Chapter 13

Rui opened her eyes and smiled to herself. It had been exactly a year ago today that she and Lu Ten had begun dating, and a little over 4 months since she had gotten over the whole name issue. Her smile turned into a grin thinking about how Lu Ten reacted whenever she called him "Your Majesty" or "Your Highness" just to mess with him. Rui chuckled to herself. She felt so bubbly and alive, things that she had forgotten about ever since her father had died, but had remembered once she had met Lu Ten.

Rui rolled out of bed and skipped to her bathroom to get ready. In ten minutes she was completely ready, and so she skipped to her kitchen next to make a nice breakfast for herself, but, as she was actually making the Fire Flakes, she decided to make some extra, just in case Lu Ten decided to stop by. She smiled at the thought of her Love.

Rui had finished making the Fire Flakes and was sitting down to eat… when she heard a knock on the door. She smiled to herself. Thank heavens I made more Fire Flakes, Rui thought to herself, smiling. Her Love had quite the appetite.

Rui opened the door to find, none other than, Lu Ten, only, he wasn't staring at the door, waiting for it to be opened, but he was staring at the sky, lost in thought. He was so lost in thought that he hadn't even realized that the door he was waiting outside had opened to reveal, none other than, Rui – his Princess – his World.

Rui cleared her throat many times, but, for some odd reason, she couldn't get Lu Ten out of his reverie. A mischievous look then came into her eyes: she had gotten an idea.

She put down her bowl of Fire Flakes, noiselessly, on the table near the door in her house, and she silently crept up behind Lu Ten and snaked her hands around his waist and hugged him from behind. At first, Lu Ten had stiffened, but then he had relaxed into her embrace once he had recognized her scent. She had a scent similar to that of lilies mixed with tulips and lavender. Lu Ten took a deep breath in, letting the scent of her intoxicate his mind.

After a few minutes of standing like that, Lu Ten turned around in Rui's embrace, so that he was facing her.

"Happy Monthaversary, my Love," he whispered, in her ear. And then he kissed her.

They stood like that for a few minutes, just standing there, kissing, when Rui's stomach rumbled. Lu Ten broke away to look at her – she blushed. He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Didn't finish breakfast?" he asked, his mouth twitching and his eyes twinkling.

"I got distracted," Rui replied, slyly. Lu Ten burst out laughing.

"Well, you won't need to, because, I'm taking you for something I have never done before – a picnic!" Lu Ten smiled at her, and Rui had to laugh; his expression was so close to that of a child, that Rui found it hilarious.

"What?" Lu Ten asked her, still smiling. Nothing could ruin his mood today; he was so excited!

"It's just – you look so excited!" Rui couldn't finish her explanation, because she had begun laughing again. And Rui's laugh was so contagious that it made Lu Ten start laughing as well.

"What?!" he exclaimed again, only, this time he was laughing as well. Rui continued laughing, and finally, after about 10 more minutes of this, they finally stopped laughing. They were both gasping, holding their sides. Rui smiled at her Love and kissed his cheek.

"You just looked so excited, and I never see any adults looking that excited, so it amused me." She smiled at him again.

"I think amused is kind of an understatement, don't you?" Lu Ten asked her, his eyes twinkling. She whacked him on the back of the head.

"Ow!" he protested, laughing. She giggled. "So," he began, after another minute of just standing there, looking into the eyes of his Love – not that he minded, but he was getting tired.

"Aren't you gonna invite your boyfriend in?" he asked her. Shock and horror flitted over her face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, horrified at herself for being so rude. Lu Ten laughed.

"I'm just teasing you! Chill! (A/N: no pun intended :P) You know that I hate formalities, Rui." He smiled at her. She smiled back, smitten by his smile. She turned around and walked back into her house, Lu Ten in her wake. On her way back to her kitchen, she grabbed her Fire Flakes from where she had left them: on the table near the door in her house. She walked into the kitchen and Lu Ten followed her into it. He left a picnic basket, which Rui hadn't realized he was holding, on the kitchen table, before walking up behind Rui and hugging her waist from behind while she was heating up some more Fire Flakes.

