Summary:Takes place between the Southern Raiders episode and the Ember Island one. Hormones and feelings become fuzzy for Katara after forgiving Zuko, while Zuko struggles with his own urges for the Waterbender.

^.~

AN:Hey, guys, it has been years since I worked up the courage and made time to write a fanfic. This is actually my first Zutara fanfic, so hopefully there will be at least somebody who will enjoy it. This idea has been floating around in my head for a couple of weeks now. I am trying not to make the characters too OOC, so wish me luck!

Yes, yes, I don't own Avatar, you know the drill.

"…but I am ready to forgive you."

Those words reverberated through Zuko's mind for the umpteenth time. The bed shifted as he turned from his stomach on to his back. A smile graced his face at the remembrance of that day: Katara had forgiven him. Ever since she had forgiven him, her attitude towards him changed. Not many words are exchanged between the two, but her comments to him were no longer laced with contempt and sarcasm.

A couple of weeks have elapsed since they encountered Yon Rha. At his insistence, Zuko led the gang to his abandoned home on Ember Island. It was a strange feeling knowing that the last time he was here Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai were present.

Mai.

He mentally cringed. Aside from the unplanned reunion with her at Boiling Rock, his thoughts did not lie with her since he joined the Avatar. To be truthful, the female entertaining his thoughts as of late was the Waterbender. In the beginning, he kept tinkering with various ideas to earn her acceptance. He could not tolerate the distrust she harbored for him. His mind was focused on trying to mend their fragile relationship from Ba Sing Se.

Even after she hugged him with arm opens and forgiveness, he continued to muse about her. He was not blind, Zuko has always been aware of her attractiveness, but it's different now. They were on the same side; she even smiles at him now! Zuko slapped his open palm on his forehead.

She would never be interested in me in that kind of way. She has the Avatar, and I am just a banished prince with a scarred face.

A slight knock on the door pulled Zuko from his self-deprecation.

He sighed and sat up with his back against the wall. "Come in."

Katara opened the door, allowing herself in. "Hey, dinner should be ready soon." Her response was met with a nod. Feeling awkward with the silence, she walked over to Zuko's bed and sat on the edge furthest away from him. She absentmindedly ran her fingers in a circular motion on the ruby colored, satin sheets. She eyes gazed upwards as she stated, "Your place is really nice. I'm surprised that besides the dust, everything is in mint condition." Her cerulean eyes traveled to meet his amber ones.

Oh, how he could get lost in those eyes…

"Oh, uh, thanks." He quickly berated himself for his inept ability to speak smoothly. Words were always a hit or miss with him, usually a miss. Remembering the second half of her statement he abruptly added, "Every time we left we had servants maintain the house in our absence. I guess when the servants realized that we weren't coming back they placed a tarp on a lot of the furniture to preserve it. Is your room to your liking?" He had hoped she would like the room he suggested for her. Her room had a vast window that lets the moonlight spill into the room. How ethereal she must look in her bed as the light of the moon caressed her skin. What does she wear to bed in the privacy of her own room? He groaned inwardly to himself at the possibilities. He really has to stop thinking like this.

She beamed at his question. "Oh! I love it! I just feel so peaceful at night. I can even hear the waves crashing at night. It's always nice to be near the water. Oh! I have to check on the food before Sokka eats it all!" Katara let out a sigh at her last statement. She stood up from his bed and exited his room.

Katara took brisk steps down the empty hallway. She placed her hand over her heart in attempt to pacify her heartbeat. Sometimes she cannot help it, but she would become very excited when she is near him. So, yeah, she could have easily sent Aang to let Zuko know that dinner would be served soon, but she had wanted to make an excuse to talk to him.

Ever since she met Zuko she has lost track of how many times she wished for his disappearance from the world. When he was the enemy, his face always provoked ire. She swore to herself to never forgive him after his betrayal at Ba Sing Se. Needless to say, she was fueled with rage when he tried to join the group, and was bitter when he actually became a member.

She moved her hand from her chest to her mother's necklace. Zuko offered her a chance for closure, and his actions spoke volumes to her. Once she did catch Yon Rha, Zuko did not pressure her to kill the murderer. Additionally, he did not judge her for sparing the pathetic, old man. Zuko respected her actions, and that touched her heart.

