Here it is! I didn't think I would ever come back to this universe but hell, I love dragon Zuko. There will most likely be between 3-5 chapters revolving around this A/U, all one shots going through the times Katara and Zuko spend together. Enjoy and look forward to more steamy zutaraness. Thank you to those who reviewed.

I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender

"And now it's where the secret's pushed behind with the lanterns to burn this inside
And up there a snow-capped romance where everything we build will come from our eyes
And I'll be this way forever." 36 Crazyfist- Waterhaul

It took about a week before they landed on what the dragon-god claimed would be their new home. The island, in which she would be residing with him from here on out, was surrounded by glorious amounts of water. They landed near the largest of the three dormant volcanos and the waterbender slid of the back of her so-called-husband. Her toes poked at the cool grass and it stunned her. Katara had never seen let alone felt grass in all her life. It was prickly but soft. She couldn't help but giggle when she jumped down to wiggle the grass between her toes.

She stopped suddenly when she noticed Zuko observing her in his Dragon form. His scrutiny was nothing new to Katara. It was as though her actions were intriguing and she assumed that he didn't bother to interact with humans much. Figures, since he made it clear that human were scum the first day they met.

Taking into account that he had the ability to destroy anything in his patch, she still didn't trust him. He promised as her mate to protect her but she didn't know to what extent he would take his need to protect her. Last week he had hurriedly took her away from the Fire Nation then up and left her in the forest without a word for hours. She was frustrated and agitated with his actions. Though, he did leave her by a clean river and left a charred carcass of an eel hound. She left the corpse to rot where it sat and chose to retrieve berries and nuts from the surrounding forest. It wasn't exactly filling but it was better than eating a creature she'd never seen before. Katara doubted it tasted like seal.

Her thoughts strayed to the idea of how she was even going to survive living the rest of her life with a dragon. Their worlds were completely different. He didn't seem to need as much nourishment as her, he was barely in human form, so communication was next to nothing, and he hadn't been intimate with her since that first time they slept together.

Katara wasn't needy, by all means, but a little attention wouldn't hurt once in a while. As much as she was annoyed by the idea of this being the rest of their lives (mainly hers) she couldn't turn back. Now that their bond was too strong to be broken. Dragons couldn't part with their mate and apparently being with a dragon regardless of being human, held the same affect. She doubted it was love. Hell, she wasn't sure that Zuko was even capable of love. If he was, he never showed it or he didn't actually love her.

This situation screamed nothing but complications. Where was she even meant to sleep? Outdoors or was she going to have to make a bed out of rocks? She could waterbend a bed but Fire Nation heat wouldn't allow it to last more than a few minutes. She heard of people making beds out of hay. What did hay look like?

Zuko rolled his golden eyes and lifted her up by his snout. Katara yelped when he picked her up from behind and she hung on to one of his tusk. He led her toward the entrance of the larger volcano at speed she wasn't even aware he had. The wind whipped through her hair and whistled in her ears so loud she couldn't even hear the loud stomping of his paws as they shook the ground around them.

Entering the dark, dank cave of the volcano, he stopped abruptly and she clung on even tighter to his tusk so she wouldn't slide off. Zuko bent his long neck down to allow her to climb down with ease. Katara's feet touched the rocky surface of the inner volcano, it was cool but surprisingly not wet.

The dragon-god walked forward and Katara followed beside him. He was at least considerate enough to walk slow so that she could keep up. The walk was silent and stiff.

Is this where we'll be staying? She asked. Over the course of a week she learned a little how to talk to him telepathically. Their bond allowed them to do so, although he still communicated with her very little.

For the most part. He replied.

How far do we have to go?

Only about half a mile.

Half a mile? What could be so important that he would burrow his home half a mile within a dormant volcano?

She could sense that Zuko caught her thoughts but he said nothing.

The cave didn't seem…wet or dank like she previously thought it was. Just going through the path seemed well maintained. But if Zuko hadn't been here, and she wasn't sure how long, then who kept it? Her eyes bulged out of her head when they reached a big open space. In front of her was a sight she never seen in all her twenty-one years, well, not given the fact that she never left the South Pole. She had heard stories, descriptions of something so precious and valuable that men killed over it, broke trust because of it and even started wars over it.

Gold. Mountains of it. Nothing like the cheap jewelry she was given at the Fire Nation palace. Gems and diamonds and rubies scattered among the coins, jewelry and goblets. It was all too much to take in. Why would he need all this gold? Zuko did not seem like the type to leave home that often and if he did, he probably avoided humans like the plague.

At first, she thought it quite stereotypical that a dragon hoarded gold but Zuko was no ordinary dragon. He carried magic with him and at times she wondered how strong his powers really were.

