Like Stars in the Night Sky

FIRE LORD MAKES FIRST TRIP TO EMBER ISLAND AS NEWLYWED

Katara could have beaten Zuko with a large stick for lifting the ban on newspapers in the Fire Nation. There were reporters hiding in the bushes of the restored beach home. Artists were furiously scribbling on wads of paper, trying to capture every detail of the house. She peered at the eager journalists with pens and books of paper in their hands, waiting for the royal couple to come out.

"Clearly you haven't read the Ba Sing Se society papers," Katara said as Zuko kissed her neck.

"Nope. We didn't get them in the lower ring, and we weren't at the Jasmine Dragon long enough."

She let the curtain drop, and turned to face her husband. Husband. Zuko. Her husband. She smiled, and he pulled her into a hug. She never thought she'd be saying that.

FIRE LORD AND LADY ARRIVE WITHOUT SERVANTS. PALACE STAFF DESCRIBE HONEYMOON AS INTIMATE AND PRIVATE

"You know they'll try to keep you out of the kitchens," Zuko said as Katara laid their meal out. "They'd say it's beneath you, and that it's not proper."

Katara snuggled up close to Zuko and started feeding him sesame komodo chicken.

"They'll let me in for special occasions. Like your birthday or our anniversary. They won't have a choice."

Zuko laughed. "You'll be a terror."

He kissed her temple. Without anyone else there, the house seemed large and imposing. There were so many rooms that Zuko and Katara could sleep in a different one every night for their two week stay and never have to be in the same room twice. He promised her that once they started having kids, she'd be glad for the extra space.

"When I was younger, I could go off in one wing of the house and never have to see Azula. Lu Ten and I used to head off into the woods, and he would teach me to hunt."

"Really? He was so much older than you. I would have thought he wouldn't want to be bothered with a little kid."

Katara pushed a lock of hair out of Zuko's eyes. She really liked him with long hair, and had finally convinced him that just because he looked like his father, it didn't mean he was going to be his father. She ran her hand absently through his hair.

"Uncle says Lu Ten adored my mom. No one was as happy as he was when she announced she was pregnant. He'd waned a little brother for so long, and then there I was." He smiled fondly. "I should teach you how to hunt."

"Please!" Katara said laughing. "I'll leave the hunting to you and Sokka. He wouldn't want me intruding on your bonding time."

FIRE LADY KATARA SETS NEW SUMMER CLOTHING TREND

Every morning, Zuko picked a single moon peach blossom for her.

"You are gorgeous," Zuko said, holding her hands before they went out for the evening.

As a wedding gift, Ursa got Katara a new dress. It was a lightweight deep red silk that was cut close to her body and reached the floor. The cut from the front was modest, going straight across her collarbone, so she turned around so Zuko could see the deep v in the back, its point stopping just below her lower back. He whistled and tried to slip his hands inside, but Katara just laughed and slapped his arm.

"We've got reservations, remember, loverboy?"

"I'm the Fire Lord. They'll hold them."

With a little coaxing and some promises, Katara got Zuko to agree to leave the house. The reporters followed them all the way to the theater, asking them questions and being thoroughly ignored, where they sat in a private booth and watched a play about meddling spirits and love potions and mistaken crushes. During the play, the lead actor improvised her name in one of his lines. Rather than saying there was no one in the Spirit World or on Earth as beautiful as the Sun Goddess, Lady Visa, he said there was no one as beautiful as the Fire Lady, Lady Katara. Zuko chuckled and Katara was beyond herself with delight as the actor gestured to her in their private booth, the spotlight swung to her, and the crowd cheered and clapped.

This was reported in the paper the next day, complete with statements from other theatergoers about how flattered she looked, and how true it was.

ZHI'S BECOMES EMBER ISLAND'S MOST EXCLUSIVE RESTAURANT AFTER VISIT FROM ROYAL COUPLE

After the play, she and Zuko went to a restaurant owned by the former head chef of the palace. They enjoyed a mostly private dinner and laughed about the play. Zhi did a good job of keeping the reporters out of the way; Katara and Zuko agreed to let Zhi tell the reporters what they ordered, and that satisfied them for the moment.

RUN IN WITH FIRE LORD ENDS BADLY FOR TWO LOCAL YOUTHS WHO MADE LEWD REMARKS TOWARD FIRE LADY

Katara preferred to pretend that Chan and Ruon-Jian didn't exist.

SON OF ADMIRAL CHAN DECLARES WAR ON FIRE LORD

WAR QUICKLY OVER, CALLED EMBARASSEMENT

Katara made Zuko stay at the beach house until that whole incident blew over. They spent a lot of time down on the beach at their old spot, hidden between a rock and a small grove of trees.

"Remember that time when we were down here, and then Sokka and Suki cam and started making out?" Katara asked, leaning against the rock as she'd done so many times before.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing back that mental image when I finally got it out of my head."

"Well, I'm pretty sure they think it's disgusting when they catch us making out," Katara said in between little kisses.

Zuko pushed her further back against the rock, trailing kisses down her neck and across her shoulder. He ran his thumbs over her stomach.

"Once I finish teaching Sokka that a closed door means you have to knock and wait for an answer, he won't have that problem."

Katar bit her lip as Zuko lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, savoring the softness of his lips, and the sweet taste of moon peaches that just lingered on his tongue.

Somewhere, there was an artist watching them.

TRUE LOVE RETURNS TO FIRE NATION

The picture of them kissing was on the front page.

A/N: And so, as Zutara week comes to a close, I offer you this last bit of fluff. I hope it's clear that the all caps and italics are newspaper headlines. I wasn't sure how to do the spacing for this, so I hope that's not too bad, either. For some reason, I immediately thought paparazzi for this, and that led to the whole celebrity culture thing. I imagine Zuko and Katara would be the ultimate celebrity couple, hence being followed everywhere on their high profile honeymoon on Ember Island. This one is my favorite.

P.S. Sorry for the cavities I just caused.