Us

Breathe

Zuko.

"Hello Zuko."

Zuko stiffened for just a moment, before slowly turning around.

And his breath caught.

If she had been beautiful before, she was stunning now.
Her face, having lost it's childish roundness, now held the sharp angles of a woman's face..
Her gorgeous brown hair, now even longer, hanging passed her hips, touching the back of her legs.

Her strength was undeniable in the revealing clothes.
Her arms bare in her off the shoulder blue crop top.
Her stomach as toned as his.
Only her breath taking blue eyes and smile were the same.
Zuko could drowned in those eyes.

A throat clearing made him realize he was staring.

Shaking himself out of the daze, he smiled back at her.

"Hey Katara. It's good to see you."

********
Katara.

She was shocked.

She knew he would have changed over the past five years, but she wasn't fully prepared for the man that stood in front of her now.

When they were teens, he had been a few inches taller than her.

Now she had to tilt her head almost all the way back, just to meet his golden gaze.

His midnight black hair touched his broad shoulders.
His jawline more defined.
Without the robe's normally wore by the Fire Lord, his form fitting dark red shirt, left her nothing to the imagination.
She could count the abs outlined by the tight material.
His arms looked strong enough to crush her if he held her tight enough.

"Hey Katara. It's good to see you." His deep voice gave her goosebumps.

Her eyes drifted to his mouth.

And her heart rate shot up.

A throat clearing snapped her out of her trance.

"Not gonna say Hi to the rest of us sis?"Sokka said smirking.

Tearing her eyes away from Zuko, she turned to see the rest of the Gang.

"Hey guys! I missed you all!"
She said a little too cheerfully.

*******
Toph.

Feeling the heart rates of the star-crossed lover's, an idea came to her and she couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her face.

Stepping forward from her spot beside Iroh, Toph flung her arm's open.

"Group hug!" She shouted, making sure Zuko and Katara were pushed together as she grabbed everyone into her group hug.

It was so hard to keep from laughing out loud at the shocked gasp of the fire and waterbender.

She was going to enjoy this.

********
Aang.

Zuko wasn't the only one shocked by Kataras appearance.
Aang could hardly keep his eyes off of her.
His mouth hanging open in surprise.
Only she could make muscle feminine.

He could slap himself for letting her go.

"Group hug!"

Aang barely had a chance to brace himself before Tophs arm wrapped around his lower back, pushing him forward into Sokkas hard shoulder.

Turning his head to look down at the smaller earthbender, Aang finally really looked at her.

She was still so much shorter than him but instead of her usual bun, her thick black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that stopped right between her shoulder blades.

Her body had grown into that of a woman's too and he felt his face heat, realizing where his gaze had gone.

Oh boy.....

*******
Zuko.

One second he was drinking in the sight of Katara and the next he was slammed against her.
Her chest pressing against his.

He. Could. Not. Breathe.

He wanted to both strangle and thank Toph for putting him in this situation.
Being pressed so intimately against the girl you've been in love with so long, would have been so much better without her brother's elbow digging into your side.

So, so much better.

And it got worse when Katara started to wiggle in an attempt to break away from the group hug.

Agni kill him now. Please.

Thankfully, his uncle saved him from embarrassing himself.

"As much as I've missed you all, a cup of tea would be welcome after traveling so far!"

"We had tea on the ship old man!" Toph said laughing.

"......and?"

"A cup of tea sounds nice uncle." Zuko said, grateful for the old man once again.
He wouldn't know what he'd do without him sometimes.

Finally breaking the group hug apart, though he missed Kataras touch immediately, Zuko gestured towards the carriages.

"Shall we?".

Piling into the four carriages pulled by Komodo rhinos, the gang headed towards his palace.

Somehow he had managed to end up next to the waterbender, his thigh and hip, passed against hers.

With her ex across from them, it was bound to be the longest ride of his life.

******
Katara.

Trying to ignore the heat radiating off the fire bender, where he touched her, not easy at all, she listened as Aang chatted away about his reconstruction of the Southern air temple.

He'd grown up so much.
Though they had ended thing's between them, she still cared about the boy, just not the way he wanted her to.

Hard to do that being in lov- No.
He was with Mai.
She couldn't let herself go there.
It hurt too much.

A bump in the road almost sent her into Zuko's lap, his hands shooting out to catch her against his powerful chest.
She could feel the red creep up her neck to her cheeks as she gently pulled herself from his grasp, sitting back in her seat.

Longest ride of her life.

******
Zuko.

If it hadn't been for Aang, Zuko could've held her in his arms the rest of the way.

Agni she smells good!

How he had gone five years without her, he had no clue.
He hadn't realized he missed her so much till he saw her.

He was slightly disappointed when they pulled to a stop in front of the palace, servants lined up to greet the guests that will be here till after the wedding.

Suki, having stayed behind to help ready their rooms, ran down the steps to hug her future sister in law and the rest of the Gang.

"Katara! Aang! Toph!" She called out as she got to the last step.

Zuko had just exited the carriage before Katara shot passed him to hug the bride to be.

Aang climbing out after her, stood beside him watching the two girls laughing and crying.

"She's gorgeous isn't she?" Aang asked him.

Surprised and feeling like this was a test, Zuko debated on if he should answer or not.
But after seeing how she almost shines with happiness....

"Yes, she really is."
.........