She burns like the sun, and I can't look away
She'll burn our horizons, make no mistake
—"Sunburn" by Muse
"What?"
Zuko doesn't wait to hear any more from the servant. He shoulders past him and makes his way down the hallway, toward the Fire Lord's bedchambers.
He bursts inside, banging the door against the wall in his aggression.
Ozai rolls off his concubine and she lets out a surprised squeal. Zuko's upper lip curls in disgust.
Ozai glares at him, long hair down and mused, and bites out, "And what does my son wish to say to me at this hour?"
Zuko's hands tighten into fists. "You let her back into the palace?!"
Ozai rolls his eyes and shifts underneath his silken sheets. The concubine sitting next to him tries to smooth down her hair, which seems silly to Zuko. It's not like he hadn't been aware that they were fucking.
"Your sister—"
"Is a murderer."
Ozai raises an eyebrow. "And you are not?"
Zuko quickly looks down at the floor, irritated with himself. His hands have started to shake, he's so furious.
"Azula has come to me and made her amends, so I have accepted her back into my home."
"Father," Zuko begins, forcing himself to speak slowly so that Ozai will understand his point, "she poisoned Mai, her childhood friend. What makes you think that she won't harm someone else? Someone that hasn't done her or this family any wrong?"
Ozai frowns. "Zuko, she is your sister."
"That doesn't matter!" Zuko shouts, briefly losing control. The concubine shrinks back in the bed, as if she's afraid that Zuko will attack.
"She is blood—"
"It doesn't matter! You've raised us to make sure that it doesn't matter!"
Ozai looks appalled and livid at his son's outburst, but Zuko turns around and leaves the bedroom before anything else can be said.
He slams the door behind him. He's never been that angry and disrespectful toward his father before. Never.
As Zuko walks back to his own bedroom and climbs under his own silken sheets, he realizes why.
Zuko and Ozai are the same height. Zuko and Ozai have the same build. Zuko and Ozai have both mastered fire bending. And Zuko and Ozai both know how to hate.
If Zuko were to face off with his father, he could quite possibly win.
Katara mumbles something in her sleep and sighs, lost in dreamland. Zuko feels something surge inside his chest. Perhaps it's protectiveness, maybe fear.
Zuko is no longer afraid of his father, but there is still a part of him that is afraid of his sister.
Katara sits perched on the edge of his bed, watching the servants walking in and out of the room like a hawk.
She's still wearing her nice dress from the night before, and the way she's sitting is causing the hem to ride up, showing off her shapely legs.
Zuko catches a few of his guards ogling. They stop ogling as soon as they see his potent glare.
Eventually the last servant bows low to Zuko before leaving the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.
Katara fixes a suspicious gaze onto him. "Why did you have all of my stuff brought to your room?" There's a twinge of curiosity in her voice. Her teeth catch her bottom lip and Zuko finds himself temporarily distracted. Her hair is down, but she's not trying to cover up her scars. Not anymore.
A moment passes and finally Zuko snaps his head up sharply, forcing himself to take in a deep breath. He can't think about having sex with the waterbender right now. He's not even sure where their relationship stands, which is frustrating.
Zuko clears his throat and cuts straight to the chase. "My sister is back."
Katara visibly recoils, fear and panic dawning on her face. "You're joking," she accuses pathetically.
Zuko frowns and shakes his head. "I found out late last night, or early this morning, rather."
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
Zuko leans his back against the wall. Her blue eyes are wide, searching. He doesn't understand. How can she manage to make him feel so small?
"You were sleeping. I figured it'd be best not to wake you."
Katara folds her knees up to her chest, clearly worried. "She doesn't like me, Zuko. Your sister isn't stupid. She knows that I helped you search for her. She'll…she'll find some way to—"
"She's not going to touch you."
He pushes himself off the wall, strides over to the bed and crouches down in front of her. He almost, almost reaches out and touches her cheek. Something forces him to stop. Uncertainty, maybe.
Katara isn't even looking at him. Her eyes are focused on the wall behind Zuko's shoulder. "She's murdered innocent people—"
"I wouldn't exactly call them 'innocent'. They were all enemies of my father."
Katara sends him a withering look. "That doesn't mean much to me." She drums her fingers against her knee before catching his eye. She stares at him for a long, unnerving moment. "What if she finds out about me and you?"
Zuko's heart begins to hammer. "Me and you?"
Katara is quiet. She shifts her body a little bit, uneasy. Zuko forces himself not to move, as if she's a frightened animal and he'll scare her away if he makes any sudden movements.
"What's going on?" she whispers, and Zuko knows that she's not asking about his sister.
