A/N: I'm going to be perfectly honest with you guys. My art is better than my writing. If any of you were brought here from Tumblr or DeviantArt, you'll know I've been creating art for this story for a while now. I've practiced with writing in the past, but I am no master of it. I have a feeling I might disappoint some because my skills are not up to par with each other. If I could offer a glimmer of hope in case these first few chapters put you off, stick around until chapter 4. You may start to like it then. If not, thanks for checking it out, at least.

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA. This fan fiction abides by fair use and is not-for-profit.

Elision: The process of joining together or merging things, especially abstract ideas.

Chapter 1

Unforgettable

…

Zuko doesn't know what's happening.

Actually…that's not true.

He's delirious and his mind feels sluggishly muddled, but he's not that far gone. He knows exactly what's going on right now. It's more like he doesn't know why it's happening. Why is he here? Why is she here? Why is he doing this? Why is she letting him? Why…

Everything around him is stifling. The hot air latches relentlessly to his skin and makes almost every breath he takes feel like he's face to face with a fire. It's too hot, even for a firebender like him who embraces the heat like it's second nature. He can't control this kind. But then...he's not sure he wants to in the first place.

A bead of sweat runs down his neck and across his back as hands dig into his shoulders. He can feel a slight tremor in them as they pull him desperately against the body below him.

He doesn't know why this is happening…

As he tries to chase down the reason, his pursuit for clarity is interrupted when flickers of something flash before his eyes. Are they memories? Another part of this strange dream? He's not quite sure. They tug his attention inward and the scene before him morphs.

One second, he's standing on top of a hill, heart pounding and looking out at a sea of sand and a blazing sunset. Or is it a sunrise? Then, he's running through unrecognizable streets at night; a constant stream of colorful lights flying past him. He's lost, confused, afraid and he doesn't know why. His swords are gone and he can't focus enough to firebend properly. He'll hurt someone. He'll burn the children he's running past if he's not careful.

The scene changes again. It's daylight surrounding him now, but both the sun and the moon are beating intense light down on him. He wonders how that's possible. A crescent moon in the sky shining as big and bright as the sun it seems to be devouring? Ridiculous, but…there they are, right in front of him.

Beneath the heat, he stumbles around and swears to himself that all forms of sand are going to be illegal in the Fire Nation from now on. It burns his feet, it throws his balance off, and, worst of all, it never ends. He tries to tighten his fist in frustration but is stopped by something he holds. It's heavier than it's supposed to be and the damned thing feels like it's the very reason his feet are failing him and sinking further into this desert pit. As his eyes begin to droop and the sand begins to consume him entirely, he's brought back to reality when a smaller hand grabs his wrist.

Things are even hazier after that. It turns into something not with scenes of sunsets or streets, but just a faded light. And it's unlike anything he's ever seen before. The warm amber color behaves like a shadow in front of him, but he knows it's not his. It's much too small and moves with a sort of grace he's nowhere near capable of. The shades of red and blue surrounding it bend and twist as it lithely moves side to side, near and far, closer and closer to him.

Then, something changes. As it gets near him, a pair of shining yellow eyes appear and stare up at him. He suddenly can't take his own eyes from them. This little pillar of light is drawing him in, but why? It's surely just some trick of his mind…

Sand. Streets. The sun and the moon. A light.

And now this.

It feels only slightly more real than whatever that was that just flashed before his eyes.

She's laying beneath him on top of messy sheets of dark gold and purple. But everything is red. Red shades cover all the lanterns and it makes her dark skin turn an alluring shade of bronze. Like the hue surrounding them, she's completely flushed. He can't see it in the low light, but he can feel it.

Her skin is hot as he buries his face in her hair, cheek to cheek. As if his senses aren't being assaulted enough, her familiar, tantalizing scent mixed with – what is it she's wearing? Jasmine? – is not helping his attempt to pull his scattered thoughts together. And, Agni, the way she's grabbing onto him is making it even harder to focus.

It's that sensual way she's wrapped him in and the shivers it brings that shock him into the tiniest amount of clarity.

'What is…?' he wonders loosely.

It takes incredible effort to momentarily pry himself from her – both from how weak he feels and how…convincing those hands at his back and lips at his ear are. He cracks his eyes open through loose black hair to do some much-needed investigating and is nearly floored with what he finds. If his blood wasn't already running hot, it would have frozen still from seeing her. There's a waterbender he recognizes, naked and wanting beneath him.

Beneath him. There's something very wrong with this realization, but…what is it, exactly? One instinct is telling him to detangle himself from this situation as fast as humanly possible, but another is whispering to do the exact opposite. Pull her closer. Don't let her get away.

He doesn't know which side to listen to. His in no state of mind to make any sort of coherent decision. Even so, through the thick fog he's trying to navigate, the sense that 'this is wrong' is blaring like an alarm. He knows he needs to stop. Now, before it's too late. Stop before she opens her eyes and sees it's him.

He starts to slow and lean back. Bits of awareness appear – he can see his rationale and a clearer mind coming back to him as if it were a growing light in the distance. But just as he's about to grab hold of it, the woman pressed against him does something that pulls him back into the murky darkness.

