Work Text:
"I don't like girls that way," Katara said, crossing her arms and looking puzzled at Ty Lee.
"No?" Ty Lee asked, confused. "Are you sure?"
Azula was teaching the Kyoshi Warriors firebending katas even though they weren't firebenders, just as she had done with Ty Lee years ago. It was helpful in case they ever had to face a bender. Her friend had requested it, and both she and Mai still seemed weak in the eyes of the kyoshi warrior.
Well, that and Ty Lee could be insufferable if you told her no when she wants something.
So Azula stood with her hands behind her back, correcting the girls' postures as they practiced the katas.
Katara was on the island because Sokka was there and she basically felt like it. It had been a while since she had seen Suki, and it was like a mini vacation.
Today was a super hot day on the island, thanks to Ty Lee, Suki had been lenient and the girls could train in simple shirts and pants to avoid heatstroke.
Azula, who hadn't predicted these temperatures, was simply in her pants and a breast supporter which functioned as a top.
Katara hadn't taken her eyes off the firebender since she sat next to Ty Lee to watch the training. They were sitting on the edge of the house facing the training session.
"I don't understand why you're asking," Katara replied, sounding more aggressive than she intended to.
Ty Lee, from the corner of her eye, followed the waterbender's gaze to Azula, raised an eyebrow, and smiled slightly. "Intuition."
"Well, no, I've never dated one," Katara continued without looking away from Azula as she performed a new kata for the others to mimic.
But Ty Lee looked disappointed. "You don't have to date a girl to know you like them. Look at Suki."
As if she was summoned, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors sat down next to Katara with a tray of fresh lemonade. "What am I an example of?"
While Ty Lee grabbed one of the drinks, Suki passed the other to Katara, who was still entranced by the princess.
"I was telling Katara that not having dated a girl doesn't mean you can't like them," Ty Lee explained before taking a sip of her drink. "This is delicious!"
"I have kissed girls before though, it's fun," Suki said before mimicking the action.
"Well, I haven't," Katara replied, taking a sip of her drink and briefly looking away from the firebender. When she looked up again, Azula was approaching them, and Katara choked on her lemonade.
While Suki was patting her back, Azula approached Ty Lee. "Where can an exploited girl get whatever it is you're drinking?"
"It's lemonade and next to Katara," Ty Lee replied with a smile.
Azula nodded and went to grab a glass. Suki and Ty Lee exchanged knowing looks while Katara stared at the ground.
"Can you pass me one?" Azula asked Katara.
Katara quickly grabbed a glass and awkwardly placed it in front of Azula, causing the contents to spill all over the firebender.
"Thanks," Azula said sarcastically "But I was hoping drinking it the old-fashioned way"
Katara blushed deeply, partly embarrassed by her clumsiness and partly because she was now staring directly at Azula, who was covered in lemonade.
"Sorry!" Katara exclaimed, her voice an octave higher than usual as she wiped the liquid off with a twist of her wrist.
Suki and Ty Lee laughed and finished their lemonade in one gulp.
Azula looked puzzled when she realized, "Hey, what do I drink now?"
Katara had her own glass in hand.
"I'm sure Katara doesn't mind sharing," Ty Lee said smiling innocently.
"After all, she left you without a drink," Suki added, glancing sideways at Ty Lee. Azula knew they were up to something but couldn't figure out what. So, deciding to play along, she sighed, looked towards Katara, and reached out her hand.
Katara had no idea what they were talking about and just kept staring at the ground, ignoring Azula's gaze.
"Katara," hearing Azula say her name snapped her out of her trance, and she looked at her with curiosity.
"What?"
Azula sighed. "Can you give me something to drink?"
"But—oh, sure. Here you go." Reaching out her hand, she handed the glass to Azula, who drank without looking away.
Katara held her breath and ignored whatever she wasn’t supposed to be feeling until Azula with a disgusted face returned the glass, still with lemonade inside. "It's too sweet."
"You're supposed to say 'thank you,' 'Zula," Ty Lee chided.
"Sure." Azula replied without saying thanks, then resumed training the girls.
Katara continued to watch her when she felt someone's hand under her chin, lifting her mouth.
"Katara, you're going to catch flies," Suki said, closing her mouth while teasing her.
Katara regained her composure, blushing, stood up, and left, saying, "I have to do... something."
Ty Lee and Suki watched her quickly go and burst out laughing. Many of the students became distracted by their supervisors' laughter.
