028. Shuffle.
His feet shuffle when he's trying to be sneaky, and that's how she knows it's him out in the hallway.
"Aang," she says, placidly rolling her eyes to the intricately designed ceiling of her bedchamber, "What are you doing?"
From the other side of the heavy wooden doors, Aang's voice betrays the shock at being caught that he tries so hard to cover up. It's kind of cute, but she feels a bit queasy for thinking that, especially in the presence of the young man lounging across her bed.
"N-nothing, Katara, just walking to, uh, Zuko's room, to ask him about, um, some Fire Nation things. Goodnight!"
She can almost see his huge fake grin, his adorable child cheeks dimpling, and his eyebrows arching down in badly masked anxiety that she might catch him in the act of spying on her. Or maybe he wasn't spying — maybe he just wanted to talk.
Disregarding this whimsically, she turns back to the person sprawled atop her scarlet comforter; shirtless and with his hair down and sprayed over the pillow like a silky spider-web, Zuko looks alluring and beautiful, the faint candlelight hitting him at a sharp angle and creating abrupt shadows across his face and body, a perfect chiaroscuro painting. He watches her with smoldering pools of gold for eyes — curious, but not altogether interested.
"You should get to your chamber before he does," she suggests, moving toward him through the orange and red haze that is her room here in the Fire Nation Palace. She crawls on her hands and knees toward him on the bed until she is right over him, holding her breath. He's so much cooler than she is, especially when they're meeting in secret late at night.
"One more kiss," he whispers back, his lips barely moving, and his hand is on the back of her neck suddenly; she follows it's guiding motion down to meet his mouth oh-so-willingly. He tastes fierce and flaming for just a second and then he is gone from beneath her; the curtains ruffle and he's pulling his shirt over his head as he steps out onto the balcony.
She can almost hear his voice murmuring "I'll be back in a moment," carried softly on the breeze now waltzing through the open window.
And as she falls back onto her bed and sinks into her pillows, completely smitten, a faint, reluctant shuffling can be heard just outside her door.
Author's Note: This one is so sad for me. But I love it just the same. Do you love it too? (: