Midsummer Madness Chapter 12: The Witching Hour, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Title: Midsummer Madness

Author: BurningIce

Rating: M -- Fair Warning

Summary: Katara learns that there are both advantages and drawbacks to being a female water bending master, and pays back a favor to an old friend.

Pairing: Zutara

…

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. If I did it would have been considerably less awesome, but Katara and Zuko would have totally gotten together, so I guess it's a toss up.

Chapter 12: The Witching Hour

…

Katara woke with someone knocking on her door. She sighed, and ignored it, her body still feeling mostly asleep.

"Y'all need to get up now, Master Katara!" Someone called, probably Yeo or one of her classmates.

She heard Zuko stick his head out his door, "Just keep trying, she is a heavy sleeper, and it's hard to get her up before noon."

Ugh, damn it Zuko!

"I'm up!!" Katara shouted at them, swinging her legs over the side of the mattress, grabbing the sheet she had kicked off during the night, wrapping it around her body, and hauling her mat door open.

It was Yeo standing there, and Zuko was leaning out of his doorway, face half shaved. Yeo carried a jug of clean water and two swamp nut shells filled with some sort of dark purple liquid. The shod priestess pushed past her and set the cups down, then hefted up the jug, pouring it into the basin on Katara's table.

"Y'all're not dressed yet?" She seemed surprised, "hurry 'n wash off and git dressed."

Katara tossed her sheet back on the bed and bent the water to her face, washing the sleep from it. As she did, Yeo talked.

"The first horn 's fer everyone ta wake up, it sounds at eight, the next is that the mess hall is open, that sounds a' eight thirty, then again at nine for mornin' meditation, Ya getting' all this Lee?" she asked, raising her voice.

"Getting it." Zuko called, his voice muffled by the mats that separated their rooms, but still audible.

"Ok, then again at ten fer mornin' classes, that's when ya'll learn swamp style n' readin' with us, then at one the horn sounds for lunch. So go back to the mess hall, I'll show you where. At 2 the bell rings for afternoon classes, those are canceled today on account o' the full moon, but you would be teaching the kids Pole Style. Actually," Yeo stepped forward and began lacing her top for her, so Katara began braiding her hair, "We all 'ave leave to skip our normal classes 'n learn pole style from you," she shook her head dismissively, "Y'all'll see. Five to six is afternoon chores, but ye're guests, so y'all don't have chores, then dinner, 'n then yer time is yer own."

"So what should I do during these morning classes?" Zuko called from his room.

"I don't know, whatever Katara tells you to do." Yeo shrugged, "What should he do? He is yer man."

"I don't know, go make friends and have fun." Katara twisted a strand into place, then began fastening the leaves into place on her arms, "Challenge someone to a fight, what do boys do in their spare time?"

"Y'all should come watch the lesson Lee, there are always a bunch'a spectators." Yeo picked up one of the cups, and shoved it into Katara's hand, "Drink this," Yeo picked up her own which was half empty and took another long gulp.

"What's in it?" Katara sniffed it, then took a tentative sip, it tasted like berries and leaves, very bitter, and very thick, it was almost too thick to drink, she wished she had a spoon. Her body however seemed to bolt upright, and even though it was not moonrise. She was surprised that there was a liquid that could trigger a power surge to come early, all her muscles tensed, and she suddenly became acutely aware of all the moisture in the area's surrounding her.

"You don' recognize it? It's made of a mix of Lonaberries, Maiden's Secret, and Swamp Python venom, it's not concentrated though like the stuff we export." Yeo was straightening Katara's sheets, "'t'll keep ya from bein fertile, we all gotta down it during our surges, cult rule, well, cult precaution. Drink it all now, and I'll be givin ya more at the right time so y'all can be sure it kicks in."

"This place actually exports something?" A horn blasted, Katara was amazed she had slept through the first one, it was so loud.

"That's the eight thirty horn, time for breakfast." Yeo grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hallway. Zuko was waiting there for them there, leaned against the wall, trying to tuck his bangs behind his ears.

"What is that you're drinking?" he asked, cringing his nose as though it smelled fowl.

"I'm not sure." Katara answered half truthfully.

"I think I've seen Azula drink it, I recognize the smell."

They both followed Yeo out of the dorms, and across the green. She was headed for a building on the opposite side of the pyramid. There were several women in the grass and moss, too old to be students, too young to be teachers, weaving together garlands of white flowers, and stringing them up on the trees. Lilly pads with flowers and kindling were being floated out onto the lake, and sticks were being set up for a big bonfire in the center.

"What's going on? Why all the decorations?" Zuko asked, peering at one of the men who was stringing fabric into the branches of a tree.

"The Moon Spirit had been saddened lately, we're trying to make our celebrations honoring her bigger and more beautiful to remind her that we still love her and are her loyal servants."

Katara thought of how Sokka and Suki had started sharing a bedroll and wondered. She shook her head, the Moon Spirit probably had better things to do than pine away for her sort of exboyfriend.

"That's . . . very nice of you." Zuko scratched his head, "Can she see them from all the way up there?"

"Oh, she'll see them." Yeo pushed open a door and ushered them into a room where there were several low tables and cushions. The tables were already full of women and men of all ages gobbling up fruits and bugs.

The three of them crossed the room, and picked up bowls. Zuko grumbled something about more bugs.