He blinks, keeping eye contact with her. He no longer feels just small; he now feels miniscule and he has no idea how this girl managed to render him to this state. He lets out a breath. "I don't know."
Something crosses over her face, and Zuko wonders if she's made some sort of decision. He watches as she steels herself before reaching her hand to his face and trailing her fingertips along his jaw. Then she cups his cheek and leans her face toward his.
The kiss is slow and sweet, but Zuko thinks that it tastes like bitterness. Bitterness, because he's not sure how this can go anywhere but nowhere. Even still, he leans forward, turning aggressive and biting her bottom lip. She squeaks, moving her hand into his hair and forming a fist.
Zuko rolls up onto the balls of his feet and pushes her back into the bed. He's used to taking control of situations like this. He's used to being the predator.
Katara uses her fistful of hair to yank his head back and away from her.
He gasps for air, startled, eyes wide.
She frowns down at him. "Ow."
"Ow?"
The corner of her mouth quirks up a bit. "You bit me."
Zuko runs his hand along her calf, hoping to distract her. But her grip in his hair only tightens. He swallows, watching Katara's eyes flick to his throat.
"Sorry," he mumbles.
And then Katara smirks. She eases up on his hair, leaning forward and tilting her head to the side. She breaths onto the skin of his neck, and the heat coming off of her makes a shudder run down his spine.
She nips at his neck and his hands settle themselves onto her hips.
There's a knocking on the door. "Prince Zuko, Fire Lord Ozai has summoned you to his office."
Zuko breaks away from Katara's grip. He looks up at her and an unspoken agreement passes between the two of them.
He's happy to see that the waterbender looks thoroughly disappointed.
Zuko struts into his father's office with his head held high. He clenches his jaw and bows respectfully toward the Fire Lord. "You summoned me?"
Ozai's golden eyes are hard with anger. They used to terrify Zuko when he was a child, when he was too young to realize that his eyes were exactly the same.
"Prince Zuko, what you did last night was unacceptable behavior. You will never do it again, do you understand?"
Zuko nods slowly. He knows to pick his battles with his father.
"Good." Ozai folds his hands together and leans back in his chair. "I heard that the waterbender had her first Interview yesterday. How did it go?"
"Fine," Zuko bites out, blood beginning to boil.
Ozai raises a sharp eyebrow. "Just 'fine'? She met with Ren. His father sits on my council. Since Admiral Zhao's…untimely demise, his father is expected to take his place."
Zuko forces himself to stand still. "With all due respect, how does this relate to Katara?"
Ozai freezes and Zuko instantly realizes his mistake.
"It relates because this waterbender is extremely important. You know this, Prince Zuko. The higher family she is placed with, the better."
Zuko nods, hoping for dismissal.
But Ozai continues. "I also heard that her Interview with Ren abruptly ended."
"He acted inappropriately."
"Did he now?"
His father has managed to corner him. Zuko flexes his fingers. He used to never allow himself to be so easily manipulated. He would have to concentrate better.
"Have her interview with him again. See if he behaves more accordingly this time," Ozai orders.
Zuko gives him one quick nod. "Yes, father."
"You're dismissed."
Zuko turns his back to Ozai, his hand on the doorknob.
"Oh, and Zuko?"
Zuko glances at his father over his shoulder. "Yes?"
Ozai's mouth curls into a cruel smirk. "Don't knock up the waterbender."
When he reenters his room, he finds Katara stationed at his desk, peering over a scroll with an ink pen tucked behind her ear.
"Reading?" he asks, closing the door behind him. He tries not to let his apprehension leak into his voice.
She spares him a glance and a nod, obviously engrossed in her scroll.
Zuko frowns, remembering all the unsent letters to his Uncle tucked into the drawers of his desk. He hopes that she hadn't decided to go snooping.
Although, knowing the waterbender, she had.
Shaking, Zuko disappears into his bathroom and heaves up whatever was in his stomach.
How stupid could he be, to let his father in on his relationship with the waterbender? Because if Ozai mentioned to Azula that Zuko was on a first name basis with Katara then…
Things could go bad very, very quickly.
He bends over his sink and rinses his mouth out, feeling light-headed. He needs a nap. And he probably needs to not have Katara cooped up in his room. He finds that he lets things slip out when she's around, things that he should keep secret.
But he can't send her back to her room. Not with his sister roaming about the palace. The idea makes him jittery, makes him panicky.
This isn't good.
He exits his bathroom to find Katara staring in his direction, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"Are you all right?" she questions softly.
He shrugs one shoulder. "I have to go chaperone another Interview. You should be safe in here. The servants will bring you your meals."
