Hey, everyone! I finally finished this chapter! So, I would say that I am sorry for updating so late, but I warned you and even said that you could be waiting until April, and it's not even the second half of March yet, so I'm actually proud of myself...
Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!
This fic is rated M now, and Katara and Zuko are now together, very freshly in love, so you should know that there will be sexual content. They can't keep thair hands off each other.
Important: So, first of all, the lovely KatMora606 offered to draw fanart for this story! And they finished now and posted their wonderful art on Instagram! You can find them under atria_art_. They drew the scene from the gala, when Katara and Zuko were dancing! I love this art so much, you should totall check it out!
Also, I am on Instagram now! You can find me under wateryemoya because Yemoya was already taken. I post writing ideas of mine, some art about Avatar characters and my OCs from my other fic Love of Fire and Water. I also posted KatMora606's beautiful picture of Katara and Zuko.
I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender, nor its characters.
Chapter Thirty-One
Katara and Zuko arrived early at the hotel Fire Lily, so Katara still had time to eat something. Zuko wanted to get her to the restaurant, but Katara insisted that a sandwich in the lounge would be just as acceptable. He ordered tea for them.
After Katara had finished eating, she wanted to know how Zuko's day had been. Which was a weird question to ask because it was only early afternoon, and they had seen each other this morning.
Zuko said that it had not been as eventful as her morning. He shyly asked if she was free tonight to go on a date.
Katara was elated, and they managed to agree on the time, when the interviewer arrived.
Her name was Joo Dee, and she was working for the big Ba Sing Sean newspaper The Dai Li Telegraph.
She mostly asked them about Ozai's campaign and how they had met each other. There were none too personal questions, which Katara was very grateful for.
Nevertheless, she didn't like Joo Dee. Katara felt completely creeped out by this woman, who kept smiling widely and unmovedly no matter what she was saying.
"You are such a lovely couple," she said with her weird smile. "You seem to be very close, I guess you never fight?"
Katara looked at Zuko, who had changed from the shy and awkward man he sometimes was to a self-confident and easily likeable heir that he was, and saw that he was still smiling.
"Every couple fights," he said with a shrug, then looked at Katara. "But we never really did that, did we?"
Katara shook her head. Not really. "Minor things," she said dismissively.
"Okay!" Joo Dee clapped her hands together. "Then this is all I need. Thank you for your time!"
oOo
Being freshly in love, not a day passed on which Katara didn't get to see Zuko. He spent every night at her place in her bed, and every morning they woke up beside each other. Because of the new state of their relationship, they could barely keep their hands off each other. And not only sexually.
When they stood close to each other, they sought excuses to let their hand meet the other's hand or hip. In his car, Zuko kept holding Katara's hand, whenever they stood at a red light. His car had an automatic control gear, but Katara insisted that he should keep both hands on the wheel, when he needed to drive, or Zuko wouldn't have let go of her hand at all.
Katara could tell that non-sexual affection was new to him, but he seemed to lean into her touch, welcoming it, every time. He was hesitant in reaching out first, but once he knew that she liked it, he became more self-confident.
Sometimes, he also seemed hesitant in initiating sexual contact. He responded well to kissing and touches, from then on, he would usually get them both on her bed, but at the start he would hold back in expressing his want for her. He didn't hesitate to kiss her, but he kissed softly, languidly, unless she clearly showed him that she wanted more. He never said right away that he wanted to have sex. He waited for her to express her desire, and then he was on board. Katara only saw his desire in his eyes, and in the beginning she had often wondered why he didn't touch her or kiss her when his eyes told her so much about him wanting her. They would burn with intensity or linger on a part of her body. She liked to tease him then. Normally, she got him to a stage in which he couldn't hold back any longer.
Katara stretched to make her T-shirt move up and show off her naked hips. Sometimes, she leaned forward to show him either her décolleté or her butt. When they were cuddling in her bed, she would run her thigh or her butt against his groin, feeling him stiffen. He would try to breathe through it, then she felt how he became restless, until finally he would react orally to her with a sigh or groan.
He would ask her to stop because she made him hungry for her. Katara would pretend not to have noticed but be delighted anyways. But this only worked three times.
The fourth time, Zuko laid a hand on her hip and leaned over her. His lips trailed along her ear. "You know exactly what you're doing." His tone sounded a little surprised and suspicious. He pushed his hips against her backside.
Katara's eyes widened with surprise and delight. "Do I?" She turned around to look at him with innocent eyes. "What am I doing?"
The hand on her hip wandered to her butt. Zuko smiled. "I think you're letting me know that you want me."
Katara frowned. "I'm actually trying to do more than that. I'm making you want me, too." She wiggled against him again, feeling the bulge in his pants.
He turned her on her back, his thigh between hers, and supported himself on his hands next to her head. "Now you're asking for it, Qinu." His eyes narrowed.
Katara fought hard not to grin. "That I do."
The gold colour of his eyes smouldered as his pupils spread wide with hunger.
Katara felt her breath catch and became impatient. She needed to feel him. Now!
She grabbed his hips and pulled them down, as she spread her legs to make room for him. Smiling in a relieved way, she started to roll her hips against him.
