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Ember Island was a stunning place, white sand and rolling blue skies, however, it’s littered with memories of Zuko’s childhood before everything fell apart. The Avatar and his gang of rebels seemed to be determined to make new memories.
“Come on,” Sokka drones. “We’ve all been through some shit, let’s get drunk.”
He can’t argue with that logic, so he cracks open his father's dusty liquor cabinet and they indulged in fire whiskey. Well, everyone but the Avatar.
“The monks encouraged us not to mix up our senses with alcohol.” the boy says, eyeing the whiskey warily. Toph was perhaps too enthusiastic, but Katara (forever the caretaker) stopped the girl before she went too far.
“Toph, you are only sixteen, I am not letting you drink until you pass out.”
“You’re not my mom!” Katara crossed her arms firmly over her chest, looking very much like his mother did when she found out he threw a rock at Azula’s head, but Zuko would never dare tell her that.
“Doesn’t matter, I’m still not letting you do it.” Toph must have already been drunk, because she didn’t fight Katara much after that.
Sokka was drunkenly telling tales of their adventures, with Suki and Katara chiming in, and Zuko just sat and enjoyed. He didn’t get to enjoy such moments often, usually only getting such moments with his uncle.
The night ticks on, the Avatar takes Toph to bed, and Zuko finds himself eating leftover dumplings with Sokka in the kitchen while Suki and Katara stay out on the beach.
“I wonder if I can convince Suki to come to my room again tonight…” Sokka ponders with a mouth full of dumplings, Zuko laughs.
“I’ve caught her coming out of your room quite a few times.”
“What can I say?” Sokka tilts back in his chair, “if you got it, you got it.” He jumps up from his chair, hanging off the door frame.
“Suki! I’ll be waiting for you!” He wiggles his eyebrows and Zuko cannot stop himself from laughing. He hears Katara gag loudly from the beach. Sokka winks at him then slides down the hall to his room, Suki coming in a few minutes later.
“How drunk is he?” she asks, a little smile on her face.
“Not that drunk, you worried about a poor performance?” Zuko teases, surprising himself, thankfully Suki laughs.
“I’m wondering if he’s going to be asleep when I get in there.” She jokes, wandering down the hall, leaving Zuko on his own. For the first time in a long time, he feels content.
However, when Katara walks in, skin flushed from the heat, halter top slightly skewed, and lips in a pout, Zuko knows he’s in trouble. She’s mumbling something to herself, assumingly tipsy. Sparkling blue eyes lock on him and his heart jumps into his throat.
“Can I ask you something?” She sits at the table, lips quirked. He nods.
“Of course.” She looks down for a moment, cheeks turning pink.
“Well, Suki and I got talking about...things.” She puts emphasis on the end word, clearly hoping he would understand what she was referencing. However, he did not.
“Things?” He quirked an eyebrow, scouring his brain for what she could possibly be talking about.
“Yes, things.” She repeats, then jerks her head in the direction of Sokkas room. Zuko quickly picks things up from there.
“Ah yes, things.” He clears his throat, trying not to burst into flames. “What about things?”
“They’re just all over each other, and I don’t get it. Suki says it’s different when someone cares about you, but I just...I don’t know, I feel likeI’m missing something. So I wanted to get your opinion.” She slumps over slightly, head in hands, looking defeated. Zuko feels like he understands what she’s trying to say.
“So, you want my opinion on if things are better when someone cares about you?” She nods and Zuko takes a moment to think. Katara either has had shitty sex or hasn’t had sex at all, he can’t help but blush at both thoughts.
“Well, if you’ll allow it, can I ask why you don’t think...things aren’t that great?” She sighs, looking so pretty doing so, then nods.
“My first time wasn’t great, I know that first times usually aren’t, but the second and third time weren’t great either.” Zuko wonders how anyone could focus on themselves around her, she was thought consuming, he doesn’t think he would take his hands off her given the chance. “Then there was this guy in Ba Sing Se, the night of the summer solstice festival. I drank a lot of wine, and decided for once, this night would be about me. I snuck away from everyone with this boy, and I thought it was going to be everything I was missing. But then it was over in about two seconds.”
