Zuko became part of the Avatar's group. He tried his best to fit in, to show them that he had really changed. He made them tea and even tried his hand at telling jokes (very unsuccessfully).

Whenever he joined the others, Katara would find some excuse to leave. His heart twisted every time she did it. She never spoke to him, unless it was part of a group discussion, and even then, she was antagonistic and biting. Even Aang seemed taken aback by her ferocity.

Zuko was at a loss, but she clearly wanted nothing to do with him, so he respected that and gave her space. All the same, he couldn't help but miss her. He ached to kiss her again. But all he had left were thoughts, memories… fantasies. Dreams of her pressing herself against him and telling him that she wanted him.

He ended up going on missions with Aang and Sokka, first to figure out how to restore his diminished firebending power, then to help Sokka rescue Hakoda from the maximum-security Fire Nation prison. It was almost a relief to leave, because being around Katara when she despised him was becoming unbearable. He loved her so much, and she could not even tolerate him.

It did not escape his notice, though, that she didn't appear to be with Aang. They never touched in any way other than how friends would. He had never seen them kiss. Other than Aang's mention of hurting the person he loved, Zuko hadn't seen or heard anything that would make him think they were a couple. When Suki joined the group, it was incredibly apparent that she and Sokka were an item. But there was never any of that between Katara and Aang.

Deep in his heart, a small seed of hope began to blossom. But he told himself that it didn't matter—she would never forgive him.

As the days and weeks passed, he began to feel more and more accepted by everyone in the group… except Katara. And as amazing as it felt to have friends—real friends—for the first time in his life, it just wasn't the same without her.

And she showed no sign of changing her mind.

He realized he had to do something to show her that he was sincere, that he had changed, and that she could trust him again—at least, enough to be friends with him. He'd obviously thrown away any shot he might have had at being with her when he betrayed her in Ba Sing Se. He would regret it for the rest of his life.

Katara watched as all of her friends began to rely on him, and to like him, and it only made her angrier. It was everything she had scarcely allowed herself to dream was possible, back when she was traveling with him. And now, now, here it was, and she simply could not trust it. She couldn't trust herself to trust it.

She couldn't help but notice that he was trying, really trying. But she pushed that observation away.

She noticed that he helped Aang and Sokka with dangerous missions, expecting nothing in return. She pushed the thought away.

She saw how devoted he was to their cause—more than Aang half the time, it seemed. She pushed that away, too.

Every time she felt herself softening toward him, she fought it. The greatest blow to her resolve was when he brought back Hakoda and Suki from the Fire Nation prison. And so, she fought even harder, throwing up her defenses with all of her might. She ensconced herself in her anger like a fortress.

