DISCLAIMER: don't' own AVATAR.

Yes, I know this chapter's title is suckish, but bear with me.

5, The Words

Zuko stared at his singer with mass amounts of greed and hunger in his eyes. He saw her fear, and it pleased him.

He began to move forward.

Katara stared at the vampire. She had never imagined him so… handsome.

What on earth are you saying! HE'S A VAMPIRE!

When the Prince moved forward, she stepped back. She seemed to have forgotten the stream.

When Zuko saw his singer move away from him, he moved fast. He ran with inhuman speed, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Katara.

Her clear blue eyes looked up at him with fear. Zuko purred and ran a finger down her cheek. Her skin was so soft, he cupped her cheek with his hand.

"How have you been since the last?" Zuko asked huskily. Katara made no signs of replying. This man frightened her. Were those tales of women being stolen becoming ever more real?

Zuko lowered his head to her neck, and inhaled her scent. It was sweet, and he heard a frantic pulse beneath her skin. So close…

But he did not take the call. He wanted her to think about it for a while, let her come to lust him as he lusted for her.

Zuko brought his head back up, and stared his singer down in the eyes. Katara felt so fascinated by his golden eyes. Then, in one swift movement, Zuko's lips met Katara's.

It was hungry, passionate, and seemed rather violent to Katara. Her arms had hung rather limply at her sides, but then they traveled up Zuko's stomach, across his chest, and around his neck. The vampire growled when he felt two small hands travel over him, next time he came for her he would have to leave his armor back at the ship.

His hands moved frantically over her curves, sometimes Katara thought he was trying to claw through her clothes, as if to rip them away. Zuko swung his singer around, and pushed her up against a nearby tree, pressing himself into her. The pressure hurt against his armor, and he needed her. But not now, he could wait.

Zuko removed his lips when he heard two voices calling out in the dark.

"Katara! Katara, where are you!" Zuko hissed, and a little of his saliva hit Katara's cheek. As he disappeared into the forest, leaving Katara, dazed, and leaning against a tree in his wake, he called after her.

"Good night, Katara." And the vampire Prince was gone.

"Katara, there you are! I thought I told you not to go too far from camp!" Sokka scolded as he and Aang burst into the clearing. Katara shook her head, and looked up at her brother and friend with cleared eyes.

"Oh, sorry guys, I sorta didn't know how far away I was." Sokka shook his head, and went off into a speech about how a wild animal or one of them or he could have found her, which no one listened to, although it was true.

"Hey Katara, you got something on your cheek." Aang pointed to his own in example.

"Oh, um, probably sweat, I was working hard on my waterbending." Katara said quickly, almost too quickly, and wiped the Prince's spit off her cheek. As her hand traveled to her side to wipe away the spit, Katara thought she caught the scent of smoke and spices.

"Well, c'mon, let's get back to camp." Sokka said with authority, and began to march through the forest once again.

Once the three returned to camp, they went to bed. But Katara stayed up all night, mulling over how a vampire had stolen her first kiss.

Zuko walked up the ramp to his ship, smirking triumphantly. His singer, Katara, now that he knew her name, was just within his grasp. He now would have her thinking about him, which felt so wonderful.

This felt so much more fulfilling than stealing other women to state that insatiable lust.

But Zuko felt surprised when he saw his uncle staring out to the east, where sun would be rising soon. The sky around the horizon was already starting to go pink.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked quietly, his voice almost squeaking with unease.

"It's almost dawn, nephew, and I'm nearing 55. I'm too old to stay on this earth anymore." Iroh sighed. Zuko looked at his uncle fearfully.

"What are you saying?" Zuko asked quickly. Was his uncle going to…? No, never, not yet! His uncle just couldn't leave him!

"I'm sorry I won't see you take the throne, or a wife." Iroh said with a half grin and a chuckle.

"I look forward to see you in the next lifetime, my forever nephew, Zuko." Iroh said as the sun rose up to the sky. Zuko quickly ran through the hatch, running from the burning sun. Never seeing his uncle face the dawn, turn to the ashes of the earth, and pass into the next life.

Zuko leaned against the inside of the hatch, waiting for his uncle to walk through the door, tell him it was another one of his jokes. To say, "Surprise! Haha, I had you going there, didn't I, Prince Zuko?"

But when his uncle never ran through the hatch, well after sun up, Zuko allowed himself one tear.

It was not much, but Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, son of Lord Ozai, had cried.

WAAAAA! That last part wuz sad, wuzn't it? Did you like the fluffy? Zuko and Katara kissed a lot earlier than they did in my other Zutaras, in the others, they haven't kissed at all! Ha!

That part about Zuko hoping for his uncle to jump through the door was something that I got out of a book called Stairway To Heaven. It's about all of rock's greatest musicians/singers, that have died. The one I enjoyed the most was Keith Moon, the main drummer for The Who. He was their drummer in the beginning, but didn't live to the break up in '82, becuz he died in '78 from an overdose of sleeping pills. At Keith's funeral, Roger Daltrey, the lead singer for The Who, start to finish, expected, and I quote: "Before Moon was cremated and his ashes scattered in the cemetery, Daltrey kidded that the whole thing might be one of Moon's practical jokes. He told a friend that he half expected Moon to jump out of the coffin and go, "Ha, ha, fooled you."

(sniff) That's sad. But, did you know there's a dead rocker named Steve Peregrin Took? Born in '48, died in 1980. If you've read LOTR, you might see a connection!

INSANITY AT ITS FINEST
LONG LIVE THE HIPPIES!

Zukoscute2