The car ride back to the palace was comfortable. At least comfortable enough for Katara to doze off after a long day of being dragged along by the princess. They had gone to a few other stores in the area having almost the same interactions as the first one. The car stopped when they were in front of the palace. Both Azula and Katara exited the car and began to walk up the steps of the Palace. Zuko was leaning against one of the massive pillars in front of the huge front door. Azula approached her brother with a knowing smile. Zuko stood up straight prepared to get on her case for dragging a guest around before Azula gently slapped something on to his chest.
"Good luck," Azula said to him quietly before walking off. He watched her walk into the Palace confused. he wondered what she was wishing him good luck for. He shrugged it off before he examined what she gave him and realized it was his credit card. He frowned down at the card, only assuming the havoc that Azula just wrecked on his next bill. He added that to the list of things he would have to lecture Azula about later.
"Hey," Katara said quietly as she approached. Zuko looked up and noticed she seemed a little down. He quickly put his card in his back pocket assuming Katara didn't know that it was his account that funded their little outing.
"Hey," Zuko replied. Katara's head collided with his chest and her arms wrapped her arms around his waist. Zuko got the message and returned her hug, pulling her close and rested his chin on the top of her head.
Katara took in his scent. He smelt partially of smoke and cologne. She reveled in the comfort of his warmth and debated wether it was because he was a fire bender or if it was normal for another person to be this warm. She remembered what the woman at the coffee shop said to her. It reminded her of the almost ruined friendship between her and Aang and the expectation the whole world had for her because of him. She almost let a tear spill from her eyes before she was remembered who had been holding her. Zuko had been more than good to her. Inviting her to stay at the Palace when she didn't have anywhere to go. He never asked her about Ba Sing Se and didn't press her further when she had told him her half ass excuse for why she left. She wondered how detached he was from the world to not even recognize her after all the media attention her relationship with Aang got.
"Did Azula do something?" Zuko finally asked after savoring the moment they were having.
"No. She was very pleasant and I had a good time," Zuko almost couldn't believe that her sister didn't cause any trouble for the waterbender. Katara looked up at him, chin resting on his chest. Neither of them even considered breaking the embrace. Zuko felt like he was swimming in the impossible blue of her eyes. As corny as it sounds, he felt like he could swim in them forever.
"Is something else wrong?" He questioned. She gave him a little smile which he couldn't help but mirror.
"No. Just a little tired is all," Katara shook her head. She turned to rest her head against his chest again. She could hear his heartbeat which helped to further calm her. Zuko held her tighter which she returned, squeezing her arms tighter around him.
"Let's go inside," Zuko suggested after moments of their embrace. Katara reluctantly unwrapped her arms from him and nodded. Zuko grabbed her hand and led her into the Palace and to her room. The walk from the front of the palace through the usually puzzling maze of hallways to her room had felt short. There hands linked as they walked in silence before they reached her door. Both looked at the door reluctant to let go of the other's hand. It was Katara that let go first. She turned to face Zuko and gave him a smile.
"Thanks, Zuko," She said before going up on her toes to kiss his scarred cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Katara gave him one last smile before slipping into her room closing the door behind her.
—
Zuko and Katara got to the royal vacation house. Excitement welled in Katara's chest as they made their way into the house. Unlike the palace, there were no servants buzzing around which Katara was thankful for. They had been very helpful in navigating her through the maze of the Royal palace, but the amount of people rushing about made her feel a little uncomfortable. Zuko led her up the steps of the house and showed her to her room. He explained that his room was right across the hall and gave her some time to settle in.
The room wasn't as luxurious as the one in the palace but it was still very nice. There was a large bed in the middle of the room with the door to what Katara assumed was a bathroom to the right of it. She noticed that her luggage was already brought to her room. She made her way to the giant window on the left side of the room. She opened the window and looked out. There was a beautiful view of the sea and the sound of the waves crashing on the white sand flooded her ears. It was simply beautiful. She soaked up the view and felt excited once again. She could feel the push and pull of her element.
She went to her luggage. She wasn't the one that packed her bag. Azula had rolled the luggage into her room early that morning letting her know that she had packed Katara's clothes for her and to leave the luggage she came with behind. Katara didn't know why the princess went through the trouble of doing that for her but she took the kindness of the gesture. She was curious to see what Azula packed for her. She had only seen the outfit she wore out of the boutique and had no idea what other things Azula purchased on her behalf. She opened the suit case and saw red, literally. There was a lot of red. It wasn't a color that Katara would frequent, but she did think she looked good in it on the rare occasions that she would wear it.
Katara sorted around the clothes that were prepared for her. She found the bathing suits that were packed for her. They definitely weren't as modest as the ones she would usually go for. There had been a white one piece had cut outs on the side and her whole back would be exposed. The other option was pink two piece which she also didn't feel terribly comfortable with. She decided to change into the latter and packed a beach bag. She was excited to go to the beach and made sure she had everything from sun screen to a towel before heading out of her room and excitedly knocking on Zuko's door. In a few moments he was at his door and Katara smirked at his jaw visibly dropping.
