a/n Wow! I've gotten so many following and favorite-ing emails about the last chapter! I'M SO HAPPY! THANK YOU! I know it's been over 2 weeks since my last update and I'm sorry!
This chapter has more of a Teen-ish rating and it's a little more angst-y (from both Katara's and Zuko's POV). Oh yeah POV, I should probably tell you that this chapter also has the POV style like the last one, BUT we also get some Aang POV and the beginnings of some Taang (Toph x Aang).

Chapter 10 ~Understand~

-Katara-

Even though she wanted him so badly, she wanted him to be emotionally ready more. She didn't want to push herself onto him (quite literally) and then for him

to regret it. If he could wait, she could wait.

"No, I'm not ready." He whispered, shaking his head, "I'm sorry." Her eyes closed, but she nodded sadly. When she reopened her eyes, his anxious golden

eyes stared back at her.

"It's okay, I understand." She said hoping to dispel the concern in his eyes. It worked. His shoulders relaxed and she watched the worry lines on his face

disappear.

"I'm sorry." He said suddenly tense again. Maybe it didn't work as well as she'd hopped. Her lips flickered into a frown.

"Don't be." She breathed. Oh, did she want to kiss him now. His arms were still wrapped around her topless form, their faces just inches apart, but she held

back.

"Katara… I…" he stammered, "Agni…" he whispered in defeat and he kissed her. He kissed her. The kiss took her by surprise at first, but she quickly responded,

welcoming it. Her fingernails clawed through his hair, trying to pull him closer to her. She craved his closeness. He had quickly become everything to her. The

best part, she could tell he felt the same. Agni she thought I wonder if he changed his mind… But his hands remained restricted to her waist, keeping her close…

but she suspected it was mainly to avoid touching her exposed breasts.

"Zuko," she whispered into his mouth. He just moaned in response. "Zuko." She tried again, a little more urgently.

"What?" he asked. They pulled apart just enough for her to voice her thoughts. He stared intently into her eyes.

"Zuko," dang, this was harder than she thought it'd be, "You can… if you want to… um…" she glanced down at boobs, still squashed against his muscular torso.

"What? Oh. Oh!" he said, finally guessing her meaning. "It's just… I've never done this before… I wouldn't know what to do…" I was right she thought. She

pulled away from him just hard enough so he'd let her waist go, she picked up his hands in hers, and placed them on her breasts. He stared down at their

hands in shock.

It was a little awkward at first. She had to hold his hands there, but ever so slightly, she felt his fingers flex. Her breath caught, encouraged he

gripper her a little harder. She groaned and moved her hands away to loop around his neck, incidentally pushing herself into his hands even more. Now he

groaned. Either in a moment of bravery or by accident, his right hand tweaked her left nipple. The motion sent a jolt through her entire body.

"Agni!" she gasped in surprise. His hands instantly stilled and his head tilted up (away from her chest) to her face.

"Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?" he asked in a thick whisper.

"No, no, don't stop." She whined. She actually whined. His small, inexperienced motions were somehow more erotic than anything she (or her boobs) had ever

experienced before. And now he had stopped, denying her.

"Oh Katara," his voice was husky, full of desire. What do I do? She thought He obviously likes this (and I do too), but does he still want to withhold himself or…? It

was so confusing. She had to ask him.

"Zuko… are you… is this too much? Do you want to continue… because right now…" His face fell and he let go of her. No… please.

"You're right. You seem to be softening my resolve." His tone was rueful, but resolve washed over him, "But I still cannot bear the thought of hurting you." She

wasn't sure how he was doing it, switching from intensely passionate to suddenly pensive. In contrast, she could hardly string two words together. Her control

was slipping by the second, whereas his seemed stronger than ever. "We should probably go in." Agni, that's not what she really wanted.

"Probably." She snapped and moved away, scooped up her top, and refastened it. Without a look back, she angrily stomped back towards the Summer Palace.

-Zuko-

"Katara! Wait!" he called and ran up to her side. She had stopped just before she reached the tree line, turned to face him, and gave him a glare he didn't

understand. She was the one who had reminded him about his fear of burning her. In truth, he had gotten swept up in the moment and forgot. But he was

relieved that she had reminded him. It wasn't because he liked depriving himself, but he just could not hurt her again. The mere thought of it brought on a new

wave of self-loathing.

"What?" she spat. His eyes widened.

"It's not that I don't want to. I do. I'm actually desperate to, but… I could not live with myself if I hurt you…again." He hoped beyond anything that she

understood him. His eyes scanned her face, looking for any indication of acceptance. Thankfully, her face softened as she absorbed his words.

"Zuko," she said quietly with a sympathetic smile. He smiled in return, delighted that it seemed like she got where he was coming from. "I'm sorry." Or maybe

she didn't understand.

"Wait what?" his head jerked back in surprise.

"I'm sorry." She repeated calmly.

"Why?" This didn't make any sense. Was she sorry that she stopped them? Sorry that he couldn't control his fire? Sorry because she was through with him?

Sorry because she regretted what they'd done? He had to know. "Why, Katara?" he pressed again. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I rushed you and then stormed away." Relief flooded through him, but before he could reply, she went on, "Look Zuko, I love you. I've never told

anyone outside of my family that I've loved them before." Me too he thought. "I'm not sorry that I'm in love with you, if that's what you were thinking. And I'm

not sorry that you're a… that you've never done this before. It just makes everything seem much more special." She paused, "Sex doesn't have to be the

deciding factor of our new relationship… I guess what I'm trying to say is: I can wait for you to be ready." Her final words hung in the air as they stared at each

other. He savored her words. They were exactly what he needed to hear. It made him love her even more and wish even harder that he was capable of being

the guy she deserved. He didn't quite know how, but he was going to make sure she didn't have to wait too long. Maybe with some more meditation? He

thought. Whatever worked, he was going to find a way.

