Sitting outside on the steps of the courtyard in the warm night air, listening to the rest of her new "family" plan a trip into town the following day for some festival, Sessa finally felt at ease. It had been nearly three weeks since she'd come here and despite the first rough patches, she was glad she had. Suki, Toph and Katara (after a very long talk about Aang and Zuko) had turned into her best friends and confidants; Sokka and Aang had managed to become what she had always imagined brothers to be like; and Zuko...well, he seemed intent on ignoring her. But even with that, she could no longer fight it; she had a very large, very unavoidable crush on him, and if she didn't watch herself, she would end up falling for him. Hard. Which would be the biggest mistake ever seeing as how I don't think it could even work. I mean come on Sessa! He's a Prince, he has a girlfriend, he's a cartoon...on your favorite TV show, AND I'm pretty sure that right now, for whatever reason, he hates my guts. she reminded herself for the millionth time that day. Ugh, she groaned, rubbing her hand against her temple, I have to be a masochist, there's no other way to explain my self inflicted torture.
Frowning at the boy her thoughts seemed to always be preoccupied with lately, she huffed, what she needed right now was some serious advice from Amy; she always knows what to do. Or Mei, who would tell me to follow my heart...in this case, right into the frying pan. I wish I could see you guys. Trying to focus again on Suki's campfire story, she shook her head to rid herself of wandering thoughts and glanced up at the night sky; and gasped. Slowly rising above Appa's large, furry head was the first full moon. Shooting up from her seat on the stone steps like someone had lit it on fire, she managed to get out a quick, "'scuse me!" before running from the courtyard and vanishing into the house.
Suki paused mid sentence to stare wide eyed at the retreating back of the girl who had run out of there like the Giant Unagi had magically appeared behind them.
Toph stared blankly at everyone, "Um...Did I miss something?"
"No" Katara smiled, enjoying the pull of the moon within her, "Tonight's a full moon".
"Ooh. Family. Okay." Spitting to the side and lying down, she listened as Suki continued her story of riding elephant koi as part of the Kyoshi Warrior training.
Zuko however, was lost in his own private thoughts and was not paying attention to the story at all; Aang had told them earlier that Sessa looked to the sky every night because she would only be able to contact her family during a full moon. While he was happy she would be able to talk to the people she so obviously loved, he couldn't stop his eyes from narrowing with worry, or the voice whispered to him that maybe her talking to them was a bad idea. A distraction of sorts.
Silently he rose from his seat and slipped back into the house. The others were aware of his absence but said nothing; they had all noticed that since they had arrived on Ember Island, Zuko hardly talked to Sessa anymore, as if he were trying very hard to forget she was there or ignore the fact that she was. Nobody understood it, Suki was by far the most surprised by his change in demeanor, and Katara just gave up trying to figure him out; when she compared his behavior now to when he'd first brought Sessa to camp, it was like he'd been two different people. Even Aang and Sokka had tried on multiple occasions to see what was going on, but the moody firebender always sidestepped the subject. Toph, on the other hand, hadn't bothered him at all, because she had a very strong idea about what was going on and wanted to see how it would play out. So instead of saying anything, she just smirked as Zuko trailed Sessa.
Following the path he'd unconsciously memorized to her room, he paused outside the door and listened; unlike the one night he'd come here, there were no lights or sounds coming from inside to tell him if she was there. This time he had to rely on the sharpened senses and skills his time as the Blue Spirit had taught him. Without making a single sound, he slipped through the partially opened door and immersed himself in the darkness of her room; he crept through it until he reached the door that lead out into her private garden.
What am I doing? And more importantly, why? He wondered to himself. He had no logical explanation for what he was doing, or why he wanted to hear what she had to say to her family, but he couldn't bring his body to leave. Finding a small nook, just outside the garden entrance, he slipped into the small crevice and let the shadows conceal him.