"Where did this all come from?" Katara mumbled, thinking out loud. This was enough to make every person on this earth rich beyond their wildest dreams.

At a time when I was worshipped by you humans from all corners of the world, they would bring me gifts. Gold was the most common.

"Oh…" this amount of adoration made her wonder just how old he was. "Is this common for all dragons?"

No, only dragon-gods.

"Just how many of you are there?"

He only glared at her instead of responding and she sighed as she followed him when he moved on. The gold was out of sight as he led her through a corridor. The passageways began to get smaller in space and Katara had to press herself against Zuko to avoid coming in contact with the walls. The waterbender frowned at his lack of concern.

He stopped in front of a wooden door.

This will be your residence.

Katara's eyebrows shot up but she carefully turned the knob leading into an extravagant bedroom. She was not expecting this. In the middle of the room was a large bed with a red and black comforter and decorative pillows. A canopy hung a red sheer material much like the outfit she wore when she was sacrificed in a week before. Nightstands laid on both sides of the bed and in the corner was a lounge couch and a small table with two chairs. On the other side of the bed against the wall sat a four-draw cherry wooded dresser. So, no rocks, huh?

Katara's head snapped around when the sound of laughter reached her ears. It was Zuko in his human form. This time he was wearing a tunic with his trousers and a pair of pointed boots. "You think me so uncivil, waterbender, that I would not provide you proper bedding."

Katara felt something snap inside her head but she chose to frown. "How would I know? It's not like you talk to me. And my names Katara, not waterbender."

"You should be careful how you speak to a god." Zuko smirked, crossing his arms, eyes twinkled with amusement.

"And you should be careful how you speak to your wife. Women from the Southern Watertribe don't take that sort of talk from men. Especially their husbands."

"Ah, yes." Zuko uncrossed his arms and strode over carefully to her, expression unmoved by her retort. "Tribeswomen there are seen as a symbol of fertility. Birthing children for your men is of upmost importance where you come from. But I could imagine why." He stated, eyeing her full breast.

Katara felt naked under his scrutiny and her face turned red. Trying not to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was wavering her confidence, Katara chose to change the subject, "So…there are other dragon-gods like you?"

"Were." He answered, giving her no detail of what happened to any of them, instead he came up to her and she turned away from him. Her cheeks were getting hotter and she only hoped he wasn't using his powers on her like he did in the capital. Katara cleared the buildup in her throat but almost choked on it when two calloused hands slid over her exposed midriff. "Would you really like to know what happened to the rest of the dragon-gods?" he asked chillingly.

Well, now she didn't. "Umm, n-not really." The waterbender mumbled, playing nervously with the tips of her hair. Zuko wrapped his hand around the one she was using to play with her hair and pulled it away.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice going deeper as his hot breath hit her ear.

"Yes." She replied meekly, feeling as though asking that question earlier was a lot more dangerous than she anticipated.

"Good." Zuko let go of her and went to exit the room.

That was it! Katara wasn't going to put up with his snarky, conceited attitude any longer. "Do you have a problem with me?!" Her outburst bouncing off the walls of the room. "Cause if so, say it! I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for any of this and yet I'm here. What do you expect? Huh? That'd I'd sit here like a quiet little pet? I want to go home and you won't let me! Yet you make me out to be such an inconvenience for you. If that's the case you should've fucking eaten me when you had the chance!"

Katara's breath began to labor but she was satisfied by Zuko's shocked expression. He would probably kill her but at least she got to him. Zuko's lips turned into a deep frown. He glared at her, clenching his jaw. "You will stand down, waterbender, and watch your tongue. You will never go home. I made it clear that the bond we have created will make you suffer if you were to ever run away from me."

"My name is Katara!" she yelled. "And I'd rather suffer away from you than having to put up with your degradation toward humans."

"You would die!" Zuko balled his fist and flames erupted from between his fingers. He told her days before that the bond between mates was strong enough to end them if they were ever to separate.

Katara rushed at him, pulling water from a nearby plant vase and pushed him out the doorway with as much force as she could muster. Zuko slammed against the corridor's wall with a grunt. "Then so be it!" with that she slammed the wooden door. Panic jumped her heart pace and she was afraid he might come back to actually kill her. Instead she heard a loud growl and something break before his footsteps faded down the hall.

She made a sigh of relief once she knew he was out of distance and all she could do at this point was cry.

*break*

The sound of chirping woke Katara from her weighted sleep. A groan escaped as she swallowed to relieve the soreness of her dry throat. She didn't bother to go under the covers of her bed when she jumped in it to cry herself to sleep last night. Her cheeks felt puffy and her eyes were red and swollen.

