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Bitter Alliance	By : Looneyluna Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 31138 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Act III

Chapter Fourteen

Laughter greats me as I regain consciousness. I blink, the bright amber hue of sunset streaming through the holes in the canopy of trees above me.

Trees…

Mature trees that stand as silent witness of the devastation that claimed the rest of the world. Unlike the saplings that cover the grounds of my homeland, these obviously survived the first attack of fire rain my father so carelessly hurled at his enemies.

I struggle to sit up, and someone assists me. Cold metal touches my lips. “Here,” Jeong Jeong encourages softly, “drink this.”

Cool water splashes onto my tongue and lips, and I gulp the contents greedily.

“Slow down,” my general growls, “or you’ll make yourself sick. There is more water. Take all that you need.”

I start to ask about my children, but I hear them laughing in the distance. Their laughter, accompanied with the sound of splashing water, sets my mind at ease. My surroundings are much different from the desert. A landscape of lush jungle surrounds me on all sides. “Where are we?”

“We are three days from Ba Sing Se,” he answers, bending over a large cistern, scooping water with his hands, and splashing his face with it.

“What happened?”

“The Sect of Kroni has infiltrated the mainland,” he replies quickly, as if it was only a matter of time before it happened.

I have forgotten about his connection with Mahari. “Let me guess. Mahari said it would happen.”

He nods solemnly. “I have no reason to doubt her visions of the future. She has been right thus far.”

I know better than to question him further, and I lean backwards and close my eyes.

“We held off the Kroni as long as we could,” he informs me in his gruff reporting-for-duty voice. “When I realized the battle was lost, I sounded a retreat.” He pauses, obviously searching for the right words to soften the blow of what it is he has to tell me. “We… we were outnumbered and…”

I open my eyes. Jeong Jeong’s face is etched with disgust.

“They desecrated those we left behind.” His voice is a bare whisper. His gaze captures mine. “They are soulless creatures, Lord Zuko. What has your father unleashed upon us?”

My children’s laughter interrupts the somber mood as they saunter into the campsite.

“Daddy!” Kaya squeals with delight as she rushes toward me.

--

Holding Iroh, I watch as Kaya tackles her father. Evening approaches, and I have resigned myself to a sleepless night due to the children’s excitement.

“We got to ride on a sand glider, and they gave us new clothes,” Kaya chatters excitedly. “See!” She lifts her arm up, which is totally immersed in a sleeve that is two sizes too big for her. “Momma says I’ll grow into it.”

Iroh snuggles against me and drifts off to sleep. Like his sister, he too has new clothes thanks to the Sandbenders.

“There’s a river over there.” She points toward the direction we came from. Iroh and I got to go swim for the first time! It was lots of fun before Momma turned it into a bath. Even Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph got baths!”

Kaya climbs off her father and sniffs the air with exaggerated puffs. “You stink, Daddy. You need a bath! Maybe Momma can give you a bath too!”

Zuko kisses the top of our daughter’s head and looks at me. He says nothing, but the look in his gaze would melt all the snow in the South Pole. I clear my throat and place Iroh on the pallet. I am slightly envious of my son’s ability to sleep through anything.

“Kaya,” I call softly, “come lie down. It is time for bed.” True to form, she makes excuse after excuse.

“But I’m not tired,” she yawns, crawling over her father and sidling up to Iroh. She touches her brother’s hair and rubs its shorter strands between her fingers—a sign that she is exhausted. Mumbling brief protests around the thumb that is now in her mouth, she closes her eyes.

Sokka leans against a tree, and Toph bends the earth around her to form a small shelter. Jeong Jeong clears his throat. The others who rescued us returned to the desert once we reached the edge of this jungle. He stirs the embers in the fire that he started when we arrived.

I cannot explain it, but there is a mood that surrounds me. I spent the first several hours here, awestricken by the beauty. When I found the stream, I rushed my children toward it, determined that I would scrub them clean. It was a luxury we seldom had in the desert. Part of me wants to stay. The sensible part knows we most move on. We need to seek refuge in the underground city of Ba Sing Se.

--

Jumping to my feet, I realize that my daughter is correct. I could do with a bath. “Kaya is right,” I state, walking toward the sound of water. Jeong Jeong, ever my faithful bodyguard stands to follow me, but I stay his momentum with the movement of my hand. My son is asleep. My daughter is drowsy. Toph and Sokka are resting, and Katara is fussing with a blanket.

The scene is tranquil and domestic. It should soothe my troubled thoughts, but I cannot banish the images that toy with my imagination. “My friend, please watch after my family.”

I can tell by the look in his eyes that he is uneasy with the request, but I need my privacy.

“Very well, my lord,” he grumbles beneath his breath.

A grin dances across my scarred lips. I had forgotten how like a mother platypus-bear Jeong Jeong could be. I stumble through the vine-rich jungle toward the river, looking forward to washing the grime from my body.

