A/N: I am weak, and turned this into something longer. Hope you like it.

xx-Kitten

Satisfied

By Kittenshift17

Chapter Two

Zuko's eyes opened when the sun rose, his body tensing when he felt something pinning him to the bed and he twisted slightly, preparing to shove the weight off him. He froze when he turned his head to find a sleeping waterbender sprawled across him. His body ached when he recalled just why she was there and what they'd done to each other in the dark of the night.

Narrowing his eyes on her, Zuko noticed that she had her leg thrown over his hips, her arm slung across his ribs, and her cheek pillowed in the hollow of his shoulder. Her eyes were still closed, and her hair was a mess from having his hands running through it. She'd put his shirt back on sometime before falling asleep, but when he smoothed a curious hand over her thigh where it rested across him, he found that she was still without pants.

He almost smirked, his body entertaining thoughts of waking her up with another round, proving just how high he tended to rise with the sun. Before he could do so much as smooth his hand up her leg and to her bum, the door to his bedroom opened.

"Nephew, are you awake?" Uncle's voice intruded. "We're going to be late if you don't… hurry?"

Zuko tipped his head to stare at his uncle, wide-eyed. The old man was staring back at him, an expression of complete shock on his face. He wondered if things could get any more awkward than having his uncle walk in on him with a girl in his bed – something he'd sworn would not be an issue when Uncle had been bleating about decorating the place.

The universe, always one to show him just how much worse things could be, chose that moment to have the little Water Tribe peasant stir against him, her eyes blinking open slowly as she stretched, arching her back and her neck until Zuko heard it audibly pop. She blinked those big blue eyes at him, still looking mostly asleep and Zuko watched as she smiled widely in greeting before she realized just who she was looking at.

To her credit, she didn't flinch back or try to scramble out of his arms – and Zuko was very aware that he had his arm up the back of her shirt while his other hand rested intimately on her bum. She blinked stupidly for a moment.

"Zuko?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep.

"Katara," Zuko replied evenly, darting his eyes to his uncle and trying to will the old man to leave without making a scene.

"Katara?" Uncle's eyes widened.

Katara squeaked, twisting in Zuko's hold until she laid eyes on Uncle where he leaned in the doorway, obviously shocked beyond belief.

"Oh no," Zuko heard the girl mutter before she shot him a panicked look. Zuko returned it, not knowing what else to do.

"Uncle, maybe give us a minute?" Zuko suggested, realizing it might be the politest he'd been in a while.

"I… right! Of course. My apologies for intruding, my nephew; Miss Katara," Uncle said, positively beaming as he regained his equilibrium and bowed formally before retreating from the room.

Katara's cheeks were crimson and she was staring at Zuko in horror when the door clicked closed once more.

"Monkey-feathers!" she exclaimed when they were alone, and of all the things Zuko had expected the girl to say to him upon being caught in his bed by his uncle, half-naked and looking well ravished, that was not it.

Unable to rationalize the surprising exclamation and his embarrassment when he knew Uncle would make a big deal about this, Zuko did the only thing he could think of.

He laughed.

"Zuko!" Katara exclaimed, exasperated when he began laughing in earnest, unable to contain his amusement. "It's not funny!"

Zuko laughed harder and out in the main room of the apartment he shared with his uncle, Zuko could hear the old man beginning to laugh as well. In fact, Uncle came back, unable to help himself when he heard Zuko laughing as he couldn't remember doing in a long time.

The door to his quarters opened once more and the old man peered inside, his face alight with happiness at the sight of Zuko laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Katara asked, her cheeks pink even as laughter bubbled up within her too.

Uncle began chuckling as he watched and Zuko shook his head, unable to breathe, knowing the old man was going to make a fuss and knowing that he'd never live his down.

"Today is going to be a very good day," Iroh announced. "Good morning, Katara."

Katara glanced at the old man.

"General," she mumbled, nodding in greeting before looking back at Zuko and shaking her head.

Zuko laughed some more when she closed her eyes and lowered her head to rest her forehead on the middle of his chest, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Breakfast?" Iroh offered. "Perhaps a refreshing cup on Ginseng tea?"

"I need to leave," Katara protested. "Sokka, Aang, and Toph will be beside themselves with worry that I didn't come home."