From his hiding place, he could see her clearly as she bent some water from the little pond in the center of the lush garden into a large ceramic bowl she'd bought on one of her ventures into town. Then, completely unaware of his presence, she removed the gold gilded object he'd seen in her bag when he found her, and placed it gently in the bowl.
What is she doing?
As the light of the full moon cast its silver glow over her and the garden, he watched as the water in the bowl began to shimmer, and from it came the ethereal sound of girls' voices.
"Yuki, how could you do that? In front of everyone at school! What if he goes to the cops?" asked Mei, with her back to Sessa and her hands on her hips, sounding worried and angry at the same time; something only she could manage to pull off when very upset.
Worried over what Mei had said, Sessa forgot where she was and spoke as if she were in the living room with them, "What do you mean 'what if he goes to the cops?' Who's going to the cops? Yuki what happened?" her voice was louder and more commanding than she'd meant for it to be, but there was no way to control herself when she was worried.
Mei shrieked and spun around dropping her school books as her large hazel eyes searched the living room for the voice's owner. Yuki's expression, however, was more akin to the look of someone who'd just been caught eating the last cookie in the cookie jar. More like the cat that ate the canary. Sessa's temper sparked, when Yuki had that look, something bad had definitely happened.
"Yuki, you had so better tell me what's going on! Or so help me, I will go to the North Pole right now and go home!"
Yuki flinched at the anger in Sessa's voice, but remained calm. "I can't see you; I don't know where to look."
"I think you should look at the mirror Yue gave us." Amy answered with a bit of laugh as she came into view. Picking up the mirror she smiled her hello at Sessa as she handed it over to Yuki so they could all see her together.
"Ses honey, it's really not as bad as Mei is making it out to be" she smiled.
Sessa's expression turned deadly, Amy always tried to play things down to keep her from worrying too much, but this time she wouldn't let it work.
Yuki held up a hand in surrender, "Fine, fine. But you shouldn't get upset about it, especially since you can't do anything about it." She stuck her tongue out at Sessa and grinned evilly.
Sessa waited silently for the answer as she mentally commanded herself to stay calm and keep her eyebrow from raising in annoyance. Breathe, remember, you love your family...no matter how much you'd like to strangle a particular member. Count to ten...again.
Yuki took a deep breath before meeting the deep blue gaze of her sister's angry expression, "Okay so before you try to kill me, I kind of beat the snot out of that toothpick ex-boyfriend of yours, Kato. Infrontoftheentireclass." She shrugged, slurring the last part together hoping Sessa wouldn't understand. She did.
In front of the entire class? Sessa had not been expecting that, "You did WHAT?" a ball of fire appeared in her hand and she shook it away, angrily, she did not want to burn down her favorite spot.
"Actually," smiled Amy, ignoring Sessa's anger, "She walked into class with a baseball bat and went at him like he was the devil incarnate. It was really very funny, I've never seen a boy scream like that before. But it may not have been exactly the best time or place for it." She turned her smile to Yuki as she chided her.
"Well what did you expect me to do?" snapped Yuki; she did not like being in trouble with Amy, it was like being scolded by a motherly saint. "The guy attacked Ses outside of work!" she turned her icy blue gaze back to Sessa, "Oh! And thank you for telling me nothing happened, when in fact he HIT you. On the FACE! He's lucky I didn't turn him into a woman! Permanently!" Yuki's light blue eyes were flashing in anger as she remembered the bruise that had been blossoming on her sister's face until Yue had healed her.
Zuko, who had been listening intently from the safety of the nook, felt white hot rage burst through him at the thought of someone laying a hand on her. Using every ounce of control he could muster, he kept himself hidden instead of confronting Sessa and her family about what had happened. Mentally, however, he was playing with imaginary fantasies of what he would do to this Kato person, if he ever had the opportunity. I'd kill him. Slowly. His expression was murderous as he stayed put to listen to the rest of the conversation.
