Same disclaimer as always.
ZZZ
"Hey, is Zuko single?"
Katara tensed and looked at the raven haired girl. "Last I heard he was."
"Do you like him? The two of you are always together."
"Oh, um, well, we just know each other really well, we're really close."
"But you aren't dating?"
"No, we aren't…dating."
The girl looked at Katara thoughtfully. "Mind if I ask him out?"
Katara plastered a smile on her face and nodded. "Of course not, I'm sure he'd like that."
"Thanks, Katara."
"No problem, Mai."
ZZ
When Katara parked her car at her apartment, Zuko was leaning against her apartment door, scowling. Katara got out of her car and grabbed her backpack.
"Hey," she called to him.
He nodded in her direction.
"What's wrong?"
"Mai asked me out today."
Katara tensed slightly, and then tried to smile. "Cool, she's hot."
Zuko clenched his fists. "She told me you told her to ask me out."
"I didn-"
"Why would you tell her to ask me out?"
"Zuko, I did-"
"You know, when we woke up on your couch this morning, I was worried you'd freak out on me. I mean, we essentially spent the whole night together, something we haven't done in years. But you were relatively cool about it. You didn't seem to think it was a big deal. And I thought, that maybe, just maybe, we would be able to reach a point of understanding where it wasn't weird between us anymore." He walked to her and grabbed her hands in his. "I thought that maybe we could get to a point where I could do something like this and it not cause you to panic and overthink something. I want, more than anything, for us to be able to be as close as we once were. And I want to be able to know that I am not holding you back. I want – "
But what Zuko wanted, Katara never found out. She had thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him so fiercely that Zuko was rocked back against Katara's apartment door. Zuko was temporarily stunned but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close to him as possible returning her kiss with equal passion. For several minutes they stayed like that, lips fighting for dominance, each trying to say as much as they possibly with their lips. When they pulled apart, gasping for air, Zuko placed his forehead against Katara's.
"I, I never told her to ask you out," Katara said breathlessly. "She asked me if I minded, and I said no."
"Stupid, stupid girl, why would you say that?"
"What was I supposed to say? No, you can't date him? I'm not dating him, but you still can't?"
"Anything would have been better than telling her you didn't mind. Do you realize how I felt? When she told me you told her to ask me out? I felt pathetic, and rejected, and ignored. Katara, I felt – "
And her lips were on his again.
"Stop that, stop that right now. I was trying to not be a jealous ex-girlfriend; I was trying to enable you to do what you want to do outside of us, whatever we are."
"I don't want to do something outside of us. How could you think that?" He swept a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I want you, and only you. I am trying so hard to do the right thing here. I am trying to set you free. I don't want to be the reason why you don't become the psychologist you've always dreamed of becoming. I almost prevented you from coming to Omashu, do you really think I want to be the reason you don't go to grad school?"
And once more, Katara was kissing him fiercely.
"You stupid, stupid boy," she snapped, turning his words back on him. "I want you. I chose you. Stop using that excuse of not wanting to hold me back. I never asked you to do that for me. What I do with my future is my choice, and if I choose to stay with you, that is my decision. Do you understand me?"
Zuko closed his eyes. "I am just trying to do right by you. I don't want you to ever regret choosing to stay with me. I don't want you to resent us."
"Zuko, if I have you, how can I resent us?"
"You've wanted to be a psychologist ever since your mother died. You've wanted to create a world where people struggling with depression can find solace. I don't want to detract from that. If I prevented you from realizing your dream, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
Katara grabbed Zuko's face in her hands. "I love you, Zuko of the Fire Nation. And I love that you want me to succeed and realize my dream. I love that you want me to reach my potential and that you are willing to do anything to get me there. But I need you to listen to me real closely. I will become a psychologist, no matter what the situation. I have been dreaming about this since I was little, and nothing, nothing will prevent me from that. You could never, ever, do anything that could keep me from that. And I know that you wouldn't try. You don't have to try and make sure that I reach that dream, you supporting me is more than enough. I just need you here, by my side. I need you to hold me when I'm stressed out; I need you to allow me to stay up late studying. I need you to accept the fact that I will talk nothing but psychology for days on end; I need you to kiss me when I get too distracted. I need you to love me, Zuko, not make me successful. I will take care of that part. You aren't holding me back; you're being there with me. That's what I need you to do. I don't need you to stay away from me. Do you understand? Do you get it now?"
Now it was Zuko's turn to shock Katara with a kiss. He spun them around, pushing her against her apartment door, and kissed her roughly and deeply. His right hand twisted in her hair and his left arm snaked around her waist. She groaned into his mouth when he pulled her lower lip in between his lips and chewed on it. Her scent fogged his head and made him dizzy, the feel of her body against his being the only thing keeping him grounded.
In between kisses he reached into her pocket and grabbed her keys, opening her door and pushing her inside her apartment, slamming the door behind them. He led them to her bedroom and they fell onto the bed entangled.
"I love you, Katara, and yes, I can do that. I can do this for you." And breathlessly he was kissing her again. She responded with no reservations, matching his strength and passion with her own.
ZZ
Several hours later they were lying on her bed underneath her blankets. Katara's head was on his chest and he was holding her hand in his, drawing patterns in her palm with his thumb.
"Zuko?"
"Hmm?"
"You want to be with me right?"
Zuko inhaled sharply and sat them up, facing her. "Do you even have to ask me that? After everything we just did?"
"I just want to make sure. I don't want to be holding you back."
Zuko pulled her into his arms. "You, my love, are my dream. This whole time, I've been trying to do the honorable thing for you. I can become an architect anywhere, but I want you to go to the best school possible. I will follow you."
"I don't need to go to the best school possible. I don't need you to follow me. I just need you to support me. We can go anywhere together. We can make these decisions together. But you will be and architect, and I will be a psychologist, and we will be together."
He reached down and linked their hands together. "Together."
She kissed his temple. "At last."
"Give me a minute," he said. He got up, wrapped a sheet around his waist and walked over to where his pants were. He pulled out a box with a ring inside of it. He returned to her and lifted the box.
"You've had it on you all this time?"
"I knew that one day I would be putting it back on your finger, Katara, I never gave up on us."
She closed the box. "I want to do this right, Zuko. I don't want us to rush, we have the rest of our lives. Let's just start with being together. No saying yes to Mai," she grinned.
"Oh, yeah, I should call her."
"What?!"
He chuckled and kissed her. "I'm kidding, Tara, I already said no. Now lay back down."
They curled around each other again, and fell asleep with their arms around each other, happy with their new decisions.