Zuko and Lisana are going on a date! *wolf-whistles* I'm so excited, particularly as I myself haven't been on a date since my ex dumped me about seven months ago.

Speaking of the dreaded ex-boyfriend - yes, he actually did all the stuff on Lisana's Douchebag scale, although not on EVERY date he ever took me on, and not all at once.

Don't worry, it'll make sense when you read the chapter.

Huzzah for not doing essays and writing fan fiction instead.


Vivisection

Chapter 28 - Sparky Sparky Boom


Strangely enough, I was even more nervous about my date with Zuko than I had been about the solstice evening. Because it was a date. I couldn't convince myself otherwise, couldn't kid myself that this was entirely a Just as friends thing. I didn't know what had possessed me to say yes. Even if this place was different from my world, it had to be considered bad form to date your boss here.

I told myself to relax. It wasn't like I was his girlfriend or anything. We were just going out on one date. Despite that I knew that this had to be as big a thing for him as it was for me. He hadn't so much as looked in the direction of a woman since his wife had died, and I hadn't so much as looked in the direction of a man since Jimi.

I tried to figure out if I liked him that way or not. Zuko had never, ever pushed me about anything, and God knew I wasn't used to that. Everything in my life was variable, pushing me one way or another or just ignoring me completely, like Jimi had near the end of it. Zuko was a constant, not irrational like pi or e if we were talking in mathematical terms, but just a simple straight number. I liked being with him. He felt comfortable to be with. I didn't have to force myself to talk, or feel awkward if there was a silence lasting more than a minute between us. Zuko was quiet like me, and didn't feel the urge to tell me what he was thinking every minute of every day and then expect to converse with me about it. To be honest, sometimes being with him was like looking into a mirror. He was very similar to me, on the inside past all my crap. I couldn't pretend that he wasn't physically attractive either - pretty eyes, my brain drooled, and I mentally slapped it.

On the other hand, I'd sworn never to get into another relationship because there was no way I wanted to get hurt again.

I prayed I wasn't repeating my first mistake, and then mentally slapped myself. I was being silly. There was no way I could get in too deep. It was one little date, for God's sake.

I was dressing by myself tonight. I'd washed obsessively, washed my hair three hours before so it would have time to try. I still found it weird washing in front of other women, all of us naked, especially since I was built so differently to all of them, but I'd tried to get over it with a swift mental Suck it up, princess.

I tossed through the outfits I'd bought, and found a black skirt that finished just above the knees. Just beneath it was a red silk top, navel-baring with flowing sleeves. I tugged the clothes on. The skirt was loose and flowing, but the top was tighter and sexier than the stuff I usually wore, and a little lower-cut too. I shrugged. I could trust Zuko not to try and cop a feel. And if he did I could just kick him in the crotch so hard it would permanently neuter him. I smiled at the thought.

Dressed, I brushed my hair out, leaving it long and loose. I decided against makeup. II hated makeup, and we were just going to see fireworks, not attending a state function.

I could hear the splashing of a bath next door. Of course - Zuko had his own bathroom. He had the Fire Lord's suite, whereas I had the crappy little bodyguard's bedroom. I tried not to think about the fact that Zuko was naked about five metres away from me, and brushed my hair some more instead.

A few minutes later there was a knock at my door. I opened it. Zuko was standing there, wearing a pair of black pants. He was pulling on a shirt. It was red and black, hanging open at the chest.

'You look pretty,' he said, looking down at his feet as he said it, which was kind of cute.

'Aww, that's so sweet. You do too,' I said, sort of meaning it. His eyes looked very gold in the candlelight. My eyes peered of their own accord at the exposed hint of bare chest. Despite my scathing comment weeks ago about pretty boys who took their shirts off to fight, I liked what I saw. Zuko actually had muscle mass on him, which was more than I could say for Jimi.

He leant down and did something totally unexpected. He kissed me on the cheek, just lightly, and pulled away quickly. The spot on my cheek where his lips had touched tingled, which surprised me. Even in the early days of the two of us, when we'd been a kissing-and-holding-hands couple, Jimi had never made me tingle.

'Will you beat me up for that?' he asked.

'Depends,' I said. 'So far you haven't scored any points on the Douchebag Date scale. If you do I might have to change my mind.'

We walked out of his room. Neither of us were doing the holding-hands thing. It would have been a bit awkward.

'What's the Douchebag Date scale?' he asked.

'Basically if you do anything that my ex-boyfriend the douchebag did on dates, you score a point,' I replied.

'Such as?' he replied, as we moved into the palace gardens.

I lifted a hand, counting off points on my fingers. 'Ignoring me and talking to your guy friends instead. Sticking things down your pants. Doing air guitar when there's no music playing. Running into an ex-girlfriend and giving her a big cuddly hug, right in front of me. Trying to get me to answer awkward truth-or-dare questions. Wearing lycra and/or tight pants. Trying to get me to drink alcohol, which I don't like. And just generally being a douchebag.'

'How old was he? Six?' Zuko snorted.

'Mentally, pretty much,' I agreed, as we left the palace gates. 'So what do people do at a Fire Festival?'

'There's Fire Nation food, and plays, and magicians, and fireworks,' Zuko explained. 'And Fire Nation rice wine.' He rolled his eyes.

