Hi everyone! I really hurried to get this chapter written, so you are getting it now! This chapter is pretty long for the chapters of this story, as the firsts just had around 3.000-6.000 words. Well, I hope you will enjoy this 8.000 words monstrosity of a WZNaG chapter.

And as I told you, this is where the rating climbs up! And I'm terrified. Honestly, I've never written a scene like this. And definitely not from the point of view of a man. Sooooo... I hope this will be okay.

Anyways, please enjoy and let me know what you think!:)

I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender, nor its characters.


Chapter Twenty-Four

Although he had acted rashly before, now Zuko felt insecure again.

Katara had laid her purse on her dinner table, and he closed the door behind him. He eyed her hungrily in her blue and purple dress. He wondered if she wore a bra, as the fabric enclosed her breasts so perfectly.

He took off his suit coat and hung it over a chair, then pulled at his bow tie to put it over the suit coat.

Katara tugged her hair behind her ears, looking at him through her deep, blue eyes, which seemed larger than usual. Her lips were parted, and he thought the look in her eyes was desire, as he had never seen it before, but he couldn't be sure.

He took a step towards her and lifted his hands slightly to put them on her hips. The soft fabric of her dress stroked his fingers and he sucked in a breath.

Katara laid her hands on his shoulders and lifted her head to meet his lips with hers. Zuko had thought they would kiss each other the same way as before. Passionately and heated, but it was slower, softer. He revelled in it, and closed his eyes. There was almost a tenderness to their kiss, which would have felt good, if it didn't also frighten him a little. Tender and soft was nice, but it was not the right thing for now.

He pulled her to him, and she opened her lips at his mouth, their tongues touching. He dipped his head to deepen their kiss, searching to enter her mouth in the deepest way possible.

Katara pressed her body to his so that he felt her breasts and her stomach against his torso and only wanted to pull that dress from her. His hands moved over her hips, tracing their form. He felt her hands wandering to the buttons of his shirt and immediately began to search for the zipper on her dress. What he found instead was a row of little buttons, all close to each other. Oh, that would be difficult.

Katara pulled his button-down shirt out of his trousers, and pushed her hands up his stomach. She let out a huff, which almost sounded angry, as she pulled his undershirt out of his trousers, too. Zuko's lips pulled into a smile, as he kept kissing her.

Hm, her lips were so soft and plump. They had to cover all of his, he was sure of it. The slightly dry spot was still there, although she had worn some lip stick before. Her dry lip skin scratched against his lips in an incredibly sensitive manner. Heat travelled up his spine and sank into his stomach.

He pushed her slightly backwards, as he started to take steps forward.

Katara let out a noise that made him stop. She pulled out of their kiss, his lips still following hers.

"Wait," she panted, before she began to open the buttons on his shirt. Her fingers were shaking, and she took too long for Zuko's taste.

"Stop," he said and put his hands under the hem of his undershirt before pulling it and the shirt up and over his head. He threw it somewhere behind him, not caring.

Katara's hands went to his stomach and she slowly spread her fingers. Zuko swallowed. He looked down at her, but couldn't see her face well, because she was staring at her fingers.

She moved them slowly and lightly, almost teasingly, up and down and from side to side, over the ridges of his muscles. A few times, she even dipped her fingers into his waistband, but never went further down.

Zuko took deep breaths, his chest rising and falling quickly. After a few more moments of the teasing touch of her fingers he couldn't stand it anymore and sank his forehead onto hers. Katara looked quickly up in surprise, almost bumping noses with him.

He jerked back slightly. "Careful."

"Sorry," Katara muttered, and the touch of her fingers left him. Curiously, he watched where she put her hands only to see they were on her own back. And then he noticed how her décolleté sank a little.

Quickly, he turned her around so that her back was turned to him and worked on the hundreds of little buttons. It wasn't easy, and he was sure he needed longer fingernails to do this, but there was a will, so there was a way.

He put her hair aside so that her shoulder blades were bare before him. Sinking his face onto her shoulder, he began to kiss her skin, and he found that while not looking at the buttons, it was easier to open them. The dress slid down a bit more. He could feel on her back that Katara was not wearing a bra. He almost growled, as he licked over her skin. She tasted sweet and soft, if soft had a taste. It was almost like clouds made of honey. He couldn't wait to finally touch more of her and hopefully kiss more of her, too.

The last button didn't end above her behind, but right on it. He shamelessly used the excuse to brush his hands and fingers against her round cheeks, before he grabbed the dress and pulled it down. It revealed a back that was even darker than the rest of her skin.

He saw her shoulder blades and her spine, could see the shadow of her rips and the roundness of her hips. Now, there were only her panties. Dark blue and only made of lace.

Oh, shit. He just wanted to pull these down! Now!

Okay, Zuko, don't get ahead of yourself. Slow down. Maybe she doesn't even want to have sex. Don't act like a child in a sweets shop. Relax. Slow it down.

He breathed again, taking deep breaths to calm himself, and then Katara turned around. Zuko's eyes went immediately to her breasts, which were entirely covered by her hair. He frowned, before he slowly lifted his hands, and then looked into her eyes.

They were open, her lashes pressed against the skin under her eyebrows. She'd never looked at him before like that.

He brushed her hair aside. And blinked. When he looked up, he could see a smirk curling Katara's lips.

"That's a special bra," she said lowly. "It's more comfortable to wear and very practical, when you wear something without straps or with a bare back," she explained and undid the ties between her breasts.

The fabric looked thin, but firm. As Katara opened the ties, the pressure began to leave and her breasts widened a little. Zuko lifted his hands to the sides of the bra, slowly and gently pealing it off her skin. "Did you use glue to hold it there?"

Katara giggled. "No. The bra glues by itself. It feels a little like tape, but softer."