She was the only one who would see it coming when he betrayed them. She was the only one who'd had her heart broken, and while they could all forgive him and move on, she just couldn't. She couldn't. Whenever she felt like showing up in his room late at night, telling him that everything was behind them now, and throwing her arms around him, she reminded herself of the way it had felt when he'd ripped her heart out. She'd barely put herself back together last time—in truth, she hadn't put herself back together at all, probably never would. She would not go through it again. She wouldn't survive it a second time. And every time she thought of it, she hated him for doing it to her, even more.

~~~S3 E16: The Southern Raiders~~~

Not long after they had rescued Hakoda and the others, Azula attacked them at the Western Air Temple. Azula's first blast knocked down a section of the ceiling, directly above where Katara was standing. Before Katara knew what was happening, Zuko dove onto her, rolling her out of the way and shielding her with his body.

It was the most they had touched since Ba Sing Se.

"What are you doing?!" she shouted. He was still lying over her, his arms around her protectively. His closeness felt like it was tearing down the increasingly-flimsy barrier she'd made around her heart and digging sharp barbs into the open wound beneath.

"Keeping rocks from crushing you."

He still wasn't moving.

She could not endure this for one second longer. "Okay, I'm not crushed! Don't fucking touch me again." She wrenched herself free of him and sped off to see how she could help in the fight, shaking from the shock of how strong her emotions still were.

Zuko winced. "I was just trying to help you. You're welcome." But she was already gone.

Yet, in spite of her anger, when Zuko was plummeting toward the ground after battling with his sister, Katara didn't hesitate to reach out from Appa and pull him to safety.

O – O – O – O – O – O

Aang and his core group—Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki, and Zuko—had been split from the others during Azula's attack. They were now camping out on a verdant cliffside overlooking the ocean.

Night had fallen and the campfire crackled merrily as everyone sat around it, sharing food and drinks. The air was crisp, and they could hear the constant sound of waves crashing against the side of the cliffs.

Katara sat as far away from Zuko as she could, across the fire. Unfortunately, that meant she was in the perfect position to watch the way the firelight played across his features. The strong curve of his jaw. The high lines of his cheekbones. His golden eyes. It reminded her of their many campfires on the journey to Ba Sing Se. Or playing pai sho in the dim firelight of her room when she'd been captive on his ship. Her heart wrenched. She despised her traitor body, which still yearned for his touch. It was even worse now, thanks to his little stunt with the falling rocks. The temptation was there, every day, to simply ignore her hurt and push him against a tree, kissing him until she didn't know where she was anymore. It was so incredibly hard, having to constantly see him while missing him so desperately—but she was determined not to give in, not to trust him again. Her heart still felt shattered, and it was all his fault. Her anger burned hot in her chest.

Toph was talking, dragging Katara from her thoughts. "So, Zuko. You and Katara were travel buddies all the way to Ba Sing Se. How was it, traveling with our Sugar Queen?"

Zuko blushed, hoping the firelight would hide it. "Uh—"

"Shut up, Toph," Katara said, a bite in her voice.

"Well, you won't tell us a thing about it and I'm curious," Toph replied. "Go on, tell us Zuko. Did she mother you like the rest of us?"

"Uh… no." Zuko choked on his tea. "Definitely not motherly."

Katara shot him a death glare.

Sokka joined in, "I just find it so hard to picture you two on the road together."

Katara said, "Then don't. Look, we just walked to where we were going. It was the same as when the rest of us travel anywhere. Except no flying bison."

Katara did not like the way Toph was furrowing her brow, like there was something she couldn't figure out.

Noticing Katara's growing discomfort, Zuko tried to shift the focus of the conversation, "Yeah. Super boring. Although we did save an Earth Kingdom family from an angry moose-lion pack."

"Wow, tell us about that!" said Aang.

The conversation meandered on, ending up with Sokka's theatrical retelling of the story of the moose-lion cub he befriended and its mother, who hadn't taken kindly to him.

When he was finished, much of the tension had dissipated.

Feeling nostalgic, Aang said, "Telling stories. Camping. It really seems like old times again, doesn't it?"

"If you really want it to feel like old times, I could, ah… chase you around a while and try to capture you?" Zuko joked.

Everyone laughed except Katara.

"Ha. Ha," she said darkly.

"To Zuko!" Sokka proclaimed, holding his cup in the air. "Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today he'd be our hero!"

"Here here!" Aang, Toph, and Suki said, raising their cups and still laughing.

Zuko smiled, his heart feeling warmed. "I'm touched. I don't deserve this."

Katara snapped, "Yeah. No kidding." She wasn't going to sit there and listen to them applauding Zuko. She stood up and stalked off into the night.

Sokka watched her go, "What's with her?"

Zuko said sadly, "I wish I knew." He needed to talk to her. To make her understand how sorry he was and that he'd do anything to repair the damage. This had gone on long enough. Standing, he followed in the direction Katara had disappeared.

"What's with him?" Sokka said as Zuko went.

Katara sat on a rock near the edge of the cliffs, looking out at the vast ocean and seething. She tried to calm herself down, but it was impossible. She wished Zuko would just go away and leave her—and her friends—alone.

A shuffling noise behind her made her turn her head. Of course, it was Zuko. He can't just leave me be, can he? she thought bitterly. She got up to leave, again, when Zuko spoke.

"This isn't fair. Everyone else seems to trust me now. Please, Katara."

"Oh! Everyone trusts you now?! I was the first person to trust you! More than trust you! And you turned around and betrayed me." Katara did not want to be having this conversation. She felt ill. "Betrayed all of us!"

Zuko grimaced. His choice in Ba Sing Se was his biggest regret and he hated how much it had hurt her.

"What can I do to make it up to you?"

"You really wanna know?" she said scornfully. "Hmm. Maybe you could reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King." Maybe you could NOT fuck me and throw me away like it was nothing. You could love me, like I love—loved—you. She brought her face inches from his, her eyes wild. She couldn't bring herself to say what she really wanted to, so she shouted the next thing that came to mind. "Or, I know, you could bring my mother back!"

Katara marched past him, shoving him with her shoulder as she went.

Zuko watched her go. It was clear that this wasn't going to resolve itself. She was never going to accept him unless he was able to do something, somehow, to convince her. He thought about her comment regarding her mother. It wasn't the first time she'd brought it up. If there was something he could do to help her find closure, maybe… just maybe, she could find it within herself to forgive him.

Once Zuko's mind was made up, he didn't want to waste any time. It was late, but he needed to talk to Sokka right away. On his way to Sokka's tent, he bumped into Suki.

Suki blushed. "Oops. Wrong tent."

It was obvious Suki was sneaking into Sokka's tent for the night but Zuko didn't care about that right now. They could wait. This was more important. "Sorry. Do you need to talk to Sokka too?"

"Nope. Not me." Suki all but ran back to her own tent. Zuko rolled his eyes. Those two had no reason to sneak around, nobody was bothered by them being together. And, it was incredibly obvious what they were up to, in any case. Sighing, he pushed aside the flap to Sokka's tent.

Sokka was lying in the middle of the tent surrounded by candles with a rose in his mouth. His back was to the entrance.

Sokka said playfully, "Well, helloo." He choked on the last word—and the rose—when he turned his head to see Zuko coming into the tent instead of the person he'd been expecting.

Zuko didn't have time to worry about niceties. He sat down cross-legged in front of Sokka and waited for him to collect himself.

Sitting up, Sokka babbled, "Uh. Zuko! Yes. Why would I be expecting anyone different? Soo what's on your mind?"

"Your sister. She hates me. I—I think I know why. But I don't know how to fix it. And I do care what she thinks of me."

"Nah, she doesn't hate you. Katara doesn't hate anyone. Except maybe some people in the Fire Nation." A look of panicked realization crossed Sokka's face and he hurried on. "No! I mean, uh, not people who are good but used to be bad. I mean bad people. Fire Nation people who are still bad. Who've never been good and probably won't be, ever—"

Zuko put a hand over his face. "Stop. Okay. Listen. I know this may seem out of nowhere but I want you to tell me what happened to your mother."

Sokka's mouth dropped open. "What? Why would you want to know that?"

"Katara mentioned it to me, before. And again just now when she was yelling at me. If I can help, somehow, with that, then I think maybe she'll forgive me. I need her to forgive me, Sokka. I can't go on like this."

"It's not a day I like to remember."

O – O – O – O – O – O

Katara stretched. She'd had another fitful sleep, dreaming about Zuko, and she wasn't looking forward to another day of dealing with all of her conflicting emotions about him. As she left her tent, she saw him sitting on a rock right outside of it. What is his deal? I thought I made myself clear. She considered ducking right back inside her tent, but she saw that he'd already seen her.

Clenching her jaw, she tried to act nonchalant. "You look terrible."

"I waited out here all night."

"What do you want?"

"I know who killed your mother. I'm going to help you find them."

Katara's eyes went wide. It was the last thing she was expecting.

Forgetting about her confusion and anger at Zuko, Katara found herself agreeing to leave with him on Appa to find the people who were responsible for her mother's death. She wanted vengeance and if Zuko was the person who could help her get it, then so be it.

O – O – O – O – O – O

It was a very emotional journey for Katara, but they finally found the man who murdered her mother. When it came down to it, Katara could not bring herself to kill him in revenge. Zuko was awed at her strength—not just her waterbending, which had become intensely powerful, but her inner strength in letting the man go in the end.

