redbrunja | Fic: "I’ll Take You Where The Water’s Deep"

Title: I’ll Take You Where The Water’s Deep
Author:

redbrunja
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: R for sexual themes.
Author’s Note: Sequel to “Or Else This Heat Might Turn To Frost”
Prompted by

rashaka’s reminding me of how awesome and apropos this song is. Written for

zutara100, prompt 002. Ends
Summery: “When she was a child, she used to play with the lamp flames.” Katara tries to do the right thing.

“This was a mistake, and it’s over.”

And it was, and it is, and Katara knows she made the right decision.

When she was a child, she used to play with the lamp flames, before she realized that it caused the oil to vanish faster, and they didn’t have oil enough to spare, not just so she could get her fingers sooty while she waited on the endless Southern Winters. But she remembered how to do it; the trick was quickness. Katara would drag her fingers through the flame, fast, and there would be only a flicker of warmth over her unburned fingers.

Zuko was the same; the longer she circled around him, let herself be tempted and worse, let herself succumb, the more likely it would be that instead of walking away with sooty lips and hair snarled into knots from his hands, it would end badly, Sokka furious, her father disappointed, Aang betrayed.

She was a Master Bender of the Southern Water Tribe, and there was a difference between making a former enemy a begrudging ally (“Well, fine, if you really want to, you can heat up the dish water and I suppose it couldn’t hurt if you heated up the bathwater too–”) and willingly taking him (his lips on her neck, his exhale hot enough to raise blisters, hands gripping her hips hard enough to bruise) to her bed.

No, it was better to end it now, while no one knew, while there would be no awkward looks, no questions, no recriminations.

She lasted a week and a half.

Then Katara was slipping into his room as the sun first creep over the horizon, falling into his arms while light the color of honey filled his chamber.

He kissed her like she’d been years away, gone to fight in some horrific war, instead of having seen her ten hours ago at dinner.

This was a betrayal, she knew it was, but when Zuko was moving over her, as slow and steadfast as the sea on a summer day, she couldn’t care.

She choked on her sobs when she came and Zuko kissed the tears away from her cheeks and murmured promises she knew he’d die to keep.

Somehow, that just made it worse.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Two mornings in a row! :D

To echo some of the praise above: loved the morning encounter (and YES, to her coming to him during his time of the day, so to speak, when she's weaker) and loved "murmured promises she knew he'd die to keep."

I also agree that Zuko would be a sweet, vanilla sex guy (and probably also one who equates sex with commitment? Which makes me worry that he may not break up with Mai afterall...?)

Thanks so much for another lovely Zutara drabble. Will there be another, Monday morning special to hope for? ;)

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Ah, but what if he DIDN'T have sex with Mai? ;)

THAT'S WHAT I KEEP HOPING! ;D

Very true. Plus, there was that letter. I totally don't think they actually had sex, for several reasons. (And for no one else is mentioned, what about Azula? I don't think she'd be comfortable with her subordinate doing something that might make Mai more loyal to Zuko than Azula.) But back to my point - hello, that letter? Was saying, I am sure, some variant of 'goodbye, this was nice, but it's over since I'm going off to teach the avatar firebending and stand up to my father.' So, in his mind a least, he doesn't have a girlfriend, and I highly doubt Mai would stick around if Zuko wasn't there was was against the fire nations. (Or in brief, to Mai Azula>Zuko.)

I've always assumed that whatever else was in the letter, the words "I'm not sure I'm coming back" were there, too. He offered to let the Gaang take him away in chains. He wouldn't have done so if he expected to be spending time with Mai in the near future.

*nods*

I'm sure that whatever precisely was in that letter, at this point neither Mai nor Zuko thinks they're in a relationship anymore.

Clearly, there should be fic wherein Ty Lee suggests a trip to "a ladies' social club" where Mai can get over Zuko.

OH AND THERE SHOULD BE STRIPPERS AT THAT CLUB.

PLAYED BY SOKKA AND HARU.

*is quietly taken out and shot*

HELL YES.

And I want Ty Lee and Mai to oogle and then end up making out in the back room, while Azula seduces Haru.

You make good points.

Also, there's the reason for abstaining from sex that most pre-Birth Control societies understood: you risked pregnancy when you had sex. And I REALLY don't think that either Zuko or Mai would want that right now.

And as comfortable Zuko has become with his sexuality, I can still imagine him sweating bucket loads of water over the thought of having sex with a girl. XD

I dunno, he's become a lot more comfortable with sexuality in general. And remember that he still comes from the same family stock as Iroh! ;)

Two mornings in a row! :D

I know! I totally didn't plan it or anything! And it depends.. there might be something monday morning if

rashaka hits me with a song that twigs to my zutara muse. We'll see.

Fic: "I’ll Take You Where The Water’s Deep"

Lovely.

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