A GIRL AND A BOY
THEY WERE ADRIFT IN A SEA OF HUMANITY, BUT FOR ALL THAT THEY NOTICED, THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN ALONE IN THE DEPTHS OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST OCEAN. It was a story as old as time, even with all of its permutations. There was a girl, and a boy, and they liked each other more than either one was aware of.
"So," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "hey…"
"Hey," she replied, biting her lip.
"So…Kya, huh?"
"Absolutely. I'm Kya, the daughter of one of Lord Bei Fong's trading partners among the Southern Water Tribes."
"You know…I'm pretty sure there was this girl I met once, amazing girl, beautiful, smart, just really cool, whose mother's name was Kya."
"Well, it's a fairly common name in the South, oddly enough. I mean, not super common, but not unusual."
"Right on…I like the name Katara much better, though."
"And I've always been partial to the name Zuko."
There was a pause. Somehow, they had gotten very close to each other. Neither one had yet to notice.
"You…you look really good, Ka…er…Kya."
"You really think so?"
"I do. I really do."
"Heh…you look…just…um…wow. I mean, I already knew you looked good in a uniform, but to see you decked out like this…I mean…gods…"
"Look, I'm already blushing enough, please don't make it any worse…"
"Oh, I haven't even begun to fluster you."
"Well, that's not fair."
"All's fair in love and war."
"If that was true, there'd be neither love nor war."
"At least one of those outcomes would be pretty positive, you know."
"True…though what if there can't be any love without war?"
"Oh, now you're getting all philosophical on me."
"If I remember correctly, you enjoyed that, last time around."
"Well, first, I've never met you before, but if I had…well…that brings me to the second point, which is that, if I had met you before, I would absolutely love you getting all philosophical on me."
"There's a lot to unpack from that sentence."
"You have no idea."
"I think I have an inkling."
"Um…Zuko…"
"Hmm?"
"Are we flirting?"
"I think so…heh…didn't know I had it in me."
"That makes two of us."
"What? Please. You're a natural…Kya."
"Only around you, it seems."
"Heh…how've you been?"
"I've been…it's been rough, I won't lie."
"Yeah, I heard some rumors about that…you have no idea how happy I am to see you in one piece."
"Likewise. I'd heard things were getting…sticky, here in the former Earth Kingdom."
"It's been…it's been rough, I won't lie."
"Have you ever lied to me?"
"No, I haven't. Not once."
"Me, neither."
Just then, the band struck up a tune. Scattered cheers rippled through the crowd. The Lord and Lady Bei Fong appeared, and the Lord made a brief speech. There was applause, and then a priest appeared to give a benediction, Lord Bei Fong announced that the games had officially begun, there was another cheer, and then the dancing began.
Katara didn't hesitate. She slipped her arm through Zuko's and began dragging him to the floor. "So, please tell me they teach princes how to dance."
Zuko laughed. "It's basically a law, my dear. And, as it so happens, the dancing happened to be the only thing I was good at."
"Now that, I find both difficult and easy to believe. Why?"
"Well, for one thing, my father hated dancing, so it was a good way to flip him the bird on the sly. Plus, no one was ever brave enough to dance with my sister, and that girl is a natural at everything she does, so, well…I had to step in."
They stopped. Zuko looked down, into the big, beautiful blue eyes that he had been dreaming of for a year-and-a-half, and they were just as big and beautiful as he remembered, while Katara looked up, into one eye gold and glittering, the other pale and white, and found them both equally handsome.
"You are just…" She stopped, took a deep breath, let it out. "You are just adorable, you know that?"
He gave an awkward laugh. "Um…I try?"
She popped up and kissed him on the cheek. "Hush, you. Now, come on, and dance with me. In fact…I think I'm going to count this as our first date. Sound good?"
He smiled. It did. He told her so.
Royalty really do have to learn to dance. It's just a thing, especially back in the day. Nothing was considered more sad than a prince who couldn't dance.
Naturally, Ozai, being a prick, would hate dancing, because people smile when they dance, and fuck that, right?
But whatever, fluff, right? Fluff. Let's get on with the fluff!
In the next chapter, if the title doesn't start you off humming the theme to the song Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera, well, you're dead inside. Stay tuned!