Then, he managed to pull it off and almost jumped in surprise, as Katara's breasts jumped a little to the sides, as they had been pushed to the middle by the bra before. Zuko blinked. "You're sure this is comfortable?" He held the bra up.

"Yes! What do you know about bras anyway? It's really helpful, because then you don't have to decide between… oh," she gasped, when his fingers ran over her breasts.

Zuko licked his lips. "Don't stop on my account. I'm listening." He had let her bra fall to the floor, not able to wait any longer to touch her. He let his fingers glide down and ran them up again to her collarbones. He felt himself harden and push against his trousers.

Katara's lids dropped, and her breath became deeper. "Yeah, okay," she murmured and leaned closer towards him.

His heart began to pound harder. Shit, it looked like she really liked what he was doing. He knew he liked it, but that she would enjoy it so much… He quickly leaned forward to kiss her again.

Katara moaned and pulled him closer at his waist, their upper bodies touching and pressing against each other. He hitched a breath and groaned into her mouth, as he rubbed his rips on her breasts. She responded by moving her breasts against him, too, moving her hands over his sides up, over his shoulders, and in his neck, pulling his head down to her.

His hands had wandered to her hips again, and his thumbs began to wander deeper. He again made a step, trying to shove her backward. He had wanted to bring her to the bed, but instead he shoved her against the dinner table.

Katara hopped on the table, wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed her core against his erection. He groaned into her mouth and began to kiss her more wildly. She moaned against his lips and then grasped his hips tightly.

Fuck. This was too much. He couldn't… He wrapped his arms around her to hold her steady and began to push his hips forward between her legs. He gasped. Oh, this was good. This felt good. So good…

His hands roamed her torso almost frantically, as he grinded himself against her, and he heard her reactions to his attentions in her gasps and moans. He grabbed her breasts, noticing that although they weren't small, his hands still covered them entirely. Katara arched her back and sighed, which sounded more like a moan. He pushed her back with his hands still on her breasts, and Katara almost fell on the table, as she noticed what he wanted her to do. In this position he could still grind himself against her, but also caress her breasts with his mouth without having to crane his neck too much.

But before he could dive down to brush his lips over those mounds his eyes were pulled to her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes only half open, and her lips were red, swollen and parted. She breathed through her mouth and stared at the ceiling, her hair was spread under her. Zuko had this air balloon feeling in his chest again.

Instead of attaching his lips to her breasts directly, he let his hands wander slowly over her body, touching and stroking every centimetre that he could reach except for her breasts. Her breathing became deeper, but hitched several times, as she gasped for air. His eyes burned, as he observed the way she let her head loll to the side, before she suddenly grabbed his wrists tightly.

Feeling surprised, Zuko stopped.

Katara turned her eyes on him, and what surprised him even more, was that she was glaring at him. "Will you touch my freaking tits now or not?" she snarled.

He felt his eyes widen, before a grin tore his lips apart. He did as she had asked. "I didn't think you would get so desperate," he murmured, as he began to knead her breasts softly. Hm, they felt wonderful. Warm, soft, and so full.

He licked his lips again.

"I'm not desperate," hissed Katara and slapped his arm in anger.

Zuko tensed. Shit, had he just become even harder?

She lifted her hips to press her core to his erection again.

He gasped. "Shit, Katara!"

She let out a happy sigh and leaned back again.

Twisting his mouth in annoyance, Zuko began to knead her breasts with more vigour, pressing his thumbs against her nipples. Katara moaned in response, and he felt a grin pull at his lips again, but then the grip of her legs around his hips tightened, and she began to grind herself against him.

Zuko didn't stop the groan from his throat and leaned forward, supporting himself on his elbows next to Katara's upper arms as he met her hips with his. Wow, oh shit, this was getting better and more and… Oh, gods!

He wanted to start sucking at her neck, when she suddenly pushed him away.

Breathing deeply, he stared at her in confusion, when she sat up and pressed her hands to his stomach again. Well, at least, it didn't look like she wanted to stop completely. Her fingers moved southwards, and Zuko felt his stomach flutter.

Katara avoided his bulge, however, and simply opened his suit trousers, before pushing them down. She untangled her legs from his hips, pushed him a little further away and hopped off the table.

Zuko couldn't believe it. They were both only wearing their underpants. He and Katara. Making out, now only in their underpants. How did that even happen?

The girl who'd hated him in high school had let him undress her to her underpants and had undressed him to his underpants, too. Although he knew she didn't hate him anymore, and he had also come to like her quite much, he still felt a little smug. If he could only tell fifteen-year old Katara what they were doing right now…

He quickly stepped out of his trousers.

Katara suddenly leaned forward, and all Zuko could see was her back and her behind clad in her lacy, dark blue panties. Zuko felt a pull at his feet and realised she was opening the ties of his shoes. He felt himself flush a little.

"Thanks," he rasped, before taking a few steps away to take off his shoes and socks properly.

Katara took off her high heeled shoes quickly, and then took his wrist to pull him along with her towards her bed. She climbed quickly to the side on the wall and turned around to look at him. Zuko sank onto the bed, his knees on the edge and then crawled towards the woman lying on the other side, waiting for him. He climbed on top of her, supporting himself on his elbows and knees, as he hovered over her.

His erection was straining against his shorts, and he let his hips sink slowly onto Katara's. She took in a deep breath, when their skin touched again, and her leg parted immediately, as she pressed herself to his erection again.

He groaned, and then almost let himself fall on her, as he captured her lips in a hungry and devouring kiss. The hot wetness of her mouth and tongue aroused him even more, as he hoped to feel a similar heat around his hard shaft soon.

But then her hands wandered from his upper arms to his back. Zuko jerked away so fast that her hands fell back to her sides. She blinked in confusion, still panting. "What?" she breathed.

