He smiled at me, and it sent a flash of sparks up my skin. Golden irises peeked out from under his dark hair, piercing me with the softness in them, which really makes no sense, but it did when he stared at me like he was right now.

I grew all giddy when he laughed, turning away from me as he listened to Toph say something. Zuko had started laughing a lot lately, and sense I had never heard him really laugh before he had joined our group, my body wasn't used to the strangeness of it. Strange... but I loved the sound of it. It sent the little shivers up my spine.

Suddenly, he stood up and walked over to me, a smirk on his lips.

"Hey," he said. I blinked up at him.

"Hi." His funny facial expression was unnerving me. I smiled hesitantly back at him, trying to ignore Toph staring at me from behind him, even though she couldn't see me.

"Well, since Toph can't see, and Sokka and Aang are out picking berries or something, you wanna play a game?" He held up a box that looked like a fancy matchbox.

I piqued an eyebrow at him, not comprehending. "What kind of game?" I stood up to examine the box.

He grinned. "A card game."

I opened the box to see super-elegant playing cards, and I tried hard not to bend them or anything, like I had to our crappy cards back home. These felt really stiff, and the Water Tribe men had used pieces of paper to play with. I had no idea cards could get this un-bendy.

I looked up suspiciously at his mischevious smile, but nodded. "Sure. I have nothing else to do." Zuko's grin expanded, and I narrowed my eyes. "So what are we playing?"

"A game called "Deuces". You try to be the first to find all the pairs in the deck." He moved over to a tree stump and gestured for me to sit down across from him and he set out the cards on the stump. "You see, I set out all the cards, and we find matches. Easy." He looked slyly up at me through his eyelashes.

I couldn't see how he could be planning to trick me with this, unless he was going to try to swap out the cards to his advantage. I made him hand me the cards - happily, I might add - and shuffled and set them out myself.

Toph sat down between us, watching sightlessly.

I flipped over a couple of cards with no luck. Zuko found the first pair three tries later. I found one the next turn.

This went on for a while, the both of us playing together furiously. I was getting more and more competitive with each pair he found. I would cry out in triumph and rub it in his face whenever I found a pair. He would stare at me passively, as if thinking about something totally unrelated, so I would have to remind him sometimes it was his turn, or stop him from taking mine.

Eventually, there were only four cards unflipped. We stared at each other, contemplating.

Zuko reached over and flipped over a six. I stared at the card I knew was it's match, not being able to help it. The second he flipped over the wrong card, I snatched the six card and grabbed it's pair.

"Ha!" I said, waving the cards in his face. "Two sixes, all mine! You're slow, Princey!"

Zuko looked over at me, a brow furrowed. "We'll see who's slow soon enough," he said simply, looking back down at the cards.

I pouted, wishing I could have gotten a better reaction out of him.

Zuko flipped over two fours. I stared down at the two remaining cards, a grin on my lips. With the final pair, I would win. At this very second, we were tied, but as soon as I claimed those kings, I would gloat all day.

I looked up at my opponent, flashing him a cocky smile, relishing the moment. "Well. There's only one pair left, Zuzu."

Zuko took a deep breath and shifted to where he was on his knees, a hand on either side of the stump. "Wrong."

I stared over at him, then looked around my body. "What? Did I miss a pair? Did it fall on the grass?"

Toph slowly shook her head. "No."

I shot my gaze from her to Zuko, realizing that whatever he was doing, Toph was in on it. My eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, then? There are only two cards left."

"Yes," he answered, staring at me.

I frowned at him, crossing my arms. "So it's the last pair."

"No," he replied, a smirk passing over his lips, mocking me for being ignorant to whatever his issue was.

"You're confusing me," I said, throwing up my arms in exasperation.

With a sigh, Zuko ran a hand through his hair. He finally stared me in the eye and shifted to where he was an inch away from my face. "There is another pair."

My heart beat a little faster as his warm breath washed over my face. I blinked, feeling stupid. I hated feeling stupid, but my anger couldn't come properly when he was right in front of me like this.

Zuko swiped the cards off the stump and crawled over on top of the stump, his shadow hiding me from the sun. I couldn't see Toph anymore - Zuko took up my entire vision.

"Uh..." I gaped at him.

He leaned over and crawled over the stump until he was on my side. He kind of guided my to the ground, then leaned over me, gently nuzzling my neck. My heart stopped.

"Do you understand?" he murmured, tracing my jaw with his nose.

"Ur-hem-meh," I managed.

Zuko smiled and looked down at me. I stared up at him, struggling to breathe. Aang, Aang, Aang, I told myself. But Zuko's golden gaze was piercing me again.

"Zuko.." I finished, closing my eyes and accepted the choice I known I'd decided long ago.

I knew he was grinning as he leaned down and pressed his lips against my forehead. He paused, apparantly waiting to see if I protested.

Needless to say, due to my inability to speak, and maybe my secret desires, I did nothing of the sort.

He gently ran his mouth down my nose and brushed my cheek, just barely touching me with his lips. I shivered under him.

He leaned and pressed his voice near my ear. "We're two of a kind."

And he carefully kissed me, and I opened my eyes just barely to meet his identical gaze, smouldering. I reached up and wrapped my hands in his hair, bringing him closer. This was the advantage of kissing someone with hair - I could move him closer if I wanted to. And my body demanded that I DID move him closer.

Zuko murmured against my lips, restraining the moan he held in.

Eventually we broke apart, panting silently.

As Toph laughed nearby, Zuko shot me a rueful smirk.

"I win."