Sam
It took us a couple of hours but we finally arrived at Ember Island and it was much more beautiful than I thought it would be. Zuko climbed off the boat and turned around with his hand out to me. I accepted it and he helped me down off the boat.
"This place is amazing, Zuko." I said as we walked toward a house. To my surprise, it wasn't the largest house on the island. Not that it mattered to me. I didn't care. Zuko, almost like he read my mind, pointed to the largest house on the island.
"That is where my family and I would vacation every year." Although it was large, it looked like it was in disrepair. "No one takes care of it anymore. The good memories I had there were tainted when my father decided to teach my face a lesson." he said reaching up and touching his scar. I could understand that.
"Well, you don't have to think about that. We are here to enjoy ourselves. Which I fully intend to do."
"Of course, Fire Lily. And we will be completely alone…except for the guards." he added. "I made sure that no one would be vacationing around here. You and I will be completely isolated. Come. I want to show you the house." he said. He was excited. I never got tired of the sparkle he got in his eyes when he got excited about something. He ushered me into the house and showed it to me. There was a kitchen, lounging area, the bathing room and the bedroom. It was small and simple. "I know it's kind of small but I thought you would prefer this over an elaborate house."
"You were right. I love it. This is perfect, hunny. I wouldn't have it any other way." I said. He looked down at me softly and smiled craning his neck down to kiss me. At that moment, someone walked into the room.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Fire Lord and Lady. I didn't mean to intrude." the lady said. Zuko looked at her and smiled.
"It's ok, Hira." he looked at me, "I forgot to mention that we will also have a cook and a couple of servants to clean here. Unless you want to go hungry and be filthy." he chuckled. I didn't want to admit to him that I was disappointed about this. I really wanted it to just be us. "You're upset." he said, reading my face that he knew so well. It was a statement, not a question.
"Well, I was really looking forward to just us."
"But, how would we eat?" he asked. I deliberated for a second.
"Can we…dismiss her? We should still pay her. It isn't her fault and she still needs income. But…I'd like it to just be us." Zuko pondered for a moment.
"Very well. Would you like for her to cook in one of the neighboring buildings? Then she can just bring our food here." Zuko suggested. That was not what I had in mind. I looked at Hira.
"Hira, thank you for your service and I'm sure you're a marvelous cook, but we won't be needing your services. You will still be paid as though you worked though. I don't want to deny you your income." I said. Zuko shot a look at me.
"Sam! How will we eat?" he asked me.
"Don't worry about that. Thank you again, Hira." I said to her. I looked at Zuko and he looked a bit annoyed.
"Your highness, what about getting food delivered here? We can't have meat here waiting to be eaten. It would go bad."
"Yes, the deliveries should still be coming. Do you have a schedule of what will come?"
"Yes, Fire Lady." she said and handed me the itinerary.
"Thank you, Hira, Think of this as a vacation for you, too." I said, winking at her. She smiled, bowed and left the building.
"Sam, what in Agni's name are you doing?"
"Relax, Zuko. I just…I want this vacation to be unofficial. I realize we need the guards but…can we just treat this like we are a normal couple?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, no servants. No cooks. Just you and me. Literally." I said. I walked over to the kitchen and looked at the food that we had on hand. "Yes, I can handle these meals. They aren't hard to make. And the meat will be easy to cook too."
"YOU want to cook? You don't know how to cook!" Zuko said. I laughed.
"How do you think I survived before I met you? Of course I can cook. It's been a while so hopefully I'm not too rusty." I said. Zuko's eyes widened at me. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do," he said without missing a beat.
"Then stop worrying. Now, let's go out to the beach!" I said smiling, putting on my swimming clothes and Zuko changed into his trunks. We walked out of the house and I ran out into the water. It was beautiful. Blue and crystal clear. Paradise. I swam out and enjoyed the salty sea water licking at my skin. I looked back and Zuko was walking into the water behind me. He was smiling softly at me.
"I had no idea you liked the ocean so much."
"Are you kidding? I grew up in the desert. This feels amazing." I said.
"Hm. I never thought of that before. I'm glad you like it." he said. He came up to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind and he started kissing my neck. I reached my hand up behind his head and rubbed his neck, pulling him closer. I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my breasts against his bare chest. He placed his hands on my waist and pushed me back, looking back at the guards. "Sam, I don't thin-" I pressed my finger to his lips.
