Zuko woke up and looked fondly down at the sleepy water bender in his arms. The sun's first rays were playing across his face and he could feel the warmth of each ray energising his skin, awakening his chi. Slowly, he detached the water bender's arms from around his torso, hopping on one foot as he disentangled his leg from hers, trying to stay as quiet as possible to not wake her up as he slipped off her bed and out of the room.
Once out, he took a big sigh letting the sunlight shine over his form, waking him up. He mused how lucky it was that no-one else woke as early as him, he didn't know what Sokka would do if he caught him slipping out of Katara's room in the early hours of the morning…actually, he had an idea and he definitely didn't want THAT to happen. They just wouldn't understand how wonderful what he and Katara had found together was; they were so similar in so many ways and seemed to complete each other, healing each other in a way they couldn't do themselves; him bringing light and warmth to her life, her bring a cooling calmness to his.
He looked around the stone corridor of the temple and made his way to one of the upper platforms that overlooked the horizon so he could begin his morning meditations. He would wake Aang to begin his morning training soon, he just needed a bit of time to fully concentrate on his own inner chi. Sitting crosslegged on the cool stone overlooking the distant horizon he breathed in deeply, consciously feeling his muscles relax as the warmth of the coming day unknotted them. He focused on the feeling of the sun on his skin, how it seemed to alight a gentle fire within him, one he didn't need to concentrate on controlling, just needed to breathe to fuel it and relax, allowing it to flicker on. Since being with Katara, his meditations had come a lot easier. He often liked to watch her waterbend, the way she didn't force her element, but rather adapted with it and willed it to do her bidding, seeming to become a part of the water as she did so. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and the skills weren't completely lost on the fire bender. Indeed, this exact oneness with their element was something the fire benders had been lacking for a long time, fuelled instead by anger, bitterness and determination that pushed them to wield their element as a weapon and strike with sharp movements. No wonder there were so many fire accidents. Zuko winced as his mind drifted to this uncomfortable thought and went back to focusing on his breathing. His breath of fire was important, calming and energising him, and Katara loved how his body would warm up on command when he focused on this. He smiled, again wondering how he had become so lucky as to have this water bender to call his own. No, he corrected himself, she was not his, she could not be tamed anymore than he could control the water that came to her command so easily, but he was happy knowing that she shared at least some of the same feelings he felt for her, for him.
Katara woke up slowly, stirring in her sheets. She shivered slightly and reached out for Zuko's warm body but felt only an empty mattress. She sighed, remembering their secret situation and rolled over into the spot he had lay in, curling up in the warmth that still lingered there. Pressing her face onto the sheets she drew in a deep breath, smelling the glorious scent she had learnt was Zuko, an almost smoky, woody, intoxicating scent that reminded her of the life-giving fires that she sat around while living at the South Pole. "Mmmm," she murmured into the sheets. She opened her eyes and felt the sun on her warming her up. She did not feel the same power in her chi at the feel of it like Zuko did but she appreciated the sunlight all the same. Rolling off the bed she went to the bathroom, rubbing a hand to her bedhead hair and smiling at herself in the mirror. She got dressed and headed to the kitchens to prepare breakfast for everyone.
After his own meditation Zuko had woken up a reluctant Aang and begun teaching him various fire bending stances up near the top of the air temple facing the sunrise. After a few hours Zuko nodded at his student who excitedly got out of his stance and hurried down to get breakfast. Zuko smiled, shaking his head at the constant energy the boy always had and followed him down through the temple.
"Hey Katara!" said Aang as he bounced into the kitchen and sat down.
"Good morning Aang," said Katara as she moved behind where he was sitting at the table to give him a hug. "How did your training go?"
"Great!" he said, "although I don't think I needed to stay stuck in those stances for QUITE that long..."
Katara chuckled as she began ladling out the sweet rice she had made for breakfast. She heard a movement in the doorway and turned to see Zuko partially ducking his way into the room. She smiled slightly, she often forgot how tall he was, he was definitely not built for the low air temple doorways. He looked at her as he came in and smiled warmly remembering the previous night. She smiled discreetly back and turned back to the food.
"Breakfast's up!" she said putting the bowls down in front of the two boys as she sat next to Aang and began a conversation about the water bending practice they would be having later. Zuko watched and listened for a bit until Toph and Sokka came in, late as usual, with the familiar grunt of greeting from a drowsy Sokka and a "Hey Sparky" and sharp thwack upside the head from Toph. Zuko grimaced and rubbed the back of his head, scowling at the small earth bender who plonked down next to him and began shovelling food into her mouth with almost as much vigour as the young water tribe warrior opposite her. Zuko looked from one to the other and laughed to himself shaking his head.
"Right!" exclaimed Toph when they had finished, "As soon as you've finished jerk bending with Sparky, Twinkletoes, you can get your butt over to the cliffside of the air temple and we'll do some REAL bending!"
