redbrunja: (...And I Will Be Your Slave -Zuko/Katara)
redbrunja ([personal profile] redbrunja) wrote2008-03-08 12:05 am
Entry tags:

Fic: "Or Else This Heat Might Turn To Frost"

Title: Or Else This Heat Might Turn To Frost
Author: [livejournal.com profile] redbrunja
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: R
Author’s Note: Written for [livejournal.com profile] zutara100, prompt 001 "Beginnings"
Summary: “This was the true beginning: the heat of her skin, the taste of saline and sweetness."

This was the beginning.

This, Katara’s skin under his lips, her nails scraping down his back, her hips bucking against his. She muffled her cries in his shoulder, biting on his neck as his fingers and mouth and cock made her writhe and twist.

This was the beginning.  Not when he first met her and threatened to destroy her village, not when he bound her to a tree, not under Ba Sing Se: this.

The heat of her skin, the taste of saline and sweetness as he licked into her and she dug her heels into his back and bit her lip and broke apart under his ministrations.

He imagined he could use the sound of her cries, the slow smile she always got after, and erase his mistakes, or at least ameliorate them, that he had found the beginning of a path after years of stumbling half-blind, in dark forests.

This was the end: Katara harshly yanking her hair back, hiding the dishevelment that his hands had wrought, and saying, voice cool, “This was a mistake, and it’s over.”

[identity profile] dharmavati.livejournal.com 2008-03-08 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
This was short but wow. I enjoyed the intensity of emotion, first sensual and then almost spiteful. It was a lovely read. Hope you write more! :)

[identity profile] redbrunja.livejournal.com 2008-03-08 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! And trust me, there has been and will be more Zutara from me. ^_^

As I mentioned to someone below, I'm surprised by how many people say Katara as being spiteful or malicious - rereading, I can see where they're coming from, but in my head she was much more symapthetic and clearly suffering as well.

Also, that icon is fantastic.

[identity profile] dharmavati.livejournal.com 2008-03-09 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Well, to clarify, I don't think Katara is a generally malicious person and she clearly does not seem the type who premeditates or enjoys manipulating others to bring them pain or shame (or else, of course, she would have seen no harm in Hama's bloodbending). She is, in fact, quite empathetic and caring. That, however, was what made made think she was acting a bit spiteful. She's good at figuring out other people's feelings (and let's face it, Zuko has his all written on his face) and she's normally a person who cares about others, but, within this fic, she writes off her emotions and his reciprocations as a mistake due to just a climax of emotional conflict. I can understand the fake appeal to reason and don't think it's OOC at all, but it's Katara acting outside of her normal element. I hope that makes sense!

Also, that icon is fantastic.

Thanks, it's from [livejournal.com profile] isaia's art, which is always marvelous! :D
Edited 2008-03-09 03:50 (UTC)

[identity profile] redbrunja.livejournal.com 2008-03-09 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
*nods*

Well said. And I think (in my head at least, and I'm actually writing a sequel to this, and I'd be interested in what you think) is that Katara is putting other people's emotions ahead of hers, and thus, Zuko's. And yeah, she is being a bit spiteful in that she's not explaining herself, or really factoring his emotions.

[identity profile] dharmavati.livejournal.com 2008-03-09 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, that's pretty much how I interpreted Katara's emotions. And I'm laughing because of your highly appropriate icon. XD I have your sequel open in the next tab over so I'll go check that out! :D

[identity profile] redbrunja.livejournal.com 2008-03-10 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
I know, I really love this icon - it's so apropos.