"Sh. I don't care about the guards." I said. I lifted myself up and wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt his arousal against my body. After these ten years, he still turned me on and since we had Izumi, we haven't been able to be intimate like we used to be. He wrapped his arms around my body, lifted me up and held me close. He slowly walked us out of the water and onto the beach. He laid me down on the large blanket that was laid out of us and he climbed on top of me. He pulled down my swimming bottoms and slid his down to his knees. I reached back and untied my top and slid it off of my body, discarding it to the side.
I slid my hands up his muscular arms and rested them on his chest and squeezed his pecs. He propped himself up with his left arm and he ran his hand down my face. I took hold of his hand and placed it on my breast, wanting him to touch me. He cupped me and gave me a small squeeze which my body reacted to in kind. He slid his hand down my body and guided himself inside me. We both gasped at the connection and, for the first time since…well, I'd lost track, we made love.
Once we finished, he laid down next to me on the blanket. He laid on his back and I rested my head on his chest like we do when we sleep. He stroked my free arm with his trapped hand. I had my free hand draped across his body and he was stroking my arm with his other hand. This was putting me to sleep.
"Oh, Hunny, that was so nice. I miss this so much." I said. I never regretted having Izumi. But I did miss the physical side of our relationship.
"You said it." he agreed. It was then that I heard his stomach growl.
"What do you say we have lunch?" I asked. I stood up and held my hand out to help him up which it accepted. I held it as we walked back to the house. We made our way into the kitchen and I rummaged for something that we could eat. I found some bread and some cured meat that was obviously intended for lunch. I threw it into a pan, seasoned it and cooked it until it was done. Then I split it between Zuko's and my sandwiches and served it to him on a plate as we sat down at the small table to eat. He eyed it skeptically. I laughed.
"I didn't poison it, babe." I said. He looked at me and chuckled. He took a bite out of the sandwich and his eyes went wide.
"Agni, Sam. This is delicious! How is it I have been married to you for ten years and never knew you could cook?" he asked.
"Well, I haven't had a chance to cook, hunny. And it isn't that good. I definitely am rusty. I overcooked the meat a bit."
"I think it's perfect." he said.
"You'd say that even if it were like leather." I said, laughing and he laughed with me. We finished eating and we decided to sit down in the lounging area. Zuko looked around the room. "What's wrong?"
"I never lived in a normal house besides the apartment I lived in with Iroh which was just a kitchen and two bedrooms. What would you call this room?"
"I'm not sure here, but back where I come from it would be the living room or family room." I said.
"Which one?"
"Well, it could be either. They are kind of synonymous. Unless you have a living room AND a family room. Then the former is usually just for special occasions." I explained. He was quiet for a while and I looked up at him and he was watching me. "What's wrong?"
"Do you ever miss it?" he asked.
"Miss what?"
"Outside. Your home." he asked.
"Well, my home is with you, Zuko. The Fire Nation. Our people. Izumi. I don't think of outside as home anymore. Not even Kondai." I explained.
"But what about the rest of it? When you lived in Las Estrelas."
"Las Estrellas." I corrected. "And no, I don't miss it. I do miss…my old life sometimes. My family when it was mine. My parents. My brother. But that was a million years ago. I don't want to go back there now. It could never be the same. And I don't think I could ever trust them again. Why are you asking me this?"
"I want to make sure you're still happy with me." he said. I turned my body so I was facing him. I took his face into my hands and pulled him to look at me.
"I have never been as happy as I am now. I never could be happy anywhere else. You are the one who keeps me grounded. Makes me happy. You love me. Take good care of me. You encourage me. You take pride in me. I would never get that anywhere else because you wouldn't be there." it was then I started to wonder if he was getting at something. I pulled away from him a bit. "Are you…not happy with me?" Zuko's head shot over to me and he shifted his body so he was sitting up and pulled me onto his lap.
"Sam, I could never be as happy as I am now. With you. I…have never been happier than I am with you." he said. That was a big statement.
"But…Mai."
"Mai and I weren't old or mature enough to have a real relationship. We loved each other, yes, but didn't have a deep relationship like you and I have. I think we would have eventually but it would have taken many years. Neither of us were ready for marriage but we thought we were." he said. "When I met you in Ba Sing Se at my uncle's tea shop, I knew there was something special about you. I knew that our paths crossed for a reason. I wasn't sure what it was, but I felt a connection to you right away. Then when we got married, I knew why." I looked up at him and smiled. I wrapped my free arm around his neck and I pulled myself closer to him, snuggling myself against him.