Sessa sighed out the breath she'd taken in and ran a hand through her hair, musing it as she spoke, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to get so upset or seem ungrateful, but I just didn't want to you to go and do something crazy...like you apparently did. But, thank you for trying to get back at him for me." She smiled happily at her sisters, "Just don't get into any more trouble, okay?"
When they had all agreed she smiled, happy to be able to talk to them again. "So aside from kicking Kato's ass in school, what else have you guys been up to these past three weeks while I've been over here?"
"Um...Ses," Mei looked at her with surprise, "it's barely been an entire day since you left."
"What? No way! I've been here almost a month."
Amy nodded, "Exactly, remember what Yue told us? A year in the Avatar world would barely be three months here. Time is passing by faster for you, and very slowly for us. You left last night, and right now it's barely late afternoon now."
Well I'm an idiot, frowned Sessa as she realized she'd forgotten all about that little detail, "Oh yea. I completely forgot about that."
"But we miss you anyway." Mei smiled instantly making everyone laugh.
Sessa rolled her eyes at her wonderful little sister and agreed. They continued talking for another half hour about school and life in the Avatar world, until Sessa finally sent them to bed so they would get up (or at least try to) at a reasonable hour for school. After they had left, she bended the water back into the pond and removed the mirror. Drying it with the bottom of her shirt, she closed it and stretched. She missed them terribly, but at the same time, she was not nearly as lonely as she would have expected to be. Probably because everyone here is so wonderful. Smiling happily at the moon, she whispered a quiet thank you to Yue before going back inside and preparing for bed.
Long after Sessa had blown out the candles in her room and finally gone to sleep, Zuko had still not moved from his place deep within the shadows of her garden. He stayed, unmoving, thinking over everything he had heard, and everything he had felt. He'd expected Sessa to have had a boyfriend or an ex, he had even convinced himself he would be very surprised if she didn't; but he had not been prepared for the anger and jealousy that had come with confirmation. It had felt like someone lighting a low fire in his chest and increasing its intensity until it was almost unbearable. But what had nearly undone him, what was still thundering inside him, was raw fury, like the kind he'd only felt when Uncle had been attacked by Azula in the Earth Kingdom. Knowing that someone had hurt her had brought out the same feelings and emotions only his dreams had been able to do.
Stepping out of the shadows, he stretched his stiff muscles silently before slipping back into her room. As he left, he swore he would do serious damage to this Kato idiot or anyone else who ever hurt her.
When he entered the hall, he debated on a moment of what to do; I need to talk to someone, making up his mind he walked a few doors down and knocked lightly.
````````````````
"Zuko?" Toph's voice was heavy with sleep and her hair was wild around her, reminding him of a fuzzy porcupine he'd seen once on his travels with Uncle.
He'd forgotten how late it was, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep." He turned to leave, but her hand shot out and caught his arm, yanking with all her strength she brought him inside and closed the door.
"Well I'm awake now, so you might as well start talking about whatever it is you wanted to talk about."
A small smile tugged at his lips, "Thanks Toph."
She didn't respond as she went to grab a glass of water, knowing he would use firebending to light the various candles and oil lamps about the room.
"So, what's on your mind?" she asked after she had her water.
"I need...I need your advice about something."
"Something? Or someone?" her lips twitched a little and she knew he had glared at her.
"Fine, someone." He hated how easy it was for her to read him, especially since she was blind.
"Sure. What's the problem?"
He sat on one the multiple chairs in her room and shook his head, "It's hard to explain. I don't know where to start. I feel so confused."
Toph stared blankly at him, "No offense, but I think I know what your problem is, and it's not that hard."
"Oh really? What is it then?" he challenged.
"Easy. You have feelings for Sessa, you have since the day you brought her to camp. I don't know why that's so complicated or confusing."
His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Okay, maybe it's not that hard. He rubbed his eyes before he tried to speak, but she held up a hand to keep him quiet.