Zuko had been shocked to say the least. He took a moment to really soak in the sight before him. She was wearing a white swimsuit that left little to the imagination. She looked stunning. The way the fabric hugged her barely holding her breasts in place, and her brown skin peaking out of the cut outs on the sides of her body. The white of the swimsuit seemed like it glowed from the contrast of her skin. She looked at him excitedly, a large smile plastered on her face. It took everything in him to not lock her in his room for the remainder of their trip, but he knew what she wanted.
"I'll go get changed," he said. Before retreating back into his room. He quickly got changed into black swim shorts and grabbed a towel. He opened his door again and Katara was still standing in the same spot, huge smile still plastered on her face.
"Let's go!" She grabbed Zuko's hand and dragged him through the house and out the back door to the private beach. As soon as her feet touched the sand she let go of his hand and dropped her bag. She bolted for the water.
Zuko just stood for a second and watched her. The smile that she had was surly one he would never forget. She looked so happy. So free. She pulled water to her with her bending, swirling it around her. Zuko soaked in how ethereal she looked with the water moving around her. The water suddenly dropped as she noticed he hasn't moved an inch. Katara gestured for him to join her and he his feet just started moving.
He pulled off his shirt along the way to her. She watched hungrily as he made his way to her, studying his sculpted torso. He reached her and immediately noticed how her eyes followed him.
"Hi, Zuko here," He said snaking his arms around her.
"Hi, Zuko," She let out a giggle before wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled her close, painfully ware of the lack of clothing between them. She propped herself up on her toes and he leaned down. Just before their lips touched she splashed him with water, pushed herself away, and began to wade away. Zuko chased after her as she ran to the best of her abilities in the water. She was waist deep making it difficult for her to move efficiently. Zuko eventually caught up with her picking her up and throwing her into the water. Katara broke the surface wiping the water from her face. Zuko worried for a second that he had thrown her too hard but changed his mind when Katara was now hurling a giant wave of her water in his direction. The wave crashed over him causing him to tumble over. He got up from the water and pushed his wet hair from his face.
"That's not fair!" Zuko said quickly grabbing her by the wrists to prevent her from submerging him again. Katara was all giggles at this point. Zuko couldn't help but laugh too.
"Okay okay. No bending," Katara swore with a laugh. Zuko gave her a look of disbelief, "I swear! No bending, I promise."
Zuko reluctantly let go of her wrist, choosing to believe her. Katara immediately threw her arms around Zuko's neck and pulled her self up to give him a peck on the lips. Zuko smiled down at her before leaning down to finally capture her lips with his. She returned his gesture tippy toeing up to meet him half way. Katara melted at his kiss. Taking in his smoky scent. Zuko put his hands on her hips and pulled her flush against him. Katara tangled her fingers in his wet hair and bit his lower lip teasingly. He growled in response which sent a chill down her spine.
The kiss had started off innocent, but it began to grow into something more hungry. Katara found feel Zuko's hands teasing the hem of her swimsuit as he deepened the kiss. His warm hands massaging her hips as he ground into her. She could feel his erection through his swim trunks pressed up against her stomach. She let out a quiet moan as his hands moved towards her almost fully exposed ass.
Unexpectedly, Zuko broke off there kiss. Katara let out a little whine in protest which caused Zuko to snicker.
"As much as I'd love to have you right here on the beach," Zuko whispered in her ear sending a pulse down to her core, "There are perfectly good beds waiting for us inside."
Without a moment to spare, Katara was leading him out of the water and towards the house. Zuko followed quickly behind her. Both too eager to get inside and into the first bedroom they could find. Zuko was worried that he wouldn't even make it that far and contemplated the couch. They soon got to the door and Katara fumbled with the door knob. Zuko was standing directly behind her arms wrapped around her waist, lips on her neck, and erection digging into her. Katara finally got the door open and before even stepping in she noticed three faces turn to them. Zuko looked up and saw Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai all sitting around the living room area and quickly unlatched himself from Katara.
Katara immediately recognized the princess who was smirking at them. The other two were complete strangers. One of the two had brown hair and was covering her mouth and beaming at them, and the other had silky black hair with a flat expression that was extremely hard to read. Everyone present just stood still and looked at each other. It was extremely awkward.
"Well, are you guys going to come in?" Azula asked breaking the awkward silence that felt like an eternity. Both Zuko and Katara cautiously stepped inside closing the door behind them.
"Azula, what are you guys doing here?" Zuko said through his teeth as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What? I can't go on vacation too?" Azula said knowing what he really meant. The girl with the brown hair stood up quickly and made her way over to Katara who was still in shock.
"Oh my spirits, you are absolutely beautiful!" She said grabbing Katara's hands snapping Katara out of her shocked state, "I'm Ty Lee! It's so nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Katara," she replied. She didn't even have time to be mad at the fact that she was interrupted again because of the very bubbly girl in front of her. She could hear Zuko and Azula arguing in the background. Well, Zuko arguing and Azula making snide remarks. She turned to see the girl with black hair looking at her expressionlessly. Katara couldn't tell what she was thinking but she got the impression that she didn't like her very much.
"You guys aren't staying here are you?" Zuko finally asked Azula, giving up on arguing with her.
"Agni, no. We're staying at Mai's Family's beach house," Azula retorted, "We just came tell you guys to get ready."
"Get ready for what?" Zuko asked. He instantly regretted asking instead of opting to just kick his sister and her friends out.
"We're going clubbing," Azula said with a mischievous smile.