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Long after the sun settled beyond the horizon, and twilight beckoned the stars, Katara strode from her quarters in the royal palace like a sailor drawn to the siren call of the full moon. She gave little thought to where she walked, but in the end her feet carried her toward the royal gardens.
Stepping from the constricting hallways of the palace into the crisp night air of the royal gardens, Katara smiled as she felt the thrum of life around her. She traced the flow of water with her mind from the dew settling on the fire lilies to the turtleducks paddling across the garden’s small pond. She traced the water until it became a slow heartbeat. She looked around for the source of the heartbeat and her eyes settled on black and gold pauldrons that she would recognize anywhere.
He seemed unaware of her presence; his gaze fixed on the water in front of him. She called his name softly as she crossed the garden, startling him from where he sat. The moon’s white-gold rays cast his face in an ethereal light, but the illusion shattered when he turned his face toward her. His face was scrunched up, eyes raw. He wiped furiously at his cheeks where a few tears lingered.
“Zuko, what’s wrong?” She asked, settling on the ground next to him.
“I can’t do it,” he whispered.
His hand pressed into the ground between them. Gently, as if approaching a skittish animal, Katara flipped his hand over and laced her fingers through his. He stared at where their hands were laced together.
“Can’t do what?” She asked.
With his free hand, he gestured toward the walls of the garden and then himself. “This. Be a good ruler. My people want me to rebuild everything as quickly as possible, the other nations want reparations and peace treaties, my council wants me to get married, everyone wants me to wipe away one hundred years of conquest and war with the swipe of a pen. To them, I’m the Fire Lord and everyone wants something from the Fire Lord.” He sighed deeply. “Every day feels like the world is going to end if I don’t give them all what they want.”
Katara nodded, rubbing small circles into the back of his hand with her thumb. Images flashed through her mind of a comet soaring through the sky, water crashing against fire, a bolt of lightning shooting across a blazing courtyard, Zuko’s pulse going still.
“The world already ended once,” she said. “I won’t let it happen again.”
They were silent for a while, until Zuko broke it. “Sometimes I can barely remember what just being Zuko felt like.”
Something flickered inside of Katara, something she had done her best to tamp down while serving as an ambassador in the Fire Nation.
“Let me help you remember.” The words spilled out, almost unbidden.
Zuko gave her an inquisitive look, but just as Katara was ready to apologize and ask him to forget about it, he gave her a small nod that set her heart a flutter.
She tugged gently on his hand until they both stood. She led him from the gardens and back into the empty hallways of the palace. As she pulled him along, a pulse beat loudly in her ears—she didn’t know if it belonged to her or Zuko.
They reached her quarters, and Katara pulled him through the door wordlessly. As the door closed behind them, a new silence washed over the room, full of years of unspoken desire. For a moment, all her earlier bravado faded away.
But then she looked at Zuko, who stood with his back flushed against the door like he wasn’t sure if he had permission to go any further into her room. Shifting from side-to-side, his eyes cast surreptitious glances around the room. When his gaze finally met her own, Katara swore she could see the fire of his nation burning in his amber eyes.
She closed the distance between them in two long strides. His breath hitched as she pressed herself against him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Katara stole the words with a kiss.
Her kiss was soft, a tentative question brushing against his lips like a ghost in the night.
His hands settled on her waist, and his lips answered her silent question with a deep kiss that made Katara feel like she was bending water for the first time again.
He kissed her over and over again, each kiss deeper than the one before. They both gasped as her tongue grazed his.
When she pulled back, Zuko’s face was flushed, his breathing laborious. His earlier frown was replaced with a wide grin.
“Sit,” she said, pointing toward the foot of the bed.
He didn’t ask why. He didn’t say anything at all. He swallowed thickly and moved across the room, sitting down at the edge of her bed.
Katara crossed the room and stood in front of him. Her heart thudded against her chest, but her hands were steady as she took the clasp of his ornate robes in her hands and undid it, earning a sharp intake of breath from Zuko.
“What are you doing?” He whispered, as if scared that speaking too loudly would break the moment.
“Reminding you what it feels like to be Zuko.”
She felt him shiver as her hands settled beneath his robes and pushed them from his shoulders. His eyes were fixed on the silk threaded sheets beneath his hands.
Settling her hand against his scarred cheek, she gently brought his eyes back to her own.
“Don’t overthink this. Don't be scared. Just keep your eyes on me.”
Her hands moved from his shoulders, down his chest and across his toned stomach until they settled on the hem of his light undershirt.
His eyes stayed fixed on hers as he raised his hands above his head.
Wordlessly, Katara dragged the shirt up and then off his body, discarding it to a corner of the room—hopefully not to be needed for a long time.
She turned to her own robe, slowly undoing the tie at the front of her robes and letting it fall to the ground. Another sharp intake of breath from the bed filled her cheeks with warmth.
His eyes stayed fixed on hers as she undid her sarashi wraps, letting them fall away like a snowflake melting beneath the sun, then lightly pushed him down upon the bed.
They stayed fixed on her as she crawled up onto the bed.
They stayed fixed on her as she slipped her hands beneath the waistband of his pants and tugged them down.
They stayed fixed on hers as she peppered gentle kisses along his skin, from his shoulder to the inside of his thighs.
Then they slammed shut, and a loud moan slipped from his lips, as she flicked tongue across the base of his scar. She felt a surge of desire run through her, pooling between her legs, as she watched Zuko—his head thrown back, mouth hanging open, stomach tensing beneath her tongue like if he made any move he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
Then she moved lower, licking a stripe up his length.
“Agni, that feels good,” Zuko moaned. His eyes found hers again, blown wide with obvious desire. His hands clung to the headboard, gripping violently against it in an obvious attempt to maintain control.
She wanted him to lose control, to come undone beneath her touch.
“Just Katara is fine,” she said, throwing him a small wink.
His response devolved into a series of loud moans as she took him in her mouth.
She didn’t tease him—she didn’t want to give him a chance to think of anything but her—taking as much of him in her mouth as she could, and stroking what she couldn’t with her hand.
The wet sound of her mouth moving along his cock filled the room, melding with Zuko’s moans to create a harmony that Katara wouldn’t soon forget.
“Katara,” he choked, voice ragged.
Her name was like a prayer on his lips, pleading, desperate. With each moan he was throwing himself upon her mercy. It sent a thrill down her spine and she sped up her movements.
His breathing grew heavier, the muscles of his leg twitching beneath her palm.
“Oh shi—” was the only warning Katara received before he came with a loud cry.
She didn’t pull back, her tongue swirling around him and coaxing him through his orgasm. When she was sure he was spent, she let his cock fall from her mouth and swallowed with a soft hum of pleasure.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Zuko said, full, coherent sentences escaping him.
Katara smiled and leaned forward once more, placing a light kiss against the tip of his spent cock. When she met Zuko’s eyes, his face was a mix of desire and embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, “I should have given you more warning.”
She laughed. “Something to remember for next time.”
His one eyebrow shot up his forehead before he reached down and pulled her to himself. His lips found hers and then they were kissing again.
When they broke apart, Zuko’s eyes traced up and down her body—desire still burning there.
“Maybe we don’t have to wait till next time for me to make it up to you?”
With a small nod, and a gleeful laugh, Katara let him pull her back down to the bed, excited to let him make it up to her for the next few hours.