Aang giggled a bit looking at Zuko out of the corner of his eye. "Sure thing Sifu Toph!" he replied as they all stood to leave the kitchen. Sokka, Toph and Aang continued talking among themselves scattering off in various directions, Sokka to go and polish his boomerang (again), Toph to sit and flick pebbles at the various birds that flew around and through the temple and Aang to go and prepare for a few more hours of rigorous fire bending. As they left Zuko turned his head down to Katara saying, "And what do you plan on doing this afternoon Katara?"
She tried unsuccessfully to suppress the smile across her features as she looked up at him.
"Well, that strongly depends on what YOU plan to be doing with yourself," she replied.
"Well, in that case, this afternoon we spar!"
Katara smiled broadly at that. She loved sparring with Zuko, he was the only one who never held back when she fought him and considering that the majority of the enemies they would be battling against would be wielding his element it made sense to get some practice at fighting it. Plus, Zuko sparring meant he would be shirtless and working his hardest in the heat created from the flames he conjured from the air and what kind of girlfriend could say no to that?
He caught the look in her eyes and smirked slightly as if reading her thoughts.
"You're on," she replied tilting her face close to him as she whispered it so he could feel her breath on his lips before pulling away and making her way back to their living quarters to see what household duties needed doing there, knowing without even needing to look that he would be watching the sway of her hips as she walked away leaving him standing there, delightedly bemused.
In the afternoon as the sun's heat was beginning to calm down Zuko and Katara met on the largest platform of the air temple. It had a large water fountain allowing Katara to have as much of her element as she required. They stood opposite each other in their sparring gear; Zuko in baggy red trousers and Katara in her most modest under wrappings. After hearing that Zuko and Katara were going to be battling it out, the other three occupants of the temple had decided to come and watch; Zuko and Katara rarely had a chance to spar but when they did it was always impressive; this was a match they had been waiting to see. They sat eagerly on the side of the hall. Zuko had hoped him and Katara might have had a bit of time to themselves, after all, who knows where sparring could lead what with Katara in pretty much her underwear…. He stared her down across the hall and she gave him an equally fierce look back. He smirked before darting forward conjuring up a fire whip and going straight for her legs. She jumped nimbly out of the way pulling a stream of water from the fountain with her to block the fire blast that he had instantly sent her way following his fire whip. She shot a blast of water at him which he evaporated with ease. His grin quickly dropped from his face when he saw the ice daggers aimed straight at him; she had been using the water blast as a distraction knowing that the steam created as he evaporated it would cover his vision for a while. He jumped sideways and she laughed at his expression. Oh it's on, he thought to himself as he crouched low then sprung up blasting fire from his hands and swirling it in great circles around his head. They battled this way and that, the cheers of their team mates urging each one of them on, pushing them to the limits of their abilities. Soon there was so much steam that even Katara couldn't see clearly and soon had to resort to water bending the fine water molecules from the air so they didn't obstruct her vision quite so much. As she did so Zuko came charging straight at her with a blast of fire and she was knocked backwards but just before she hit the ground he grabbed her by the waist and spun her so she was facing up towards him, the both of them breathing heavily as he held her there, a flaming fist raised. She stared wide-eyed in surprise up at him: he'd won.
A cheer and applause from the other three brought them both back to their senses and Zuko hastily let go of Katara as she pushed herself away from him, standing up and brushing down her skirt. "Well done Sparky," praised Toph slapping him on the back. "Wasn't sure Sugar Queen was ever going to stop!"
Laughing, Zuko and Katara looked sidelong at each other and they all made their way back into the temple.
"You know you only won because its practically the middle of the day right?" Katara joked nudging him with her shoulder.
"Ha! I could beat you anytime any day," Zuko teased.
"Oh really?" Katara looked up at him and said, "Fine, tomorrow night, we spar on my turf."
"Fine!" Zuko smiled back. He wasn't really sure he could beat the talented water bender at night but any chance for a few more hours with Katara sounded like a good idea to him.
The following night Katara finished her water bending training with Aang and they left towards the air temple with light hearts, Aang had been getting along so much better with his water bending, he was pretty much a master at it like herself. He really was becoming a strong fully realised Avatar.
Everyone went and got ready for bed. Soon snores could be heard from every room but two. Katara and Zuko met in the main area and made their way up through the temple and along a natural path until they reached a small clearing in a wooded area near the river. She turned to smirk at him, the moonlight shining from her eyes. "My turf," she said.
He simply smirked back, dropped his bag and took off his upper tunic smiling to himself at the way her eyes followed his movements and dropped down to his abs. He crouched low into a fighting stance. "Not a moment to lose then," he said.
A fierceness suddenly flicked behind her eyes as she summoned a great amount of water and knocked him flat against a tree freezing him there. "Oh no!" she feigned surprise, "Have I won already?"
