AUTHOR'S NOTE: sorry I dissappeared for a while with my story, I had a lot of things going on with school, moving to a new state, college, getting a job, and on top of that my computer decided it wanted to die on me so I've been computerless for a while. And I've kinda been watching a lot of Korra lately in an attempt to get new ideas on more fanfictions.

But anywhoozer. I got a new computer for christmas and this is my present for you guys :)

I've also been reading all your reviews and I'm touched that you guys like my story so much. I've been saving the emails I get notifying me of my reviews and I love all you guys for reading my fic and giving me such positive feedback!

the one that stood out the most to me was one I read this morning from Mrs. Shanique Volturi-Whitlock. I hope you enjoy this update, since you read the whole thing so far in one day ^^

That night everyone went to Zuko's old beach house. He swore no one would ever find them because no one ever goes there anymore. It was kind of dirty like no one had been there in a while so no one really worried about it that much. Everyone got dressed in their Fire Nation clothes so they'd be less noticeable. The yard was big enough to hide Appa and the house was big enough for everyone to have their own room. Suki and Sokka shared a room making everyone a little curious as to what they were doing but no one really worried too much. It had been an exhausting day of moving and shopping for supplies so everyone had turned in early for the night. Emilia was lying awake in her bed staring at the ceiling; she couldn't sleep. For the first time in a while she was thinking about home. She remembered that promise Zuko made to her about helping her find her way home but she knew it was impossible. The cruel reality of never seeing her family or her friends again was sinking in and it hurt.

Since sleep was turning out to not be an option Emilia decided to take a walk. She didn't intend on going far; just down to the beach and back. It was really cold and she was regretting not bringing a jacket or something. She wondered how it could be so cold in a place like the Fire Nation but there were a lot of things that weren't making sense. The walk to the beach was shorter than she expected so she just sat in the sand. The sound of the water was calming and it made her miss home even more. She hadn't gone swimming in what felt like forever and she was missing all those fun times at the pool with her friends. They would always see who could stay under the longest and who could swim the length of the pool the fastest. She missed all those times.

A thought suddenly came to Emilia's mind. No one was around and it was the middle of the night so why not go for a swim? Emilia wadded in the water for a few minutes before she realized swimming in her clothes wasn't the best idea. She quickly stripped down to nothing and went into the cold water. It felt good on her skin and it was nice to have water running through her hair. She spent a good twenty minutes swimming around before she heard someone coming. She hid by a nearby dock and hoped the person would hurry up and leave. She had forgotten about her clothes until she heard the rustling sound of someone picking them up.

"Emilia, where are you?" a voice asked. Emilia's eyes got wide when she heard Zuko's voice. He had never really seen her naked and showing herself now would be embarrassing. On the other hand he might take her pile of clothes as a bad sign and start freaking out. Emilia decided to cut her losses.

"I'm down here . . ." she said sheepishly. She grabbed the edge of the dock and picked herself up so he could see no more than her head and shoulders. His eyes went wide for a second before he dropped her clothes and turned around.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I didn't, I mean I did but, well you know . . ." Emilia got out of the water and wrapped her over shirt around herself. It was big enough to cover everything so she didn't really worry about him seeing anything.

"You can turn around now," Emilia said as she bent over and picked up her clothes. Zuko turned around and looked at her which was a horrible idea. Her hair was all wet and it was sticking to her neck and her shoulders, her top was sticking to her body showing off every curve she had, and above all that when she was wet her eyes looked bigger and even prettier than before. Emilia tried not to look at Zuko as he stared and go back to the house but she could still feel his eyes on her.

"Stop staring,"

"I'm sorry, you're just so beautiful," Zuko replied breathlessly. Emilia blushed and looked at him over her shoulder. She hadn't expected him to be so close and before she could turn around fully he had his arms wrapped around her waist. He moved her damp hair away from her neck and trailed kisses from her ear to her shoulder. Emilia relaxed in his arms and tilted her head so he would have better access. Zuko took advantage of this and started biting and sucking in certain places. He smirked when he heard little noises coming from Emilia and kept going. It was all Emilia could do not to full out moan. He was hitting all the right spots and his hands were starting to roam.

Zuko slid his fingers under the collar of Emilia's shirt and brought it down to reveal more of her shoulder. Emilia shuttered as the cold air hit her exposed skin and tried to fix her shirt but Zuko stopped her. She looked up at him to see that he was looking at her with an intense stare. She blushed and looked away but Zuko placed his hand under her chin and made her look at him. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment before closing the gap and kissing each other. Emilia turned herself in Zuko's arms and wrapped her arms around his necks and he wrapped his arms around her waist. It was gentle and passionate at first but the more they stood there the more intense it got. It finally got to the point where they were making out where they stood. Zuko's tongue maneuvered inside Emilia's mouth and encouraged hers to play along. The way his tongue felt on hers made a shiver go up her spine. She moaned into his mouth and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss.