Knowing her as well as he did, Zuko could tell that she needed some time to process everything that had happened. They were already in the Fire Nation, so he directed Appa to his family's disused vacation home on their own private beach. There, he knew it would be quiet and she could have peace to sort through her thoughts. His plan was to bring the rest of the gang there too, and use it as a hideout until they figured out their next move. But the others could wait one more night. Katara needed the time.

Zuko waited on the beach while Katara sat at the end of the dock, her feet in the water. She'd already changed back into her usual outfit, wanting at least her clothing to feel normal, even if nothing else did. The afternoon passed by slowly. Zuko wished he could be there for her, provide a shoulder to lean on or a listening ear, but he still didn't know where he stood with her and he didn't want to upset her with his company.

The sunset filled the sky with fiery oranges and reds when Katara finally got up and padded up the dock back to the beach.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked.

"I'm doing fine."

"That was very strong. What you did back there. Or, what you didn't do."

"I wanted to do it." Katara shuddered. "I wanted to take out all my anger at him but I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it or if it's because I'm strong enough not to."

"Did you forgive him? Like Aang wanted?"

Katara balled her hand into a fist. "I didn't forgive him. I'll never forgive him."

Zuko's heart was in his throat but he had to know. "And… me?"

"What about you?"

"Can you… forgive me?"

It was only a moment before her answer, but it seemed like an eternity to Zuko.

"No," she said resolutely.

Zuko felt a wave of despair. Was there nothing he could do to earn her forgiveness?

"Katara. Please." He reached out to touch her.

She lurched away. "No, Zuko."

"Just listen to me then, okay? I've earned that much, at least."

Katara pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "Fine."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for Ba Sing Se, Katara, I am so, so sorry. I was so stupid. I thought my father could return my honor to me but he couldn't. I thought I needed to be accepted into the Fire Nation—accepted by my father—to be fulfilled, but that was wrong too. I had to figure that out for myself, I know that now. And when Aang found us in the cave… and he kissed you, I thought—well, it doesn't matter what I thought anymore. I made a bad choice. The worst choice. I betrayed you." Zuko's voice broke and tears welled in his eyes. "I threw away the best thing that ever happened to me. But I learned, and I came back. Even thinking you were in love with Aang, I knew I had to do the right thing and help you all. I know that it can never be… like it was, between us. I know I gave that up when I betrayed you. And I will regret it until I die. But please, please Katara, please can't you at least see that I've changed? I can't bear the thought of you hating me anymore."

Katara swallowed. She felt hyperalert and dizzy all at the same time. This was the conversation she had been avoiding since Zuko joined them. No matter how much he apologized, it didn't fix the gaping hole in her heart and she didn't think anything would. She barely felt the small jolt of surprise that Aang's kiss had been the catalyst, after all.

"I'm sorry Zuko but I just can't." Her voice wavered.

"Why? Why can't you?"

"Why?!" Katara's anger flared and the words surged out of her. "WHY? You think you can just come back and everything will be okay again? Oh, boo hoo, 'I'm fire prince Zuko and I've gone on this big personal journey and I've been through so much pain.' Did you ever think about my pain?"

"Of course—" Zuko began before Katara cut him off.

Her voice was hoarse with emotion. "I'm not finished! Did you ever think about how I felt when you turned around and attacked me, after everything I thought we had? Worse than that, you tried to kill my best friend. You made me think you cared about me, and then, when I needed you, you turned against me. You just took what you wanted from me—you had fun fucking the little peasant until it didn't suit you anymore, and then you just tossed me aside. Like it was nothing! For fuck's sake Zuko, you think I just pulled myself back up after that?"

Tears streamed freely down Katara's face and she began to shake with anger and the effort of holding in her sobs as she yelled, "I have spent months—MONTHS—trying to heal my heart and it hasn't mattered because it still hurts so fucking much. Every single day it hurts. And you did that. You did that to me. Every time I look at you, it hurts all over again. I was in love with you, you asshole! I love you, and you… you…"

Katara broke down crying, unable to continue.

Zuko could not believe what he had just heard. He felt so ashamed of everything he'd done, and to hear how much it hurt her was like a knife in his heart. But then, she said she loved him. Hope blazed so hot he couldn't speak.

She loved me? Holy shit, she loved me. LOVES me? I am an even bigger moron than I thought. Oh Katara, my Katara, how could I do that to you?

In two long strides Zuko closed the distance between them. Grabbing her face, he pulled her into a frantic kiss; a hard, mouth-bruising, urgent kiss. He could taste the salt of her tears as he crushed his lips against hers.

Katara's body went stiff and her head felt like it was spinning until she could hardly keep her balance. Then she was kissing him back, her body responding to him without input from her brain.

When her brain caught up with what she was doing, she jerked back, slapping him hard across the face.

