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I.
“Zuzu is coming back on Saturday," Azula drawls. "We’re having K-barbeque that night. You and Sokka should join.”
“I haven’t seen him in years. Not since my wedding, I think,” Katara responds, scrolling through her Netflix account in the hopes of finding a new film to watch.
While the two women never labeled themselves as such, they were practically sisters. Azula had been raised by her Uncle Iroh moved into the house next to Katara’s when she was fourteen. They hadn’t gotten along at first but a friendship quickly bloomed based on their shared grievances with their annoying younger brothers. The two sets of siblings were very close-knit and Katara’s father treated the Fire Nation siblings as if they were his own.
Now in their thirties, the two women were living and working in Ba Sing Se - Azula as a ruthless litigator and Katara as BSSN’s top news anchorwoman. Sokka, her younger brother, was also living in the city having just graduated from Kyoshi College and Zuko was finally returning from his four-year stint abroad at Caldera University.
“I’m supposed to pick him up from the airport but I can’t anymore,” Azula says, refilling their glasses of wine as they lounge around Katara's couch.
“How come?” Katara asks, nonchalantly.
“Because I told Ty Lee I'd go to the cake tasting with her,” Azula explains matter-of-factly before turning her steely gaze on the Water Tribe woman who rolls her eyes in response.
Katara counts herself lucky for being one of the two people in the entire world whom Azula liked openly (the other being her fiance, Ty Lee and Azula would never admit to liking her uncle, brother, and even Sokka out loud). In the absence of many friends, Azula was protective (or rather, possessive) of Katara and had somewhat high expectations of their friendship.
“Zula, don’t look at me like that…okay, fine I’ll pick him up!" Katara huffs, knowing she had caved in too quickly. But this was a favor for Zuko who was practically family.
“I owe you one, Kat,” Azula says as Katara clicks on The Office for the fifth time that day.
II.
Zuko never had a babysitter (unless you count his uncle) or a hot teacher (again, not counting Uncle). He never really had a celebrity crush (at least not one that was all-consuming like the ones Azula used to have).
But for as long as he could remember, he always looked up to Katara, who was not only his sister’s best friend but the sister of his best friend, Sokka.
At first, he thought his feelings were symptomatic of having a sister like Azula who was protective but possessed the emotional intelligence and compassion of a potato. Katara had always tended to him after he had been bullied for his scar and walked beside him to school when their siblings would race off ahead. They had confided in each other about their deceased mothers and his abusive father and other topics he wouldn't dare raise with his sister or best friend.
But as they both grew older, he started noticing that the girlish prettiness of her face made way for something more beautiful. He noticed the deepening of her curves and the heady aroma of her natural scent when she leaned in to help him with a math problem set. She quickly became the main star of his teenage boy fantasies.
While he was constantly trying not to flinch every time she came near him in his hormone-addled state, she was busy dating senior boys and then college boys after that before she eventually tied the knot with some bald guy four years ago. Zuko knew he had it bad from the way his heart broke with every step she took down the aisle towards the other man.
“Zuzu? Is that you?” He hears Katara, who is waving at him by the 'arrivals' sign, call. He thinks that she's grown prettier since the last time he saw her and notices the marked absence of a ring on her left finger.
III.
Zuko isn't ready to face the inevitable onslaught (of love) from his uncle yet so Katara drives them to Lake Laogai for a moment of peace. They find a remote part of the sandy banks where they both sit with a cold beer in hand.
“I see you every morning, you know,” he blurts out mid-sip. “I-I mean, I see you on the news - on BSSN. You’re really good.”
She punches his arm lightly. “Aw thanks, Zuzu. That’s really sweet.”
“None of my friends believe that I know you.” She scoffs before he continues, “I just can’t believe how much has changed - how great you're doing.”
But it is Katara who can’t believe the changes he has undergone. The Zuko before her possesses a measured confidence she never thought he'd be capable of having. He's always been handsome but gone are the awkward trappings of adolescence, replaced with pure muscle mass which she could see peeking through his loose shirt. To think this Adonis was the same boy she used to scold for picking his nose. He also smells so good, she thinks before chastising herself mentally.
“That’s barely the case,” she half-jokes but is caught out by Zuko’s questioning gaze; he always had a way of drawing confessions from her.
“I mean, I love my job and I’m good at it but it's so stressful and I’m practically an ugly spinster by TV standards. The producers love reminding me that I’m not getting any younger…and on top of all this, I didn’t think I’d be divorced by now. I’m trying to make peace with the fact that I’m gonna die alone with my ten cats.”
She cringes, not believing she had said all that out loud. She hadn’t even told her family or Azula about the divorce being finalized. While Zuko was far from a stranger, they hadn’t seen each other in years and she wasn’t sure how he would react - either strategize some form of revenge plan like Azula would or awkwardly extricate himself from the conversation like Sokka would.
“I knew you and Aang were separated but I had no idea-”
“It's fine...but I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Well, if it's any consolation, I think cats are cute,” he says. “I won't pretend to know how you feel but I’m always here if you need anything.”
“Thank you, that’s really kind of you.”
“And for the record, I’ve always thought you were beautiful. You’re still beautiful, Tara.”
Katara’s heart stutters involuntarily.
IV.
“Are you crazy? We can’t do this here!” Zuko exclaims as Katara disposes of her top, exposing her ample breasts which are contained by a sheer bra. He can’t help but gawk - there is no fathoming how the goddess before him could think of herself as a spinster.
