A Kiss in Ba Sing Se

[A/N: The motives behind our reasons and actions are often buried within our minds or the layers of time.

Toph and Katara, bonded by battle, rivals in love. Now...

The Avatar deals with the unknown and that feeling of powerlessness

Ty Lee returns and Suki sees some of the results of Sokka's torrid night.

The Fire Lord's past burst in on him in an unexpected way.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avatar: The Last Airbender

Enjoy.

Comment if you wish. All feedback is welcomed.]

Chapter 64

Of Feelings and Life...

She never realized that the smell of jasmine and orange petals were actually so soothing before now as she nestled into the bosom of the small Princess who held her tightly. "When in the night did we start snuggling," she wondered in her near twilight state, not really wanting to move as she relished the comfort and warmth.

The steady rhythm of the breathing at her ear told her that her companion was probably still asleep after what she recalled as a turbulent night and she felt the heaviness of slumber as well.

Katara scratched an itch on the tip of her nose across Toph breastbone. "Why am I awake?" she asked herself repeating the process again just to feel the princess' soft, fleshy pillows against her cheeks.

"Oh yeah," she remembered, repeating the rub a third time just for the fun of it. "Her incredible soft soles were rubbing the back of my calves like crazy, giving me turtle-goose bumps, not to mention my face felt like it was on fire," she sighed to herself as she began to rub the earthbender's bare back. "It's gotta be pretty late, and I really should get up," she told herself but for some odd reason Katara was still reluctant to move.

As her soft hands drifted about the younger woman's back, Katara suddenly realized, "She's... naked... I think." The waterbender slowly opened her crystal blue eyes and peeked at the alabaster mounds that she just had her face buried in. She was now cognitive of her own state. "And so am I!"

Unexpectedly the little princess moaned lightly and smiled.

"Awww, so cute!" the tan young lady mewed forgetting their lack of dress.

The princess' strong but slender arms that were wrapped about her head tightened, pulling her face back into its previous position.

"When did this dirt devil develop such lovely cushy lumps?"

The memory of Aang openly groping her bedmate turned Katara's face sour. "No doubt they sprouted from all that excessive handling," she summarized with a cold smirk. "You smell so sweet, and look so soft and innocent now. Aang, when he was... was..." she gulped deeply, "making love to you... he looked so La-damn happy! I've never fucking seen him that happy before. Even when he got Appa back or when we got together," she went over in her mind. "What have you got that makes you so much better than me? Are your tits that much better than mine?" she asked silently as she reached up and fondled one of Toph's breasts.

Katara's eyes popped open as her hand began to more thoroughly investigate the divine sensation. "Oh, so firm and yet... it's like... soft an-and, shapely. This feels totally incredible," she relished as she now pulled on the firm nipple.

Toph was now moaning and starting to breathe out in short pants as her cheeks were glowing fiery red. The earthbender's back arched as Katara latched onto her teat with a hard suck. "Sweetness! What the earth are you doing!" she gasped loudly with a shudder as she awoke.

Katara released her elongated nipple and gazed into her face. "What happened to my little tomboy of a sister I knew? She was rough and calloused, flat-chested and dirty… but always cute. She was a flower on the verge of blooming. Now you're beautiful and sweet and girly and your boobs are even better than mine! No wonder Aang loves these. Hell, I love them too!" she admitted still working the one with her hand.

The metalbender took hold of the waterbender's most exposed breast and began to roughly massage it as Katara's head jerked back in pleasure causing her to groan loudly. "C'mon, you've got a great pair... or doesn't this one match the other," Toph teased as she rolled the blue-eyed woman's soft rounded nipple between her thumb and index finger.

This action produced a cacophony of utterances from the waterbender as she began to writhe and grind her crotch down upon the princess' thigh that rested between her legs.

"Are you crying or something Sweetness?" the mischievous blind royal asked as she began to knead the other breast to increase the sound. She then lifted her leg further into the waterbender. "You're making an awful lot of noise and what's that wet thing on my leg? I think I use to have a saber-fox that did the same thing to me until my mom saw it. She has a nice saber-fox stoll now."