He grinned at her. "Not yet." He warmed his arms up melting the ice around them and sprung from the tree, using the trunk as a push-off. He sent streams of fire directly at her but she put up a thin film of water which she swiftly froze, directing cold blasts of water from the wall at his oncoming onslaught. He burst his way through the screen and she dodged to the right gathering her infamous water whips about her arms, striking him and forcing him back. He ducked into a stance sending a fireball from his feet at her legs. She jumped, bending the river water from behind her directly under her and using it as a path to slide around him, blocking one of his fire whips with one hand and sending the stream of water directly at him with the other. They continued to spar, Katara using the advantage of their surroundings and her slim form by frequently ducking behind trees and shooting ice daggers at him from where he couldn't see her. He growled and sent a blast of intense heat to the left of a tree he knew Katara was hiding behind and she darted to the right sending water along the floor freezing his foot to the ground as she ran around the clearing. He twisted his body, throwing fireballs as he wrenched his foot free of the ice and ran after her.
Rounding a tree, he suddenly found himself facing her and knocked her to the ground with a swift fireball to her stomach. He leaned directly over her, a palm firmly planted on the ground on either side of her head, smiling triumphantly as he moved his face closer to hers. She laughed and with a sharp flick of her wrist sent a blast of water directly from the river at him, knocking him off of her; drenching him. He sputtered a bit in surprise and still laughing she jumped up and darted towards the trees. He wiped the water from his sopping hair and looked at her fiercely, grinning wolfishly. He charged and the battle continued in earnest.
They continued fighting but the moon was giving Katara increasing energy and she never faltered. Eventually Zuko found himself frozen to another tree, but this time with thick enough ice that he wouldn't get out quite so easily. Katara stood in front of him so her face was wonderfully close to his and whispered, "I win." Zuko sighed in defeat. She grinned beautifully up at him but the fierceness in her eyes never left as she jumped at him, catching his mouth perfectly with hers. She entwined her fingers in his hair, pulling her towards him. She went to pull away but Zuko wasn't having any of that this time. The touch of her lips on his, the feel of his tongue wrapped around hers had heated him up to what felt like a hundred degrees and the ice melted off him easily as he reached out and pulled her flush against him, both hands on her back with one working it's way up to her gloriously messy hair. She pulled up into him deepening the kiss, feeling his hot skin against hers. She leaned her head back as he lay open mouth kisses down her neck, his hands falling to tightly hold her waist close to his. He stumbled down from the tree and tripped on a root, remembering just in time to twist his body so he landed on his back with Katara on top of him. She squeaked in surprise as she crashed onto his torso.
Blushing lightly, she reached up a hand to his head to check he was ok, but before she could ask the words he eagerly pressed his lips to hers again. She chuckled into their kiss before his lips became more insistent and she responded in turn. His hand slipped up her chest bindings as she ran her hands down his chest, tantalisingly far down, before cupping his face with her hands. He rolled over so he was now lying over her much as he had done the first time when she hit him with a blast of water, but there was no way she was going to stop him now. She leaned up into him, arching her back and moving up into his every touch. Her lips twisted against his up into a smirk as she wrapped her leg around his hips and jerked him round and down so now she was straddling him. As she leaned down to kiss his neck, a small satisfied sound escaped his throat and she smiled against his skin as he gripped her thighs and pulled her up so her face was over his. He wrapped his hands into her hair, grasping her to him, locking her in a passionate kiss and sitting up slightly so she could fully wrap her legs around his waist so her torso fit with his perfectly. They broke apart gasping for air. Their breathing slowed, becoming more deep as they gazed into each others eyes. Zuko's wonderfully warm, sharp golden eyes, like honey that she would happily melt into, Katara's beautifully clear blue eyes, holding emotion so deep and raw that Zuko now saw reflected in his own. The moonlight shone on her eyes and on his pale skin, each person feeling a sort of ethereal glow as they sat feeling at peace with each other and the world.
They eventually left to go back to the temple with fingers interlocked and stopped outside the hallway.
"Goodnight Zuko," said Katara as she turned to head down the girl's corridor.
"Wait," said Zuko touching her shoulder so she turned back to face him. "I love you, Katara."
Katara simply smiled up at him and said, "I love you too."
He leaned down so he could kiss her, his thumbs hooked on top of her hip bones, anchoring her down as he pressed his face into hers, his tongue gently sliding over her bottom lip as she pushed her face up towards his with just as much vigour, her hands moving up his chest, over his shoulders and to the back of his head holding him where he was. His hands brushed up her sides and over her back, one hand on her lower back pressing her against him, the other hand a support between her shoulder blades as she leaned back to pull him down closer to her. He pressed her gently into the wall and lightly kissed her under her jawline as she sighed. His fingers trailed down her arm and held her hand as he stepped back, gazing longingly at her before pulling his fingers away from her outstretched arm and turning down the corridor to his bedroom.
Katara watched him go and looked up at the moon in the dark midnight sky, smiling softly, breathing gently in the calming beams of Yue, revelling in the silence of the night. After a few minutes she turned her head back down and slowly made her way to her bedroom where she silently undressed and wrapped herself in her soft quilt, breathing in Zuko's musky scent from the night before.
In his room Zuko lay staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes, smiled, and rolled over, the coolness of his sheets reminding him of a certain water bender that would always be in his dreams (and would later sneak into his bedroom).