"How long do you think it'll take for them to get together?" Ty Lee asked Suki. "We could bet on it."
Suki laughed. "Katara's in denial, and I doubt Azula likes her."
Ty Lee focused on watching Azula yelling at a girl to improve her posture. "Oh no, Azula definitely likes her."
Suki looked at the acrobat curiously. "How do you know?"
Ty Lee glanced over at the tray Suki had brought. "Suki, there are five more glasses of lemonade next to you. She definitely noticed them."
After going to clean her face to calm her nerves because clearly Azula made her nervous due to how dangerous she had been in the past. That's it.
Katara returned to the room expecting to find her friends. But all she found was Azula sitting in the lotus position where Suki and Ty Lee had been moments ago. There was no sign of the other Kyoshi Warriors; The waterbender assumed the master class had ended.
Katara stared at the firebender, who seemed to be perfectly controlling her breathing and was completely calm. In this way, she could appreciate Azula like she hadn't before.
Though still intimidating, every detail she saw on her face only served to confirm one thing.
She’s so fucking gorgeous.
Katara was frightened by the thought, but even more frightened when she heard the firebender's voice. Opening one eye to look at her, Azula said, "It's rude to stare at someone while they meditate."
Katara turned completely red. "I—uh—was—just—"
Azula looked at her, confused but with a small smile on her lips.
"You have a way with words, waterbender."
"Shut up!" Katara shouted, and without another word, she turned around and quickly left. In the background, a small laugh could be heard.
Katara, at her bravest moment, had decided to have dinner in her room to avoid running into Azula or either of the two supposed friends who had planted these ideas in her head.
So now she was carrying her plate to the dining room, praying that no one would be there. Luck seemed to be on her side because it was empty.
The problem was that in the courtyard next to the dining room was the source of her troubles, squatting down and petting a black cat. Katara approached the scene but made sure she wasn't seen.
"We both know you stick around because I give off heat, but I don't think the fangirls would appreciate me letting an animal inside the house."
"Meow."
Azula scratched its head "Sorry, buddy, but they still don't like me much, and I don't want to sleep outside with you."
The cat stretched out on the ground, purring.
"You do that to them, and you've got a permanent home. But I can't risk it."
After a while, when the cat fell asleep near the house, Azula went inside.
Before Azula could see her, Katara was on her way back to her room, deepening her self-denial.
Katara couldn't sleep and had grown tired of staring at the ceiling of her room, so to avoid further frustration, she decided to go for a walk.
Trying not to make noise with her steps to avoid waking anyone else, she left the house and ventured into the small forest nearby. She knew there was a lake in the middle of it.
Upon reaching the lake, she began playing with the water to try and relax and hopefully help her to fall asleep. But instead of relaxing he began to think about what had during the day.
"Are you sure?"
"You have a way with words, waterbender."
Katara suddenly released the water and shouted towards the lake, "I don't like girls!"
"Really?" asked a voice behind her.
Katara formed a water whip until she saw Azula standing with her arms crossed over her chest, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, it's you," Katara sighed, returning the water to the lake. "Don't scare me like that…What are you doing here anyway?"
"I was walking because I couldn’t sleep and I heard you yelling at a lake about not liking girls," Azula remarked, sitting down next to the waterbender.
"You heard that?" Katara grumbled, burying her head in her hands in embarrassment.
Azula chuckled and glanced at her. "Did Ty Lee tell you?"
Katara moved her hands slightly away from her face to look at Azula. "Maybe."
Azula feigned a pained expression. "Well, then you're in trouble. Ty Lee is never wrong."
Katara lifted her head from her hands and looked at Azula somewhat annoyed. "Well, this time she's wrong."
Azula studied her with a smile. "I see."
Katara seemed to relax as she watched the firebender gaze out at the lake. But then she noticed a smile forming on Azula's face. "So you must really like firebending, don't you?"
Azula was looking directly at her. Katara felt her cheeks flush, but confused by the princess's question, she replied, "What are you talking about?"
Azula tilted her head, still smiling. "You were paying close attention to everything I did this afternoon."
"Well, um, firebending—yes, I am—I mean, yes, I do like it."
Azula laughed. "Of course."
Nevertheless, she didn't look away from the waterbender. Katara didn't know what Azula was trying to achieve, but with every passing minute of her staring, Katara grew more nervous.
"I am not attracted to you," Katara said seriously.
