Zuko stormed into the bedroom, his robes disheveled and his face drawn up in an angry scowl, making his scarred eye look even more terrifying. In a second Katara was up, massaging his tight shoulders and kissing his neck from her tip toes. While the healer might have been an act to keep everyone happy, Katara would do what she could if Zuko needed it. With that thought in mind, a plan began to crystallize in her head.
"Tough day, Zuzu?" Her hands reached around to undo the fiery pin that held the red cloak on his shoulders. Beneath, his shirt was soaked in sweat. "I'll never understand why you firebenders wear such heavy woolens."
"What do you mean, Katara? They're fine." Zuko looked down, and seemed to notice his clothes for the first time. Sweat stains dotted the shirt. "What…?" Katara moved in front of him, forehead creased in a question.
"You mean firebenders don't naturally run, well, hot?" Her fingers toyed with the shirt, which wasn't as thick as she had thought. She shook her head gently, dislodging the distraction from her thoughts as she stroked down his shirt, then back up beneath it. She quickly withdrew her hands. "God, Zuko, your body's on fire!"
He laughed a little heh and began to rub the back of his head, clearly misinterpreting. "No, feel," Katara insisted, grabbing his wrist, and almost burning her palms. She stumbled backwards, alarmed.
"What's wrong? I mean, apart from being tired of all this bureaucracy, having to deal with my father's officials, fixing a lifetime of his mistakes, I feel fine!" When the hem of his shirt caught flame, Katara screamed and reflex-bent a nearby jug of juice onto him. As the juice steamed around him, Zuko's eyes wandered aimlessly. Katara had just enough time to get her arms behind him before he fell.
With an unconscious Fire Lord in her arms, burning like a brand, it was a difficult few feet to the bed. She carefully laid Zuko's head on the pillow and turned to leave. With one foot out the door, she hesitated and turned back. With a wave of an arm the bath water seeped into the mattress.
Katara walked through the vast palace walls, hoping she didn't seem like a guilty regicidal new girlfriend to all the world. As she was still learning her way around the complex of buildings, it was a few minutes before she found herself outside Iroh's quarters.
"Please be here, please be here," she quietly implored as she swung the knocker.
The door opened almost immediately, to Katara's relief. Within was the great man himself, seated at a Pai Sho table. There was an equally grey man across from him, and a younger man who had answered the door. Slightly younger.
Iroh's face split in his infectious smile when he saw her. "Why, Katara! What a pleasant surprise! I was beginning to think you and that nephew of mine had forgotten there were others living in this place! Please, come in! May I interest you in some freshly brewed jasmine tea? The leaves I collected myself on the way from Ba Sing Se. Such a fine people, but difficult to drive a bargain with! Why, I remember – "
As much as Katara loved to hear the kind old man ramble on about his seemingly endless experiences, this was urgent. "Iroh, could I speak to you privately?" She was afraid Iroh would scoff at her for interrupting him, but he only laughed.
"Of course! Pai Sho might be a game of patience and planned thinking, but life rarely follows it so closely. Might I ask for a rematch at another time?" Iroh turned to his opponent. With a happy smile and nod, the two left the room, leaving Katara with the old man.
"Now, what can I do for you, young one?" he asked, already pouring her a cup of jasmine.
"It's Zuko," Katara gushed, unable to hide behind pretenses. Something about Iroh made you want to tell him everything, made you believe in your deepest of hearts that he would understand, and want to help. "I don't know what's wrong, his body has been burning up these past few weeks, and at first I thought it was just, you know, what firebenders did, but then he passed out and… and…" She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and found him stifling a laugh while looking very embarrassed.