Katara nods quickly, ink pen hovering over her scroll.
When Zuko leaves his room, he's tempted to lock the door behind him, despite the fact that guards are stationed outside of it twenty-four-seven.
But he doesn't.
He's not paying attention.
A noblewoman is sitting to his right, listening to a bone-thin earthbender prattle on about his extravagant life in Ba Sing Se. The boy's parents had sent him to the Project when he had turned seventeen.
The haughty, but lovely noblewoman looks particularly uninterested in the earthbender, but she keeps sending Zuko shameless looks over her teacup. He ignores them. He barely even notices them.
He wishes that he was back in his bedroom, spending his afternoon with Katara. He wishes that they could pick up where they had left off this morning.
That thought makes his blood burn and run south.
The noblewoman bites into a raspberry tart, and some of the filling oozes out and smears her onto her bottom lip. She catches Zuko's eye and licks it off suggestively.
He nearly laughs.
The earthbender, however, is not laughing. He's staring at the noblewoman's mouth with piqued interest. Zuko decides to do him a favor.
Zuko starts scribbling onto their Interview sheet. "You have my clearance to attend a chaperoned date together at an establishment of the lady's choosing." He gives the volunteer a genuine smile. "Congratulations."
The earthbender looks ecstatic. The noblewoman looks furious.
Zuko is the first one to stand up and walk out. He needs to get back to his waterbender.
He knew he should've locked the door behind him.
In one corner of his bedroom a table has been set up and there sits Azula, watching as Katara sips from a cup of tea.
"What's going on?" he barks out, striding over to the table quickly and looming over it.
Azula shoots him an innocent smile. "Just getting to know the waterbender a little bit better. She's such a wonderful addition to the project, Zuzu, don't you agree?"
"An absolute joy," Zuko laces his voice with malice and his sister easily picks up on his threat.
Azula laughs and pats Katara's hand. "My brother has such a flare for dramatics. I've always said that he would make a tremendous actor."
Katara smiles back at her politely, but Zuko catches the sparks in her blue eye. She's covered up the scarred side of her face with her hair again.
Azula stirs her tea with a spoon and crosses her legs and peers at Katara, eyes catlike. "I have to admit, I find it interesting that you've taken temporary residency in my brother's room. Or is it that he's taken temporary residency between your legs?"
Tea sloshes over Katara's cup, though she hadn't even touched it.
"Azula," Zuko snarls, "get out."
His sister smirks at the both of them. "Fine. I was just leaving, anyway." She gets up and saunters out of the room and a moment later a couple of servants file in, grab the tea supplies and table, and file out.
As soon as the door closes Zuko whirls on Katara. "Did she hurt you?"
The waterbender is fuming. "No."
Zuko exhales in relief. "What did she want?"
Katara is glaring down at the floor. "To talk." She looks up at him and pins him in place with her stare. "It was stupid for you to move all of my things into this room. Now the entire palace, including your father and sister, knows about…knows about…" She makes a gesture between the two of them, finishing her sentence.
Zuko crosses his arms over his chest. "What was I supposed to do? Let you stay in your room so that she can sneak into it and—"
"I don't think she's going to hurt me, Zuko," she interrupts softly.
Katara doesn't understand. She doesn't understand that Azula wouldn't hurt her because she wanted to hurt her. She would hurt her to hurt him.
But he cannot bring himself to say this aloud.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asks, changing the subject.
Katara quirks an eyebrow. "I just had tea."
"Right."
Something crosses over her face and then she's slowly moving in his direction.
He feels his heart rate pick up, feels his body start to tremble. Katara slides her hand up his forearm, past his elbow, and lets it rest on his shoulder. He knows exactly what she wants by her gaze, and he wants the same thing. He does. His mind and body are screaming for it.
But…he can't.
He takes a small step away from her, suddenly too much of a coward to look her in the eye.
Out of his peripheral vision he sees her warm hand linger in midair, and then sees it falls down to her side.
An apology is at the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it back. He's not sure what he should feel sorry for, he just knows that his chest is aching. He flicks his gaze up toward her, sees her staring at him in disappointment.
"I don't…" he trails off, already uncertain with his words. This has never happened to him before. Never. "This just feels different then what I'm used to."
Katara says nothing, only turns around and makes her way back to his desk, back to her scroll.
She does not speak to him for the rest of the night.
A week passes in the same manner. At night she curls up on the other side of the bed, refusing to touch him. This shouldn't bother Zuko as much as it does; he's never been one for cuddling.
During the day she talks to him as if nothing is wrong, but he can tell that she is not happy. He can tell that she feels like a bird cooped up in a cage. He hates himself for putting her in this position.