--

Kaya succumbs to sleep, and I pray that she has a restful night. Jeong Jeong paces, mumbling beneath his breath. I can tell that he is uncomfortable with letting Zuko out of his sight. In that respect, he reminds me of an overprotective father.

Standing, I approach him. He stops pacing as if surprised to see me in his way. I hug him, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my cheek against his shoulder. “Thank you for saving us,” I whisper and kiss his scarred, leathery cheek.

Jeong Jeong clears his throat and steps away. “You are welcome,” he answers gruffly. “Though we may have saved you and your family, I see now that Zuko remains intent on getting himself killed.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.

Stirring the fire, he sits next to the children. “Though he fought valiantly before our escape from the outer islands of our once great nation, he fought carelessly. The Sect of Kroni has infiltrated the old Earth Kingdom borders. The ocean was not enough to stop the spread of their disease. If they were to capture Zuko...

Not even the Avatar will be able to stop him.”

His words strike a cord deep within me—one that I dared not even contemplate. Daughter against father.

“He may have the dragon leashed, but he struggles to keep it from consuming him.” Jeong Jeong stares into the fire intently.

I kneel across from him. “How do we save him?”

He shakes his head and keeps looking into the fire. “I’m not sure that we can.”

--

My daughter was right. A bath is just what I needed. For the first time since I can remember, I feel… calm. Though I remain fractured, still without my memories, I am content. The jungle seems untouched by the devastation my father wrought with the fire rain.

As I recline on the riverbank, letting the cool breeze dry my tattered skin, my thoughts turn to Katara. We are three days away from Ba Sing Se, where we shall be married. I know that I should not allow the union to take place, but I am a selfish being and will tie her to me anyway. I cannot resist such a blissful temptation. Just the thought of possessing her makes my blood churn expectantly.

“Zuko?” calls Katara, interrupting my thoughts. The bushes rustle nearby, and I jump up and run toward the shadows, stepping into my pants as I go along.

“Over here,” I reply as she breaks through the foliage and looks around. I step deeper into the shadows and pull my shirt over my head.

A half moon shines in the sky, silently defying the comet’s celestial influence.

Turning toward the sound of my voice, she walks toward me.

“Is everything all right?” I ask, stepping out of the shadows now that I am fully clothed. Her face is in shadow, but I feel her gaze upon me.

“Everything’s fine. Everyone, except Jeong Jeong has settled down for the night,” she says. “I had hoped to catch you before you were finished.”

“Oh?” I grin, unable to resist teasing her. If she has seduction on her mind, I will gladly accommodate her.

I can feel the heat of her blush. “I… I thought… w-we… Since we were here… near water… I wanted to see if I could… heal some of your scars,” she stammers.

Due to the limited water in the oasis, Katara had not been able to try to heal me as often as she would have liked. Though Kaya assures me that I will be healed, I am reminded of the violent network of skin that crisscrosses my body.

Katara has seen me without my shirt. Unlike the concubine who had been sent to pleasure me once I was recovered, her eyes did not widen in horror or linger in pity. Her gaze roamed over the scars with barely-veiled hunger.

Remembering the last time she touched me, my body starts to stir. “I see,” I reply softly, figuring that her desire to heal me is just that, an attempt to heal me. It’s nothing more… nothing less.

She closes the distance between us, cupping my left cheek with her right hand and touching my chest with her left. “Do you?”

Her question is issued like a challenge, a challenge that I dare not accept. The sound of her voice welcomes me, but I cannot see the expression on her face. I close my fingers over hers and press her palm flat against my chest. My heartbeat is erratic. I turn my head and kiss her palm. I am rewarded with the sound of her subtle intake of breath.

Standing on her toes, she presses her lips against mine. The softness hardens me, and my sex twitches. I would burn to have her.

--

Zuko is like a statue, reluctantly accepting my touch. The world could be collapsing around us, and it would make no difference. Jeong Jeong’s words reverberate in my mind. I will save Zuko, even if it means my own destruction.

I look into his golden eyes as I brush my lips against his. His fingers crush mine as he prepares to turn me away. I flick my tongue against his bottom lip and pull it between my teeth.

--

Her aggressiveness decimates my precarious restraint, and I wrap my arms around her possessively. She is mine. She is my savior. I forget about my hideous scars and claim her lips in passionate abandon. She meets my thrusts boldly, taking liberties with me that make my soul sing. Her hands are beneath my loose tunic, skimming over the deep rivulets of flesh. I could come from her touch alone.

Breaking the kiss, I sigh her name, “Katara.”

Her hands pull my tunic over my head, and she feels me tense.

“Please,” she pleads, stepping back and removing her clothes.

I watch, fascinated and powerless to dissuade her. Before I know it, she is standing naked before me, clasping my hand in hers and pulling me toward the water like a seductive nymph. Our movements are so fluidic and graceful that I am swept up in the tide of desire and shed the last of my inhibitions. I remove my pants.