"Ah," Iroh nodded. "And why was that? How did you… uh… end up here?"

His eyes scanned the room, taking in Zuko's discarded Blue Spirit mask and black clothing, in addition to her stained dress and leggings. He glanced at the bowl of water and the wash cloth on the nightstand beside the burned down candle.

"She was attacked by thugs last night on her way back to the Upper Ring," Zuko shrugged his shoulders, knowing from experience that it would be easier to simply tell his Uncle, rather than letting the man guess. He would only embarrass her further if he was allowed to guess.

"And the Blue Spirit intervened?" Uncle smiled widely. Zuko was unsurprised that his Uncle knew about his extracurricular activities when he went out after dark.

"Yeah," Zuko said, reaching past Katara, searching on the floor beside the bed, trying to find his pants.

"This is embarrassing," Katara muttered into his shoulder, sitting up when he wriggled, trying to find his pants and failing.

"I'm sure a cup of tea will help," Uncle said. "I will give you privacy to get dressed."

Before he could close the door completely, Katara suddenly reached for Zuko's arms.

"Hey!" she said. "This is mine!"

Zuko glanced at his wrist where the Water Tribe necklace was tied. She pulled at it in surprise.

"You've had it this whole time?" Katara demanded, trying to untie the knots he'd used to secure it to his wrist.

"You only just noticed that it was missing?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I got it back when Aang snatched it from you at the abbey where you chased us with the Shirshu. When did you take it again? We haven't seen you since… the North Pole?"

Zuko frowned at the piece of jewelry tied to his wrist. "You dropped it in the Sky-Bison's saddle while I was your prisoner," he answered. "I found it when I was looking for a knife, so I could get away."

"And you've…." She frowned, pulling back from him before she could pull it off his wrist. "You've been wearing it tied to your wrist since then?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes on the suddenly wary expression on her face.

"Yeah… why?" he frowned.

Katara's cheeks turned pink all over again and she looked up at Iroh for a moment before looking back at him. Zuko frowned at her, sitting up and reaching for his pants while he waited for her answer.

"It's… um… this is a betrothal necklace," she told him.

"You're betrothed!" Zuko asked, his face shifting to horrified in an instance, disgusted with himself to think he'd dishonored her and whatever betrothal contract she had with some water tribe peasant.

Her face flamed even more.

"No," she shook her head. "No, this was my mother's. Or, well, it was my grandmother's before she ran away from the Northern Tribe because she didn't love the man who'd given it to her. Anyway, she passed it on to my mother, and it's… it's all I have left of my mother after she was killed in a Fire Nation raid when I was a little girl," Katara explained.

Zuko paled, his eyes darting to the necklace around his wrist.

"Oh," he said, frowning, pausing in his attempt to put on his pants in favor of reaching for the necklace, trying to untie it from around his wrist.

"Is it important that he has been wearing it, rather than just carrying it, Katara?" Iroh asked, and Zuko froze, lifting his eyes to look at the waterbender while she watched him with an expression of nervousness, embarrassment, and maybe just a touch of confusion.

"Um…" Katara frowned, looking down at her lap, her cheeks brightening even more. "Well it's customary in my tribe that if a warrior is going off to war, his wife would take off the betrothal necklace he had carved for her, and he would wear it tied around his wrist to remember her when things get hard and to remember the promises he swore to her to always return from war."

Iroh frowned.

"What do the women have to remember their husbands by if they give back their betrothal necklaces?" the old general asked curiously.

Here, Katara's cheeks darkened even more.

"Usually a baby," she admitted quietly. "More often than not, the warrior will stay when he is married until his wife falls pregnant, and then he returns to the front, knowing he has a wife and a baby waiting on him at home. He wears the necklace to remind him of them – to remind him that, no matter how badly his is wounded, he must live in order to get home and see his wife and his unborn child."

Zuko's pulse jumped, his eyes darting down her front to rest on her stomach. He hadn't even thought about what would happen when he'd had sex with her if they weren't careful. He paled considerably, his eyes darting up to meet Uncle's in a panic before he shot a glance at her stomach then back at the old man. Iroh's eyes widened, apparently not having thought they'd had sex.

"Right," Zuko said. "Um… I guess I'd better give this back, then."

