Author's Note: Aaaaand THIS is the reason I stopped writing this. Dear God, what was I? 12 when I wrote this? That's sarcasm, I think I was 19 or 20. I'm 21 now and I just read this chapter and ew. I'm so sorry. Buuuut this is my most popular fanfiction by far, so... yeah. Just, for some reason when I write it, my writing skills go to crap. YES, I plan on finishing this stupid thing. I'm sorry I'm so horrible and disappeared for like years. A year. However long it was. Whatever. Here's a new chapter. - Fira

Twenty-five

Maya couldn't breathe. She was choking, doubled over against her knees. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard! Ohhh, Uncle had really outdone himself this time. She sort of felt bad for Zuko. She glanced up at him, and his face was slowly growing redder and redder. By his expression, she couldn't tell if it was from anger, or embarrassment, or both. Finally, she caught her breath and came closer to him. "Wow. How do you feel?"

"Ridiculous." He was dressed in a green-and-black suit, very Earth Kingdom style. It didn't look good on him at all. Red really was his signature color. And he looked better in clothes that were not so restrictive. His hair, though, is what had caused her to laugh so hard.

"I'm guessing Uncle did that for you?" she asked, glancing at his hairstyle. It looked glued to his head and was parted right down the middle, as opposed to being just free to go wherever it wanted to like it usually was. His hair wasn't very long yet, so it normally just looked sort of fuzzy.

"Yes," he muttered.

"How much grease did he use?" she asked, guffawing some more.

Zuko just scowled.

"Here, lemme…" She reached up and rubbed her hand all over his head until it had gone mostly back to its normal shape. "There. Feel better?"

"Yes. But Uncle probably wouldn't appreciate it. It took him ten minutes to get it the way it was."

They sat across the table from one another on a restaurant patio as the last light of day disappeared from the sky. Maya was very much enjoying her food. Uncle's table manners had rubbed off on her some time ago. They weren't atrocious by any means. But when she really liked what she was eating, she let herself dig in and really savor it. Food had become one of her favorite things.

Zuko stared at her across the table, until she finally looked up and said, "What?"

He blinked. "Guess I just never paid much attention to how you eat," he finally replied.

She raised an eyebrow.

He made the "I surrender" gesture with his hands and then continued his own meal, eating much more slowly than her.

When they finished, silence reigned for quite some time. It was very strange for Maya. It wasn't the comfortable silence she was used to. This silence was charged and awkward. "What's – what's happening right now?" she asked, after sitting there for another minute or two, gesturing at the both of them to encompass the situation. "This is so—

"Awkward. Yeah," he said. "I've never really gone on a date date with someone before."

"Lee. It's just me. You don't have to act any differently than you normally do. If we weren't on a 'date date' right now, what would you wanna be doing?"

He smirked. "Making out with you."

She let out a laugh, a loud one. People turned to look at her, but she didn't care. "Well, we can't do that here. Maybe we could go find a quieter spot?"

He continued to smirk. "Sure."

They paid for their meal, and then wandered the quiet city streets as the moon rose in the foggy night sky. Maya sighed in contentment. "Don't get me wrong, Zu—Lee," she began, remembering to use his moniker at the last second, in case anyone walked by them. "I'm… not really into mushy, girly stuff. But I have to admit, going on a date date with you has been really fun so far."

Zuko smiled. "I kinda miss running for our lives, though."

She laughed. "So do I, to be honest. I mean, I love settling down and having a steady job and being able to do stuff like going out to dinner, but… I do miss being constantly on the move and facing harrowing challenges. Stuff like that always made me appreciate you and Uncle even more. They made the quiet times more precious."

"Yeah…"

Maya suddenly stopped, looking around. "Wow," she breathed. They were standing in front of a large fountain, surrounded by about twenty different unlit candles. "I bet this place would look gorgeous if all the candles were lit…"

Zuko looked around, seeming to note the location of each candle. Then he took a step forward. He turned to look at Maya. "Close your eyes. And don't peek."

"Why? I already know what you're gonna do."

He lowered his voice. "If someone else sees me, I don't want you to have to be a witness. You can just say I made you not look."

She sighed, sarcastically replying, "Fine, if you want to be smart about it." Then she grinned at him and put her hands over her eyes. "Go ahead," she said.

And then he let loose with some serious firebending. He had perfect form as he shot flame after flame at each candle, extremely precise and careful so he wouldn't accidentally set anything else on fire. Each candle came to life with a golden-yellow glow and the water in the fountain began to sparkle and shine like each drop was a tiny diamond.

Zuko turned with an, "Okay, you can look," but then he glared at her. She was already staring around in awe. "I told you to keep your eyes closed."

She smiled at him innocently. "Um… Oops?"

He sighed, but returned the smile.

"So, uh… Have I ever told you that your bending is fucking hot?"

He looked taken aback, but then he grinned at her. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, because it totally is." She walked right over to the fountain and sat down on the edge staring at the water and letting it mesmerize her. She felt him come up behind her after a moment, and take her by the arm to lift her back to her feet.

She turned to ask him what he was doing, but his mouth sought hers before she could speak. His tongue teased her lower lip and she gasped against his kiss. They remained standing, kissing and embracing, until Maya pulled away and sat down heavily with a deep breath, intent on having a break. Zuko quickly followed her down, sitting beside her and leaning towards her. She said his name, his real name, or started to, before she felt his tongue against her neck. She let out a squeak of a gasp and went rigid, then relaxed. She closed her eyes, tilting her head to expose more of her neck. His tongue was warm and wet and soft and she could feel her breathing quicken in response to it. She made small noises that were not under her control as he continued, but she didn't care…

He pulled away eventually, and she made a small groan of disappointment, looking at him. Finally, she said, "You've never done that before."

He shrugged. "I wanted to know if you would like it. Besides. I said I wanted to make out with you."

Maya rested her head against his shoulder. "Well… do it more often," she said, and then laughed.

Hours later, when the two of them returned home, Uncle beamed at them. "How was your night, you two?" he asked.

Maya looked up at Zuko, wondering how he would respond.

He smiled down at her, an arm wrapped around her shoulder, then he looked at Uncle. "It was nice."

Maya smiled too. "Yes. Yes, it was."