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Chapter Text

Katara stared out over the icy waters and felt calm wash over her. She had grown to love the Fire Nation Capital, with its winding streets and dramatic architecture, but she hadn’t been home in too long, and recently she had been yearning for the chilly air and stark beauty of the South Pole. It was spring, and though the coldest, darkest part of winter was over, there was the occasional snowflake on the breeze, and even though it was only the early afternoon the sun was low in the sky.

She sighed and smiled to herself, feeling the ocean spray tingle her cheeks and the wind catch her hair as the boat glided ever closer to her home. It really had been too long.

“Aren’t you cold?” came a voice behind her, making her jump half out of her skin.

Spirits, she’d never get used to how quiet he could be…

“Spirits, Zuko, you scared me!”

He chuckled and stood behind her, slipping his hands around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

“I’ll never understand how you can just stand here in the freezing wind and actually be happy,” he grumbled half-heartedly. “I’m genuinely surprised your hair hasn’t frozen.”

“Yes well, I’ll never understand why you have meetings in full Firelord gear with braziers and fire everywhere even when it’s sweltering outside…”

“Tradition is important, Katara,” he said, putting on his best impression of the High Fire Sage. She let out a snort of laughter, even though his impression was terrible.

“Are you really cold?” she asked with a small smirk, “Didn’t you once swim these very waters with nothing but your fancy firebending to keep you warm?”

“Just because I did it once doesn’t mean I want to do it again,” he grunted, “My hair did freeze.”

She laughed and turned to face him, leaning back on the railing, which was gilded, because otherwise how would you know it was the Firelord’s ship?

“Hang on, are you telling me that your stupid little ponytail froze solid?” she giggled, “Which way was it pointing?”

“You are mean .” He said, scowling and squeezing her waist where he knew she was ticklish. Then he sighed and she saw the smallest hint of a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. “And I don’t know which way it was pointing; I couldn’t see it.”

She laughed again, and this time he laughed with her. He turned her around again and wrapped himself around her, his warmth seeping into her skin even through their many layers. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple, and his breath on her face felt as if she was suddenly sitting next to a roaring fire. She shivered slightly and smiled as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

“Aren’t we supposed to be being subtle or something?” she murmured, “This is an official visit after all,”

“Sure,” he scoffed, sending another puff of hot air over her neck, “Subtle. Like everyone on the ship doesn’t know you haven’t used your bed since we set off.”

“I- we could have been working late…” she said weakly, getting more and more distracted by the tingling warmth of his breath and the smallest scrape of stubble on the sensitive skin of her neck.

“Sure,” he repeated, and even though she couldn’t see his face she knew he was smiling that little lopsided smile that still made her heart flutter.

It had been nearly two years since she had decided to stay in the Fire Nation with him, and while it wasn’t public knowledge per se, Katara had made her peace with the fact that the Ambassador and the Firelord were the worst kept secret in the Palace. They weren’t quite holding hands under the table in meetings yet, but there were a lot of ‘late nights working’ followed by ‘early starts’, and if anyone in the Court had a problem with it, it seemed they were happy enough keeping it to themselves. As for the Water Tribe, she doubted their secret had lasted a month once Sokka knew, and the conversation with her father hadn’t been fun, especially since it had ended up being via letters. Still, the last time he had visited the Fire Nation he had seemed fine, a little stiff around Zuko now, a few mildly suspicious glances at the two of them, but ultimately she knew that beyond the initial weirdness, her father had accepted it. This was proven when he’d asked in the last letter organising their official visit whether they would be requiring one hut or two. Katara had replied in no uncertain terms that they would absolutely be sleeping in separate huts, but she knew in her heart of hearts that the chances of that actually happening were low.

“Captain says we’ll be there tomorrow morning,” murmured Zuko against her hair, “Don’t suppose you’d be amenable to getting a bit of work done before it’s all diplomacy and official events?”

“And nosy relatives watching our every move?” she chuckled.