Katara jerked back pushing Toph away. She quickly rolled the other way on the huge bed so they were no longer touching. A mix of emotions ran through her as she fought back her tears. "You're not gonna cry, you're not gonna cry over this," she told herself as she sniffled. "You're not gonna cry over her.."

Toph moved over to to hug Katara from the rear as her hands slipped both under and over. The warm, strong embrace started the waterbender mind's reeling for some reason. "Uhm… Sugar, what's the matter?" the metalbender asked playfully nipping at the sulking young woman's earlobe. "I thought we were having fun."

Katara's heart started racing like a eel-hound in full stride. "You... you... made fun of me. You so much as called me a b-bitch," she whimpered even as the princess was again fondling her breasts softly.

"Oh, my Sweetness. So what if you're my bitch?" she replied coarsely in a low voice.

Once more the waterbender broke away and this time sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Fuck you Toph!" she cursed as she wiped at her eyes. "I mean nothing to you!"

"Yes, you matter to me sister and I want to know just how much," the little princess said standing in front of her.

Katara had not felt her move off the bed, but she slowly gazed up, taking in the toned features of the woman before her. Finally she was staring into the earthbender's flushed face.

"Way to check out a girl Sweetness," Toph exclaimed shyly as she gently leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

Gentle pecks deepened into long, lingering, mouth-filling, kisses as Toph slowly pressed her back upon the bed until the two were fully upon it.

"W-why were you making fun of me?" Katara softly whispered into the earthbender's ear as they hugged intensely.

Toph took in a deep breath. "Call it... old territory. This is all new to me, not that I don't like it," she quickly filled in. "When you were sucking on my tit, it felt weird, but awesome too. I just... well... I'm messed up in the head. If you don't know that by now," she admitted as her brow furled and she sucked in her bottom lip.

Katara chuckled lightly. "I knew that from the day I met you. But you're still precious to me and guess what? This is my first time doing something like this too," she exclaimed rolling atop her smaller playmate. "But you have to pay a penalty for teasing me. It's only fair don't you think?"

Toph shifted under her, feeling the waterbender's breast against hers, as the blind bender's expressive foggy eyes filled with curiosity. "Penalty... uh, what type of penalty are we talking about here Sweetness?" she inquired even as the waterbender's hand slipped down between them grasping Toph's crotch unexpectedly. "Wait, Katara... what are you..."

Katara's finger's slipped in as she started to slowly rub through the labia, focusing on the already excited nub. Toph moaned loudly as her cheeks deeply reddened and her lower jaw started to shudder.

"Now... who's being loud?" Katara teased as she stimulated the princess even further, feeling Toph's thighs tighten around her hand. "Who's bitch are you, Toph?"

The princess suddenly stopped moving all together and the emotions seemed to drain away from her face. The extreme change of mood caught the waterbender off guard.

"What's wrong Toph?" Katara asked pensively as she was frozen in place.

Toph slowly removed the waterbender's hand from her vagina. "Everything's okay Katara. I might as well tell you the whole truth and take whatever consequences come with it." she sighed out. "Stupid conscience."

The puzzled waterbender sat back on her knees giving Toph enough room to scoot back and sit up as well. "I don't understand," Katara exclaimed tearfully. "Did I hurt you or something? C'mon Toph, tell me if I did something wrong?" she pleaded in a broken voice.

The metalbender ran her hand through her thick bangs pulling them down over her eyes. "Well yeah. You made me remember just how much I care about your stupid ass Sugar Queen. I mean, I never even thought about doing something like this with another girl. But with you, it feels... okay. Do you know what I mean?" Toph solicited as she struggled with verbalizing her feelings.

Katara nodded as she reached over to capture a tear that fell from Toph's smoggy green eyes under her curtain of raven hair. "Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying Toph. Same here," she agreed moving her bangs back again as Toph blushed. "Mei Mei may look like you, but I'm not the least bit interested in doing anything with that skank. But when we kissed during that game... wow! I know you felt my heart jump, didn't you?"

Toph smiled tightly. "Shit Katara, I think the whole room heard it. I didn't know I was that good of a kisser!" she jested lightening the mood.