Cutting off the protest she knew he'd been about to make, she looked at him, "Before you go trying to deny it, remember two things: I know when people lie and you're the one that came to me for advice."
His mouth snapped shut and he sighed, "Okay. You're right, but I don't know why I have feelings for her. I mean, I hardly know her! And then there's Mai..." his voice trailed off as pain and guilt hit him at the memory of her being arrested at the Boiling Rock for helping him escape.
Toph slapped a hand over her face in frustration and huffed, "Okay, first of all, it's your own fault you don't know her that well. You're the one who's been keeping your distance from her for the past few weeks; I mean it's not like she hasn't tried to get to know you better."
He flinched as he remembered the times she'd invited him to go into town or to train with her, and unless it was with others from their group, he'd always refused.
"As for Mai," she continued, "What does she have to do with it? Tell me about her; how long have you guys were together, and all that other nasty romantic stuff Katara and Suki go goo-goo for."
He chuckled at her description of the two hopeless romantics. "Well, she is...was? my girlfiend, but right now I don't know what we are. Since I'm the traitor and she's in jail. She's not like any other girl I've met. She's not impressed with titles or money, she can take care of herself, she doesn't need anyone and she's just herself." Unless she's trying to hide her emotions, he remembered. "I've known her since we were kids and she's just always been in my life...well, kind of. And she's in jail, because of me! Because she got arrested by my stupid sister for helping me."
Toph shook her head at him, Men are such idiots, she groaned mentally. "Okay. You are so wrong it's not even funny. First of all, not one of us girls here gives a snot about money or titles; we are all very capable at taking care of ourselves, and Hello! I ran away from home because I didn't need anyone." She sent him a glare that made him flinch. "And just because she's kind of been in your life since you were kids doesn't mean anything. It could just be that you're really good friends. And that thing you feel about her being arrested by Azula, its called guilt. Not love. So what if she got arrested for helping you? She's a big girl, she can make her own choices and deal with the consequences. Besides, it's not like our friends haven't been arrested for helping us." Her sarcasm made his temper snap, but he held it in. She was being honest and while he didn't like it, she was making sense.
Toph could feel him get angry at what she was saying, but she continued anyway, he needed to hear this. "If you still think of Mai as your girlfriend then you need to think about why you have feelings for Ses, and why they're so strong. Don't deny it. I can feel it. Maybe what you feel for Mai isn't love at all, maybe you just care about her. And as for Ses, you're the only one that can really figure out why you have feelings for her. BUT, I will tell you that she has feelings for you too. Don't give me that look" she said to his surprised expression, "I know 'cus every time she's near you or one of us talks about you, her heart rate and breathing speed up; so I'd bet good money that she's dealing with something similar."
Zuko's heart thudded to a stop for a moment as he let Toph's words penetrate his mind. His brain was running in so many different directions with what she'd said, he felt like it was going to explode.
"Now go away and let me sleep." She grinned. Standing up she walked him to the door but stopped him before he shut it. "Oh, before I forget! While Sessa may have feelings for you, if you don't figure out what your feelings for her mean, and you don't let her know that you have 'em for her, someone else could step in. Trust me; I have experience in that department."
He said nothing as she shooed him out the door and swiftly shut it. Shaking his head in confusion, he walked back to his room and lay on his bed. Frowning at the ceiling, he sighed, Nothing makes sense. Closing his eyes, he rolled onto his side and let sleep take him.
`````````````
The following morning when he went to the kitchen for breakfast, he found only Sokka, Aang and Momo sitting and talking.
"Hey" his voice was still a little gruff, "Where are the others?"
"Oh! Hey Zuko! They went for their walk, but they've been gone for awhile, they should be back soon though." Smiled Aang.
"Yea, you know girls, they take forever when they get going." Laughed Sokka as he handed Momo and apple.
Katara's voice made them jump when it went through the house with its enthusiasm, "Hey you guys! Guess what!" she and the others were just walking in, excitement coming off of them as tangible as the sun's warmth.