“I didn’t say that,” he said, but she could hear the smile in his voice.

“Uhuh,”

“So how about it, Ambassador?” he purred.

“Ambassador, is it?” she said quietly, turning to face him again with one hand on her hip.

“For the sake of subtlety,” he shrugged, smirking.

“Oh fine,” she said with an eye roll that she knew did nothing to disguise her own smirk. “Lead the way, Firelord. Let’s get some work done.”

***

Zuko’s cabin was so warm it was almost stifling, and they spent an indulgent and highly enjoyable few minutes peeling each other’s winter clothes off, layer by layer. She was eternally surprised at how many warm clothes someone who could literally heat the air around them with their breath needed just to be comfortable, but she let out a soft hum of appreciation when she finally reached the thin tunic that was the last barrier to them finally being skin to skin.

“I missed you,” he breathed against her lips.

“I slept here last night, it’s only been like five hours-”

“I don’t care,” he cut her off with a searing kiss to emphasise his point, and she grabbed the lapels of his tunic and pulled him back with her to fall onto the bed.

Their hands were slow, indulgent as they lazily divested each other of the last of their clothes. They weren’t in a hurry, and his hands left shimmering trails of pleasure over her skin as he took her apart inch by glorious inch. At some point she rolled them over, straddling him and leaning down to cover his torso with open mouthed kisses that made his cock twitch beneath her, one of his hands on her ass as the other tangled in her hair. She rolled her hips, and he thrust upwards, teasing at her entrance.

“ Zuko ,” she whispered, the smallest edge of desperation to her voice as they locked eyes.

His hands flew to her hips as she began to move, rubbing herself against him until it was too much, and he reached down between them to guide himself to her, thrusting slowly but firmly as she lowered herself onto his cock.

“Fuck…” he hissed, golden eyes fluttering closed as they both took a moment to relish the sensation.

He began to move, guiding her hips with his hands, and Katara moaned.

“Shh,” he murmured, “Close quarters, remember?”

“I know, it’s just- oh -” He had reached between them to stroke at her clit. “That’s not fair…”

He grinned and kept stroking, massaging in little circles as he moved inside her. She bit back another moan.

“I love you, Katara,” he hummed, reaching up with his other hand to cup her jaw. She turned her head and placed a kiss on his palm.

“I love you too,” she whispered, her voice high and breathy as the pleasure built. His thumb was teasing at her lower lip, and in a moment of sheer, wanton desperation, instead of letting out another moan she took it into her mouth, sucking hard as another spike of pleasure rolled through her.

“Oh fuck…”

She released his thumb with a small, wet pop.

“Shh,” she murmured, smiling, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at her for a second, before letting out another hiss of pleasure when she canted her hips.

She gasped as he began to move harder, deeper, and now he growled, but instead of shushing her, he just slid two fingers between her lips, holding eye contact the whole time. She was spiralling now, her awareness closing in until her entire world was their bodies moving together, the soft, wet noises that surrounded them and the insistent pressure of her own orgasm building.

She shuddered and whimpered, her tongue curling around his fingers as she felt herself falling apart.

“Come for me,” he growled.

The raw, wrecked quality of his voice was enough to make her shatter, and she was distantly aware of him cursing and tensing beneath her as he followed her.

***

It was later. She didn’t know how much later, but it was dark now, and they were twined together on top of his blankets as if they had all the time in the world. He was curling a lock of her hair around one finger as she felt his heart beat under her palm, just on the edge of sleep. She turned onto her side and he curled himself around her, one arm held around her waist protectively. There was the desk, impractically large for a cabin on a ship, covered in paper as usual, and of course, gilded. She smiled to herself, but something on top of all the paperwork caught her eye. A glint of silver, almost like his crown, but the wrong colour and shape. She shifted slightly and squinted. It looked like an ornamental comb, intricately detailed with a design she couldn’t make out, a few inlays just about visible that looked like they were made of the same sort of stone as her necklace…

Her heart stopped for a moment, and she propped herself up on one elbow, suddenly entirely awake.