Zuko swallowed. He'd told this lie twice before, but that didn't make it easier. "I… My back… is extremely sensitive," he lied, his tone a mix of shyness and remorse. "The skin. It feels weird when someone touches it. I don't like it."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Grimacing, Zuko nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I know it's impractical."

She nodded. "Okay." Her hands lifted to his neck again to pull him down.

Zuko didn't move.

"I won't touch your back, okay?" said Katara, her lips forming a smile.

He nodded slowly. He trusted her.

She began kissing his lips again and moving her hips against his, rubbing her soft curves against his hard edges to warm him again. He felt how he relaxed again, as he allowed himself to lose himself in her kisses and touches and in the movements of her body.

His nose pressed into her cheek, as he lifted his hands to cup the sides of her head. He tangled his fingers in her hair and held her head to deepen their kiss. He pressed his lips so tightly to hers, it almost hurt. He enclosed his lips around her lower lip, and her tongue began to caress his upper lip. Groaning, he sucked her lower lip a little into his mouth, and Katara almost attacked his upper lip with her tongue. The moment he let her lower lip go, he felt her teeth sink a little into his. Oh, that… Wow.

He rammed his erection harder against her, when she bit him again. She gasped, but he kept feeling her teeth pulling, biting or scraping against his lips. The slight prick went directly to his groin, causing him to rub harder against her.

Then she pulled her lips away from his, and he saw how she pressed her head into her pillow and sighed so loudly it was almost a moan. Her eyes were not only closed, but also pressed together, as she contorted her face. Her hands wandered to his hips and on his buttocks to press him harder between her legs.

Zuko groaned and then dipped his head to finally press his lips to her breasts. He didn't waste much time, but immediately licked over her nipple and wrapped his lips around it. His right hand travelled down from Katara's cheek to engulf her other breast.

He kept grinding himself against her in a hard way and felt the heat emanating from her core. Gods, he wanted to have it wrapped around him!

His movements became more frantic and he sucked harder on her nipple, pinching the other one between his fingers as if he wanted to rip it off her. Katara groaned loudly, her voice hoarse and high, a tone sweeter than Zuko had heard it ever before. He switched his mouth to her other breast and used his left hand to knead her right breast, as Katara's hands waved through his hair, pulling at his strands and shoving him into her breast at the same time. He groaned at the feeling. He really liked it how she touched his head.

She arched her back into his hand and mouth, and her moans became louder, as she kept meeting his thrusts. He felt how her body shuddered and saw goosebumps covering her arms. He lifted his head to look into her face. It was contorted in pleasure, and he wanted her to cry in pleasure, too.

He attached his lips to her throat, as he pushed his right hand between her legs. Oh, shit, she was hot. Heat enveloped his hand and when he started to rub his knuckles over her panties, he felt that she was wet, too.

"Nnnngggghhh," whined Katara and quickly grabbed his wrist to pull his hand away from her core.

Zuko felt how confusion made its way through the hazy, misty feelings of his lust and desire. She had pulled his hand away. Why?

But she didn't push him away, and she kept grinding her core against his erection, and craning her neck to give his mouth better access, so he forgot it again.

His hands were on her hips instead and he grabbed her tightly, as he held her like he needed her to press himself even harder against her.

Sha gasped loudly, but this time, he wanted to shove his hands under her panties, and she captured his wrists again. He growled in frustration and sucked harder on her skin for a moment, before leaning back. Maybe the expression on her face would tell him something.

Did she want even more foreplay?

"We…," she panted, not really focusing her eyes on his. "I…" He could see that her mind was still occupied with the position of their bodies, as she furrowed her brows. She still breathed so deeply, though, and her breasts kept pressing against his chest, and his erection was still lying right there in front of her entrance, only two layers of fabric between them, he didn't think he could even focus on her words. "No-ooohhh," she moaned suddenly, because Zuko couldn't stand lying so still on top of her, and had shoved his hips forward again.

Katara's contorted features relaxed for a few seconds, before she hit his arm again. "Would you… stop for… just a moment?" she gasped with a slight undertone of irritation.

He really didn't want to. "I already gave you a moment," he murmured and put his lips softly onto hers. He closed his eyes to kiss her lazily and enjoy the softness of her lips, the wetness of her tongue, which made his chest feel wider again, but also made his loins burn with more desire.

She returned his kiss just as softly and breathed through her nose, her hands went to his scalp again.

Mhm, whatever she had wanted to say couldn't be so important, right? No, not when their hips were pressing together in the most wonderful way, and her naked breasts were pushing against his chest, and when he was actually lying on top of her and between her legs, and damn, did he not want to leave this place.

Just then, Katara bent her legs and pulled her knees closer to her chest, giving him more access. Before he could use that, however, she put her knees under his chest and shoved him away with her legs. He didn't fight her, but the disappointment in his groin almost hurt, as he reluctantly let her go.

He was also slightly impressed how bendable her legs were. Mh, he could have pushed her knees to her breasts while driving in and out of her…

Well, not now, since she frowned at him and kept pushing him away, but maybe later, when whatever had disturbed or angered her had been discussed.

He swallowed as he tried to think of something else than sex, when he saw how she sat up and supported herself on her elbows. Reluctantly, he sank his butt on his heels and waited for her to say something.

Katara took deep breaths, which still sounded so much like her moans that not thinking about sex was downright impossible for Zuko. Would she take these deep breaths after an orgasm, too? And, fuck, how would her orgasm even sound?

His erection bobbed at his thoughts, and he had to fight the urge to touch himself. It was obvious that Katara tried to calm down. Touching himself might upset or even disgust her.

She swallowed a few times, when her breathing had calmed a little. Then, she took a deep breath again and looked him dead in the eye. "We can't have sex," she said, her voice sounding incredibly sexy after all that moaning and sighing.