"What?" Aang's expression mirrored Katara's as he waited for her to tell them whatever had gotten them so excited.
"Everything's set up in town for the Fire Lily Festival tonight!" giggled Suki, "It looks like it's going to be amazing!"
Sokka's eyes turned into saucers of blue, "Ooh! Let's go! What time does it start? It's been awhile since we've been to a festival!"
Sessa laughed as she watched the giddy excitement bubble out of him, and without thinking about it, her eyes passed over the rest of the group and settled on Zuko. He noticed. Turning his intense liquid gold eyes to her, he met her gaze and held it a moment. Heat burst through her and she flushed violently, looking away she met Toph's knowing smile and she turned even brighter.
Coughing to take her mind off Zuko, she turned to Aang, "What time should we leave?"
Zuko answered, "Right after sunset, no one goes to the festival before then, otherwise they know you're visitors; and right now we want to blend in."
"Okay! We'll see you at sunset then" beamed Suki, "We have a date at a spa!"
Toph groaned out loud but Sessa and Katara laughed with excitement as they dragged her out and left eh boys staring at them like they'd all grown three heads.
``````````
When the whole group was finally together just after sunset, they left for the heart of the downtown and the Fire Lily Festival. While the others, especially they girls were excited and happy at the idea of seeing the festival, Zuko was not. In fact, he would have preferred staying at the house, but the others instantly complained that they had been cooped up for nearly a week without doing anything; so he had caved to their wish when Aang all but begged him to let them go. When they were finally in town, his uncomfortable mood was only made worse.
It seemed to him that every pair of gold, brown, grey and black eyes were on them instantly as they walked through the streets. They had barely been in the center of town for five minutes before the rampage of giggling girls tried to get at him. They don't even know who I am. He glared at all of them, but they only found this more appealing and continued to blush and try to talk to him as he walked by; frowning in annoyance he pulled his hood up and ignored all of them. But it was the lusty and approving looks many of the boys were sending Sessa that made him angry. Although, began that little voice inside of him, you know you can't be mad at them for looking at her. He felt the pressure of a headache begin at his forehead.
But it was true, the girls came back from their little spa trip looking incredible, each one of them had been dressed up and given some make up to highlight their looks. Katara was in a beautiful gold and black skirt and halter-top outfit that accentuated her skin tone and tiny figure, accompanied by gold arm bands. And although Suki and Toph had not allowed the ladies at the spa to change their hairstyle, they had given them a change of wardrobes. Suki wore a low cut pink tank top with a skirt that blended the pink and red tones that were so popular in the Fire Nation, while Toph wore an outfit that was identical to the one she always wore, only this time, the colors were the darker, more fiery colors of deep crimson and black to highlight her pale skin; with both girls wearing gold and red arm bands. Sessa, on the other hand, was wearing an outfit similar in design to Katara's with the only difference being that her colors were of a soft white with gold trimming at the edges of her waist, neck and hem, that showed far too much of her figure for Zuko's comfort. In place of Katara's necklace, she had chosen gold wrist bands, and unlike almost every other girl present, had refused to wear a topknot; though she had accepted a simple gold headband to keep the waves of hair falling down about her from straying into her eyes. Zuko did not like the looks she was getting.
As Aang and Katara were lead the way through the festival and its throngs of people, Toph and Sokka eyed the various food stalls and restaurants trying to find the best place for them to eat While Sessa walked happily next to him and Suki, talking and smiling as they passed different stalls and groups of people, picking up little trinkets and admiring the things they saw; completely oblivious to the mood of their male companion.
Zuko watched as Suki and the others continued walking down the long alleys of vendors but Sessa, lost in her own thoughts, strayed over to a tiny jewelry stall. Thinking this would be a good time to try and spend some time with her alone, and that the others could handle themselves without them; he stayed with her and silently watched as she picked up a small, delicate gold necklace with a red drop shaped stone that had been carved in the shape of a flame, reminding him of the necklace Katara used to wear, and a smile spread across her face. But when the shopkeeper asked her if she would like to buy it, she smiled politely and said no.