…

"I'm sorry Avatar Aang, I'm not sure what's wrong with the ship." The First Mate looked sheepish, "We keep losing altitude, we think that there might be a tear in one of the seams that the low pressure pulled open even more. Unfortunately, it's too dangerous to get up there, if the turbulence starts again any man up there could be thrown from the balloon."

"Do you want me to take a look?" Aang reached for his glider staff.

"I don't think that there is anything to do, even if you do find a tear, you won't be able to stitch it back up without the necessary tools."

"So what's going to happen?! You're just going to let us crash?" Toph demanded, her fear making her angry.

"We are going to ease down into the harbor, the landing might be a bit rough though."

Aang put a hand on Toph's shoulder, "That's all right, We'll be fine."

"I never thought I would miss flying on Appa." Toph grumbled.

Aang picked up his staff, "I'll see what I can do to make the landing neater. Just hold onto something and I will be back."

Toph latched back onto her now twisted support beam. She couldn't feel what Aang was doing, air bending around the ship probably, but whatever he was doing was not particularly working. She felt the descent turn more and more into a freefall, her stomach tingled, not quite being able to keep up with the rest of her, and she clutched the support beam harder.

She could feel men running this way and that, throwing switches, shoveling coal, barking out orders.

I wish Sokka was here. Toph admitted to herself. If she was going to be stuck on an airship, she would rather it be with him.

Suddenly she felt a mind jumbling jot, a bounce, and then a crash, and the floor washed with sea water, up to her ankles. Aang landed on the iron ground a moment later, and she felt him pad over to her.

"It's fine now Toph, we're out of the air, and we'll be disembarking soon." He tapped his staff on the ground, retracting it's sails.

Toph let go of the support beam, trying to salvage what was left of her machismo.

"That's good, I was starting to get bored."

"Avatar Aang," Toph recognized the voice of the Capitan, "We have moored and the gang plank has been lowered, your little blind girl friend looks a bit green around the gills, you might want to get her onto some dry land."

"What the hell!!" Toph was not going to tolerate being treated like a delicate flower, "I am NOT looking green, whatever that looks like, I will NOT be talked about like I am not here!! I am Toph Bei Fong, Earth Bending Master, holder of the title belt of-"

Aang put his arm around her, "Come on Toph, we can yell at him, or we can get onto dry land, let's get over to the castle and see what we're working with."

Toph let herself be led away, but turned and pointed unnervingly accurately at the Capitan, "You're getting off easy!"

…

After meditation, Katara and Yeo padded into the dojo, the floor was made of sand sunken in about three inches of water. Five girls were there, blindfolded, apparently playing a game of tag, though the girl who was it was only allowed to use water bending to locate and tag the others, and the girls who were trying to avoid her could only use water bending to sense where she was. It reminded Katara of Toph.

One of the oldest women of the tribe tapped her on the arm and kissed her cheeks.

"Hey there, Katara 'o the Southern Water Tribe, y'all came a long way to see an old lady like myself."

"This here is Arca Vel, she's a Master Water Bending Clairvoyant. If anyone can teach ya the technique, she can." Yeo told Katara, then turned her head and waved as a girl called her name, "Y'all hold yer emu 'orses, I'll be right over! I'll come get you after."

"So," Katara followed the older woman as she ambled out of the dojo, "You can really read people's minds? How is that even possible?"

"Well, firstly, y'all should have a talent for the craft, something I can tell by lookin at ya y'all do not have, y'all are a good fighter and healer, but y'all ain't no monk." The woman found a mossy stump in a sunny patch and settled herself, Katara took her arm, helping the crone to sit.

"So, you're saying I can't learn it?" Katara was starting to get annoyed at deciphering the accents.

"Now now, I din't say that, secondly y'all should be in balance. Which, clearly, yer not." The woman pulled a small water skin out from under her arm, "And finally, y'all need to be willin to work real hard, like all 'o the other forms, this requires practice, but it is much more difficult than shifting y'all's weight the proper way. Requires emotional strength, 's well as spiritual."

Katara didn't say anything, she settled down cross legged on the moss in front of the priestess, and waited respectfully.

"Y'all know why mind reading with water bending is possible?"

Katara shook her head.

"Y'all know why you can pick of flashes 'o memories while yer healin'?"

Katara shook her head.

The crone frowned a bit, as though she was realizing just how inexperienced her new pupil was.

Katara flushed, she had always had to work very hard at water bending, but at least her first, stumbling attempts were not in front of a master.

"No need to feel ashamed, little sister," The woman hurriedly put in, brushing her short white hair back, "S'not y'all's fault that the lads up in the north pole dun know much, 'n teach even less. Now, Y'all can use water bending to see people's memories because everything that happens to them gets imprinted on their aura's. Yall just need to be able to find what you want, and that's no' easy. We see injuries best because there is also a physical link, bu' y'all can take the process further. You must be careful though, s'not a good idea to try durin your up times, s'pecially if yer new to the power, like y'all is. You can get a bit more 'vision' than y'all bargain for."

Katara nodded.

"Now, ah think we need a test dummy."

She turned her head, looking around, there were several men lounging in the sun, watching the lesson. They looked to be in their mid twenties, and were goofing off, the warm air making them frisky. One was doing a suggestive dance while the others jeered and laughed.

"Oi! Fen! Y'all come over here!" The priestess barked, and Katara frowned, the woman could have been politer, the men were obviously busy. Never the less, one of the clappers stood and walked over, and gave a polite bow.