He awkwardly fiddled with the ties, trying to undo them and struggling. Katara looked up, frowning as Uncle walked away once more when the kettle began to boil, whistling softly in the other room. Zuko met her gaze, his own cheeks turning red when she looked at him so seriously.

She closed her hand over his wrist carefully, still frowning.

"Keep it for me," she said softly. "Maybe it will help you remember what I said last night, the next time you think about hunting us or doing something that goes against who you're meant to be, rather than who your father expects you to be."

Zuko frowned as she pushed herself to her feet, crossing the room and wiggling back into her bindings before pulling on her leggings. He watched as she chose to keep his shirt on when she sniffed her dress and made a face at the smell of it. Instead, she strapped her belt and her water skin around her lithe form.

"You better not have a baby in there to remember me by," he said before he could think better of it and Katara looked up at him, her eyes widening in shock at his words.

Her cheeks went crimson all over again.

"I'm sure I don't," she said, laughing.

Zuko didn't laugh, glancing out into the main room at his Uncle where the old man stood brewing tea before he quickly rose out of bed as well, pulling his pants on and fire-ferreting around until he found a clean shirt. Katara raised her eyebrows at him, suspecting this must be the uniform he wore to the tea shop. The idea amused her more than it should.

"Yeah, well, you better not," Zuko said darkly when he was dressed.

He crossed the room to chest of belongings, stuffing his Blue Spirit mask back inside and digging around until he found what he was looking for. When he rose, Katara was already on her way out the door, apparently not wanting to wear out her welcome.

"Katara," he called quietly before she could join his uncle in the main room.

"Yes?" she asked, turning back to look at him.

Zuko hesitated before crossing to her and reaching for her hand. She let him take it, and Zuko carefully tied the strip of red cloth around her wrist. It was nothing so special as her mother's betrothal necklace, just one of the bindings he wore when he was training with his swords, embroidered with the Fire Nation royal insignia. He'd had it since his banishment, never having dared to give it to anyone else.

"I can't wear a Fire Nation mark," she protested when she looked at it.

"It's not obviously Fire Nation," he told her. "This is the mark of the royal family. If you're ever captured and you have this tied around your wrist, the soldiers will spare you and bring you to whoever's mark is embroidered here."

He pointed to the emblem in his native langue that symbolized his name.

"In other words, this is some kind of 'Property of Prince Zuko' ribbon?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"It's all I have of any value to me that you can wear," he said. "A trade. You look after this for me, and I'll be sure to look after this for you."

He fingered the Water Tribe necklace tied around his own wrist. She frowned at him.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Does this signify to your people that I'm some sort of… concubine?" she asked suspiciously.

Zuko's lips twitched with amusement.

"Considering what you were doing last night, and the fact that you're the only girl I've slept with who wasn't paid, I think you technically qualify for the title, little peasant," he said, grinned evilly at her.

She gasped in outrage, her eyes narrowing before she stepped closer and swatted his chest hard enough to sting. Zuko laughed, making his uncle look over with a smile on his face.

"They're not worn by concubines," Zuko said, catching her wrist and using the grip to pull the petite young woman closer. "They're worn only by those of the royal family and anyone deemed important to the family – usually they're given as a gift of greatest honor to those who dedicate their lives to being our protectors."

Katara's eyes widened and her cheeks darkened once more. Zuko was finding that he kind of liked making her blush.

"But… I'm not your protector," she said quietly before she smirked. "I'm the one you usually need protection from."

Zuko narrowed his eyes on her.

"And I'm not your betrothed, even though I'm wearing your betrothal necklace," he answered coldly. "Just… look after it. Think of it as a trade."

She stopped smiling, nodding seriously and Zuko darted a glance over her head at his uncle before looking back at the little waterbender who'd let him have her all through the night even though they'd fought deadly battles and waged war against one another half a hundred times, at least. She held his gaze unflinchingly and Zuko almost couldn't stand it, recalling the soft trace of her fingers and her lips over the horrible scar on his face. She hadn't flinched away or recoiled in horror. She hadn't skirted around it, refusing to touch it. She'd just accepted it as a part of him, just as she'd accepted that he'd done bad things, and probably would again.

"I should go," she said before he could think of anything to say.