It was about now when Zuko's hands began to wander again. They traveled down to her bottom and began groping it. Emilia squeaked in surprise and pulled away a bit. She looked up at Zuko who was giving her the same intense gave as before. A blush spread across her face as Zuko took her lips in another heated kiss. Zuko's hands moved more roughly making Emilia whimper a little. He gradually moved to her sides and up to her chest to massage her breast. Emilia gasped in surprise and looked up at Zuko. He wasn't staring at her this time; he was looking at her chest. His lips were parted a little as he stared like he was trying to say something but he couldn't remember how to form the words. His hands started getting hotter making the feeling more intense. Emilia closed her eyes tightly at the feeling. No one had ever touched her like this before and she could never imagine it feeling so good. She was getting lost in the feeling when she felt cold air hit her skin. She looked at Zuko who was moving her top out of the way. He looked up at Emilia's blushing face and gave her a quick kiss.

"Is this okay?" he asked; his voice low and husky. Emilia nodded her head and opened her shirt for him. He stared at her for a moment making her even more self-conscious. Her breast weren't even that big; they were 36-C but nothing special. She was surprised a little when she felt Zuko's hands begin to grope her again but got over it and started enjoying the feeling. She was beginning to relax when she felt him start to suck on her nipples. She moaned too loudly for her liking and covered her mouth. Zuko smirked a little and kept sucking in hopes of getting that reaction again. Emilia kept her mouth covered and trying to keep her volume low but Zuko kept sucking. He finally stopped only to move to the other one. He played with the other one with his hand in hopes of making her cry out again. He looked up at her as he did it and smirked at her blushing face.

He finally stopped and stood up right again to face her. Emilia was out of breath a little and was panting which aroused Zuko even more if that was even possible. On an impulse he grabbed the sides of Emilia's shirt and moved it so he could slide his hands around her waist. His hands felt warm on her skin and she shivered at the contact. He caressed her back and sides and slid down to her bottom where they rested. Emilia bit her lip and blushed but rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his torso. This whole situation was leaving her rather aroused and she felt a little ashamed of that for some reason. She had never had sex before so it's not like she was a whore but was this really the best circumstances to feel that way? Her thoughts were interrupted by something hard being rubbed against her thighs. She rubbed her leg against it and blushed when she heard Zuko make a noise. He hadn't thought about it until she had brushed against it and now it was the only thing he could think about. His hormones were raging; it was all he could do to not take here there on the beach. He got an idea though and decided to give it a try. Everything else he had tried had worked out pretty well so why not give it another shot?

He started groping Emilia's bottom again in an attempt to relax her. He heard her sigh and felt her muscles relax. He took this opportunity to slide his hand down between her legs. Emilia gasped when she felt Zuko's fingers slide across her wet folds. No one had touched her there either-not even her doctor. His fingers moved slowly over her center but never entered her. Even so it still felt good. Emilia was making little noises into Zuko's shoulder making him want to do more. He slid his other hand from her bottom to her thigh and lifted her leg up around her waist so he could have some more access. He pressed down harder earning some more noises-this time louder than the others. Zuko pressed his groin to hers as he continued to stroke her. Emilia was gripping his shirt and had her face buried in his shoulder so he assumed she was enjoying it. He was about to take it the next step and insert his fingers inside her warm core but she stopped him.

"Stop, please . . ." She said softly pulling herself away from him. Zuko looked at her strangely as she stood there blushing.

"Did I do something wrong?" Emilia shook her head.

"I just . . . I've never done this before," she told him. "I . . . I don't feel like I'm ready . . ." She didn't look at Zuko as she talked and she hoped he would understand. She felt Zuko wrap his arms around her shoulders and she wrapped hers around his torso.

"I can wait until you are," Zuko told her before kissing the top of her head. "For now let's go home and get some sleep." Emilia agreed and walked back to the house with Zuko. She slept in her own room that night. She was a little afraid to sleep in Zuko's room for fear that his arousal would be more important than his better judgment. It was wrong to think he'd do something like that but at the moment she didn't trust him.

There was obvious tension between the two the next morning between Emilia and Zuko. There were moments where they wanted to say something to the other but neither did. It was obvious to everyone else but no one really wanted to say anything. Everyone was in the court yard watching all the benders practice when Sokka decided to approach Emilia.

