When the back door of the Air Temple opened, snow swirling into her face with an icy sting, cold gripping her, the biting wind whipping her hair and worn robe behind her, she wasn't sure it was really him. Her heart leaped into her throat, blocking the scream that had threatened her mouth. The bitter winter chill battered at her, snow collecting on her eyelashes as it swirled into the fire-warmed kitchen. He stared at her hungrily from the cold, his robes flapping in the wind. Over his shoulder, one of the Air Acolytes waited with chapped cheeks and a slightly panicked look.

"Fire Lord Zuko—" the Acolyte started, but Zuko waved him off with a gloved hand.

"Thank you, that'll be all." The servant nodded and disappeared back to his post, probably glad to be rid of the burden of entertaining the Fire Lord.

"Zuko?" she squeezed out around her thumping heart. She reached for him, fingers closing over his bulky wrist. He was wearing a thick furry robe and gloves. He wasn't wearing a hat, however and his black hair was dusted with snow. As she pulled him into the Temple's dim kitchen, she could see his ears were as red as his scar and his cheeks were chapped by the wind. His lips were a bit blue.

"Suki?" Zuko said, gripping her shoulders as if to steady himself. "What are you doing here? I…I thought you were on Kyoshi Island."

She slipped from his icy grip and closed the door behind him, shutting out the blizzard with a whistle of wind and a flurry of snow that settled in her hair. She turned back to him and saw he was pulling his gloves off. His hands beneath were white with cold and she noticed he was shaking like crazy. He was looking at her like he'd never seen her before in his life.

"Aang and Katara asked me to visit," she said softly. "Katara had the baby yesterday. They…they told me you might come."

He blinked several times, flicking snow from his black lashes. "I missed the birth? What did she have?"

"A girl. They named her Kya. She's beautiful. Where's your retinue?"

"I came alone." He wiped at his face, looking as weary as she had ever seen him. "I just wanted to be Zuko for a while, not the Fire Lord. I'm sure I startled that Acolyte when I arrived on the island. He thought I was an assassin until he saw my face."

She found her voice with some difficulty. "So…how have you been?"

Zuko caught her eye and she had to look away. His expression said it all. They stood there awkwardly for a moment and then he found his voice. "Is Sokka here?"

"No. He took Appa to get Toph yesterday. They're not back yet. They're probably delayed because of the storm." Or something else delayed, she thought, though not as bitterly as she might once have.

"And are you and he…?" Zuko's voice broke a little and she winced. He wasn't beating around the bush. He hung his head as he waited for her answer.

"No. We're…we're not."

"Good." His head shot up, and his yellow gaze flared with emotion. Emotion that scared her. She took a moment to look at him—really look at him. And what she saw broke her heart. His face was blue with days old stubble and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes. In the four months since she'd last seen him, he'd somehow aged several years. The worries of the world had crashed down on him. No wonder he had wanted to escape being the Fire Lord for even a moment. She'd seen first hand how the mantle weighed on him. She'd been there to ease it once….

"Is that why you're here?" she asked frankly, with a bite of anger in her voice. He looked away again. She remembered the last time she'd seen him, the night before she'd headed back to Kyoshi Island. The night of the fight. The night he'd told her… She shuddered at the wicked memory, the familiar scent of his body against hers…

"I came for Aang and Katara. But I wanted to see you. I wanted to apologize for what happened. The fight…" He looked up, his eyes boring into hers as he searched her face. Suki's stomach fluttered in that all-too-familiar way. She gripped the edge of the table hard in her hands, willing herself not to feel. It was impossible.

"We shouldn't talk about that here."

"Suki…I…we…"

"We should turn in," she said, cutting him off.

Zuko stepped forward, his gaze stormy. "Suki—"

"Katara made up one of the guest rooms for you." And she strode toward the door, leaving him behind. "Are…are you coming?"

"Yeah," Zuko said, his voice subdued.

"Be quiet on the stairs. Don't want to wake anyone up… Especially the baby. Kya's got a set of lungs on her."