Just a few a weeks ago she resented him with a passion, but now this passion is one that makes her stomach perform flips. During Aang's firebending practice with Zuko, the Waterbender cannot help, but to compare their physiques with one another.

Aang was a slim boy with a minimal amount of muscles flexing as his fire punches the air. Zuko, however, had more muscle mass on his frame. His abdominal muscles and biceps are more defined. One of her favorite places to admire is his v-cut abs. La, what pleasures lie further down?

Katara shook her head and chastise herself for thinking of her newly acquired friend in such a lewd manner.

"There you are! Is the food ready yet? I am pretty hungry..." Sokka's comment snapped her out of her reverie. He patted his stomach to emphasis his hunger.

"Oh, be patient!"

"I don't know, Katara, he seemed to be looking at Momo a little too eagerly!" Toph had a smirk as she leaned against her chair with her head resting over her finger laced hands with her elbows bent outwards.

"I would never eat Momo! Besides, I did not look-HEY! Stop doing that!" Everyone laughed at Sokka.

"Sokka, you really have to stop falling for Toph's jokes." Suki giggled. She took a seat at the table next to her boyfriend.

"Don't worry about it, Sokka; you can't help the fact that I am a genius!" Toph grinned at herself.

Zuko entered the room, taking note that he was the last to join the group. Suki and Sokka sat on one side of the table, while Toph and Aang sat the opposite side. That left him either sitting next to Sokka or Aang. If he sat next to Aang, then that would mean he would have a front row view of the couple throwing goo-goo eyes at each other. He pulled the chair out next to Sokka.

"Okay! The food is ready." Katara carried a large tray with six bowls of stew. She passed out each of the bowls to her friends one by one.

When she gave Aang his bowl he put his hands over hers and expressed his thanks before taking his dinner from her grasp. Feeling a little uncomfortable with lingering stare from him she offered a small smile. "You're welcome, Aang."

Zuko did not miss the interaction between the two benders. Aang is obviously infatuated with the girl, but did she reciprocate his feelings? It didn't seem like it to Zuko. Or maybe he was trying to trick himself to believe that she isn't interested in the Avatar.

"Here you go." Katara placed the bowl in front of Zuko.

"Thanks, Katara. It smells delicious." Katara smiled at Zuko's compliment before taking her seat to enjoy her own dinner.

"You're welcome, and thanks. I am sure it doesn't match up to the finery of royal dinners though," Katara remarked as she swirled her stew with a spoon.

Sokka stuffed his face as he said, "Who cares? It's good!" one large gulped later he added, "Besides, who needs fine dining, when we are fine people? Am I right? Am I right?"

Katara chuckled, "I suppose so."

"Fine dining means nothing when you are eating with Azula and my father," Zuko's comment brought an unpleasant silence to the room. He resisted an urge to face palm himself. He really has to stop ruining moments. He cleared his throat, "It is nice to finally eat with people who can laugh." Feeling a little uneasy at his confession he went back to eating his meal.

Aang gave a warm smile. "It's good to have you here, Zuko."

The group started their own private conversations with one another. Zuko indiscreetly snuck glances at Katara throughout dinner. Her laughter was rich and pleasing to his ears. He was captivated with her lips whenever she blew on her dinner to cool it down. Her lips look so soft. Trying to distract himself, he decided to join Suki and Sokka's conversation on what makes flaming fire flakes so scrumptious.

Taking a break from conversing with Suki and Sokka, Katara studied Zuko as he spoke to the couple. She enjoyed hearing his deep voice. Katara noticed how shaggy his hair has gotten since she met him. Zuko has always been handsome, even with his ponytail, but she preferred his head full of hair.

Toph was teasing Aang when she felt two heartbeats increase exponentially. The Earthbender noticed that this has been a common occurrence between both Katara and Zuko as of late. Toph smirked.

She exclaimed, "Hey, guys, let's go out to the beach tonight!"

Everyone looked at each other for approval. They haven't had a night of real fun in awhile.

"Yeah, after all of the training I have been doing, I wouldn't mind a break," Aang was more than excited to spend the evening at the beach. The group nodded and broke out into wide grins.

"Let's go!" cheered Sokka. He grabbed Suki's hand and ran out to the beach.

