~~~S3 E17: The Ember Island Players~~~

Sokka had dragged them all to an unbelievably terrible play about their own adventures; it was little more than Fire Nation propaganda and the end couldn't come soon enough… but unfortunately, right now was only the intermission.

Katara inhaled a deep breath of fresh air as she walked out onto the balcony, looking for Aang.

She knew why Aang was upset—in the play, much to her chagrin, the characters of her and Zuko were all over each other. It made her wish she wasn't sitting next to Zuko for the performance, and they had both shrunk away from each other when the actors started going on and on about their torrid love affair. Just because it was true didn't mean she liked seeing it show up in the play! It was mortifying. No one else was supposed to know about them, after all! Except Toph, who, when it had come up in the play, had downright cackled on the other side of her and punched her in the shoulder. And, maybe Iroh. But she was pretty sure neither of them was the playwright.

Regardless of her own embarrassment, there was a bigger issue at hand. She couldn't bear to have this be the way Aang found out.

"Are you all right?" she asked, finding him standing at the edge of the balcony staring out into the night.

"No, I'm not. I hate this play," Aang grumbled morosely, throwing off the hat he had been wearing to hide his tattoo.

"I know it's upsetting, but it sounds like you're overreacting."

"Overreacting?! If I hadn't blocked my chakra, I'd probably be in the Avatar state right now!"

"Come on, it's not that bad," she said, attempting to improve Aang's humor.

Aang did not take the invitation to lighten up, only becoming more serious. "Katara. Did you mean what you said in there?"

"In where? What are you talking about?"

"On stage. When you said I was just like a brother to you. And you didn't have feelings for me."

Katara fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "I didn't say that. An actor said that."

"But it's true, isn't it?" Aang accused. "We kissed in those caves in Ba Sing Se. I told you I loved you Katara, and you haven't said anything about it. Not a word. I thought we would be together, but we're not. At first I thought you just needed some time to think about it. But that's not true, is it? And now I have to sit through this play and watch you make out with Zuko?!"

"I'm sorry Aang, but I can't control what they are doing in the play, you know that."

"Do you love me or not Katara?!"

"Aang, that's not fair."

"Why won't you answer me?"

"Because we're in the middle of a war and we have other things to worry about! This isn't the right time for this conversation."

"Well, when is the right time?"

"Aang, I'm sorry, but right now I just don't want to talk about it." Katara closed her eyes, wondering how long she could continue to deflect if Aang kept pushing her. And she felt guilty, knowing this conversation was hurting him—and knowing that she would end up hurting him a lot more when everything was said and done.

Unexpectedly, she felt a soft flutter of lips against hers. Her eyes sprang open to see Aang kissing her.

Katara recoiled in shock, shoving Aang backward at the same time. What the hell was he doing? Exasperated anger swelled in her chest.

"I just said now isn't the time! You can't just go around kissing people without asking, for fuck's sake!" Exhaling heavily through her nose, she tried to calm herself. "I want to be alone. I think you better go inside, Aang."

She pointedly turned away from him to look out at the moon.

Aang's face fell as he hastened away, muttering to himself as he went through the door, "Ugh! I'm such an idiot! Stupid, stupid."

After a few moments, she heard a noise from behind one of the large wooden columns on the balcony. She turned to see Zuko appear from behind it, tentatively walking to join her at the edge of the terrace.

"Sorry, I was just looking for you but when I heard you talking to Aang, I didn't want to interrupt. I didn't mean to, um, lurk." Zuko gave a self-deprecating smile.

"You heard all that?" A cold feeling swept over her. Déjà vu.

"Yeah."

Katara braced herself. "Aang kissed me, just now."

"I know."

She looked at Zuko, her blue eyes big and fearful. "I am so sorry. Argh! He keeps surprising me. Are you upset? Last time…" she trailed off. "Please talk to me."

Zuko turned to her. He wanted to take her hands and press them to his lips, to gather her up into his arms and shower kisses onto her head. But they were in public and none of that would be a good idea at the moment. Instead, he simply looked at her earnestly.