They crept upstairs; Suki was very aware of Zuko's burning gaze on her, his breath hot on her neck. What did he want from her? She hadn't seen him in four months and she wasn't supposed to be thinking about him. The night she'd left he'd made that very clear. She hadn't done a very good job of that. Her every thought was filled with him and seeing him here made everything that much more confusing. And then there was the fact that he was here. And looking at her like he wanted nothing else…

She couldn't do this. It had been hard enough, pretending in front of their friends, but now that he was here she didn't know what to do, or what to feel. That was nothing new. Her life was filled with men who confused her.

She and Sokka had barely spoken to each other the whole time she'd been on Air Temple Island. She hadn't known what to expect when she'd arrived. Would she and Sokka fall back into each others arms the way they had for so many years? Or had things changed past the point of repair? She honestly hadn't been sure which one she'd wanted. Ever since she and Zuko had started sleeping together, her feelings had become muddled and hard to grasp. And then there was Sokka… He'd been kind to her, but distant, as if he were hiding something from her. She had her suspicions what; any time someone mentioned Toph, Sokka blushed behind the ears. She was even more confused by the fact that his blush didn't upset her.

Then here was Zuko. He made everything that much harder. She'd been his bodyguard, and lover, for months. He was her best friend…but things between them had changed too. She had left him after he'd told her that he loved her. She'd been so confused, wracked with guilt and unanswered questions. Zuko had called her a coward and told her not to come back. And that he hoped she and Sokka were happy together. The parting had hurt her in ways she hadn't quite grasped, not even when her whole body had ached to feel Zuko's warm arms around her.

He'd been right about one thing that night. She was a coward. She was afraid of him. Afraid of her feelings. Afraid of things changing.

She gripped the bannister hard as she climbed the stairs. She was so distracted by her thoughts that foot slipped. Zuko was suddenly there, keeping her steady, his body nearly covering hers. She exhaled, aware of how hard her heart was beating in her ears. Her whole body seemed to shiver as his hands touched her.

"Careful," Zuko whispered, much too close. His eyes were on her mouth. "You might fall."

I already have, Suki thought mournfully. She extracted herself from his arms and all but ran up the stairs. She hit the corridor and he was only a step or two behind. "Well, this is me. Your room is two doors down."

"I don't want to sleep right now," Zuko said simply, his gaze on her mouth. He stepped forward and she nearly sighed in relief when his hands cupped her fae, thumbs sweeping across her cheeks. She practically melted into him. "I want you."

"We can't. Not here," she whispered, but Zuko was already pushing her backward, moving her toward her bedroom.

"I don't care. Tell me to stop and I will," he mumbled against her mouth, but she couldn't form the words. They walked backward, her hand clenched in Zuko's robes, pulling him with her just as much as he was pushing her backward. He reached around her and opened the door, practically shoving her inside. She wasn't surprised when Zuko shut the door behind him, the lock clicking softly into place. His eyes glittered in the dark, a gleaming topaz that drew her in and made her breath hitch in her throat.

"Zuko," she started, her voice barely a whisper. He closed the distance between them and his hand went to her hair. "What are you—-?"

But she knew. Her whole body shuddered with the knowledge, with her need for him.

"I know we shouldn't. Not here… But I missed you. I can't sleep, I can't eat. I hate myself for the things I said to you, for driving you away. I thought I could handle seeing you again, but I was wrong. I want you," he choked out, his teeth catching on his lower lip. His thumb swept the curve of her jaw. He was going to kiss her. She knew he wanted to, but that was dangerous. If he kissed her, she wouldn't be able to stop kissing him. She'd let him do anything and judging by the look in his eyes, he would do anything. Had done all these wonderful things to her before…

She had to stop them, to stop herself. The other times had been safer, more secretive. It had been just them, alone in the Fire Nation. Now her friends was sleeping around them. It was too dangerous.

