Zuko

I can't let it keep going once we get to Ba Sing Se. I shouldn't let it happen now. But once we crossed that bridge again, once I kissed her again, I couldn't make it stop. Keeping her at arms length would be torture when she's so close and I know she wants me, too. But It's going to hurt so bad when we part ways. And even worse if and when we have to fight again.

But that's a problem for the future. This is our last night together, and I'm going to enjoy it. It may be a long time before I'm ever able to enjoy something like this again, if I ever do.

There's not a future with Katara. When I get home, which I will, nothing would be possible. She'd never defect to the Fire Nation, and even if she did, as the Prince I'd never be allowed to have a relationship with someone from the Water Tribe. It doesn't matter that her kindness, selflessness, and passion would make her an incredible Fire Lady. The Fire Sages would never approve the marriage.

But even though I know all of that, I can't help but forget all of that with her so close. My world stops when I kiss her. When she falls asleep next to me, nestled into my chest, she spreads warmth through my whole body and I feel more protective of her than I have of anything in my life. I can't think about the fact that tomorrow we're going our separate ways, her with the Avatar and me back to hunting him. And that means I'll have to fight her again, maybe even hurt her. And I'm not sure I can do that now, but I'll have to find it in me. I may have grown to care about Katara, but nothing can get in the way of me going home. Which is why I have to leave. Katara always wakes up after me, so I'm just going to have to slip out before she's awake.

She's been quiet today. I know she's thinking of how to get me to abandon my quest, but she's respecting the fact I told her not to bring it up. I smile softly at her, trying to remember her features in as much detail as I can. She's sweaty, covered in dust, and sunburned. But even so she's still beautiful. She deserves better than this, though.

I close my eyes and picture her like she was aboard my ship after the lightning. Bathed, healthy and rested. Her tan skin glowed in the red and blue silks. I want to give her that and more. I want her with me, bathed in luxury, and this time by choice and not as a prisoner. Why can't I get that impossible dream out of my head?

Thunder Claps overhead, and some heavy raindrops start falling. I'm so glad Katara's here; it's been raining almost non stop for the whole journey. If she wasn't a waterbender, our feet would be rotting from constantly being soaked.

"Guess it's time to set up shelter." I say and shrug off my pack. We honestly could keep going for a while, but it's my last night with her. I want it to last as long as it can.

"Are you sure? It's just rain." She says.

"I'm sure. I'm more tired than usual, and it'll be sundown soon anyways."

"Okay." She says, and closes her eyes, stretching her arms towards the ground.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"Feeling the water pathways. I'm trying to see if there's somewhere nearby that's dry. I don't want to spend the night having to dry the ground constantly again, it's annoying." She says. A moment later her eyes open and she smiles. "Follow me!" She says, and takes off running through the rain, which is getting heavier by the second.

"Where are we going?!" I yell as another clap of thunder booms.

"You'll see!" She yells back as she runs across the green field. Up ahead I see a rock formation, and Katara ducks under one of them and slips inside.

A cave.

I slip in after her and Katara bends us dry. I immediately light a fist size flame in my hand, and with the little sunlight breaking through the storm clouds outside it's enough for us to see. Katara grins at me.

"Come on, Fire Prince. Let's go in a little farther."

"Why are you grinning like that, Water Princess?"

"Come on, Zuko. Just trust me. And close your eyes. It's a surprise." I stare at her a moment before sighing and doing as she asks. She weaves her fingers with mine, and I follow as she pulls my arm. I follow her for a bit, tripping several times along the way. She's not a very good guide. But finally we stop, and she kisses me lightly, grabbing my other hand, which makes me put my flame out. "Okay. Don't relight the fire. Open your eyes." I hear her smile, and do as she says. My eyes widen in surprise.

The walls and the ceiling of the cave are covered with beautiful glowing crystals, giving enough light for me to see Katara beaming in front of me. What's more, I see a round pool of glowing blue water.

"Toph taught me how to use my bending as an extension of my senses. I can't do it like she does, of course, unless water is covering everything around me, like it does when it rains. I found the cave, and when we came inside I sensed the hot spring. And on the cave wall I saw the crystals. I was in a cave that had similar ones before. It's so beautiful, isn't it?"

I smile at her.

"It is. But not as beautiful as you." In the faint light I can see her blush. Spirits how am I leaving her tonight? I don't know, but I am. And right now, I want everything, every last part of her. I want to be a part of her, I want to feel every inch of her soft skin and touch places no one else has yet. I want to hear her moan and whimper and scream as I give her pleasure that overwhelms her.

But I can't.