"This here is Katara, she's learnin the memory reading technique, will y'all let her practice on you?"

The man nodded, "Yea, spose."

He sat down and Katara got onto her knees, bending the water Vel offered out and touched it to the man's temples. The woman reached out and adjusted her fingertips, and moved her hand position slightly.

"Now, ya'll try somethin' easy at first, clear your mind and focus on your breathin, okay, good, get a sense of how the stance feels, y'all can sense his blood pumpin through his veins. Y'all can sense his chi where it's a flowin through yer water. Good. Now, let's start with somthin easy. Fen here, he nearly drown a month ago, y'all find that memory, 'n tell me if it was day or night."

Katara sighed, taking a breath, and activated her water, concentrating the glowing liquid on the man's memories, using his aura as a bridge. It did not take long, the memory was still fresh in the man's mind.

Fen was hunting, the sun was setting, and he had found the trail of a particularly large possum chicken. He was following it along the riverbank, when suddenly the bank gave way and he slipped on the mud and fell into the rushing current. It pressed him down-

Katara lost the stream of thought, it had slipped away like sand through her fingertips.

"Reading is not like healing, Little Sister, but like fighting" Val reached out and readjusted Katara's hand and stance, "'f yer patient is resistin' ya, you need to be rough."

Again, Katara tried to find the memory, and again there was only blackness. The man was indeed fighting her, he was burying the memory, and putting up a mental barrier. She frowned and pushed harder, pressing her consciousness in on the man's.

and he struggled against it, the water slamming him into a rock. He could taste his own blood. He heaved and managed to send a surge of water up under him, catapulting him to the surface.

Gasping for air, he grabbed one of the mossy rocks, but couldn't get an adequate hold. He took a deep breath and let it out, freezing the water on the surface. The current still swept his feet and legs, but his torso stayed where it was, and he managed to haul himself up onto the ice and then stagger the rest of the way into shore.

He flopped down into the mud of the shore, panting in the starlight.

"It wath nighttime, the thun had thet, but the moon had not rithen." Katara was pleased with herself, then raised her hand to her mouth, it felt like there was a deep gash in her tongue. She had also somehow worked up a sweat, all her skin was sticky with it.

"Y'all must be more careful about separatin' yerself from yer patient. Otherwize yer body's gunna react, thinkin it's hurt." The woman scolded, seizing Katara's chin and forcing her mouth open to inspect her, "It should be as though yer watchinn the happinins with a spyglass, y'all need to maintain distance."

"Thorry." Katara tried unsuccessfully to pull her face away.

"Being able to separate yerself from the patient is real difficult, ya see, it'll prolly take y'all years of practice to be able to. Ya'all find it very difficult to escape unscathed, y'all have neither the emotional balance or natural talent for it. Luckily, the pain is only in yer head, 'nfortunately, still hurts pretty bad."

…

"So you really saw the Sun Warriors?!" One of the boys asked, he was about the same age as Zuko.

Zuko nodded, he was helping them boil purple flowers and vegetables in a pot, and it was turning the water blue.

"Needs more mordent." another said, he looked about twenty five, "'s gon rub right off."

"No way, y'all'll give us all skin poisonin', 'nyways, it saddens the color." argued the one who was stirring.

Zuko bent the fire hotter.

"Is it true that them women shave off half their hair?" the first asked, "'n wear it in a ponytail?"

"For La's sake!! Stop badger molein' him, our man Lee is a man o' few words," another said, he was busy picking the petals off of the stems and dropping them in the pot.

The first ignored him, "What about that pretty lil' thing with ya, Katara, y'all an item or is she free fer persuin?"

"No she isnt!" Zuko clenched his fist, and the fire under the pot roared up, making all the water bending boys jump back.

"Alright alright, yall don't need to pitch a fit!" the stirrer yelled, shaking his ladle at Zuko, "We'll 'member that we ain't to touch her, now calm down, ya almost burnt me to a cinder. Rao, got the paste done?"

"What are we even making anyway?" Zuko asked, extinguishing the flames. He had assumed it was dinner, and had helped the boys by lighting the fire so they wouldn't have to struggle with the spark rocks.

"We're makin body paint silly, what did ya think we was makin?"

Zuko shrugged.

"We'll be needin' it for tonight," one of the older boys laughed, then broke into song, "I'll tell y'all a tale and a terrible tune, 'o a man 'n a moerae 'n a midsummer moon . . ."

Another few joined in, "that 'ed woven a wanton 'n wily spell, that dissolved the doorway 'n opened up hell!"

"Come on!" One of them grabbed Zuko's arm and hauled him up, "All 'o us should wash, we don' wanna present ourselves ta the Moon Spirit lookin like we 'ave been doin bendin practice all day." He pulled Zuko in the direction of the riverbed, and the others followed, one carrying the pot to wash, and one carrying the bowl of blue paint.

Zuko had never done much primping in his life, so felt thoroughly out of place as the men started helping him bathe.

"Y'all are so lucky, ya ain't got much hair on yer chest yet." One said, while he was shaving his.

"In the Fire Nation, it's considered 'unmanly' to have a hairless chest." Zuko told him flatly.

"In the Bog it's considered a luxury, 's too hot to grow a bunch o extra hair."