That's definitely not what he had wanted or hoped to hear. Of course, being pushed away while making out should have already warned him, but his lust driven mind had come up with completely other excuses for her behaviour. Maybe she had wanted to use another position, and had gathered the courage to ask him. Or maybe she would have told him about something she always wanted during sex, or maybe she was going to propose a roleplay. Whatever, his mind and his body had not wanted her to say these words.

He needed a few seconds to reign in his disappointment and calm his frustrated thoughts. He swallowed. "Okay. Er, why?" His voice sounded a little rough.

Katara skidded a little away from him, and that was the moment when even his erection understood that there would be no sex tonight.

"Oh, well," Katara stammered. "Wh-what we just did, that… that's okay, I mean. We didn't have to stop, but you didn't seem to understand that I didn't want your hands at my vagina."

Zuko blushed. "Er… Well, I…"

Katara waved dismissively with her hand. "Don't try to explain yourself. I just…" She was the one blushing now. "I just never… I mean, never before…"

Zuko's eyes widened in shock. This couldn't be. Jet had always bragged about sleeping with Katara in high school. Or had he lied? However, thinking about Jet at least made his erection completely go away.

"You're a virgin?" he blurted, still feeling shocked and knew he sounded unbelievable.

Katara grimaced and threw a pillow at his face. "No, I'm not! I meant that I never had sex with someone who… Well, we're not…"

Zuko put the pillow in his lap and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah. Me, neither."

Katara let herself fall back on her bed and pressed her hands against her cheeks. "This is… a little weird for me, is all."

Okay. He did understand that. It's not like he had ever had sex with any girl or woman who had not been his girlfriend. He'd tried once, after Mai had broken up with him, but that hadn't worked.

"Well, you being a virgin would have been weird, after everything that Jet had said in high school," he said, maybe to try lighten the mood, or maybe to remind himself that this was his best friend's ex-girlfriend. He couldn't just sleep with her. What would Jet say?

Zuko wouldn't be happy if Jet slept with Mai or Jin, either. Okay, well, maybe Jin was fine. That was so long ago, and it's not like Zuko still knew anything about Jin, and he had moved on from her years ago.

If Mai would have become a couple with Jet, that would have sucked. Because then Zuko wouldn't have had the chance to move on, and would have only wondered why Jet was better for Mai than him.

Watching Katara react with a horrified grimace, he thought that it wouldn't bother him now, if Mai were with Jet, but he didn't know how Jet would feel about him and Katara. But was there even a 'he and Katara'? They weren't really together. It would be fake dating and sex, or almost sex. And that was different, or maybe even worse? He didn't know.

Katara groaned and pressed her hands against her eyes. "Oh no, don't tell me you know about all that!"

Zuko pushed his thoughts away and focused on Katara in front of him. She looked absolutely adorable when she was embarrassed. He grinned, before he crawled next to her and lied down on his side to look at her. "You don't think Jet would have kept quiet about that, do you?"

Katara turned around to bury her face in her pillow and a muffled scream escaped her.

Zuko chuckled and fought the urge to reach for her hair and run his fingers through it.

But then, her face reappeared behind a curtain of hair. She shoved it aside and then lifted her torso to pull her hair under her breasts away. "I'm pretty sure Jet exaggerated anyway," she said in a hopeful tone.

Zuko frowned. "Hm, well, he said you screamed all the time, and told him how hot and what a sex god he was." He grinned. "I actually believed him back then."

"Eeewww! I never said that, and I didn't scream!" Katara grimaced again and hit his arm again. "Honestly, if I screamed, then only because it was so awful."

"Er, actually, I don't really want to know," he said, but he still felt a little better knowing that Jet had indeed exaggerated in his description of his sex with Katara.

Katara shrugged. "I'm just saying that teeny boys don't know anything about sex, nor how to make a girl feel good."

Zuko thought about his intimate moments with Jin back when he was seventeen. Had she felt the same way?

Katara turned around to lie on her back and looked at the ceiling. "So, I'm not a virgin. How could you even think that? I lived in one flat with my ex for almost two years!"

"You stopped me from going into your panties and then said things like 'I had never…'. What was I supposed to think?" Zuko tried to defend himself.

Katara huffed. "Well, not that. And Jet even talked about that! And he wasn't my only boyfriend. I had Aang, too. So I had plenty of sex. Loads. I'm the complete opposite of a virgin!"

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, sorry. But please, do tell me more about all this sex you had with your boyfriends. My ego really needs to hear this," he added sarcastically.

Katara pressed her lips together. "Sorry," she murmured.

The thought of sleeping with Katara had still not left him, although he had accepted that it wouldn't happen tonight. And maybe not soon, but he really wanted it to. It kind of sucked that his best friend and his high school nemesis had been the only ones to sleep with her. He didn't like that. He wanted her, too.

The light feeling in his chest became stronger again, and he shifted a little, his eyes still on Katara's face. The feeling sank to his stomach, where it changed almost to a flutter.

"What about you?" asked Katara. "Are you a virgin?"

Zuko scowled. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Katara frowned. "But you said you had never had sex with someone you hadn't been together with."

"Yes."

Then, she turned on her side to look at him, her face contorted in confusion. "Oh. Ah, yes, you were together with Mai, right?"

He shortly looked at her breasts, which weren't entirely covered by her hair. They were just so… Mhm, it was hard not to look. "Er, yes, I was."

"Was your first time with her?" Katara asked and put two fingers under his chin to lift his gaze to her eyes. She didn't look critical, just amused.

He blushed a little, but grinned at her, as he shortly licked his lips. "No. That was Jin."

"Who's Jin?"

"She didn't go to Ba Sing Se High School," Zuko explained. "She's from the lower ring of Ba Sing Se, and often came to Uncle's tea shop over the summer from 11th to 12th grade. She was actually looking for a job, but Uncle had enough waiters."

