Fire is world ending.
When a healer from his past comes to the Fire Nation at last, everything goes up in flames.
Will there be anything to save from the ashes?
...
Katara's body burned in the chill of the night as she inched toward him. She needed to feel him more.
She couldn't tell who initiated the kiss. Who started moving first. In the moment, she did not care. Her head was unusually clear and empty of all the thoughts that would definitely haunt her later.
Damn Full Moon.
Zuko didn't feel inclined to stop either. His hand traveled to the back of her neck, pulling her face even closer. She wrapped her arms around him. Her veins were flaring. She was on fire. His body was solid against her. Rubbing, caressing, stroking.
The raging feeling inside of her grew bigger. Zuko scooped her up to sit on his knees. She swaddled his laps.
All of the sudden, he broke the kiss. Katara looked at him in a ecstatic daze. He pulled her hair gently, earning uncontrolled whimper from her. She tipped her head back automatically. Zuko took advantage of it. He buried his face in her neck. First kissing gently, she felt like each touch burned a hole in her skin.
More, more, more, her body seemed to say.She was not a master of it tonight.
Then he nipped a place just below her jaw. She became frantic. Her hips did not listen to her when they started moving. Creating a friction where they touched, Zuko couldn't hold back a throaty moan.
At the sound Katara never heard from a man, she froze. Her mind started racing with hundreds of thoughts as she took in the way Zuko held her. The way she was moving just a second ago. The way her neck was being marked by him.
By what it all meant.
Her hands trembled. She looked up to the moon, unsure of what to do. Damn you, she wanted to say. Damn you and your power over me.
Sensing her stillness, Zuko stopped all his movements. As if the realization hit him too. He quickly flinched away from her skin. Wide eyed, he glared at her.
Katara was still on his laps. Still on top of him. Their bodies were touching in a way they never should have. He shouldn't have allowed this. Agni, he shouldn't have done this.
''Zuko,'' she whispered in panic. Her focus was fully on him. On how shocked he looked. ''Zuko.''
What could he say to her now? What could she say to him?
The silence between them stretched. Neither dared to move. Both still breathing hard. Staring at each other in shock, the heated emotion that Katara never felt before fading away.
''I...'' Zuko was speechless. He wished he could explain what happened but it was beyond him. It's like someone took over his mind and told him to do all these things. To Katara. To his friend. ''I am so sorry.''
Katara frowned. It was hard to focus with their bodies still entangled but she didn't feel the need to get away from him. ''Why are you sorry?''
''I shouldn't have done that,'' he cleared his throat. His hand loosened the grip he had on her head. He was clearly uncomfortable. To Katara, it was like a punch to the gut. Shouldn't she feel the same way too? Zuko was now avoiding her eyes, glancing everywhere but at her. ''It was a mistake.''
''Why?'' she demanded. It made her furious that he thought of it that way. She was anything but guilty. It was the closest she got to a man ever.
Aang never kissed her that way. As if reading her mind, he replied: ''Because of Aang.''
''Is that all? Aang is the only reason that makes you regret what just happened?''
Katara felt empowered by the moon's energy. She was not this confident to speak up in ages. She would always shy away or apologize for things she she shouldn't feel remotely guilty about.
Not tonight. Not during the Full Moon.
Zuko regarded her for a long moment. His eyes traveled through her body, her breasts that were so tightly wrapped in the material, her flushed face. This strange daze in the brightest blue he's ever seen.
He swallowed. Katara watched him like a hawk. ''Yes.''
''We're not together,'' she said in a voice that she started doubting belonged to her.
''I know,'' Zuko grabbed a piece of her hair. He started wrapping it around his finger, thinking how soft it was. ''But he's got feelings for you.''
Katara closed her eyes. It was something she saw every day in the way the Avatar behaved. He did tell her he loved her many times before but they just never took that final step to being together. No claim was ever laid.
''So?'' she crossed her arms. Zuko automatically placed his hands at her back, keeping her stable. Still unmercifully sitting on his lap. Her face tightened.
''I think you might have feelings for him, too.''
Her hands dropped. Is that what everyone thought? That they're still those love struck teenagers that were too young to express what they felt for each other?
She sighed. It was a fight she wouldn't win without admitting something she still tried holding on to.
Any romantic love she felt for Aang evaporated a long time ago. Of course, she still loved him in a way she did the rest of her friends. The memories of what once was never left her but she was different now. Full Moon or no, she was still afraid to say it all out loud.
Because to do so, would mean that everyone she cherished would leave her. For good this time. It was a betrayal of their friendships she couldn't allow herself to yield to.
''I should go,'' Katara quickly got off him. The coldness of the night hit her and she shivered. Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked truly pathetic. But to Zuko, she looked beautifully vulnerable.
Zuko stood up once she turned around to leave him alone. ''Do you?'' he called after her. She froze in a spot. ''Do you love him?''
Why he asked that question, he wasn't sure himself. There was just something about her that night. He felt if he let her escape without knowing this, he might miss out on a chance to have what he secretly yearned for ever since Mai left him.
She crushed any hope for him when she said softly but with a bit of bitterness that he was surprised to hear from her: ''I do.''
What hurt him the most was that she didn't even turn to look at him. Katara knew she would only see the reflection of her own expression. The disappointment they both felt.
She didn't know what she wanted. Why she seemed to so into Zuko right now. Perhaps her needs were so ignored by her lately that she was so desperate for a release, she threw herself at a first person who offered her a bit of warmth.
Without another word from any of them, Katara walked away. In her room, all by herself, she wished this feeling would go away in the morning. She cursed at the moon for letting her experience something like this.
Because whether this attraction towards Zuko would still be there in the morning or not, this night have started something else. A small flame was now burning within her. And even a skilled waterbender like her would not be able to extinguish it for a long time.