Zuko let himself sink onto his elbows and kissed her passionately. Katara responded with her tongue, teeth, and lips. Her hands went up to his neck, massaging his flesh and against his bones. He hummed deeply, almost a groan and intensified the kiss.
Their hips started to melt together, and Katara wondered what she should pull off his body first when he leaned back and shut his eyes.
"Katara, this is really not a good time," he said, his voice deep and raspy.
"Come on, just ten minutes!" she whined.
Zuko looked desperate. "But we're supposed to pick up Sokka in thirty minutes, and I can't do this when there's still the thought of him in my mind!" He grimaced.
It was Friday evening, and they were expected to meet with Sokka, Aang, and Toph to go to a club later. It was the last Friday night, on which it was acceptable to go partying without having to worry too much about studying. Katara's first exam was in two and a half weeks, and she would start studying next week. She already had all the summaries she needed and just needed to work on a few exercises.
It was after six pm, and at seven they were expected at Sokka's.
Katara scowled. "I can't believe you think about my brother when you're on top of me!"
His eyes widened in alarm and he looked very disgusted.
Katara giggled. "I didn't mean it like that."
Zuko stuck out his tongue in a belch motion.
She leaned forward to press her hands against his cheeks and pull him in for a kiss again. He complied but not for long.
"Katara! We're supposed to meet your friends tonight!" He stroked back her hair. "We'll still have time for all of this later."
Katara humpfed. No! She needed him now. It didn't matter that she wasn't even ready yet for the club. Or that they would be late.
"We also have time now," she said. She wondered how to make him forget about being late.
She tackled him to push him down on her bed and sat on top of him. Zuko raised his eyebrows and looked slightly amused and annoyed at the same time. She wiggled her hips over him and pushed against his groin. Zuko hissed. Katara smiled and let her hands wander over his chest.
"If you stop arguing, we could start this sooner and be able to leave sooner," she purred, as she rubbed her fingers over his nipples through his shirt.
Zuko grunted. "You know I hate being late," he said but sounded already breathless.
"We won't be," Katara reassured him. "If you stop worrying and objecting me." She raised an eyebrow at him and pushed his shirt up over his stomach. Then a horrifying and embarrassing thought occurred to her. "Or you're just not in the mood," she said and shrugged, pulling her hands off him. "You're stronger than me, so you could easily stop me if I do something that you don't want me to."
Zuko pulled her hands back down to his chest. He took off his shirt and pulled her against his chest. Katara gasped. Zuko smirked. "I thank you for your concern, but I know that I could stop you." He pressed his lips onto hers.
After he had agreed, he was by no means reluctant anymore. It seemed like he wanted to have her as fast as possible, and Katara certainly didn't object.
While Zuko pressed her into the mattress, he began tugging at her short sweatpants that she usually wore at home in summer. Katara enthusiastically returned his kisses and raised her hips for him to push her pants and panties down. Zuko's hand wandered down between her legs to move through her folds and rub against her clit. Katara whimpered and pushed against him.
His hand left her too soon to push her shirt up.
"Wait," Katara panted. "Just take off your trousers."
He immediately frowned. "You... want to have semi-clothed sex?"
She frowned back. "Don't say it like this." Her hands wandered over his upper arms and shoulders. "I am so in love with my great boyfriend that I cannot keep my hands off him and want to feel him in me all the time and as soon as possible, so just take off your trousers!"
He blinked and stared dumbly at her.
Katara rolled her eyes and got to take his trousers off herself. She only pushed them to his knees before she quickly opened the condom packaging, which she earlier had purposely placed next to her.
Zuko caught her wrists and pressed them down. He might have not meant it like this, but it made Katara's skin tingle.
"We are in your bed and still have eight minutes. You are going to take off all your clothes as will I, or we won't have any sex tonight!" he almost growled at her. He sounded pissed and aroused at the same time.
Katara's eyes widened. Oh. This... Why did she find him attractive when he was angry all of a sudden?
Her core clenched around nothing. "Fine!" she huffed, sat up and pulled off her shirt and bra. Zuko simultaneously pulled off his trousers and briefs.
She grabbed his cock. He groaned and sank down on her, pressing his face against her neck.
"You're rather old fashioned, huh?" she asked as she squinted to get a look under him in order to pull the condom over him.
His hips jerked when her fingers brushed him. "I just want to enjoy you to the fullest." He raised his head to kiss her and then smiled. "Every little aspect." His hands wandered from her throat over her breasts to her core and over her thighs. "And I love touching you like this. When you're completely naked." He nibbled at her jaw. "I love your skin. It feels like heaven."
Katara was sure she had got wetter through his words. Oh, she couldn't concentrate! "Is the... Is the condom right like this?"
Zuko looked down at himself and pulled it fully over his erection. "Now."
Katara had never thought she would once enjoy she sight of a man touching himself.
She had always looked away and felt uncomfortable when Jet had done it. Aang had certainly never done it, and even though Zuko didn't mean to pleasure himself with his hand, making the motion once... Suddenly, it intrigued Katara and aroused her.
She pulled him down and spread her legs as much as she could. Zuko entered her while looking into her eyes. He always did this. His eyes were never closed, and he never looked elsewhere. It was hard not to close her eyes from the pleasure herself, but she loved to see how his face contorted when he pushed in.