"How long were the two of you together?" Katara wanted to know.

"A... little over a year, yeah. It didn't last after we graduated, and I left town," Zuko explained, shrugging.

Katara hummed. "In high school, I thought you didn't care about sex at all. You never looked at the girls, but also not at the boys, so I thought it didn't matter to you."

Zuko sighed. "I tried to despise hormone driven teenagers, but I was also very shy. Jin wasn't shy at all, so…" He shrugged again.

"Shy?" Katara asked with a grin forming. "You?"

"Yes, Katara, I was shy," he answered seriously. "But since it was your task to provoke me and annoy me so much that my temper snapped, of course, you couldn't have known."

She pressed her lips together, then smiled at him in an apologising way.

He suddenly felt the urge to pull her close. Not to kiss her again, but to put his arms around her and hold her. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, and he wanted to feel her body close. Just looking at her didn't feel like enough.

He awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I actually meant that you didn't seem shy just now at all," Katara said with a smirk.

His ego felt definitely stroked at her words, but then he started to worry. "Was… Was that okay?" he asked. "I mean, I thought you would tell me if I did something that you didn't like."

She nodded. "I would have told you. But I think we both have enough experience to not be shy, right?"

He felt suddenly very relieved. "Er, yes." Maybe he wasn't shy about snogging, or sex, but he was still unsure and even shy sometimes about emotional stuff. Though it wasn't as if they had to discuss any emotional stuff, right?

A sudden yawn pulled his mouth apart, and he blinked in confusion, when Katara chuckled. "So, where's that bedroll you told me about?" he asked.

"Bedroll?"

"Yeah. So I can sleep. Or I could also drive home in my tired state and hope not to cause an accident."

Katara raised an eyebrow at him. "You can sleep here, and you don't need my bedroll." She clapped her hand on the mattress between them.

Zuko frowned. "You want me to sleep in your bed? I thought you said…"

"Just because I said we shouldn't have sex, doesn't mean we can't sleep in one bed," Katara huffed. "And I've already slept in yours. What's the big deal?"

Zuko ran a hand down his face, feeling a little too exhausted to explain this to her. "Well, we hadn't made out before you slept in my bed. And my bed is bigger. There's more space. This bed is so tiny that…" he stopped himself, seeing Katara's narrowed eyes and the dangerous look in them. "… that it's incredibly comfortable, because we can really snuggle up together." To emphasise his words, he skidded closer to her and put an arm around her. Hm, now he actually got to do what he'd wanted to, but since Katara glared at him, it didn't feel as nice as he had imagined.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to sleeping in tiny beds," he said, and Katara softened a little again.

"Okay." She pulled a heap of fabric from under her pillow and put it over her head. Her breasts disappeared under an over-sized white shirt on which 'Elementia Capital University' was written in red and gold. "I'm going to get ready for bed. " She climbed over his legs to get out of bed. "And I'll see if I have a spare toothbrush for you."

"Thanks," he said and smiled at her.

oOo

Katara woke up, because she felt incredibly hot. She'd just had a very weird dream about Aang trying to sell shoes to her, when the heat enveloping her caused her to wake up. She frowned. Oh shit, she sweated!

And then she noticed something else. Something was poking her. She knew that feeling.

Carefully, she turned around to find Zuko behind her, still asleep. His eyes moved around behind his eyelids, so she guessed he was dreaming. And he kept poking her!

But Katara already lied almost pressed up against the wall. Narrowing her eyes, she elbowed Zuko in the ribs. He made a sleepy noise of protest that kind of sounded sweet. Katara turned around completely to look at his face.

It looked so peaceful, all the hard edges softened. But then, he suddenly started to smile and poked Katara again. His eyes still moved behind his eyelids, and Katara tried to find a position in which he wouldn't poke her, but the only thing that did was making him groan.

She sniffed and glared at his face. Who was he dreaming about? She would so throw him out if it was someone else.

He started to snuggle closer, and wrapped one arm around her.

Katara's heart started to beat faster. This felt nice.

It was weird how different it felt, though. She had cuddled with him dozens of times before, and it had always felt comfortable and nice, but more like cuddling with Sokka felt.

But this, now, made Katara feel very different. She was still way too hot, because Zuko's body was probably one hundred degrees Celsius hot (which would have been nice in the South, but not in the tropical capital), but she also felt nervous and a little excited now. Flutters spread in her stomach and she took deep, flat breaths to calm her nerves.

Zuko cuddled with her, after they had almost slept with each other. And he seemed to like it. He seemed to like having her close.

But Katara had to calm down. When she had told him they couldn't have sex, it's not like he had argued in any way. To him, she was still only his fake girlfriend, who he obviously also liked to snog.

He could have said that he liked her, or that there was more between them than just some weird friendship, or business partnership, and physical attraction. And it's not even like the physical attraction had been there from the beginning. It had developed. Just like the rest of their relationship. At least, for Katara.

She was only reluctant about it, and it still felt weird, but she knew she could actually picture them together as a real couple. The more time they spent together, the more she liked him, and that was very dangerous. It had to stop. He obviously didn't feel that way, and he was kind of her boss, and their relationship was only fake publicity for his father.

She swallowed against the lump in her throat.

"Katara," murmured Zuko, as he pressed himself more against her.

Katara tensed and looked at him, seeing his eyes were still closed. She blinked.

He was dreaming… about her?

Well, after last night, she was probably on his mind. But if the way he pressed himself against her was any kind of indication, he was obviously only dreaming about sex. What she had not been willing to give.

Since she had some feelings for him, it wouldn't have been as weird to sleep with him as she had made it out to be, but she didn't want to be used by him only for sex. If she would use him, too, that would be different. But her feelings created an imbalance which would only destroy everything if they were to sleep with each other.

