Hi! This is an AU again. The Miraculous AU actually. I hope you like it!:)

I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender, nor Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.

Day 24: You're in love with him / her

Since a few days, Zuko has had conflicted feelings.

He's been in love with Painted Lady for almost one year and he doesn't think that has changed, but lately he feels something similar for a friend of his. He feels hyperaware of her presence right behind him in the class room, he stares at her during every break, and after school he always wastes time, so that he can be the last one there, when she has to go, and so they can talk to each other.

Katara treats him normally, though, so she doesn't seem to have realised that he changed.

Zuko has been visiting Katara in his Blue Spirit form quite often lately. He enjoys her presence and talking to her, especially in the evening, when it is so quiet and lonely in his house that he just has to go visit her. Of course, he has got Buryu, but the little spirit has the sensitivity of a pea.

For two weeks, Zuko spent almost every evening in Katara's bedroom. They talked, laughed, played video games, and ate mochis. When it got late, she always became cuddly and pressed her head against his shoulder. Sometimes, he hugged her until she fell asleep.

And yesterday it all became worse. They were cuddling, talking, until they disagreed about something, and then she tickled him into surrender. The problem was that she was lying half on top of him on her bed, looking down at his eyes. And then they kissed. That was Zuko's first kiss!

It was a great kiss, a wonderful kiss, and Zuko left straight after, because he is in love with Painted Lady, and Katara is just a friend! How could she seduce him? Maybe he isn't strong enough, or he doesn't care that much about feelings like he thought. Of course, there's a third explanation, but he doesn't even want to think about this possibility.

Not like Katara isn't pretty, she's beautiful, and she is not only a great friend, she's the best person he knows. She always helps others before she thinks about herself, she stands up for those who are too afraid to, and she fights injustice. She's one of the few who are brave enough to stand up against Azula. Katara is honest and kind, and her smile is so radiant that he wants to bath in it.

Her laughter sounds through the cafeteria, as she chuckles at something Suki said to her.

"Why are you staring at my sister like a starving, drooling wolf?" Sokka asks bluntly.

Zuko's eyes widen, and he quickly averts his gaze to look at his best friend. "What? I wasn't!"

"Yeah, then I assume you were looking at another girl in that direction? Maybe my girlfriend?" Sokka probes, his eyes slowly getting this gleam of craziness.

Zuko gives him a deadpan look. "Suki is nice, but I'm not interested in her, nor your sister," he says, his cheeks unfortunately betraying him.

Sokka raises an eyebrow and hums, stroking his imagined beard. "You're a good guy, Zuko. You're my best friend. You have my permission to court Katara, but if you ever break her heart, I'll pretend to forgive you for a few weeks, but then when you least expect it, I'll come at you with a SNEAK ATTACK!"

Other students turn their heads to look at them questioningly.

"As long as you'll yell it out loud like you just did, I'll be fine," Zuko answers, then shrugs. "Besides, I am not interested in Katara!"

Sokka's eyes narrow. "Why? You don't think my sister is pretty?"

Zuko rolls his eyes and takes another bite from his lunch. As usual, his lunch box is organised like a bento, and it looks like it's straight from an advertisement of a perfect high class bento restaurant.

"Of course she is," Zuko murmurs, and blushes, thinking about that kiss with Katara. It was a really good kiss. Her lips had felt so soft and warm, and her closeness, her warm body, all right next to and on top of him… In that moment he didn't want to leave this place ever again.

"Okay, well, you don't fool me, Zuko. Even a blind person can see what's going on."

Toph turns around to look challengingly in their direction. One of her eyebrows rises. Aang, who she just talked to, looks at them, too, now.

"No offense," Sokka says to Toph, who starts grinning.

Zuko tenses.

The little girl walks closer, pretty sure of where they're sitting thanks to Sokka's loud voice.

"Are you talking about the fact that Zuko's in love with Katara?" she asks, grinning evilly.

Zuko frowns. "I'm not!" he hisses.

Aang widens his eyes. "You really are? Because I think she likes you a lot!"

"I just said I wasn't!" Zuko shouts, quickly looking if Katara noticed his loud outburst.

She did and now she's looking at him questioningly, as if she wanted to know if everything was alright. Because she always cares about other people.

Zuko quickly looks away, fighting the heat in his cheeks. Shit! He is trying to convince his friends (and himself) that he's not in love with Katara! He loves Painted Lady! He loves his partner, his friend, this ethereally beautiful girl who is so determined, and who orders him around, and sometimes seems like she doesn't care about him…

What? No! Painted Lady is great and perfect! And besides, she has been very kind and sweet to him lately. Her sarcastic undertone hasn't been that prominent, and she seems to care more about his wellbeing lately.

Yeah, there is no way that he's in love with Katara…

oOo

The third outfit also doesn't convince Katara. Urgh, this top is doing nothing for her!

Why is she so nervous anyway?

It's just Blue Spirit who will come to her, not Zuko!

Blue Spirit is her friend, that's all. And one kiss means nothing! Absolutely nothing! Although the kiss had been astoundingly good, his lips so soft and slow, almost lazy, but she could feel the bubbling passion behind the kiss, making her feel the most female she ever had. Goosebumps spread all over her body, and her stomach did funny things.