"Y'all want us to shave you? It's tradition!" One of them teased, and the rest chortled.

Zuko touched his face, "I shaved this morning."

"Guess again, Fire Boy."

Zuko paled.

…

Azula sat in her room, cross legged on the floor, combing her hair with her fingers. Her furniture was charred and broken on the floor, and the staff was leaving it destroyed to teach her a lesson about cremating her necessities. She didn't care, tables were tables, sheets were sheets, and she needed none of them.

"Screams from a water whore, your guts fall out on to the floor, Stuff your limbs into your chest, wait to see if they digest." She half sang, tugging out the knots, her bare toes laced together.

There was a knock on the door.

"Azula, you have a visitor. I'm opening your door now, so be careful." It was one of her nurses, the one who treated her like an infant.

Azula hated her.

Mai walked in and both her and Azula stood in silence as the princess drew circles in the soot. In fact, she did not stand up or acknowledge her visitor in any way. The aristocrat was the first to break and speak.

"You were right."

"I know."

"What?"

"I know."

"How?"

"I'm a people person."

"How did you know he would . . ."

"Mai, I have know my brother longer than I have known anyone. I know what he wants, sometimes even before he does. He wants someone who brings out the best in him, not the worst." Azula placed her hand over the side of her face, leaving a sooty handprint around her eye, and spoke in an imitation of Zuko, "The water bending peasant and I are opposites, we both have traits that the other admires, and we challenge each other to be more than what we were. It is honorable that we marry and bring lasting stability to our nations."

Mai narrowed her eyes, "I have something for you."

"Yes? Is it the crown of the Fire Lord." Azula crooned back, flexing and unflexing her toes.

Mai rummaged down her skirt and pulled out a lock pick, and readjusted some daggers. "I didn't bring it. We'll have to go to my family's house to get it, but I want something back."

Azula stood up, suddenly interested, "What is it you want?"

"You're such a people person, shouldn't you already know?"

Azula's eyes turned thoughtful, "You get me out of here and put me on the throne, and I will bring you Zuko in chains."

"Hmm . . ." Mai crinkled her nose, "I don't know . . ."

"The water bender in chains as well." Azula added.

"Not interested enough. What else?" Mai pressed the lock pick against her finger bending the fragile tip, threatening to snap it.

"Offer her the kingdom." Ursa recommended.

"I'll marry you and make you Fire Lady, as you were meant to be." Azula raised her bid.

Mai looked incredulous, "To do that you would have to legalize the betrothal of two women."

"That would be easy if I became Fire Lord. One silly little decree. Plus, I won't care who you sleep around with if you're my wife. I doubt you would get a better offer from Zuko."

"Deal." Mai knelt down and began working on the shackles around the princess's ankles. They clicked open after mere moments, and she began working on the princess's wrists.

"HEY!!" one of the nurses opened the door, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She bolted across the room, intending to yank Mai off the inmate, but the goth flicked her wrist and three daggers shot through the air and pinned the woman to the wall.

"What the hell!! We disarmed you!! We searched you for weapons!!"

Azula stood up and walked over to the woman, grinning.

"We don't have time to play around Azula." Mai called from the door.

"I know, but this will only take a second." She ripped the woman's shirt open, exposing her torso, and then held out her hand, "give me a dagger."

…

"Water Tribe! When was the last time y'all shaved yer legs?!"

"Umm . . ." Katara squeezed out her hair, wondering which was better, Water Tribe or Sugar Queen, "Never?" She decided she preferred 'Tara, which Zuko had started calling her when she wasn't pissing him off.

"Leave 'er alone, her body is designed to survive harshest cold, not humidist heat." Yeo came to her rescue, Katara was starting to get the feeling that Yeo was the alpha female of the group. She was carrying a pot and a ladle and a bunch of shells, along with a bowl full of the strange red paint.

She passed Katara another shell full of the strange purple substance, and Katara drank it without question, it sharpened her skills even more, and she made a mental note to take some back with her to the Fire Nation. Feminine precaution or no, it would help her read Ozai.

"Sorry." The girl muttered, "I'll show y'all how."

When they had all finished bathing, Katara pulled on her bandeau bra and loincloth, and bent the excess water out of her hair. She then swept it all up and began working it into an elaborate bun, working mostly by feel. She had learned that if she kept her hair off her back and neck, she stayed a lot cooler in the summer swamp heat.

The girls had begun dunking their fingers into the paint and drawing designs on each other. Katara was reminded of the painted lady, and wondered if the myth might have started with the swamp tribe girls.

They were giggling girlishly as they worked, then one of them grabbed Katara around the waist and dragged her over.

"Don't forget about Water Tribe." She reminded them, and one of the painters came over and began striping designs onto Katara too.

Katara let go of her hair, "I can do that myself!" She pulled the girl's hands off her stomach, it made her uneasy because the touches were turning her on, the full moon was definitely rising soon. Her body knew it, and was anticipating it.

"Calm down, y'all wont jump anyone yet." The painter rolled her eyes, then drew the snake insignia on one of Katara's arms, "We all 'r feelin the same way, no need to be modest! What're they teachin ya in the North about bein' a woman? Tha only men can be attractive?"

"Y'all don't know? In the North, y'all are considered a tramp if ya have 'relations' with a man afore yer married!" The girl who had spoken was making handprints across a friend's back.