She dug in face further into the pillows and stretched her legs. Katara lied on her stomach, moving her stiff legs to rub against the coolness of the comforter. She shot up when she heard more chirping. Birds? In a volcano? She looked over to where the sound was coming from and seen a square opening where soft light was showing in her room. Katara jumped up and rushed over to the window to take a look at what was going on.

Her jaw dropped to the floor at the scene that laid before her. A forest. In a volcano. Trees taller than she ever seen bore fruit and flowers of all shapes and sizes, painting vibrant colors in the vast amounts of green vegetations. The top opening of the volcano let the sunlight shine through. A large waterfall really caught her attention and Katara jumped with glee as she ran out of the room to head down to the place that she knew could only be found in her dreams.

It took her a while to figure out how to get through the passageways but once she caught a glimpse of the soft light again, her heart hammered with excitement. Katara silently peeked over the opening leading to what she could only consider paradise. A grin spread on her face despite her swollen eyes and she ran out to walk towards the waterfall.

This grass was different than the grass she felt outside the volcano. It was a lot softer and didn't tickle her feet as much. She spun in circles to take in the atmosphere and almost fell over with giddiness. Katara didn't know where this all came from. She was sure there was no window in her room when she first arrived and she most definitely didn't hear a waterfall. It wasn't large but it was loud enough not to miss. The dragon-god had to have something to do with it.

Reaching the pool where the waterfall fell, Katara stripped down to her bindings and carefully sunk her body in the water. Droplets shined like diamonds as they turned to mist from the fall and Katara sighed as she dunked her head in the water. Nothing relaxed her like her element. She could stay in the water forever if she didn't make her skin wrinkle.

The waterbender lifted her head out of the water and spit a stream from her lips. She decided to get closer to the fall and dunked under to swim closer to it. Swimming under the fall sent jets of over her the back of her body, relieving some of the aches in muscles she hadn't noticed she developed.

Katara licked her lips, flipping her hair from her face when she made it back to the surface. She swam to the edge of a rocky surface and pulled herself out. She wanted to do a little more exploring and walked deeper into the cave that sat behind the waterfall. The waterbender hummed a song of her people as she skipped through the cave, her feet tapping against the ground. The further she got, the warmer it felt. It became clear where the temperature change was coming from when she discovered several pools hot springs.

Katara quickly made her way over and stripped down to nothing. She never had the luxury of bathing in warm water except the time she was prepped to get sacrificed but even then she couldn't enjoy it. This was so much more relaxing and she didn't have to smell those disgusting oils. She hummed some more, as she sprinkled water over her arms and her neck, enjoying the feel of drops on her skin.

"I see you've come across my hot springs." A voice purred from behind her.

Katara gasped, splashing the water around her in all directions. Zuko was behind her, naked, with a playful smirk on his lips. "Where-" she started but she bothered not to finish. At times she forgot who he was when he was in human form. It was best not to question it. Instead, she huffed and turned from him to swim away. A tug on her ankle pulled her back toward him and her legs wrapped around his waist against her will, the feel of his nether regions sending a jolt up her back. Zuko grinned.

She gave him an unimpressed look and whistled a stream of water at his face. Zuko shook his head, water dripping from his hair, but gripped her thighs tightly. She would've laughed but she was still mad at him for the way he was treating her.

"I did all this for you, you know." He announced angrily.

"And what would make you want to do that?" she was in no mood for an apology if that's what he was aiming to do.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm trying to be nice!" He released her thighs and Katara pushed herself off him, shaking her head with mocking laughter.

"Could've fooled me."

"I'm trying to make you happy, wa-Katara!"

"And all this is what will make me happy?" Zuko didn't know her nor did he bother to get to know her. "I don't know what type of girl you think I am but things like this," she lifted her arms to gesture at their surroundings, "do not make me happy. Maybe the other girls you've screwed but not me."

Zuko stood straight up in the water, muscle stiffened, "I've never done this for anyone else. I told you, dragons only have one mate."

Katara rolled her eyes as she moved further away from him. "Yes, yes. You've already told me tha-" she stopped herself. Wait. He wasn't just telling her that dragons only had one life partner. She wanted to slap her palm against her forehead. Instead she started to shake with laughter.

"What?!" he snapped. He wasn't pleased with her reaction to him clarifying that he was a virgin before he met her. A blush crept up from his neck to his cheeks and for the first time he looked innocent to Katara. Looking back, his actions towards her were more a lack of knowledge on his end. It wasn't that he didn't want to communicate with her, it was that he didn't know how to. It explained so much. His disdain for humans were great, so he never knew how to treat them other than with loathing and here she is, the first being he's ever slept with, and he's was trying to keep his cool the whole time.