One morning he gets the notice from a servant. He clears his throat and faces the waterbender, who's just now waking up.
"You have your second Interview with Ren this afternoon," he says, voice hard. "I'll be chaperoning it."
Her entire face darkens and she narrows her eyes at him. "I still have to sit through Interviews? I thought—"
"My father demands it," Zuko says, cutting her off.
Katara scoffs at him. "Well, I'm glad I mean so much to you."
They go back to not speaking.
A few hours later Zuko finds himself sitting between Katara and Ren once more.
Somewhere in his emotional spectrum he feels angry, but right now he feels more listless than anything else.
Katara's hair is piled on top of her head again and she is beautiful.
She's always been beautiful. Why had he never noticed before?
She and Ren are talking about nothing in particular. Katara seems unenthusiastic, while Ren seems desperate to keep her attention on him at all times. Zuko thinks that he's pathetic.
Eventually the conversation lapses into silence.
Ren drums his fingers against the table. "Prince Zuko, I wish to ask a question that you might deem inappropriate."
Zuko stiffens. "Is it about her scars?"
Ren quickly shakes his head. "No, sir. It is not."
Zuko spends a moment frowning, considering. "Go ahead."
Katara's blue eyes go wide and she gives him an alarmed look.
Ren casts her a smile that's supposed to be reassuring. "Katara, I wouldn't be asking you this if it wasn't important to me, but, I was wondering… How many men, if any, have you been with in your lifetime?"
Katara looks extremely uncomfortable and squirms a bit in her chair. She looks at Zuko again, as if expecting him to shout at Ren like he did the last time.
But Zuko doesn't. Instead, he leans back in his chair and looks at her expectably. "Well, answer the question."
Her cheeks flush a deep red. "Two," she grumbles, irritated.
Ren's brown eyes widen for a moment before he schools his expression. "Women in the Fire Nation are encouraged to wait for their husbands until performing the act of love."
Zuko snorts. No one waited here, especially members of nobility. Scandal was everywhere amongst them, if only you knew where to look.
"Then it's a good thing that Katara isn't from the Fire Nation, isn't it?" Zuko points out calmly, tracing a pattern into the table cloth nonchalantly.
Katara's mouth curls into a small smile, and she stares down into her teacup, pleased.
"R-Right, of course," Ren says, stumbling over his own words. "Absolutely."
Zuko glances at the clock hanging on the wall. "Our time is up. Nobleman Ren, I will contact you if and when another Interview is scheduled. You are dismissed."
Ren nods quickly, stands up, bows to Zuko and tilts his head toward Katara before leaving.
Katara and Zuko make their way back to the bedroom in utter silence.
Katara doesn't change out of her dress. She lingers in it, making his mouth water with want whenever he looks at her.
She finally breaks their silence. "I don't want to go to anymore Interviews," she states. "And you don't want me to, either."
Zuko sighs. "Katara—"
"Why does it matter? You're a Prince, you have power!"
"And if I want to keep it then we have to abide by the rules."
Katara presses her mouth into a thin line before speaking. "I know that you think that you're your father, but you aren't."
She steps up to him, but doesn't touch him. She looks him right in the eye, but he feels as if she's looking even deeper. She knows him. He knows that she knows him.
"Stop being afraid," she instructs, voice just above a whisper.
"I'm not afraid," he says stubbornly.
For a moment he thinks that she's going to laugh at him. She doesn't. "Yes, you are." She turns away from him, reaches up and tugs her hair out of its topknot and lets it cascade down her shoulders.
Zuko's resolve breaks.
He's on her in an instant, one hand gripping her hip and the other tangling itself in her hair. He kisses her and she kisses back, just as insistent and passionate as he is. She moans and slips her tongue past his lips.
Her dress comes off easily enough. Zuko decides that it looks better crumpled up on his bedroom floor then it ever did hugging her frame.
Soon his shirt joins her dress, but Katara is impatient. She pulls at a knot and a moment later the cloth that binds her breasts begins to unravel, revealing dark nipples contrasting against brown skin.
Zuko moves to pick her up but she skirts out of his grip, scrambling up onto the bed and giggling. Zuko smiles, his hair falling into his eyes. He can't even remember if he's ever heard her make that sound before.
He follows her onto the bed and falls down on top of her, running his lips along her neck, licking her pulse. Her fingers find their way into his hair and she arcs her back into him, pressing her warm breasts into his chest.
Seeking friction, Zuko grinds his hips against hers and Katara gasps. She flicks her blue gaze to his, eyes half lidded with lust.
