pulls his fingers out of her. He rises up on his knees and undoes his belt buckle, pushing his pants and then his briefs out of the way. She whines and reaches out to pump him. He breathes deeply before pulling her hand off, shaking his head.
"I'm going to struggle to last any way," he explains, and she pouts. His expression turns somber and he reaches out to stroke her cheek. "We don't have to do this, Katara. I really don't want to do anything you're not too comfortable with."
She looks up at him and then crooks a finger at him. He leans down and she turns her head so that her mouth is by her ear. She reaches between them to touch herself lightly, nearly jumping out of her skin in oversensitive pleasure. "I think about it a lot," she admits in a whisper. "I think about you fucking me - there, and I think about you cumming inside of me, first my pussy, and then my ass, and I really, really want it."
He's breathing heavily. Suddenly, one hand reaches up to grip her hair and pull her head back. "Kitten," he growls, pained. "Where did you learn to talk like that?"
She just looks up at him with wide eyes, her fingers still working over her clit. "Please," she says, and his pained expression intensifies.
"On your knees, face down," he commands gruffly, and she follows, going right back to touching herself when she gets in position. Behind her, she hears a cap being opened before two fingers ease back inside her ass, coated in lube. With his other hand cupped, he smacks her so that the sound is aborted but the feeling is intense. She bites into the pillow beneath her, muffling her moan.
"Tell me what you want," Zuko demands.
"Please," she whispers. "Please fuck me."
A hand pulls her head back. "Speak clearly. Where do you want me to fuck you?"
"Over there..."
Zuko growls in warning. "You're going to say it for me properly before I touch you, Kitten." He pulls her hand that is touching herself away and replaces it with his own, circling around the clit without quite touching it.
"Zuko..."
"Say it. Say it, or I'm not going to let you cum again."
Tears prick behind her eyes. "... Please."
"Please what, Kitten?" The finger draws closer to her clit and she hears ringing in her ears.
"Please fuck my ass," she whispers, face buried in the pillow. He pulls her hair back again.
"What was that? What do you want from me?"
With a slow stroke over her oversensitive and swollen clit, she's gone.
"Please, please, please fuck my ass, please..."
He lets out a smothered groan. "Of course, Kitten. All you had to do is ask."
At first, the sensation is overwhelming, like there is no way he'll fit. He's speaking as calmly as he can through gritted teeth, trying to keep her calm and pliant.
"That's it, such a good girl, so fucking tight, all for me, I - oh fuck, fuck, Katara - " He bottoms out, clutching her hips in a way that makes her feel dizzy, feel wanted. For a moment, they do nothing but breathe together, and Katara thinks the milk wine might be potent, but it has nothing on how he makes her feel.
After a while, Zuko smooths his hand up her arched spine and she purrs, blinking away tears.
"Ready?" he asks her, and before she has time to nod fully, his hand is back on her clit, working quick and ruthless circles into her so that she clenches around him. He grunts in surprise and rocks his hips, and together they find a sloppy rhythm that accelerates to him blinding her with the force of his thrusts and the speed of his fingers. She forgets everything - she forgets who might hear, or what she's saying. All she can think about is how good it feels, how they have to try this again, except with a dildo inside her pussy next time -
"Oh fuck, yeah, I'm gonna fill you up like that next time, needly little thing..."
Had she said that out loud?
Coherent thought gets wiped out from her mind once again as Zuko snaps his hips against her harder, squeezing and spanking her ass, pulling her cheeks apart.
"Look at that," he breathes through a snarl. "Look at that pretty little ass, such a tight fit, all mine..."
She moans blindly. "Please..."
"I've got you, Kitten," he whispers, rubbing madness into her clit. The forthcoming orgasm is relentless, and she tries to gasp out a warning to him.
"I'm gonna - I'm going to - oh, please..."
"You're going to come?" His voice is wrecked, whether from the milk wine or from this, she doesn't know. "Fuck, come with me, Katara..."
And she does, just as she feels him do the same. He collapses on top of her, groaning her name and pinching her nipples. Her vision whites out and her ears ring, and when she comes to, he's placing her in a prepared bath. She nuzzles against him as he cleans her off carefully, sleepy and sated.
He presses a kiss to the top of her head.
"You okay?"
She smiles sleepily against his chest as his insatiable fingers once again find her breasts. "More than okay."
The next day is Hakoda and Bato's wedding, which necessitates Katara waking up before dawn to do hers and Suki's makeup. As Katara paints the symbols of her tribe across Suki's arms and face, Suki hums thoughtfully.
"We've got similar rituals in Kyoshi. They're pretty old traditions, but still beautiful."
Katara smiles as she draws a waxing moon on Suki's bicep. "This one stands for the Beckoning of Tui. On the day of a wedding, we all pray for the new marriage to be blessed by Tui's forthcoming presence." She next draws a wave across both of Suki's palms. This is painted on the wedding party's hands. It says that their family, their friends, and their tribe will try controlling the will of the ocean, such that we may always help bring them prosperity. We paint this on the hands of a family when someone becomes pregnant, too. It's supposed to be good luck for the baby."
Suki cups her still-flat stomach and smiles at Katara. "Thank you."
Katara kisses her cheek. "Let's go."
The wedding hall is beautiful, decked in stained and fractured glass from ceiling to floor, complete with a clear arched roof through which the gentle snowfall can be seen. In the middle, the ceremonial dais stands tall, equipped with three seats for the couple and for the elder that will bless the ceremony. In the corner, Katara sees Pakku and Gran Gran adjusting their ceremonial robes. The dais in the middle is surrounded by pillows and blankets for the wedding party to sit, and Katara and Suki find one by the centre.
Soon after, they are joined by Zuko and Sokka, who have somehow gotten along enough to be chatting about the newest advancements in medical engineering. Zuko's hair is arranged in the traditional wolf tail and he dons the clear blue and white robes Sokka has lent him, with minimal complaining. He smiles at her and puts his arm around her when he sees her studying him, and she burrows into him.
Soon after, Hakoda and Bato enter from opposite ends of the room, smiling nervously at each other and their families. Gran Gran is situated on the dais, ready to welcome both of them into their new lives. Traditional music and drums are played from the back of the room and Katara looks at her growing family and aches for her mother.
"You know what I'm thinking about?" Zuko murmurs in her ear.
"Hmm?"
He takes a shuddering breath. "When we do this, I'd like a fire on the dais for us to walk around, to get Agni's blessing."
She turns to face him. "You think about that?"
He picks up her left hand and kisses her ring finger. "I think about it all, Katara. I love you."
The gold in his eyes shine brightly against the sea of blue and white in this room, and in that moment, and from every moment from then, he is her anchor.
"I love you too."
A/N: Okay! That's the final chapter, all that's left is the epilogue. What do you think? Too cheesy? Too lame? Leave a review!