"Did you and Zuko get into another fight?" he asked her; she shook her head. "Well then why are you guys so bleh?" Emilia lifted her head and raised an eyebrow and the Water Tribe boy's choice in words.

"Well, it's sort of embarrassing," Emilia said with a blush. Sokka stared her down for a moment before she finally caved.

"We . . . almost had sex last night,"

"Does big brother Sokka need to teach him a lesson?" Sokka asked punching his fist to his palm. Emilia laughed a little and shook her head. There was no real reason for him to do anything like that. In any case he would probably lose very badly should he get into a fight with Zuko.

"It's okay, you'd lose anyway," Emilia said with a giggle.

"Thanks for the confidence," Sokka replied.

Suki and Sokka went into town to do some shopping after that. Zuko and Aang continued to train, both of them getting a lot better at fire bending. Emilia watched Zuko intently like she always did but today seemed like it as just a bad day for her. Every move Zuko made was making her heart leap and the way his muscles looked today were making her insides feel funny. She just bit her lip and did her best not to look at him as images from the night before started flooding into her head. It was enough to make her want to scream. She had never physically wanted someone so bad and it was driving her crazy. The thoughts made her feel dirty and the feeling in her stomach was killing her too.

"Isn't it weird that we're hiding from the fire lord in his own house?" Katara asked, interrupting Emilia's thoughts.

"I told you my father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy, and that was a long time ago," Zuko said wiping some of the sweat from his face. "This is the last place anyone would think to look for us."

"You guys are not gonna believe this," Sokka's voice called as he came running back into the building. "There's a play about us."

"We were just in town and we saw this poster," Suki said as Sokka held it up. On the front were paintings of Sokka, Katara and Aang and a bunch of writing.

"How is that even possible?" Katara asked.

"Just listen to this," Sokka said as he began reading the poster. Emilia cringed but got up and stood in the group too. The play was hilarious and watching it in person would be the most fun thing she'd done since she'd been here, but she was worried about the others. Emilia giggled a little when Zuko complained about the play writes; he was right to say they were awful.

"Sokka do you really think it's a good idea to attend a play about ourselves?" Katara asked, her pessimism obviously getting her better of her.

"Come on, a day at theater? This is the kind of wacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing," Sokka protested. He did seem rather excited.

"It is pretty funny," Emilia said, tapping her head when they looked at her strangely. "Besides, when's the last time we had any real fun?"

"Emi has a point," Toph said. "I vote we go."

"Yea me too," Aang added.

"It'll be awful but might as well," the prince added, standing to join the others. Katara finally did agree and went into the house to take care of the groceries. Aang and Zuko went back to training and everyone else resumed watching.

They didn't leave until it was almost dark and snuck in with the crowd trying not to be noticed. Everyone filed in to a balcony where they were sure to not be seen. Emilia was planning on sitting next to Zuko but before she had a chance to he plopped down between Katara and Aang. Emilia tapped him on the head and he gave her an apologetic look and promised to sit with her after the first act. She rolled her eyes playfully and leaned back in the seat.

"Why are we sitting in the nose bleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here," Toph complained.

"Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening," Katara told her. The play started shortly after that. It started with Sokka and Katara and looked halfway decent until the actors started talking. It was rather over dramatized and Sokka just seemed like an idiot. The two were at bit irritated at their characters and it got even worse when Aang appeared. He kept complaining about how the actor was a woman and made him seem like a child. Emilia couldn't help but let out a small giggle when Zuko showed up. The Iroh character seemed more like him than some of the other actors but they made him seem pretty stupid too.

The play went on to where they found Momo, but they made him talk. The Kioshi warrior part was even worse than that but it did make Suki laugh. The part with Bumi earned a chuckle from a few people in the group. One of the worst parts was the blue spirit part, mostly because Zuko and Aang both knew who the spirit really was. The play was beginning to reach the part where Emilia showed up and she was a little anxious to see how they portrayed her.

"Look a prisoner, why not saver her Zuko?" the Iroh actor said.

"No leaver her," the Zuko actor replied. Iroh didn't listen and opened the cell door anyway. Out popped a blond girl with very risqué closes and a crystal ball in her hands.

"Thank you for releasing me," the actor said. "In turn for helping me allow me to be your eternal servant." The girl pranced about carrying the crystal in her hand and bouncing it around like she was contact juggling.

"We don't need a stupid servant, we need the avatar!" the Zuko actor proclaimed.

"Ah but I'm a fortune teller and I can help you capture the avatar," the Emilia actor said getting all up close and personal to the Zuko actor. The actor got an excited look on his face and swept the girl off her feet and carried her off stage so the scene could change. Every looked at Emilia to see her jaw dropped and her eyes wide open.

