The Most Unexpected Things

The MostUnexpected Things

Zuko had never thought that he would fall in love – and honestly, he had never even wanted to.

All his life, he had been told that to fall in love was a foolish thing. Love made you weak, it distracted you from the really important things – like the war and capturing the Avatar. And it was not like love could have led to anything. At least not for somebody in his class.

Servants and peasants got married for love; nobles got married for money and power. His parents' marriage was an arranged one. So were his uncle's and his grandparents'. He was almost completely sure that he and Mai were pretty much spoken for, too, so it was downright stupid to search for anybody else.

And anyway, as his father once told him, you didn't even need love for a successful marriage. Only tolerance and a woman from good family, who was obedient, polite and could bear you heirs. (And if your wife didn't turn out to be a competent lover, you still could get a concubine. There were plenty women volunteering for that position.)

For long, he had lived by these teachings. Love was foolish. Love was unnecessary. Love made you weak.

Of course his uncle tried to change his mind. Uncle, who even though had lived in an arranged marriage, always had lovers, women he prized highly. Women he cared for. He chose a new one in every few years, but still, he cared for them. Loved them, even.

During the three years they spent together, first on the ship and then on the run, uncle always tried to make him see that it wasn't, in fact, pointless to try and make contact with pretty, young girls. He insisted on spending a few nights in crowded inns when they docked at a port, inns, where he knew that they would find female company. He arranged him dates when they were in the Earth Kingdom. He always talked about how important it was to maintain a well-balanced life, and that it included a girl you could love.

But Zuko was too young, too misled, too naive, and his head was too full of his father's teachings to really consider his words.

So, for the first seventeen years of his life, love didn't even touch him the slightest. For the first seventeen years of his life he didn't think he would change his mind about love.

But then he joined the Avatar and his world shifted.

He didn't plan to fall in love technically as soon as he started training the young Avatar. He didn't mean it to happen. It just did. (After all, Uncle had always said, that love happened the most unlikely times.) And he is not sorry, not even the slightest. Honestly, he has never been happier.

He blames the waterbender. After all, it's all her fault – she is the one who was so damn desirable, beautiful, forgiving and simply amazing, that he just couldn't resist. Yes, it's entirely her fault; anybody who states the opposite is lying. The fact that actually he was the one who took the first step, who started their courtship, is irrelevant in this case.

If he was asked a year or two ago what was the best feeling in the world, he would have said that sitting beside his father, as his respected son. As the heir of the throne. And now? The answer would be waking up besides his waterbender.

The sun always wakes him soon, way before her; if it was only up to her, she might sleep until noon. Not that it would bother him – he likes watching her sleep.

He props himself up on his elbows and looks down at her from that position, studying her. She is so peaceful in the morning, the lines of stress and worry of the day on her face forgotten. She actually looks her age during that time of the day. Her lashes casting shadows on her round cheeks, her mouth is slightly open, her breath is leaving it in a soft sigh. Her long, dark hair is wild, tangled, the witness of last night's activities. The red sheets slid down to her hips sometime during the night, now baring her waist and the curve of her breasts, as he lies half on her stomach, half on her side, facing him.

He can't even imagine a sight more beautiful.

He reaches out to her, not meaning to wake her, only feeling an undeniable need to feel her soft skin. He drags the tips of his fingers from the nape of her neck, brushing a few strands of curly hair, down her neck, shoulder, ribs, waist, down to where her skin meets the sheets at her hips, and then back to her neck.

As his fingers touch a tender, ticklish spot, she stirs.

He knows her well enough now that even if she wakes, she won't be coherent for a short while.

She opens her eyes slightly, blinking in the soft light.

"What time is it?" She mumbles, yawning.

"Too early. Go back to sleep." He whispers. He lies back, opening his arms invitingly. "Come here," he asks and she obliges – she doesn't have to be told twice –, sliding one of her arms around his neck, while the other finds its resting place on his stomach, and laying her head on his chest, tucking it under his chin. Her hair tickles his nose, its flowery scent filling his nostrils. He can feel her breasts pressing against his side, as well as her fingers ghosting over his lightening scar. His own hand finds its way to her back, feeling her spine under soft, mocha skin. He caresses her tenderly, lovingly.

She falls asleep again within minutes, her breath turning into soft sights, her hand stilling on his stomach.

Zuko doesn't wake her until the Sun is high on the sky. He doesn't want this moment to end.