Her back arched and she moaned loudly, her jaw falling down, when he was fully inside of her.
Zuko supported himself on one elbow and grabbed her waist with his other hand. Katara pulled her legs up at her sides to give Zuko more space to move and tilted her body slightly to the right. She had found out that this angle felt the best with him.
Zuko's hand on her left waist made the angle easier and he pulled out to thrust back in. He groaned loudly, and Katara answered with aroused moans.
Her moans and groans and sighs and gasps and whatever else kind of noises she made while sleeping with Zuko were louder than she had been before.
At first, when she had involuntarily groaned so loudly she had almost screamed, she had been mortified and had quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. Zuko seemed to have thought that she didn't want to disturb her neighbours, but the truth was that she had been embarrassed.
As a teenager with Jet, she had never felt the need to express her pleasure with loud moans. She had sighed and gasped, moaned quietly and whispered sweet nothings. But Katara had neither felt aroused enough to be louder or confident enough in her sexual pleasure.
Well, and Aang... She had been ready to be more vocal and experimental, but passionate sex had been seldom. It had mostly been careful love making that had been slow and kept on for ages. Which she hadn't minded at all, as Jet had been quite the fast shooter. But moving slowly had never made her be loud. Katara wouldn't say that she was loud in general.
But she had noticed that she had got louder. Her hands grasped Zuko's arms tightly, her nails digging in and tightening her grip for support as she lifted her hips to meet his deep thrusts.
"Faster!" she demanded without embarrassment. She knew that Zuko mostly held himself back during sex, so urging him on was what she mostly did. He hadn't yet understood that she wanted all of his passion. She loved his passion. It had been such a nice surprise when they had snogged for the first time. And she was pleased to know that he was just as passionate once he was inside of her.
Katara had never wanted Jet to go faster, and Aang had never wanted to go faster. Although she had known that he loved her, Aang's sexual drive had not been enough for her and had definitely not rivalled hers. After Jet she hadn't thought she would miss a lot of sex, but she had been an adult when she had been with Aang. She had felt more confident in her sexual needs and their expression than with Jet, and it had frustrated her that those needs hadn't been able to be met completely. She had been afraid that Aang didn't find her attractive enough, so she had tried only to initiate sex when he had done it last time.
Zuko might be hesitant with initiating sex, but she could see when he wanted her. And that was often. They had got officially together on Tuesday and had had sex twice that day. Wednesday afternoon and evening, too. Thursday morning, afternoon and evening. This morning again. Katara's ego felt like a cat in the sun that got belly rubs. She loved how much Zuko wanted her. She got excited and felt like something completely precious and the most desirable person on earth when he looked at her with this burning gaze. She had never before felt like that. They seemed both surprised at the amount of sex they'd had in the last few days. None of her other relationships had been like this. And she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. It seemed like he had not expected to actually sleep with her every time that she noticed that he wanted her.
Zuko was so serious with the way he wanted her. It was weirdly hot. And he was passionate and attentive, always focused on her pleasure first. After a few times she wondered if that was good since his pleasure should be important, too. But she had liked being so spoiled that she had decided to wait a little until she could surprise him.
Her surprise was planned for tonight after they would get back from the club. Katara needed some intoxication before to be brave enough about her plan. Well, if Zuko would agree, which was not sure yet.
Her hands wandered to his head and she pulled him down to kiss him aggressively. Zuko increased his pace and kissed her like a starved man. It was an almost bruising kiss, their teeth pulling at each other's lips, their groans resonating through the other's throat. She met his tongue just as hungrily as she did his cock.
She felt so hot between her legs. The feeling of being wet enough for him made her feel just more aroused, and she understood what Zuko meant when he said that he wanted her naked in a bed. It was just so good. Their skin together, his chest pressing against her breasts, her bare legs against the cold air, all of this increased her pleasure and desire.
She was so aroused that she started to lick his jaw and suck the salty sweat from his throat.
Zuko almost growled as his mouth attacked her neck, and Katara moaned so loudly she almost screamed from pleasure and surprise.
She felt the coil tighten and knew that in a few thrusts, she would fall over the edge.
Her eyes began to roll back, she relaxed and just thought about how good Zuko made her feel, how happy he made her, and how much she loved him.
Her nipples were fondled by his mouth and a hand, and that was all she needed to come apart.
As groans that seemed to wreck her throat and vocal cords tore themselves from her throat, Zuko stilled shortly and made a similar noise in the back of his throat. His eyes were pressed together, and his jaw was so tensed that he looked like he would shatter.
As she stopped clenching around him, his grip around her tightened and he drove into her with urgent need, making the most wonderful of sounds each time he pressed forward. He became faster and faster, his grunts louder and deeper, and he pulled her hips closer, higher, and Katara whimpered from the lightning bolts striking through her veins, as she felt like her vagina was on fire.
Zuko was also loud when he came. Katara almost came again from watching him and feeling his cock shudder. He almost collapsed immediately on top of her, crushing her, making her grunt.
"Oof." Blinking, Katara tested if she could still breathe fine. Urgh, well, almost. "Zuko!" she protested and tried to push against him.
