Chapter 14
4 Years after the Hundred Year War
Northwest of Serpent's Pass Lake
Following the frantic events of the morning, Azula and Katara remained at their old campsite until well in the afternoon, both of them feeling rather drained after all the excitement. Katara busied herself by doing some cooking, while Azula retreated for a while to take her mind off things through a light firebending workout, also making sure that her recently healed leg was holding up. Azula quickly had to admit that Katara had done a solid job in patching her up, and she soon returned to the campsite. After enjoying a simple but fortifying meal, the pair finally set on their way once again.
The plan for the rest of the day was to finally finish the journey across the peninsula and find a suitable camping spot on the river bank, before making the crossing early next morning. This meant that they had no reason to hurry and the journey was made at a leisurely pace, which suited Azula just fine because for some reason she found herself strangely exhausted.
Azula supposed that it probably had something to do with all that... emotional stuff that had happened in the morning. She still felt rather foolish for having burned the farmstead. Not because she had some great empathy for the people whose lives she had uprooted, not really, it was mostly because she had failed in her ill-conceived plan to convince Katara to give up on the attempts to help her. Following that borderline panic attack after she had woken up, Azula hadn't been thinking clearly, and she had completely failed to predict Katara's reaction to her actions. It didn't help that the damned waterbender was annoyingly perceptive when it came to reading people.
The princess usually prided herself as being someone who could identify weakness in others and then exploit it to her advantage, but she had to admit, she was stumped when it came to Katara. It was very hard to find ammunition to use against the waterbender, and while she could probably go for some very low blows and score some hits, Azula felt that using things like particularly offensive racial slurs was simply beneath someone as refined and cultured as her. And yet, at the same time, Katara oftentimes read her as an open book, making her feel so predictable, and it was starting to seriously annoy Azula.
Or... did it? Azula almost came to a full stop as she considered this, making Katara bump into her, the waterbender walking slightly behind her. Muttering a quick apology, Azula resumed walking, trying to pursue the interrupted trail of thought. Perhaps she was thinking about this all wrong. Perhaps it simply meant that Katara was genuinely interested in understanding her? Azula wasn't sure how to feel about that.
The princess was still convinced that whatever Katara intended for her would in the end make her a pitiful, overly emotional crybaby. However... she could not deny that telling Katara about the mistreatment she had suffered at the hands of her father, had made her feel something she couldn't remember having felt before, struggling to find the proper words to describe it. Azula had not realized that she had been walking around with this... tightness, heaviness in her chest, and telling Katara the story had helped her get rid of it, made her feel lighter. It seemed laughable and ridiculous, but the entire world around her felt a little different, brighter and louder. But how could such difference come from simply talking about some stupid emotional stuff that she had been taught to bury deep inside herself and never drag out to the surface where it could be used to hurt her?
Azula could scarcely believe that she was admitting it, but perhaps someone being genuinely interested in understanding her was not such a terrible thing. She still could not believe that it would be Katara, of all people. She had to remind herself that it all could still be a clever plot to get back at her for everything she had done during the war. Maybe Katara simply wanted to drag Azula's secrets from her just to make the eventual betrayal as painful as possible... but no, Azula did not truly believe this paranoid theory. Besides, that old story about her father being an absolute monster, it wasn't as if Katara could do anything to hurt Azula with it.
And then there was the embrace. Azula still felt partly embarrassed, partly tingly and lightheaded when she recalled Katara's touch while the waterbender had held her. It had felt frightening to begin with, but then other emotions had taken over her. At first, there had been an unusual calm and comfort that she vaguely remembered having experienced in a very distant past. Having focused on the source of these emotions, the face of her mother appeared before her, from the time before a deep wedge had been driven between her and Azula. That was when Azula realized what she had experienced, the feeling of security. Somehow, Katara's embrace made her feel... safe.
It was not all that the waterbender's touch made her experience, however. No, there was something else, something she didn't feel ready to admit even to herself, at least not yet. Her face burned when her thoughts began to merely drift in that direction, and she quickly forced herself to focus on something else before Katara noticed anything and began one of her annoyingly perceptive interrogations.
However, it appeared that for once all of Katara's attention hadn't been focused on her. They were walking down a path with an apple orchard to their right and some wild shrubbery on the left side of the road. All of a sudden, Katara grabbed Azula's hand and unceremoniously dragged her into the bushes to the left. Azula was about to give the waterbender some well deserved tongue lashing for manhandling her like a sack of rice, but Katara frantically pressed a finger against her lips, urging the princess to remain quiet. Curious, Azula peered out of the bushes, just in time to observe something flying overhead and heading directly eastwards, a very familiar looking sky bison.
Once Appa had disappeared from the view, Katara and Azula climbed out of the bushes, dusting themselves off. Katara looked like she was eager to simply resume walking with no further explanations, but Azula would have none of it, tugging on the other girl's arm. "What was that all about?" she asked insistently.
"I'm guessing Aang and Sokka are looking for me," Katara shrugged.