How cute, she smiled at him as she sunk deeper in the water. "Zuko.." she teased, creeping in the water towards him. His face got so red, she had to sink her face up to her nose to keep from laughing. Katara slowly stood up, playfully running her fingers over his stomach to his strong chest and around his neck. "Do you like me?"

Zuko pursed his lips.

"It's okay if you do." She chuckled.

He averted his eyes obviously trying to rid himself of the furious blush he had. Katara grabbed both sides of his face so he would look at her, he seemed surprised that she would bother to touch his scar. Pulling herself up to fully wrap her arms around his neck, she gave him chaste kiss to the lips. Zuko pulled her flush against him and held her tight in his arms so she wouldn't slide down and captured her lips more aggressively. Katara returned it with just as much passion and the heat that she felt when they first lied together consumed her body three folds. His tongue entered her mouth and she moaned, bucking her hips against his length. Feeling it grow against her.

Zuko was rock hard on her thigh and she tried to restrain the shiver of her own strong arousal. They broke the kiss, a string of saliva between them, and worked on catching their breaths. Katara became dizzy, she could feel his body temperature rising. His heaving chest rubbing against her sensitive nipples, her moans turning to wanton cries when he moved his hand down between them to rub her throbbing clit with the tip of his index and middle finger. Katara could feel her wetness seep. All traces of shyness left Zuko's face as he slid his first two fingers teasingly over her folds causing her to buck wildly to get more friction. He grinned at her need for him.

"Tell me how you want it, Katara." Thick steam rose from the water, blocking the view of their surroundings. "Tell me how you want me to make you come."

His confidence in pleasing her was making her melt like wax and she bit her lip in order not to give into his teasing but the tip of his fingers played at her entrance and her mouth flew open. "I-I-" La, he was making this difficult on her but when she wouldn't respond in time, he removed his hand completely and she whined in disappointment. "I want you to-um..." she looked down at the soft curls between her legs and blushed, "taste me..." she begged quietly, digging her fingers into the back of his neck. Zuko caught on, humming in acknowledgement.

The dragon-god smirked as he let her go, allowing her to slip back into water and he sunk down low enough so that he was facing her stomach. He glanced up at her, watching her expression of need overtake her lovely face. He growled deep from his chest thinking about the way she sounded when she begged him to eat her.

He lifted her by the waist and up out of the water. She yelped as he raised her above him and he told her to place her thighs on his shoulders. She did so, heels on his back, feeling his hot breath on her nub. Zuko moved backwards until he was at the edge of the pool and dipped down low in the water until it reached his shoulders. Katara placed her hands on the edge and braced herself for whatever he planned on doing next.

Her legs spasmed at the feel of his wet tongue dragging one large lick with the flat of it from her folds all the way to her clit. Teasing short strokes played with her knob. His thin lips nibbled, sucked and kissed playfully. "Zuko." She moaned, gripping the edge tight until her knuckles went white. "Please…"

He released her, giving her a sly smile, "You taste so good, Katara. I'm not sure I'm ready to let you come yet."

"Zuko!" she whined in protest. "I need yo-you to…ah!"

He gripped her ass cheeks with both hands. "You want more?"

"Yes! Fuck! Give me more. Please!" she couldn't stand the teasing any longer. He would bring her to her peak only to stop before she could reach the edge. Katara tilted her hips up to encourage him to continue and he obliged with urgency, licking and sucking her so loud it echoed on the walls of the cave. But she still wasn't close.

"Touch yourself." He commanded before continuing to feast on her, adjusting her hips slightly to slide his tongue in her folds, her fluids dripping down his chin. Katara's hand quickly made way to her overwhelmingly sensitive nub and aggressively started to run her fingers over it. The combination of his mouth and her hand had her on sensory overload and at this point she knew she wasn't going to last long. Her world spun and her mind went numb of any thoughts except the way he was making her toes curl.

He stopped when he knew she was close. "Finish while I watch." he told her. He licked his lips of her wetness and Katara almost came from the sight alone. Her face flushed with the idea of him seeing her touch herself in such a perverted position but she was too consumed in their lustful affair to allow herself not to reach orgasm. So, she slid her fingers from her clit to her folds and she gasped at what a wet mess he made of her. She looked away so she wouldn't have to see him watching her.

Look at me, Katara. He spoke softly, I want to see your face as you bring yourself to pleasure.

Katara looked down, his eyes scanning her face as her brows knitted and her mouth opened to release her cries. Wave after wave of heat ran up her body and she squirmed, rolling her hips to ride out her orgasm. Zuko snatched her wrist, removing her hand from between her legs, and brought her fingers to his mouth, sucking every bit of her essence until there was not a trace.