He was too heavy, but he turned them on their sides still breathing heavily. "Sorry," he whispered, pressing his eyes shut and panting with his mouth open.
Katara smiled, knowing that his orgasm had been very intense. He was always vocal when he came, louder than during his thrusts, but he had been louder now than the last times. He was not very loud, and most of his pleasure was shown by his contorting face.
She loved to notice all these small, little things about how he behaved during sex, as it was one thing she hadn't known about him before they had got together. And she found that she loved everything that he had showed her so far. She was surprised by how much she loved sleeping with him. She had liked orgasms and sex before, but she felt like she was already addicted to having sex with Zuko. She simply hadn't expected that it would be so intense.
Katara reached out to brush his damp hair out of his forehead. He moved his head to kiss her palm and smiled. "You okay?" he asked.
She nodded. Yes, she really was okay.
This had been their quickest sex, under eight minutes. She also thought that he had never thrust harder into her than now. But it was good, it had felt so good. But maybe she should only sleep once with him tomorrow, and not twice or thrice. Her vagina needed some time to rest. And well, as people freshly in love having a lot of sex was normal, but there were a lot of other things that they could do together. The swimming pool, for example. Or even the lake. Or they could go hiking...
Katara grabbed his shoulders to pull herself off his cock and sat up. "See? It didn't even take us ten minutes," she said in a satisfied way and got up. "And I am completely able to get myself ready in five minutes."
Zuko was still panting and looked like he had no idea what she was talking about. Unable to help herself, she leaned over him and kissed him. He'd just looked so adorable.
"You want the bathroom first?" she asked sweetly.
They had not yet shared her bathroom at the same time. For one, it was really small. And it was also very weird. Katara wanted to wait until they could qualify as boring couple to be in the bathroom with him while he needed the toilet or vice versa.
Zuko shook his head. "I need a minute before I can get up."
Katara grinned before she kissed him again and then walked into the bathroom.
oOo
It turned out that Katara loved being right. And it didn't even matter about what, Zuko guessed. She just kept having this sly, satisfied smirk on her face and looked up at him every now and then as if she would still enjoy the fact that she had been ready in time. And he hadn't.
Well, it had been easy for her. After all, he was the one who had the most to do during sex. Not that he was complaining. Far from it.
But he kept thinking of ways how to get this smirk off her face.
She had already worn it in her flat, as she had come out of the bathroom, freshly showered, with her hair in a high ponytail and make up on her face. He had watched her get dressed, and then she had had the nerve to tell him that it would be his fault if they were late, if he wouldn't get a move on. Zuko had vowed to get back at her for that.
But after he had washed himself and dressed again, he had been able to really see what Katara looked like.
Zuko had known that they would go to a club. But he hadn't been able to picture Katara in club clothes.
As he saw her then, he wondered what she wanted from him. She was so hot, and sexy, and beautiful, and his girlfriend? It seemed so unreal.
Normally Zuko was just astonished that such a kind, caring, funny, and simply good person like Katara loved him. But now he was also convinced that she was way too pretty for him.
Her make-up had accentuated her eyes, which looked bigger. There was dark colour on her eye lids, her eyebrows looked more defined, and her lashes looked fuller and longer. Her lips shown in a rosy red colour. Her ponytail let him see her elegant, slim throat, and for some reason the earrings she was wearing made her even more stunning. He noticed the necklace on her throat was not the one she usually wore.
Her legs were clad in blue, ripped jeans and her torso was only covered by a small white top. It showed off her midriff and had only straps to hold it in place. The swell of her breasts was covered, but it didn't take a genius to know her breasts were perfect when she wore a top like this.
She had rummaged in her small, blue bag, as he found her, frowning and cursing, because she hadn't found her keys yet.
Since Zuko had more or less moved in here on Tuesday, she had lost her keys two times already. Lucky for her that he knew where she kept them.
He suddenly got annoyed that he wasn't able to get ready in his flat, where all his products were. His hair was getting too long, and the bangs were almost in his eyes. He knew Katara liked them like that, but he looked so undone. Like he hadn't cared about style for this night at all. He wouldn't have slicked his hair back, but maybe just a little gel so that his hair didn't bother him when he was trying to see.
He had opted for a normal, dark grey long-sleeved shirt and black jeans, because Katara had repeatedly told him that the club was not a place for snobs who showed up in tuxedos. She had told him to dress as casually and cool as he could.
He wondered what Sokka and Aang would wear.
Probably also ripped jeans and old band t-shirts or something like that.
He picked up Katara's keys from her drawer and handed them to her.
She flushed but said "Thank you". She straightened and put her keys firmly in her bag. Then she looked him over, and Zuko felt himself fidget and blush. "You look good," she said, then stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. She had to look up now to look him in the eye. She kissed him. "There will be so many people staring at you, so don't you leave my side, or they will attack you with pick-up lines and flirt attempts."
He tried not to show his horror at that and nodded. "I won't leave your side." He raised his hand to stroke her cheek. "I think they would so the same to you, if I left you alone."
She blushed and pressed her lips together. "Really?"
He nodded and brushed their noses together. Oh, he loved this comfortable closeness he was able to have with her. "Yeah, you look absolutely stunning, Katara."
