Okay, I'm really glad that those of you who reviewed liked my chapter. Thanks, I thought none of you would like it. Myself, I thought it was kinda boring. BUT ANYWAY, I THANK YOU ALL!

Fire Blazing Chan S.E- Thanks for reviewing, and I like this penname too so DON'T CHANGE IT!

Hiko-Chan- Thank you for reviewing. Glad you liked Zuko swearing so much, and acting like a 5-year-old. And I'm also glad you thought it was cute.

Flames 220- Okay, okay, I'll try and make my chapters longer. And…umm…I don't think that I'm the right person to ask that question…but I can tell you who is! Her penname is "Lavanderrose" (no, I did not spell that wrong). Go to "search" and type in that name. Or, just look below! Click any one of her stories and review and ask her that question. That's how I got here. She's very honest and reliable. Tell her I sent you. She'll probably be nice. Oh, and thanks for reviewing!

Brokn Innocence- My Sensei! Thank you for reviewing! I, too, think Zuko is AWSOMELY HOT (without his scar) and I too can imagine him sulking like…a sad puppy. I already drew Ayaka, but I will try and draw Ryu, however, it's gonna take some time because I haven't drawn since school ended. (Don't yell at me!) Yes, you did see some familiar names, but they are from "Wish" (I know, really bad that I took them, but I couldn't think of any other names). Zuko is in my head for motivation! Both without a shirt…and with swim trunks!

Lavanderrose-You finally read it! Yes, I did use the names from "Wish" you are correct. What do you mean who's Zhao? He's the guy who hates Zuko's guts, and he too wants the Avatar for his own reasons. And no, I don't think all parents are morons, so stop nagging me. … Where did this swimming goggle stuff come from? Are you acting crazy now too? COME BACK! I LIKE THE SANE YOU!

Hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 8: Midnight Meeting

Ryu lay on his bed, his mind working furiously thinking of ways to get Ayaka out of this marriage. He could hear her humming as she chopped food for tonight's dinner. Dammit, thought Ryu, if I don't think of anything fast, then Captain Zhao is gonna be my brother-in-law and I DO NOT WANT THAT! COME ON, STUPID, THINK! "Shut up and leave me ALONE!" he said. Almost immediately he thought, Shit. I'm talking to myself. I'm such an ass. He turned on his side and tried to think. "Dammit! This fuckin' sucks!" he yelled. Suddenly, Ryu sat up like lightning. He had an idea that he was sure was going to work. He ran out of his room, and into the kitchen where his sister was chopping up cilantro. Type of herb. "Ayaka!" he said. His sister caught completely by surprise, screamed as if her head fell off. She turned, violent rage and anger burning in her eyes. "RYU! WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU? I ALMOST CUT OFF MY HAND 'CAUSE OF YOU, DAMMIT! NEXT TIME, AT LEAST WARN SOMEONE BEFORE YOU COME HERE! HOLY SHIT!" she yelled and returned to her work.

Ryu looked at her. "Alright, alright, sorry, jeez, don't have a cow," he told her. "What are you so happy about anyway?" she asked moodily, still not looking at him. Ryu smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said. Ayaka, still angry with him, turned and said, "Yes, I would, and unless you want to die where you stand, you'll tell me right now." "Alright, I'll tell you. Jeez," said Ryu. "I thought of a way to get you out of the marriage." Ayaka looked at him her face bright with a smile. "Are you serious? You figured something out? NO WAY!" She said. And, (with the knife still in her hand) rushed towards him to give him a hug. Ryu on the other hand, was totally aware of the knife and stopped his sister from coming any closer. "What?" she asked. Ryu pointed to her hand. "Knife," he said. "Oh," said Ayaka and walked back to the counter and placed the knife down, and then rushed forward to give Ryu a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best brother in the world, how can I ever repay you?" she said as she hugged Ryu tighter with each word. Ryu was happy that is sister was happy, but the fact that he could hardly breathe due to his sister crushing him, cut down on the happiness. "Okay," he tried to say due to lack of oxygen, "Okay…Ayaka…too…much…love…can't…breathe." Ayaka looked at her brother for a second and then realized that she was crushing him. "Oh, crap. I'm sorry," she said as she quickly let go of him.

