Sweetie
The night air was thick and sweet with the pungent smell of sugared cakes and other mouth-watering delights, not unusual for this time of year, or in this part of the city.
It was, after all, the Lunar New Year.
She fiddled with her long braid, nervously anticipating the moment she'd be with her sweetheart.
It would be soon, she told herself, pausing every now and then at a red light or busy intersection. Very soon.
Theirs was a relationship that would probably fall under the category of 'puppy love', and though she hated that cutesy term, they were both smitten as two lovesick teenagers of sixteen could get.
He was from a well-to-do family, rich and affluent in every sense of the word, and she, well, she was the only daughter of a recently established (and recently widowed) acupuncturist/ herbalist.
Maybe they were kinda like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet?
Or was it more like Cinderella?
True, she was skittish around him when they first started out and he was clumsily shy around her in turn -- she was the recent transplant into his city, his school, feeling frustrated, lost, but not quite lonely with his strong and silent shadow towering over her protectively.
Weeks had passed languorously slow without him (a mandatory family trip back home, to visit an ailing grandfather back in HK) and all she had to go on in the meantime was the memory of his square-set shoulders, a sturdy frame to lean against on bad, stormy days, and the lovely molten sheen his eyes took whenever he held her gaze…there was no way around it, he had her under some delicious spell.
Picking up the pace and ducking under streaming paper lanterns embossed with heavy black script, she dove right into the heart of Chinatown.
His recent letter came by express post and informed her of their secret co-ordinates.
Turning her eyes up from said letter that she carried with her like some luck-infused amulet, she found her target only a few paces away, his back conveniently angled in her direction.
Perfect, all too perfect, for a surprise tackle from behind.
Which she did with much exuberance, unable to contain her excitement at finally having her arms wrap around the solidity of his being, and having his own sliding into place, once the initial confusion died.
"Congratulations! You successfully scared the crap out of me, Song," he added breathily, his voice holding a note of fond annoyance as he turned her about and readjusted her arms to drape loosely over his shoulders. "I…I couldn't stand being without you."
The last words came out in a slurred, clumsy way, but she hardly needed any translation; the glazed look in his eyes said it all.
"Happy New Year, Zuko!"
She grazed his scarred ear with a chaste peck, and then, as she stood on her tiptoes, she bestowed him with a soft, melting kiss, full on the lips, to which he responded with immediate need, and his hold on her tightened even more than before.
The sky became alight with bursts and streams of colour then, dancing about the bland canvas of the cityscape, ushering the end of the old and the new beginnings that would follow in their crashing wake.
They'd write their own happy endings, thank you very much.
……
Fin.
……
author's note:
There were probably three things that prompted me to write this fluffy ficlet, one being I was desperately hungering for some Soko-ness, and though there was no Song in the animated short, it occured to me that I could do something to remedy that! XD
(Yes, I'm lame.)
The modernish, feminine, quirky way in which this was told is inspired by the latest novel I read, called 'Disappearing Moon Cafe', by Sky Lee; a very interesting read. The ending, not quite as satisfying for me, so yeah, I wrote this sort of as a closure I guess. LOL
Took the title from the inspiration song for this story- 'Sweetie' by Kimura Kaela.
Give it a listen; you'll feel as bubbly and oh-so-up in the clouds like our protagnonist.
Or at least I did...cough
And finally, Zuko/Song are copyrighted to Nickolodeon.
(But secretly, they serve as my mental play-things!)
One more thing, thanks to hinotori, my good friend, for the lovely, concise summary she helped me with. Arigatou!
R & R! Please!