“You alright?” he murmured sleepily, stroking her back and smothering a yawn.

“Um- yeah, yeah,” she managed, still staring at the comb. The candles were burning low, and she couldn’t get a clear look at it from this angle.

“Are you sure?” he asked, concern in his voice as he sat up slightly and followed her gaze, “I don’t- oh shit…”

“Zuko, is that-?”

“Shit, I was supposed to put it back…”

She sat up and saw that his good eye was wide, suddenly looking incredibly uncomfortable.

“Zuko?”

“Um-” he ran his hand through his hair distractedly, “It was- I mean, it was supposed to be a surprise…”

“Is-Is that for me?” she asked quietly, desperately willing her pulse to calm, willing herself not to overreact before she knew the whole story.

“I- well, I didn’t want- I know it’s supposed to be a necklace, but you’ve got your mother’s necklace, and I didn’t want to-”

“A necklace?”

He looked up at her, and in that moment she wasn’t sure if she’d ever loved anything as much as she loved him right now.

“Yeah,” he murmured, the tiniest thread of hope in his voice, “Like a- an engagement necklace,”

The sheer onslaught of emotion that Katara felt in the following seconds was overwhelming, and she let out a little nervous laugh as she felt a lump in her throat. Her chest was tight, and she desperately wanted to look back at the desk, but she was trapped here, in his gaze. Her voice was a wisp, thin and overwrought as she tentatively reached out to take his hand in hers to stop him from raking it through his hair.

“Zuko,” she breathed, “I- can I see it?”

“Sure, yeah, of course,” he stood up quickly, “It’s- I didn’t make it, I know you’re supposed to, but I’m- I’m not really the creative type, and-”

“Zuko, hush.”

“Yup.”

She took the comb from his hands carefully, turning it over in her hands. It was beautiful, a crescent moon in pale blue stone, encircled in silver with delicate silver waves rippling behind; the sign of the Water Tribe, and judging from the design, meant to be worn in her hair like the Fire Nation hairpieces. She felt the lump in her throat again, and willed herself calm.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, catching his eyes and smiling widely. “Zuko, this is- how long have you been-?”

“A while,” he said quietly with a shy smile, “I might have asked Sokka about some stuff…”

“You- you wrote Sokka just to ask him about-?”

“I um, I figured if anyone would know, it was him, and- well, historically he hasn’t exactly reacted well to surprises-”

“That’s true…”

There was a short silence, and Katara could swear she could hear both of their hearts pounding. She was suddenly very aware that they were both naked. She would have to come up with an alternate version of this story to tell everyone, a family friendly version where everyone was fully clothed at all times. Zuko sighed and reached out with a shaking hand to sweep her hair over her shoulder, swiping away a rebellious tear on her cheek.

“Katara, I- I wish I had a proper speech planned, I was supposed to put it away again and do this properly, when-”

“Shh, Zuko, just-” she could see the sheen of tears in his good eye, and she let out a choked laugh, “It’s- this is perfect .”

“Wait, does that mean-?”

“Yes,”

“Yes?”

“Yes,” she nodded fervently, and pulled him to her, pouring everything she couldn’t put it into words into the kiss.

He sighed and she felt his shoulders relax for a second before he pulled her closer, kissing her so hard it almost hurt and cradling her cheeks in his hands as if he was worried she would disappear if he didn’t hold onto her.

“I love you so, so much,” he whispered when they finally pulled apart.

“I know,” she murmured, letting out a slightly teary laugh.

He kissed her again, this time dragging them both down back onto the bed, and she smiled against his lips, a wild, impossible joy taking her over.

The outside world awaited them, but in that moment it was invisible. One timeless moment, so perfect it shouldn’t exist. It might almost have been a dream, but as Katara felt his warm, solid presence besides her, she could see the reality stretched out before them, an infinity of perfect moments, together.