She became annoyed, and maybe a little aroused, as he kept rubbing himself on her thigh and groaning quietly.

"Mh, Ka… tara." The hoarseness of his voice went straight to her core.

She swallowed. Great, now she was aroused.

"Zuko," she said, hoping to wake him up, as she laid a hand on his shoulder and lifted his head.

They lied so closely to each other, their noses almost touched. Katara felt a little nervous again, having his face so close to hers.

All of a sudden, his lips were on hers, and he gave her the sweetest kiss she had ever experienced. It was sleepy, and almost lazy, slow, but oh so wonderful.

She closed her eyes. She couldn't push him away, when he kissed her like that, even though he was probably still asleep. She returned his kiss reverently, sighing into his mouth.

The hand that had lied on her waist suddenly made its way into her hair, as his kiss became deeper.

Katara opened her eyes in surprise. He surely didn't kiss like that when he was asleep. And a sleeping person would not push her on her back to press themselves on her body.

Oh no, he felt so good. Katara waved her fingers in his hair and couldn't get herself to stop this.

Zuko ended their kiss by nuzzling her cheek instead. "Nice way of being woken up," he murmured.

Katara tensed and then felt angry and annoyed again. She pushed him away. "I didn't wake you up. You woke me up, because you're a poking oven!" She sat up to look at her alarm clock telling her it was only 5:27 am.

Groaning, she fell onto her covers again.

Zuko blinked in confusion. "What?"

She glanced at him. "You shoved me against the wall so that I had your body heat all over me and you kept rubbing against me, and that woke me up. You had a dirty dream," she said. She had wanted to say it in a factual tone, but actually sounded accusing.

Zuko looked confused about her annoyance. "I'm sorry my body heat bothered you… And I dreamt about you, so…"

She narrowed her eyes. "You dreamt what you couldn't get, huh?"

His brows contorted, and she could tell he was getting annoyed now, too. "I did not dream about last night!"

"So you dreamt about some random one night stand with me, or what?" she snapped. This was probably not completely fair. He didn't even know she liked him.

He frowned, as he looked like he was thinking. "No, definitely not. It was day."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, grumbling.

He sighed in a very dramatic way. "I'm sorry I woke you up, okay? But I don't get why you're so angry about me dreaming about you. It's just normal that I would after last night."

Maybe she was angrier with herself, because she had let herself be swept away by his sweet, sleepy kiss. "Well, I didn't dream about you!" She wondered if she should tell him that she had dreamt about Aang, just to annoy him, when he already said something.

"Well, you also didn't want to have sex!"

Her eyes widened in rage, and she turned quickly back around to snarl at him. "Are you mad at me, because I didn't want to have sex?!"

Zuko's eyes widened and he kept still for a moment. "No, what? No, of course not! How can you say that?"

"Because you sound like you are!"

"I'm not mad at you! But you're annoyed over my body temperature and what I was dreaming at night, both things that I can't control!" He sat up, his hands formed to fists, as he skidded away from her to the edge of her bed.

"I am mad, because you thought I would wake you up with a kiss!" she explained. "You kissed me, for your information. So you woke yourself up!" She sat up now, too, and leaned her back against the wall.

Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. His face twisted in confusion. "So you're mad I assumed you were the one to kiss me?"

Katara glared at him for a few seconds, noticing how silly she behaved. But if he thought that any initiation had been on her part, then maybe he could find out the real reason of this initiation.

She had kissed him at the gala yesterday, because she couldn't stand the thought of this stupid woman being close to him. She wanted to be the only one close to him.

And she had only started things in the car, because it had seemed to her as if he had turned her on during dinner on purpose. Stroking her thigh like that, always touching any part of her, her arm, her hand, and whispering into her ear about leaving earlier. It had all felt so sensual and as if he wanted to seduce her. And then she had thought Zuko was jealous of Ruon Jian, and somehow she had thought he wanted her, too. But he had probably only played his role as jealous boyfriend in front of the others. It's not like he had really been jealous. And he had not tried to seduce her. It had all been in her fantasy, but of course, he hadn't said no in the end. Men, really.

She had to get these feelings out of her head. Or heart. Lusting after Zuko was okay, but really liking him in any way that was more that she liked Toph would be disastrous. It would break her heart.

"Katara?" His voice sounded soft.

"What?"

"Please, I'm sorry that you're angry with me, but I don't know what else to…"

She shook her head. "No, I'm silly. Sorry. I'm always in a bad mood when I wake up, so…" She sighed and pushed her hair behind her shoulders. "I hate waking up early, and…"

He nodded. "Okay. Then maybe you should try to get some more sleep. It's still early."

Biting her lip, she nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Thanks." She lied back down on her bed and pulled the thin blanket over her body and up to her chest. She eyed him sitting there. "You can lie down again, you know. I won't snap at you for waking me up again," she said quietly and almost timidly.

Zuko eyed her, then the alarm clock, and she knew he was thinking about leaving. He always got up early to do sports.

She looked away from him, because she didn't want to see how he would decide to leave.

"Okay," he said instead, and she felt the mattress bending to his weight again.

From the other side of the bed, his body heat actually felt quite nice. She smiled a little, before she closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come over her again.

When she woke up again around nine o'clock, Zuko had left.

There was a letter where he had lied, however, and Katara opened it with the absurd hope that this was similar to these moments in romantic comedies, when the other person only left to get breakfast.

Katara,

Thank you for enduring the gala with me yesterday. Having you with me made it more bearable.

I still have some work to do, and you know I get up early, so I left. Maybe we could meet again tomorrow?

I'm sorry if I somehow acted like an idiot yesterday. I didn't mean to. I like you, and I don't want you to be mad at me.