She blushed even deeper, and Zuko felt good because of that, and slightly cocky, and he wished he could kiss her whole face and throat and further down while telling her how beautiful she was so that she would keep blushing and then maybe sigh and moan...
"Thank you," she said, grinning widely.
Zuko forced himself to lift his head again. Katara let go of his waist and grabbed his hand. "Now, let's go, or we will really be late. Just to make it clear, I was ready on time, while you kept lounging in my bed all lazily."
Zuko felt indignation rise in him, as Katara pushed him out of her door.
He watched her lock the door.
"Excuse me for being a little tired after you forced me to sleep with you and give you an orgasm within six minutes!" he snarled.
Katara rolled her eyes, as she turned around, but then her eyes were wide and shocked. She didn't look at him.
Zuko whirled around. An apartment door opposite of Katara's was opened, and two girls were staring at them with wide eyes.
Zuko wanted to sink into the floor. He wanted the earth to come up and swallow him. Oh gods! How embarrassing!
He nodded a greeting. "Hello," while Katara said at the same time "I did not force him!"
He nodded in agreement.
The girls who had been on the verge to walk into the flat, just grimaced, nodded, and closed their door.
Zuko groaned and pressed his palms against his eyes. He quickly turned around to Katara. "I am so sorry! Oh gods, I am so, so, so sorry!"
Katara looked as if she would explode any moment.
Zuko braced himself.
When Katara did explode, it was different from what he had expected. She broke into laughter.
Zuko didn't find this funny, but Katara kept laughing until they had reached the ground floor and even kept giggling when they walked towards the underground station.
"Did you see their faces? And yours? Oh gods, you should have seen your face!" She couldn't stop laughing and Zuko's scowl kept intensifying.
"Well, I had insinuated that you forced me to have sex," he said through closed teeth, knowing better now to keep his voice low. "That is not funny!"
Katara quickly looked serious. "You're right, that is not funny." She nodded, but Zuko was still suspicious, and then she just giggled again!
"If you wouldn't have needed your extra time, this wouldn't have happened," she said with a sly grin.
Zuko narrowed his eyes at her. "Why am I even in love with you? You're so mean."
She narrowed her eyes back at him. "I am simply saying the truth. If we had left even one minute earlier, they wouldn't have seen us! Besides, you were the one who had to word it like that!"
"Ah, so without me, you would have found your keys in time?" he growled, as they began to descend the stairs to the underground station.
"Of course!" Katara snarled. "I always find them!"
"Why do you even need to find them? Can't you just get a key box or a board like every normal person? You lost them already thrice in three days!" Zuko's voice had gotten louder. He began to gesticulate with his hands in an irritated manner.
"But I always find them! And I was still never late! For your information, Mr. Clean-and-Tidy-Obsession, I have several places in my flat where I can put my keys, and where I always put them, so it is tidy!"
Zuko snorted. "Your understanding of tidy makes me shudder in horror thinking of what you understand as a mess."
"Well, since you already freak out when a chair is not positioned in the right angle, I guess I am the untidiest person in the world!" she shouted.
Zuko was surprised. They were fighting. He hadn't even realised that they were fighting, because bickering and being teased by her felt so normal. And it was weird that he didn't even feel upset that they were fighting.
"Don't think I don't know that the only reason you're wearing a long-sleeved shirt is so that you can pull the fabric over your hand when you have to touch something on the train! You did that yesterday in that café with the chair rest, too!"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "That is not the only reason. I also don't like feeling the skin of other arms when I am in a full room, and since we're going to a club, the room will be pretty full," he said sniffly.
Katara's eyebrows rose, and the corners of her mouth sank down as if he had made a valid point. "I'm not saying it's bad that you're wearing this shirt, I just used it as an example for your cleanliness obsession. I already said that shirt looks good," she added as if she were annoyed with him.
"Why is that now a bad thing?" he asked, annoyed.
They had kept arguing until they were though the turnstile and on the right platform.
"It's not! It's just that it shows off your muscles so well, so you know... It's hot." She said this with a displeased look on her face.
Nevertheless, Zuko's ego felt stroked. "Really?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes. So stay away from people tonight, or they will get burnt, and sent to the hospital, and you will be charged for bodily injury."
"Is that a topic you're discussing at uni?" He was slightly confused now.
Katara bit on her lower lip. "Mhm. There were several hot boyfriends in the seventies who involuntarily burnt a lot of people. So, in the end, they always had to wear gloves and long sleeves and weren't allowed to touch anyone."
"I don't know if I could abide by that law," Zuko said with scepticism.
Katara scowled. "Oh yeah, and why?"
Zuko felt light and playful, which was normally seldom, but next to Katara it felt less weird. He pounced and pressed her against him, one hand firmly on the exposed skin on her back, the other at the back of her head. He lowered his head to press his cheek against hers. "Didn't I already tell you half an hour ago that I love your skin?" He had lowered his voice to a deep rumble.
"Yes," Katara nodded. "Well, you don't have to follow that law when it comes to me."
"So, I can touch you all I want?"
"As long as it is consensual," she said with a sniff.