Katara presses her palms against her forehead. "Urgh!"

Chiyu floats next to Katara's head, looking at her in the mirror. "Wow, you look great, Katara! But you didn't tell me you would go out tonight," says the little white, red striped spirit.

Katara smiles at her friend, who gifts her the powers of Painted Lady. "No, I'm not going out, but I… er… Well, it's just that what I was wearing today at school looked stupid, and it's not comfy anymore, so I wanted to change into something else."

Chiyu smiles slyly. "Oh, really? And that Blue Spirit will probably show up tonight has nothing to do with this?"

Katara's eyes widen, as she blushes. "What?" she shrieks. "Pf, why would I care if Blue comes tonight or not?" She laughs hysterically.

Chiyu only gives her the "I-don't-believe-a-word-you're-saying"-look.

Katara glares at her. "What? I'm serious! You know I like Zuko!"

Chiyu frowns a little. "Are you sure? You acted differently around him lately, more confidently. You didn't stutter for one week now."

Katara frowns and her mouth pouts. "I'm just getting more confident and more used to him, that's all." She nods to herself. Yep, she's still in love with Zuko. With the most handsome boy in her class, nonsense, in her whole school, in the whole city! Zuko is so kind and sweet, although he doesn't want to show it. He's so dramatically heroic sometimes and always serious, his smile is so sweet, especially since he smiles so seldom, and when he does it lights up his whole face! And Blue doesn't mean anything to her. They are just friends.

"Well, you know, Katara… You can like more than just one boy," Chiyu says.

Katara narrows her eyes, then turns around to her wardrobe to search for her ugliest and least flattering top. "Pff! I don't like Blue! I don't need a better outfit!"

She quickly puts on the wide, bulky top in light lilac, which doesn't suit her at all. Lilac makes her pale, and the fabric scratches, but at least it doesn't look like she wants to impress anyone.

There's a knock on her trapdoor.

"Ah!" Katara screeches, and quickly runs her hands through her hair, but stops then. Oh shit, she has to make them look stupid. "Uah!" Spinning on her heel, she turns around to her chest of drawers, and quickly grabs a hair tie, and makes a bun at the side of her head. Then she grabs her hair pin and puts it somewhere in her hair. Ha, she doesn't care how she looks like. At all.

She swallows one last time, then climbs up to the trapdoor and opens it. There's no need to take a deep breath. Blue is just a friend, nothing more.

He bends over her trapdoor, looking at her. "Hey."

She takes a shaky breath. "Hi. Uh, come in."

He raises his eyebrows, but follows her.

A few seconds later, they stand in her room, staring at each other, both not really knowing what to do.

Katara smiles, presses her lips together, then licks her lips. She has no idea what to do. She just hopes she doesn't look appealing. She doesn't want him to want to kiss her again.

She's in love with Zuko! Not with her partner in her side job, with this shady, flirty, stupid spirit, whose grin is so white and full of fangs and not the least bit attractive.

He raises his hand to scratch his head. "Uh… About yesterday…"

"Yeah, that was…"

"I don't… like you that way," he starts, grimacing.

"Yes! I don't like you like that either," Katara quickly says, smiling nervously.

Blue nods and steps closer. "Great, so…"

"Want a mochi? They are filled with spicy mango." Katara grabs the plate from her desk and holds it out to him.

He grins at her, this typical, flirty, reckless smile he graces Painted Lady and everyone else with. "Sure." He walks closer to her and takes a cookie from her plate, putting it in his mouth. "Thanks again for making them smaller. It's not easy to get them into my mouth with the fangs in the way."

She nods. Well, his fangs didn't bother her when he kissed her. They felt very good actually. His mouth moves, as he chews on the mochi. Katara swallows.

oOo

Zuko's eyes widen, as he notices that Katara is staring at his lips. Shit, this has an effect on him he doesn't want to feel! He keeps munching slowly on the mochi, which is really delicious, Katara makes the best mochis, while he wonders how he can get out of this.

She just said she doesn't like him like that. Then why is she staring at his lips now? And why do her lips open? Wait, is he staring at her lips now?

Zuko can feel his mouth go dry and his knees start to wobble at the thought of kissing her again. It felt so good last time, and she really is the best person he knows, and suddenly he feels this pull and his stomach flutters, and this is all too much. He can't deal with this situation.

Katara puts the plate on her desk, then turns back to look at him and smiles.

Zuko takes a deep breath, steps forward and clasps her face in his hands. Her eyes widen, but she doesn't struggle. His lips open slowly, as his hormonal teenage body screams at him to finally kiss this beautiful, wonderful, funny, intelligent, and kind girl. All thoughts about Painted Lady vanish, as he leans closer. Their lips touch slightly, and he curls his fingers into her hair, as he pulls her closer, kisses her more deeply. Spirits, her lips feel like heavenly softness. She wraps her arms around his neck, as she presses herself closer to him. Groaning, he opens his mouth to kiss her fully.