"Y'all 'r serious?! I don' even like goin through a moon cycle without a man in my bed." The painter looked at Katara, "No wonder yer jumpin under my fingers, how do y'all survive?!"

"Well . . ." Katara blushed, "It's not easy . . . but water tribe girls are arranged to marry young, so it's not TOO much of a problem."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold the emu horses, y'all'r tellin me up north they purposefully don't train gals so they don get strong enough to feel the moon in yer gut, y'all cannot have relations to any man other than yer husband, and yer husband is someone yer father picks out for ya at sixteen?!"

By then all the girls had stopped painting and were staring at her as though her nose had suddenly turned inside out.

"Well, They do teach us to heal, that's important. It's different in the South." Katara shifted uneasily from foot to foot, she didn't like hearing her home sister tribe's customs spoken of like that, but what they were saying was true, and she did not have any good counterargument.

"Jeez! Y'all need to wake up 'n smell the swamp lilies, Water Tribe, y'all shouldn't stand for that! Y'all're lucky ya don't have a father who is pushing a husband on ya."

Katara wondered if the girl had a vendetta against northern water tribe men, "Nobody is going to force me to do anything . . ." She knew her father couldnt force her to marry, but she knew he was thinking of what was best for the tribe, and what was best for the Tribe seemed to be marrage.

"Alright that's enough girls!" Yeo, whose face was now red from the bridge of her nose up, scolded the group, then held out the paint to Katara. She scooped some out, and began making the familiar designs of the painted lady onto her face, working by feel as the swamp had no mirrors.

"Come on y'all, hurry it up, the sun is settin, they's about to light the bonfire."

…

"And this is your bedroom, we selected one with a large balcony overlooking the bay. One of the nicest ones in the palace, used to be Azula's" The servant was telling Aang, "Your earth bending instructor's room is right around the corner, we took the liberty of unpacking for you, and the air bison is in the royal stables."

Toph laced her fingers behind her head, "A good view is pretty important Twinkle Toes." She grinned a cheshire grin.

"Would you like me to turn down your bed, sir?"

"No, I'm fine, please just show Toph to her room."

"Very well sir, you'll notice the cord on the wall, just tug on it to summon a servant."

Aang nodded and watched the two walk out, the servant shutting the door behind them. He walked out onto the balcony and leaned his elbows on the railing. The ocean made him think of Katara, and he put his head in his arms sadly. He missed her terribly.

He sighed, maybe he should have just let her be grabby. Toph seemed to think so.

The servants came and went, bringing dinner to his room, and briefing him of his schedule for the following day. Aang only half heard it, and picked at his plate of vegetables. It was lonely, how everyone had gone their separate ways.

The sun was setting, and he thought briefly about visiting Toph in her room, but she would probably just tell him to suck it up, that everyone had their own projects that they wanted to do.

Aang contented himself with exploring the room. The closets were full of cloths in his size (both his and not his), the bookshelf held several scrolls (mostly about Fire Nation myths), and the bathroom had an ornate bathtub that you could pump water directly into (if you didnt happen to be a water bender).

Wandering out of his room, he found his way to Zuko's study, which was just down the hallway. Walking over to the large desk, he settled himself in the chair and began picking up the sheets that lay scattered on top.

He read the petitions that lay on his friend's desk, and the court case he would have to pass judgment on. After a little snooping, he also read the treasury budget, and realized that the Fire Nation was deeply in debt. Ozai and his predecessors had sunk nearly the entire nation's capital into the war.

No wonder Zuko had been so stressed and busy, he had to build everything from the ground up. He thumbed through the papers, Zuko had sent two fine, breeding, Ostrich Horses and several Fire Nation horticultural and medicinal scrolls to a girl named Song, He had sent repairmen to a few Earth Kingdom Villages, and was personally funding the education of an Earth Kingdom boy named Lee at the Fire Academy for Boys, and sent money to his father Gansu to help rebuild their farm. He also sent his Uncle a shipful of rare Fire Nation plants every month for the teashop.

He found the manifest for outgoing airships, and the plans to set up a worldwide postal system powered by messenger hawks. Zuko had cut back funding on the armies, and had torn up the contract of all the men who wanted to return home. Everyone else would be reassigned at the end of their contract.

Sighing, he padded back to his own room and changed, the sun was setting anyways, and he thought he might as well get a good night's rest.

…

There were already several dozen people crowded around the bonfire in the twilight. The moon was just rising. Several priestesses were clad only in their loincloths and paint and beating huge drums. Others were playing strange reed instruments that had two sticks with holes and made a strange high pitched whining noise. Still more were playing finger symbols and swaying to the music in the most sensual dance that Katara had ever seen, clad in their leather tops and flowing grass skirts.

There were huge sticks of incense stuck in the mud, and everything she saw was through a haze of smoke. She couldn't identify the sweet aroma that hung heavy in the air, and she guessed it was another native swamp plant.

Squinting through the haze she saw a group of men who were talking, many had masks on that looked similar to the one that Hue's Swamp Monster sported. She made her way over, and they raised their masks and smiled at her, one even winked.

"Have any of you seen Lee?" She had to raise her voice to be heard over the drums.

"He's helpin light the torches." One pointed across the green to where two apprentices were jumping up and down as Zuko shot fire out onto the lake, lighting several floating piles of tinder. When they caught, they burnt green, and smelled the same as the incense. The girl's were clearly coming onto him, but Zuko seemed oblivious to their blatant lusting.

