Chapter 9

Rui walked behind the Prince, her arms out just in case he started to fall, in which case then she would be ready to catch him. The Prince wobbled a little and Rui's hands shot out to steady him. The Prince chuckled when he felt her hands steadying him.

"Falling's not gonna kill me, Rui," he teased her. She scowled.

"Yes, but you can't deny that it would hurt and not be very pleasant." The Prince sighed.

"No, I guess I can't." The Prince was very irritated about his progress. It had taken a few months for his wounds to heal completely, and because he had been bed-ridden for so long, he had to practically learn to walk all over again. Well, really all he needed was practice, but it felt like having to learn it all over again to him. He had not been allowed to walk while his wounds had been healing, so he had had no use of his legs whatsoever for so many months. He was especially irritated at the fact that while he was here learning to walk again, his father, the General, had been called to the war front again, and, it had been decided months ago that Lu Ten would accompany his father on the next mission he was called upon. However, since his condition was such, he had obviously not been permitted to go on the mission.

The Prince continued to walk unsteadily to the other side of the room, when there was a loud bang outside the Prince's door. The Prince got so surprised that he lost his balance and nearly went tumbling to the ground, when Rui caught him. When Rui had realized he had been about to fall, she had wrapped her hands around his waist, impulsively, and became his support when he lost his balance. The Prince realized that he hadn't hit the ground and then associated the presence on his waist with the girl that had been beside him moments ago. He looked up into Rui's face and smiled grimly.

"I guess it's good that I didn't accompany my father after all, huh?" He chuckled hollowly. He continued to stare into Rui's face, enchanted by her eyes. They were the strangest shade of violet, with a red ring around her pupils. The Prince was enchanted.

Lu Ten only realized that they had been subconsciously moving towards each other when the doors of his hospital room had burst open. They both withdrew from each other so quickly that Lu Ten ended up falling to the floor after all. Rui realized what she had done and felt horrid. She jumped to the Prince's aid right away, a guilty expression on her face. As she was helping him up, they got locked in another stare until they heard someone clear their throat slightly. Rui quickly broke eye-contact to look at their intruder, leaving Lu Ten, once again, marvelling at intensity and beauty of her eyes. He looked to the door in a more, slower and aggravated fashion. What he saw there suddenly brightened his emotions considerably.

Lu Ten's eyes lit up and he tried to jump to his feet, only to fall down flat on his butt again. Rui saw the humiliation flow into Lu Ten's eyes and decided to help him out of the situation. Rui giggled.

"General Iroh, not to be rude or anything, but are you sure Lu Ten is mature enough for the army? I mean, come on, he's so immature that he pretended to fall just so that you could come and give him a hug right here." She giggled again. "He's so immature he still needs to see how much you love him." She giggled again.

Lu Ten realized what she had done and felt waves of gratitude wash over him in immense measures. He smiled up at her, "right you are, Rui." He grinned at her, and Rui knew that he meant that grin to be as a thank you as well. She just smiled at him in response. Lu Ten looked up at his father and, upon eye-contact, both burst out laughing. The other Generals that had been standing behind General Iroh joined in as well. Rui just smiled affectionately at the father and son that were hugging and laughing in a heap.

***

After the Generals had all left (they all had to go to a meeting which Rui had been excused from because the Firelord knew that she was with Lu Ten and she was caring for him better than any number of nurses assigned to him could have), Rui sat in a chair sewing a mini t-shirt for her Teddy Bear, Snuffles, while Lu Ten sat in bed, reading a book.

After about an hour of this, Rui felt someone's eyes on her (she had a fairly good idea whose) and she looked up to meet Lu Ten's intense gaze. She looked away, blushing. After another 10 minutes or so, she continued to feel his penetrating gaze, and, not being able to stand it any longer, looked up at him and asked, "what???" in an exasperated voice. He chuckled.

"It's nothing." He continued to gaze intently at her, a small smile playing on his lips. Rui finally grew frustrated and irritated with the Prince. She threw down the small t-shirt on the floor, stood up, walked over so she was standing across from him, and crossed her arms, huffily.

"What is it?!?!? Is there something on my face??? Is there a bug on me? Am I hideous??? Do I look like a monkey…. WHAT???" Rui glared at the Prince's laughing form.

"No, it's just, you –" he stopped speaking and looked down at his lap. Rui's expression softened.

"What is it? Tell me," she said, softly. Lu Ten looked at her and took a deep breath.

"You – you look beautiful when you're angry," he ended in a hurry, blushing. Rui just stared at him, stunned.

She dwelled on what he said. Suddenly, her mind began turning. What if… no… it couldn't possibly be true… could it? Does he…? More importantly, do I want him to? Hmm…. She thought about it for another minute before she realized that she actually did want him to. She was surprised at herself. She shrugged internally and began to think about ways she could check. After 5 minutes or so of thinking, she finally decided how she was going to check.

She giggled (that was part of the plan). Lu Ten looked up at her, a questioning look on his face. She giggled again.

"What?" he asked her, perplexed.

"Do I look beautiful only when I'm angry?" She giggled again. Realization dawned on his face, as he realized what she was doing. He smiled at her, a mischievous look in his eye.

"Darling, you always look beautiful." He waggled his eyebrows at her. She giggled again, but this time, it was from the heart. Then the mischievous look fell from his face and a sincere expression took its place. "I meant what I said, you know. You are amazingly gorgeous," he stated, his eyes boring into hers. He just stared at him, her mouth open in shock. Finally, when she came back to her senses, her face turned tomato red. She looked at the ground, embarrassed, yet flattered at the same time.

Rui suddenly felt a finger under her chin, brining her face up. She looked up to see Lu Ten's face, inches from her own. Her breath caught in her throat. Slowly Lu Ten began to lean in, and Rui followed suite.

Their lips pressed together softly, sharing their first of what had many more to come.