Song for this one-shot (replace the DOT with a period): http://wwwDOTyoutubeDOTcom/watch?v=zeoGAKXsMjE&feature=PlayList&p=5915335958A67582&index=1&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to the show Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters, ideas, etc.

They were the lovers that were always meant to be, but never were.

The anguish they would never feel, the love they would never allow to exist, the far from perfect but far from unfulfilling life they could experience, all of it... gone, and not even the spirits know why.

The two were formed for each other, created for each other, destined for each other; each strand of hair on her head and each speck of gold in his eyes made for the other. They were so perfect, so true, so meant to be, yet human beings do not always follow their predestined paths. Mystery prevails and they choose otherwise for reasons unfathomable.

He will never wrap his arms around her. She will never enjoy his silent company. They will never cry for lost love. They will never weep for a broken heart, at least not openly.

Maybe her subconscious warns her of the passion she would feel and turns her away from it. Maybe his understands the sacrifices they would have to make and knows all too well that he would give up everything he is in a heartbeat to be with her. Maybe that is why they fled. Maybe that is why they deny themselves. Maybe they knew they would lose they would lose themselves in each other.

After all, the ultimate, epic, quintessentially true love stories are only for a select few, and not always the greatest or the strongest of us. The stories we all yearn to live, the stories only few of us will truly attempt to grasp, the stories even fewer of us will actually manage to hold onto… this is the type of story they had within their reach, the story they scorned so gracefully and quietly that even they scarcely knew they had committed the deed.

But they are not blind, though they pretend to be. When they glance upon each other they acknowledge neither longing nor desire, neither covetous heart nor aching soul. Their silent pleas are far too deeply imbedded for such declarations.

With this lack of real awareness they do that which they have been trying so hard to avoid; without realizing it they have quite artfully lost themselves. Through denying each other they deny themselves. They give up what they could have been; what they should have been, their hearts satiated with a sense of logic but barren of truth and passion.

Painful memories ever-present in their minds tug at injured hearts not torn enough to be unfixable but just enough to be too stubborn to try; too stubborn to even consider the possibility. They return to their companions with a sense of emptiness they will never understand and never be able to quell. And so they are and forever shall be the lovers that were meant to be but never were. For in life we chose our fates, for better or for worse, and often we do not know which we have chosen.

Give me a nice review and I'll write a one-shot just for you. Hey, that rhymed!

-HoFSoW