Hey! Here's the next and final part of this story! Thanks so much for the reviews! They really help and encourage me with my writing! ^ ^

I do not own AtLA! How sad.

*Edited 6/20/2020*

Feet pounded swiftly on the cement floor as a tall figure sprinted across the school grounds. The sun was low on the horizon and long shadows fell across the floor as a few students hurried to return home, but the running figure paid them no mind even when the female population turned to sigh over him as he passed.

Zuko continued in his rapid pace toward the building where the school's swimming pool was located, grumbling crossly as he went for he was very late and it wasn't even his fault. After football practice he had hurried to place his things inside his car so he could at least see the end of practice of the girls' swimming team—or more accurately, so he could gaze at Katara's body in a bathing suit without making it seem like he was gawking like a starved man staring at a banquet. Gods, just imagining Katara's body in that wet suit did evil things to him.

He had just locked the doors to his expensive and well-maintained red car when he had felt a pair of arms snake around him from behind. He was about to painfully twist the arm of whoever was restraining him when he heard Mai speaking to him while she ran her hands down his chest. He had quickly stepped away from her and demanded to know what she was doing since he had dumped her months ago, so she couldn't go rubbing herself on him whenever she wanted. She had furiously glared at him, but he had been unfazed and only glared back since she was detaining him from his goal.

To his shock, she began to cry. He didn't even know she was capable of crying! He immediately felt awkward and didn't know what to say since he was never comfortable when girls cried. He had patted her shoulder awkwardly and asked her what was wrong. He shouldn't have said that. She had launched herself at him and clung to him like a leech as she continued sobbing while telling him that she missed him and they should give their relationship another chance. He had pushed her off him and told her firmly that he was never going to get back with her, so it was best that she realized that soon and moved on. Then she stopped crying and again glared at him. Now that he was used to.

He had turned away and was about to leave when his ex-girlfriend screamed at him that this was all Katara's fault and that she was going to make Katara pay for stealing him away from her before she began to say nasty things about the girl he cared about more than anything else in his life. He whirled around in anger and he growled furiously at her, threatening her to never dare to utter those despicable lies about Katara again. Mai had gaped at him in shock before she composed herself and angrily asked him why he was defending 'that girl' so much and why he was spending more time with 'that girl' than he ever did with her.

'That girl's name is Katara,' he had reminded her curtly. 'And I have my reasons why I spend so much time with her.'

Without waiting for Mai to reply, Zuko had swiftly turned away from her and left the almost empty parking lot, not even glancing back when she had continued to scream at him. He had still been trying to control his anger as he walked back toward the school building. He knew his father was sure to get angry with him once news reached him that he had broken up with the daughter of his best associate. But Zuko could not find it in himself to give a damn.

All his life he had been trying to please his uncaring father, so that was why he had accepted to become Mai's boyfriend in the first place, but all of his efforts were in vain. His father never acknowledged him, all of his pride and affection was for Zuko's younger sister. Azula always made it her hobby of reminding him of their father's preference, but luckily, Zuko didn't have to deal with her anymore since she now attended a prestigious private all-girl high school. His father would probably tell him how disappointed he was with another of his mistakes, but Zuko had had enough of what his father thought and wanted. Now it was his turn to do what would make him happy, and that was breaking up with Mai so he could pursue Katara. If that made his father angry, then so be it.

Yes, he wanted to pursue Katara. He wanted to be in a relationship with her. He wanted Katara to become his girlfriend. He had gotten to know her very well these past couple of months. He knew what she was like, what made her laugh and what made her angry. He knew the things she liked, knew how much she adored her family and how close they were—unlike his. He also knew what her future goals were and what her dreams consisted of—well, kind of. Katara still refused to tell him what her biggest wish was when Toph had teased her about it. As time passed by getting to know Katara better, Zuko realized something that still had him feeling bewildered and happy at the same time.

He no longer crushed on her.

Nope, he was in love with her. Yep, the whole head-over-heels-can't-stop-thinking-about-her-want-to-be-with-her-for-the-rest-of-his-life kind of love.

