At first he thought he would just hold her and let her have some time to think on her own, but she had other ideas in mind. She suggested that they sit on opposite ends of a street, so they would both have time to think to themselves, while still taking comfort from the fact that the other person was close by. He was disappointed that he would not have the pleasure of holding her, but when he thought more about it, his previous intention was not very respectful of her ideas. He could not truly say that he valued her if he could not bring himself to respect something that was important to her. So he would try "doing nothing", even if it didn't sound like the best thing to do.
"You seemed like you were deep in thought for a minute." She said softly, even though no one was around to hear her. "I didn't want to disturb you. After all, that's what thinking is about. It's your time to think whatever you want, and anyone who disturbs you could have just prevented you from having the most important thought of your life!"
He looked at her with new intensity, and he sensed that somehow his stare had changed; it was looking at who she was, not at any physical aspect of her. He had never experienced this ability of his visual sense before, and the introduction of a deeper element made looking at her even more enjoyable.
"I'm sorry." She said with a quiet laugh. "I'm probably going deeper than you were prepared for."
"I think I've been preparing for a message like that my whole life." He said, and as he spoke, he was aware of how very romantic a statement that was, even though he had not to this day thought of himself as romantic in any way at all. However, it felt good, and he was under no compulsion to end there.
"I've noticed that about you." He said, half aware of his words, while she gazed upon him and listened intently. "You seem to know exactly when I need to think, and you say nothing at those times. But when I want to talk, even if I don't know so myself, you seem to always be ready to talk as well, and you always say something that makes me feel better about myself. All the negative thoughts I always have, all the criticisms, all of my shortcomings seem to disappear from my head when I'm around you."
She said nothing for a minute, and turned her gaze to the ground. Although he was far from finished, he said nothing as well. Then she looked up at him. He opened his mouth, possibly to ask her how she knew what to say around him, or ask her how he could become so intrigued by her in such a short time. Or maybe he could take the focus off of her for the moment, and ask her why he was so angry, and at who, and why he never felt happy until he had met her, and why that was, and a million others questions he could have asked at that moment. These thoughts seemed selfish, however, and all he wanted to do at that moment was bombard her with questions; he wanted to know everything about her.
And then she kissed him. And he kissed her. He instantly forgot everything else, and instead allowed himself to be swept up in the moment. It seemed to last an eternity and a second at the same time, but in that infinite yet brief time, he knew that all of the questions he had hammered his own brain for the answers to would be answered. Not by Jin, not even by his own thoughts. In fact, they might not be answered at all. For if the anger in oneself ceases to exist, the question of what the anger was directed at becomes irrelevant, does it not? And if talking to her and holding her gave him the happiness he had tried to achieve for so long, why bother with asking why? There was no reason to ask anymore. For he knew he could simply breathe the cancer of his troubled mind into her, and she would dispense of them with her kind words. His problems would vanish from the world, forced to keep the pain they induced to themselves. He could lose himself in her, while still being completely him at the same time. As her lips slowly pressed against his for the last time, he let his racing thoughts flow out of his head, and instead focused on putting all of his affection transfer to her with that final kiss.
When finally they stopped, in unison and with great reluctance, a moment passed where they were not able to meet each others eyes. This silence interrupted, however, by a loud gurgling sound. Zuko quickly recognized the sound as his stomach, and blushed with embarrassment at the unpleasant noise.
She merely laughed, not a harsh or condemning laugh, but one of pure affection. He was so overjoyed at that moment that he could not refrain from laughing as well. After the laughter had subsided, a period of perfect silence ensued, followed by an even more perfect kiss after that.
After the second kiss, however, they both began to feel the effects of having not eaten earlier. After a check of the shops nearby, all of which proved to be closed, they determined that they were not going to be eating out that night.
"Let's go back to my uncle's tea shop," Zuko said with a smile that now seemed so natural for him. "Maybe he can fix something up for us."
"That's a great idea" she said, taking his hand and beginning to walk.