Seeing the open expression in his face, Katara relaxed a little.

"No. I trust you." He sounded amazed at the admission. "I never thought I would be able to trust anyone. But I trust you."

He looked pleased and a bit shy, even. Her heart welled up with joy, her eyes shimmering in the moonlight as she gazed upon him.

She glanced around to make sure there was no one else nearby, then whispered, "I love you so much."

He still got a faint look of surprise on his face every time she said it, as though he couldn't quite believe that it was real. It made her want to say it over and over until there was no doubt left in his mind that he deserved it.

They smiled at each other, longing to embrace.

"I do feel bad for the guy, though," Zuko said.

"Who? Aang?"

"Yeah. I know what it's like to love you so hopelessly and not be able to have you." Zuko kept his voice low in case anyone inside was passing by the door. He fought to keep his hand by his side, instead of trailing his fingertips up the inside of her wrist like he wanted to.

"You have me now," she said, leaning a little closer.

"And I'm thankful for that every day. I'm a lucky bastard."

"It's not luck. It's you."

Zuko didn't know how to respond to that. He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly.

Growing solemn, he said, "I still get cold shivers when I think about how I almost lost you."

"Me too." There was a long pause. "It was a near thing, you know. I was really mad."

"If you hadn't let it slip that you loved me, I don't think I would ever have had the courage to tell you how I felt." Zuko shuddered, though the ocean air was warm. It wasn't something he liked to dwell on.

"I'm so glad you did. Honestly, I should have said something earlier, too. But maybe next time we have something important to tell each other, we can do it without so much drama, eh?"

Zuko smiled. "Yes, please. I can't take that again."

The twinkling of a bell rang out from inside the playhouse.

"Come on, let's get back inside, I think this abysmal play is starting again." Katara rolled her eyes, making Zuko chuckle. They made their way back inside.

O – O – O – O – O – O

That night, Katara lay in bed thinking about how they were going to break it to Aang, when the time came. No matter which angle she came at it from, it was not going to be easy.

Maybe I can try to get him interested in Toph instead. Make him forget all about me. Ugh, no, Toph isn't into him though. But he's so nice, and fun, and he's the Avatar, I bet there are tons of girls who would like him, she mused aimlessly, having exhausted what felt like thousands of other ideas and ways of broaching the subject.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her door creaked open.

In the soft light from her window, she could see the outline of Zuko in the shadows. She'd know it anywhere.

"You're not supposed to be in here. Did you come to give me payback for the other night?" she asked roguishly.

Zuko fidgeted with his hands, lingering just inside the door. "Ah. No."

Katara sat up at the serious tone in his voice. "What is it?"

"I just had to see you, that's all."

"Well, come here then." She held out her arms to invite him to join her in the bed. "What's on your mind?"

He took a few hesitant steps toward the bed. Looking out the window instead of at her, he said quietly, "I was feeling, um, sad, I guess. Tonight at the play, we were talking about how close of a thing it was, us not being together. I felt like I had to come see you. To remind myself that this is real. Sometimes… sometimes I feel like I'll open my eyes and this will all have been a dream."

Zuko closed his eyes and grimaced, experiencing the false reality all too vividly in his mind.

"Oh, Zuko," Katara breathed. She shuffled off the bed and went to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't want to deal with this."

"Deal with what? Of course I want to talk about this. I am here for you." She planted a light kiss on his shoulder and kept her head there, hoping that he might draw some comfort from it.

Zuko shuddered, slumping as he fought off the tears threatening to well in his eyes. He settled his hands over hers and Katara immediately intertwined their fingers.

"You must think I'm pretty lame, huh? Or… weak. Just look at me. I'm happier than I've ever been and I'm still a mess." His voice faltered as he spoke.

Katara squeezed her arms around him, as tightly as she could, tears now gathering in her own eyes. "If you're a mess, then so am I. I love you and it's not a dream."

