In the course of his (very successful, if he did say so himself) life, Varrick had very rarely been in awe of anything, unless of course it was himself. Or something he'd invented. Or something he'd had Varrick Industries build. Or an idea he'd come up with, or….

Well, anyway. The point was that most of the things that had inspired genuine awe in him had had something to do with Varrick himself.

But now…now, he was in awe of Zhu Li. She'd talked her way into Kuvira's trust, even fooling Varrick himself (which was definitely an achievement). She'd played her part, and eventually, she'd sabotaged Kuvira's spirit weapon. All that incredible spirit power stolen from the swamp had been redirected to destroy Kuvira's ships and decimate her army, all because of Zhu Li.

Varrick had never really been one to think of anyone other than himself as a genius, but Zhu Li had definitely become a contender. Varrick didn't really know what was going to happen now (though he was absolutely positive that Varrick Industries would have something to do with it) but he knew that he was amazed by Zhu Li.

He also knew that he was very glad to see her again.

Unfortunately, the same apparently could not be said for Zhu Li. They were alone in a compartment on a train back to Republic City, and she wasn't looking at him. She'd kept her back to him the entire time, though Varrick had taken it as a good sign that she'd agreed to share the compartment with him in the first place. It meant she wanted to talk, too.

Varrick was pretty sure this was the first time he'd ever actually put effort into deciding what words to say. Usually he just said whatever was on his mind, and it came out fine. But with Zhu Li, it was different. Everything was different when it came to Zhu Li.

"Soooo," he said, drawing out the word. Zhu Li shifted slightly, and Varrick knew she was listening. "You didn't betray me after all! Good to know you never really left my side. Well, you did, in a physical sense, but in a metaphorical sense, oh, man did you stand by me! It's great to-"

"No," Zhu Li interrupted in her calm, low voice. She turned so that she could look at him. "I didn't really betray you, Varrick."

"I know, and you were great! It's so liberating to know you weren't really angry at me-"

"I didn't say that." Zhu Li said, facing him fully. "You did order me around, and you were unappreciative. And don't even get me started on your feet."

"Oh, come on! They're not that bad; I'm not exactly in the habit of walking through swamps-spirit or otherwise-without shoes on! Give me a break, Zhu Li!"

"I've given you breaks! Dozens of them! I did everything for you, Varrick, and you just treated me like your assistant!"

"But you are my assistant!"

Zhu Li sighed and closed her eyes. She turned back away from Varrick, which set off a bit of a panic alarm inside his head.

"Come on, Zhu Li," he said in a somewhat gentler voice, moving to stand in front of her.

Zhu Li looked up at him. "Do you remember when you saved me on the train?" she asked quietly.

"Boy, do I! Have you lost any weight since then, by the way? I'll bet I could lift you over my head by now; I'm a lot stronger since that trek through the wilderness with Bolin."

"No, I haven't." Zhu Li's voice was frustrated. "Varrick, that moment…" she sighed again, then continued in a voice that was both quieter and less self-assured: "I'm not entirely sure that I would have been able to pretend to betray you…or say the things that I did…if, after you'd saved me on the train, you'd kissed me." She met his eyes then, and Varrick found himself in awe for a whole different reason.

"Zhu Li," he said slowly. "I didn't even-"

"Think about it? I know; obviously you didn't, or you would have done it. You always do exactly what's on your mind. I thought you were finally going to show me some real affection, but all you did was tell me to get a broom. You don't feel for me the way I feel for you, and that's why it was so easy for me to leave you."

"Well, it wasn't easy for me!" Varrick said irritably, drawing back up to his full height and beginning to pace in front of Zhu Li. "I had dreams about you, Zhu Li! You were all I could think about, all I could talk about! Just ask Bolin! I missed you every minute, every second, every millisecond, every…what's smaller than a millisecond? I don't know, but I missed you during those too!"

"You missed me, or you missed having an assistant?" Zhu Li shot back.