As soon as she had felt Lu Ten's embrace, she had stopped stirring the warming Fire Flakes, had dropped the large wooden spoon back in the bowl of Fire Flakes, and had leaned into his embrace. She giggled.

"Go sit – I'll finish heating up the Fire Flakes for you."

"Rui – you're a Fire Bender, and yet you're still using a stove to heat food up?" he asked her, incredulous. Rui laughed.

"Fire Bending is too powerful – it'll burn the Fire Flakes, and I don't think you want that, do you?"

"You thought right!" he said, laughing. She laughed along with him. "You don't have to finish them, though. Remember? We're going for a picnic…. Ring a bell? How could you have forgotten already?" Lu Ten asked her, confused. Had he not mentioned it? I thought I already told her…, he thought to himself, confused. "Didn't I tell you I was taking you?" he asked her, preparing himself for the answer that would tell him that he was losing his marbles.

"Calm down, Lu Ten! Yes you did tell me, but I was just warming these up for you just in case you're hungry right now, because, knowing you, you would have picked some far-off place for our picnic spot." Rui looked over her shoulder and glared at Lu Ten, playfully. He laughed.

"Well, on any other occasion, I would say you were right, but… in this case… you aren't!" Lu Ten exclaimed. Rui did her most famous motion: she arched one of her eyebrows at him. Lu Ten just laughed at her expression. "I decided to take mercy on you this time," he said to her, slyly. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh how lucky for me!" she exclaimed, sarcastically, but the edges of her mouth were twitching.

"Actually, it's quite near – only a 30 minute Rhino ride – you up for it?" he asked her, seriously. She didn't like Rhino riding. Rui winced, remembering how she had fallen off the Rhino the last time she had ridden one, hurting herself in the process. She had hit her head so hard that she had become unconscious, and she had fallen on her back in such a weird position that she had had to do therapy with the Royal Nurses, which no one but the Royals used, unless there is an emergency, because they are the best nurses in the Fire Nation, which just explains how hurt she was.

Lu Ten had noticed her wincing, and so he leaned in and whispered in her ear," I promise I won't let anything hurt you; you'll be safe with me – I promise." Rui smiled. After another minute of debating, she finally agreed.

"Okay," she sighed. "But remember!" she suddenly exclaimed, "I'm only doing it because I trust you," she told him in a warning turn.

"Oh I'm just flattered that General Rui has decided to enlighten me with her presence," Lu Ten teased. Rui elbowed him. Lu Ten just laughed. "Actually," Lu Ten began, suddenly serious,

"we really should be going now – if we want to make it in time for lunch, that is." Rui turned around to face him in his arms. A shocked expression overcame her face.

"You made lunch?" she asked him, shocked. Lu Ten just rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut up," he muttered, but his mouth was twitching all the same. Rui giggled.

"Okay, I'm just finishing up these Fire Flakes, which I shall put in the basket for us to eat after lunch." Lu Ten nodded and let go of her so that she could get back to work. In the meantime, he opened up the picnic basket and made space for the Fire Flakes. He got out 2 tupperware (sp?) to put the Fire Flakes in. He put Rui's already done Fire Flakes in a tupperware and he put the other tupperware that was for his Fire Flakes beside the stove, so Rui could access it easily.

She saw the tupperware and smiled at him in thanks. He gave her a swift kiss on her forehead in response. This was one of the things Rui especially liked about Lu Ten: he always tried to help her whenever he could, and another thing she liked about being with Lu Ten was that they could just sit or work or eat in silence, and it wouldn't feel weird. They could also understand each other's emotions so well that they knew if the other one just wanted to keep silent, or if they wanted to say something.

After 5 minutes, they were done packing, and were already on their way. Lu Ten had brought the 2 Rhinos with him, but had kept them in her backyard because he hadn't wanted her to see because he had wanted to keep it a surprise. They got on their respective Rhinos and were on their way. True enough, it took them the best part of 30 minutes to get to the spot that Lu Ten had chosen. As soon as Lu Ten realized that they were almost there, he had stopped, and so had a very confused Rui.

"This is the place?" she asked him, incredulously, for Lu Ten had stopped them at the entrance of a forest. Lu Ten laughed.