He was so lost in thought he didn't realize that he hadn't said anything aloud yet.

"Zuko?" Katara's voice cut through everything else and it snapped him back to the present.

"Yes! Sorry! I was just…" he paused. It was a lot harder to voice his feelings. "Thank you for understanding. It means so much to me." His fingers raked

through his hair, his mind trying to come up with words, "I will find a way for us to move forward, I promise." Her blue eyes sparkled as she smiled.

"You're welcome, Zuko." She held out her hand to him, "Let's go back in. We've stayed out so late it's getting early." Sure enough, he could feel the sun gaining

strength in the east, its light barely illuminating the sky, bringing with it more and more of his firebending power. Maybe during the dead of night I'll have better

control… he thought absentmindedly. He took her hand and followed her back into the Summer Palace.

-Katara-

"So…" she said, standing awkwardly with him outside his bedroom door. Even with the foot gap between them, she could feel his warmth.

"So…" he repeated. She smiled. "Would you like to come in?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Sure." He opened the door and ushered her in. His room was just as orderly as the last time she was in it, when she fetched him for their dual. Feels like a long

time ago she thought. The large bed still had a few wrinkles from him sitting (and dozing) on it. She heard the soft click that told her he had shut the door.

Zuko walked around to the far side of the bed, rolled back the covers a little, and flopped in.

"Do you want to join me?" he asked. She raised her eyebrows at him. Wasn't it just a second ago he was affirming that he wasn't ready? "For sleep," He clarified

his eyes wide. Figures. But she couldn't help her small smile. She undid her skirt/wrap so she now wore only her top and flow-y pants. Out of the corner of her

eye, she spotted his shirt on a hook by the door and moved to hang her skirt next to it. She turned back around to face him. He was sitting up, leaning against

the headboard watching her. Confidently, she walked to the bed. The covers felt delicious as she slid in. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he pulled her into his

arms and she nestled herself against him. He took a deep breath, his nose buried in her hair.

"I love you, Katara." He whispered softly. Oh how she loved to hear him say that.

"I love you too, Zuko." She could feel him smile in her hair and she smiled too before she drifted to sleep.

-Aang-

Aang's eyes sprung open. The smallest rays of light were filtering into his bedroom. Agni, why does it have to be so early? He yawned. As the fuzziness of sleep

slowly faded, he realized that Zuko wasn't pounding on his door ordering him to wake up and do firesquats or something. Ever since he and Zuko had begun

firebending training, Zuko insisted that Aang awaken with the sun, (some 'blah-blah-blah' about feeling the sun's energy/pull or whatever). So now, Aang had

a choice to make. He could either go back to sleep (which was really tempting) or go investigate Zuko's absence. While deciding, his mouth shifted back and

forth like a lop-eared rabbit. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him. So he quickly dressed in his Fire Nation clothes and left his room in search of Zuko.

The summer palace was strangely quiet. The occasional squeak of the floor made Aang cringe. He crept along the hallway to Zuko's room slowly and stealthily.

It wasn't often that anyone could catch Zuko asleep in the morning, so Aang wasn't going lose his element of surprise. Finally, he was almost at Zuko's door.

Aang tiptoed to the door and stretched out his right hand to open it.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you, Twinkle Toes." Somebody said. Aang jumped so high he almost hit his head on the ceiling. He whirled around to see Toph

casually leaning against the adjacent wall. Where'd she come from? He thought.

"Toph! What are you doing here?" Aang asked in a loud 'whisper.' Toph smiled and stifled a laugh.

"You don't even know how many times I've been asked that recently." She bit her lip and covered her mouth to try to stop her laughter from bubbling out. He

was instantly reminded of his vision from the swamp. He studied her for a moment. Her red clothes fitted nicely, but they seemed odd against her pale skin and

out of place somehow. However, the flowing green robes she had worn in his swamp vision also seemed out of place. The memory and his thoughts floored

him for a moment and he forgot about where he was.

"You're beautiful." He whispered. Toph's eyes widened and she gasped. She turned to race down the hallway, but she didn't get far before she tripped. He

rushed to her side and grabbed her arm to help her up.

"Agni, Toph! Are you alright?" He asked as he gently leaned her against the hallway. His face was now very close to hers and his right arm rested against the

wall too, partially trapping her.

"I'm fine." She spat angrily. Whoa. Why is she so mad? He thought. But even mad she is still beautiful…

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I just can't see well because of this stupid wooden palace!" She slammed her arms angrily into the wall.

"It's okay," his voice was calm, soothing. "About what I said back there…"

"If you want to take it back, I understand." She turned her face to the side, away from him. He was shocked at her response.

"No!" he said forcefully, shaking his head. Very gently, his left hand moved her head back towards him. He knew it didn't matter where she was 'looking,' but

he wanted to see her face. "I don't want to take it back. I…" words were failing him. "I…" he tried again, nothing. So he kissed her.

It was wonderful, different from kissing Katara, for sure. Toph seemed surprised at first (like Katara), but instantly countered with enthusiasm (unlike Katara).

His left hand still gently cupped her chin, so now he tipped it up a little to change the angle of the kiss. There was a soft creek and he sensed a flicker of

movement to his right. He broke off the kiss to turn his head and look. Zuko's door was opening and out stepped Zuko and Katara.

a/n Was it worth the wait? If you think "no" then leave me a review and tell me why. If you think "yes" then leave me a review and tell me why. I just love getting reviews from you! So if you'd please review, I'd be most grateful! Thank you!