She murmurs her approval and steps into the water. A memory bubbles to the surface. At least, I think it is a memory. I close my eyes and try to recall.

--

Zuko stops. He is immovable, his eyes closed as if he is trying to figure out a deeper mystery. “Zuko?”

He opens his eyes and smiles. “We’ve done this before?”

I think back.

“I remember…” He shudders, grasping my hand and wading into the water with me. “I was bathing… in a river… like this. You were… watching me… spying on me. I knew you were there. I taunted you… asked you if you wanted to touch me.”

“Keep going,” I encourage him, reliving the embarrassing moment when he caught me spying on him the night before the comet struck.

“Would you like to touch me, Waterbender?” he had taunted, pushing the reeds to the side and discovering my voyeurism. He had grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the open.

I fought him at first, ashamed of my curiosity and embarrassed that I wanted to feel his touch.

As I settled against him, it was as though he could not catch his breath. His breathing was ragged and his flesh was hard.

“Are you curious, Water Tribe girl?” he had mocked, rocking his naked flesh against my thigh. “Do you want to know what a man’s touch feels like?”

Regaining some semblance of dignity, I retorted. “No, thank you. I’m sure your uncle prefers his women older.”

“You were angry…” he whispers. “You said that my uncle would like his women older.”

“Yes,” I reply, coaxing him deeper into the water. “Do you remember your uncle?” I am saddened when he shakes his head. I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my cheek on his chest. “It’s okay. The important thing is that you remembered something.”

We stand knee deep in the stream’s gentle current, offering each other solace. I run my hands up and down his back, tracing a path along the jagged skin. I shudder, angry that his father did this to him. I can only imagine the pain he must have gone through, the untold agony of surviving the burns.

“Katara?” His voice is a raged whisper.

“Yes?” I rub my cheek against his shoulder.

His hands linger at my waist as though he is afraid to touch me. “Will you… touch me?”

His question pierces my soul, and I weep. We’re alive, but at what price? What kind of world will Kaya and Iroh inherit? What dangers lie ahead? I cannot linger on my doubts. My mother always told me that life is for the living. It is time I listen to her words.

“Make love to me,” I say, wrapping one of my legs around him and rubbing against him suggestively.

He growls, grasping my waist and pulling me closer. His kiss is primal and desperate. He’s close. I can feel his need nestled against my stomach. Breaking the kiss, he falls to his knees and lifts me. His tongue darts across my aching nipples and draws them into his mouth. His flesh pierces mine, making us one.

--

The warmth of her body and the cool caress of the river’s water surround me. I feel as though I may split in two. She holds onto my shoulders and bucks against me, the slide of her feminine heat sending spirals of untold delight through me. The tide threatens to carry us away, and I twist so that we become part of it.

The sound of the water and flesh are all I hear. The persistent call of the comet is drowned out. The pressure of release builds. Katara writhes on top of me, grinding her core onto my shaft. Watching her is nirvana. Feeling her body constrict around mine pulls me closer to the elusive edge. Clutching her hips, I rock into her and moan.

I’m here in her arms, not floating in the sky with malevolence in my heart.

I’m whole.

I cling to my memory and realize that I loved this woman even then. The gift that she has given me is immeasurable. She knows who I was and who I am. Love and acceptance shine brightly in her eyes. Clutching her to me, I bury my face against her shoulder and surrender to the ecstasy.

As I squander my seed within her, the peace I have embraced shimmers around me, and memories flood into my mind. People and places are known to me. My sins…

“Oh Agni! What have I done?” I hiss, holding on to Katara, for she is my lifeline.

“Zuko?”

Tears flow down my cheeks. My head aches as remembrance is forced upon me. “I never meant to hurt you,” I rasp, barely able to catch my breath.

“No, no, no,” she pleads, realizing I have remembered everything and brushing my tears away with her lips. “Not like this. That wasn’t you. You did it to protect us. You saved Sokka… and me.”

I tremble, my cruelty toward her during our captivity etched upon my recovered memories for all times. I am humbled by her forgiveness. “I don’t deserve it.”

--

We are still intimately connected, like two interlocking parts destiny has seen fit to create. I grasp his head and force him to look at me. “That wasn’t who you were, Zuko. That isn’t who we were. Don’t let the bad memories overshadow the good.”

His eyes are glassy.

“Are you in pain?”

He nods, and I summon my element to heal him, but I know that it will take much more than Waterbending to heal him.

It will take time.

--

End Act III

Author’s Notes—And so ends Act III. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. The story isn’t completed. Act IV is the final act. With the start of school and extracurricular activities for my son, I won’t have the time that I normally do to work on this story. If I must, I beg for your patience. It shall be rewarded in time.

God Bless!
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Bitter Alliance