Her forehead hits the table and Zuko couldn’t help but laugh a little. Shitty sex it was. She peers up at him, blue eyes shining, and he smiles at her.
“If it makes you feel better my first time was in a brothel, drunk out of my mind on my sixteenth birthday.” Katara’s jaw drops at this.
“Excuse me, what?” He laughs, he’s never seen such a look of surprise on her face.
“I guess it’s a tradition for soldiers, and my soldiers made sure I got one.” She stares at him in disbelief, and slight disgust.
“That’s...men are disgusting.” She shakes her head, Zuko can’t help but agree.
“You’re not wrong, I barely remember it. But I remember she showed me a few things.” She quirks her head, “She said to me ‘With a face like that you won’t get many girlfriends, but do what I tell you and maybe you can keep one around’.”
“That’s mean, you’re definitely not ugly. It’s those firenation royalty genes.” She jokes, and he flushes.
“Then my second time was with an earth kingdom girl, my uncle set us up on this date, and things kind of took off.” They both laugh.
“Iroh the matchmaker.” Then she starts laughing harder at her own joke.
“That time was really nice, I’d like to think it was romantic. It wasn’t either of our first times, so it wasn’t awkward.” He thinks back to Jin, curled up with her in the back of his uncle's tea shop. It wasn’t perfect, but it’s something he holds onto.
“Aww, I love that you’re a romantic,” she leans forward, touching his hand. “You’re a softie deep down.” He doesn’t disagree, it would be a lie if he did, he had always loved the idea of love. His mother forced them to watch Love Amongst Dragons nearly every year, he just wished he could find it himself, with the current situation he wasn’t even sure he would be alive next week.
“Then of course, I was with Mai, and she made sure I didn’t disappoint her, she got what she wanted.” Despite her quiet demenor in public, Mai hadn’t been very quiet in bed. She talked quite a bit, making sure he was doing what she wanted him to. Although he couldn’t complain too much compared to Katara’s experience.
“Yeah that’s the thing,” Katara began, Zuko turned to her confused. “What if I don’t know what I want...to have fun.” She trailed off and Zuko’s eyes widened.
Oh.
Suddenly things were different, he didn’t know why, but the fact that Katara hadn’t experienced...well finishing, put images in his head.
“You’ve never like-” he was sputtering, losing his cool suddenly, “you know...on your own?”
She shook her head, cheeks flushing pink.
“I lived in an igloo with my grandmother and brother my whole life, then I found Aang and was suddenly traveling the world. I don’t get a lot of alone time. I do laundry, I mend clothes, I make dinner, I clean everything. By the time I get to bed I’m exhausted.” She rubbed at her eyes, and Zuko understood. Since joining the group there was no denying Katara was the caretaker, and she did almost everything, this wasn’t lost on him.
They sat there for a moment, Zuko putting his arm on her shoulder, trying to give her reassurance.
“I can’t speak for every guy out there, but I always try to make things fun for who I’m with. And guys should want to make you happy, I mean look at you.” It was bold, but Zuko wanted to reassure her this lack of good sex definitely wasn’t her fault. She smiled at him.
“Thank you, for talking to me tonight. It means a lot to me.” She rests her cheek on his shoulder, reminding him that she’s somewhat drunk. She should sleep, if she was making a move he wanted her to be completely aware of what she was doing.
“You should head to bed, you deserve some rest.” She doesn’t argue with him, and he walks her to her bedroom.
And suddenly he’s alone with his thoughts, and well the image of Katara in an interesting position. He’d like to think that he could fix her little problem.
Oh boy.
He rises early the next day, meditating, and then practicing his bending. When he comes back to the house, Katara is in the kitchen making breakfast.
“Thank you for last night, I guess alcohol makes me emotional.” She laughs and stirs some sweet spices into the porridge. Zuko is incredibly grateful that things are not awkward between them.
“Of course, I care about you.” He repeats her words, hoping to drop a hint. Her eyes widen, ever so slightly, and she smiles.
“So...then I was wondering if maybe-“ she’s cut off abruptly by her brother slamming into the room.