Not only would it seal the deal on this being treason for both of us, if I have sex with her now I'll never be able to leave. Besides that, I know enough about the water tribe to know because of something with the moon and ocean spirits, they're supposed to stay Virgins until marriage. Not everyone keeps that, but I'm willing to bet Katara does. I can't take that from her.

"Zuko?" She says, snapping me back to the present. I notice she's fingering the hem of her dress on the side. "Do you want to get in?" My heart stops. Thanks to her bending, we've been able to easily bathe and keep our clothes dry without undressing. She simply jets us with soapy water and bends us dry. Not pleasant exactly, but easy. And because of this, I've never seen her out of her dress.

I feel my face flush and I hope it isn't noticeable in the darkness.

"Because I'm getting in." She says softly, then turns around and pulls her dress over her head as she walks, and casts it to the side. Underneath her tan skin glows against the white wraps over her breasts, and the white skirt that goes barely halfway down her thighs.

I stifle a groan of frustration as I feel myself get stiff and hard in seconds. I was trying not to think about having sex with her before, but she just made it impossible, especially as she sighs when she slips into the hot water. I want to be the one making her sigh.

She looks over at me, and I can see the shy flush in her features, illuminated by the crystals.

"Zuko, I'll enjoy this alone if I have to, but I'd rather do it with you. It's our last night alone, after all."

Last night alone. She's still hoping we're not parting ways tomorrow. That solidifies the decision, I'm leaving while she sleeps. But I'm for sure enjoying tonight. Let's just hope I don't enjoy it too much.

Katara smiles brighter as I strip down to my underwear and slide into the pool with her. she swims over and wraps her arms around my neck, and I pull her into a kiss. She maneuvers in the water and straddles my waist before I can stop her. She gasps and her eyes widen when she feels my erection, and we both freeze for a second. I've had plenty of erections over the course of us traveling together, but so far I've been able to avoid letting her feel it. But she just feels so damn good on top of me like this, I don't want her to move. So I wait a second longer to give her a chance to move if she wants to, and when she doesn't, I tangle my fingers in the back of her hair and kiss her again, deeper this time. I suck on her lower lip and gently bite it, then let my tongue meld with hers before exploring the rest of her mouth. She gasps and groans at the intensity of it, then does the last thing I expect her to do. She wraps her legs around my waist, and rocks her hips against me.

"Katara!" I get out, but I can't manage to ask her to stop. It feels way too damn good. And as sheltered as she is based on where she's from, I don't think she really knows what she's doing to me, just that it feels good. So, I let her keep going, and kiss her neck as I do, making her moan.

I get a stupid thought in my head, one I try to ignore. I want her neck covered in marks from my mouth. I know I should avoid leaving any marks on her skin because I just honestly shouldn't want to put her in an awkward place when she reunites with her group, but right now I want to mark her neck so people see she's taken, that she's mine. But she's not either one of those! It makes me let out a frustrated growl, but I move my mouth from her neck before I can make it bruise and lock her in another kiss.

Katara starts combing her fingers through my hair as she continues to rock her hips, building energy in me that has to get out. Without thinking, I put my hands on her waist and push her even faster.

"K-Katara!" I yell, and she throws her head back and laughs as I keep pushing her hips against me.

Shit, I'm going to come in my pants.

"Spirits that feels amazing!" She breathes. I clench my teeth together as her words send another rush through me. I love making her feel good.

Just a few more seconds.

My body shudders and I pull her mouth to mine again and swallow my scream. After a few seconds, I pull back, panting for breath.

"Woah, are you okay? What just happened?" She giggles.

I was right. She doesn't know.

"Nothing you need to worry about." I tell her as I steady my breathing, squeezing her thighs as I lift her off my lap, kiss her forehead, and pull her close into my side.

I have to leave I have to leave I have to leave.

I thought it felt impossible before. But now I'm actually not sure I'll be able to.

Damn it! That was so good that just happened isn't a parting memory, it just makes me want to stay! Why does she have to help the Avatar? Why does she have to be from the water tribe? Why couldn't she be a Fire Nation noblewoman waiting for me to come home to her?

It doesn't matter. Why can't I get my head around that? I have to leave tonight.

"I love the hot water." Katara tells me, nestling closer and stroking my hair. "It was a long time before I learned to manipulate temperature so I grew up with cold baths. These are so nice."

"You grew up without hot water?" I ask, baffled.

"Yeah. Unless we boiled it. But that took forever and Didn't last long."

I channel my bending and heat the water around us more, Katara gasping as it reaches hot but not burning, then sighs and giggles as she slides into the water.

"Why Didn't I think of that? Zuko, this is perfect!" She nestled close to my side again and I kiss her hairline.

"You're Perfect." I whisper. She lets out a cute little hmmmm.