They stood silently for a few moments, Zuko simply taking in her closeness.

Eventually he pulled away to turn and look at her, his face a contradictory combination of anguish mixed with devotion. "It's just so hard to believe that you're here, saying you love me. I know it's true. I know it is. I said I trusted you, and I meant it. But I know… I know I don't deserve you and sometimes it feels unbelievable that you'd actually want me. Sometimes it's like… there's some part of me that can't quite accept it, and that part of me is just waiting to find out it's all been a sham or a trick, or… or that it was never real in the first place. I know that's stupid, but…"

"It's not stupid," Katara said softly, cupping his face with her hands. "You've been hurt so many times. Of course you feel like that now. Loving is vulnerable, and it's hard. It's going to take some getting used to. But I'm not going anywhere, and eventually you will believe it, even deep down. And until then, I'll be patient. And tell you how much I love you all the time. You said you'd tell me you loved me every day. It goes both ways. You deserve everything, and one day I'll make you believe it."

Zuko pulled her into a desperate embrace, his shoulders shaking as his tears finally spilled. Katara's heart went out to him and she hugged him back with all her might. She wished she could take all the pain of his past away and show him how worthy he was of love. But it was as she had said—nothing would do that except time.

After he had taken a few deep, shaky breaths, Katara began to press gentle kisses on his neck, then his jaw, then his cheeks.

"Let me love you," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. She met his lips, kissing him softly, slowly. He held onto her as though he might become unmoored without her to anchor him to the present moment.

Katara didn't know how long they kissed for, but eventually the kiss deepened, Zuko now kissing her in earnest. She got the sense that he was savoring her, and it seemed so familiar…

All of the sudden she flashed to that night in the inn, before the Ba Sing Se ferry. The way he had kissed her that night, the way he had touched her—she realized with a jolt that he had been trying, in the only way he could, to tell her how he felt. And she, too preoccupied with her own worries and insecurities, hadn't heard him.

Well, she could hear him now.

"My love," she muttered, pulling him toward the bed. Zuko obeyed, kissing her neck as she tugged him backward.

When they reached the bed, Katara pushed him down onto it first, then climbed on top of him. She straddled his hips with her legs and pressing her entire body against him, willing him to feel just how much she loved him.

One of his arms wrapped around her, while his other hand found its way into her hair.

"You're so good to me," he murmured, a smidgen of disbelief still in his voice. How had all of his mistakes, his bad choices, his flaws, led to this, to her being here with him, wrapped in his arms?

"Because I love you," she whispered, kissing the sensitive place where his jawline met his ear. Zuko shivered under her.

"I love you," she whispered again, now kissing his mouth.

Zuko trembled. He felt exposed, as if his chest were open, his heart laid bare.

"I love you." She kissed his chest.

Zuko closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath.

"I love you." She gently pushed his shirt off.

"Katara—" he managed, more tears appearing in his eyes.

"Shhh," she kissed her name off his lips. "I love you."

She pulled off her own clothing and went back to kissing him, pressing her now naked body against him. She flicked her tongue across his lip and he opened his mouth to admit her.

His hand now traveled along her curves, finding a full breast and stroking it gently, then taking it in his palm. He admired the feel of it, so soft and just the right amount of heaviness.

Katara began to rock slowly, initiating a tiny bit of friction between them.

Zuko moaned into her mouth. When she pulled away to relieve him of his pants, she was met with two golden eyes, amorous and enraptured. She could feel how much he loved her like it was a physical thing. Her heart skipped a beat. No one else had ever seen him like this before—or made him feel like this. He was so beautiful. So beautiful and sensitive and loving, and it made her ache to think that he'd been punished so harshly for it in the past. No more.

"I love you," she murmured again.

"Katara, please—" He felt like it was too much to handle.

"You'll have to get used to hearing it." She nibbled on his ear. "I love you."

His hands shook as he caressed her.

Smiling, Katara pushed off his pants and saw that he was extremely hard. But as she climbed back on top of him, he placed his hands on her hips and said, "Can you lie next to me? I—I want to be as close to you as possible…" He blushed in the darkness.