"No, really?" Azula rolled her eyes. "I know I told you that the Avatar's presence would be unhelpful when infiltrating Ba Sing Se, but... jumping into the bushes upon noticing your ex-boyfriend and your brother seems like... I don't know, an unusual reaction?"
Katara blushed slightly at Azula's comment. "I... simply thought that their presence would be unhelpful at this time," she shrugged, trying to sound casual.
"Why am I getting this feeling that it's not because of the reason I gave you," Azula smirked, forcing Katara to maintain the eye contact.
"No... not quite," Katara eventually admitted, her blush deepening slightly. "I just didn't want them to intrude on... what I mean by that is... we've been getting along quite well, and I didn't want them to mess everything up."
"I see," Azula grinned at the waterbender. She wasn't quite sure why Katara appeared so flustered, but she definitely enjoyed the way the waterbender was squirming.
"It just makes sense, alright?" Katara scoffed, sounding defensive. "Sokka and Aang are still very suspicious of you, and they probably would have made some stupid comments, after which you would have unloaded on them, and it would have become utter madness to deal with. I didn't want them to ruin the progress that we've made."
"Yes, that's exactly what would have happened. Makes sense, I guess," Azula eventually conceded. It did make sense, and yet, somehow Azula felt that there was more, something that Katara was not telling her. Still, as they resumed walking, the waterbender would speak no more about it, and Azula had to resign herself to trying to find out more at a later time.
Their timing had been perfect and they arrived at the large river exactly with the onset of the evening. They set up their camp at a picturesque river loop, offering a breathtaking view at the other bank, steep dolomite cliffs covered by tall, resilient pine trees. While Azula quickly set up the tent, Katara took care of cooking, using her waterbending to wrangle a large pike from the river. Not long after, it was merrily roasting on a spit over the open fire.
Having sated their hunger, the pair remained sitting by the fire, in no hurry to retire just yet. As the sun disappeared to the west, its last rays reflected upon the high cliffs on the opposite bank, creating a truly breathtaking spectacle. And although Azula felt rather drained at the end of an eventful day, she did not feel like going to sleep, not wanting the day to end just yet. Although it had been a day of dizzying highs and embarrassing lows, Azula found herself feeling strangely elated. Was it contentment, or even happiness? She wasn't sure, but what she did know is that it had a lot to do with the girl sitting next to her, not close enough to touch, but still close enough to feel her presence.
Every time she recalled how Katara had chosen to stay with her over calling out to her own brother and the Avatar, the memory stirred strange but pleasant warmth within Azula's chest. She tried to tell herself not to read too much into Katara's decision, but at the same time, she could not stop thinking about it. For some reason, the waterbender's opinion of her, once considered completely irrelevant, had suddenly become important to Azula, and she simply could not understand how Katara could have manipulated her feelings to change so drastically.
"You've been very silent, Azula. Anything on your mind?" Katara asked suddenly, startling the princess a little.
"...I, uh..." Azula stammered, caught in her thoughts. She definitely did not want to tell Katara exactly what she had been thinking. "Not much, just thinking about the path to take tomorrow," she lied quickly, glad that in the light of the glowing embers, darkness enclosing upon the campsite, Katara could not see the blush covering her cheeks.
"We skirt the coastline as agreed, yes?" Katara asked. "I seem to remember there were a few villages we could stay overnight."
"Yes, absolutely..." Azula replied, a little absentmindedly.
"Right," Katara nodded, giving the princess a long stare. "Well, if there's nothing else on your mind..." she said, her tone of voice suggesting that she was aware that Azula was holding something back, but the princess stubbornly shook her head. She had dealt with enough emotional turmoil for one day. Instead of more talking, she just wanted to let everything that had happened to sink in. "In that case, we should get some shuteye," the waterbender told her.
"Yes, we probably should," Azula nodded, watching Katara rise from her seat and then offering her hand to the princess. Azula took the proffered hand, but released it soon after as they quickly crawled inside the tent and settled in as comfortably as they could manage.
"This was a crazy day, wasn't it?" Katara asked, once they had both found positions that hopefully would not make them completely sore all over come the morning. "But at least some good came from it, I feel."
"I guess so," Azula admitted with a sleepy yawn.
"Alright, point taken," Katara chuckled, also a little sleepily. "Goodnight, Azula."
"Night, Katara," Azula muttered. She was firmly asleep mere moments later, her sleep for once so solid that no nightmares could penetrate it.
5 Years after the Hundred Year War
Republic City
"Mhm... that was lovely..." Katara purred, lounging by Azula's side on their queen sized bed, both of them drenched in perspiration.
"When is it not with you?" Azula grinned at her, looking thoroughly satisfied.
"Good point," Katara chuckled, lazily running her hand up and down her lover's abdomen. Smiling wickedly, she used some of their mingled sweat to form ice claws around her fingers, Azula letting out a strangled gasp as the icy touch slid across her heated, slick skin. "Oh, you like that?" Katara winked at her beloved. "I'll have to keep that in mind for later."
"Hopefully not too much later," Azula gave her a demanding stare.