"Oh, I still had an assistant, but do you have any idea how terrible Bolin is at doing the thing? Tell that boy to do the thing sometime, and see what kind of results you get!"

Zhu Li huffed. "You are infuriating," she said.

"Well, duh! You knew that when you started working for me! Keep up, Zhu Li!"

"But that's all I am, isn't it? Just someone who works for you? Just your assistant?"

"Of course not! You're more than that! I never wanted to go anywhere without you, and I still don't! I named my battleship after you! If that's not affection, I don't know what is!"

"Well, believe it or not, unlike your battleship, I'm not cold and heartless. I am a war machine; you got that part right, but I do have a heart, and without meaning to, I gave it to you. I love you, Varrick, and in that moment on the train, I thought you were going to show me that you felt the same way. But I was wrong, and that's part of the reason why I left."

Varrick was speechless for a moment; another first for him. His mind, brilliant though it may have been, was struggling to process what Zhu Li had just admitted. "You love me?" he repeated.

"Of course, Varrick. I can't believe you never noticed."

Varrick got down onto his knees in front of Zhu Li. "Zhu Li," he said. "You've always been my assistant, but you are more than that. You're everything to me; you're my partner, you're the person who always understands me. I just never thought of you as anything other than an assistant, because…"

"Because why, Varrick?" Zhu Li still sounded angry, but there was a note of hope in her voice now.

"Because…I was just so used to you working for me, and you know what they say about mixing business with pleasure. But then you became so important! You attached yourself to my life like an elbow leech on a…well, on an elbow! I'm sorry I didn't show you how much I appreciated you, and…and I'm sorry I didn't kiss you on the train." He paused, and when Zhu Li offered no response, he added "Come on, say something! This is big stuff, Zhu Li; I don't apologize often!"

Zhu Li almost cracked a smile then. "No, you don't."

"Then you know I must feel the same way." Cautiously, Varrick reached out and took one of Zhu Li's slender hands in his. "I'm crazy about you, Zhu Li. Seriously, ask Bolin; I was a lunatic without you. Well, more of a lunatic than usual, you know. But I love you too. I never imagined you could love me back, because you were always so…"

"Cold and heartless?"

"Yeah! Exactly!"

Zhu Li rolled her eyes, but then, she broke out in one of the first genuine smiles Varrick had ever seen on her, and it made him feel all weird and fluttery, because it was just so beautiful.

Varrick smiled back. "So…would you like me to dangle you out the back of the train for a bit so we can recreate that moment, except this time, I will kiss you?"

Zhu Li smirked. "No," she said. "I'm going to kiss you instead." With that, she shifted out of her seat, pushing Varrick in the process so that he fell ungracefully onto his back, and landed on top of him, staring down at him. "I think this is close enough to the last train scenario, don't you?"

"Except for the absence of the exploded super weapon in the background and the whole 'me saving your life' thing, I'd say so," Varrick agreed. He looked up at Zhu Li with gentle eyes and reached up to touch her face, just like he had before. "Zhu Li?"

"Yes?"

"Do the thing."

"With pleasure, Sir," Zhu Li said, before leaning down and pressing her lips to Varrick's.

Her kiss was gentle but passionate at the same time, as if she'd been waiting to do it for a very long time. Varrick kissed her in return, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his hands to her back. Before long, their lips were moving against each other with certainty, as if they each knew from long experience exactly how the other liked to be kissed. Both of Varrick's hands moved to Zhu Li's face, while she had one hand on his neck and the other on his chest. They kissed until they couldn't breathe, and then Zhu Li broke away, looking down at Varrick again, this time with flushed cheeks.

"After that, I think you can just call me Varrick," Varrick said.

Zhu Li laughed-actually laughed! This was definitely a day for firsts!-and gave Varrick another brief kiss. "I love you, Varrick," she told him.

"I love you too, Zhu Li. Now, if you every pretend to betray me again, I'd like to know about it beforehand, if you don't mind!"