Rating: T
Word Count: 1248
Disclaimer: [Insert funny text here that tells you I don't Avatar – the Last Airbender]

Day Two: Euphoria

He grabs her by the waist when she should be on her way to meet the chief of staff to discuss the details of some upcoming state dinner, pulls her aside, into the thick bushes decorating the royal gardens, the greenery completely concealing them from curious eyes, and before she could ask what in La's name he is doing, he is already kissing her, his warm lips insistent and relentless, efficiently shutting her up.

Not that she is complaining.

As depressing as it is, it's been a while since they have had really time for each other. Between royal duties, council meetings, attending to charity fundraisers, trips to the outer islands and villages in need, and listening to various diplomats' endless speeches, the most time and energy they have had for each other technically since the end of their honeymoon was crawling into bed together and snuggled close to the other.

But is seems like Zuko has gotten enough of it.

"Agni, I missed you," he whispers, his mouth only leaving hers until he utters the words, and then his lips are back on hers, with even more passion, his tongue already caressing the seam of her lips, seeking entrance. But as she is about to whisper back and tell him that feeling is mutual, or at least grant him access and getting the message through this way, Zuko suddenly garbs her waist once more and yanks her to the ground, one hand on her mouth, preventing her to scream or even yelp. She falls on the grass hips first, her legs folded up under her, with Zuko's solid body behind her.

"Hush!" he orders her, his chest pressed against her back; his voice is not aggressive or even scared, more like mischevious. She is about to pry his hand away from her mouth and ask him what is going on, when, under the low hanging leaves of the bush they are hiding behind, she suddenly sees a pair of expensive, but rather pompous, shoes nearing them, then stopping a couple of feet from the bush. The owner of the shoes stands still for a moment, the ankles moving as he turns first to the left, then to the right, then still for a moment once again, jut to rise to tiptoes only a second later, the owner, without doubt, trying to peer over the edge of the bushes.

Surprisingly, from this vantage point, the whole situation is extremely funny.

The next moment the owner of the shoes seemingly finishes whatever he has been doing, and walks away with quick, measured steps.

Zuko lets go of her in an instant. She laughs out loud, that true, free laugh that makes your belly hurt.

"Who was that?" she asks when she can finally breath normally again, laughter still lurking in her voice, turning over to face her husband.

"Advisor Mingzhi," sounds his surprisingly calm and controlled answer. She starts laughing again, maybe even louder than before. "Hey, keep it down, or he'll come back!" He orders, not that there's any point in it.

"Sorry, it's just…" she breaths, her voice forcefully lowered, "You're hiding from your own Advisor!"

"Well, he wanted to talk about the trading agreement with Kyoshi," he says matter-of-factly, like it would explain everything.

Katara chuckles, her head resting on the ground, blades of grass tickling her face.

"I thought that was important stuff."

"It is, but not urgent. And I'd really not dive into it until I discussed it with Suki."

"So you hid from him," she says, plucking a blade of grass from the ground and, raising it up, she tickles his face with it. He grimaces.

"Not exactly," he says, grabbing her wrist and playfully biting into the tanned skin. Katara yelps and drops the blade of grass. "I just decided to cancel our meeting, so I could spend the afternoon with my wife, but I guess nobody told him that."

"So now you are hiding from him," she summarizes, her head rolling forward, finding resting place on his shoulder, as soundless giggles shake her body. Zuko almost looks offended.

"Hey, I'm the Fire Lord – my word is supposed to be law. If I want to take the afternoon off, I will," he tries justifying his actions. His words surprise Katara – ever since taking the throne, he has been nothing but completely responsible, putting his country before everything else. She won't say that it didn't bug her – she understood it, but it still bugged her. But now – now he must really be desperate and tired to say such things. "And he is a terribly…" he trails off, without doubt looking for the right word to use "unpleasant person," he says at last. "And anyways, don't tell me you don't favor spending your time with me to have a meeting with… with whom, exactly?"

Katara's giggles subdue just enough that she can answer.

"Oh, so now I am supposed to skip my duties, too?" she asks, without answering his question. She pulls away a little, while she caresses his chest, her hands subtly slipping beneath his outer robe. Yes, she's being a tab bit flirty. And handsy. Not that she's ashamed of it. Zuko is not the only one who is fed up with not having time for each other. And she is feeling light. Happy. Not serene and majestic as a Fire Lady should.

But she couldn't be less bothered by it.

"That was my plan. If you are up for it." He kisses her again, as if he was trying to convince her with his lips, his hand sliding upwards from her knee, pulling the fabric of her skirt up.

So she is not the only one being handsy.

"I don't know," she teases, unable to wipe the grin off her face. "What's in for me?"

"Peace. Rest. Me," he says, his words punctuated by small, pecking kisses, migrating from her jaw line, down to her neck.

She suddenly moves, pushing herself from the ground, and, swinging her leg and placing her hands on his shoulders, she straddles him, pushing him back. They almost roll into the bush.

"Really?"

He nods.

"Really. You in?"

She makes a show of thinking about it.

"So my very serious and very responsible husband suggests that we ditch all our sacred duties for the afternoon – turn around and don't look back – and just have fun?"

He nods again.

"Basically, yes."

Laughter bubbles from her lips once again.

"What's that?"

"It's just… just…" she stutters, lying flat on top of him. "It's just so absurd – I mean, it's something that teenagers do. Real teenagers, unmarried people, who haven't saved the world, and all they care about not getting caught by their parents because they don't want to be scolded…" she rest her head against his chest, feeling, more than hearing, his heart beat. "We grew up too fast," she sighs. He doesn't say a word, but she knows – the same words are swirling in his head, too.

Silence settles between them as they remain lying on the ground, laughter dead, heart rate slowing down, Zuko's fingers buried in her locks.

"Then I say…" he says at last, "that we deserve it. We deserve to be… simple, average… teenagers for a day. It's the least we deserve. What do you say?"

A brilliant smiles blossoms on Katara's face. She pushes herself up a little so she could look into his eyes.

"I say let's get out of here."

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