Katara pulled Toph close and again they resumed kissing from a light volley of lip pops until they were enmeshed in deep sighing, breath stealing, tongue probes. A couple of moments later they rocked back on their legs once more, trialing pecks as they went.

Katara took in a satisfied breath. "Not good, I would rank that as great Toph. In fact, the best I've ever had," she complimented the flushed metalbender.

"You too Sweetness," the princess demurely replied feeling the waterbender tracing her lips with a finger. "In fact, you're pretty hot stuff, so..."

Katara let out a little yelp as Toph pushed her unto her back. The next second was filled with unexplained bliss as she felt an almost electrical explosion of sensations that shot through her core. The waterbender gripped and twisted the bedsheets in her hands as she wrapped her legs about the smooth muscular back of the naked earthbender.
Her eyes refused to rollback out of her head and the shock waves that permeated her whole body kept her from even talking as she strained and rolled under the unrelenting assault of ecstasy. Finally she found voice as her long steady moan grew into a full fledge screaming orgasm while her hips bucked fiercely until she fell back exhausted and sweating on the bed.

The princess' mouth was glistening as she looked up at Katara from between her still shaking brown thighs. "I knew there was a reason I called you Sweetness.," The slap on waterbender's round tight rump resounded in the bed chamber as Toph buried her face once more between the thick auburn folds of the gasping woman and let her tongue unsheathed the jutting clit. As she could hear Katara calling her name over and over, she gently pressed her finger inside the undulating woman's vagina, releasing a sweet, musty, sticky flow and sending the hapless waterbender back into the throes of fervent passions.

"I'm sorry Katara," Toph thought even as she worked on driving the waterbender mad with amorous. "This is my true penalty for what I've stolen from you."

The Avatar sat on the floor of his room wringing his hands and letting his tears fall freely. Beside him knelt his protector of that morning's battle, without whom he would have surely perished, Fong Bei Fong . She said nothing ever since his collapse, only staying at his side with her two bloodied blades crossed on the ground in front of her.

It had been almost an hour since the Rakshasi had died and Aang subsequent despair. He had not moved from that very spot that he sat crossed legged in. There was no body to gaze upon. At the moment of her death, Hidimbi turned completely gray and then it was as if her body was incinerated. It was literally reduced to quickly vanishing embers. She smelled of the sweetest frankincense as the cinders disappeared into wisps of white smoke.

"What... what was that?" he asked into the air in a weak voice. "I'm the Avatar. The bridge between this and the spirit world and yet... I never knew that anything like that existed," he exclaimed with a shudder. "It-it, just picked her up like nothing. Like she was a ragdoll. She looked so helpless and did you hear her crying for help? That thing... that... was it a woman? It was so fast I barely saw it as it tore out her throat like that and... and laughed. Why... why was it laughing Fong?"

The stoic lady recalled the incident. "It.. rather, she was enjoying her meal, your Grace," Fong informed him. "The succubus was obviously her prey."

"So you know what that thing is?" Aang questioned turning to look at the Toph look-a-like.

"Yes your Grace, they are known to all of the Assassin's guild. She is called a djinn, also known as a soul eater," Fong once more educated him. They are the apex predators of the spirit world on all levels."

Aang rubbed his eyes. "Why would one of these, djinns, come here? Did it like hunt her down like she was some kind of wounded animal or something? Do they do that?' he asked her trying to make sense of the small being's brutal death. "Do you think that djinn thing also tortured her as well in her own world, like a panther-cat with a shrew-mouse?" he pondered outloud.

Fong paused in thought again. "Most unlikely. The way the djinn quickly finished her off says that she was taking no chances with her. Though it appeared most heinous, the bite severed the spinal cord and ended her mercifully," Fong stated appreciating the swiftness of the kill. "Don't forget, that Rakshasi was hunting you and would have made a meal out of you had not that djinn come along. You fell under that creatures enchantment and pushed me out of the way thinking it was Toph. I was grateful to see that djinn appear through the passage and finish this. I do not mourn it's death, but celebrate your life."

