Our Eclipse (Zutara)

Chapter 12

Zuko's POV

I sit on the edge of her large bed, Katara lies peacefully next to me. My hand lays against her cheek. My other hand still locked within her small delicate fingers. I feel her breath get shallow and know that she has drifted off. I push her hair back behind her ear and I slowly let my hand drift to her neck where her betrothal necklace lays against her warm tan skin.
I feel contradicting feelings churning within me. Why does this girl make me feel so confused? She's beautiful, I can not lie, but could I ever let my self love her? It goes against everything I have ever learned here, yet feelings towards her come so simply.
I stand and walk to the other side of the room and sit next to the fire, watching her. The way her chest lifts when she breaths, the slight part of her full lips. The way her long hair cascades down and around her. The small frame of her petite body. The way she moves as she turns in her sleep.
She intoxicates me. I don't understand why, or whether I will allow to dwell on these feelings, but I feel empty without her presence. Cold without her touch. I slowly walk up to her bed and lay next to her, draping my arm over her hips. She sleepily moans and turns into my body, her hands on my chest, her breath against the chilled skin of my neck. I shudder at her closness, but willingly pull her into me more. I look down on her face and see a small smile on her lips. I sigh and close my eyes, encasing her into my body.

Katara's POV

Slowly my mind drifts into consciousness, I feel warm and safe, a pair of arms wrapped around me. I snuggle into the warm, toned body. Then the realization hits me, there is someone in the bed with me. I slowly look up and see that it's Zuko who I am waking up to, in my bed. In my bed... My cheeks flush a thousand different reds as the thought settles in my mind. I've never been this intimately close to a boy before. It's different, and a little intimidating, but I feel so, comfortable in his arms. They tighten around my hips as one if his arms grips my lower back and pushes me into him, before I can push away. I give up the idea of getting up, he's much stronger than me. Even if he's unconscious. I look over his shoulder to the window, there the sun is peeking over the mountains. The sunrise here is so beautiful. I close my eyes and snuggle into Zuko. This is going to be my life soon, with this boy. Lately it's been feeling less forced, as it had felt to me before. He cares about me, he watches over me, and even though I know there would never be an intimate love between us, it feels ok to pretend that just for a moment, that there is, and it's ok.
I snuggle in closer to his body and feel his warm breath trickle on my neck. He mumbles in his sleep and pulls me in tighter. I smile into his chest, smelling the light scent of water lilies on his skin. I keep my eyes closed, encasing myself in this moment. And slowly drift into a light slumber.

"Katara, wake up." Zuko's voice says softly in my ear, his hand brushes hair off of my face. I slowly open my eyes. "What time is it?" I ask dazed from sleeping. "A little past noon. I just woke up not too long ago, I didn't want to wake up, you looked so peaceful, but lunch will be soon and uncle might send down the maids to see whey we were missing from two meals." He lightly laughs, his chest rubbing against the bare skin of my shoulder. I pull the dropped shoulder of my thin robe back up to cover my arm. "Yeah we should probably go." I say. He gets up and walks with me to the door. "I'll come back as soon as I'm done, then we will go down to lunch." I nod and slowly close the door behind him.
He inflicts so many feelings into me at once. His deep voice, the way he touches me, the way he watches over me. I can't help but have small feelings for someone who cares like this. I have grown up learning about how evil the Fire Lord and his nephew are, but they are far from it, Fire Lore Iroh is nothing but nice, although his wars he is having aren't wonderful, he is a very kind man. And although Zuko has a rough exterior, he is caring, and gentle. He's sweet, and handsome, even with a scar marring half his face, he is mysterious. He would have been handsome without it but it with it, it adds something different. It attracts you to him. Makes you want to know him. It makes him beautiful in a way.

I walk over to the golden dresser and open the drawer pulling out a dress for the warm weather. I drop my robe and quickly pull the dress up, over my tan body. I put the thin straps over my shoulders and adjust the knee length fabric just in time for Zuko to walk in. "You ready?" His deep voice asks, extending his arm to mine. I nod and take the crook in his arm as he leads me down the hallways to the dinning room, like he leads me for each of our meals.
As we enter the grand doors to the room, at the end of the long table sits a content looking Iroh. We both bow and take our respective seats across from eachother, next to Iroh. "Afternoon children." Iroh greets us. "After noon uncle." Zuko says, not looking up to meet his uncle in the eyes. "Good after noon, Fire Lord Iroh." I say looking to him and nodding my head. "Child, you are not only a guest but a soon to be family member, call me Iroh, no just Uncle is fine." I smile at the gesture of the aging man. "Thank you, Uncle." I say, letting the simplistic, non royalist name sit on my tongue, awkwardly, taunting me with it's comfortable nature. Iroh is accepting me into his family, with a small gesture that means much more than it sounds. Though by law I will be bound to them, this means emotionally, they are beginning to accept me as more than a token of agreement.