Zuko POV

We left the small island the day after we returned from our trip. Being so close to the communication tower Katara and I broke into was a safety hazard, so I suggested my family beach house on Ember Island. It was remote, safe, and best of all, had bedrooms. Sokka was on board immediately.

Katara was still reeling from our mission, but she was warming up slightly. For breakfast, she gave me my bowl of porridge first, and for the brief moment our hands touched, it felt like sparks were flying between us… because they were.

"Sorry," I grimaced with a beet-red face. "Just really hungry…" I finished lamely.

She shrugged it off and continued to pass around food.

Next to me, Toph chuckled despite being a notorious morning grouch. "Try not to catch us all on fire, Sparky. You'll turn the beach to glass once we get to Ember Island."

I gulped and tried to still my racing heartbeat. The beach, swimsuits, Katara on the beach in a swimsuit. I really might catch the beach on fire.

Toph chuckled again at my failure and punched me in the arm sending my spoonful of porridge to the ground.

"I'm rooting for you Sparky," She whispered.

Arriving at Ember Island, Sokka was first to jump onto the sand and race into the beach house, Suki in tow.

"Dibs on the first room!" He yelled, leaving the rest of us to unpack.

"I don't know how Suki can even walk anymore," Toph tossed another sack onto the sand. "Don't you Water Tribe people ever rest!?" She yelled to the backs of the happy couple racing up the stairs.

"Try being a firebender," my intrusive thought slipped through my teeth before I could catch it.

I froze for a moment and against my better judgment caught Katara's eyes as she slung her sack over her shoulder.

"I don't know how the firebenders get down, but I doubt you'd be able to keep up with my kind." She smirked and tilted her head in my direction, slightly arching her brow.

She's in a joking mood today. "Well," I begin taking a step towards her, crossing my arms. "I don't know how your kind gets down, but my kind is legendary for our abilities to stoke our partner's fire."

"Is that so?" She takes an equal step toward me and places a hand on her hip. "Well, your fire doesn't stand a chance against the waves of pleasure only my kind can create."

"I haven't had any complaints," I commented.

"Me neither," she quickly responded, then blushed. I guess I wasn't supposed to know that.

I bit back my jealousy and opted for teasing instead. "Katara the saint is not so much a saint after all," I mused. "Who was the lucky guy? Or guys? Or maybe, lady?"

She swung her sack so that it connected with my shoulder and I let out a small laugh. It's good to know that I can still rile her up. Toph and Aang quickly scurried to the house.

"None of your business," she grits.

"Was it Haru?"

"What?" Her face screwed up in slight disgust. "No, not my type."

Thank, Agni. "Okay, Jet then. I don't blame you, the guy was troubled but he seemed to have some Fire Nation traits." I joked.

She huffed and shoved my arm again, "I'm not talking to you about this, Zuko."

"Hmm, what was it? The straw in his teeth or the bushy hair? No, I bet it was the hook swords and the oh-so-emotionally scarred part of his personality." Katara was beet-red and practically summoning storm clouds with the look of rage she had. Still, I persisted. "Agni, throw a scar on the kid and make him Fire Nation, he was practically me."

Katara shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she opened them she was calm, but the look in her eyes divulged a sinful memory that I immediately wanted to replace with my own. She released her bottom lip from her teeth and with a silk voice said, "Oh, but he wasn't Fire Nation at all, Zuko. And he stoked my fire just fine."

I was glued to the sand at her demure expression which she quickly fixed to indifference. She patted my shoulder and with a smug smile turned to follow Toph and Aang into the house. I cleared my throat and quickly caught up to her. I pulled her sack strap from behind her and she spun into my chest with a gasp. I pressed her into me with my other hand and her wide eyes blinked into mine. I let my thumb soothe the small of her back before I leaned into her ear.

"He may not be Fire Nation," the depth of my voice was almost foreign. "But you don't know what you're missing."