"You don't understand!" Aang yelled pounding his leg. "This is all my fault.. my stupid fault! I was there in her world and she just wanted to make sure I didn 't hurt Toph!" he cried with anger and shame. "When I learned Toph was a Thought Seer, I called her a monster. It like automatically came out of me the minute she told me. It was Hidimbi that showed me how much of a moron I was and even though it tried to kill me yesterday, it was all to protect Toph," he explained as he exasperatedly rubbed his bald, sweaty head. "Somebody else however used this an opportunity to kill her and I would like to know who Fong."

The brown-eyed lady moved closer to him. "Perhaps somebody was trying to use this opportunity to kill you, Avatar. Maybe we should be looking for someone who wants the current Avatar eliminated," she posed staring him in the eye.

Suki stood for a moment and thought about chasing him into the bedroom and conducting a thorough examination of her lover but then came a knock on the door.

"Suki! You still out there! Somebody is at the door and I'm naked here!" Sokka called out. "Can you get that for me dear?"

"Sure," she replied as she walked over to the door. "I'll come in and wash your back after they're gone," she told him.

Strangely, there was no further response as she opened the door.

"Lieutenant Ty Lee reporting in ma'am," the fully dressed brown-haired woman said with a salute and bow. "The steward told me you would be here. The rest of the troop is in the dining hall getting breakfast," she reported formally standing at attention.

"Relax Ty Lee," Suki exclaimed with a smile as she gave her a hug. "Good to see you and good to see you've healed up from those wounds. The arm is okay now?"

"A little numb at the finger tips from the freezing, but Katara did a great job healing all the frostbite. Smugglers can be a nasty bunch and I didn't expect a waterbender to be with them. She was quite a handful until I knocked her out."

Suki placed a hand on her subordinate's shoulder. "You always do a greater job Ty and we have all gotten better because of you. That chi blocking has helped step up our game," she told her.

A big familiar grin exploded across the young woman's face. "Thanks cap! I appreciate that," she acknowledged the compliment as she looked about the room. "Uh... this is cuties' room right?" she asked walking further in. "Is he here?"

"Yes he's here Ty," Suki responded in a less than friendly tone now. "And he's not cutie. He's the Vice Regent Sokka. You can call him your Majesty, your Highness or milord, all those are proper," she explained as Ty Lee continued to flitter about the room.

"Do you call him those things?" she asked Suki with a matter-of-fact grin on her face.

The Fan Master was taken aback by the question for a moment. "Of course not! I'm his lover! Why would I refer to him as if I was a stranger?" she snarled with a roll of her blue green eyes.

The former circus performer shrugged her shoulders. "Just asking is all," she replied as she caught sight of the open bedroom door. "Is he in there? Can I go and say hello?" Ty Lee asked the questions consecutively without a pause for an answer. She was already moving through the door before Suki could make an objection..

"No Ty don't!" Suki called after her as they both filed into the room.

Ty Lee stood with her hands over her mouth as she peered at the Regent's deeply scratched and clawed back. Some of which looked as if they needed a stitch or two.

"What have you done to him!" the chi blocker screamed at her captain. "I wouldn't have left him in your care if I thought you were treating him like this!"

'What? I-I didn't do any of this Ty! I would never so something like this!" Suki retorted unable to take her eyes away from his back. "It looks like you ran back first into a porcu-boar Sokka! What happened to you?"

The young man craned his neck about, "Oh, hey Ty Lee. I guess that was you at the door. How ya been? Now that both of you are here, can you get me some wound cream and perhaps help me run a bath?" he asked in a nervous voice. "I'm finding it a little hard to move."

Lei was sitting in Zuko's suite when the word came that the crisis was over. She was about to leave as Zuko took hold of her hand.

"Please Lady Lei, sit and have some tea with me," he offered with his best server's smile. "I know it's been a stressful morning and I do appreciate all your concern. After facing what we did last night, I know my men would have been a disadvantage."

She bowed politely. "It was my honor to be of service to you, your Highness," she replied in a voice that perfectly matched Toph's.

Zuko tried to contain himself but started laughing outloud all the same.

"Sire, did I say something funny or amiss," Lei inquired further not knowing the reason for his levity. A perplexed look crossed her face and that just caused him to be even more amused. "Maybe I should leave your Highness?" she stated feeling as if he were making a fool of her.