Zuko was still chuckling about his surprising yet not unpleasant predicament when he had finally realized that it was late and that he had most likely missed Katara's swimming practice all thanks to Mai's annoying interruption. With a muttered curse, Zuko began to run.

So that was how he found himself at the moment sprinting as fast as he could across the school grounds toward the swimming pool. He hoped that Katara was still somewhere near the pool and more preferably was still wearing her little swimsuit. With a grin on his face at his last thought, Zuko sped up his already fast pace. If she was still there, then he will offer to take her home since it was getting really late and he didn't want her walking by herself. And then he'll ask her out.

That sounded like a good plan.

Roku High School's swimming pool building loomed in sight and Zuko slowed down his pace so he could recover some of his well-known composure and not meet Katara panting and huffing while he tried to regain his breath from running all the way from the other extremity of the school. After his heart stopped pounding and his breathing returned to normal, Zuko straightened himself and placed his renowned cool expression on his face as he opened the front door and entered the building. His expression fell from his face and his shoulders slumped when he saw that the pool was empty, not a ripple could be seen in the chlorine-filled water.

"Great. Just my luck!" Zuko groused as he pushed his dark hair out of his eyes and sighed deeply.

He scowled for a few seconds before a smirk surfaced on his face.

"There's always tomorrow," he told himself with an eager nod, "And this time I'll race over here as soon as the coach says football practice is over."

Zuko was about to turn and leave when he noticed that there was still light coming from the girls' locker room. He paused and contemplated if he should wait and see if somebody came out. Maybe Katara was still inside and then he wouldn't have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her. Or if they were some of her swimming teammates, then he could ask them which way Katara went so he could catch up to her and give her a ride home. With another nod, Zuko made his way around the large pool toward the locker rooms and decided to wait outside the entrance for someone to come out.

He leaned casually against the wall, one hand inside his jeans pocket while the other swept his dark hair away from his eyes. He was not at all concerned if any of the girls thought he was trying to sneak in a peek because he knew they would be the ones to actually encourage him to do so.

As if any of them could tempt me when I have Katara to look at, he mused with a sniff.

A soft sound, almost like something was slinking around, came from within the dimmed entrance of the locker rooms. Quiet footsteps reached his ears and Zuko straightened so he could be standing with a nonchalant air and a blasé look on his face. He turned, but he was startled when a small figure swiftly rounded the corner and crashed into his chest. Zuko heard the unknown person let out a surprised gasp as she was thrown backwards at the impact and he reflexively reached out to grasp her arms to catch her and pull her back toward him.

"Zuko!" he heard her exclaim.

He looked down to her face and was met with familiar blue eyes that were incredibly wide at the moment. A large smile spread across his face at his luck.

"Katara! I was just about to…" his voice trailed off as he looked away from her face and stared with shocked, wide eyes at her bare chest, at perky and soft-looking mounds with dusky nipples.

"Oh, Agni. Katara's breasts are much more stunning than I've ever imagined," he thought breathlessly.

He heard Katara inhale sharply and he looked back at her face to see her glaring at him.

"Oh, shit," he groaned, "Please tell me I didn't say that out loud."

Katara pulled her arms away from Zuko's grip and covered her chest as best as she could while pointing an accusing finger at him

"You did!" Katara shrieked at him, her eyes almost blazing in blue fire in her anger and mortification. "You pervert!"

"Hey! You can't blame me for it! I'm a healthy eighteen-year-old guy, for Agni's sake!" Zuko argued as he tried not to let his eyes wander below Katara's face. "Besides, I'm not the one running around half naked!"

"It's not like I want to, stupid!" Katara yelled at him as she tried to cover more of herself while still glaring icicles at him. "I was trying to make my way home without anyone seeing me!"

"Well, that was a stupid plan," Zuko muttered with a frown.

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Instead of just standing there, gawking at my chest, why don't you help me?"

Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but he closed it and frowned since she did make a good point. But there was still one question that was nagging him.

"Well, why are you…you know…topless?" he asked her.