"Zuko, we just can't—" Suki turned around, her heart beating madly in her chest. It was easier not to look at him. If she looked at him, at that gleam of lust in his eyes…

Suddenly, his arms encircled her from behind, pulling her tightly against his chest. She felt his breath at her ear, warm and heavy. His scent filled her up, making her knees shake. He smoothed the flat of his palms over her firm stomach; she could feel the heat of his hands through the thin fabric. Heat of her own sparked low in her belly, melting her senses. "Zuko—"

"Shhh…" he whispered against her ear, rubbing his hands up her ribs. She placed her hands on his, feeling the tremble in his limbs as it infected her. "I never stop thinking about you. Never. I hate that you left me. That I let you go. I hate sleeping in that big bed without you."

Her eyes closed as his voice rumbled through her back, his breath inches from her ear. "I missed you too. So damned much…"

His nose brushed the column of her neck and goosebumps rose up over her skin. A second later his mouth closed on her earlobe, softly, reverently. His tongue darted out, a hot, wet slither that made her move into him. He landed kiss after gentle kiss on her neck, which she arched to the side, wanting more. Liquid pleasure raced throughout her body from the places where he touched to the tips of her curling, bare toes. His days old stubble rasped pleasantly against her.

His mouth trailed to her jaw, his teeth grazing, tongue darting, pulsating against her. Slowly, one of his hands crept higher, molding over the soft swell of one of her breasts. Her nipples were already hard, poking poutily through the thin fabric of her nightgown, but as he ran his thumb over the pointed peak, her body gave a twang. She arched her back, her buttocks crashing back against his crotch.

He cupped her breast in his thin, square hand, kneading, making jolts of pleasure spiral through her. Then his hand slipped into the bodice of her cream-colored nightgown, hot skin against hot skin. Almost daintily, he touched her, rolling her nipple against his palm, plucking at it with his fingertips as his kisses increased in their intensity. Suki clung to him, her mouth open, breathing softly as he kneaded her breast.

The Temple was quiet around them; she could hear the blizzard outside the window, snow hissing against the glass, wind howling in the eaves. Distantly, she thought she heard a tree limb break. His teeth sunk into her shoulder, where her robe had slipped down her arm. She gasped and then stifled the sound; she didn't want anyone to wake up, not now…

She turned in his arms and they looked at each other, burning gazes connected. Zuko's lips were wet and open. He took her hand in his, lifting it to his mouth. He kissed the back of her hand gently, then turned the palm upward. His mouth lingered there as well, making her entire body shake. He kissed her wrist, his nostrils flaring as he breathed her in. His eyes closed for a moment, then opened, fixing her in his hot stare. With the hand he was holding to his mouth, she caressed her fingertips across his lips, feeling the wetness, the soft swells of flesh. Zuko suckled each fingertip into his mouth, tongue swirling against the tips, making her breath squeeze tight in her chest at the sucking sensation, which caused eddies of pleasure to twang down the nerves in her arm.

With the same hand, she cupped his stubbled cheek, sliding down his shoulder to his hand again. She bit down on her lip, looking at their linked fingers. When she looked up, Zuko was watching her, the burning, eager look on his face alive and flaming.

"It was killing me…imagining you and him… Knowing I shouldn't be jealous, but… But I couldn't stop. Suki…"

"Shhh…" she said, shaking her head, because things were suddenly less confusing. Hadn't she realized that the moment she and Sokka had seen each other again? The spark wasn't there anymore. There was only him. Only Zuko. "We didn't… We haven't. It's you. Dammit, Zuko, it's you… I couldn't get you out of my head. I shouldn't have left. I was being a coward. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

His hands once again threaded around the trunk of her body, pulling her flush with him. Suki slid her hands up his arms, winding them around his neck, fingertips sinking deep into the unruly bramble of his dark hair. Without words, she tilted her mouth upward.

"I love you," Zuko said and then he kissed her, mouth sliding over hers with a rasp of stubble and sweet, eager breath.

Gently, they moved together, his tongue darting out, heavy and hot, sliding inside the cavern of her mouth, against the velvety inner lining of her lower lip and across the even edge of her teeth. Suki's tongue slithered against his, drawing him deeper inside, reveling in the texture and taste of him spreading over her tongue; it was like fire and sunlight.