Katara marched over and grabbed his arm, dragging him away from the flirting apprentices. At least that's what Katara assumed they were since they lacked the snake tattoos that signified they were part of the Moerae.

"Where have you been?" She asked, surveying him, her jealousy making her voice sound more accusing than she had meant. He was covered with blue paint, and his hair had a few tiny braids in it, and in her highly sensitive state, he looked very VERY appealing.

"Probably the same place as you, getting ready for this bloody moon party." They walked back over to the bonfire, which was being fed, and watched the dancers. A circle was forming of people clapping and three of the dancing girls left and came back with huge swamp pythons around their shoulders. They began moving around the circle, and everyone crowded in to pet the black and white scaled creatures.

Katara mimicked the other girls, not really understanding the significance of the gesture, but assuming it had something to do with the swamp god. Zuko hesitated, but did the same, and she touched his arm reassuringly.

"I like your paint." He told her, sneaking another glance out of the corner of his eye.

"It's made out of bugs." The water bender informed him smugly.

Fae walked into the circle of dance, her body draped in silks, she began chanting in a strange tongue that Katara didn't recognize. The girls responded, chanting back. The smoke was making her already hyper focused body feel odd, but Katara found swaying to the music helped to ground her.

Someone pressed a skin into her hands and she drank from it. It was the same thing the priestesses had been passing around all day, and she passed it along to another girl.

"Umm," Someone had passed something to Zuko, and the fire bender was examining it cluelessly.

Katara realized it was similar to the peace pipes the Water tribe smoked from. She took it from him.

"It's a peace pipe Lee, put your thumb over this hole then put this part in your mouth and breathe in. Don't breath out right away though." She demonstrated, taking a hit, and then passing it back to the Fire Lord. Everything exploded with color, she could see everyone's aura, hear whispers of their thoughts, sense every drop of blood and sweat. It was like the hyperawareness that she had on the battlefield, only more so because it was being triggered by the moon and by the plants and by the chanting.

Not potential death.

Zuko had started coughing, "That stuff burns your throat, where did you learn how to work a pipe anyway?!"

Katara turned to him, and gasped, then coughed and exhaled her lungful of smoke, she was astonished, his aura was so clearly defined. She wondered if this was how Ty Lee saw everyone all the time. No wonder she could hit those pressure points so easily. She could SEE them. Katara reached out and poked one of them, one on Zuko's shoulder where she could see the energies swirling around.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Okay, maybe it wasn't THAT easy.

He rubbed his arm, and the red color around it turned muddy for a few moments, then reverted back to the brilliant crimson. As she looked she started to pick out different layers, and she remembered something Ty Lee said vaguely about an aura having seven layers . . . or was it eight.

"I can see your aura! Quick, change emotions!"

"I can't just change emotions!" he shot back, "Where did you learn to use a pipe? And how can you see my aura?" His aura was turning lead gray in his heart chakra, probably because he was frustrated.

"From Sokka of course." Katara rolled her eyes, "And I think it was whatever is burning in it,"

Zuko raised the pipe to his mouth again, and this time seemed to get the hang of it. He was a fire bender after all, breathing in mass amounts of smoke was in the job description. He hurriedly passed the pipe to the middle aged but still unnervingly attractive priestess next to him, exhaled, then squinted.

"The air around people looks a different texture." He said finally, dismissing it.

As they watched, more and more people were joining the dance, and after a few more sips of what was being passed around, swaying to the music was not enough. Katara felt the need to move.

"Let's dance Lee." She grabbed his arm and hauled on it. She remembered dancing with Aang in the Fire Nation, she had not wanted to, she had felt self conscious. She didn't now, she wanted to move, she wanted to be part of the chanting and the drumming and the swaying. It was so sensual, so different from the mock fighting dance moves in the cave.

"Umm, You go, I'll watch, I'm not a good dancer."

Katara remembered how dance was treated in the Fire Nation and grimaced, "In the Earth Kingdom, Its thought that a noble man who could fight with deadly ease and precision, and please a woman with skill and dexterity, could also dance with grace and beauty."

Zuko blushed, his aura turning a rose pink around his head, "Alright, I'll dance, I'll dance."

As she dragged him out onto the now trampled moss, she saw that most of the people were now dancing, and the moon was climbing higher in the sky. She began swaying, popping her hips back and forth to the beat of the drums that seemed to be getting louder, almost pulsing through her like a second heartbeat.

Tentatively and awkwardly, Zuko put his hands on her waist, and she leaned back into him, wrapping her arms up and back around his neck. The beat was definitely getting louder, and faster, as it just her or was the whole swamp vibrating beneath her feet?

The steps seemed to pulse outward from her womb, and her body moved in a dance that she never remembered learning, a dance to draw down the moon. She was starting to sweat in the heat and the exertion, the dance was becoming more and more heated, the chanting almost lost within the drums. Time bent within the firelight, she couldn't tell if she had danced for hours or mere seconds, there was only the heat from the fire, the sweat dripping down her stomach, and Zuko's hands on her waist. Katara could feel the trance take over her, that she was part of the group, part of the whole, part of the cult of the moon.

Six months earlier, Katara would have never believed that she would soon be undulating against Fire Lord Zuko. She wouldn't have believed how incredibly sexy it was making her feel. Katara leaned her head back against the fire bender pressed against her, and he took it as an invitation to lean forward and kiss her.

