Today's story is one of my favorites. I've been really excited to get to it. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.


Day Eight

Wedding Night


Katara had always been in love with love.

It wasn't until she was wearing of necklace of gold and faced with consummating her marriage to her boyfriend of three years that she discovered that maybe she'd been wrong about what love actually was.

She didn't want this. This wasn't the kind of love she felt for the boy two years her junior who smiled lovingly up at her from their bed. Up until this moment, she'd thought she was ready. She'd thought the feelings would come naturally once she was faced with doing the deed.

All she felt in this moment was fear. She feared what this feeling of 'not wanting' meant for her future from here on out. She feared what it meant for Aang. She feared hurting them both.

But she had Aang's necklace around her neck and their coupling had been blessed by the whole world just hours before. It was too late to back out now.

So she swallowed her fear. She crawled onto the bed and into the loving arms of her husband.

oOo


It wasn't awful. Katara did her best to make the experience a pleasurable one for her partner and in the process she awakened some new feelings in herself as well. But in the end, she'd brought Aang to his finish before they could properly consummate anything and she'd been glad for it. Maybe if they kept at it, they could work their way up to that point—that's what she told herself—but right now she was just relieved it was over.

Aang fell asleep quickly after spending himself but Katara didn't feel an ounce of tiredness herself. Rather than attempting to join him in dreamland, she slipped out of bed and crept to the washroom to wash the evidence of what they'd done from her body. When she was finished, she dressed in a casual tunic and tiptoed silently back across the room to the door. With a glance back at Aang to make sure he was still fast asleep, she slipped outside. It was a lovely night and she needed some fresh air to think.

Her feet carried her through the dark palace of the Earth King where the ceremony had been held and out into one of its many gardens. The moon was bright and high in the sky and Katara used its light to find her way to her favorite fountain.

To her great surprise, a familiar figure darkened the rim of the fountain. His hands were laced in his lap and his face was turned toward the moon. He started and looked over at her when he noticed her approaching.

"Zuko?" she questioned in a soft voice so as not to break the tranquility of the night.

Zuko looked at her with an expression full of confusion. "Katara? What are you doing out here?"

Katara felt relief fill her at Zuko's familiar shape. It helped to chase away some of the discomfort she was still feeling from her realization in the bedroom. "I…um…" She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, suddenly bashful about revealing her feelings to the young Fire Lord. "I needed some space to sort out some feelings."

Upon hearing this, Zuko's good eye widened and he made as if to leave but she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and sat down beside him on the rim of the fountain. "No, stay," she instructed somewhat awkwardly. "I'm glad you're here, actually."

Zuko looked uncomfortable at her request but he did as instructed. "What's wrong?" he questioned hesitantly when she made no further motion to speak. "You should be up there," he gestured with his face to the row of balconies several stories above them, "with him. It's your wedding night."

Katara twined her hands together above her lap. "I know. I just…" She probably shouldn't be speaking about this with him, but Zuko had been her best friend for years. Ever since he'd taken Azula's lightning for her. She shared everything with him and he always did the same with her.

Zuko interrupted her thoughts by tentatively asking, "Did you…you know….?"

Katara blushed and wrung her hands together. Just as hesitantly, she answered, "…Yes. Well, kind of. I mean, we didn't go all the way." Her face was flaming and she knew Zuko could see it even in the dark.

Zuko blinked at her in surprise. He almost looked relieved to hear this. "You didn't?"

She shook her head. "I chickened out. I guess." She looked up at him, her face still hot. "I couldn't do it. It didn't feel right." Shame burned inside her at revealing these secret feelings but she also felt a little lighter after saying it.

"Oh," was all Zuko said to her confession. He looked like he was struggling to find the appropriate way to react but he was coming up empty.

Katara knew she should end this conversation now and return to her room, but she didn't want to. Being out here with Zuko was comforting and familiar. When she thought about going back inside to Aang she felt that same fear and dread from before rise up within her.

She waited another moment as she deliberated revealing her deepest uncertainty to the young man sitting beside her and in the end she decided just to go for it. She trusted him. "Zuko, do you think I made a mistake?" She looked up into his eyes uncertainly. "Marrying Aang, I mean. I thought I was doing the right thing, but tonight the feelings just…" she looked down at her lap, "…weren't there."

She peeked up at Zuko out of the corner of her eye and saw him frown. "Are you saying that you don't love him?" he asked in a low voice, ever conscious of being overheard even at this hour.

Katara played with the fabric of her tunic anxiously. "Of course I do," she defended quickly. "I just…don't know if I…" She released her tunic and took a calming breath. "What if I don't love him in that way?"