Azula raised an eyebrow but decided to continue playing. "But what about other girls?"
Katara frowned. "No."
Azula made a sound of acceptance. "You know it's okay if you do like them, right?"
"Of course I know," Katara replied proudly, maintaining eye contact with the firebender.
To Katara's surprise, Azula's tone softened, becoming sweeter and more understanding. "Then why do you feel the need to shout at the lake?"
Katara looked at her, surprised and unsure how to respond. She turned her gaze back to the lake, avoiding having to speak directly to Azula. "I was arguing with myself and the lake."
After a few seconds, Katara heard Azula snort and turned to look at her.
"And then they say I'm the crazy one," Azula remarked.
Katara rolled her eyes tiredly and let out a groan.
The moon was reflecting on the lake, and although they weren't close, Katara could feel the heat emanating from the firebender.
"It's okay to take time to process it. I myself wasn't the most receptive to it," Azula said, still not looking directly at Katara as she spoke. Katara appreciated this because she was mesmerized, noticing how the moonlight reflected on the princess's face. "Really? You always seem so confident."
"Ask Ty Lee; she was the first to question it," Azula replied. Then she turned her gaze back to Katara and added, "Well, she probably made me questioned it in a different way, but she's rarely wrong."
Unconsciously, Katara moved closer to Azula, her gaze shifting between the princess's eyes and her lips. "Can you kiss me?"
"Can I?" Azula responded.
Katara was mere inches from the princess's face. "I need answers."
Azula leaned in to speak closer. "I thought you didn't like me."
Katara could feel the firebender's breath near her face. "And I don't like you."
"But do you want me to kiss you?"
"Yes," Katara responded, nodding her head.
"Okay."
"And that’s it?"
"I'll never object to kissing a pretty girl."
Katara held her breath as she felt Azula gently grasp her face. In that moment, Katara stopped questioning everything and simply focused on feeling Azula's lips on hers. They were warm and soft, very different from the lips of the boys she had kissed before. With delicacy, she parted slightly, allowing her tongue to slip inside. Unconsciously, Katara grasped Azula's head to deepen the kiss.
When they separated, both were blushing. Katara was breathing heavily.
"Did it help you find answers?"
Instead of answering, Katara grabbed Azula's face without the delicacy Azula had shown her before and kissed her with more urgency. Azula quickly melted into the unexpected kiss.
After separating a second time, Katara said, "Okay, that—that was good."
"Indeed."
Before Azula could say more, Katara was quicker. "Let's do it again."
Smiling as she felt the waterbender's hand on her face again, Azula nodded. She wasn't going to say no to kissing a pretty girl again.
The next day, the scene from the previous afternoon repeated itself.
Suki, Katara, and Ty Lee were watching as Azula trained the girls. Following yesterday's example, the heat was unbearable again, but this time Katara was the one who went for lemonade for everyone.
Katara placed the lemonade on the ground, allowing her friends to take one while she grabbed one for herself. Out of the corner of her eye, Azula noticed the lemonades and, seeing that the girls were all practicing the kata decently, went over to take a sip of the drink.
Upon arriving, she went straight towards Katara, under the watchful and confused gaze of Ty Lee and Suki.
Katara watched, smiling, as Azula approached and delicately took the lemonade glass from her hand to drink it herself.
"That's rude, that was mine," Katara said as Azula finished drinking, smirking mischievously.
Azula leaned in close to the waterbender, placing the glass down next to her. "Was it?" she asked, staying very near in the process.
"Yes," Katara replied.
Azula smirked. "I suppose I'll have to pay you then?"
"I think you should."
Suki and Ty Lee didn't know what to expect from this interaction, but Azula gently taking Katara's face and kissing her probably wasn't one of them.
Azula only pulled back slightly to ask, "Is that acceptable?"
"Not bad," Katara responded with a smile.
Azula gave her a quick peck and then returned to training with the girls.
Suki's mouth was wide open, and Ty Lee emitted a high-pitched sound of joy. Katara continued to gaze at Azula, entranced.
"I knew it!" Ty Lee exclaimed, half-hugging Katara. "Suki, you owe me vacation days."
Suki snapped out of her trance and shook Katara. "Katara! But you were in denial!"
Katara sighed. "I guess Azula is and was stronger than my denial."
Suki continued to shake her while Ty Lee demanded her vacation days. Katara looked at Azula, who returned her gaze and winked.
Katara would owe an apology to a lake for shouting lies at it.