On the Edge of Temptation
*Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender*
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Chapter 1
It's been five years since the war ended, five years since firelord Ozai's defeat and Azula's take down. And honestly, I never anticipated it turning out this way. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the war is done and over, I just...I'm surprised at how things turned out.
Zuko was now the firelord and Mai was the firelady. It all went so fast; Zuko getting the throne and Mai...becoming his wife. It just seems like yesterday when Zuko joined "Team Avatar". But I guess I should be happy for them. I mean, today was their one year anniversary, and they did invite me to come, but it just feels awkward, like, I shouldn't be here. It felt weird being in the presence of other princes and princesses, generals, and warlords, etc., etc. I was just me, Katara, princess of the Southern Water Tribe, but that was nothing compared to them. I was like a pebble in the midst of pearls!
"You seem disturbed by something, princess Katara," a waiter said, "may I offer you something to drink?" I grabbed at the small glass of water that was sitting on the drink platter. He smiled politely. "Would you not like any fire whiskey, princess?"
"You can call me Katara, and no thanks, water is fine." He bowed and walked away. I sighed and slowly sipped at my drink, watching all of the prestigious couples dance, smiling at a couple who decided it was right for them to make out in the corner. I shook my head, "Young people these days."
"But you're still young, too," a husky voice said behind me. Zuko.
I turned around to look up at him. He was wearing a suit; a dark red sharp-looking, and well-fitted suit. It fit well, it made him look very handsome, and when he smiled, it was a bit overwhelming. "I'm grown."
"You're 19."
"I'll be 20 by—"
"...the beginning of the winter solstice, late October," he finished. "You're still a teenager, the youngest here probably," he laughed at this.
Placing my water on a nearby table, I frowned at him, "Could you be even more of a jerk, Zuko?"
He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad you came. Katara."
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," I said nonchalantly, returning to my water.
"I know," he said proudly, not catching the sarcasm in my voice. "The gardeners planted some fire lilies the other day, your favorite flower... did you want to take a walk in the royal garden or something? I would love to show you them."
"Well…I guess we could do that." Startled, he eagerly grabbed at my forearm and pulled me out towards the exit of the ballroom. As we pushed through the crowd and out the door, I was completely stunned. The garden was beautiful. A white rocking bench sat above a patch of well-tended grass. A bed of snapdragons and tiger lily's encircled around a small pond. There were roses and lilacs everywhere, with a few other unnamed unique, beautiful flowers.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"This garden is so beautiful," I said, walking towards the edge of the pond, where a family of turtle ducks splashed around.
"Yes, it is. It's my favorite place to be, actually."
"I wish I had something like this back home..."
"You could've had it here, you know..." he started
I turned away from him. "You said that we wouldn't speak of that anymore, Zuko."
"That doesn't mean I can't feel regret over what could have been." He threw a piece of bread at the hungry turtle ducks. "Sorry. I just…I'm angry that we wasted so much time. We could have been together a while ago…and the fact that we weren't still gets me.
"You're a married man, Zuko," I calmly stated.
"Can I not reminisce over the past?"
"You know that reason we couldn't be together, Zuko," I turned my body towards him, holding a slight frown on my face. "We were in the middle of a freaking war! There was no time to get serious!"
"Well, maybe if you'd had the sense to see what was right in front of you, rather than a twelve year old little kid—"
I threw my hands up in frustration. "Thanks for reminding me again about the mistakes I made with Aang, Zuko."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, allowing a small flame to come out of his mouth. "All I wanted, back then, was for you to return my feelings. Besides, Sokka and Suki were in the middle of a war, too, and they managed just fine."
"Whatever happened between us was way more complicated than their relationship ever was, Zuko. Besides, it's not like you ever bothered spelling it out to me," I poked him hard on his chest, "and Aang…he was always there."
"I thought I spelled it out perfectly! It was obvious!" he plopped himself on the rocking bench and growled. Yes, growled. "Of course Aang was always there, the guy practically worshipped you. I wouldn't have been surprised if I saw him with a tattoo that said 'Katara' on his chest!"
All the tension was broken when I laughed at his comment. "That is true, but at least he could control himself when he was around me."
The corner of Zuko's mouth pulled down, but he screwed it back into a placid stare. "You're kidding. I controlled myself around you just fine for years, or have you forgotten?"
"That was before we started getting intimate..."
"I was even more controlled afterwards."
Sitting down next to him, I gave him a confused look. "Yeah, because every time we were alone, you wouldn't try to pry my clothes off," I said in a sardonic tone.
"That's pretty rich coming from the girl that never tried to stop me." I opened my mouth to speak, but immediately closed it once I heard someone walking up behind us.
"Zuko," Mai's cold and bored voice hastily made Zuko and I turn around, "when I ask you to bring me a drink, I didn't ask you to chat with one of your former girlfriends." Her eyes widened once she finally got a full look at me. "Oh, never mind...it's just you, Katara."
Raising my eyebrows, I placed my hands on my hips and said, "Well, I'm happy to see you too, Mai. Happy anniversary."
"Katara, I didn't see you standing there," she gave me a small smile. "But thanks. I'm sure I'll be at one of your anniversaries sometime soon, right? There are some handsome princes back at the party, I'm sure you'd love to meet them. Or are you and Aang still..." she waved her hand around in a circular motion.
I laughed. Not a big laugh, but a small sign of amusement. "Aang and I? I don't even know what we are anymore. He's always travelling, doing his avatar duties and giving speeches on peace throughout the nations."
"How disappointing?" Mai said in such a tone, I thought she was being sarcastic. "But wasn't there another guy in your life? At least I thought there was...wasn't there?"
My eyes flickered up to Zuko's. "No there wasn't."
"Oh, well that's disappointing," she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed dramatically. "Well, I'm sure you'll meet someone soon, but if you'll excuse us, Zuko and I have some post anniversary things to do. Ta ta." With a wave of her hand, she and Zuko walked away.
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*Please Read & Review. Yes, I know it's short, but this is just the first chapter. As you may know I haven't really written anything thing since my past two Unexpected stories. So I'm actually just kinda seeing how this story will go. But please give me some input on what you think. And before you question, this will be a Zutara fanfic with many other pairings as well. Instead of just jumping in, I decided to start the story out slow so don't expect too much romance just yet, but there will be plenty in the upcoming chapters. So if you read, please review, give me some feedback on what you think! Thanks!
Naomi Loves Calvin and Hobbes.
