Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yet. But I do own my characters. Keep your thievin' hands off em'!
Writing this chapter was easy, I admit it. Perhaps one day I'll go through it wistfully and pump it full of enough detail to explode, but at the moment I'm happy to continue with the story. This may seem short, but I wanted to express this as it will have an impact later on. No, I'm not telling you how. With a girl as the main character I just know that something unpleasant is going to happen to my masculinity. I'm getting too fluffy. Even if fluffy things are cuddly.
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The sun rose over the horizon, sending orange and golden rays to caress the faces of the young couple who sat at the lip of the cliff, looking across the glittering, almost glass-like ocean. Looking across to lands of whirlwind romance and a bloody war, almost with a look of longing shared by both a pair of deep chocolate brown eyes and a pair of crystal, bright blue ones. The girl had laid her head on his shoulder and stared out across water with a look of plain contentment. The boy, for he was little more than a boy, there seemed a sense of foreboding about him, though he was clearly happy for the company.
The girl was a pretty sort, but hardly radiant. Light brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, breaking off into individual strands just as it reaches her lower back. Her blue eyes are an odd trait, but not so unusual to be astonished by, and they glitter a little as she enjoys the view. Light brown skin, pulling off the delicate balancing act between looking unnatural and exotic, seems unblemished and smooth. Her small nose and slight turning up at one corner of her mouth only serve to make her look cute and more appealing. She was prettier than most, certainly, and the boy she was currently using as a pillow was more than happy to have her.
The boy was rather plain, hardly a heartthrob, but did have a friendly look about him. Those soft brown eyes were not heavy-lidded as hers was, and seemed more alert than was needed. His skin was paler than that of his companion's, and he seemed the perfect image of a fit, caring lad, with short cut hair shifting slightly as a breeze ruffled it, a few rebellious hairs straining to make its way over his eyebrows. Tomorrow he would be a man, with his birthday toppling him straight over the line into his sixteenth year, and the inevitable draft. It wasn't that the war was unpopular. It seemed more a fact of life, and nobody really questioned why it was even happening.
There was a slight movement, and he turned down to look at his companion.
"Kuzon…" she muttered sleepily, obviously on the threshold of falling asleep, where thoughts move sluggishly but nonetheless persistently. Kuzon smiled a little, and affectionately brushed a stray brown hair away from where it was resting at the side of her nose back behind her ear.
"Yes?" Aaryn opened her eyes a fraction wider and stared up at him, a sudden wave of sadness welling up inside her. Kuzon was caring, soft, and never selfish. He was, in so many ways…perfect.
"Are you…" she hesitated a little. "Scared?" He looked away, away from the sun, away from her. It was an embarrassing question, she understood that. He swallowed a little, the motion of his throat looking odd from her position.
"Am I…scared?" He said slowly. "Yeah…I'm scared."
Aaryn suddenly felt a little guilty and sad that she had even asked the question. So many men and boys she knew would have shouted at her for that question, for insulting their honour. Kuzon understood, though. He always understood her, and now he was leaving. He was leaving to fight in some stupid, stupid war, and she couldn't do a thing about it.
"I'm…I'm going to miss you. A lot." It sounded lame, weak, lacking in substance. But there was a timbre in her voice that suggested she was trembling a little, inside. Some warmth suddenly rose up and blocked her throat, and she just stared up at him.
Kuzon looked down at her, and his eyes were shimmering. Was what they had love? He didn't think so, and she didn't either. It was a connection that went a lot deeper than friendship, almost like the bond of a brother and sister, with a hint of flirty romance as they grew up together. But they both knew quite well that it wasn't love in the romantic sense, but it seemed somehow much more important. He leant down a little, and slowly kissed her. Her right hand came to rest on the front of his tunic and scrunched it up in a light grasp, and she couldn't help but blush a little, her cheeks colouring slightly as the golden dawn played over them.
The kiss was…indescribable. It was warm, but not passionate. Caring, but not possessive. It was as if all his warmth and all his being had been poured into a single moment for her to touch and savor and love. His tunic felt rough under her hand, his lips soft against hers, his breath brushing against her cheek as he breathed, the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Slowly, as if there was something he didn't risk breaking inside her, he drew away.
"Aaryn." There was heartbreak in that word, and it almost stuck in his throat. It was all he needed to say, and she understood. He and hugged her as she fell into him, hugging him tighter than he knew she could. As her arms seemingly tried to trap him with her forever, a grief unlike anything she had felt ripped through her. So they sat together as she sobbed into his tunic and tears silently rolled down his cheeks and mingled with her hair.