So, I had a major breakthrough about this chapter and what to do with Boshko! Oh, I am so excited to share it with you guys. And you know what else is really awesome? I was writing this while listening to the Virginia Symphony Orchestra Perform Prokofiev on the great lawn of my university. That's quality. I am just so glad to get this next chapter up for you guys because I have a super cute epilogue planned! EEEEEEP! Enjoy!

Into the Open Air

Part XXV: Reunion

"Who's that?"

"Look at his scar! It's-"

Zuko pushed past all of the suspicious voices and whispers. He charged through the gypsy camp. He had to find her. His ears strained to hear the simple music made by the bangles on her ankles and the lilt of her hips. His eyes scanned every person in search of the woman he so deeply knew and loved, but she was nowhere to be found.

"NANAMI!" With a roar, he released her name into the air.

"Zuko?"

He spun around to see a someone approaching. Ginji smiled and Kito, grabbing the old gypsy's pants, beamed at the familiar face of his protector. Ginji grinned almost deviously, his eyes lighting like two lanterns in the dark. All he said was,

"I knew you would come."

"I," panted Zuko, "I need to find Nanami."

Nanami was overcome by the need to know the cause of the commotion in camp. Could it really be that Zuko had come back for her? Her heart did somersaults in her chest, but Boshko wasn't finished with her yet. She tried to leave the tent and he clamped a hand around her wrist.

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling to escape his hold.

"Nanami," he shouted with a new kind of energy. To the girl, it sounded almost like...fear?

"Why?" She asked, desperate. "Why are you doing this?" She looked longingly over her shoulder, hoping to see Zuko emerge from her periphery, amber eyes blazing.

"GAH! You don't understand!" Boshko growled at her. He stuttered slightly and Nanami was taken aback. Boshko was not his usual self.

"I'm dying," he said, void of emotion. He released her and dropped his arms to his side. This time, she did not attempt to flee.

"Dying?"

"The healers say," he ran a hand through his hair and the action reminded Nanami of the man Boshko had used to be before Ilya's death. "I am already weakening," he continued, "I fear that I won't last the winter, that I won't see spring."

Spring. She had once danced with the merry Boshko and Ilya in the warming spring grass. Ilya and Boshko had been married among a falling of cherry blossoms. Kito had been born in the spring. This was the man who had been her dear friend. This was the man from whom death had taken his only love. After having experienced her own such loss, Nanami knew how his heart had become so callous and knew that he had sworn off love and did not place blame upon him. Everything made sense now, it explained the man he had become in recent years. She knew what he was asking of her. It was the very same thing that Ilya had asked him as life left her while Nanami held newborn Kito.

"Boshko," Nanami's voice was smooth this time, comforting.

"This is why I want so badly to keep you with us. It is for his sake."

"NANAMI!" Both gypsies spun to see Zuko ducking from under the tent flap.

"Zuko!" The first time she called his name it was a gentle gasp, not much more than an inverted sigh. The second time, no sound passed her lips as she held her hand up to his face, cupping the tough skin of his scar and tracing the soft petals of his lips. He was here. For so long she had dreamed of this moment and now, it was more than just her heart's fantasy. The third time she called his name it was an elated sigh that ended muffled by a kiss as she threw her arms around him and he held tightly to their embrace.

"Never again," he whispered, pulling her closer, kissing her with the fervor that a drowning man gasps for air "Never again." Then, he looked up and Nanami could tell that he was eyeing Boshko. Keeping a protective arm around her, Zuko turned to stand between her and the gypsy prince. His other hand went before him in a fire bending stance.

For a long, tense moment, the silence went unbroken. Then, Nanami stepped forward.

"Enough," She held her arms out from her sides, "Enough of this." She turned to the fire bender, "Zuko, you don't understand." She explained to him her realizations and the promises she had already decided to make.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH THERE IS ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER AFTER THIS ONE! BUT I WILL BE WRITING A LOT OF CUTE LITTLE FLUFFY DRABBLES! Can you guess what is going to happen to our characters here? tee hee PLOT TWISTS!

LEAVE A REVIEW!