I released her waist and effortlessly slipped her sack off of her shoulder and onto mine. "Where's your room?"

Katara leveled her deep breathing and glanced at the sack before meeting my eyes. She knows I'm not giving it back. She began to march up the stairs and I heard a few indistinct "fire-bending fiend," "could've carried," and "nothing like Jet." Oh, I'll prove that.

We walked through the house and everyone was gathered in the front room.

"Sweet spirits he's alive," Sokka sighed in relief. "They said you too got started out there and Aang still needs a master."

"What's up with you, Sweetness?" Toph asked as Katara stomped down the hall ignoring everyone.

"You're carrying Katara's bag?" Suki questioned with a suspicious arch in her brow.

Aang's face screwed in confusion and I leaned into the satisfaction with a smirk. "I am."

"I DIDN'T NEED HIS HELP!" Katara screeched down the hall as she turned into her choice of room. Of course, the Water Tribe Princess would choose the master. Sokka always chose the room closest to the food. I shrugged and followed her down the hall.

I ignored the pictures on the walls and the bite in my chest as old memories returned. My mother loved the trips we took to Ember Island. It's one of the only places she and my father got along and one of the only few times Azula and I played. We would put on reenactments of my mother's favorite play and she would always tell us we did better than the actual performance. Father made sure every time we came the local theatre performed it. It was one of the few acts of kindness he showed her. I shook my head and turned into the master bedroom just as Katara finished shoving old photos into drawers.

"I figured you probably didn't want to see these," she looked away when our eyes met. "I did save one out for you though."

I tossed her sack onto the oversized bed and walked over to the small frame she left sitting on the desk. It was a portrait of my mother. She was poised and graceful with a small smile that made you wonder if it was a smile at all. Her illustrated eyes shone underneath the glass, and I missed her warm gaze more in that moment than I had in a while.

"What was her name?" Katara tenderly asked next to me.

"Ursa," her name heavily fell out of my mouth.

"She's beautiful," she placed a hand on my forearm holding the portrait that had begun to shake. "You favor her."

I shook my head and placed my mother back on the desk. "I've been told I looked more like my father, even with the scar."

"No, that's people's fear and anger talking," she said picking up the portrait again. "You favor her, especially right here."

She pointed at my mother's eyes.

I let out a shaky breath and went to sit at the edge of the bed. I dropped my head into my hands as I tried to control my emotions. Now was not the time to break down in my parent's old bedroom. There was a war outside and if I wanted to see my mother again we would have to win. We would have to be strong. I felt Katara put a hand on my back and begin to rub small circles.

"I know being here must be difficult for you," she started, "and it's okay to feel it. I can give you the master if you'd like… I just figured you didn't want it."

"I don't want it," I instantly responded.

"I'll consider my stay as borrowing it then since it will be yours one day," she tilted her head and offered me a small smile. "And I'll be here for you when that day comes too."

Hearing her support through the pounding in my ears helped me to collect myself. One day this beach house would be mine. My father would be gone. Dead. As much as we have been preparing for Aang to defeat the Fire Lord, it's easy to forget that though the world will lose a tyrant, Azula and I will lose a father. I may even lose my only chance at finding my mother, but when it comes to war and peace, personal desires may need to be sacrificed.

"Thank you," I earnestly told her. "Even I forget my role sometimes."

I stood from the bed and picked my sack off the ground before beginning to head to the door.

"Heavy is the crown," she responded. "At least you'll have plenty of women lined up to stoke your fire after the war." She joked. "Maybe even Mai?"

I turned in the doorframe and let my eyes run rampant over Katara's body with no attempt to hide it. She was standing in my one-day-to-be master bedroom, casually leaning against the bedpost with her hip jutted out turning her Fire Nation skirt into a red sea that hung off her waist. Katara in red was a sight I hoped to see even after the war. The corner of her plump lips was perked up, and her lids hung low over her eyes to look at me. The roundness of her breasts fought to be contained in the strained knot of her top. Her legs crossed with a chastity that I now knew was not there. She was the image of temptation, and I wanted to learn from her what the waves of pleasure of her kind entailed.