There. It was out. This was meant to be the happiest night of her life and here she was confiding to Zuko that it might instead be the biggest mistake of her life. Looking back at him, she said, "Zuko, do you think I rushed into marriage? Or do you think I'm just having some kind of panic attack? Gran-Gran told me I might get cold feet." She laughed a little shakily and added, "I didn't believe her."

Zuko attempted to lift her spirits with a smile. "That could be it. I've heard that can happen."

Katara nodded. "I hope it's just a temporary thing." She pulled her feet up onto the fountain's rim and hugged her knees to her chest. "…But I don't know. I should want to be with Aang in that way, right? But I don't. Tonight felt like trying to sleep with a friend. It was weird and uncomfortable and I was happy when it was over."

She buried her face in her knees and hugged her legs tighter to her chest. The more she thought about it, the idea of being with Aang physically felt the same as when she imagined being with Suki or Haru. "What if I've been wrong all this time?"

The warmth of an arm settled around her shoulders and she felt Zuko lean into her. She wouldn't have blamed him for thinking less of her for this, but she knew he didn't. Zuko had always known the worst parts of her and accepted her regardless. It was why talking to him like this came so easily.

All at once, a thought occurred to her. An idea of how to put her uncertainty to rest. She lifted her head and met Zuko's eyes. He was the only one she could ask to do this for her. At any other time, she'd never ask such a thing of him, but she was in crisis and questioning the biggest decision of her life and if she was going to make it right she had a very limited window to do so.

"Zuko," she said his name hesitantly.

Zuko hummed to show he was listening.

"I have a…request. It's something I hate to ask of you but there's no one else I'd trust to do this."

Zuko didn't even hesitate. "What do you need?"

That almost made her feel worse. Zuko was always ready to help her at the drop of a hat and she was about to take advantage of that. "I know I shouldn't ask this," she prefaced her request. "It's improper and wrong and if anyone found out I asked you to do this I doubt I'd be forgiven, but would you..." Zuko's gaze was steady on hers and looking into his eyes made her almost lose her nerve. But she knew this would be her only chance to ask this and she'd definitely regret it if she didn't so she went ahead. "Would you be willing to kiss me?"

She could feel Zuko's surprise in the contracting of the muscles in his arm. He didn't pull away though, which she was glad for. Rather than immediately refuse or ask her what in the world she was thinking asking him such a thing, he instead took a deep breath and said simply, "Are you sure?"

Katara's cheeks reddened again but she nodded. Looking determinedly into his eyes, she said, "If you kiss me and it feels the same as when he does it, then I'll have my answer."

Zuko's lips thinned. He looked conflicted, as he ought to. She almost took back her request, but then she saw his resolve steel. He glanced around cautiously to make perfectly certain they weren't being watched and then his eyes found hers again and he nodded. "Okay."

Relief and nervousness washed over Katara in equal measures and she gave him a grateful smile. In her head, she made a promise to do something extra nice for him later to pay him back for this. Readying herself, she tucked her hair behind her ears and closed her eyes.

It took a moment, but finally Zuko's arm slid from her shoulders. She felt his hand cup her cheek and she stayed as still as she could while she waited for what was to come. Zuko would only be the third boy ever that she'd kissed—an awfully pitiful number for a girl who'd just been married—and she tried very hard to forget that she was doing it on her wedding night; the night she was supposed to be spending in bliss with her husband upstairs. Spirits, what a fantastic wreck she'd become, smooching the Fire Lord when she was married to the Avatar.

Zuko's fingers slid up into her hair and she felt his warm breath as he leaned in close. This was it. She still had time to pull away—to forget all this and run back up to her room. Zuko would never speak of the incident and she could live her life pretending that she'd never had second thoughts about her feelings for Aang.

But she didn't. Her butt stayed firmly put on the rim of the fountain as Zuko closed the remaining space between them and set his mouth on hers.

At once, Katara felt her nerves ease. Zuko's kiss was gentle and overflowing with consideration. He sighed into the contact and she responded in kind, bringing her arms up around his neck to pull him close, just as she would with Aang.

It felt good. By all expectations, kissing Zuko should feel awkward and wrong, but the reality was completely opposite. The tender way Zuko's lips pressed into hers filled her with a sense of trust and safety. She could feel his desire to make her happy. He was solid and warm in a way that felt steadfast and dependable. He didn't feel like he would slip from her grasp like the wind at a moment's notice.

That had always been Zuko, she realized in that instant. Whether as her enemy or her companion, he'd always been steadfast. He'd always approached every task with a large amount of conviction and he saw it through. He was unwavering to a fault and because of that he was reliable. In that regard, he was Aang's opposite. Where Aang was flighty and Katara always found herself running to keep up, Zuko was deliberate and purposeful and had a strong sense of commitment. It was these traits that made Zuko's kiss feel sincere on a level that she was realizing now Aang's often didn't. Aang only ever kissed her because that's what he wanted in the moment. Zuko was kissing her to satisfy her. That, she now understood, was always going to be something her relationship with Aang lacked.