The kiss didn't seem to have an end; one kiss melted slowly into another until she was aching for air, aching in her middle. The darkness shrouded them, stealing reality like a thief. Zuko's hands were spreading up her back, rubbing gently, holding her as close to him as was possible. Her breasts were crushed to his chest, nipples erect and rubbing like pebbles. His hands mapped up her trunk, skimming the sides of her breasts and hooking in the thick folds of her robe. She didn't regret its loss as he pulled it down her arms. She shrugged it off and it pooled at her feet in a puddle of faded green silk.

Zuko's hands rested at her waist, fingertips kneading down toward the gentle, round swell of her buttocks. She didn't care; he could touch her anywhere he wanted and he knew it. Their tangled mouths parted, heads buzzing from lack of air. Zuko's mouth descended on her shoulder again and she let her tongue sweep out, curling around the shell of his ear.

Her fingers deftly opened buttons on his red robes, sliding in against his warm, whipcord chest. She smoothed her fingers up his ribs, around to his bent back, clutching him to her. Her teeth grazed his pulse point and she heard him hiss softly, his lips making wet prints all over the round of her shoulder. One finger was hooked in the strap of her nightdress, threatening to pull the slinky material down to expose her breasts. She nearly moaned at the promises he was making.

A moment later he pulled her bodice down and cold air swirled over her suddenly exposed breasts, making her already taut nipples pucker in anticipation. He bent, his mouth closing over one pale pink peak, pulling it between the strong, soft plush of his lips. His tongue, hot, wet and rough, swirled around her areola, making her back bow toward him. Almost hungrily, he kissed and licked at her, his hands cupping both her breasts, bringing them together, where he buried his face, his breath moist against her rapidly flushing skin.

Her fingers curled in his hair, his robes gaping open, revealing his chest. She realized, dimly, that Zuko was sinking to the floor on his knees. She blinked, looking down at Zuko, whose eyes were still blazing. There was dark intent etched over every line and curve of his face as he clutched her hips.

He wanted her. And he was going to have her.

His desire was clearly written in his eyes, in the way his tongue lashed across his lips and the way he held her against him. He began his tender assault on her stomach, through the thin material of her gown. His mouth left wet prints everywhere and she could feel the heat of his breath as it whispered across her belly.

His fingers worked beneath the hem of her nightgown, curling up her thighs to the sides of her underclothes. Suki weaved her fingers through his hair, holding him to her, her eyes closed, lips bruised and wet from his kisses.

She couldn't take it any longer; he was touching her, worshiping her. He was mumbling her name against her belly. Her panties were wet and only growing more so, a tickle-trickle that made her breath tighten in her throat. She wanted him to touch her there, put his mouth to her damp flesh and kiss her the way he was kissing her stomach. To continue where they'd left off months ago.

Zuko pushed her onto the bed in a sitting position. She wrapped her legs around his ribs and brought him in for a blistering kiss, her arms around his neck. His tongue darted into her mouth, opening it wide and suckling her tongue into his. His hands were on her round hips, working up beneath her nightdress, which was almost off of her body. One of his hands slipped between her legs and dived beneath her soaked underclothes.

Suki gasped against his mouth and he looked up into her eyes. She nodded, biting down on her bruising lips. Zuko trailed his mouth back down to her breasts, his tongue flicking against her. The hand in her panties glided past the damp brown curls and into the wet, liquid heat between her legs. His fingertips grazed her clitoris and she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out.

Then Zuko's fingers moved down, parting her dripping folds and sliding into the tightness of her body. She seized up around his fingers, clutching his shoulders as she perched on the edge of the bed, Zuko between her thighs, his mouth on her breasts. She dragged her hips upward, impaling herself on his thrusting fingers. Zuko pulled the tip of one breast into the heat of his mouth; he suckled and rolled her nipple as he worked his fingers inside of her. His questing thumb grazed her clitoris again and she spread her legs even further. Zuko let go of her breast with a bounce, lips attaching to the underside. His free hand hooked in the sides of her panties and she knew what he was going to do.