I dragged my eyes back to hers once she realized I was letting my eyes linger.

"No, she's not my type," and I casually walked across the hall to my room.

We were about a month out from Sozin's comet when we arrived at Ember Island. The majority of my time was spent training Aang. Katara was usually always in the audience breathing heavily with a faraway gaze on her perfect face. Her presence made my fire stronger, and so was Aang's. She must be waiting to break his heart after the war. An element dysfunctional Avatar would be detrimental to the war effort. We couldn't afford heartbreak.

When I wasn't training Aang I was teasing Katara. I'd rile her up with little jabs and quips that had no strength behind them, but she met the challenge every time. Old habits die hard, or maybe it's something else. I made sure when I walked past her to rest my hand on her back with a little extra heat. When I showered, I let the towel dip dangerously low as I walked past her open bedroom door. I moaned into her cooking, and when it was time to go to bed after her and I's nightly tea sessions, I would always hug her close and whisper in her ear a sultry, "Sweet dreams, Water Bender." She shivered every time.

I was determined she'd be mine before the comet came. I couldn't chance dying without ever knowing what it'd be like to drown in her.

Two weeks in and Katara missed our nightly tea session. I shrugged it off and made a pot anyway, hoping to get as close as Katara did with the taste. Uncle would've been pleased with her brewing. Just as I poured myself a cup Suki and Toph sat across from me at the kitchen table. Suki looked shifty like she didn't truly want to be a part of this conversation, and Toph looked at me with determination. She may be blind, but she had a look as if she could see right through you.

"Would you guys like some tea?" I offered, easing my way through whatever attack Toph was about to drop on me.

"What are you doing with Sweetness, Sparky?" Toph barked. There goes ease.

"What do you mean?" Knowing Toph she'll just pick up my heartbeat. If they want answers they better ask direct questions.

"You and Katara seem to spend a lot of time with each other," Suki commented.

"We are all stuck in a house in hiding," I retorted letting my frustration bite through my words.

"Yes, but you two in particular seem to be getting," Suki dropped her voice and leaned over the table, "close."

I snorted and fought an eye roll. "Yeah, prolonged time together and a life-changing trip will do that for some peo-"

"Are you fucking Sweetness or not, Sparky?" Toph unceremoniously interjected.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," I stated then sipped my tea.

"Well, if you are chill the fuck out," Toph grumbled. "That big ass bed creaks like crazy."

I nearly choked on my tea, "Creaking?"

"They're not doing it," Suki stated.

"Spirits, Zuko what in Agni is taking you so long?" Toph kicked my leg under the table. "We could die any day now!"

"Keep your voice down!" I whispered. "Why do you two care?"

Toph and Suki looked at each other in a telepathic conversation I was not privy to, then shrugged. "No reason," they said in unison.

"Look, you like her, right?" Suki asked.

I ran a hand over my face in frustration. I was being confronted about my love life (and lack thereof) with a human lie detector and my best friend's girlfriend. Never mind the fact that Sokka would probably try to maim me for looking at his little sister in that way. Agni, did I look at her?

"Does Sokka know?" I responded.

Suki smiled and took my answer as a yes. "You know he's oblivious to the way men see her. He was threatening Haru for looking at her, but the truth is, Haru was looking at him," she laughed.

Oops, got that one wrong.

"Look, I don't know what you have to do with Sweetness, but you better do it fast before we're all cooked," Toph said.

I scratched the back of my head and chewed my lips thinking over her words. "I don't know if she feels the same," I admitted. "There's so much history."

"Well, you were a part of that history and you feel this way, right?" Suki asked.

I nodded sheepishly.

"She feels something," Toph said. "I don't fully speak heartbeat, but I know she feels something."