Aang was about to make a comment to Katara before Toph interrupted him, "Come on, Twinkle Toes, we're going to make sand tanks and fortresses!" Toph wrapped her arm around his as she hurried him to the door. Aang shot an apologetic smile to Katara. Katara's eyebrow twitched.

"Ugh! I wanted to go out with them, but they left me with all of these dishes to clean up! I am not their mother," exasperated Katara. She closed her eyes and began massaging her temple.

Zuko seized this opportunity to remain on the Waterbender's good side as he started gathering all of the dishes. He managed to grab every bowl silently before she opened her eyes. He made his way toward the water basin in the corner of the room. Katara opened her eyes to ready to grab the bowls before she realized the table was empty. She turned around at the sound of swishing water. Zuko was doing the dishes for her.

Katara flicked her wrists to bend the water from the basin to remove the food particles from the bowl in Zuko's hands. Zuko heated his hands to dry off the bowl. Katara sauntered to the banished prince. They continued washing the rest of the dishes. He never had the need to use his firebending other than combat or survival, but using his ability for household chores definitely cut the time in half.

"Thanks, Zuko. At least somebody has the decency to stay behind and help." Katara was on her last bowl before handing it to her drying partner.

Heating up the bowl he admitted, "Well, you prepared the food, so I thought I should at least do my part and clean up after myself. Also, I am not a slob." He placed the final bowl with the others.

Deciding to be daring Katara she opened her palm upwards, wiggled her fingers, and splashed Zuko's head with water.

"Hey!" Katara chortled at Zuko's reaction. Narrowing his eyes, his body began emit steam. In the midst of her chuckles, Zuko plunged his hand in the basin and returned the favor to Katara. Immediately, her laughter came to a halt as water made its way to her mouth. She spat the water in Zuko's face. He frowned at the moist impact. Katara snickered at her victory.

"Don't think this is over. We're finishing this at the beach." Displeased with the grimy liquid drying on his face, he felt the need to push her further. His adrenaline began pumping at the thought of sparring with the Waterbender. He wasn't one to retreat from a fight, playful or not.

Refusing to back down from a challenge she readily accepted. Not wasting a moment, she sprinted out to the beach. He took off after her unable to conceal the predatory look on his face.

When Katara's bare feet made contact with the sand she felt her pace diminish significantly. She hurried to the water while stripping down to her bindings. Hearing her opponent's feet lightly grazing the sand beneath him made her heart pound heavily in her ears. He was closing in on her.

As he was making his way to catch up to her he saw articles of clothing strewn across the sand. The image of her stripping outside his home elicited an arousing response to his groin. Some paces later he spotted her dashing towards the water. Picking up speed, the gap between the two shrank. He was several feet away before Katara she twisted her lithe form towards him with both arms raised above her. A wave of water appeared over her head, and she dropped her arms swiftly to her sides.

Not breaking his rhythm he dodged to his right and shot a blast of fire from his left hand. A wall of steam separated the two from seeing each other clearly. His sprint eased down to a complete stop as he bent his knees and readied his arms for battle.

"Not bad, Waterbender," whispered the teen. He spotted a figure moving rapidly towards him, and waited for his moment to strike. As the steam cleared he saw her approaching him with a ball comprised of seawater and seaweed in one of her palms. Katara slung her arm backwards before launching her weapon at Zuko.

Seeing his opening he darted out straight to her, and made eye contact.

Katara was confident with her seaweed ball until she caught his eyes. These golden eyes held ardor, exuberance, and something she could not place her finger on. Unfortunately for her, that something sparked her curiosity, which led to her hesitation.

Zuko took advantage of her momentary pause and jumped over her. Katara stalled. Before she could turn around, Zuko crouched to the ground and kicked her feet out from under herself.

SPLASH

Her seaweed ball exploded in the sand by her stomach. Katara knitted her eyebrows together in vexation as she panted. She stared upwards to see Zuko towering over her as he looked down at her with a hint of smugness. His haughtiness did not last long once he took a moment to let the scenery sink in.

Katara's bounded chest was rising and dropping with every breath she made. Her hair was freed from her topknot as it spilled partially over her covered breasts. Her exposed stomach was covered in droplets of water from her seaweed ball. The curve of her hips earned a gulp from the young man.

Katara felt his eyes taking in her body. A blush rose to her cheeks and a warm sensation was coiling in her lower tummy.