Zuko caught her hand before she could retreat. His words tumbled over themselves, "I love you. I love you Katara, I love you. I loved you then, I love you now. Please, I love you."

Katara's eyes flew wide. Everything she had fought so hard to push away came rushing back all at once, shattering her carefully maintained defenses.

With a strangled cry in the back of her throat, she lunged at him, taking his mouth again. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and they kissed with a hard and tender passion, full of denied love and longing. He clutched her to him fiercely.

It wasn't enough. She was still so angry at him. But she loved him so desperately. And she was angry at how desperately she loved him. And how much she wanted him to love her back. Now, he'd said he loved her, what she'd been longing to hear; and he was kissing her again, what she'd been aching to feel—her emotions jumbled together until she didn't know what she wanted anymore. Doing the only thing that seemed to make any sense, she bit his lower lip, hard. She didn't know whether she was biting him to punish him or to possess him.

Zuko moaned and pressed his mouth against hers mercilessly, then bit her lip in return, even harder.

Her mind screamed that she needed more, it still wasn't enough, she needed to feel more. Whether the pain took the edge off her anger or whether that was what it took to convince her that this was real, it didn't matter. She loved him more than she thought it was possible to love anyone. She needed to make herself believe that she was in his arms, that he was holding her, kissing her, wanting her, loving her. It was a ferocious, terrible, relentless need and it demanded more. She grasped at his clothing, his arms, his back, trying to pull him closer to her, trying to smother the ache in her heart with the feel of his body.

Zuko answered in kind, kissing her with raw, pure, brutal love. Gripping her so hard that it hurt, one fist in her hair, the other wrapped possessively around her waist. As he kissed her with sweltering fury, the wild thing Katara had been holding at bay since Zuko had returned was unleashed. She tore her mouth away, lips swollen and tingling, to bite his neck and chest.

More, more, more. It flooded her mind and body until she felt feral with it.

Zuko's lips latched onto the sensitive skin at the base of her neck and she felt a sweet stinging suction, a dull pain mixed with pleasure, forcing a moan from her. Alternating swells of heat and chills coursed through her body.

Taking a long, quivering breath, she urged Zuko on, plunging her hands under his shirt and digging her nails deep into his back as he sucked a line of violent, hungry kisses down her chest.

More than ever before, he felt a raging need to consume her, to have her and claim her. He'd thought he lost her—and now that he had her again, his desire felt like a wildfire blazing through every nerve in his body.

A blur of lips and teeth and nails, of grasping hands and burning need, they tore at each other, trying to pull the other into themselves in a frenzied desire to be one.

Then suddenly Katara was on her back in the sand, his hands beneath her dress, tearing at her leggings and sarashi wraps with all the strength of his suppressed passion.

"Don't be gentle," she growled in his ear, ripping his pants down to free his straining erection.

Zuko gave a ragged groan from the back of his throat. His eyes were dark and starved as he seized her wrists, holding them above her head and pinning her down. Mine, he said without saying a word. Mine!

Her body arched under him. Deep within her came an answering call, Yes, yes, yours, all yours. And you are mine. I WILL have you.

She exulted in the searing heat of his body pressed along the length of hers, the weight of him on top of her, the exhilaration of having him again. She felt both helpless under him and strangely powerful, the master of this furious desire unshackled within him.

With his knee, he shoved her legs apart. Feeling his probing shaft against her inner thigh, her hips jerked against him involuntarily, eliciting a husky moan from him.

Forcibly, he buried himself into her. She cried out in pleasure.

"My waterbender," he rumbled.

His possessive voice sent another ripple of pleasure through her. In answer, she fastened her teeth in the flesh of his shoulder. Full of her own uncontrollable need, her hips jerked again.

"Harder," she gasped.

She thrilled to the sensation of his long, hard cock pushing inside of her, harder, deeper, scorching her, filling her with more fire than she could ever remember feeling, even with him. She wanted to laugh and cry all at once. Her breath hitched and she couldn't contain a low panting moan. Each time he pulled back, she hungered for him to return, pushing to take him again.

Zuko cried out at the unbelievable pleasure of her. He'd missed her so desperately, loved her so fervently, so hopelessly. It felt like they were made for each other, and he would be damned if he would ever let her go again.

Katara felt the pressure deep within her grow with each thrust and she rocked her hips insistently. She looked up at him, silver streaks from her tears still on her face, face flushed, eyes full of desire. In this moment she could forget herself—there was no heartbreak, no agony of longing, no anger, no despair. Just desire and sensation and passion. She turned her face upwards, urgent to be kissed. Still restraining her wrists, Zuko crushed his lips against hers savagely as he plunged his cock into her depths, faster and faster.

