Zuko's golden eyes open to see dark hair and pale skin before him. Izara had her back to him; he had an arm underneath her head and one over her waist. There was faint sunlight coming through the gaps in the curtains, and he could see the small scars on her skin. He was so furious with himself about letting her get taken. Izara had told him more precisely what had happened in their custody and confirmed that she was being vague about it for a reason. He had already put a hole in his bedroom wall after seeing the stab wound in her shoulder that Katara had healed up and smashed some furniture in his office. Though he had looked away for most of it, just for privacy's sake, he had seen a few flashes of skin, some mottled with red and purple bruises; others had blistered skin from burns. She'd shown him some of her scars last night, and he'd seen the evidence of the torture she'd gone through.
Zuko knew he couldn't go back to sleep now and carefully removed his arms from around her before sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. He had asked her to come to the Capital because he could see her potential and hated how her uncle mistreated her. It was his fault she'd been hurt. He hadn't done anything when the Supremacists took her. He could have commanded his men to help, to do something, anything to get her back. He could have gone there himself and killed them all to get her back. He should have burnt them to cinders for hurting her. Only he didn't.
The look in her eyes said, 'Trust me', and he knew he had to put his faith in her. However, he hated himself as he watched her get stabbed and have a blade held at her throat. He was surprised at how calm she appeared, but it was because she had a plan. Rarely did Izara do anything for no reason. Internally, he'd prepared to strike with lightning, hoping it would force the Supremacist to release her, and he began to adjust his stance, but Izara had noticed immediately. If it had come to that, he wasn't sure if he would have followed through out of fear of hitting her.
Afterwards, Kazan explained everything about her past and experiences, and Zuko knew she wanted to be captured. Partly to protect him, keep the attention on herself, and infiltrate by being taken directly to their base. Rationally, he understood why everything happened the way it did, but the part of him that wanted to protect her couldn't reconcile it.
Izara shifted, and he must have woken her by moving away. He heard her breathing change but stayed still, hoping she might stay asleep.
"Zuko," she spoke softly, almost in a whisper, and he straightened up before turning to look at her.
She smiled sleepily at him as she rolled over, and he moved to face her and lay back down. He smiled back in apology and took hold of one of her hands. Breathing deeply, he tried to relax so she would not see his frustration. It only took her a moment to see it, hidden poorly in his eyes and body language.
"What's wrong?"
"I... I'm just so angry with myself for letting them take you…and hurt you like that." he sat up and grumbled quietly.
"You did not let them take me. I let them." Izara grabbed his arm and tried to turn him toward her, but he resisted.
"But I didn't even try to stop them. I could have given the command or done it myself. I should have killed them for hurting you. I lead a whole country, and I didn't do anything to stop them."
"If you did, you would have ruined my plan. I… I am sorry, but I did use your emotions to make sure that they would take me hostage. Once you showed up, I knew that your reaction would force them to take me instead of killing me… I apologise. I should not have used your feelings like that, and I'll always feel bad for it. Even though it took the focus off you." She lowered her eyes so she didn't have to look at him, and he knew she was ashamed of her manipulation.
"So, you're saying that because of my reaction, they would know you are important and keep you alive?"
"I guessed that they might use me as a bargaining chip to force you into a bad situation." she held his gaze, but he could see she wasn't proud of her plan. "Are you angry with me?"
At the sound of her question, his eyes widened, and he moved to lean on his elbow and shook his head.
"No, of course not. I completely understand. You put your duty to protect me before your own safety. I just feel like an idiot. I shouldn't allow my emotions to get in the way like that." He ran his hand through his long, dark hair, which fell over his shoulders and pooled on the bed.
"I was counting on it. I needed to be a more attractive target. You are not at fault here. It was all my design. Again, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for making you worry."
Her rationale was slightly worrying. The fact that Izara could hope that his pain at seeing her taken would ensure that she would be in danger concerned him. He knew she was doing it to ensure his safety, and he desperately hoped her recklessness ended there. Izara explained that her actions made her a bigger target than the Supremacists trying to capture him. He looked into her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking about how much he cared about her. It pained him to see her so injured and broken. He ran a thumb over the spot on her jaw that had been horribly bruised when she'd first returned, and she didn't pull away.
"I know that you had your reasons, but I wish you could have told me first." His voice was soft.
"Zuko, you aren't the best liar," she smirked faintly. "You're honest to a fault. They probably wouldn't have believed it if I told you my plan first. Even though I came up with it on the spot." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you were in the bunker."
He laughed softly, knowing that she was right on both points. He wasn't a terrific liar or actor, but he went against what he was supposed to and came out of the bunker.
"You are right...just promise me you won't endanger yourself like that again. It killed me seeing them take you, seeing you covered in blood and bruises. These scars. I never want to see you hurt again." He ran his pointer finger along the raised skin on her arm.
She smiled and nodded in agreement. Zuko had planned to finish some work today, even though they were supposed to take it easy. There was no way he would leave her side for the whole day, and he deserved a day off once in a while. He may as well take it today and spend time with the woman he had fallen for. Since she knew how he felt, he intended to keep her within arm's reach all day.
"What do you want to do today?" He asked as he got up, his bladder forcing him to let her go.
While he waited for her answer, he enjoyed the feeling of her eyes on him. He wouldn't complain that she was checking him out. It made him feel good about himself. Judging by her lack of answer and focused gaze, she liked the view. He smirked roguishly at her, wanting to encourage her attention as much as possible. To play it safe, he wanted to let her set the pace for most of their physical interactions, but he was happy to entice her.
"Hmm?" She asked, having likely forgotten the question.