He doesn't have a weak mind. He's the godsdamn Fire Lord. Mental fortitude is something he mastered long ago in the political viper pit he's in charge of these days. Yet, it's no match for her antics. It takes only one moment of her tightening her legs around him and jerking him back onto her, closer, for him to forget why he was reaching for clarity at all.

The world spins as he lightly groans, wholly not expecting the electrifying feeling that just went through him. Blissfully dizzy, he doesn't move and impatient hands slide up his shoulders. She tilts her head up and runs her warm lips against his jaw and, well, it's all the encouragement he needs.

It's all it takes.

Has he always been this easily seduced?

He wonders only briefly before deciding he doesn't give a damn about the answer.

The voices of reason drop from his mind like letting go of a heavy stone in his hands. Then they turn to dust when she plants a small kiss on his neck and ghosts her hands so devilishly across his pecs. Zuko's not sure if it's her actions in general or the fact that it's her doing them that obliterates his train of thought. Who knew this always fierce, yet innocent-looking waterbender had such…persuasive skills?

'More,' is all he can think as need and desire pool in his gut, suddenly eager to find out what other tricks she's willing to use on him.

He's moving again before he realizes it. The pleasure he felt before was nothing compared to what it is now. It's sending sparks throughout his whole body, and he can't remember a time he's ever felt like this.

'More.'

She seems to be enjoying it as much as him. Her nails briefly dig into the skin on his back and he responds by grabbing one of her wrists and pinning it down on the sheets.

He wants to fall back on top of her and press his face into her neck, but instead, he looks down, and this time he actually looks. And Agni, she's beautiful. The sight of her bared neck, her parted lips, those athletic legs wrapped around him – he almost loses it at that moment. But he stops himself. He's suddenly feeling impossibly greedy. This only just started and he's far from ready to let this experience end.

He slows the pace again and she gets frustrated. Before she can protest, he leans in and takes her swollen lips, giving her a sloppy kiss.

It's pretty careless, almost like an awkward first kiss. No good at all…he knows he can do better. He can do so much better.

Fighting the haze in his mind, he kisses her again. This time, with precision. She seems almost surprised at first, but it isn't long before she responds. She tries to pull her pinned hand free, but he keeps the hold nice and tight, so she uses her free one to run her fingers through his hair.

She doesn't let the slow pace go on for very long. While trying to pull him closer, she speeds up their kiss, coaxing him through her lips. Her enthusiasm is a nice surprise, and it's hard to not get swept away by her. He's more than tempted to give in, but he's the one in charge here and, right now, he wants to keep it nice and slow. A barely audible groan of frustration lets him know her patience is wearing thin.

She keeps struggling, so he bites her lip and it immediately makes her go slack with surprise. He runs his tongue across her lower lip before nibbling at it again, and a muffled moan he hasn't heard yet escapes her. At the same time, her body trembles against him.

Her lively reaction goes straight to his head and messes with his thoughts in a way he doesn't expect. The level of self-satisfaction he feels is outrageously criminal. So much so that he wants to do it again. He wants to see if he can get her to make that noise again for him…

Determined, he leans back to run his lips across her cheek and to her jaw, deliberately teasing her. He finally frees her as both of his hands start to move. They were trapped at her sides doing nothing for too long. It seems such a waste to leave them there.

However, before he can touch her, his hand momentarily hovers just a breath away from her skin. There's a mix of the need to be somewhat chivalrous and a sliver of doubt stopping him. He waits for her permission even though it doesn't make any sense to ask for it with how far they've gone already. Still, he feels like he needs some sort of reassurance.

She gives it almost right away, or so he thinks. It's hard to misunderstand the way she keeps trying to pull him closer, or the look of bliss and need he sees as her blue eyes look into his.

Slowly, he grabs her thigh and travels upward, keeping his lips busy on her neck. She squirms and tries her best to make him speed up, but he likes this too much. The second his hand stops just below her breast, he pauses, then runs a thumb teasingly across the bottom. She arches her back, pressing them chest to chest.

His attention is shot for a moment.

His hands start moving faster, touching whatever he can as skillfully as he can. The more she writhes, the more fearless and devious he becomes. What he does next is beyond ruthless, especially since it's so obvious what she wants. He pushes his hips against her in the most frustrating way there is, keeping his movements just barely slow enough to make her lose her composure.

He feels on top of the world when she finally makes the noise he was trying to elicit. She whines for him, pulling at his shoulders again and begging him to drop the teasing and continue what he put on hold.

He's cruel and doesn't follow her wish. He's not done yet.

Heat is surrounding him again. His head spins as he lightly bites her lower neck, almost her shoulder, and the temptation is too hard to resist. He sucks hard for a few seconds, making her gasp and dig her nails into him. He pulls back and feels, once again, more satisfied than he should.

He's not sure if it's a figment of his imagination or if he really is smirking as he moves to another spot to tease. Where exactly is he going next? He doesn't know yet and that's what excites him. He's willing to spend the rest of the night…or day…or whenever the hell it was finding out what made her tick. All those dirty little reactions – they were going to be his by the time they were done. All of them.