“Why not? It's scorching today and there’s no one else here,” she retorts before wiggling out of her skirt revealing her matching panties.
“B-but who knows what’s under the lake!” He calls out after her, as she twirls around giving him a perfect view of her plump ass and saunters into the mild waters of Lake Laogai with a swing to her hips.
Agni help me, he wills silently.
“Aww, is my little Zuzu scared?” He winces at the nickname. “Why don’t you come in and save me, you big wimp!”
“That’s it!” he warns before running into the water after her. They were already ten beers down in total and Katara had promised to pay for a taxi later. What's the harm in going for a quick swim?
“Stop splashing me-,” Katara screams but before she can continue, Zuko grabs her by the waist and tackles her into the water where she, in turn, is grabbing at his hair and is attempting to kick his stomach.
“Pffftttt! You asshole!” She screams when they resurface but he’s laughing so hard that she can’t help but soften.
She places her hands on his shoulder and smiles up at him. “I missed you. A lot,” she sighs, her blue eyes searching into his.
She is dangerously close to him and it's only then that he realizes that his grip on her waist hasn’t wavered.
“I missed you too, Tara,” he responds, obviously affected by their state of undress. She inches closer until she is flush against his chest. He feels his groin stir.
Breaking out of his stupor, he pushes her off of him gently. “Katara, I- I’m not your little brother, you know that right?”
Eyebrow cocked, she responds, “you really think I’d be here with Sokk-”
“What I mean to say is that I’m not your ‘little Zuzu’...I'm just a man," Zuko warns quietly. But this is everything he’s ever wanted.
“You said you'd be there for me if I needed anything right?” she sighs, breathily and with half-lidded eyes.
He nods dumbly. She brings his hand to her breast and he uses his thumb to caress a hardening, dusky nipple.
"I need you, Zuko.”
V.
“Eurgh, why is your hair damp?” Sokka sneers at Katara as the four of them sit around the table at the K-barbecue restaurant.
Sokka sits opposite Azula while Katara sits opposite the gorgeous man who fucked her brains out on the sandy banks of Lake Laogai a mere few hours ago. While Azula did say that she owed Katara for picking Zuko up from the airport in her stead, Katara knew that using her best friend's younger brother in the way she had done was stretching the limits.
“Mind your own damn business,” Katara snaps back to her brother.
“Whatever," Sokka grunts, mouth full of rice. "Zuko, you got a girl now?”
Katara’s stomach drops involuntarily. What had happened between them wasn't a lapse in judgment - at least on her part. Deep down, Katara knows that there's always been something unsaid but undeniable between them. But he's a twenty-something year old with his whole life ahead of him; on the other hand, she has a ticking biological clock and pays alimony. However, that doesn't preclude her from having fun with him.
“Nah,” Zuko says nonchalantly. Katara slips off her sandals and proceeds to draw patterns on the inside of his calf with her foot.
“Oh Agni, you're seeing someone, aren't you?” Azula asks rhetorically. “You’re completely red in the face, Zuzu.”
Zuko is looking anywhere else but at Katara, as her foot rubs his inner thigh and she revels in the strained faces he is making. Once again, she is dangerously close.
“K-Kind of- I mean, no…I mean, I don’t know,” he chokes out.
“What do you mean, man?” Sokka asks.
“I j-just don’t know-”
“Don't know what?” Sokka presses.
“Because I-I-”
“Spit it out!” Azula barks.
“Because I’ve been in love with her for as long as I can remember and I don’t know if she feels the same…way,” he declares, locking eyes with a shocked Katara who by now has halted her ministrations.
A beat passes.
“Woah, it’s Gran-Gran, isn’t it?” Sokka guffaws. “Wait, worse, it's Kat.”
“In his dreams. I bet it’s Mai,” Azula laughs, joining in on the teasing.
But Katara needs to know more. “Go on,” she wills with bated breath and her steely gaze on Zuko whose eyes bulge.
“Well, she scares me-”
“Definitely Mai,” Sokka mumbles.
“She’s kind, beautiful, and successful,” Zuko continues, undeterred and gold eyes trained on Katara. “I think she’s made me the man I am today.”
“You’re barely a man, Zuzu,” Azula scoffs.
“But I don’t think she sees me like that. Besides, she’s going through something and she's a lot more…experienced than I am,” Zuko mutters, eyes darting to the soju bottle on the table. Katara knows there is nothing little about him.
Sokka chuckles. “You have it bad, man. I bet she's super hot.”
“You make her sound…perfect,” Katara states, pointedly ignoring her brother.
Zuko scoffs without missing a beat. “No, she’s not. She’s annoying and self-righteous. But she's the closest thing to perfect.” Katara’s heart is in a frenzy as he looks at her softly.
“She sounds like a real bore. I hate her already,” Azula sighs while flipping a piece of meat on the grill.
"I think you'd like her," Zuko mumbles.
"Just tell us who she is," his older sister snaps.
They both know that Azula might kill Katara but she would actually kill Zuko were she to ever find out about them. Despite this, Katara boldly reaches out for his hand across the table and gives it a tight squeeze.
“For what it's worth, I think she feels the same way,” she declares, oblivious to the look of confusion (mixed with disgust) on Azula's face while Sokka is blissfully tucking into the meat platter.
Zuko squeezes Katara's hand back, smiling from ear to ear.