She welcomed it, when he withdrew his fingers and looked up into her eyes again.

She helped him pull her panties off, lifting her hips off the edge of the bed and pulling up one leg so that he could slip them off. They dangled around her left ankle, the last vestiges of her modesty. Zuko smoothed his hands up her thighs, leaving a wet trail behind. Trembling, Suki settled back against the bed, her thighs spread open, her nightgown up around her hips.

Zuko bent and lifted her rear up, one hand closing on the swell of her buttocks, the other probing her weeping center again. She felt his breath stir the silky hair between her legs and then, with a jolt, his lips closed over the swollen mound of her clitoris. His tongue darted against her wet flesh, sliding flat-tongued up and down, grazing like a hot snake. Then he narrowed his tongue and applied a twisting pressure with the tip that made her hips bounce upward, fiery explosions crashing through the recesses of her body.

She bit down on the curl of her fist to keep herself from crying out. Zuko continued to lick at her, making her hips circle, as he worked two fingers back inside of her body. Everything below her waist was coiling upward as Zuko made love to her with his mouth and his fingers. He massaged her tight channel, pushing his fingers all the way inside of her until she was arching high off the edge of the bed, her breasts bouncing, nipples erect and aching in the air.

He hit a particularly sensitive spot and she cried out, sitting up on her elbows, watching as his head moved between her thighs, his tongue flashing and flicking. His fingers began to pound into her, first to the joint, then to the knuckles. She was stretched taut around him, a burn slowly simmering up out of her. Pleasure insistently breathed down her neck as her head went back, mouth open, sharp need racing through her.

Zuko worked his tongue more furiously as his fingers massaged her core. Suki clutched at his hair, her hips crashing upward. When she came it was like a firework exploded in her skull. Her nerve endings blasted her back off her elbow; her shoulders crashed to the mattress and she let out a throaty little cry, her thighs clamped on Zuko's head. His tongue still moved against her. His fingers slowed to a halt as she ground her hips downward with the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Suki was all liquid as she felt Zuko pull his fingers from her body. She could feel his own need now as he pressed into her, licking up her breasts to her mouth. That need was making him moan softly in his throat, and was hindered by his pants. He fumbled for her hand and placed it against the hard outline of his cock. Touching him there, feeling the hardness, made her head spin. She wanted to touch and taste him, to make him feel that steady rush instead. She pushed him back to sit on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Suki—"

She looked up at him and shook her head as she gripped his hips in her hands, holding him in place. His robes were open, gaping and showing her the wonderful expanse of his chest. Her mouth went to his stomach and she trailed lazy kisses across his skin, her face buried in the coarse hair wending downward. His hand weaved in her hair, holding her close to him.

Her hands molded against the obvious tent of his erection, an erection she'd felt from the moment that he'd put his arms around her. Without hesitating, without thinking, she unlaced his breeches. Zuko's stomach contracted as she dipped her hand inside, pulling his cock free. His pants sagged on his narrowed waist as she looked at what his hips were cradling. He was flushed red and purple, heavily veined and hard. There was a glimmer of wetness glistening on the end of his cock.

Suki slid her fingers down his soft length, from the blunt purple head to the nest of dark curls at the root. Zuko was breathing hard, his hips twitching. She looked up to see him watching her, his mouth opened slightly. Her tongue darted out of her mouth and very slowly, she circled the head of his cock, licking away the pearly drop of semen, gently massaging the slit. Her fingers continued to pump him, circling hard at the root. She sucked on the end, applying pressure with her lips; she loved the taste and the smell of him as both sensations assaulted her. Very slowly, she slid her mouth down his length, feeling the raised ridges of his veins as they passed her lips. Her tongue undulated against the underside of his cock; Zuko let out a deep, stuttering breath as she did so. He seemed to be shaking in place on the bed, his knees quaking against her ribs.