Zuko reached over and took her hand again. "Please forgive me milady. It has nothing to do with you... well, your voice I guess. you sound exactly like her and she would never call me sire or your Highness," he explained still chuckling. "And then you make the same expression she does, but you don't punch me or yell at me," he exclaimed calming down. "It was just so bizarre."

Lei didn't appear to be amused in the slightest. "The she, I presume is my cousin, her Majesty. I'm glad we have struck your fancy and given you a moment of jocularity, Fire Lord. Will there be anything else? " she remarked with a another bow.

The Fire Lord was growing frustrated with himself for turning a gesture of goodwill into a slight. "Please don't get me wrong again," Zuko called out. "You know your cousin. She's a handful of woman and even I thought about courting her some time ago," he admitted as his cheeks flushed slightly. "She still my dearest friend and there is nothing I wouldn't do for her. I love how she treats me like a part of the group and how when we're alone, I know I'm special to her. Did you know, she loves foot massages. She makes the cutest noises and bites her lips when I do her toes of the inside of her arches..." Lei was smiling now as she watched the genuine affection play out in the Fire Lords word. "You just sound so much like her and I just thought... talking with you, well, would kind of be like talking to her."

Lei walked over to the small tea table with the settings already arranged. "So, were you expecting her to come this morning?" she asked as she sat when Zuko pulled out the chair.

He looked at his perfectly made table. 'No, I had another guest in mind but she must be busy already. Still I don't want to waste my uncle's Heavenly Lotus Chai. It's great in the morning and has a bit of a kick to it," he commented setting the sterno on fire with a snap of his fingers. "This will take a few moments... slow brewed is the best," he said trying to imitate Iroh.

"Of course, no rushing perfection," Lei replied as she took her napkin and placed it across her lap.

zuko found himself staring at how eloquently and deliberately she moved. It was like a small choreographed dance down to the last detail.

"My, you are stunningly beautiful," he said openly. 'And your eyes... I've never seen quite that shade of green before on a person."

Again her face went solemn. "Sire, I am a courtesan. You do not have to flatter me or ply me with tea and crumpets. I am yours to command . Shall I go to the bath or the bed for you?" she asked with a short sigh.

The Fire Lord folded his hands in front of his face. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why does it seem every time I try to just be nice it's coming off the wrong way," he gasped covering his eyes. "I'm sorry again. I'm talking to you the way I speak to her, and yes I tell her that she's gorgeous and she tells me I'm blind... and stupid," he explained with a sigh. "Please trust me. If I was after sex, I would have let you known from the start. Conversation and company are much harder to find."

Lei relaxed and put a hand to her face. "You are a strange man sire. I am excited about our time of conversation and company now," she admitted with a warm smile.

Without warning the door to the suite burst open and Lei pulled the long hooked, one edge knife from her sleeve as she snapped her napkin like a whip into the intruder's face with the opposite hand.

The small person hit the floor and began to...cry! "Mommy! Mommy!"

"It's a child," Zuko noted as he moved over and squatted in front of the small girl. "Are you hurt? he asked as he tried to see through her hands that covered her face."

Lei re-sheathed her blade, "I didn't hit her that hard and for Earth sake, it was only a napkin flick. It sounds a lot worse than it really is," the lady said as she reached for a crumpet. "Hey kid, want one?"

The crying now abated as she nodded with a few sniffles.

"Then you have to come and get it from Aunt Lei and ask properly," she instructed her. "Do you know how to do that?"

Again the girl nodded but kept her face covered.

Zuko noted that though her clothes were clean, they were almost rags. "Can you stand?" he asked her softly trying to angle his scar away as to not frighten her.

"Yes I can stand... can you?" the smart remark shot back, startling him.

The Fire Lord fell from his squat unto his butt utterly stunned. The voice, he recognized that voice. It was unmistakable.

The girl now dropped her hands and he could only stare in amazement at an almost mirror image of a younger Azula. Only thing, this girl had one gold eye and one green.