Twisting her torso around and leaning up for a better angle, she returned it, wondering briefly if her mouth tasted like the paint that had been smeared on it then dismissed it. She was kissing him whether he liked it or not.

It was almost midnight.

Embarrassed at the public display of affection, she broke the kiss off soon after and faced forward again . . . and was surprised to see most of the dancers were kissing, and the ones that weren't were undressing each other. Suddenly the bonfires began burning white, and she noticed Yue was standing, watching, her face sad. Several of the swamp women were holding out baskets of fruit and flowers to her, their lips were moving, but Katara couldn't hear what they were saying.

Katara blinked and stopped dancing, the part of her that saw physically could see Fae standing there, accepting the flowers, but her third eye, the one that was wide open and seeing auras could see Yue, and not the High Priestess. They were offering her things, fruit, gold, men, women, but Yue was shaking her head, sad and disinterested. The Spirit then turned her head and looked directly at her, and suddenly, the spirit's glowing white aura intensified and it became painfully bright to look at it.

Zuko hadn't seemed to notice, more preoccupied with kissing her on her neck, and Katara decided that Yue questions could wait. She grabbed one of his hands from where it was on her stomach and placed it on her breast, giving him permission to explore, which he gladly did, his fingers pinching her nipples through the leather, his fingers running teasingly along the hem. She could feel him hardening , and he pressed his hips against her, making sure that she was well aware of what he wanted; what she was doing to him.

They were some of the last people standing, and the last fully clothed, Katara's eyes roamed the throng of lovers, the beat still pounding through her; the ground still vibrating beneath her feet. Auras were changing and enveloping each other, and the chanting was being replaced with moaning.

"'Tara, come back to my room with me." Zuko pressed his lips to her ear, his voice husky, "This is not my religion." The way his mouth moved over her ear and his breath tickled her cheek made her whole body shiver, and for an instant she worried her knees would buckle out of arousal.

Katara turned in his arms and kissed him, she felt so divinely feminine, and she feared that the feeling would break if they stepped outside the burning ring of incense, that suddenly everything would be awkward and dishonorable again.

Suddenly, the Moon crested in the sky, and midnight reverberated through the swamp, not a sound, but more of a feeling. Her body felt like it had been stretched out like a lute string, and had been suddenly plucked. She heard a chorus of soft moans that probably meant that all the women there could feel the witching hour and the hunger and power that came with it course through them.

Katara deepened the kiss, grabbing the Fire Lord's hair and pulled him down with nearly lip bruising force, pressing her tongue into his mouth, demanding. He stiffened, broke the kiss and pulled back, taking a step towards the dorms, they were playing cat and mouse, he was using himself as bait. She grudgingly followed, letting the shy man lead her back to his bedroom. Almost feeling relieved that the spell had not broken between them.

Maybe it isn't the drink or the herbs or the smoke or the moon . . . Maybe I want him sober or . . . Katara never got to finish that thought as suddenly she found herself lifted and pinned to the wall, the Fire Lord was much more forward now that they were behind closed doors. Sort of.

She could hear the cries of someone . . . someones across the hall, the mat doors not offering much sound proof. She wrapped her legs around Zuko's waist, letting him hold her his hands looped around her thighs, her mouth finding his again. She moaned into it and then bit his lower lip, his passion heating his skin up several degrees hotter than normal. She returned his kiss with enthusiasm, and he rocked his hips, pressing her harder into the wall.

He shifted, and broke the kiss, stepping backwards and sitting down on the foot of his leafy mattress, overturning his chair in the process. Katara found herself in his lap, and she leaned back, her fingers struggling to unlace her top. Zuko leaned in and nipped the lobe of her ear, then sucked on it, teasing her with his fingers letting them slide up the outside of her thigh.

Damn it! Why were there so many laces?! Katara hauled the leather top open and flung it across the room with a grunt of satisfaction. Her breasts bounced free of their confines, and the Fire Lord wasted no time in lowering his mouth to them and flicking his tongue across the tip of one of her nipples. Her whole body quivered against him. The moon was high, the air was hot, and she was in no mood to be teased, her fingers tangled into his hair again and she pressed her torso forward in a wordless command.

Beneath the writhing water bender, Zuko was happy to oblige, he opened his mouth and sucked on her, he felt her skin harden in his mouth and his tongue began playing with the bone ornament that pierced it. He remembered her giggling at him for being surprised in the river two weeks ago. He would show her culture shock.

Moving his head, he nuzzled her, letting the coarse skin of his scar rub against her nipple, and she arched against him, head thrown back, eyelids fluttering.

"Spirits, Zuko . . ." If she had had anything else to say it was quickly lost as she dissolved into moans again as he moved over and began nipping at her other breast, one of his hands cupping the one he just left. She ground against him encouragingly, using all the strength in her water bending abs.

As he licked and sucked his way across her torso, he desperately tried to remember the tips that he had heard from the raunchier castle guards. He was desperate not to disappoint Katara the way he had always seemed to disappoint Mai.

Her hands were running over his chest, her nails scratching lightly, and Zuko put his hands on her waist and pulled her down from where she straddled his lap and lay her back on the bed. Zuko's fingers slid across her stomach and found the hem of her leather loincloth and hooked around the material.