“Well gooooooood morning everyone!” Sokka slides into his chair, Suki following with a smirk on her face. Katara just rolls her eyes, Zuko wants to punch Sokka in the head, but decides there will be more opportunities to catch up,
However the universe has other plans for him. The next few days are stressful, he barely sleeps, and the Avatar struggles more than ever in his bending. The weight on the world pushes down on him, he feels as though he’s about to crack.
He finds himself awake in the late hours of the night, tossing and turning. He hears a faint creek outside his door, he wonders who else can’t sleep, and opens his door to find who else, but the girl who plagues his dreams.
Katara jumps.
“Tui and La Zuko, you scared me!” She clutches her robe, she’s a sight in bright red. Hair tumbling down and legs exposed.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, I couldn’t sleep, and wondered who else was up.”
She loosens her grip on the robe, exposing more of her chest, not much, but enough for his mind to wander.
“I needed to get out of my room. I just keep thinking the same things over and over, I needed to...I don’t know.” Zuko nods, understanding. He feels bold, maybe it’s because she’s in her element, glowing in the moonlight. He can’t resist her charms.
He opens the door to her, and her eyebrows raise, a little smile on her lips.
“Could I help take your mind off things?”
“Depends,” she starts, loosening the tie on her robe, exposing more skin. “What do you have to offer?”
“Things.” Is all he offers and she giggles.
“Hmmm…” she pretends to think for a moment, rocking back on her bare heel. “You have my attention.”
He welcomes her in gladly. To his surprise and delight, her lack of positive sexual experience doesn’t diminish her confidence, because as soon as he shuts the door he finds her robe gone. Only in her wrappings.
“It gets hot at night.” Is all she offers with a shrug, kicking the robe to the side. He all but devours her.
He presses her flush against the door, kissing her fiercely. Her arms wrap around him, fingers tracing in his hair.
His lips find her jaw, neck, collarbones. He can’t get enough of her.
She mewls.
“You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers to her, “you always have been, even when we first met.”
Her eyes widen in disbelief, she shakes her head slightly, as if telling him that he’s wrong.
“Look at you,” he pulls her away from the wall, towards the looking glass, facing her towards it. “You’re perfect. And absolutely stunning in fire nation red, do you have any idea what you do to me in that outfit?”
She flushes pink under his praise.
His fingers undo her wrappings slowly, seeking her approval, she nods timidly.
The sight of her bare is almost too much. Beautiful brown skin, the dip of her waist, the curve of her breast.
She’s stunning, something to be worshiped, it seems almost impossible that she’s real beneath his hot fingertips.
She gasps when he touches her, groping her breast, leaning down to nip at her neck. His mouth travels down, and her nimble fingers work at her lower wrappings. Excitement flares through him.
He helps her pull them off, thrilled at the sight of her, she reaches to undo the ties on his pants and he stops her. She looks up at him, blue eyes confused.
“Is this not what comes next?” She jokes, suddenly moving to cover herself with her hands.
“It doesn’t have to be,” he stops her, holding her wrists in his hands. “I want to show you something.”
Her eyes dart around, but she nods. He promises not to disappoint. She lays back down, hair fanning around her head like a halo, moonlight streaming down on her.
He kisses her to ease her nerves, hand massaging her thighs before reaching the magic spot at the apex. Her eyes snap open.
“Oh.” She lets out a breathy sigh and Zuko thinks he’s going to burst into flames for sure.
He rubs his thumb in circles, she practically keens, fingers gripping at the sheets so tight they turn white. His mouth explores her, kissing and nipping every spot he can.
He pulls back, getting onto his knees, her eyes flicker open, eyeing him warily. He lifts her leg, kissing her ankle and she giggles loudly.
“What could you possibly be doing now?” She questions, sitting up on her elbows. He presses another kiss against her shin. When he reaches the inside of her knee she seems to catch on to where he’s trying to go.
She tries to pull back suddenly.
“Oh, no you don’t have to do that.” She looks nervous, self conscious. But he holds a steady grip on her.
“Trust me, Kat.” At the nickname she whines, “I want to make you feel good”
She looks at him longingly. He eases her back down, massaging at her hip, lowering himself down to kiss her thigh. She whines again.
