1. the clink of steel
2. the heat of fire
3. the hard glint amber eyes
4. the slow burn of betrayal

5. Azula's cruel laughter, echoing in the background, as she walks away, leaving them to fight to the death.

6. crimson forms turning in a slow dance as orange flames blaze and smoke swirls around them

He confronts her with a rage he has never directed at her before. Everyone but her... anyone but her.

"You too, Mai?"

Mai's smirk is as cold as the steel throwing star that grazes his collarbone as he stands defiantly, done dodging, standing tall in the fire as he screams through the smoke.

"No, Zuko. Betraying you implies that I had once been on your side."

Zuko cannot move, even though with a flick of her wrist, Mai sends dozens of needles flying towards him. He doesn't move. He can't feel the pain of the needles pricking him, blood spilling over his cream colored skin. All he feels is his stomach flipping over, his gut falling, his heart constricting.

He steels himself, for once learning from her, and inhales, drawing lightning with his breath, as a blue ribbon of crystalline lightning shoots out of the tips of his fingers, streaming straight to Mai. The expression on his face is anything but a smirk, and there is a complete absence of the rage with which he channels fire. No, to channel lightning, Zuko feels only an intense, aching pain.

The blue ribbon takes almost forever to reach Mai. Her smile fades when the lightning hits her and her screams echo through the haze of the smoke. Zuko falls to his knees, the pain in his voice echoing in his ears.

Her body collapses onto the stone floor. The sun is setting in the background, orange and pink ribbons in the sky, echoing the flames that surround them. Her blood is as crimson as her robes as it pools around her prone form, blue lightning crackling in the air, charged.

Suddenly Mai's screams fade to an annoyed tone, as Zuko feels someone impatiently shaking his shoulder.

"Zuko! I can't sleep if you keep tossing and turning like that!"

Zuko's eyes snap open as he gazes into Mai's sour face, her mouth pulled into a frown, her black hair tousled for once, her golden eyes bleary and red from lack of sleep.

He doesn't speak, instead pulling her into a crushing hug, holding her to him with such force that his rapidly beating heart thrums like a war drum in her own chest.

Gradually his heart beat slows down as he inhales the jasmine in her hair and the warmth of her body soothes his tension. He is still holding her ever so tightly and she finds it safe to mumble "Let go already!", because Mai hates someone touching her when she is trying to sleep.

He lets go, but even in the dim light of the moon shining in through the window, his golden eyes look pained, so Mai huffs, snaking her slender arms around his broad chest, resting her head over his heart. He holds her, gently this time, and she manages to fall asleep with a smile on her face.

Zuko feels Mai sleeping in his arms for the first time and he feels so content because she is so close, but pained, because he wonders if she really is as close as she seems.

He gazes at the ceiling, sighing as the moonlight shines over them and the trees sway in the night breeze.

He hopes his dream will never become a reality.