"Of course," she uttered, kissing him again. "Sounds perfect."

Lying beside him on the bed, she nestled herself against him like the perfect spoon, her back to his chest, her buttocks cradled in his lap. He enveloped her in his arms, clasping her to him and cocooning her in his warmth.

His cock pushed against her as he traced lingering kisses along the back of her neck and shoulders. She reached her hand around to run her fingers through his hair and pull him closer still.

"You're flawless," he murmured, punctuating his sentences with lingering kisses. "Never letting you go… can't believe I get to have you… I need you, Katara."

"You're wonderful. Handsome. Incredible. You make me feel so good. You're all I want," she whispered back, opening her legs and maneuvering herself onto his stiff cock.

Zuko emitted a husky groan as she sank onto him and slowly began to grind along his length.

As she moved, he wound his arms around her torso, one arm nestling between her breasts, a hand pressing against her shoulder, and the other snagged around her waist. He clutched her to him like he was afraid she might disappear yet. Katara found both of his hands with hers and interlaced their fingers, increasing the intimacy still further.

And it was, overwhelmingly, intimate. She could feel him all around her, against her, on her, in her, like they were no longer two separate people but one transcendent being.

They rolled their hips as one, and Katara gasped with how deeply his cock penetrated inside of her in this position. It felt so good. She began to release a series of moans with every movement, each more insistent than the last.

"Katara," Zuko panted. "You have to be quieter. Someone will hear."

She cut off mid-moan and chuckled. "Sorry."

Guiding one of Zuko's hands to her mouth, she said, "I have an idea to help me stay quiet." Before Zuko knew what was happening, she wrapped her lips around one of his fingers and began sucking and swirling her tongue.

"Unnngh," he groaned at the sensation, his head spinning. His cock pulsed inside of her, reminded of their excursions only a few nights ago.

She methodically took each finger into her mouth, humming little "mmmm" noises as she went. It drove Zuko crazy.

With his other hand, he reached between her legs and found her center of pleasure, rubbing it in time with his thrusts. He loved to pleasure her, and by now he knew just what she liked. Her response to his touch always inflamed his blood.

Katara moaned louder, the sound only slightly muffled by his finger in her mouth.

"Shhh," he uttered in her ear, smiling. He increased his speed and kissed her everywhere his lips could reach.

Katara arched her back and vigorously met his pace. His cock plunged deep inside her and dragged against her inner walls, building maddening friction even as he spun his fingers over her clit.

Zuko was breathing rapidly, holding back his own release so he could match it with hers.

The tension in Katara's body swelled to its breaking point, and her whole body grew rigid. Her thighs shook and quivered.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair, and like a dam bursting, a flood of pleasure ripped through her from head to toe.

As she came, Zuko pushed into her. A shriek of ecstasy tore from her lips.

"Katara!" he hissed, but he could feel his own climax coming too. He used his free hand to cover her mouth and muffle the end of her scream. He felt her lips hot against his palm as she started to use her mouth to kiss his hand, instead of make sounds.

Then nothing mattered anymore, as his orgasm electrified his every nerve and drove all other sensibilities from his mind. He seized her hip and pulled her onto him again and again, riding out the wave of their orgasms until they were both breathless.

Quivering, they slowed gradually, the final pulses of joy sweeping through them.

When it was over, Zuko wrapped his arms all around her again and held her close against his chest. Katara sighed contentedly. He made her feel so treasured, so very loved. She resolved she would make him feel that way too, however long it took.

He pressed a light kiss into her hair. "Thank you."

"You make me so happy…" she replied dreamily, soothed within the comfort of his arms and already floating into sleep on the aftermath of her climax. "Just in case you didn't hear me yet… I love you."

Zuko's heart soared at her words. He tucked his face into the curve of her neck and held her as her breathing became deep and heavy.