Ryu breathed deeply, grateful for the air that went into his lungs. "No problem, just…be a little more careful next time. You don't want to kill anybody," he said smiling. "That all depends on who the somebody is," said Ayaka glowering. Ryu knew that she was thinking of Captain Zhao and how she would love to wring his neck. He smiled at the thought. "I saw that," said Ayaka smirking. "What are you smiling about?" she as asked. "Just thinking how it would look if you killed Captain Zhao," Ryu told her still smiling. "Well, isn't that sweet. A brother and sister sharing a moment together," said a voice behind them. Ayaka and Ryu turned only to be greeted by the face of Captain Zhao standing in the opening of the kitchen. They both wondered how long he had been standing there. "Holy crap! Don't you ever go home?" asked Ayaka angrily. Both she and Ryu were glaring at him like he was the scum of the earth that had somehow managed to crawl its way into their lives. Zhao smirked, "No," he said, "your parents told me that I could spend the night here and…get to know my wife." He told her. Both Ayaka and Ryu's eyes widened in fear and shock. They still couldn't believe that their parents actually welcomed Captain Zhao with open arms and allowed him to stay in their home.

Ryu moved Ayaka behind him trying to protect her from the invisible force that was Zhao's words. He was glaring at him with immense hatred. "You'll never be alone with my sister. She's not yours. Not now, not ever. She'll never say 'I do'." He told him. Zhao merely chuckled. "Bold words for such a stupid boy. She may not be mine yet…but she will be. And sooner than you think." He told them and left them to ponder about what he said. "What the hell did he mean when he said that I'll be his 'sooner than you think?'" asked Ayaka. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out," Ryu assured her. "We'd better figure it out fast then," said Ayaka. Just then an enormous bird flew through the window and placed a piece of paper at Ayaka's feet and flew off. "Ookay. Uh…thank you…I think." Ryu said to the empty space where the bird had stood. They both stared at the paper like it was a very interesting rock, when Ayaka snatched it, grabbed Ryu's arm and dragged him to her room. "What the hell is that?" he asked her once they were safely locked inside Ayaka's room. "What does it look like genius? It's a letter." Ayaka told him as she opened it. "Yeah, I see that, but why did the bird give it to you? Shouldn't it have given it to either Mom or Dad?" he asked her. "No," said Ayaka in a voice that was barely a whisper. "Why not?" asked Ryu mimicking her. "Because this letter's from Zuko," she said.

"What! Why is he sending you" Ryu began but he was cut off by Ayaka. "He must've found out that I was getting married to Zhao," she said as she slumped onto her bed. Ryu sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "I was afraid of this, Ryu. I didn't want him to know, I didn't want him to worry. And now he knows and who knows what's gonna happen," she said to him. Ryu could see tears spring up in his sister's eyes. He pulled her closer to him as she started to cry. It was very rare for Ayaka to cry, because she usually keeps her emotions inside and locked away forever. However, here she was crying her eyes out on his shoulder and not ashamed. "What does the letter say?" he asked once she had stopped crying. Ayaka pulled away from him and read the letter out loud:

" 'My dearest Ayaka, dreadful news has just now reached me. This news, upon hearing it, has ripped the heart and soul out of my body. Please, Ayaka, tell me that you are not getting married to that fiend Zhao. Tell me it is all a lie. Ayaka, my darling, I love you more than anything in this entire world and seeing you getting married to Zhao is too much to bare. You are my heart and soul, without you I am lost. My mind is tormented with worry for you. All I ask of you is this: come and meet me tonight at midnight with your brother when the entire world is quiet and still. We can finally figure out what will become of us and what we can do to prevent this atrocity from happening. Remember, my love, that no matter what I love you and I shall always be there for you.

With all the love in my heart,

Zuko' "

There was a moment of silence and then Ryu said, "Wow. That's…whoa," he was too shocked to speak, for the letter had been too lovey for his taste. "Come on, let's go," said Ayaka getting up and heading towards the door. Ryu, taken aback, said, "Wait, wait, hold up! Go where, exactly?" Ayaka looked at him like he was crazy. "To see Zuko, hello? Did you not hear me read the letter?" she said. Ryu sighed. There was absolutely no stopping Ayaka when she sets her mind to something. "Alright, let's go," said a defeated Ryu. Ayaka was about to open the door when Ryu held her back. "Wait," he said. "How are we supposed to go see him, without Mom, Dad, and more importantly, Captain Zhao knowing where it is we are going? It's not like they're just gonna let us go without an explanation," he told her. "Hmmm," said Ayaka. "Good point. Well…we could always lie," she said. Ryu smirked and said, "Yeah, you're really good at that aren't you? Oh, and that's right, you still have to do my chores for not telling Mom and Dad where you went that day." Damn. I was hoping he'd forget about that, thought Ayaka. Nevertheless, she said in her sweetest voice, "Yes, Ryu, I remember, and I owe you greatly for that," she said, but once she was done saying that, she gave him the finger. "We're wasting time," she said, "Now let's go." "Yeah, same to you," said Ryu as soon as he and Ayaka were out of her room. Thankfully, both Ryu and Ayaka made it safely out of their home without meeting anyone. Especially Captain Zhao, cause that would've been really bad.