Zuko grinned. "Based on my experience from this afternoon, I think you really need me touching you."
She grabbed him in his side with all her fingers, which almost started Zuko's giggling reflex. "You weren't complaining. And in the end, it was you who was worn out."
He nodded. "It is tiring to please you." He brought his mouth to her ear. "Because I like to pleasure you with all I've got."
Katara laughed. "Ooh, dirty talk!" She sounded elated. "Be careful or I will have to disinfect your tongue."
"Then don't forget your own," he said before pressing his lips to hers. She was eager to respond, and the way she pressed herself against him made it seem like she would also be eager to climb into his arms.
They kissed until the train arrived and their tongues were clad in thousands more of bacteria.
Zuko felt dazed. He didn't think he had ever felt so utterly enchanted by a woman. He couldn't think of a single thing he didn't love about her. Yes, she could be annoying, and she always lost her keys, but how could he not love that about her? Besides, Zuko knew that he was a little obsessed with order and tidiness. He knew that most other people were not like that. And he had only brought up the thing with the keys because she had teased him about the few minutes he had needed after having sex with her.
As far as Zuko knew, sex was always more exhausting for the man than a woman. It was a wonder he hadn't downright passed out after it.
Sitting next to her on the train now, Zuko still saw her smirk and felt waves of smugness roll off her. He leaned closer to her. "You shouldn't be so smug. It is always more exhausting for a man."
Katara twisted her mouth.
"And I knew that, which is why I was against it at first," he said.
"And then why did you agree in the end?" she asked.
He leaned closer, not caring about all the other people on the train, as he brushed his nose against her hair to speak into her ear. "I guess I just can't resist you."
She let out a pleased breath and pushed against him to snuggle under his arm. He had his arm draped over her naked shoulders, her head against his shoulder. But Zuko didn't have to look at the strangers on the train, because Katara craned her neck to look up at him and smiled. He smiled back and kissed her lightly.
When they arrived at Sokka's, they had found another topic to argue about although it felt more like bickering. Zuko worked hard to keep his voice down, because he didn't want any passers to think they had a major fight or would break up. What if someone would recognise them? And in their interview, they had just said how they never fought...
Sokka lived in a hip part of the city that was full of university students. There were a lot of bars, book shops, and cafés. Sokka himself lived opposite a bar. Zuko was sure that this was why Sokka had rented this flat. The part of the city was very green and alternative. Whenever someone walked through there, one could hear some music, smell a camp fire and feel the prickling sensation of being surrounded by youth.
Katara rang the doorbell, and then Sokka's voice answered them. "Come in."
Zuko felt confused. "Aren't we going to the club now?"
Katara laughed and pushed the door open after the buzzing sounded. "No. It's too early, there won't be anyone there yet. We're meeting here with the others, chat and pre drink, then we can leave in two hours or so."
Zuko nodded. "Oh, okay, I see." They walked up the stairs, and Zuko realised that he was an idiot. He felt like a true idiot. It's not like he had never gone clubbing before. He had, and he knew that there was normally pre drinking and that clubs only filled a lot later.
But he thought that maybe this was a different club. He didn't know what he had been thinking.
As it turned out, Katara and Zuko were the first ones to arrive.
According to Katara Aang was always five minutes late, and Toph showed up when it pleased her.
Sokka got a weird expression on his face, as Katara said this.
After she and Zuko had taken off their shoes, Sokka led them into a living room. It looked nothing like Zuko would have expected of Sokka.
It was clean, neat, and tidied up. He raised his eyebrows. From their personality, Zuko would have thought that Katara was the cleaner one and Sokka the messy. It seemed like it was the other way around.
The living room was full with modern, stylish furniture, accentuated with antique, unique decoration, and not a sign of IKEA.
Katara whistled. "Wow, you got that book shelf you wanted!"
Sokka nodded and grinned. "Yeah, the last bit of IKEA is gone from the living room."
The new book shelf looked... interesting. Half made of metal, half of wood, it looked like it was designed to store many books, but not keep up that much space.
Zuko turned around to look out of a window and took a few steps back. He stumbled, as he felt something behind his feet.
"Look out!" he heard an unfamiliar, female voice shout.
Zuko did manage to catch himself, but he stepped on the thing that had made him stumble in the first place. He heard something crack. He grimaced and slowly looked down on himself.
He stood on a brown leather bag. A bag that didn't look as if it belonged to Sokka.
"Oh no!" the female voice groaned.
"Zuko, are you okay?" Katara appeared before him and pulled him away from the bag. Zuko still felt a little surprised.
He grabbed Katara's hand, turned around and looked at what he had stepped on. A young woman, who looked vaguely familiar, knelt over the bag and rummaged through it.
She took out a plastic bottle, which had been crushed, probably by his foot, and now leaked water. The woman pulled out all the other items out of her bag. She murmured "No, no, no, please, no!", as she pulled out a mobile phone.
Zuko grimaced.
The phone was soaked.
"Shit, I am sorry!" Zuko said, a little late due to his surprise.
The woman pressed the buttons on her phone, but the screen stayed black. "Oh no!" she moaned.
"Can't you watch where you're going?" Sokka suddenly snapped at him from his left.