"Don't you like it?" asked Zuko, finally breaking his silence.
She smiled weakly at him, "Of course I do, mostly because it reminds me of something Roku gave me," she paused and blushed a bit, embarrassed by what she was going to say, "but I think I've spent enough money these last few weeks."
"I'll buy it for you pretty girl" came a cool, deep voice from behind them. When they turned, they found an attractive boy leaning arrogantly against a wall with a bored look on his face, his deep brown eyes locked on Sessa. There was no doubt in Zuko's mind that he was the son of a wealthy family, about their age, and while he didn't parade himself around like a peacock, his clothes did nothing but show off his tall, muscular figure.
Zuko disliked him instantly, but decided to watch Sessa's reaction to see if this was the kind of thing she liked; and to his surprise he found that she did not look pleased, in fact, she looked a bit uncomfortable. "Oh! Um, no thank you."
Despite his good looks, it seemed to Zuko that this boy had no semblance of a brain, as he sauntered over to her anyway, smirking. "Come on, I'll give it to you for a fair price." At her doubtful and somewhat annoyed expression, he crept closer. "It'll cost you just one kiss." He leaned in.
Sessa's eyes widened in horror, but before she could bring her knee up into his crotch, the boy was gone in a whoosh of air. When her blue eyes found him again, he was fifteen feet away in a heap on the floor, a dazed and pained expression on his face with a furious Zuko stalking toward him.
"Stay. away. from. her." His voice was deadly and quiet, but the threat behind it ran clear through the air like it would have if he'd shouted it. The unnamed boy nodded his head wordlessly, stood up and ran off as fast as his legs would take him.
Sessa gaped at Zuko as he walked back to her, "Um. Thanks? I guess?" she wasn't sure what emotion she should be feeling, while she was angry at him for stepping in when she could handle the situation on her own, she was also a little flattered. Oh god, this guy's going to drive me nuts.
Zuko's gold eyes met hers and when he couldn't come up with something to say, he just nodded to her. Suki's voice brought them back to reality, "Hey shoppers, we found a place to eat. Let's go!"
Confused and completely taken off guard by his actions, Sessa followed her friends silently as they walked to the restaurant. I think I fell off the crazy bus and landed in the twilight zone. Since when does Zuko go all Rambo? It's going to be a long night...
````````
She had no idea how right she would be, the moon had just begun to set for the sun's morning rise when they finally made it back to the house. The festival had been a wonderful experience full of fire lilies (each of the girls had been given a handful by a smitten shopkeep), food, music, arts, crafts, people, firebending and games (minus the one little accident early in the night) she smiled at the memory of Zuko getting rid of the weirdo. She'd had so much fun, she wasn't even sure she'd be able to go to sleep, even though she was physically exhausted. As the others said good night and headed off to their individual rooms, she wandered over to the fountain in the courtyard and made a small fire rose appear in the palm of her hand. She watched it dance and flicker and smiled at the warmth it created as it spread through her.
"Hey." Zuko's quiet voice stirred the night as he sat down next to her, making her heart and fire rose flicker.
"Hey. I thought you'd gone to bed with others?" she tried smiled weakly in an attempt to hide her enthusiasm that he was here with her. Alone.
"No, I needed to talk to you about some things."
Surprise, and a bit of silly girly hope lit inside her that it would have to do with him helping her tonight. "Okay, shoot." She dissolved the flower and turned it into a tiger's face.
Where do I start? At the beginning I guess. He reasoned mentally. "Um, well. Do you remember that night when you had that dream...or more like a nightmare and we fought? About a day or two after I brought you to camp?" Noticing she was cold, he sent a stream of fire to the bonfire pit Toph had made when they first arrived and let the wood within it burn.