Both holding small fires in the palms of their hands, because it was too dark to see anything, Ayaka and Ryu walked onto the shore of the Fire Nation. "I wonder where Zuko is," said Ayaka. "Maybe he's at the dock, where you played for him last time. C'mon let's go look," said Ryu. Sure enough, they found Zuko leaning against a pillar underneath the dock, dressed in a red shirt and black pants. As soon as she saw him, Ayaka rushed forward and gave him a hug and a kiss, which he returned passionately. "Alright, alright, alright, that's enough you two. Jeez…get a room," said Ryu as he came toward them. Ayaka smirked. "What," she said with her arms around Zuko's neck, "jealous?" "I am not jealous of you guys, why would I be jealous of you guys? I just think it's kinda gross the way you two smooch all over each other like a married couple," said Ryu. "Hey, you know what Ryu, that's not bad idea," said Zuko smirking and holding Ayaka close to him, tightly around her waist. "What is, getting married?" asked Ayaka, looking up at him. "Yeah, why not? You were already about to get married weren't you? Just don't get don't get married to Zhao…and get married to me instead," he said as he kissed Ayaka's neck. "What! No way! Ayaka's not ready to get married, not to Captain Zhao, or to you! Is this what you wanted to talk about? This is why you dragged us over here? To ask Ayaka to marry you?" exclaimed Ryu. "If that's all, then we're going home," he continued, but he didn't really mean it. Ayaka stayed quiet during Ryu's outburst with Zuko. Getting married to Zuko…that's like a dream true for me. I want to get married to Zuko…and I will, thought Ayaka.

"Ayaka," began Ryu, "are you okay? You seem awfully quiet." "I want to marry you, Zuko," said Ayaka, in a voice that was so quiet, neither Zuko nor Ryu heard her. "What?" asked Zuko, looking at her. She turned her head to look at him, and said very clearly, "I want to marry you, Zuko." Ryu's mouth fell open, and Zuko looked at her, smiling form ear to ear. "Really?" he asked her. Ayaka grinned and said, "Yeah, really." Then Zuko and Ayaka kissed, long and hard (Ryu kept his eyes shut tight throughout the whole thing). When they finally broke apart, (to Ryu's immense relief) Zuko took out something from his pocket. It was a black-banded choker with a teardrop shaped ruby hanging from it. "Oh, Zuko, it's beautiful," exclaimed Ayaka when she saw it. Zuko smiled. "I thought you'd like it," he said, and he placed the choker around her neck. "You look beautiful," said Zuko when he saw that it was on her. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, she looks great. Ayaka can we go now? I think I'm about gag," said Ryu. His sister ignored him and turned her attention back to her new fiancé. "This necklace is beautiful, Zuko, but…I don't have anything for you," she said apologetically. "That's all right, don't worry about it," Zuko said. There was a pause. "I love you, Ayaka," said Zuko. "I love you to," said Ayaka. They were about to kiss again, when an impatient someone interrupted them, saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, love all around. Ayaka, cam we go now? It is starting to get late…or early depending on how you look at it. Say good-bye to your boyfriend and let's go. The crew might wake up any moment and you don't want them to see you guy's together, cause they tell everything to Mom and Dad." "Alright, alright! Jeez, get a grip, we're going," yelled a very annoyed Ayaka. She turned to Zuko again. "I'm sorry, Zuko. My brother's being an ass about this whole thing, so…I'm gonna have to go," she said. Zuko sighed and said playfully, "If you must." Ayaka chuckled, kissed him on the cheek, and boarded the ship. "Finally!" said Ryu, once he and Ayaka were on the ship sailing home, "when we get back home we're going to have a serious talk about this, first of all, we can't let Mom and Dad find out about this, or they're gonna kill us, second…" Ayaka tuned him out after this. All she could think about was the fact that nothing could ruin this night for her.