Even though we won't have sex, I enjoyed what we did yesterday immensely, and I would like to repeat it. If you agree.

Zuko

Katara didn't know if she should feel happy or sad. She felt completely torn. One part of her wanted to smile at his letter and get her hopes up, and the other part of her wanted to tear up and start crying over it.

He left, but he wanted to see her again tomorrow.

He liked her, but he just liked her.

And he was okay with not having sex, but he wanted to snog again. Just how it was yesterday. Just their bodies and their desire. Nothing personal.

Was this now a good or a bad letter? She couldn't tell, but she knew she should treat it like a bad one. For her own heart's sake. She just didn't think her heart would be able to treat Zuko's letter like a bad thing.

She lied back down in her bed, staring at the ceiling and wishing she had never agreed to be Zuko's fake girlfriend.

But how should she have known that she wouldn't only come to like this boy she had despised in high school, but that she would develop romantic feelings for him?

oOo

Katara texted Sokka and her parents that she was ill and couldn't come for lunch this Sunday, but GranGran wasn't going to stay a lot longer, so they gave Katara such a bad conscience that she agreed to stop by.

Sokka proposed, however, to pick her up, which she couldn't really deny. It was sweet of her brother who had even brought her a thermos flask with tea for the 'journey'. The being ill excuse was also good to explain Katara's behaviour.

Normally, she would have been really excited and happy for Sokka, although teasing him mercilessly, when he told her that Suki had agreed to go on a date with him, but today she just nodded and smiled.

She rarely talked and just stared off into empty space without her eyes focusing on anything, once they were at their parents' flat. Last night played through her head over and over. If Zuko didn't like her that way, then what did he think did she kiss him for at the gala? Why had he kissed her back? Was that just a guy thing?

While Hakoda pulled Sokka to the kitchen to do the dishes, Kya and Kanna turned around to look at Katara with questioning looks.

"Are you okay, sweetie? Apart from your cold, I mean," said Kya.

Katara zoomed back to the table in her parents' flat. "What? Er, yeah, sure, I'm fine."

Kanna snorted. "Of course. And your thoughts are also not everywhere but here."

Kya skidded closer to Katara. "Was it something that happened yesterday? You know, you haven't told us anything about the gala event you had gone to with Zuko." She grinned at Katara to get her to react positively.

But all it did was increase Katara's frown and got her to gnaw at her lower lip. It would be really nice to be able to talk to her mum and grandmother about her problem, but if they would find out that she had just pretended to be with Zuko for money… She didn't know how her family would react. Her mum might take it lightly, but GranGran was more old-fashioned. And her dad and Sokka would completely flip.

"The gala was horrible. The location was nice, but most of the people there were just arrogant snobs," she said, but not with the contempt that was usually swinging in her voice, whenever she said the words 'arrogant' or 'snob'.

Kanna narrowed her eyes. "Was anyone impolite towards you?"

Katara snorted. "Most people. There were some girls telling me I didn't belong there. One of them tried to flirt with…" Her voice had got louder again, angrier.

"Zuko?" Kya guessed. "And what did he do?"

Katara sighed. "Well, he didn't tell her to go away, but he also didn't flirt back. I think he tried to stay polite towards her, but he might have been a little annoyed. We…" '… didn't talk about it, because I started snogging him instead'. Katara cringed. "It's just that… he couldn't very well start getting indignant on my behalf. All the people there were someone important or related to someone important. One misstep and Zuko could have damaged the reputation of his father's company among these people." She didn't know why she defended him, but it's not like she had been angry with him for his behaviour during the gala. No one had insulted her apart from the thin woman in the bathroom, but everyone else had simply ignored her. On the other hand, all of the plus ones had been ignored.

"And what is it that you really worry about? Do you think Zuko could agree with these people?" Kya asked, her brows furrowed in worry.

Katara quickly shook her head. "No. He doesn't, and I know that. He doesn't think less of me, because of where I come from, and he can't even stand these events and all the faking and doing stuff for reputation…" She trailed off. Why had she begun to say something? Now, they wanted to know what was going on, and Katara… was very good at improvising. After the idea popped into her mind, she felt still, blinked, and realised that it was a pretty good idea.

She took a deep breath. "It's just that I wonder how he really feels about me. If he loves me, because I fear I might be more invested in our relationship and that I feel more for him than he does for me." She bit her lip nervously and pulled her ponytail over her shoulder to run her hands through her hair.

It weren't really her worries, but they were similar and normal worries of people in a relationship. This way, she could actually talk to her mum and grandmother about her feelings.

"Oh, dear, no!" Kya skidded with her chair even closer, until it met Katara's. Kya leaned over and laid an arm around Katara's shoulders. "I'm relatively sure he doesn't think about marrying you yet, but of course he loves you! How could he not? You're wonderful, Katara."

Not really what Katara had hoped to hear. She crossed her arms and leaned back against her rest.

GranGran, who sat on the other side of the table, leaned forward. "I've got to say that boy is not what I always imagined for you. He's shy, and feels awkward and insecure around us. In our village, people are directly part of the family. They know they will be welcomed warmly, and don't need to feel insecure. He knows nothing of our culture. But I could see that he was very smitten with you. You don't smile like that at people you don't have very deep feelings for."

That was more like it.

"You think so?" Katara asked and couldn't keep the hope out of her voice.

GranGran nodded. "Your doubts have probably to do with his aforementioned shyness."

Katara hummed thoughtfully. Could it be? It's not like she'd told Zuko all at once when she noticed her feelings had changed, and maybe he felt that, too, but also thought she didn't feel about him that way. They had both acted, as if it all meant nothing, but if she could pretend it meant nothing, then maybe he was pretending, too.