He touched the back of her throat and she worked her head back, moving in a corkscrew motion, lips sealed tightly. She made sure her teeth didn't graze him either. Again and again she went down on him, her hands on his hips. Zuko didn't make a sound and she was grateful; she was already terrified someone would hear the soft, pleased noises she was making as she shaped him with her mouth. The hand in her hair urged her to go faster and even though her jaw was aching, she increased her speed, nose buried in the hair on his belly. Suddenly, Zuko wrenched her head off of him and rolled with her. They both landed boneless on the floor with twin thumps that sounded way too loud for the stillness of the Air Temple.

"Oops," Zuko laughed awkwardly. He moved until Suki was sitting on his lap, his breath sweet with the scent of her.

She could feel his hard, saliva-slickened cock against the soft of her inner thighs, the laces of his trousers grazing. She shifted over his hard cock, straddling him, warm juice as thick as honey trickling down her thighs. Zuko's mouth left hers and he breathed heavily against her ear, holding her close. His cock nudged her damp folds; one of them need only to move and he would be inside of her.

Zuko smoothed a hand up her neck and to her chin, his fingers moving over her swollen, bruised lips. She suckled his fingertips into her mouth, looking at him openly, rawly. She knew what he wanted and she knew what she wanted. What had been set into motion the moment she'd opened the back door. With just a twitch of her hips…

"You're mine," she breathed and then sank down onto his hard length, making both of them grip each other. Suki ground her hips, her mouth on Zuko's ear, her breath making goosebumps shiver down his sides.

"Yes…" he breathed, tangling fingers in her hair, thrusting his hips upward and filling her. They were a mindless tangle of limbs then, moving and shifting, clothing twisted as hands scrambled for skin. They were mostly silent, the bitter wind moaning for them, taking the sounds they made and dispersing them. Zuko made love to her, slowly, thoroughly. As if he'd been dying to do it since she'd left. She knew how he felt. Her body craved his; the heat of his skin, the feel of his mouth, the friction of his hips against hers.

They rolled on the floor, Suki on her back, Zuko moving sharply into her, cutting a blistering, welcome path through her body. Their mouths connected and stayed. Hips rolled and crashed. Suki's backside began to burn from the contact with the carpet. She didn't care. Zuko stared into her eyes as he took her, a soft smile playing on his lips. That was her undoing. She couldn't stop kissing him, couldn't stop the way her hands dug into his lower back, pulling him against her. Completion was so close…but she wanted to prolong it as long as she could. She wanted Zuko for however long she could have him.

"I love you," she whispered as she took in air, sore and exhausted but wanting more. Zuko's smile was radiant then, letting his darkness ebb for a moment, then he resumed his forward momentum, his hands all over her body, opening her to him, taking her sharp and hard. Suki gave herself up to it, dimly aware of the storm growing stronger outside.

Zuko came first, the flat of his palms slamming into the floor, his body tensing high into hers. He shook all over, trying to keep his tongue as their bodies ground together. Suki followed swiftly, her back arching high off the floor, fingernails digging into him, her mouth biting down on his neck. It was exquisite pain, like hot lava on ice, steam and lightning. Orgasm took her as surely as Zuko had taken her and she let it slide over her with a hard thrust. Her body clamped around his, unable to let go. Not for an instant.

Slowly, they stilled, still connected, more one person than two. Zuko lowered himself down, covering her with warmth, his breathing erratic. His head came to rest on her chest. He kissed up her wet breasts to her mouth as their bodies relaxed into one another. She couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Her fingers slowly caressed his lower back as he slowly hardened inside of her again. A moan ripped out of her as he lifted his head and kissed her mouth, promising her more. So much more…

Zuko pulled himself up on his arms, his mouth leaving hers. They stared at one another in the darkness and the words she should have said months ago formed on her lips.

"I love you."

Zuko's smile was sated, full of love and lust and happiness. He lowered his head and kissed her slowly, thoroughly. When he pulled back, he was still smiling.

"Come home."

Suki nodded and kissed him again, lost in his fire as the Air Temple settled around them, huddled against the wind and snow. She couldn't feel the cold. Not here. Not with him. Not ever.

(end)