Katara had no time to recover. Before she knew it, he had her out of the water, through the cave and around the waterfall, leading her back through the passageways to her bedroom and pushed the wooden door open. Nevermind that they were still naked. Zuko had her pressed against wall, prying Katara's open mouth with his tongue so that she could receive him. He kissed her feverously and swallowed every moan that she gave him. She held him tight, squeezing her arms around his muscular torso, so that she could feel him as much as possible. His hands ran up and down her arms circling his thumb around her muscles.

Zuko's touch had her in a daze and her knees buckled causing her to collapse on the floor. The dragon-god gathered her up, placing her on the bed and gave several soft kisses to her lips. Suddenly the air went from possessive to gentle. Katara opened her legs to him and he lied on top of her, careful not to put his full weight on her.

He kissed the area where her neck and shoulder met and Katara whimpered at how sweet he was being. Running his fingers through her hair, brushing her earlobe with his lips and kissing her forehead lovingly. The waterbender closed her eyes as he traced every part of her, slowly running his hands and fingers up her thighs, hips and sides. Telling her how he didn't want her to leave. How he would do anything to make her happy during their time together and promising that he would make love to her over and over until she begged him to stop.

Every ounce of Katara was hungry for him. His awful attitude from yesterday made her consider leaving him for good but when he touched her liked this, when he kissed her like this, when he spoke to her like she was the very thing that was holding him together, she couldn't help but submit to him.

"Tell me you'll stay." He begged, thrusting his hip forward causing Katara to hiss. "Stay?"

"Yes…" she moaned, roaming her fingers through his hair, pulling his head down to crush her lips against his, "I'll stay, Zuko." She whispered. Katara's mouth gasped puffs of hot air as Zuko guided his cock into her entrance.

Zuko winced from feeling the mixture of her juices and his saliva. "You're so tight, Katara." He bit his lip as he reached as deep into her hot core as he could. He fit perfectly inside her. Katara loved the way he opened her up. "So…so…tight." The dragon-god's knees shook. He held still inside her, afraid that he might come soon. How could she feel this damn good?

Zuko jerked when Katara made the first move and arched her back as she lifted her hips, wrapping her legs tight around his waist. He took a deep breath, joining her as they collided, eliciting moans from one another. Their strokes were slow, powerful. They opened themselves to one another, allowing their bond to increase. Taking them to such new highs, all they could think about was each other and how their very souls seemed to have merged into a depth of heat and passion.

"Your mine. You belong to me." Zuko growled between clenched teeth, his movements increasing. "Tell me your mine, Katara."

"I'm yours!" she cried, gripping the sheets above her head, hair sprawled, the fabric being pulled from the corners of the mattress due to the movements of their love making. "I belong to you, Zuko, I…I-" the second time she let go, she saw white behind her eyelids, and the heat that built up in her stomach, pooled out of her walls and onto Zuko's member. He bit his bottom lip 'til it bled.

He removed himself, lying on his back. "Ride me." He said. She flipped over, swinging her leg over to straddle him. "The other way." He commanded. Katara blushed but did as she was told and faced away from him, sliding down his length and circled her hips just so, that it made him stiffen even more inside her. Watching his waterbender gyrate against him made Zuko think how much he never wanted this to end. Her long, wavy hair swung side to side as she moved, sweat glistening down her back, and her wanton sounds made his heart beat fast against his chest. This was more than the bond, more than sex and Zuko couldn't place how he was truly feeling for her.

"Come here." He stopped her, lying her down so that her back was pressed against his chest and he opened her legs wide with his hands from under her knees and thrusted upward. Her loud moans turned into screams. Zuko couldn't take it anymore and with that he thrusted once more before he released his seed deep inside her. Katara meeting him as she climaxed at the same time.

Zuko turned them to their sides, still inside her and held her tight. He hummed as she stroked the tips of her fingers in his open palm. They stayed silent, relaxed in each other presence. The afterglow lasted longer than usual.

They noticed it was getting dark and Zuko closed his eyes. Flames ignited on the candles in the room.

"I think I like you, Zuko." Katara admitted, her voice raspy from their intensive love making. He responded by reaching over to kiss her temple and stopped her hand from stroking his palm so he could hold it.

"I think-" Zuko started but he was interrupted by the sound of a stomach growling and Katara brought her knees to her chest in order to hide her embarrassment. She forgot she hadn't eaten all day.

Zuko chuckled. "I think we need to find you some food." He got up to get them both something to wear from the dresser then led her out of the room, lacing his fingers with hers.