'Oh. Booze. Well, remember the Douchebag scale,' I said.

'If I tried to make you do anything you didn't want to do, you'd probably punch me out,' he replied, smiling. The smile looked odd on his face - Zuko wasn't really a very smiley person - but kind of sweet.

'Too right.' It didn't take us long to get to the Fire Festival. It pretty much hit us ten metres from the palace gates.

It was similar to a carnival - there was a man juggling flaming torches, and lots of small stalls selling things. A woman at one of them pointed at me and whispered to her friend.

'I guess that demon rumour's still going around, then,' I muttered.

Zuko looked down at me. 'If it's any consolation, I don't think you look anything like a demon.' He leant down and kissed me again, this time on the lips.

I'd heard of the electrical spark you were supposed to get when a man you were in love with kissed you. The first time Jimi and I had kissed, I hadn't felt anything and had assumed it was a myth. He wasn't hideous or anything, and as time went on and we both got better at kissing the kisses felt…nice, but there was no tingly feeling.

When Zuko's mouth touched mine it was like the forty-Coulomb electrical charge of a thundercloud had passed directly into my lips. It was only a very light kiss, soft and questioning as if he was asking permission, but the electrical feeling seared inside me, tracing a line of least resistance through my body.

He pulled away and my cheeks went very hot. I think he saw the expression on my face, because he looked alarmed. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.'

'What was that?' I asked, stunned.

'Shit!' He put his hand to his face. 'I'm so bad at this! I'm sorry!'

I leant over and hugged him, and then stepped back. Now Zuko was the one who looked stunned.

'Wait,' he said. 'Aren't you mad? I thought you were mad.'

I shook my head. 'I'm not mad. Surprised, but not mad.'

He looked confused. 'Surprised in a good way?'

I put my arms around his waist again and kissed him gently on the lips. 'Huh,' I said as I pulled away. 'It's still there.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Are you hooked up to a generator or something?' I asked.

He shook his head, smiling, and I knew it had felt the same to him. 'How would I carry a generator around? I'm not allowed to stick anything in my pants.'

A man at a nearby stall called out to us. 'Young man!' He obviously hadn't recognised Zuko. 'Fresh fire flakes for you and your girlfriend?'

Was I Zuko's girlfriend now? I jerked myself away from that train of thought. I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. Just one little date, remember? I told myself.

'What are fire flakes?' I asked Zuko.

He laughed, and walked over to the man and paid for some. He passed me the packet, and I took some of the red flakes, which looked like dried meat of some sort. As I put them in my mouth Zuko watched, as if waiting for a reaction.

I chewed and swallowed. 'Mmm. Spicy.'

Zuko looked disappointed. 'You didn't scream for water.'

'I told you, nothing wussy comes out of Finland.' We kept walking. We were a bit more relaxed now. I'd let Zuko put his arm around my waist. His hand felt warm, resting just above my hip. His palm was a little rough - callused maybe? I wondered what from, then remembered the two swords he'd brought with him to Ember Island. Years of weapons training would probably leave calluses.

We had stopped to listen to a woman giving a street performance. She was singing, while men in the background were playing string and woodwind instruments. She had a strong voice, a rich contralto.

Zuko kissed me lightly again. It was like I was being embraced by lightning instead of a person. I kissed him back, trying to keep control of myself, and pulled away before my mind completely fell to its knees.

He smiled down at me. 'Let's go and see the fireworks.' His arm went around my waist again and we walked off.

Eventually we came to the place where they were setting the fireworks off. Zuko and I sat on a bench. In my head, I thanked Kyokushin for ensuring I had no stomach fat. Zuko's fingers were sliding up and down my bare belly, producing tingles under my skin. He slipped a finger into my navel and tickled me. I giggled, which was a surprisingly girly thing for me to do.

'Don't do that,' I said, making as if to slap him. 'Or I'll tell jokes at you and you won't be able to understand them.'

'Ooh, I'm scared.'

'You should be,' I replied. 'If it looks like chicken, tastes like chicken, smells like chicken and feels like chicken, but Chuck Norris says it's beef, then it's fucking beef.'

Zuko rolled his eyes. A man in a red and gold robe strode out in front of us - it really was a stride, exactly what the kids in drama class used to do, big and arrogant and annoying - and waved his arms in the air. 'It's time for the fireworks!' he bellowed to the ring of people sitting around him.

'Maybe we should have sat near the back,' I whispered to Zuko.

A boy of about ten wheeled out a red wooden wagon with the Fire Nation flame insignia on it. The man opened the back of the wagon and pulled out something red and rocket-shaped. He snapped his fingers, and a flame appeared between finger and thumb. Despite myself, I watched, mesmerised.

The flame touched the wick at the end of the rocket. The man released it. The wick burned as the rocket fell towards the ground. Just before it hit, the wick burned up and the rocket shot into the air with a high-pitched whee. There was a bang, and green stars exploded in the sky.

'As pretty as that was,' I said to Zuko, 'it didn't look very safe when he lit it. Maybe we should move to the back.'

Zuko nodded, and we stood up and began to move to the back. Unfortunately, we didn't move soon enough.

The man went to light another rocket and set the wick of this one alight. Looking back, I think he dropped it at the wrong angle or something. The exploding rocket shot into the wagon full of fireworks.