"You know what's funny? When you first took me from the palace and to your uncle's apartment, I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on. I thought you were going to bring me back to the Fire Nation to do something unspeakably horrible to me. My mind raced with the possibilities. Then you proposed marriage and I didn't think you were serious at first. At that point in my life, I didn't want to get married. I had only been in the Bending Nations for a few months and marriage was the last thing on my mind. But I didn't really have a choice. Then afterwards, as I got to know you, it didn't take long for me to realize that you would make me happy." Zuko's brow furrowed at this and he looked upset.
"I'm so sorry, Sam. I always did feel guilty for forcing you to marry me." he said. I blanched at this.
"Have you forgotten what happened? You didn't force me to marry you."
"I may as well have."
"No, if anyone forced my hand, it was the Earth Queen. Not you. YOU gave me a choice. And I chose YOU. I will always choose you." I said. I laid my head down on his chest and snuggled into him. We laid back on the lounge together and, before long, we were both asleep.
Zuko
I woke up and for a split second, I forgot where we were. I looked out the window and the sun was setting. Then I looked down at Sam and she was sound asleep. I laid watching her sleep. I could stay like this forever. Watching her laying on my chest. My wife. I loved her so much it hurt. I never thought, after Mai, that I would marry again. I thought I would end up having to have a child with someone just to produce an heir. Not a wife but just…a woman. I didn't want to marry again. Ever. Then I met Sam. And she changed everything. Now I look back, and if I could change anything, we would have met sooner. After a while she started to stir.
"Zuko, what time is it?"
"It's about dinnertime." he said. She sat up and looked around.
"But, the food wasn't delivered."
"Yes, it was. You slept through it." I chuckled. She smiled, sat up and stretched. She stood and walked over to the kitchen.
"Looks like they brought steak. Perfect. You hungry?"
"Sure am." I sat down on one of the stools that was set at a bar - at least that was what Sam called it.
She beat the spirits out of the meat for some reason and then seasoned it, placing it on a baking sheet and putting it in the oven and lighting the fire.
"Why did you beat it?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. She giggled.
"It tenderizes it."
"Really? We never did that when we lived in the apartment."
"And was the meat tough?"
"Well…yeah come to think of it, it was."
"Well there you go." she said smiling. She pulled out some rice and started to cook that as well. Once it was all finished she served it on plates. I took a bite and it was delicious. We would have to do this more often.
"You outdid yourself again, Sam. We need to do this more often." I echoed my thought.
"Thanks. I'm glad you like it." she said. Once we finished eating and she started to gather the dishes.
"No, Sam. You cooked. I'll clean up." I said. She sat down on the stool that I had been sitting on. I had no idea it was so hard to clean dishes. Uncle always washed the dishes when we lived in the apartment. I managed to clean them all and was working on the rice pot last which I was having a fight with and losing. I looked over at Sam and she was smirking.
"Do you want help?"
"No, I want to do this for you."
"Ok, then can I give you a tip?" I looked at her and nodded. "let the rice pot soak. It's hard to get rice out of that kind of pot after it's been cooked."
"Ok. That makes me feel better. I felt like an idiot." I laughed.
"Don't worry about it." she said. She yawned and stretched. "Let's go lay down in bed, huh?"
"I like the sound of that." I said. We walked back to the bedroom. She got a bath and I went out and tried to tackle the rice pot again. I got a lot more out but not all of it so I set it to soak again. I came back and she was lying on the bed with nothing on. I stopped dead in my tracks. She still turned me on after all of these years. I walked over to her. She knelt up on the bed and walked over to me on her knees. She pressed herself against me and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around her body and I started to take my clothes off.
She stepped off the bed and turned us around, laying me down on my back and I crab walked up the bed. This was different. Usually I was on top. She crawled on the bed and stood on her knees, straddling my feet. I laid there, watching her, curious of her plan. As she worked her way into position she ran her fingers lightly up my legs. She then opened her whole hands and ran them up my thighs and up my torso, resting on my shoulders. She climbed into place, reached down and guided me inside. She leaned down and kissed me as she made love to me. I reached my hands up and ran them up her body, resting them on her back. I sat up and pulled her close as we continued to make love. Finally, we finished and we laid down together, laying in each other's arms. She looked over at me and smiled.
"How did you like that, Fire Lord?" she asked me.
"That was…" I said and trailed off, losing my words. She laughed.
"Good, I'm glad." she said, laying her head down on my chest as my wrapped my arm around her. I loved this closeness we were finding here. Before long, we were both sound asleep.