"Oh, my dear, I am so sorry," he began after he had calmed himself. "It's just, I always assumed his mother or father had explained it to him. But now, I can see they can't have. His mother left so early, and Ozai was never the teacher." He calmed himself again as a fit of chuckling took him. Somehow they fit him, and Katara felt herself relaxing, even though she ought to still be frightened. "When a firebender has – ah – great, passion, yes, passion, for something, well, really for someone, but cannot… Hm. Cannot…" The old man gestured vaguely with open hands, laughed again, and composed himself. "My, this is embarrassing. We firebenders are creatures of life. Passion. In a word, fire. You cannot smother a fire. It eats through any dirt or cloth, and in being smothered only yearns more for the open air." He gave the young waterbender an appraising look. "If Zuko has found someone who he really, truly has great passion for, but he cannot express himself properly, it will burn inside him." At Katara's horrified face, Iroh laughed again, waving away her concerns. "Fear not, little one! It is not fatal! I am guessing Zuko has been irritable lately? Hmm? Well, more irritable than usual. Ha! He simply requires the proper… expression of this passion." He lost all humor as he seemed to realize what he was saying. "Katara, listen. My nephew is a great man. I know you have grown close to him, but do not feel guilty for denying his advances. If he is fond of you, you are not obligated to – " This time it was Iroh's turn to be confused at Katara's sudden laughter.
"No, I'm sorry Iroh, it's not you, it's not that, it's – Thank you, I think I understand now." With a laugh still on her lips, Katara waved goodbye to the old man and ran from the room.
"Katara! You forgot your tea!"
Zuko awoke to a bed drenched in sweat. He looked around, his vision blurry, until it centered on her. Katara. As she saw his open eyes, she held a cup to his lips. It slid down his parched throat easily, and he took another swallow. His vision cleared, but his head continued to swim. "Katara," he croaked, more raggedly than usual, "what's happening?" His eyes narrowed as he saw her smirk. He looked down to see the cactus juice container on the floor.
"You need to relax, milord," Katara murmured, stroking his thick hair.
"Milord? You never – " Katara held a finger to his lips and gently rubbed them.
"Firebenders can't hide their passion, Zuzu." Her hands roamed across his sweat-drenched clothes as if to offer proof. "You trying has been very hazardous to your wardrobe."
He looked where she nodded and saw a juice-stained shirt with a burnt hem. He looked back into her eyes. At first he thought he saw his own reflected in them, but then he realized that fire was all Katara's.
He struggled a little but she held a firm hand on his sweat-dripping chest. "But… It should be special…"
"When you're ready, it will," Katara promised. "First, we need to protect your clothes from you." She sat up and trailed a finger from his chin to his waist. "Pants, off."
With his brain buzzing from the cactus juice, he found himself obeying her. Or was he choosing to? When his pants were off Katara flung them to the side.
She reached out for him, unable to control herself, and she remembered her dream, weeks ago, that hunger that had started before and never really gone away. Now was the time, now it would be so easy to fulfill the urge. She actually felt her hips angling towards his, but she stopped herself. This was for him. And, she supposed, his clothes as well.
She lay beside him, letting her curves fit into his harder body. She turned his head towards hers and engaged him in a long kiss to steady his ragged breaths. When his lungs, if not his heart, had calmed, she reached again.
Immediately she felt the difference. His body radiated heat, and she felt his lips cool. A tear fell from Zuko's scarred eye, and he returned the kiss more passionately, a juice-impaired hand clutching at her dress. She guided it down and sighed into the kiss as his hot fingers stroked. She drew up on him, and then together they pressed. She felt the air around her sizzling.
Fiery bliss emanated from their bodies as they sunk deeper and deeper into each other. Katara could feel the sweat beading on her brow, but her concentration remained on Zuko. The same could not be said for him, however. His lips continued to work at hers, but his hands soon grew complacent and settled on her hips. Katara made a note to teach him to hold his attention better.
When the end came, a heat wave rolled off of the Fire Lord. She reached for a rag with which to wipe down his sticky body (Why did she expect it to come away black?) and afterwards waterbent soothing tides over both their bodies. Her loins still yearned for him, but as she felt his fever cool, she knew this was as satisfying as having him inside her.
As he lay panting, Katara quickly bent some water to wipe them down before joining him. She wrapped her arms around him; still warm, but now just the right temperature for the autumn night. As their eyes drooped shut, the dark beast within her honed its claws and waited, sated for now.