Toph quickly got up and went down the hall to her room, finished with the conversation.

"Good luck," Suki offered me before following her. They didn't even drink any tea.

I laid on my bed tossing and turning trying to get Toph and Suki's conversation out of my head. Truth is they were right, we could die any day without Sozin's comet, and there she was across the hall sleeping in that glorious bed all alone. Sweat accumulated on my forehead to accompany my overthinking among other things. We've reached the season of summer rain in the Fire Nation. As the rain fell outside, the air thickened with heat and moisture that couldn't be separated from the air you breathed. The room was full of it. I had foregone my shirt early and threw the covers back letting my leg hang over the side. Where was an airbender when you needed one? Better to settle for a glass of water.

I peeled my back off the mattress and went to the kitchen where Katara was gulping down cups of water like she was an inch away from dying of thirst. She was donned only in her wrappings, made shorter around her legs due to the heat, and her hair was piled high messily atop her head letting the curls fall into her face. She was flush and huffing while the heatwave rolled underneath her skin. The sight of her stoked my fire.

"Tui and La, how do you live here?" She gasped.

"Heat is a part of us, but I won't lie and say this weather is bearable. The rainy season gets me every time. Can you pass the water jug?"

Katara reluctantly slid the jug my way fighting against taking another gulp. She rubbed her hands over her face and bent the sweat from her body. "Gods you have to go to bed stripped just to get any decent sleep."

"You sleep naked?" Once again a pesky intrusive thought.

I watched her eyes widen and her mouth gaped a few times like a fish before she settled on her response, "I do what I must to be comfortable."

"Is that all you do?" I'm on a roll and I'm eyeing her over my glass. The heat is beginning to get to me in more ways than one.

She shivers despite the heat. "What do you mean?"

I place my glass on the table and walk towards her. "How do you make yourself," I tuck a loose curl into her bun. "Comfortable."

Katara's breath hitches then begins a heavy rise and fall. She looks up at me with that hooded gaze from the first day on the island. With unwavering eyes, she admits, "I'm never comfortable."

My eyes burn into hers and I subconsciously lick my lips. I feel the dragon in me begin to rise. "Are you at least satisfied?"

Katara's eyes flutter and her body involuntarily moves closer to mine, "I'm never satisfied."

Our lips met as thunder shook the beach house and lightning cracked along the sky. One of my hands snake into her hair and presses her mouth further into mine. She is the thirst that can't be quenched. The other hand grips, molds, and pinches at every inch of exposed skin and dances dangerously over her wraps. My mouth drops from hers to taste the span of skin from her neck to her chest. Katara throws her head back and clutches my shoulders pulling me to her. Her nails leave crescent moons in my skin and I relish at the pain. She arches her body towards mine and I scoop her legs up to wrap around my torso. At this angle, my mouth is level with her breasts and I can see her peaked nipples through her wraps. Against my better judgment, before I could give it a second thought, I bite.

"Oh!" Katara exclaimed nearly too loud and threw her hand over her mouth.

Still holding her, I dropped her back to eye level and pressed my mouth against her ear. "Shhhh, Water Bender. You'll get us caught."

Katara nodded drunkenly and I gently placed her back on the floor. We waited a moment to see if anyone would leave their room. The rain hopefully drowned out the sounds of our ministrations. After a year of longing for her, I had finally captured her. Her kisses burned like ice and her touch strained my muscles like a need to stretch over her. Her body against mine molded with every move we made. Two haves of the same whole made for each other. Despite our kind. The sounds she made were better than any royal symphony, I ached for a longer performance. I decided to leave the ball in her court. Silently we walked back to our rooms and at the end of the hall I turned to bid her goodnight.

I was nearly in my room when I heard her voice from the door. "Zuko," she huffed through the heavy rise and fall of her chest, as her eyes wildly roamed my body until she met mine again. "I'm still not satisfied."

With no hesitation, I followed her through her bedroom door and silently shut it behind me.