thoughts on Zoey

oh god, this is going to be long… I don't mind Zoey, but after Hidden, I felt like she'd sort of crossed the line. And her guy mess annoys me, because she hurts them so much by yo-yo-ing between them. I still think she's a good person though, just one with flaws, who makes mistakes here and there, and sometimes screws up monumentally. I guess since I almost never write her POV, it's difficult to tell that I still like her as a character. (particularly after all the Neferet POV stuff that I do…) :)

Zoey (this is set on Skye)

On the Isle of Skye, things were weirdly easier than the real world. Not that it wasn't real or anything, but the real world I was used to. The one with Neferet and Kalona and Darkness. Absently, I wondered how Stevie Rae was doing. I knew it wasn't fair to make her endure the poopie I left her with, but I seriously needed a break. I mean, my soul had just shattered, and then Kalona'd killed Stark. I thought I was going to shatter again for a moment. It was nice to be back. I watched Stark shooting his bow, looking like an ancient warrior. Dangerous, tough, and incredibly sexy. I sat back to watch him, and I was impressed. I looked at his target, and there was a pattern to it. He was making a crescent moon in arrows! When he noticed me right beside him, he smiled, and let another arrow thunk into place.

"That's amazing!" I cried

"Yeah, I guess it is" Stark shrugged "It's my gift. I never miss."

"That's incredible!" I smiled "See, I was right" And then I got an idea. I was going to make him miss. But how?

"You said it was all about focusing on whatever you try to shoot, right?" I asked "Where would the arrow go if you weren't focusing on anything?" I asked

"What would say-Fire do if you called it, and all it could pick up from your mind was garbled nonsense?"

I shrugged. "Maybe the fire sprites would come out. Maybe I'd burn this place down, who knows?"

He went back to shooting his bow, and once he drew back, and prepared to shoot, I grabbed onto him, and kissed him. I knew from last night that I could just as easily make Stark incapable of thinking as he could me. I used his little mental eavesdropping trick to check what he was thinking. Yep, the start of my plan was working. I moved his hands to his bow, and some part of his brain registered that he was going to shoot it. He let it fly, not thinking of any real place. It flew off somewhere, and I heard Seoras yell over to us.

"Ach! What are yu two doing!?"

I pulled away, like he was the Step-loser, and I was still human. Stark looked sheepish, the arrow had embedded itself in a tree. Oopsie. It also seriously didn't help that Seoras was all of three inches from the arrow.

"Nothing!" I exclaimed, real smart, Zoey I chided myself

Seoras laughed at that

"Yu two cannae do 'nothing' while he's shooting! Are yu daft!?" he reprimanded "Yu coulda killed me!"

"Yeah, come on Z, let's go do nothing non-dangerously" Stark smiled. Huh, well, now I knew what happened if you distracted Stark.

The two of us walked back to the castle, before Stark got a better idea. "Actually, let's go to the beach, Mo-bann-ri." He announced, guiding me the other way. I sighed and followed him there. I smiled as we passed the Hanging Tree, thinking about how great everything is now that I'm back from the Otherworld.

Stark smiled "it's not eavesdropping if you think that loud." He commented, and I felt my cheeks heat up as I blushed.

We arrived at the beach in no time, me still blushing. "We're going for a quick swim, okay, Zoey?"

I looked at him like he was nuts "then we have to go get bathing suits from the castle." I argued

Stark shrugged, tossed his shirt on the sand and dove in. "This works too."

I sighed, blushing even more, there was no way I was going in. I mean, what if someone walked by?

"Come on Zoey, the water's fine." He called. I sighed and took my sweater off. Then, I traced my nails around the legs of my jeans, creating shorts. I cautiously waded into the oddly warm water.

"See, that wasn't so bad." Stark swam over to me "now, let's go somewhere a little deeper."

We, swam a little father, me using water to propel me, because Stark was seriously a fast swimmer.

Then, abruptly, Stark stopped. "So, now call fire." He insisted

"what!?" I demanded incredulously . Was Stark insane or something?

"I wanted to test what Fire would do if you weren't focusing, and I decided that, for safety, we should do it in the middle of the water." He grasped my hand

I looked at him, completely uncertainly. "You're sure?" Stark nodded "well, I trust you." I took a deep breath. "Fire, come to me." Then, Stark pulled me in, towards him. His lips met mine and I felt a whoosh, as the element caught on, radiating heat and warmth and really sparking, as Stark I kissed me. In that instant, there was nothing else in the world to me except Stark. I felt like my heart was healing, until Stark pulled away, looking guilty. Seoras was standing there on the beach, looking suspiciously at the way sparks were floating on the water, radiating out of what looked like a bonfire.

"I thought you said you couldn't burn water, when we met." Stark teased

"I thought I'd be finding yu two here." Seoras turned to leave "are yu doing more nothing?"

I started to blush, and I dismissed fire. The sparks that had floated on the water, like little stars, died. As Stark and I walked back to the castle, he whispered "remember, whatever happens when we go back, I'll always love you, Zoey."

"And I'll always love you, Stark." I whispered back, certain this time.

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I definitely ship it. I still can't see Zoey/Aurox happening, as long as Stark is alive. Also, I just realized how confusing this must look to most of you, with all of the cintinuations and whatnot. I'll put symbols beside everything that goes togerth, to make it make sense, a little KShade out.