Whimpering, feeling each stroke keenly, she arched to meet him, blow for blow. Abruptly, deep surges of pleasure washed over her, coming in waves that matched Zuko's movements.

"Don't stop, don't stop," she moaned into his mouth.

The spasms of her release stroked him as he drove in again and again with unrestrained abandon, until his own orgasm followed on the heels of hers and sent tremors through his entire body. Zuko breathed hard as the peak came over them both and crested.

"Katara, my Katara," he whispered shakily, his head dropping against her shoulder. "I love you."

He collapsed on top of her, both of them in a dazed stupor. Katara loved the feeling of his weight resting on her, never heavy—she never felt so complete as she did in these moments. And it had been so long. So terribly long.

Adrift in contentment, Katara absently traced patterns along his shoulders with her fingertips. She realized that she'd left a crisscross of scratch marks all over his back.

Zuko's fingers squeezed her lightly. He clasped her close for a moment before withdrawing himself and yanking his pants up, then rolled over to lie with his back on the sand. He pulled her on top of him. Smiling, with tears in his eyes, he settled his arms around her and embraced her tightly.

They lay there as their breathing slowed.

"So does this mean you forgive me?" he whispered.

There was a long pause and Zuko thought his heart would stop.

Katara buried her face into his chest and trembled.

"Katara?"

"I want to. Spirits, how I want to. But… I'm so afraid. I'm afraid I will get hurt again. How can I ever trust you…"

Zuko's voice was husky with emotion as he replied. He felt like he wanted to weep. "I will never hurt you again. I promise. I swear it. I love you so much and I was such a coward not to tell you before now. I won't hurt you again Katara. I won't. I would rather die than see you hurt again."

Katara took a deep shuddering breath. "I love you too. Despite… everything. I love you. But it hurts."

Zuko thought, How does she still love me, after all of it? How could I be so lucky? Never, ever again, will I make such a huge mistake. I will never give her up again.

He said,"It won't keep hurting, I will make sure of that."

"In Ba Sing Se. You just… discarded me." Katara's eyes filled with tears again.

Zuko clutched her against his chest and wished he could go back in time to make a different decision on that fateful day. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that from your perspective… but of course that is how you felt. I was so jealous, Katara. Stupid and jealous. I saw Aang kiss you, and he said he loved you, and I thought that maybe you loved him too… and then I couldn't think straight. I just lost it. And then I lost you. But I never stopped loving you, you have to believe that."

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"I know. I should have trusted you. Trusted what I felt for you. And what we had."

"Yeah. You should have."

A long silence hung between them.

Katara said, "I just wish you'd figured it all out sooner. You know, everything you said when you asked to join us, about realizing what the right thing was and that you had to do it. I wish you'd figured it out before… before you did what you did."

"Me too. Not a day goes by when I don't wish that. I just… I wanted… my father—"

Katara interrupted him, "I know."

She lay on him quietly, simply soaking in the comfort of his closeness, as Zuko stroked her hair.

After a time, she said, "I forgive you."

Zuko could hardly believe it. Forgiveness was not something he was used to. He smiled unsteadily and rained kisses on her forehead and face. "You are everything to me, Katara. You will never have to feel like that again. I'll tell you I love you every day."

Katara curled herself against him and clasped him tightly. "I love you."

"You really do, don't you?"

"I do."

Zuko closed his eyes, overcome with feeling. "Thank you."

"Thank you?"

"For loving me." Zuko cleared his throat. "I haven't had a whole lot of that in my life. And I never thought you would, you know, feel that way about me. This is the best I've ever felt and it's all because of you. So, thanks."

Katara felt a warm tender feeling blossom in her heart, beginning the work of smoothing away the jagged edges of her pain.

Her body felt pleasantly limp and comfortable. She closed her eyes.

Zuko returned to carefully stroking her hair. With each gentle stroke, it was like a weight was lifted from her heart. A barb removed. A drop of antidote for the poison that had been slowly choking the life from her.

They stayed tangled up in each other for some time, until the sun had sunk far below the horizon and brilliant stars covered the night sky.

"Why don't we go inside, waterbender? I have a very comfortable bed we can sleep in tonight."

"Not yet," she murmured.

They lay on the beach until the breeze grew chilly, when Katara eventually allowed Zuko to guide her to his family's vacation house and into his bed.

Drifting to sleep in each other's arms, Katara basked in a happy glow, a balm to the anger she had harbored since Ba Sing Se.

Sometime in the quiet hours of the night, they woke again and turned to each other wordlessly. Long, sensuous touches in the dark turned into lingering kisses and slow unspeaking tenderness, love-making in every sense of the word.

They fell asleep again, entwined, to the gentle sound of the ocean waves lapping up against the beach.