"Good gracious, no! I just want the place to be a surprise, so you're gonna have to get off of your Rhino now," he told her, while jumping off of his. Rui looked apprehensive as she got off hers. Lu Ten noticed her expression and laughed. "There's nothing to be afraid of! I'm not taking you to some secret war and forcing you to fight or anything!" Rui just rolled her eyes, trying to hide her fear. She trusted Lu Ten with all her heart, but she was still nervous and scared of what she would find.

Rui got off of her Rhino and ended up jumping into Lu Ten's arms. She blushed while he grinned. She rolled her eyes at him. He walked over to his Rhino and put her down, and then he shoved his hand into his back pocket, brining out a ribbon along with his hand. Rui gave Lu Ten the "are you serious?" look and he just smiled in response.

"If you saw, it would just ruin the surprise!" he said in mock despair.

"Oh poo," Rui muttered. Lu Ten just laughed.

"Come on… please?" he begged her, pouting. She rolled her eyes.

"You know I can't say no to that look!"

"Why do you think I'm doing that look?" Rui grumbled out profanities… which had absolutely no effect on Lu Ten at all.

"So… do I take that as a yes?" he asked me, grinning mischievously. His expression then turned serious. "Look, Rui, if you don't want to, you don't have to; I'm not forcing you." Guilt filled Rui to the point where she felt like she was carrying a heavy rock on her chest. Rui smiled at him.

"I know you aren't – I'm just being difficult to make you suffer for that Rhino ride you made me take!" Rui said deviously. Lu Ten laughed.

"We are totally made for each other," Lu Ten laughed and kissed her on the cheek, before tying the ribbon around her eyes. "Love you," he whispered, kissing her on the forehead as they began walking. She smiled.

"You do realize that the only reason I'm still living is for you, right?" Rui said to him, her hand finding his in the darkness that was engulfing her. Lu Ten didn't reply. "Lu Ten, you okay?" she asked him, slightly worried.

"Huh?" he said, dazed. "Did you say something?" he asked her. She just shook her head. What was bothering him?

"Okay then," he said in a fake cheerful voice. Rui could tell when he was lying to her, or faking an emotion or something like that – and right now, he was doing exactly that. However, she decided to ignore it. After a few more minutes of silence, Lu Ten finally stopped walking, stopping Rui with him.

"Are we there yet?" she asked, exasperated. They had been walking for at least 20 minutes. Lu Ten laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, we're here."

As Rui began taking off her blind fold, Lu Ten stopped her.

"What's up?" she asked him, confused. "I thought you said we were here?"

"Hold on – I need only, like, a minute. You have to be in the perfect position when the blind fold is taken off. Rui scrutinized where his voice was coming from, therefore figuring out where his head was, and she whacked the back of it. She heard a thump, a yell, and then a groan.

"Ughhh… what was that for?" he muttered, aggravated. Rui giggled.

"What do you think it was for?" she asked him, grinning. Lu Ten thought for a minute, then he groaned again and started muttering profanities – which, of course, likewise, had no effect on her either.

"You have a sick mind, you know that?" he told her, annoyed. She giggled.
I'm only joking, my Prince." She smiled because she knew he had probably rolled his eyes at that.

Lu Ten moved her to the right and then turned her slightly to the left. Rui heard his retreating footsteps, and then she heard those same footsteps bound right back to where she was standing.

"Okay," he began, sounding excited. "You can take it off now." She began untying the knot he had tied when suddenly he stopped her again. "WAIT!!!" he yelled.

"What now?" she asked him clearly irritated.

"When you take it off looking up, so the first thing you see… well… you'll see," he said mysteriously. Rui rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see. Even though she had rolled her eyes, she was very excited all the same.

She took her blindfold off, her eyes closed, and stood there like that for 30 seconds, before opening her eyes. She gasped.

Hello people! :) See, I'm getting better at this whole updating thing! XD AND this one is longer than the others.... it's DOUBLE the length of the ones I usually write. I wasn't going to leave off where I did, but it was getting too long... and I thought that this was a good place to leave off - because I have an incentive for you: I'll update once you guys give me 1o reviews. Come on guys, 10?? It's not that hard people :) Come on guys, please? Soon as you do that, you get your chapter :) MUHAHAHHAHA I AM SO EVIL!! HAHAHA XDDD