This time he was not able to stop his eyes from wandering away from her pretty face that was flushed in embarrassment and indignation, down her slim neck, and down to her chest where her arms were blocking his view. He looked up quickly when she hissed at him.

"Someone stole my stuff while I was showering!" Katara finally told him.

"What?! Who?!" Zuko growled out furiously, protective mode pouring out of him in molten waves once again.

"I don't know!" Katara sighed out in frustration. "The only thing I heard was some girls giggling and snickering."

Her anger melted and Zuko's heart constricted in his chest when she looked at him with hurt, watery blue eyes.

"Why would they do that to me?" she asked sadly.

Zuko ground his teeth in anger and his hands clenched at his sides. He remembered the words Mai had screeched at him about making Katara pay and he just knew that his ex-girlfriend was behind this. He had a feeling the giggles Katara had mentioned came from Mai's best friend,Ty Lee, and her posse.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Katara sniffle and shift uneasily from foot to foot, but before he could answer her, they heard voices coming from one of the other entrances into the building closer to the locker rooms and directly behind them. They froze as they looked at each other before they whipped their heads toward the door where the voices were getting closer.

"This better be good," they heard a guy say gruffly.

"Yeah, I'm missing dinner because of this," another male voice exclaimed. "What are we doing here, anyway? And why did you tell us to take out our camera phones?"

"Oh, I'm sure you guys will enjoy it once you find out," Ty Lee's bubbly voice came next followed by more feminine giggles.

A dark look settled across Zuko's face and his hands clenched into tight fists. It seemed Mai wanted to humiliate Katara further by having some guys watching her state of dress…or undress. To make it worse they had cameras with them. Hell will freeze over first before he allowed the bastards take semi-nude pictures of his Katara!

Katara felt panic rise within her and she looked frantically around for a place to hide before she looked back at Zuko and vaguely wondered why he looked like he was about to kill something.

"Zuko! Do something!" she hissed at him. "Make them go away!"

Zuko was about to race toward the door and find some way to block the unwanted visitors' path, but another idea popped into his head and he remained standing where he was.

"I will. Only on one condition," he told her impassively.

"What?!" Katara shrieked unbelievably, "Are you serious?"

"They're coming closer," Zuko reminded her as his eyes darted to the door, "What will it be?"

Katara glared at him in disbelief. Maybe if she ran back into the girls' locker room she didn't have to stand there like an idiot and see what the hell Zuko wanted. But it seemed like Ty Lee and the rest would come upon her anyway and she rather do whatever Zuko wanted than let some strangers see her naked and take pictures. The voices were getting closer and she unconsciously took a step closer to Zuko.

"Fine! What's your condition?" Katara hissed out.

"Agree to go out with me," Zuko said with his crooked grin.

Katara gaped at him incredulously for a second as she tried to figure out if what Zuko just said was what she thought she had just heard. It's what she had been wishing he told her since a year ago.

"I…you…w-what?" she stuttered.

"I want you to be my girlfriend, Katara," Zuko repeated as he took a subconscious step toward her while his eyes once again darted to the door. "Just say yes," he whispered urgently at her, "They're almost at the door."

Katara could hear them approaching at the door and with a pounding heart she looked back up at Zuko's golden eyes. Why was he doing this? Did he really want to be her boyfriend or was this just some sort of game to him? The sound of someone trying to get the door open jolted her from her thoughts

"Okay, okay, I accept to be your girlfriend! Just help me!" she pleaded.

She watched as a triumphant smirk appeared on Zuko's face. A soft gasp escaped her when he grabbed her arms, pulled her flush against him, and pushed her against the wall with his hands holding her arms against the cold wall on either side of her head. She was barely aware that he was covering her with his larger body before all her thoughts scattered as Zuko leaned down and captured her lips with his just as the door was thrown open and a small group of teens entered. They froze in their tracks in shock.

