Stupid Ember Island Players. Stupid Ember Island. Stupid world. Katara muttered to herself as she stumbled along the gravel path, kicking at the tiny stones as if that would help. She couldn't believe the audacity of the producer; to exploit her and her friends in that way, to warp their story just so he could make some coins.
She couldn't bare to go back to Zuko's vacation home, she couldn't face everyone, pretend like nothing had happened. No, what she needed was to forget it, or at least think about something else, anything else, for a while.
The island had many bars, some more legal than others, and Katara wasn't picky. She walked in to one of the less legit once on the beach, knowing they probably didn't bother with checking their customers ages.
Back at the Southpole Gran Gran would share some of the wine with both her and Sokka on especially harsh nights, the alcohol warming their bodies from the inside out. Besides, she wasn't a little kid anymore; 15 was the legal age of many things, drinking included. But she was still too unaccustomed with the Fire Nation's laws to risk anything.
"What'll ya have, girly?" The man behind the bar asked her. His voice rough, like he'd been smoking and drinking every day for the past 20 years, and the buzzed hair on his head revealed a scar running from his right ear up to the middle of his skull.
"Whatever", Katara sighed and took a seat.
"One of those days huh?" Despite his scars, yellowing teeth and far too muscular frame the man seemed genuinely nice. He picked up two small glasses from under the counter and poured both of them a drink.
"You have no idea."
"Where have you been?" It was Sokka who noticed her first, stomping around in the kitchen, slamming the cabinet doors as she tried in her intoxicated state to brew a cup of soothing tea.
"Out", was all the answer she gave him, her speech slurred and her feet tripping over each other.
"Katara, are you drunk?" Sokka crossed his arms disappointedly, looking at her with furrowed brows.
"So what if I am?" she all but shouted, the loud tone waking up a certain fire bender she had avoided ever since the play.
"What's going on?" Zuko stumbled in to the kitchen, his hair ruffled, his voice raspy and his chest naked.
"That's what I want to know!" Sokka screeched, throwing his arms in the air dramatically.
"Sokka's being a baby", Katara cut in, folding her arms over her chest like her brother had as she glared at him.
"I'm not being a baby", Sokka shouted, pointing at himself before flinging it in her direction, "You are!"
Just as Katara opened her mouth Zuko silenced them both. "Okay, it's too early for this shit, or late, I don't know", he rubbed the sleep from his eyes exhaustedly, "Sokka, just… go back to bed and stop screaming. And Katara, stop stomping around."
"I'm making tea", she rebutted, lifting her head defiantly.
Zuko sighed, dragging a hand through his hair before he answered, "Let me make it."
"Keep an eye on her", Sokka said, patting his friend on the shoulder and giving him a warning look before shuffling down the corridor.
Zuko waited for the sound of the door shutting close before he spoke again. "What kind of tea do you want?"
"That purple one", Katara said, not remembering the name of the special blend, but her answer only seemed to confuse him more, "You know", she continued, "the one that makes your stomach not hurt and prevents things growing in there."
"Oh", Zuko said and averted his gaze, walking past Katara to start making the beverage.
"Yeah", she rolled her eyes and sat down at the table, "oh."
Back at the Western Air Temple Katara had noticed Suki drinking the vibrant coloured tea and even though she had cringed at the thought of her brother's sex life, she had silently been grateful a few days later as she woke up in the arms of Zuko. Suki still hadn't commented on the disappearance of almost half of the blend and Katara dreaded the day she would.
Neither of them spoke as Zuko filled the teapot with water, igniting a small fire on the stove to boil it before eventually adding in the lilac herbs and plants crushed into a powder.
"Thank you", she said quietly as he sat down across from her, handing her the filled cup. Zuko only shrugged indifferently in response. He watched as she sipped on the tea, making Katara squirm under his gaze.
"So…" he started awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, "You disappeared after the play."
"Yeah", she nodded, keeping her eyes glued to the table, "I just couldn't go back here without-"
"Without a drink?" Zuko raised his eyebrow as he completed her sentence for her and she nodded in confirmation. "Me neither." That made her snap her head up. He didn't look drunk, or talk like he was drunk. Though that could change, Katara thought sneakily.
"I managed to snag a bottle", she admitted, her eyes darting toward the pack she would tie around her hips whenever they went shopping - or in this case, stealing.