I want to cover myself up for modesty's sake, but the way he is looking at me makes me feel strangely good.Katara contemplated as to whether to end his little show or give him something to really look out. She decided on former, and coughed to get his attention.

"Ah, sorry," Zuko muttered. He felt the heat rise to his face. She had caught him blatantly gawking at her body. He walked around her body to face her, and offered his hand. Katara grinned; she wasn't going to let him win that easy. She grabbed his forearm and leveraged her weight against his as she pulled him down next to her. Katara sprung herself on her feet, and turned towards him.

"Can't let you win that easy, can I?" She winked at him.

"You cheated." Zuko rose to his feet.

"All is fair in love and war," sang Katara. She observed her surrounds. It just occurred to her that this is the longest Zuko and her have been together alone on pleasant terms. A part of her felt giddy for finally spending more time with him. "We should probably join the gang." Katara retraced her steps to retrieve her discarded clothing.

Zuko reluctantly agreed. He really wanted to continue their one-on-one mock fight.

The two shared their thoughts about their miniature battle and exchanged laughs as they made their way to the rest of the group.

"Look who decided to join us. You guys have been gone for awhile!" Toph was the first to announce their entrance. Everyone else paused to see the two benders walking together.

"Katara, I was going to go and check up on you, but I got caught up with Toph's game. I have to take down all 3 of her sand fortresses with sand missiles before she takes down mine. It's tough to block her attacks!" Aang stood up and brushed the sand off of his knees. "Since we are all here, we should play a new game together! I know one that we can play in the water"

"What kind of game did you have in mind, Aang?" questioned Suki.

"We can play Air Nomad. One person closes their eyes and says 'Air,' and everyone else says 'Nomad'. The person with their eyes closed has to find everyone based on the sound of their voice."

"Well, seeing how I will find everyone in two seconds, I won't be the Air person," announced Toph. Also, I will make this even more fun for Sparky and Sweetness.

"I want to be blind first!" called out Sokka. Sokka ran into the water with everyone else in tow.

"Air!"

"Nomad!"

"Air!"

"Nomad!"

"Air!" shouted out Sokka.

"Nomad!" His arms were stretched out to find someone, but everyone kept laughing and splashing water at him to throw him off.

"You know, this whole blind thing is pretty hard!"

"Oh, you don't say," a sarcastic reply answered. Toph made sure to keep her feet planted to the ground below her. Now this is where the fun begins. She could sense that Zuko and Katara were near each other. She stomped on the sand beneath her to adjust the floor level that Zuko and Katara were standing on.

Katara was about to splash Sokka with water, but lost her footing and balance. She was wobbled to stay upright, however, was inevitably knocked into Zuko. He awkwardly caught her in his arms.

"Um, hi," she was not used to the proximity of their bodies. Katara looked straight at his bare chest. "Your shirt is gone," she dully noted. She could feel the contrast of his warm chest against hers in the cool water.

"Yeah, I took it off before I got into the water." He felt how small her waist was around his arms. He enjoyed how well she fitted against him. "Are you okay?" He subconsciously pulled her closer to him. Zuko felt that burning desire to run his hands against her sides, back, and other places he shouldn't be thinking of.

Katara nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Katara! I thought you were Sokka," Toph apologized sweetly. Katara and Zuko immediately pulled apart.

"Aha! I found Suki! Alright, I give up. This is too hard." Sokka opened his eyes and hunched his shoulders in defeat.

"Well, at least you found me," comforted Suki.

Sokka puffed out his chest, "Why, yes I did."

"It's getting late; we should retire for the night." Aang yawned and swam back to shore. The rest of the teens followed suit.

Katara and Zuko did not make eye contact on the way back to their temporary home. Aang made it easy for Katara not to ogle at the Firebender that has been evoking warm tingling sensations throughout her body on multiple occasions. Aang missed her attention, and was replaying his sand feud with Toph.

Zuko accelerated his stride to avoid a certain female that has been clouding his thoughts with forbidden feelings.

He reached his room and tossed himself on top of his bed.

I want her in ways I can't have.

Katara entered into her room and plopped herself on top of her bed.

What do I want from him?

AN:Feel free to leave feedback and/or criticisms! I am curious to see what you guys think.

:D