The child put a finger on her chin as if striking a pose. "Why don't you draw a picture, it'll last longer," sh sniped again as Zuko continued to gape at her.

"Sire, what is wrong," Lei asked at the same time several men and a woman came through the open door.

"There's that little ash whore's bitch!" the first man through the door shouted pointing at the ragamuffin. "I'll whip you raw if you don't get over here!"

The child instantly stood up and ran behind Lei. "Please milady, these men are out to use me," she cried hanging onto her skirt. 'They are perverts of the worst kind."

All eyes locked upon Lei and dropped they dropped face first to the floor.

"Pardons your Majesty, we did not know you were in these quarters," the first man said, not daring to look up.

Lei pulled the girl around to the front of her. "I am not..."

"What the princess is saying, she is not pleased with the way you all have barged into my suite or let a mere child upset our schedule," the Fire Lord said as he cut her off when she tried to correct the misunderstanding. "Now go, get this child's mother at once and bring her here!" he demanded.

"Yes sire... your Majesty," they all replied as they backed out of the room.

The little girl began to laugh as soon as they were gone. "What a bunch of morons! Everybody knows the princess has the most beautiful moonstruck eyes and yours are just plain old green," she said taking a muffin off the table.

Lei just as quickly took it out of the nimble finger child's hand. "Sorry for being so, ordinary your little majesty," she replied placing it back. "And didn't I tell you had to ask for that properly?"

Zuko couldn't believe the picture perfect roll of the eyes the you girl performed as she seamlessly shifted character. "Sorry Lady Lei, but may I please have that pastry... and with some cherry preserves, please and thank you. Cherry is my absolute favorite."

"Figures," Zuko thought as tapped his chin.

"I knew you had manners in there somewhere," Lei said as she spread the cherry preserves on thick. "Would you like some tea as well... uh, sorry I didn't get your name young miss."

The young girl took center stage and performed a perfect curtsy in her ragtag, sleeveless, brown one piece dress. "Yes please, and my name is Vahnijaya, but everyone calls me Jaya for short," she introduced herself with a noble air.

"So, Conqueror of Fire, can you bend?" Zuko asked as he got up on his knees.

Jaya's mouth twisted. "Momma said I shouldn't. She said I could make people mad or hurt somebody if I did it wrong," she told them as she started to play with her fingers.

Zuko got a bit closer, "Well it would be our secret here. No one would know, not even your mommy okay?" he assured her with a wink.

A truly devious grin filled the young girl's face. "Where do you want me to point it?"

Zuko stroked his chin sizing up the child. "How about the wall over there by the bathroom door. It looks pretty sturdy," he suggested pointing it out.

Jaya looked at the wall. "So I won't get into any trouble if hurt it?" she innocently asked.

Zuko bent a small scorching blast a the wall. "See I've already ruined it. Take your best shot," he told her.

Jaya took in a deep breath taking a wide leg stance. With a swirl of her arms the room was suddenly filled with the smell of ozone as the young girl's hair started to fly out in all directions.

"Lei get down!" Zuko yelled even as he dove to cover the surprised lady.

Debris and dust filled the room in aftermath of the explosion. Zuko saw the small hole about the size of his fist, all the way through to the bathroom. He now stared back at the young girl who was grinning sheepishly.

"Oops, I think I over did it a little... sorry... uh, Fire Lord, right?" she asked.

"That's right and you're pretty smart," he replied helping Lei up. "Uh, sorry about that Lady Lei. Most kids can only make sparks and small flares at her age. This is the first time I've seen lightening."

"Well, she looks and acts just like your sister from what I recall, now that I get a good look at her," Lei whispered, "Except for that one green eye. Could she possibly be a relative of yours, sire?"

Before he could reply, the old group that was chasing the girl rushed back in with another woman in tow.

As the others bowed to the floor, the new woman did not. "Vahnijaya, what have you done?" she yelled out.

"Mom, he told me I could. H-he did it first!" Jaya cried as she pointed at Zuko .

She had not noticed him at first but, as she caught sight of the telltale scar, she ran over to her daughter and knelt beside her. "Please Lee! I'm mean Fire Lord, don't take my baby away! Please!"