"You want to drink more?" Zuko said, and though his words seemed questioning, his tone and the way his eyes lit up could only be interpreted as challenging.
"Let's", she nodded, snagging the pack off of the floor as she turned the corner into the hallway.
"I dare you", Katara giggled, sitting cross-legged on her bed with Zuko in front of her, passing the bottle of liquor between them as they took turns to answer the age old question; 'truth or dare', "to kiss me."
"What?" Zuko laughed before being handed the bottle and taking a swig out of it.
"You heard me. Kiss me."
"That's not much of a dare, Katara", he said, wiping his mouth as he passed back the bottle to her, "I've kissed you plenty of times."
"Yeah, well, I want you to kiss me again", she shrugged, putting the bottle down on the floor so it wouldn't fall over if he did decide to kiss her, though not before taking a swig of it herself.
Zuko leaned in with a smile, his lips only barely brushing hers and she knew immediately that she wanted more; needed more. Her eyes fluttered close as his breath hit her skin, one of his hands wandering up and down her arm, causing goosebumps to rise wherever he touched.
"Kiss me", she repeated and his lips moved with hers as she spoke, "please." And in a second his hands were in her hair and his tongue in her mouth. She let him take control, let him set the pace and lead the way; she needed to not think, to be consumed by the pleasure she knew he would give her.
Zuko lowered them down on the mattress, her back pressed into the soft blankets and pillows that covered it, and she, without hesitation, wrapped her legs around his hips. They moved in sync, moaned in sync; it was beautiful, it felt like home and it made tears fill the corners of her eyes. She hadn't realised just how uncomfortable Aang's kiss earlier that day had made her feel until now, until Zuko showed her he understood her without speaking any words, until he showed her how their bodies fit so perfectly together.
"Hey, hey, hey", he hushed, caressing her cheek, swiping at the tears with his thumb. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing", Katara shook her head, the alcohol coursing through her system allowing her to be more honest with him than she had ever been before, "everything's perfect. You're perfect." She raised her hand as she spoke, softly touching the scarred half of his face, feeling the rough skin underneath her soft fingertips.
A smile tugged at Zuko's lips and he hoped to every God and Goddess he would remember this in the morning.
"Now, come on", Katara prompted, wiping the remaining tears away and digging her heels into his thighs to egg him on. He leaned back down with a chuckle, their lips quickly picking up where they had left off.
Zuko's hands started to wander down her body, softly scraping his nails across her exposed midriff before continuing south. He thanked the universe - and the Fire Nation's hot climate - that her skirt was easy to pull off; he was too drunk to fumble with buttons and too aroused to have the patience to even try.
Katara pulled her top off as Zuko's mouth followed his hands on their journey, leaving a trail of kisses down her chest. They were wet and sloppy, but she didn't care, they came from him and that was all that mattered.
He unraveled her lower bindings; he had done it so many times before at this point, that the intoxication wasn't even a problem. She gasped as he laid a sweet kiss atop the curls around her sex and twisted her fingers in his hair as his tongue darted out of his mouth. He sucked on her clit, flicking it with his tongue teasingly, and he easily slipped a finger inside of her.
"Oh, Zuko", Katara moaned loudly as he added another finger, loud enough to raise questions she would spend the next day dodging and denying.
He thrust his fingers in and out of her and his mouth continued to suckle and kiss at the bundle of nerves as Katara's back arched from the bed and her hips trying to push forward, to increase the friction. She knew it was the alcohol that made it feel like this, like she had never had an orgasm or even been touched before, and she silently promised herself to have drunken sex with Zuko more often.
"Please", she whimpered, her eyes shut tight and her lips trembling, and with a few forceful thrusts of his digits Zuko carried her over the edge she so desperately craved. She only let herself breathe for a second before clawing at him to come up and face her again so she could kiss him hard and rough.
"Can I?" Zuko asked, breathing heavily, his forehead resting on hers.
"Can you what?" Katara teased, biting her lower lip as she smirked.
"Can I please fuck you?" The words made her skin grow hot and blood flush to her face as she nodded with excitement before pulling his head down for another kiss.
He struggled for a few seconds to line up correctly - fucking alcohol, he though - but when he finally sheathed himself inside her they both cried out with pleasure.
Neither of them kept track of the time, for all they knew they could have spent days in the throes of pleasure, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were alive and they had each other.