Zuko flinched and turned around to see Sokka with furrowed eyebrows.
Katara stepped around him to push her finger on Sokka's chest. "It wasn't his fault! No one has eyes on the back of their head!"
Zuko knelt down to look at the woman who still tried to make her phone work.
"Do you have a guarantee?" he asked.
Startled, she looked up. She had big grey blue eyes, skin only slightly darker than his, and short, brown hair that almost seemed auburn. She definitely looked familiar. "What?" she said.
"Do you have a guarantee? Will your telecommunications provider replace your phone in case of it being damaged?" he asked again.
She shook her head. "No."
Zuko thought for a moment, then he pulled out his phone and quickly wrote a test message to the head of the telecommunications company that belonged to Kasai Enterprise. He wrote that he needed a new phone ASAP.
He looked up at the woman again, who stared at him with large eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't watch where I was going."
She shook her head. "No, I should have paid attention, since I am responsible for my bag." Her eyes narrowed.
Zuko nodded. "Well, I can help you in getting a new phone. My father owns a telecommunications provider. I can get you a contract for two years, with guarantee, and you will have to pay monthly. You can tell me your address or I'll have it send to Sokka here."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're Kasaishi Zuko, aren't you?"
His eyes widened, then he slowly nodded and got to his feet again.
Katara and Sokka had stopped bickering and were both watching them now.
The woman rose to her feet, too.
Zuko nodded slowly. "Er, yes, I am Kasaishi Zuko." He cocked his head to the side. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"
The woman gave Sokka a hard look. "Well, since Sokka here never said that his sister is dating Kasaishi Zuko, I guess you're the boyfriend of hers who went with them to Oyaji's Noodles two months ago. I was your waitress on that evening. I'm Suki."
"Oh." Zuko nodded. "You're that girl for whom Sokka fell into the dumpster."
"Hey!" Sokka cried out.
Suki's hard facial expression softened a little, as she looked like she would smile.
"So, Sokka finally managed to make you like him?" Katara asked.
"A little." Suki smirked, then stretched her hand out to Katara. "It is an honour meeting you." She shook Katara's hand with great bravado. "Now I know that you're not only the cool sister who Sokka talked so often about, btu you're also that cool girl whose bitchfight ended up going viral."
Katara tensed a little, and her smile wavered.
Suki just grinned and threw a short look at Zuko. "I was not a fan hearing that Kasaishi is running for president, but when I saw that video of you beating up that girl for insulting your man..." She shrugged. "I'm at least neutral now."
Zuko felt his eyes widen. He had been right. That video had not made everything worse! He'd known it!
Katara seemed flustered, as she stammered a little before settling on a "Thank you, Suki." She briefly glanced at Sokka. "Are you coming to the club with us, Suki?"
Zuko thought he heard a tone of disapproval in Katara's voice, but was sure that he had only imagined it.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, I actually wanted to be long gone before any of Sokka's friends showed up, but he kept me busy."
Katara grimaced.
Zuko frowned. Hm, neither Suki nor Sokka were dishevelled. How busy could they have been?
"We were watching a cartoon," Sokka clarified.
"Well, since you're already here, I guess I'll take my leave. The others will probably arrive soon," Suki said.
She gave Sokka a hug to say goodbye, grabbed her bag with the content, a jacket that was on the couch and headed for the door, where she put on leather boots. She waved. "Bye!"
When she opened the door, Aang and Toph were standing in front of it.
Suki grimaced. "Er, hi! I, er, I was just leaving! Katara and Zuko are already there! Have a nice evening!" She walked around them and down the steps.
Aang raised his eyebrows at Sokka and let Toph walk forward. He closed the door behind them. "So, you got Suki's forgiveness, huh?"
Sokka scratched his neck. "Yeah."
Katara pulled Zuko to the couch and sat down with him.
Zuko waved at Aang and Toph to say hi, then he turned to Sokka. "Is it okay if I will have the phone delivered to you?"
Sokka grimaced. "Dude, I don't know if it's okay that you just give away mobiles."
Zuko frowned. "I broke her mobile. So, I should offer to have it replaced."
"But what if someone can repair it? What if those people from her mobile phone contract can repair it if she pays them?" Sokka argued.
"Stop it!" Katara hissed. "What Zuko did was nice and decent!" She leaned forward in Zuko's direction to glare at Sokka.
Zuko gently pushed her back. "It is Suki's decision. I was merely offering to make some amends." He shrugged.
"Sokka, shut it. You don't have to attack Zuko just because he was nice to your girl," Toph said snidely.
Sokka opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He turned his head to look at Toph, who looked a little to the right of Sokka. Her face looked annoyed.
Zuko was happy that the attention had shifted away from him.
"That is not what this is about!" Sokka eventually snarled at Toph.
Aang sighed deeply and sat down next to Zuko. He blinked and felt a little taken aback at this.
Aang opened the rucksack he had brought with him and pulled out beer bottles. "So, why don't we let the two of them argue and get on with this party?" He nodded towards Sokka and Toph, handed Zuko a beer, then one to Katara, and then pulled out another one for himself.
Zuko frowned. Aang drank nonalcoholic beer. Well, it might make sense, him already being a vegetarian.