"Aren't you a needy one?" Katara smirked, reaching out to kiss Azula on the lips. "Seriously, though... this is what I love about us. Even though we've been together for a while now, I still feel like there's so much to discover about you."
"Likewise," Azula nodded earnestly. "I think it's probably because our backgrounds are so very different."
"True... though I was thinking more about sexual kinks," Katara pointed out with an amused wink.
"Oh..." Azula blushed slightly. It still amazed Katara that she was the one who had to take charge in the bedroom, but when she thought about it more, it did make some sense. Azula had to learn showing physical affection almost from the very scratch, but she was a very talented student, and with every day of their relationship, she was coming out of her shell more and more. "Were you thinking of... anything in particular?" Azula asked, slightly hesitantly.
"Well, I did think of it while admiring the amazing work that girl did on your toenails," Katara smiled.
"I happen to think that yours are even more amazing," Azula smiled at her.
"I'm not going to argue," Katara was only too happy to agree. It was very curious, but even as she had helped Azula to cut ties with her violent past and become a better person, Azula had also changed her in return, and one of those ways in which Katara had changed was to become very attracted to comfort and luxury. In the past, she had never paid much attention to frivolous things such as getting her nails done, but now she and Azula were frequent visitors to the most elitist and exclusive high society health spa and beauty salon of the Republic City. Earlier today, they had indulged themselves with a particularly extravagant request, very artsy motifs for their nails. Azula's started deep red at the base and then gradually became lighter, almost orange, shaped like a burning flame, while Katara's nails were painted in the deep blue of the sea, with soft, foamy white caps in the shape of waves.
"Anyway, there was something I wanted to check," Katara suddenly rose and seized Azula's left foot by the ankle, lifting it off the bed.
"What are you doing?" Azula looked at her, a little surprised.
"Just checking if you're one of those girls who get really turned on when your feet are touched," Katara winked at the princess. "Or your toes..."
"Wait, what?" Azula blinked at the waterbender. "People can get turned on by that? Sounds completely ridicul-... oh!" she gasped suddenly when Katara ran her hand along the base of her foot, testing some of the pressure points. "Oh my... that does feel... very nice," Azula purred, her eyes half-lidded as she enjoyed the touch of her lover.
"Not so ridiculous, is it now?" Katara grinned, continuing to massage Azula's foot, even as she brought it slightly upwards, preparing to test something else. Azula's feet and toes were perfection itself, impeccable and flawless like the rest of her body, carrying the light fragrance of perfume that was Azula's favorite. By now, Katara could recognize the aroma in a packed hall of people, easily identifying Azula by her scent of the Shuhon spring cherries perfume, subtly sweet, but not overpoweringly so, instead carrying a hint of spicy heat.
"Damn, this is amazing... does it work the same for you?" Azula asked, as she continued to enjoy Katara's touch.
"I don't know, but I'll be happy to let you discover that later," Katara grinned. "However, right now, I want to try something else," she said. Still massaging Azula's foot, she raised it even higher, so that it was aligned with her mouth, before plunging forth and slipping Azula's toe into her mouth, starting to suck on it. Azula's eyes seemed to become impossibly wide as a loud moan escaped her lips. Without any thinking, the princess shoved her right hand between her legs and started to frantically rub her clit.
The sight of it all immediately hit Katara hard, her arousal surging as she felt herself all a flush with heat. Continuing to suck Azula's toes in turn, using her left hand to hold Azula's leg by the ankle, Katara slipped her right hand between her legs, mimicking Azula's actions as they both began to get themselves off in a hurry. Katara knew that she would reach an orgasm very quickly and easily, there was no way she could hold off her culmination when observing Azula as she was just about to hit her peak. The princess' back arched as she seized her own breast, her other hand maintaining the stroking movement between her legs. It didn't take much more of Katara's lavish attention to her toes before a shuddering moan tumbled past Azula's lips and she collapsed back onto the bed, panting heavily.
Slightly reluctantly Katara lowered Azula's leg, then using her free hand to cup her breast and roll the stone hard nipple through her fingers, as her other hand continued to move between her legs. It didn't take long at all for her pleasure to crest and with a relieved sigh, she sunk down onto the bedsheets, pulling herself up in the bed to nestle alongside the speechless princess.
"You're crazy, do you know that?" Azula eventually looked at her with a fond stare. "How did you even know about something like that?"
"Your toes just looked really delicious with that flame pattern," Katara winked at her.
"Katara, the much feared nibbler of toes," Azula chuckled. "Mind you, your toes look just as tasty. I might want to have a snack later..." she curled up tighter and more comfortably against Katara's side. "But first, some more cuddling."
"We have plenty of time for everything," Katara smiled, reaching out to peck Azula on the tip of her nose. "For cuddling... as well as for experiments..."
A/N: This is the last of the flash-forward NSFW scenes in the story. They were starting to break the flow of the story a little too much. If you were a fan of these scenes, do not despair - you will simply have to wait for Azula and Katara to truly get together in the main narrative, around Chapter 30. :)