"Ah, now this is something you guys should hear," Sokka declared after browsing through the Companion for some time. He held the book up for the others to see and pointed to the 'main characters' field. "See how it says 'Aang and Katara' here? That, girls, is the couple that dominates almost half of all the stories in this book."
"That's so sweet," Ty Lee sighed. "What's the other half?"
Sokka frowned slightly. "Er... Zuko and Katara."
"WHAT?!"
"I know, I know," the Water Tribe teen said hastily, rubbing his nearly deafened ears and marveling inside at how loud two Kyoshi Warriors could be when they exclaimed simultaneously. "Hey, once you read more of this thing, you'll find out that not all couples in here make a lot of sense."
"Like what?" Suki asked.
"Well, for starters, there's Zuko and Katara like I said just now, then Aang and Toph, Zuko and Toph, me and Toph -"
Ty Lee raised a confused eyebrow. "Why do so many guys like Toph?"
"Dunno. Katara would've been the same, except I'm her brother and we've been lucky enough not to come across any incest yet. Well, there was that poll about who should be Azula's partner..."
The former acrobat gaped. "They're choosing a partner for Azula?"
"I know, right? They've got basically every guy we know in there and then some, like Aang, Jet, me," Sokka looked as if he was going to gag, "Zuko - now there's some incest - and some guy named, um, Zhan? Gan?"
"Chan," Ty Lee piped up.
"Chan, right. Oh, and there's Katara and Toph too, and one more field for, uh, I think it said 'others' and something about how there are only so many people you can pair with an insane princess. Yeah, something like that."
Suki looked appalled. "Why do they pair girls with girls?!"
"Dunno, but they do the same for us guys too. Maybe they're a deranged civilization on the brink of destruction, and this book will be the only thing that's left of them in ten years' time. Would explain the craziness in the stories."
Ty Lee swung her legs back and forth as she sat balanced perfectly on the railing of the front porch. "Well, in any case, Aang and Katara together shouldn't be too crazy. Those two are very cute," she grinned.
"You call it cute, I call it oglish. Anyway, let's see how sickly sweet they are this time around, yeah?" And Sokka promptly began the story.
Aang had been saying something. He was pretty sure- no, he was positive- that he had been. At the present moment, however, he was having a very hard time remember what that something might have been.
"Not like that's the first time he's forgotten something," Sokka smirked.
"Sokka, we're only at the first line. Don't interrupt yet, okay?"
"Alright, Suki dear."
Ty Lee let out a contented sigh. "You two are so cute as well."
The reason for his present distraction let out a pleased hum against his throat. He ran a hand up her side through the thin layer of her party dress, enjoying the feel of her shiver against his body. She pressed against him, backing him up and drawing their hips closer still, before leaving a series of little nips and kisses along his neck up to a particularly sensitive spot just beneath his ear. Aang closed his eyes in bliss, enjoying Katara's ministrations despite the nagging thought that there was something he ought to remember…
Suki stared at her boyfriend's gaping mouth. "Sokka, are you alright?"
Sokka shook his head as if waking from a dream before holding up the book and squinting at it. "Is this... is my sister making out with Aang?!"
"Sounds like it," Ty Lee answered helpfully.
Sokka looked as if he was going to pass out. "Oh gosh, I don't think I want to read this. No wait, I know I don't want to read this."
"Then I'll do it," Suki said as she took the book from Sokka's hands. She ran her finger down the page. "Ah, here's where we left off. Right then, on we go."
Then, as the back of his legs collided with the seat behind him, it came back to him.
"Katara!" he yelped, pushing her off of him.
She let out a whimper and pouted as he moved her back an arms length. "What's wrong?" she asked, eyes fixed on his mouth and very clearly only held back from him by his shaking hands clasping her shoulders.
"Katara!" he choked out, glancing around them wildly, completely paranoid that someone would walk in on them. "We can not just stand here and make out in Zuko's throne room!"
Ty Lee burst out in a fit of giggles. "They're making out in Zuko's throne room?"
"Imagine if Zuko walked in on them," Suki grinned, and they both started giggling.
"Or Mai," Ty Lee added, and the giggles got louder.
"Or Mai's dad." By then, they were full outright howling with laughter.
Sokka was sulking beside them. "Oh sure, it's all fun and games for you hormone-driven crazy teenage girls. Me, I have to hear how my sister makes out with her boyfriend in graphic detail! And doing it in Zuko's throne room doesn't help!" he squawked as he flapped his arms up and down in frustration.
"You look like an angry boar-rooster," Ty Lee told him, still giggling madly.
"Thanks," Sokka muttered darkly.