He plants a kiss on her clit and she squirms, he holds her hips steady, before continuing. His tongue finds her wet and sweet.
“Spirits.” Katara gasps, fingers digging into his scalp, tugging at his hair. His fingers find her slit and he slips two in, testing her reaction, her sweet pretty face twists in pleasure. She’s so tight, so warm around his fingers. He aches at the thought of how she would feel around him.
He continues to work her, his blood practically singing from the sounds of her sighs and moans. She gasps suddenly.
“Zuko, I-“ her sentence halts, her limbs twitching, eyes squeezed shut. “I don’t, I feel-“
“You’re doing so good, so sweet, so perfect.” He stops to encourage her, “Let it happen, follow the feeling.”
She’s so beautiful, he peaks up at her from down between her legs. Her hair wild, lips parted, breasts heaving.
He crooks his fingers and laps at her, her head dropping back, fingers pulling at his hair painfully, but he didn’t mind at all.
She suddenly lets out a wail, her walls tightening around his fingers, thighs clamping down around his head.
Zuko relishes every moment.
He works her down from her climax, then lays down next to her. She rolls over onto him and gives him a look so sweet he thinks he could melt.
“I think I understand what all the fuss is about.” Smile on her mouth and a wicked glint in her eye, his arousal flares. “Can I show you what I’m good at?”
His mouth goes dry as she unties his pants, nodding dumbly. She perches herself on his thighs, taking his cock out of his pants, hot and heavy in her hands.
She pumps him a few times, running her thumb over the head. He curses, thrusting into her hand, on the brink of losing himself.
She stops and he whines. She tsks.
“Hold on, I’ve got something better.” She gets up on her knees, hovering over top of him, just ready to sink down. She looks nervous suddenly.
“Can I?” Fuck, she’s too too perfect, he’s going to lose it.
“Yes, please, I might die if you don’t.” This seems to reassure her, and she sinks down on top of his cock. He groans.
Agni, this woman is going to be his death. So hot and warm and tight around his cock. She lifts herself up, sinking down fully, they both groan.
“Katara, fuck, you’re so good. So hot, so tight.” His hands find her hips, helping her to find a rhythm. He can’t seem to form a coherent thought. She’s too pretty, too tantalizing, watching her bounce on his cock.
However she looks much too focused, he needs her to be wrecked, needs to show her how good this can be.
He sits up, pushing himself deeper, she gives a sharp cry. His fingers find her clit, her forehead drops against his own, hers eyes an endless ocean.
“Please,” she cries, “I wanna-“ she stops, not knowing what to say.
“Wanna what?” He challenges, rubbing circles on her.
“Please make it happen again.” She practically whispers it, lips brushing against his own.
“Anything for you.” He whispers back, before he crashes his lips against hers. He means it. He would follow her off the edge of the earth.
He grabs her hip, getting the grip he needs to fuck her properly, makes sure to caress the spot between her thighs. She responds beautifully, crying out his name, he thinks he’s about to finish right there.
This time when she climaxes he gets to see her, and it’s more than he could have ever dreamed. Her eyes roll back, mouth parted so prettily, crying out to him. It doesn’t take him long after that, he finishes quickly.
She nearly collapses on top of him, he lays down, wrapping his arms around her. She whines when he pulls out. For a little while, they lay still, he doesn’t want to let her go.
As quiet as a mouse, she peers up at him, his heart thumping.
“I liked that…” she looks sheepish, but he kisses the look off her. “Is it always like that?”
“I’d like to think so, but you’ll have to check my records.” He jokes, surprisingly she snuggled into him, and he practically melts.
“Well, you’re definitely better than Jet.”
“Jet??” She cackles at his reaction, Agni above she was going to kill him.
“What about me?” he cocks his head.
“What about you?” She huffs, rolling her eyes.
“Was I any good?”
“Spirits, yes Katara you were perfect.” She beams, tracing a finger across his chest, then looks up sheepishly.
“So, we could maybe do this again…?” He smiles, grabbing her, and flipping them over.
She squeals with delight, giggling when he puts them forehead to forehead, kissing her quickly.
“Absolutely.”