"That bad, Emi?" Zuko asked.

"I'm gonna kill this damn play write," She grumbled sitting back in her seat. The play progressed and Emilia began to hate it more and more. It made her look like a little whore who was willing to do anything to get with Zuko. They even made the two kiss in the north pole. Thankfully the intermission came after that so they would have a chance to cool down.

"So far this intermission is the best part of the play," Zuko said.

"Apparently the play write thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time," Sokka complained.

"Right, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics," Suki told him.

"I know!"

"At least the Sokka actor kind of looks like you," Aang added. "That woman playing the avatar doesn't look like me at all!"

"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys," Toph said.

"They make me look like a ditsy blonde, which is not freakin cool," Emilia grumbled propping herself up on the railing of the stairs.

"Relax you guys, they're not accurate portrayals," Katara said. "It's not like I'm a preachy cry baby who can't resist giving emotional speeches about hope all the time." That earned a look from everyone.

"Listen friends, it's obvious the play write did his research," Toph said. "It might hurt but what you're seeing up there is the truth."

"Easy for you to say, you haven't shown up in the play yet," Emilia grumbled.

The play started up a little after that so they all had to return to their seats. Emilia claimed her spot next to Zuko and leaned her head on his shoulder during the play. The Toph actor ended up being a very buff man and she was extremely happy about it.

"Zuko It's time we had a talk, about your hair. It's getting out of control," the Iroh actor said.

"Maybe it's best if we split up," the Zuko actor said.

"I shall accompany you my love!" the Emilia actor said and pranced off behind him. Emilia clenched onto Zuko's hand a little too hard making him yelp a little in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, Emi you're hurting me,"

"Sorry," she said as she let go. The play kept getting worse and worse, everything was over dramatized and it made the whole group look like a bunch of idiots. It especially got bad when they got to the crystal catacombs part

"I thought you were the avatars girl," Zuko said.

"The avatar? Why he's like a little brother to me," Katara replied.

"I already have Emilia,"

"How will either of them ever know about this?" Aang got up and left after that and Emilia was about to as well but Zuko held her in her seat and pulled her closer. Emilia got even more angry when it got to the part where Zuko had betrayed her and Iroh.

"I hate you uncle, you smell and I hate you for all time," the actor said. "And I hate you too Emilia, you flitting tramp."

"You didn't really say those things did you?" Katara asked him.

"No but I might as well have," Zuko said, pulling Emilia just a little but closer.

"It's seems like every time you guys get into a fight you barely make it out alive," Suki said at the next intermission. "I mean, you guys lose a lot."

"You're one to talk Suki, didn't Azula take you captive?" Sokka questioned. "That's right, she did!"

"Are you trying to get on my bad side?"

"Does anyone know where Aang is?" Katara asked as she rounded the corner.

"He went to get me fire gummies like ten minutes ago and I'm still waiting!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm gonna go check outside," After she left Sokka and Suki went to find the actors backstage leaving the other three by the wall. Zuko was in a bit of a mood and Emilia's really wasn't any better.

"Geez, everyone's getting so down about their characters," Toph said. "Even the two of you are more down than usual, and that's saying something."

"You don't get it, it's different for you," Zuko said to her. "You get a muscly version of yourself taking down ten bad guys at once and making sassy remarks."

"Yea that is pretty great,"

"But for me it takes all the mistakes I've made and shoves them back in my face," Zuko continued. "My uncle; he's always been by my side even when things were bad and so had Emilia. You were both there for me and taught me so much and how do I repay them? With knifes in their backs; it's my greatest regret and I'll never get to redeem myself."

"You've redeemed yourself to me," Emilia said. "You made a lot of mistakes but by helping Aang to right all these wrongs you've got me sold."

"You've redeemed yourself to your uncle too," Toph added. "You don't realize it, but you have."

"How do you know?"

"Because I once had a long talk with the guy and all he could talk about was you."

"Really?"

"Yea, it was kind of annoying but it was also very sweet," she went on. "All he wanted was for you to find your own path and see the light, and not you're here with us. He'd be proud." Toph finished off her statement by punching Zuko rather hard in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"It's how I show affection." A little kid in an Aang costume came running by and looked at Zuko for a moment before commenting on his scar. Emilia giggled at how he reacted and kissed him on the cheek earning a small blush. No matter what he was still that shy little kid.

The play continued and went on and it was getting down to the intense stuff. It got past the part where Emilia and Zuko joined and continued into the say the comet arrived. Everything happened so quickly and the crowd cheered as one by one the team was snuffed out. At the end the Fire Lord had won and every cheered. The group walked back to the house in silence but Zuko had one last thing to say.

"That wasn't a good play."