Katara lifted her hips, letting him slide the material off of her, her hands pulling her hair out of it's casement and letting it tumble down across the sheets. The sight of her seemed to extinguish the fire bender's doubts, and he nearly fell upon her, leaving a trail of searing kisses across her navel, tasting her skin, her sweat, and the strange body paint that the girls had rubbed on each other.

He heard a soft cry and her legs wrapped around his torso. He saw Katara's fingers move to her chest and tug gently on her piercing. Sitting back on his knees, Zuko unwrapped her right leg from him and kissed her ankle, her ankle, her calf, her knee, her inner thigh, then he nuzzled her leg, and the rough skin of his scar juxtaposed the hot, velvety wet feel of his mouth in a way that made her shiver in anticipation.

Placing her knee over his shoulder he reached for her other leg and Katara tightened the grip of her legs around him, and Zuko guessed that if he teased much longer she was going to go from sensual kitten to dominatrix. Adjusting his grip on her legs, he leaned forward and nuzzled her mound, then finally flicked his tongue across her core, moving it in circles that started slow and gradually gained speed.

Katara's soft gasps seemed to keep time with him, and soon her whole body tensed, then began to tremble, and he had to press a hand down on her stomach to keep her still enough. Suddenly her hands clenched in the sheets, and all the humidity in the air condensed into hovering droplets in the room that vibrated along with the writhing water bender.

"Oh, Spirits!! No!! Don't stop!!" She arched up, and everything seemed to still for a moment before she screamed out his name, her muscled contracting, "ZUKO!! Oh goddesses!!"

The droplets that had been suspended in the air dropped to the floor, pelting around them like rain for an instant. Katara's head was thrown back, and she still looked as though she were caught in the throes of passion, her bare chest heaving prettily as she panted.

Zuko crawled up over her, resting on his elbows, and she leaned up to kiss him languidly, without opening her eyes, one of her hands moving to caress his chin. She could taste herself on his tongue, and she nipped affectionately at his lower lip. She could feel herself coming down out of her endorphin high, and fatigue was crushing down onto her. Zuko had shifted, lying down next to her, head resting on her shoulder, his fingertips caressing her stomach, then resting back onto her breast.

What is it with men and breasts?

"That was amazing . . . you're amazing . . . you're soo amazing . . ." Katara sighed, her drowsy post orgasmic brain making up for lack of variety in adjectives with pure sincerity.

The late night, the bending, the dancing, the foreplay all hit her at once, and she felt herself start to drift. Zuko was warm and soft, and smelled so nice . . .

…

She had no idea how long she nodded off, only that the sky was graying with false dawn. Zuko was passed out half on top of her, the uneven skin of his face pressed into her neck. Craning so she could see his face, she noticed with surprise that there was a small smile on his lips.

Zuko rarely smiled.

Even though she was still naked and covered with smudges of red (and blue) paint, where it hadn't been rubbed or kissed off, Katara couldn't think of a single good reason to move. She shifted, cuddling closer to the fire bender, and closed her eyes again.

She hadn't planned it, but didn't regret it. She was developing a real soft spot for the scared warrior, but she hadn't realized just how soft it had been until he had kissed her.

She idly twirled a finger through his hair, listening to his soft breathing.

For once, even though the moon was full, her body didn't complain, she didn't feel like dashing off to her room to have some quality alone time with herself, or jump every man within a ten foot radius of her. And lets be honest, some of the women too.

Sighing softly, she closed her eyes again, vowing to send all the women water benders from the Northern Water Tribe to the Moon Temple when she got back there.

…

Aang woke up with a start, his heart in his throat, though he had no idea why. He sat up in bed, or tried to. He found that there were ties around his wrists and ankles.

Someone was in his room.

"Show yourself!!" He bellowed, trying to mask his fear, "I know you're here!"

"Hello Avatar," said a voice from the shadows by his curtains.

He would know that voice anywhere.

It was the voice of the woman who killed him.

"Oh, I was really really hoping to see you again soon, and here you are, in my bed. Waiting for me." He heard the sound of knuckles cracking, and footsteps coming towards him. She leaned over him, gold eyes meeting his own grey ones, and smiled.

A terrifying, predatory smile.

…

Thanks for reading everyone!! Man that took DAYS longer than I thought it would to bang out . . . . eh, so what else is new.

Thanks to Adridere for the scar rubbing bit, you are one kinky lady!! I swear . . . calling the medium now . . .

…

Well, I only have so much 'fandom' time, and I have been concentrating on this fic because its so popular, (much to the annoyance of my DA watchers) so I cant really draw any fan arts for right now.

I always feel silly drawing fan arts for my own fics, maybe it's because I can imagine it so well . . .

Hahah, and now I feel bad and really gotta go upload some of the Zutara art that's been piling up.

…

Wow, I have no idea how this fic got so popular, It was just me blowing off some steam after the finale, it has a pretty generic plot, I don't know. I'd say maybe it's the sexin, but that's only just gotten goin. Maybe it's like Pokemon, nobody knows why it's so popular, but, damn it, ya gotta catch 'em all!

…

Sorry about so long between updates, my car got a flat tire and I have been running around trying to get it fixed, so it is eating up my free time.

Current Distractions:

Flat Tire

Back to school shopping

Jen Lancaster's Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer

…

R&R&R . . . the third R is for 'rejoice' because the fic finally starting to live up to it's M rating. See you on the flip side!!