A muffled laugh slips through his lips at his own thoughts. He can't remember the last time he felt this confident and domineering in the bedroom. Then again, he's not sure if he's ever had a partner as sensual as the one currently clinging onto him, pressing her soft chest against him, scrambling his thoughts with every needy noise she made.

His lips move downward, but before he gets to the spot he wants to go, she stops him with a hiss of displeasure. He's pushed away and left to stare down at a very unhappy waterbender. Dazed and panting, a glare has replaced her once half-lidded eyes.

He's about to knock her hands away and continue where he left off, but suddenly, there's a foot on his chest.

He's positive she puts in every ounce of strength she has when she practically kicks him back. It doesn't hurt and he's far too delirious to stop her or try to catch his fall for that matter.

What does hurt is when his back hits something, a headboard maybe or a wall, and his head slams into the hard wood. His ears ring, his hand flies up to grab the back of his head, and a pained groan escapes his throat.

'Damn,' he thinks. 'What was that for?'

They were having so much fun…

He sways slightly as he opens his eyes to look around. However, he doesn't get a half-decent look of the red room he's in before skin blocks his view – which is completely fine. Looking as unstable as he feels, the woman he had pinned down a moment ago gets on top of him and straddles his thighs. Then, he's immediately attacked with a messy, hot kiss.

He tries to fight it and push her away. He's not sure why, but he does.

She obviously has zero patience for his sudden I'm-playing-hard-to-get attitude and grabs a handful of his hair. He grunts when she tightens her grip to a point that it's painful to move. She slowly scoots closer to him until she's pressed close enough against him that it makes Zuko suck in a tight breath. Instantly, he regrets their break and wonders why he stopped all that to tease her.

This time, just as raw lust and need rip through his thoughts, she's the one who hesitates. It seems he has even less patience than her when it comes to something he wants. He grabs her hips and tries to pull her closer, but she won't let it happen.

Instead, with her hand still gripping him like a vice, she kisses his neck. And then…and then the image of the strong-willed yet secretly innocent girl he always pictured her as shatters when she starts deliberately pressing her chest against him and moving around in ways that are only meant to frustrate him. He's willing to bet every piece of gold he owns that she does it just to give him a taste of his own medicine. Being on the other end of the teasing, he decides, is not so enjoyable.

Lucky for him, miss impatient is still impatient and doesn't drag it out too agonizingly long.

His hands fall to his sides, palms pushed into the ground as she finally presses down on him. He gasps and she lets out a breathy moan he's decided is one of his new favorite sounds. He thinks she's going to let him go so he can move his head again, but her grip only tightens. His hand moves up her back to try and pry her fingers from him, but he gets distracted halfway up and trails a rough pattern up her spine instead. It makes her shiver.

All of that along with her ragged breathing, squinted eyes, and just this whole taking what she wants – he's already close again because it is the most erotic thing he's ever experienced.

When her hand finally releases him and slips back down to his shoulder, he takes a moment to kiss her neck again, resisting the temptation to get too carried away again. He realizes almost too late that position is no good for him. Actually, it's too good. It's a little too much for him and there are still a couple of things he wants to do before the end.

He quickly drops all pretenses of taking things slow. He's too far gone and feeling too wild with desperation for that kind of patience now. Learning all her little quirks will have to wait until next time…

He's not sure how he does it, but, somehow, he manages to get them both up and her back against the sheets. His lips find hers again and she wraps her arms around him to pull him close. His mind gets completely lost in the heat between them and it seems an impossibility that something could pull it away from her at the moment.

But something does.

In the throes of it all – the heat, the closeness, the fire in his veins – she does something unexpected. It's not another lustful move they've been pulling on each other up until now.

There's a moment of hesitation he senses from her and he pauses briefly, too. Her hand runs through his hair, but it's not rough and demanding like it was a minute ago. It glides down his face until it cups his cheek, her fingertips barely brushing against the scarred skin below his eye. It's…soft and slow. A caress he doesn't expect. Her other arm wraps around him just as slowly and she presses her cheek against his. Her lips are close, but it feels as though she's hesitant to kiss him. He can feel she wants to.

The change in energy from her is a little startling, but he doesn't let her go. There's something very intimate about the way she's holding onto him that he's never felt before. It sends a painful jolt through his chest. It feels safe, reassuring like he's the one who's needed, not the other way around.

It's a feeling he always cowers from. It's never safe. Fate usually rips it away from him when he needs it most. It's never worth it…

This time, though…it is. Letting go of the sting of fear is surprisingly easy. She makes it easy…

He wraps his arm around her with a sigh and gives her that kiss on the cheek she is hesitant to give him. Closing his eyes, he lets himself get lost in the feeling of her for as long as it would last.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Elision. Let me know your thoughts, if you have the time. The entire outline for this story is pretty much done, so I'll try and keep updates consistent. I'll be doing more art for this in the future as well.

If you want to follow the art for this story, follow me on DeviantArt or Tumblr.

See you next chapter! :)