Zuko made sure he was covering Katara completely before he reluctantly pulled away from her soft lips and looked over his shoulder to glare at the gaping group consisting of Mai's four friends and two guys that he recognized from their history class as if annoyed at their interruption. His glare intensified as the teenage boys tried to take a peek at the blushing Katara in his embrace, who then buried herself closer to his chest in embarrassment and irritation.

"I suggest you leave before you regret it for interrupting my time with my girlfriend," Zuko spoke up coldly.

The girls gasped at his words. The two boys jumped at the iciness in the senior class president's voice, and with stuttered apologies, ran out of there, almost pushing the other girls out of their way as they both crammed through the door to escape. Zuko turned his hard glare at the red-faced and still gaping girls and raised a dark eyebrow when they didn't budge.

"I'm sure you know the way out," he told them sardonically.

They snapped out of their stupor and huffed at him as they also turned to leave. Zuko spotted Ty Lee trying to hide herself among them and he snorted.

"Ty Lee," he called out in a hard tone.

The young girl dressed in what resembled a pink cheerleader outfit froze before she looked back with a bubbly smile on her face.

"Yes, Zuko?" she asked sweetly.

"Tell Mai that it will be she that will regret messing with Katara, my new girlfriend," he told her smoothly.

Ty Lee and the other girls gulped before they nodded and raced through the doors and disappeared.

Zuko smirked as he looked down at Katara who was trying to hide her face in the crook of his neck.

"Well, now we are alone. What should we do?" he asked deviously.

Katara raised her head to glare at him.

"I can't believe you manipulated me into accepting to be your girlfriend!" she yelled at him as she tried to wrench her arms from his grip. "What? If I had said no, you wouldn't have helped me?"

"Of course not!" Zuko growled out. "I would've ripped their eyes out if they as so much caught a glimpse of you!"

"What?" Katara gasped as she gaped at him. "Then why did you say you would only help me if I said yes?"

"Because it was the only thing that occurred to me to make sure you accepted to be my girlfriend," Zuko replied with a small shrug.

"Couldn't you have just asked me like a normal person?" Katara asked with a huff.

"I could've, but this was more fun," the young man responded as he smirked at her.

Katara glowered at him for a moment before she gazed into his eyes in timid inquiry.

"You really want me…to be your girlfriend?" she asked in a whisper.

"If I didn't, do you really think I would've followed you around the past five months like 'a lost puppy' as Toph has so bluntly told me?" Zuko asked as he smirked at her.

"I guess you do have a point there," Katara muttered.

She looked up when Zuko brushed his fingers against her cheek and a blush blossomed on her skin at the intense way he was looking at her.

"And do you know why I was following you around like 'a lost puppy', hm?" Zuko asked her softly, "Do you know why I have enjoyed spending these past five months so much with you?"

"I…no," Katara answered truthfully.

Zuko frowned at her as he continued to caress her soft skin.

"Did you know that ever since I first saw you last year I developed a crush on you?" he asked instead.

Katara gaped at him for a second.

"Seriously?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah," he answered a bit sheepishly.

He raised a dark eyebrow when Katara began to giggle softly.

"What's so funny?" he asked with a small scowl. Here he was, pouring out his feelings for her and she was laughing at him.

Girls are crazy, he thought.

"Nothing," Katara said and smiled at him. "It's just that I had a huge crush on you ever since I bumped into you, too."

Zuko smiled down at her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead before he whispered to her, "Well, I just wanted to tell you that I don't have a crush on you anymore."

He felt Katara tense and he placed his lips against her cheek before he pressed a kiss to her ear.

"Nope. What I feel for you is no longer a simple crush," he continued to whisper, "And that's because what I feel for you is something much, much deeper. I love you, Katara."

Zuko pulled back to see what her reaction was to his confession and he was almost blown away with the radiant smile she was giving him.

"Well, then I guess have to confess and say that I don't have a crush on you either because…I love you, too," Katara told him with a deep blush.

She gasped softly when Zuko let go of her arms and embraced her tightly to him before he crashed his lips to hers in a fierce kiss. They both gasped at the intense and pleasurable feeling of kissing each other. They had never experience such an amazing sensation before. They broke apart after a long moment, both panting hard against each other.