Zuko's moves his mouth down to one of her breasts and sucks a nipple into his mouth, working it with his tongue until it hardens.
The small, greedy noises that she's making become continuous, like a song.
Zuko spends some time caressing and kissing her breasts, all the while rocking his body against hers in order to help alleviate some of his own aches. He finally pulls away from her breasts and Katara whimpers as the cool hair hits her upper body.
But he's far from being done with her. He kisses his way down to her stomach, stopping to swirl a tongue around her navel before continuing even further south. When he reaches her underwear he hooks his fingers under the hem and pulls them down without asking for her permission.
The smell of her arousal hits him and his eyes nearly roll back into his head. Soft, curly brown hair covers the place between her legs. Zuko palms her thighs and spreads them, not bothering to take his time or be gentle. That's not what either of them wants.
He ducks his head and swipes his tongue across her core. Her whole body tenses and then she begins to buck her hips against his mouth, trying to get as close to him as she possibly can. With one arm he reaches up and curves his hand along her stomach, pressing her down into the bed. With the other hand he easily slips a finger inside of her; her body is slick and ready for him. He brushes his tongue along her nub, moving it and his finger into a tempo that has her hands forming a tight grip in his hair.
When she comes for him the first time she goes rigid, as if he has shot her with a bolt of lightning. She doesn't cry out his name. Not yet. But she will. She digs her fingernails into his skull, mouth open wide in a silent scream.
Zuko places soft kisses to the inside of her thighs as she goes into her aftershocks. Then he pulls away, sliding his pants down and over his hips before tossing them over his shoulder to join his shirt and her dress.
He moves on top of her again, settling himself between her legs. Amazingly enough, Katara is already relatively alert. She crosses her ankles over his back and stares up into his face, challenging him.
He smirks and thrusts inside of her in a deep motion.
Katara gasps, throwing her head back and stretching out her neck.
Zuko moves inside of her, basking in the way she feels wrapped around him, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wonders why it feels so different here and now than it did with any of the others.
After seconds or minutes or hours, she is pushing against his shoulder and Zuko complies with her wishes, allowing her to flip him onto his back. She straddles him, hands coming to rest upon his chest. The penetration is deeper now, and Katara moans loudly as she works her body above him.
The light from the setting sun comes shining in through the window, illuminating her whole body. Katara has other scars, some small and inconspicuous and some large and predominant. She is perfect. Perfect.
When she comes for him the second time her fingernails curl into his chest and Katara breaks her own rhythm as she begins to clamp down onto him. His name comes cascading out of her mouth and she repeats it continuously, like mantra.
Zuko feels as if his own orgasm is starting from the base of his spine. Pleasure shoots through his core and he clutches at her hips as he bucks up against her once, twice, a few more times. It is as if Katara's body is swallowing his into her own.
Briefly, everything is clear. He thinks he might love this girl. He thinks maybe that's why this time felt different.
Zuko wakes up a few hours later to a face full of Katara's hair.
The sun has set, plunging the room into total darkness. Zuko snaps his fingers, lighting candles stationed around the room. The waterbender wiggles next to him, stirring as she awakens.
She peers at him through her tresses before giving him a lazy, satisfied smile. He returns it, and she props herself up onto her elbow so that she can kiss his forehead.
"On second thought, I'm glad you moved me into your room," she breathes, hand trailing down his chest.
She'd meant to be playful, but for some reason Zuko feels himself sobering. He sits up and her hand falls back to her side.
"I did it to protect you, you know," he says quietly.
She sits up beside him, her shoulder brushing his. "Have you ever thought that maybe you're the one who needs protecting?"
He gives her an amused look. "I don't think your puddles and ice needles can do much damage."
To his surprise, Katara's face goes serious. "If I shoved it in forcefully enough, an ice needle could pierce a heart."
Zuko frowns. Katara doesn't need ice needles in order to pierce hearts.
There's a soft knock on his door and Katara moans. "Why are people always asking for you?" she says, falling back against her pillow.
"Because I'm a prince," Zuko points out.
He slips out of the bed and pulls on his pants. He opens his door, hair sticking up and with a bare chest.
The guard blinks in astonishment before clearing his throat. "Prince Zuko, Fire Lord Ozai wants you to know that your Uncle is on his way here."
A/N:
*wipes forehead* Phew!
This chapter was a lot of fun to write, but it required a lot more careful thought then the others. Anyway, I hope everyone liked this! It was nice to finally reach the sexy times. I've been waiting to write that scene for ages.
I won't be updating this story until December, since I will be participating during National Novel Writing Month in November and don't want any of my fanfiction stories to distract me. So, Happy Halloween and Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of candy and turkey!