At some point he pulled the blankets over them. He meant to go back to his own room, he really did, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her side tonight. His last thought as he drifted to sleep was that he wanted to keep her in his arms forever.

O – O – O – O – O – O

Zuko rose with the sun—but he was the only one in the house who did. At dawn, he snuck out of Katara's room with no trouble at all.

Emboldened by their successful late-night rendezvous—twice now, without being caught—Katara and Zuko started sneaking in little touches and kisses in the day, when no one was around. A kiss behind the column here, a touch of the hand in an empty room there, a covert squeeze on the buttocks when passing in the hallway.

Katara knew they should probably be more careful, but she also knew that Aang wasn't planning on fighting the Fire Lord before the comet anymore. She didn't think she could possibly keep her hands off Zuko for however long it was going to take until Aang felt ready to face Ozai.

Besides, it was a bit of a mischievous thrill, sneaking around as they were. It felt like a small rebellion against the fixed idea of her that all of her friends had—motherly, nurturing, maybe even a bit uptight—and it was fun to have a secret naughty side that only Zuko got to see.

A few days later, Zuko was wandering along the beach enjoying the serenity of the morning sunrise, a time when all the world seemed at peace, when he saw a flash of red in the grass at the edge of the sand. Strolling closer, he saw three brilliant fire lilies in full bloom, turning their faces to the sun.

Smiling absently, he ran his finger along one, its petals soft and silky. He thought of how nice it would look in Katara's hair. His first instinct was to take it and give it to her, but before he could pick the flower, he hesitated. He recalled the last time he had tried something like this, when he had given Mai a shell on the beach. She'd been thoroughly unimpressed; and as much as he hated to admit it, that had hurt his feelings a little bit.

Am I about to make the same mistake again? It's probably stupid. She probably wouldn't like it. It's too sappy.

And yet… Katara wasn't Mai.

Maybe she would like it. And it would look beautiful in her hair. In the very least, maybe she'll appreciate the thought?

Feeling foolhardy, he nevertheless plucked it gently and took it with him.

Later that day, Aang was practicing his earthbending with Toph, while Sokka and Suki were in the kitchen attempting to assemble lunch—well, Sokka was attempting and Suki was being very patient with him. He had some crazy idea about making dumplings out of sea prunes (which he'd miraculously found in the marketplace the day before) that he just had to try out.

Zuko found Katara outside, just around the corner from the courtyard. Arching his eyebrow, he nodded at her to join him in a small alcove that housed a side door into the house (typically used for servants to come and go, in the beach house's past life).

Grinning, Katara looked to make sure they were alone, then followed after him. As soon as they were tucked away inside the nook, she snaked her arms around his waist and pulled him in for a long, passionate kiss.

When she pulled away, she noticed that he was holding one hand behind his back.

"What are you hiding, firebender?"

Zuko hesitated. Now that the time had come to give it to her, he was even more unsure about whether she'd like it. "I got you something."

Katara smiled encouragingly. "What? Are you going to make me guess?"

He cleared his throat and produced the flower from behind his back. "Just a fire lily from the beach. I… uh… thought it might look nice in your hair." Suddenly feeling stupid, he hurried on, "It's fine if you don't like it though. It's not a big deal."

Katara beamed. "I love it!" She took it from him and immediately planted it behind her ear. Zuko had been right. The vibrant bloom in her dark hair was stunning.

She bounded forward and kissed him again with delight.

"Well, good," he grumbled, pleased.

"You're so sweet!"

"I'm not. I'm an intimidating rogue fire prince and don't you forget it."

"Oh certainly. I tremble in my shoes at your approach, Your Fieriness."

Zuko laughed and lifted her into his arms, pressing his lips against hers. He spun her until her back was against the wall and deepened the kiss as Katara ran her fingers through his hair.

Thud.

The sound came from behind them.

Zuko released Katara and they both whirled around, hearts pounding.

There stood Aang, his face twisted in shock and devastation. The watermelon juice he'd been drinking lay in the dirt at his feet, spilling out in a puddle on the ground, forgotten.