She paused, and dissolved the tiger, focusing all of her attention entirely on him, Okay, not what I was expecting, but might as well go with it. "Yes. I don't think I'd ever be able to forget one of those dreams." In fact I have one almost every night...only now I don't tell you about it so you won't think I'm a crazy person.
Taking a deep breath, he looked her in the eyes and told her what he'd been wanting to tell her for weeks. "Well...I've been having them too. In fact, I started having them for almost a month before we even met."
Her eyes widened, "You what?" Anger, pain, and something she refused to believe was embarrassment ran through her veins like a run-away-train, "You mean to tell me that when I asked you about it you and you said no, to my face, you were LYING?"
He flinched, he'd expected this. "Yes."
She glared navy fury at him, "Why? What could you possibly get out of not telling me? What if they're trying to tell us something?"
"Nothing," he began quickly, desperate to calm her temper, "I didn't get anything out of not telling you. I was just...I was just trying to get to know you first! I didn't know if I could trust you and now I know I can. And that's why I'm telling you now, I want make sure we're not missing anything."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "Of course, because leaving my home, my family and everything I've ever known and loved to help Aang the rest of you isn't enough? You're right; I must be some secret undercover spy."
"No!" he shouted, angry that this had turned into an argument, "that's not what I meant!" When she said nothing but continued to glare, he continued, "It's just that, I was confused, I didn't understand why we were dreaming similar dreams or why I had feelings for you when I'd never seen you before".
"Well maybe if you'd TALKED to me about it, we could have figured it out!" she snapped. "Is that why you've avoided me like the Bubonic Plague for the last month?"
"The Bubonic what? And yes, but like I said, only because I was trying to figure things out." Why is it, that with her, I never make sense? He sighed.
"Nothing, it's an old disease where I'm from." She huffed out a breath and tried to make reason out of rhyme. I guess...if I'd been in his position, I might have done the same thing. She frowned at him until something struck her. "Wait. Back up. What do you mean feelings?"
He slapped a hand over his face, of course she caught that, she may be oblivious to some things, but to others...she doesn't miss a thing, he coughed. "Nothing."
"Zuko. So help me, I will either kick your butt or not talk to you ever again if you do not explain things. Maybe both." Which is probably a lie but I won't tell you that.
His gold eyes widened at her threat and he laughed, there was no way he could continue ignoring her, especially since he knew his feelings for her weren't lessening by not speaking to her; and he really did not want to fight her again. "What else do you want me to say? I have feelings for you, and they're strong. Stronger than they should be, especially since we've barely had a chance to get to know each other."
She gave him a droll look, "Not my fault."
"I know." He ran a hand through his messy black hair, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you by keeping the dreams from you, or put you at a distance, I was just trying to make sense of things."
Rolling her shoulders to relieve some of the tension she sent him an amused smile, "I accept you're apology, and if I were really nice I'd tell you that you don't need to, since I probably would have done the same thing. But whatever. So are your feelings the reason you threw that guy down earlier at the festival?"
Instantly his look was sheepish, "Oh...uh...yea." he blushed slightly.
She laughed and shook her head. "Weirdo."
At her teasing comment he relaxed, "So um, have you still been having those dreams?" He did not want to get into the topic of feelings right now; right now, he wanted to figure out what their dreams meant, because I have them every night and they scare me more than anything. And maybe spend some private time with her to get to know her the way the others had.
Her face sobered and she looked away into the fire, "Yes, every night. The worst part is that I forget I'm dreaming, I get swept up into whatever is going on and I don't pay attention. But I have noticed that sometimes the sequence of events don't change, and sometimes they'll start at a different time."
He fought back the urge to comfort her, "Yea, me too."
"What does it mean?" with that simple question he saw for the first time the fear in here blue eyes, and he hated seeing it there.
"I don't know." And that bothered him more than anything. He wanted answers and he wanted to keep her safe. Always, the last thought was quick and fleeting as they watched the fire dance. I wish Uncle were here.