Zuko nodded in agreement, his eyes darting to her lips before he pulled on the front of her shirt, dragging her closer and planting his lips on hers. She squeaked in surprise before melting against his lips, her hands resting against his chest while he threaded his free hand into her hair and Zuko kissed her hard. He had a million things he wanted to say to her ranging from spitting insults at her to the burning urge to thank her for treating him like nothing more than a lover and a friend, rather than an enemy, or a traitor, or a jerk who'd chased her across the world and tied her to a tree and tried to burn her and hurt her on too many occasions to name.

Zuko was pointedly aware that his uncle was watching them as he kissed her, but he ignored the old man's curiosity and elation, knowing he would think this some cause for hope that he might change allegiance and join the avatar. Zuko knew it was what Katara wanted, and he knew that at some stage, the Avatar was going to need a Firebending teacher.

But it couldn't be him. Not today.

All he could do was kiss her and pretend she hadn't made him feel normal for the first time in his life. When they broke apart several breathless minutes later, Zuko laid his forehead against hers, sighing softly and feeling the way her hands traced down the front of his shirt before she slipped her arms around his waist, stepping closer and burrowing into his chest, hugging him tightly. Zuko buried his nose in her hair, drawing the sweet scent of rain and, strangely, fire-lilies into his lungs and holding it there for as long as he could.

When she pulled away, Zuko caught the way she brushed a tear from her cheek before she turned away from him, stuffing her dress into her bag and walking out the door.

"General," she said politely to his uncle.

"Drink this, please," Uncle asked the girl gently. "I am not ready to be a grandfather just yet."

Zuko caught the slip of his tongue, knowing the old man thought of Zuko like he was really his son, rather than his nephew. He could tell Katara caught it too, but he watched her smile before she accepted the cup of tea that uncle had brewed especially for her.

"Tansy?" she asked curiously when she'd taken a sip.

Iroh nodded. "Among other things."

"First the ribbon of a concubine, and now the tea of one," she said softly, though she sounded amused.

Zuko hid a smirk behind his tea-cup, watching as she drank the tea down in deep gulps before wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Would you like breakfast?" Iroh offered, unable to keep the grin off his face.

Katara shook her. "I need to get going, before Sokka comes looking for me and finds me here."

Iroh nodded in understanding, looking a bit like he'd prefer if she didn't have to go and Zuko knew the old man really did want to make a life for them here. He wanted Zuko to stop trying to win back his honor and his father's love and his throne. He wanted them to stay here where they'd be safe. He didn't bother pointing out that of all the women in the world, Katara was the least likely to agree to settling down in some middle-class apartment in the middle of a city that denied the existence of the war. Not when she was best friends with the Avatar and had spent months helping Aang fight the oppression of the Fire Nation.

"Well, at least take this," Iroh said, handing her a slip of paper. Zuko peered at it, his cheeks darkening to see the old man had given her a coupon for a free cup of tea.

Katara's eyes danced with amusement as she read the coupon, clearly noting the name of the teashop. Zuko got the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that she would come by just to make him fetch her a cup of tea and play nice.

"Thank you," she said, her grin positively mischievous and Zuko narrowed his eyes on her.

"You better not even think about using it, little peasant," he warned her. "In fact, I better not see you anywhere near the lower ring again. Don't make me have to save you again."

Uncle shot him an appalled look for his rudeness, but Katara laughed.

"Then don't you let me catch you sniffing around the Upper Ring, your highness. I'd hate to have to hurt you. Again," she said, her smile entirely too innocent while her eyes gleamed with wickedness. In spite of himself, Zuko shot her a blood-thirsty grin.

"No promises," he said. "After all, today you're my enemy once again."

She laughed quietly before turning for the door. Zuko watched her pause to rest a hand on Uncle's shoulder.

"Thank you for the tea," she said politely before sauntering over to the door and letting herself out.

She stopped in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at him, meeting his gaze.

"You better not lose that necklace," she warned, pulling the door closed behind herself before Zuko could say another word.

Zuko shook his head, taking another sip of his tea and watching the blue water tribe pendant dangling from his wrist as he did so.

"You know, nephew," Iroh began, his voice full of amusement. "When I suggested that you might one day bring home a lady friend…. She was not who I was expecting."

Zuko didn't say anything, knowing better than to encourage the old man, but as they both hustled out the door to get to work on time at the tea shop, Zuko couldn't help thinking that Katara hadn't at all been what he'd expected, either.