A/N: This has been utterly amazing for me to write and I would like to thank each and every one of you that has followed, favorited or commented on this fic. To turn this one shot into five chapters has been a bit of a challenge but man, did it turn out great. Look forward to my new dragon!Zuko fic, The Bloodbender and The Dragon King. Thank you for reading!

I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender

"I'm dancing in flames, I'm dancing in flames.
I ain't scared of the blaze, don't rescue me
And now I'm burning in your arms, endless fire in my heart
No, it's not a false alarm" -False Alarm by Matoma ft. Becky Hill

Once upon a time, there was a young waterbender who was taken from her home, carried across the great sea and brought to the Fire Nation to be sacrificed to the mighty dragon-god, Zuko, one of the fearsome and highly recognized of all dragon-gods.

He had sensed her presence as soon a she step foot on Fire Nation soil. It was a scent he had never encountered in many a hundred of years.

Over the next few days, the scent of the waterbender grew closer and closer, and he could guess the purpose of her arrival. The dragon-god laid in the dormant volcano waiting, ready to devour the girl who was in league with the treacherous, disgusting excuse for Fire Nation royals.

When he had awoken from his slumber months prior, he had seen his home in chaos. War, death, starvation. It was the opposite of what he had worked so hard to deflect. He was the last of the dragon-gods. The Fire Nation was all that was left to protect, and he would continue to do so until he himself took his last breath.

She ran. Her large, frightened blue eyes stared at him her utter fear and awe. His massive form descended upon her, eager to consume her flesh and rid of the evil that had blanketed his home, his people.

When he finally caught up to her, ready to sink into her, her thoughts washed over him like a tidal wave.

He seen her. A small girl running across the snow, a boy who looked just like her running after. Then he seen her tucked under the arms of a mother. So kind, so gentle as she caressed her daughters hair. Then he saw death, and fire and the emblem of the Fire Nation. Her tears strayed in the wind as her mother was carried out of the hut they resided in by her father.

He seen her lying in the fetal position, knees brought to her chest and tears falling to the floor of the cell she was imprisoned in. He saw her cry for her missing brother and father, the women she left behind in an effort to protect and most of all, for herself.

This was how he found she was brought here against her will. Poor waterbender. Poor Katara. She smelled like sweet oils while also giving off the scent of ocean water. He wanted to capture her, to take her where she stood and devour her in other ways that would make her cry out in pleasure. He could feel the fire igniting within his dragon form and his need to mate overtook his logic. If he took her now, he would surely succumb to the fate of his brethren.

But those cerulean eyes, those beautiful eyes. Agni help him, he could swim in them forever.

Zuko spread his wings and used his magic to transform.

He brought her to his home off the mainland. He could tell she hated him. She was so strong, so stubborn and yet he couldn't help but be drawn to her. He wanted her to want him too, to look his way with loving eyes. He yearned for her. So much he felt like he'd die without her. So, he made her a waterfall, and hot springs and flowers so beautiful, it will only be for her eyes.

Zuko begged her not to go, tossing aside his pride, and she said yes.

When she saved him from the wrath of a previous love interest and openly gave herself to him, body and soul, it was then he no longer feared death. He could not imagine living an eternity without her. Without her smile, without her laugh, without her moans, without her touch.

His life will come to an end in years to come. To an immortal that was only a blink of an eye. But those moments, those short, wonderful moments, he would have her and she would have him.

"Wow." Izumi's eyes lit up, her tiny hands grasping the stick to her paper made red dragon. "So, mommy saved you?"

Zuko laughed, lifting his three-year-old in the air and kissing her nose. "In a way she did, love." He placed her in his lap and tickled her until she begged for mercy. "Your mother has a way of subduing the most frightening of creatures."

"I bet it's with her waterbending." Izumi giggled.

"I assure you, her words are scarier than her bending."

"Izumi! Zuko, you know it's past her bedtime, yet you insist on keeping her up like this." Zuko handed Izumi to his wife and Katara rested her forehead against hers. "Was your father telling you that story again?"

"Yup." Izumi giggled. "He says your scary."

Katara snapped her head in Zuko's direction with a scowl. "Okay." Zuko feigned a cough. "It's time for bed."

"Do I have to?" Izumi pouted. "I'm a big girl now because I'm going to have a little brother." She gestured to Katara's swollen belly.

"Nice try." Katara kissed her cheek with a chuckle. "Sweet dreams, my little dragon."

Izumi placed a hand on her mother's cheek. "Sweet dreams, mommy." Katara could look at her daughter like this forever. Izumi was so smart and so adventurous, she even learned to firebend at the age of two. Though, they were unsure whether she could ever be able to shift into a dragon like Zuko.

Zuko said his goodnights, brushing back his daughter's chocolate hair as her gold eyes fluttered close. "Goodnight, love."

Katara smiled, taking a mental picture of this moment along with the many memories she had stored of her family. It's hard to believe that it was only five years ago she had been swept away from her home and into the arms of a ferocious dragon.

Am I still all that ferocious? Zuko jested, smirking as he left his daughter's bedside to stand in front of his wife.

Not as much but still so. Katara prodded, lifting herself up by the tips to plant a kiss on Zuko's lips.

Hmm. He purred. You know what that does to me.

Katara arched a brow. I could be scrubbing a dirty pail full of dishes and it'd somehow illicit the same reaction.

"True." Zuko grinned, his calloused hands rubbing her belly. "The night is still."

Katara looked out Izumi's bedroom window. "Yes, it is." She laced her fingers with Zuko's. "I'll get my parka."

When she walked through the front doors of the Southern Water Tribe palace, Zuko was already waiting for her in only a pair of trousers, bare feet buried in the snow. She looked to the sky, the night was clear, and the stars shined bright that evening, just like the night her life had changed forever.

Zuko blew hot air from his snout, wafting her hair behind her. In the midst of her thoughts, he had shifted into a dragon. "Okay. Okay, I'm coming.". She climbed atop of his back and straddled him, rubbing his side so he knew she was ready. He made a running start down the snow-covered streets flapping his wings for momentum and they took off into the sky, a roar echoing in the distance.