AN: Holy baby!Jesus, it's been a while guys, and I'm really sorry for that. Things have been pretty difficult in my home life recently, so inspiration was lacking for a good month and a half, and before that I was in Rome… the list is long. Finals are almost over (THANK GODS) and I'll be free(er?) to write more. In other news… SPOILER FOR NYCC TRAILER looks like there's going to be some awesome Zutaraness in the finale, and I gotta say guys, I'm physced! END SPOILER
And here I get to ramble about a great book series, The Lymond Chronicals by Dorothy Dunnett. Read it. Now. No excuses not to, because it pwns just about every other book ever written, and it's a fantastic series. And legit, guys, I'm naming my son after the main character. That's right, my little boy, however far off in the future he may be born, is going to be named Francis. If you do decide to pick up the first book Game of Kings please give it a good hundred pages. If you're not hooked by then, you can put it down, but I swear to god that last two hundred pages are the best two hundred pages ever written. Please give it a try.
And…. Now onto the story…
Disclaimer: oh please…
Happy
"So…" Katara looked up from her trunk as she placed her last, neatly folded shirt inside. Zuko was braced against the doorframe, an odd expression on his face. She watched as he looked around the strangely empty room, echoing with memories. "So," he repeated, but this time it was a statement.
"Yeah," Katara said gently as she slowly sat on the foot of her bed. Her hair was pulled back into her classic braid. She fiddled with it nervously; it made her feel so much younger than she actually was. It had been her, once maybe, when she had been a shy girl of fourteen, but it had been three years since.
Zuko caught her gaze with his own as he took a few steps into her room, unsure of himself. "I wish you wouldn't," he finally said.
Katara nodded a little. "I know, but at least last night…" she trailed off and closed her eyes as a faint blush rose to her cheeks. She felt Zuko come closer, felt his hand reach out to touch her cheek and waver just above the smooth brown skin. She reached out and guided the hand to her lips. "I will miss you," she whispered into the callused skin. "I think,"
"Me too," Zuko's voice was barely audible, and then he sank to his knees and wrapped his free arm around her waist, laying his head in her lap. "I just wish we had figured it out sooner,"
Katara gently placed the hand against her lips on her shoulder and buried her fingers in his hair. "It would only make this harder," she told him gently. She felt him shift and his hand wrapped around the back of her neck.
"Perhaps," he agreed, "I just…"
"It's okay," Katara soothed. "I'll see you again."
"Keh, yeah, when I'm fifty and old and gross. You'll wish you hadn't."
Katara snorted gently. "You've just turned twenty Zuko, I'll be back before thirty years pass."
Zuko made a disbelieving sound. "Yeah, but in the mean time you'll find a nice water tribe boy and settle down with him, then what's the hope left for me?"
Katara's hands paused in their soft rubbing of Zuko's scalp. "Zuko," she said gently. "You know that…"
"You don't have to say it," Zuko murmured, "I know, I just like to think that it could happen,"
"I wish you wouldn't," Katara closed her eyes as Zuko's thumb began to rub circles into the knots in the back of her neck. "Last night was…"
"Perfect," Zuko filled for her, hand around her waist beginning to finger the sash of her robe, "I know you… you can't change how I feel about that, about you, Katara," Zuko pressed a kiss to her thigh. "Nothing you say or do,"
"Somehow I don't doubt that," Katara shook her head with a slight smirk and looked down to find herself suddenly drowning in the intense golden gaze that had lured her in the night before. "But," she continued, finding her breath more absent than she would have liked. "you will be happy,"
"Yeah?" Zuko's tone was close to teasing, "You promise?" The hand at the back her neck gently applied pressure and Katara found herself offering little resistance as he guided her to meet his lips.
Katara sighed softly, opening her lips as Zuko gently probed with his tongue and enjoyed the gentle stroke of his tongue against her eyes. It was a sweet kiss, gently reminding her of what they had done before the sun had risen, but it was more than that. It was a promise, even though Katara realized with a lurch, she deserved no such kindness from the prince. He pulled back at last and stroked his thumb over her cheek. Katara looked away and then slowly removed herself from his grasp.
"I have to go,"
"I know…"
Katara sighed again.
"You promise?" Zuko asked suddenly, his voice weak.
Katara blinked and then hugged him tight. "Yes," she whispered, "with all my heart."