"Men are also pretty inept when it comes to feelings," Kya added, shrugging. "After all, I had to ask your father out, Katara. Back then, that was very unheard of, especially in our village. I didn't know if he liked me, but I didn't want to waste any chance I got."

Katara turned around to look into her mother's face. "That's pretty cool. But I feel like Zuko's and my situation is a bit more complicated. Being brave and just tell him what I feel does not only have the two endings: 'He feels the same way' or 'He doesn't'."

If he didn't feel the same way about her, their working arrangement might completely end, or feel terribly uncomfortable and awkward from then on. And if it ended, Zuko would have to get a new pretending girlfriend. Or he would disappoint his father. And Katara didn't want any of that to happen.


Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!:)

So, yeah. They did not sleep with each other. Not yet. I don't want them to, until they know about their feelings for each other. I just think that, even though Katara and Zuko are twenty-one and twenty-three years old in here, they are still relatively young, and I didn't give them the kind of experience that makes the main characters in love comedies sleep with each other after the first date. So I think two people who have only slept with people they were in love with and in a relationship with would have problems with the casual 'We get along and we have chemistry, so let's have sex!'-sex.

And maybe another reason for this is because I'm a romantic. A little. Deeeeeeep in my heart.

Zuko seemed to want to sleep with Katara, though, so maybe my first reasoning confussed you a little. In fact, Zuko was very eager to sleep with Katara, but if it would have happened, I'm pretty sure he would have panicked completely afterwards. First, this "Haaahhh!" feeling, where you just feel sleepy and good, then the memories, still 'Haaahhh!', and then slowly "Fuck. Oh shit, what have we done?!" Yeah, he would question his feelings, her feelings, and then have a long, ranting monologue in his car, or the shower about his feelings. So, he wouldn't really have been ready for this, either, is what I mean with this hypothetical scene.

And Katara... Well, she has just noticed that she somehow liked him, and then they snogged a lot, and she was just like "Oh, yes. That's so good. Oh my gods, the man I like is kissing me!", until she asked herself "What if he doesn't like me?". But, for Katara, sleeping with Zuko without having feelings for him would have been okay, if he didn't have any feelings either. But when one of them has feelings, they get hope, and then get their heart broken.

And Zuko would be more the "I'm not thinking about the next day. I'm a reckless, passionate, fierce person,so let's have sex!" type of person who starts panicking the next day. But he could only be like that with someone he really feels attracted to. I just wanted tto explain why Zuko would have slept wth Katara, but wouldn't have wanted this failed one-night-stand after the break up with Mai. He's just not a one-night-stand person for me. Inside, he's a softie, and he would say that he needs an emotional connection. And I think that Katara wouldn't need that, but want that. I think Katara could completely focus on her physical pleasure and keep her emotions out of things, but really only with someone she doesn't like. Not with a stranger, though.

Okay, I think I was babbling, but I hope you can understand my reasoning behind this chapter's events.

So now we have a very emotionally confused Zuko who can't admit to himself that he likes Katara, because of Ozai having told him that he should end the relationship with Katara, after it fulfilled its purpose, namely making Ozai president. And an emotionally vulnerable Katara who knows she likes her fake-boyfriend and wonders what he feels for her.

I also wanted to break with the Zutara rule that Zuko has to fall in love first with Katara. He always fancies her longer than she fancies him, at least, in the fics I have read in which they told each other how long they had liked each other. So, I wanted it to be Katara for once who likes him first. Or who realises she likes him first. I also think it makes more sense in here to have it that way, because Zuko is still under Ozai's wing. So, if we had a book one Zuko and book one Katara trying to get along and be nice to each other, I think it would also be Katara who fell first, because she would just see that the fire prince can also be nice and good, and maybe he actually isn't so bad, but just has a horrible family. But Zuko would still see a water peasant, who's not so bad as his teachers had made them out to be, but who is still his enemy. He would like her and not want to hurt her, but he would definitely deny having any feelings towards her. And it's similar in here.

I don't think I've ever written a chapter in which the word sex had appeared so often. It's a bit weird, actually. It's like diving into a new world, really.

And we had Katara with her mum and GranGran, because I wanted Katara to have some support. Zuko can talk to Jet, because Jet knows the relationship is fake, but Katara? She has no one to honestly talk to about this, but I wanted her to. So she told a little lie.

I apologise to all of you who thought Zuko and Katara would actually end up together by the end of this chapter. Nope. You still have to wait a little for that. Maybe two or three chapters...

Answers to reviews:

To uchihaNaruto247: Thanks for your review!:) Yeah, I thought Azula would be one of those 'You dare manipulate my brother?! You dare insult my brother?! You dare hurt my brother?! Only I, only I can do that to him!' kinds of sisters. In a world with Ursa, and without war, I don't think Azula has to hide something like affection. And you could also interpret it as loyalty to her family, which would even be supported by Ozai. Yeah, I wanted them to have this little quarrel at the end, because it just feels so Zutara to me. And just to have another obstacle or delaying element in the story...

To IDidn'tSignUp4This: Do you mean when will Katara find out that it was Zuko's fault that she didn't find a job and had to accept his offer? Or that he likes her? About the former, that secret will be kept for a little while longer. And about the latter, two to three chapters. Or did you mean something else entirely with your question?

To Guest: Thank you!:) Well, it actually had the length I had wanted this fic's chapters to have, but they just grow and grow sometimes. And this chapter now is way longer. I hope you liked it!:) Thanks for your review!

To Darklady: You really think so? Thanks! I haven't actively tried to do that, but I just try to keep people in character. I'm not a big fan of OOCing characters. He, I think your happiness about this chapter raising the rating to M has probably disappeared a little... But you needn't worry, as this is fortunately not the end, and it's Zutara, and it's not a tragedy, so there will be Zuko and Katara knowing what they feel for each other and having sex. In three to four chapters, I guess.