A/N: Hey! Sorry if this one isn't that great, I'm kinda having a block as to where to go from here, so...here's this! I kinda feel like it's clunky and awkward but I really hope you guys don't think so. I guess you're your own worst critic...heh. Anyway thank you again so so so much for all the lovely reviews, you're all so awesome and I get such a huge smile on my faceA when I read them!

And don't worry, Hakoda will be joining us in the next chapter heh

Zuko said nothing. He only stared, his golden eyes wide, his mouth partially agape. He was still clutching her however, his grasp firm yet gentle on her wrists.

But she was still crying. It had lessened, but with each silent moment her tears burned harder, her quivers intensifying as he stared and stared and for the love of Tui and La why wasn't he saying anything?

But, she thought she already had an answer.

He didn't love her back.

Was she surprised, really? This man was the Fire Lord; they'd had sex once, caught up in the heat of their overpowering emotions, and he used to hate her. Why in La's name would he love her?

Despite this, it still felt like a wave of daggers blasting into her. All the emotions that he'd shown her earlier in the week, it didn't phase her mind. She could only focus on his lingering stare and the sobs that wracked her entire body and she broke oh La did she break but perhaps she was already broken. She didn't know, she didn't know.

Katara fell to the ground, slowly sliding down the wall. Zuko followed in suit, never taking his eyes from her.

"I-I'm sorry…Zuko I'm sorry I didn't, I didn't…."

She gasped slightly, for he was holding her now, his warm, firm arms encasing her, bringing her close to him. Just as they'd done so many times before. Her tears eased, but they did not stop.

But then he kissed her, he kissed her. It wasn't just a pair of lips pressing to her forehead, no, his lips were on her's and they felt so good. They were so soft just as they were before, except he was the one who kissed her, and somehow that made all the difference. He was not lost in blind emotion, and he kissed her gingerly, lightly, carefully. It warmed her body and iced over her mind and she could think and she could feel something, something other than hurt.

Silently, Zuko lifted her into his arms. She nestled into his humming chest as she carried her past her guest room, and down towards the Royal Family's wing. She blinked. Was he…?

He was. At the end of the hall was a set of immensely grand doors, covered with intricate carvings. Holding her tightly, he reached out and pushed open the doors.

And then she was in the Fire Lord's room.

She had expected such a room to be exceptionally fantastic, but it was still a bit of a shock. Burgundy red walls tinted with gold lined the room, shimmering slightly in the light of the waning sun that peaked through the thick, lush curtains. Large pieces of furniture stood around them, as beautifully carved as the door that guarded the room.

But it was the bed that really caught Katara's eye. The one that she was currently being laid down on.

She fell into the satin sheets, soft and smooth even through her somewhat scratchy clothes. It was large, much larger than was reasonable for one person.

But perhaps that's why she wasn't the only person in the bed.

Zuko laid himself down on the other side of the enormous bed, the layers of blankets billowing out under his weight. Still refusing to speak, he pulled her closer to him. She buried himself into his chest, and sighed. So warm, so warm and strong and his hands were running through her hair and he was murmuring something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like you're beautiful you're so beautiful Katara but she couldn't be sure, for she was already drifting off into unconsciousness.

When Katara began to wake, it felt as though the sun was wrapped around her body. It wasn't necessarily uncomfortable; she found the heat very soothing. But once she was able to blink some of the sleep out of her eyes, she found herself staring into a toned set of pecs. They heaved in time with her own breaths, rising and falling at a blissful pace.

Squirming a bit, she realized where exactly the rest of the warmth was coming from. The firebender's arm and much of his lover half were strewn over her, clutching her close to him. It made her heart squirm, and a small grin crept across her face.

Until she remembered what happened last night.

Aang had left, Katara had sobbed, and she….

She told Zuko that she loved him. Or, something like that….

But that didn't matter, it didn't matter how she said it or what state she was in when she said it, because even though he'd brought her into his room and mumbled praise into her hair, he never said it back.

But, did he? Was he at a loss for words at the time? It wasn't the best night for either of them. She sighed. She had to know, and she had to know right now.

"Zuko?"