"I'm so glad to hear you say it," Zuko told her. "It just saved me from using all the stupid plans I had come up with to make you fall in love with me."

Katara giggled at him before she let out another gasp when Zuko leaned down and brushed his lips against her neck while he pressed her chest closer to his that it smashed her sensitive breasts.

"You are my girlfriend now and no other guy is allowed to even think about you," he growled out in a low tone into her ear.

"Then the same goes for you," she told him in a soft whisper. "I'll beat you senseless if you as so much look at another girl."

Zuko pulled back from her in surprise to find her smirking at him before he started chuckling.

"It would only be fair," he said with amusement. "But you don't have to worry because I only have eyes for you."

Before Katara could respond, Zuko again leaned down and kissed her. A spark flared through them both as their lips met while their bodies were pressed so intimately close. Zuko wound his arms more tightly around her back while Katara wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled at his short hair.

Gods, kissing Katara was the best experience he had ever felt!

Mouths opened eagerly and moved against each other in fervent caresses before they finally broke apart to catch their breaths.

Katara licked her lips as she opened her eyes to look at Zuko. Wow, she didn't know kisses could be so amazing.

Zuko smirked down at her dazed expression as he let go of her, smiling when she quickly covered her exposed chest with a deep blush. Zuko took off his varsity jacket and gently draped it over her shoulders. She thanked him happily, slid her arms inside the long sleeves, and buttoned it up to cover herself. The jacket was too large on her smaller body, but Zuko found that he had never seen anything so enticing before. Well, except for her lithe body in a wet swimsuit and, of course, her uncovered breasts…

He quickly shook the images away from his mind for the moment. He could not wait until he was in the privacy of his bedroom tonight…He grabbed her hand and began to lead her toward the main door of the building.

"I'll give you a ride home," he told her before he grinned. "I'll pick you up on Saturday for our first date of so many. Even when we go to university you won't be able to get rid of me."

Katara blushed and smiled as she squeezed his hand before she looked up at him with a large grin.

"Okay, but first you're going to have to convince my father and Sokka to let you take me out," she told him.

Zuko frowned.

"You think they won't accept me?" he asked. It didn't matter. He was going to find a way to go out with Katara either way.

Katara giggled.

"I think they will like you as long as your idea for a date is not spending a night in a motel or you getting me pregnant," she mused.

She laughed harder when Zuko faltered in his steps and his pale cheeks flushed.

Zuko scowled at her once he regained his composure before another smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh, really?" he began as he stopped them before he pulled her to him. "And what would happen if that was the case and you ended up pregnant?"

Katara sputtered at him for a few seconds before she finally realized he was teasing her. She slapped his chest when he grinned.

"Then they'll make you marry me at the threat of having a very important part of you removed," she replied with her own smirk.

Zuko's dark eyebrows furrowed as if he were really thinking about such a scenario.

"Well, then I guess I'm just going to have to marry you first and then get you pregnant," he mused.

Katara gaped at him before she started giggling.

"Don't you think you're getting way ahead of yourself?" she asked amusedly—and admittedly delightedly.

"Nope. I like to think of it as planning ahead," Zuko answered and smirked. "What? Don't tell me you haven't thought about making cute babies with me."

Katara was sure her face was on fire as she tried to say something because for the past months she had indeed wondered about having dozens of babies with Zuko in the future. But she wasn't about to tell him that…yet.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't," was her casual response.

The smirk on Zuko's face grew larger since he knew Katara was lying and his hold on her became tighter.

"Then I'm just gonna have to work on that, won't I?" he told her.

"That does sound like a good plan to me," she smiled at him.

Zuko smirked at her before he smashed his lips to hers, kissing her fiercely.

Both young teens, wrapped in each other's arms, continued to kiss each other alongside the large pool.

The only reason they stopped was because the janitor kicked them out.

The End

A/N: Hehehe! A slightly perverted Zuko always makes me laugh. ^ ^

So there you have it! Thank you for reading!

~alwaysZutarian