"You said you've been in a cave like this before?" I ask, worried my thoughts will spin too much if I let it be silent.

"Yeah. We had to travel through a cave system under a mountain to get to Omashu with a band of singing nomads. Believe me, I'm happy to replace the memory of that with the memory of you."

"Were the songs that bad?" I laugh. She shakes her head, and in the dim light I see her blush again.

"No, Aang and I got separated from the main group."

"Oh. Then what was so bad?" I ask. Her blush gets deeper, and her body more stiff and fidgety. She's silent for a long moment, before she finally whispers.

"Aang and I kissed."

4 words. That's all she said. But Jealousy and Anger explode in my body and it's all I can do to sit still and be quiet.

"You kissed him?" I force out in a whisper. It's not like I can feel betrayed. Even now, we're only sort of together, and we for sure weren't any time she was with her group.

"Yeah. It was a mistake. Aang…I've figured he's had feelings for me since the first day we met. He's a cute kid but he's still…well, a kid." My body calms down a little, hearing she doesn't see him that way. But then why did she kiss him at all?

"So then why did you kiss him? " I ask, and I feel her body temperature rise with yet another flush.

"Well, we were alone, and in the cave I read the story of Oma and Shu, the two lovers who the city was named for. The story was tragic, the two were forbidden from each other because of warring villages. They snuck out to meet in the caves. In the end, they both died, but it brought peace to their villages. I just…reading the story, I wanted to be held. For someone to love me like that. Aang was there. Besides, I was also trying to get rid of another memory."

"What memory would that be?"

"I don't know if I want to tell you."

"Okay, then don't." I tell her, knowing she will anyways. Katara has a hard time keeping things on her mind to herself.

"It's just…After I got off your ship, we ran into this rebel group in Fire Nation territory. We left as soon as we found out they were targeting civilians as well as military, but before we knew that I got close to their leader. He had been the last person to kiss me, and after I found out how horrible he was, I Didn't want him to be the last person I had kissed. And, Aang was…there."

"I see." I say, trying to reign in my frustration. Two people she's kissed other than me. I don't know why it's tearing me up, I don't own her, and I've known the entire time we've been together it's going to end. but it still hurts. And it still makes me angry.

"Zuko, look at me." She says, and I grind my teeth but turn towards her. The second I see her shyly smiling, hair floating in the water, tan skin glowing in the crystal light, I soften. Something about even just looking at her calms everything in me down. "Zuko. Want reason I was even with that Jerk?"

"I'm not particularly fond of picturing you with anyone else, Katara. Let alone why." I growl, making her laugh. She scoots closer and softly kisses my mouth.

"I was trying to forget about you." She says in a low voice. It makes my stomach drop and my hair stand on end as she smiles. "It Didn't work."

I lunge forward, pulling her into my lap and kiss her as fiercely as I can. I don't want to go. I don't want to leave her. I want to see her happy and safe, and out of this Spirits Damned war! But I have to go. So I kiss her, I try to drown in this Water Princess, forgetting about everything else. And for just a little while, I can.

We stay in the pool until Katara falls asleep on me. I pick her up out of the water, and use my bending to essentially steam up both dry. It takes longer than Katara just removing the water but it still works. I set up our bedding, and fall asleep beside her, warm and with Katara wrapped in my arms.

When I wake up, it's just before sunrise. I squeeze my eyes shut like if I do it long enough it will still be yesterday, and I can stay. I can be in that perfect night forever. But that's nothing more than a wish.

Sighing, I quietly get up and tuck her into the blankets so she doesn't get cold. I find ink and paper in the knapsack, and decide to leave a note so there's no questions about me leaving, and she doesn't come looking for me.

Dear Katara,

It's less than a Day's Journey to Ba Sing Se from here. It's best we part ways now.

I know you want me to join you, but that's never going to happen. It can't. I'm going to make sure my Uncle's settled, then I'm continuing my quest to capture the Avatar and return home.

Nothing that happened was a lie. But I'm not a traitor either. I hope you find your brother, but I also hope you're not there when I face the Avatar again. If you are, we'll fight as enemies as we always have before.

Goodbye, Water Princess.

Zuko

I leave the note next to her pillow and set out, leaving all the supplies behind. If it takes her an extra day for some reason, I don't want her to be empty handed. Plus this way I can run way faster without a heavy load, just in case she tries to catch up with me.

I look at how beautiful she is sleeping, eyes closed and mouth slightly parted, with her hair covering half her face. I need to go now, or I'm never going to.

"Goodbye, Katara." I say and place a lingering kiss on her forehead, then turn around and start walking. Once I'm far enough away that my footsteps won't wake her, I start running. And I won't stop until I'm in Ba Sing Se.