At this his eyes squeezed slightly, but he did not wake. He did, however, entangle their bodies further as he tugged her closer. She stifle a squeal as he did so, breathing in his chest and he smelled like smoke and must an oh La he smelled so good.

But she had to know. She had to know right now.

She shook his head slightly, mumbling his name over and over. Eventually his eyes creeked open slightly, his golden irises looming across her. Once they met her eyes, a smile bloomed across his lips.

"Katara," he breathed, his voice husky, thick with sleep. The sound sent a shiver down her spine, and another one coursed through her when his lips found hers. He moaned, weaving his long fingers through her chestnut locks as he pressed further into her lush lips.

She gasped into his mouth when his tongue began to pride her lips open. Her teeth unclenched, allowing him access within. His tongue was fire and it burned her but she didn't care, she didn't care for it was a beautiful kind of burn. A burn that left her breathless and begging for more. She tugged him closer, whimpering into him.

I think I'm in love with someone else.

Just as Zuko's hand was trailing farther and farther down the side of her body, she pulled away. He frowned, furrowing his brow.

"Is it not okay?"

She sighed, looking down onto his bare chest. Oh, La, why did he have to take his shirt off?

Katara shook her head slightly, still not meeting his eyes.

"No, it's okay….More than okay. But what I told you last night….?"

"Oh."

Fuck.

She felt her heart burning in a kind of flame that was most certainly not beautiful. What was she to him, then? Just some whore who happened to be carrying his child?

The waterbender was about to lash out at him, anger flashing across her face, when he place a finger over her lips. She closed them and frowned, staring down his pleading eyes.

"I'm….I'm not good with words, Katara."

And then he was kissing her again.

Or, was it kissing? She didn't know, she didn't know. It wasn't like the slow kiss from a minute ago, nor the gentle ones he'd given her the night before, nor the fierce, heated bites and pulls that there'd been on that one night that seemed like years ago. No, this was like a combination of all three, a fierce passionate kiss that left her empty, left her hungry, desperate. She needed more of his love, more of his passion, his drive. It was slow yet fast, strong yet delicate. It was as if Katara had never been kissed before. She hadn't, really. Not like this, never before like this.

It made her heart tremble and her lungs weak and soon they were a tangle of limbs and ecstasy, moaning into each other as they tugged and pulled and pushed and it was like bending fire with waterbending stances; so fierce and solid yet so fluid and lively. She never wanted it to stop, she never wanted to feel anything again but this, this hungry heat and passionate ice, this blend of their elements that she never thought could feel so good so good oh Tui and La he's so good.

In that moment, everything was right in the world, everything was right between their friends. It didn't matter, none of the events of the past days mattered because Zuko was kissing her and she was on fire and she didn't care, she didn't care at all. She could burn on the spot and it wouldn't phase her, it wouldn't be enough to pull her lips away or to stop her hands from roaming across his toned being.

Soon she found him pushing into her, his hardness riding against her leg and she pushed back, because the whimpers and groans that escaped him as she did so filled he with madness, such fiery madness.

She gasped now, now that his lips were not on her own but on her cheeks, on her jawline, on her neck. His hands sauntered across her body, fingers dancing across her burning skin. His lips were hot, his limbs singing her. But Katara had never been so escatic to be so warm, she never knew warmth like this.

He didn't go any farther, though, he made no attempt to undo her clothes, to rub her wetness, to flick at her nipples. No, he only touched her, touched her like he thought she wasn't real and he needed her so badly to be just that, to be real, leaving passionate kiss after kiss across her body, pulling her closer and closer even though there was no space between them, just water on fire.

It was then, that she realized, that he loved her. He loved her, and she loved him.

Perhaps that'd always been the case, but they had obligations and fate split them apart. She couldn't be sure, but part of her didn't care because they were together now and that's all that mattered, it's all that mattered.

Once he felt the hot tears on his own lips, he pulled back.

"Katara…." he started, his face twisted with concern, pained and distraught concern.

She shook her head, smiling into him as she sniffled. He only widened his eyes, his beautiful shining eyes.

"I'm just….I'm glad I'm going to marry that man that I love, Zuko. I'm so glad, so glad…."

He leaned into her, whispering into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her, folding her into his embrace.

"I am too."