"Aang, you won't drink tonight?" Katara asked, sounding bewildered.
Aang shook his head. "I decided to stop drinking alcohol."
Sokka's head whipped around and Toph raised her head. "Say whaaaat?"
"In the mountains, we don't drink alcohol. It blocks our spirituality, and I decided that I could do that, too, now." Aang explained.
Zuko nodded. Aha.
"B-but the alcohol?" Sokka whimpered. "Parties?"
"We have parties in the mountains, too, and my parents said that they always had fun without alcohol." Aang shrugged.
Katara nodded. "No one really needs alcohol to have fun, after all. It is just something that makes inhibitions vanish. I think it is great that you adapt more of your own culture!" She grinned.
Zuko nodded in agreement. He actually didn't really have an opinion on this, because he didn't really care if Aang drank or not.
Aang grinned back at Katara.
"But Aang!" Sokka cried. "You cannot leave me like this! You're my drink-partner!"
Aang put on this slightly smiling expression that seemed as if he were way wiser than any of them. "You can also drink with Toph."
Toph tensed and walked away from Sokka, sitting down in an armchair next to Aang. She must know her way around this apartment well, if she managed to do it without any assistance. She had walked very confidently.
Zuko thought that he saw her cheeks reddening.
Sokka scratched his neck and chuckled in a way that way not amused. "Yeah, right."
"Or Zuko!" Aang said.
"I'd prefer if you would leave me out of this," Zuko said.
Sokka turned large puppy eyes on him. With the pouty lip and pleading hands.
Katara kicked Sokka. "Hell no! You will not try to outdrink my boyfriend, you moron!"
Sokka jumped on one leg and clutched his other calf. "You're the worst sister on earth!"
"I am merely saving you an embarrassment. I'm pretty sure that Zuko would outdrink you." Katara smirked.
Zuko dreaded whatever would follow now.
"What? Never!" Sokka stomped over to Zuko. "What did you grow up on, huh? Just beer? Did you ever have something as hard as ice wine?"
Zuko frowned. "I never had ice wine. But I had fire whisky."
"You would both go down against me!" Toph challenged and pointed at herself.
Zuko could very well imagine that. "Please tell me that no one will have a drinking contest tonight!"
Sokka looked at Toph, who smirked.
Zuko tried again. "Okay, so I will not be involved in any drinking contests!"
"Why can't I be part of the drinking contest?" Katara wanted to know, her lips pouting a little.
"Because you're a lightweight, Sweetness," Toph replied.
Katara scowled and grabbed the bottle opener from the couch table and opened her beer. She pushed the bottle opener in Zuko's lap and took a few gulps of the beer. She put the bottle on the table with a loud 'clonk', coughed and made "Ah!". "I am not a lightweight!"
Zuko took her hand and looked deep into her eyes. "Katara, no offense, but drinking beer made you cough. So, you probably are a lightweight." He said it in his nicest and softest voice, because he didn't want her to feel offended and also because he thought that she was sweet.
Katara scowled but didn't answer him.
They decided to play drinking games, with Aang drinking a cocktail that Sokka had mixed from the worst tasting liquids he had been able to find in his kitchen. Zuko just hoped that there was no detergent in it.
Sokka and Toph seemed to have teamed up against Katara to make her drink more often than all the others. Zuko tried to remain neutral, but after a while he tried to come up with stuff that would make Toph and Sokka drink. Unfortunately, he didn't know them well enough to make them drink a lot while playing 'Never have I ever...'.
Katara was a touchy and loud drunk. She leaned heavily on Zuko's shoulder and kept hissing insults in Sokka's and Toph's direction and declared loudly that Aang was her best friend from now on. There was no relying on big brothers or best friends, after all.
Zuko thought it didn't make a lot of sense. He normally got annoyed by loud and touchy people, but for some reason, he just couldn't stop smiling at Katara, and rejoicing in the fact that he was the shoulder she was leaning on. Maybe that came with being in love.
Please review!:)
Okay, so I need your opinion! There is a lot of narrated time to kill until the shit hits the fan. So, do you want some action and disaster and tension as fast as possible, or would you be okay with reading a bit more normal, happy, modern Zutara plus gaang?
Also, I know this chapter was a lot about sex. This is because at the beginning of a romantic relationship between two passionate people who are emotionally mature enough to have consensual sex with each other they have a lot of sex. And they will think a lot about sex. It might lessen over time or not, but I will definitely get into the more emotional Zutara later on. So, I don't want to show them as only being able to bicker, have sex, or share comfortable silences with each other. They will be perfect partners in life and love for each other.
Answers to reviews:
To KatMora606: Yes, something bad will happen. Something bad always happens when the characters are so happy, doesn't it? I just wanted to make you translate something for once, too:) Thanks for your review!:) And thank you again for your wonderful art for this story! 3 (this is meant to be a heart, I don't know whether the meaning of this changed since I was a teenager)
To Smckoy929: Thank you! I think my exams went fine. Well, I think I just gave you a long chapter for this story:)
To uchihaNaruto247: Yeah, I felt like they needed that. There's not so much fluff in this chapter now, but it focused a lot on their relationship again. Thanks for your review!:)