Zuko abruptly pulled back when her tears dampened his cheeks. "Katara?" he questioned, his voice full of concern.

Katara shook her head and removed a hand from around his neck to wipe her face. "I'm sorry, Zuko," she apologized quickly. "It's not you. I'm just a wreck right now. I shouldn't have asked you to do that—it was stupid of me and now—"

She was silenced when Zuko's head dipped down and he kissed her again. This time he held her face in both hands and slanted his mouth against hers. This second kiss was unrestrained and contained a slew of new emotions. She felt wanting and sadness, hope and fear. She felt a multitude of feelings that she'd never known he harbored. Most of all, she felt his hurt and his desire. She got the sense that he'd wanted to kiss her like this for a long time. Had he had all these feelings inside him all this time? He'd never let a hint of them out.

Katara was helpless as Zuko's feelings poured into her. It was overwhelming, but at the same time she felt a strong urge to meet them. Her response was instinctual. She grabbed his hair and forced him to open his mouth with her tongue. He obliged her readily and when their tongues connected she felt heat pool within her. To hell with reservations, she thought. To hell with right and wrong. The feelings that had been absent just an hour ago with Aang were here in full force with Zuko. Perhaps it was because her hormones were still buzzing inside her from her mini-romp with Aang, but she wanted to push Zuko onto his back and feel for herself how much he desired her.

She managed to rein in her impulse and with a great deal of willpower separated herself from him. Zuko's face was flushed and his eyes were dark when she looked at him again but he shook his head and seemed somewhat successful in pulling his good sense back from the aether where it had scattered. "I'm sorr—" he started to apologize but she shushed him with a finger to his mouth.

"Don't apologize," she ordered firmly. Her face was still damp but she did her best to sound like she was of perfectly sound mind as she said, "I'm an idiot who just made a terrible mistake and I don't need you apologizing to me on top of it."

Zuko tilted his head in confusion and she elaborated before he could go jumping to the wrong conclusion. "I need to talk with Aang. Spirits, there's probably no way to rectify this without bringing an enormous amount of shame to both of us—mainly me—but if I act quickly we can probably find a way to save some face." She buried her face in her hands as the weight of what she was going to have to do came crashing down on her. She was going to have to break to Aang that she thought their marriage was a mistake. There wasn't a single part of her that wanted to do that to him but at the same time she couldn't bear to live a lie.

She was pulled from her crisis when Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wait," he requested in a slightly stronger voice. "Don't go making any big decisions hastily. Take some time to think it over. Like you said, this could just be a temporary thing."

Katara found herself smiling at Zuko's earnest request. The advice was awfully rich coming from him, the king of not thinking things through. Although she supposed he had gotten better about that over the years. "Zuko," she said his name with a no-nonsense edge. "I want to sleep with you. That's not a very good prospect for my marriage to Aang."

Zuko's cheeks immediately flared and he directed his eyes bashfully away from hers to look at his lap.

"Listen," she addressed him more softly. "I don't want you to feel responsible for this. I was the one who got myself into this and if I decide to have my marriage annulled, it has nothing to do with you. I won't let you take any heat for this."

Zuko's head rose to look at her again and she watched him frown. She knew he wanted to protest, but they both knew he couldn't. He was the Fire Lord and if word got out that he had any involvement, no matter how miniscule, in her decision to leave Aang, it would cause an international mess that could sour the Fire Nation's reputation for generations. Hesitantly, he nodded, then said, "Fine. But Katara, if you need a place to stay for a while after…after you sort things out with Aang, you know you're always welcome in the Fire Nation."

Katara smiled and leaned forward to wrap Zuko in a hug. This would be a decision she felt the ramifications of for years to come, she knew, but knowing Zuko would support her through all of it helped to still her fear. "Thank you," she said honestly. "I'll be happy to take you up on that."

oO0Oo


What's that? Actual romantic contact? It had to happen sometime.

Wowzer, that ended up much longer than it was supposed to be. To be honest, I almost didn't write anything for this prompt. I couldn't think of anything worth writing so I was just going to leave a single crack sentence and move on, but at the very last moment I was struck with inspiration. I know other people have done similar stories to this but those stories tend to be really depressing and I wanted to give the world a happier, more optimistic version. I don't like the idea of Zuko and Katara living out miserable lives with people they don't love, endlessly pining for one another. I believe in their ability as reasonable people to come out with reasonable solutions to their problems. No one's resigning themselves to misery in my stories, folks. This is a no-resignation zone.