"What do you want to do today?" he repeated, leaning over the bed towards her and pushing some hair behind her ear.
"Haven't I been ordered to do nothing? So...nothing." She replied with a smile, leaning into his touch.
"Good girl," Zuko laughed and headed off to the bathroom.
After he relieved himself, he quickly ran a comb through his long hair, wanting to look his best for her even though they'd just woken up. Izara did the same, heading into the bathroom when he came out. He thought it would be a good idea to head downstairs and cook them some breakfast. Strolling downstairs, he vaguely recalled that Sha'Zu would deliver some food for them today and wondered if it was there already. He poked his head out the front door and saw a small basket with fresh produce, so he brought it inside. Once he unpacked it, he began preparing some ingredients to start cooking. He planned to make a traditional Fire Nation breakfast; a small bowl of rice and fireflake soup with grilled fish.
Izara appeared in his peripheral vision, always approaching silently. She made sure not to startle him, making her movements more prominent. When she smiled at him, he smiled at her before his gaze dropped from her face to the rest of her. Last night, he hadn't noticed the pyjamas she wore, even though they'd shared scars and their stories. But his focus was drawn to it in the light of the day and with her looking slightly drowsy since they'd just woken up. Her pyjamas were just an oversized shirt that came down to her thighs. Her hair was in a bun while tussled, and strands were falling out, and she was gazing at him with warmth in her golden eyes.
She came over to join him in the kitchen, and he vaguely acknowledged that he was blatantly staring at her. He licked his lips while he watched her walking towards him, her hips swaying as she moved.
"Hey." Her simple greeting distracted him, but he kept staring and smiled.
"Hey." Lifting one arm to ask her for a hug, she happily wrapped her arms around his waist while he measured rice for them.
They worked together to cook breakfast, and there was plenty of affection throughout from Zuko and Izara. Izara would stay close enough for them to brush arms when they passed ingredients to each other, and Zuko would put his hand on the small of her back to indicate that he was behind her. Once the rice was cooking and the soup was simmering, Zuko was far too tempted by Izara to focus on prepping the meat. She leaned her back against the counter beside him and offered him a bright smile.
Moving to stand in front of her, he smiled cheekily and leaned down as if he were going to kiss her but held back just a few inches from her. She looked up at him through her lashes with anticipation. When he stayed put, she raised an eyebrow in question before lifting her arms and wrapping them around his neck to encourage him.
Finally, he closed the gap between them, kissing her softly as he put his hands on her waist, feeling the curve of her breasts against his chest. He smiled against her lips, incredibly happy. His grip on her tightened as he enjoyed the moment, and Izara did the same. The intensity rose, the kiss deepened, and Zuko ran his tongue along Izara's seductively. As she sighed softly in response, Zuko's hunger for her increased, and he was struggling to resist his urge to ravish her in the kitchen. The heat between them continued to grow, and he moved one of his hands from her waist up to tangle in her hair. Izara raised her leg against his own, and he dropped the hand on her waist to move it to her thigh, grasping the muscle. She hooked her foot behind his leg, keeping him close and nudging his hips towards her own.
Hissing in a struggle to hold back, Zuko briefly pulled away from their kiss. She blinked at him and tilted her head to one side in confusion. When her brow knit together in disappointment, he chose to continue with his seduction. He pushed some hair behind her ear and cupped her jaw, then used his thumb to lean her head to one side, and he kissed across her jaw and down her neck with relish, loving the sound of her heaving breath. The hint of a moan in her exhales was threatening to drive him mad, and he felt the twitching in his pants as the blood rushed between his legs. Although he was surprised at the sudden passionate interlude, Zuko felt incredible when Izara reciprocated so enthusiastically. He didn't want to deny the chance to sleep with her, but he didn't want to rush things between them since their official change in relationship was so recent. They had been flirting back and forth for the last few months, but this was quite an abrupt acceleration.
Doing his best to sober himself from being drunk on Izara, he pulled his mouth off her skin and rested his forehead on her shoulder.
"Zuko?" She checked on him, her voice slightly breathless from their actions.
"We should..." He couldn't quite bring himself to say the word 'stop' since he didn't want to.
"We should?" She asked, unsure what he wanted to say, but she hadn't released her grip on him.
Zuko lifted his head to look at her before he spoke. "I don't want to rush."
"I understand. Whenever you're ready." Izara said with surprising clarity in her voice.
"No, it's up to you." He wanted to reinforce that she was in charge of the pace of their sexual activities since he had spent plenty of time lusting after her already.
Her eyes opened wider, and her lips pursed suspiciously. Zuko huffed in amusement in reaction, wondering if she wanted to stop by the look on her face. If he was guessing, her expression suggested she wanted him just as much as he wanted her and wasn't too worried about rushing. Regardless, he thought it best to stop now and get something to eat. Even though desire had taken over as the primary instinct in his body, hunger would eventually win out.
"Later?" She asked him hopefully.
Zuko nodded, and they reluctantly separated and returned to cooking. The rice was definitely ready by now since their distraction had been relatively long, and the soup had simmered for long enough. Zuko cooked the cuts of fish for them, and Izara helped serve everything. They ate together and chatted about random things, avoiding the topic of their earlier escapade.
Once they'd eaten, Izara offered to clean up so that he could get some work done, and he agreed out of necessity. Although Zuko had hoped he would be too busy helping Izara through her healing process that he wouldn't get any work done, it was a good idea that he'd brought it along. He'd had more time to think over some problematic things and was hopefully making more informed and patient decisions.
Zuko headed to the coffee table where he'd set up his paperwork and put his head down to get to work...