"Well, it's a good thing I don't have any intention of just standing here and making out in Zuko's throne room," she replied.
Aang had just breathed a sigh of relief, when she added, "I plan to lie down and have sex on Zuko's throne."
"Katara!"
Both girls were staring wide-eyed at the book. "Wow, she sure is brave," Ty Lee breathed.
"I second that. Wonder if the genes run in the family?" Suki looked up at Sokka, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Suki, while I'd love to make out with you any time, I'm not much for lying down and doing it on Zuko's throne." Even as he said that, the sullen expression had left his face, replaced by something quite different entirely.
"Then where would you rather do it then?" Suki asked coyly.
"I wouldn't mind doing it now."
As Suki's face flamed up, Ty Lee squealed in delight. "Ooh, you two are so adorable! But let's just finish the story first, okay?" she said mainly for Suki's benefit, patting her hand as a signal to continue.
"Oh, yes, um, right." Suki turned back to the book, trying hard not to make eye contact with Sokka.
His face was bright red, he just knew it, and he was embarrassed to find that his state of arousal grew even more urgent at her matter-of-fact pronouncement. Katara taking the opportunity to slip under his arms and return her attention to seducing him did not help at all.
"I want you, Aang. Right here, right now."
"Trust me," he said, eyes closing again in ecstasy at the things she was doing to him, "The feeling is mutual. But m-maybe this isn't the best p-place."
Katara summarily ignored him. While she pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses along his jawline and down his neck to his exposed collarbone, her quick fingers found their way to the hidden clasps that fastened his formal robes and began undoing them one by one.
Despite his best intentions, Aang's hands found their way to her waist, and then they found their way lower, pulling their lower bodies into alignment. He groaned at the delicious contact, but even as his resolve crumbled, he continued to protest.
"We're breaking about twenty laws right now."
"You're the Avatar, what are they going to do?"
"Someone could walk in any minute."
"That just makes it better."
"What?!"
"Relax, Aang. Everybody's in the Butterfly-Moth Pavilion, anyway. No one's here but you and me."
By this point, she had succeeded in pulling open his robes and the attention she had been lavishing on his clavicle traveled southward as she kissed her way down his chest and abdomen, tugging on the drawstring of his trousers as she went. Aang groaned, closing his eyes and doing his best to resist the urge to have his way with her right here and right now on the Burning Throne, but it was no good. Before she could get his pants off completely, he grabbed her hands and drew her back up along his body. He leaned down and pulled her into a kiss so intense that when he drew back, she was the one left flushed, flustered, and gasping for air. She gazed at him with wide, luminous eyes, chest heaving as she attempted to recover from the kiss.
"For someone who's so intent on being an exhibitionist, you're wearing an awful lot of clothes," he informed her with a cheeky grin.
She draped her arms around his shoulders, leaning her lower body against him and stirring up an exquisite friction between them. "Well then, Avatar Aang," she said in a husky tone, "You should do something about that."
Surrendering completely, Aang happily complied.
"Done," Suki announced as she closed the book, a streak of red running steadily down her neck that was not entirely due to Sokka's words earlier.
Ty Lee fanned herself with her hand exaggeratedly. "Wooh, boy is it hot in here! I bet the temperature just soared twenty degrees when Katara tugged on Aang's trousers -"
"Don't remind me," Sokka managed through gritted teeth.
Suki put an arm around her tense boyfriend. "Sokka, I know you're Katara's older brother, but she's old enough to take care of herself already. Even if this is just a story, there's no guarantee that this won't happen in the future, though maybe not in Zuko's throne room," she added while grinning slightly.
"I know. It's just... she's my little sis and now she's all grown up with her own boyfriend and in a relationship..." Sokka's voice trailed off as he seemed to be on the verge of tears.
Suki cradled his chin with her palm, lifting his head up so that their eyes met. "She'll do fine. And in the meantime, why don't I take care of those tears of yours?" she offered as her fingers gently brushed the corners of his eyes, then trailed their way down to his collarbone.
"So, I think I'll just take this and run along now!" Ty Lee said brightly as she picked up the Companion from where it lay on the front porch floor. "Can't wait to see what the other girls think of this! See ya!" And she ran off grinning to herself, while her friend was locked in a passionate kiss with her boyfriend right there on the front porch.
I assure you, the rating for this story when it was first published was well and truly a 'T'. A round of applause for an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this, and also to The Melon Lord Approves for, well, approving of her story's appearance in the Companion! And also, I've got a week of exams ahead of me, so I might not be updating as often as I'd like to. Any inconveniences are sincerely regretted, well wishes are very much appreciated, and hope to see you all soon!