The usual disclaiming and I suck at teh writing, but please love my story anyway.
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"I, uh... I..." his voice trailed off into nothing.
"It's alright." She said, obviously somewhat annoyed but otherwise not maiming him. Which instantly deflated his defenses (and everything else).
IlIlIlIlIlIlIlI
She wasn't sure how she felt about him secretly watching her bend. But she was happy and energized from her session, and feeling charitable.
"What are you doing here, anyway? Iroh did warn you about the platypus bears." When what she really meant was how long (although she had a pretty good idea it hadn't been long from his footsteps) and more importantly why were you watching me? Why hadn't she just said that? She'd never backed down from a confrontation (especially with him) before. Maybe it was because he just seemed so... different since he and Iroh had joined up with them (after much fist shaking and yelling and indignation on his part). He was still angry, of course. But also something else. Unfocused. Jumpy. Even more economical with his words than usual. She turned to face him, her features soft but wary. She leaned her head back and to shake some of the water from her hair. (He considered running. Far away, and as fast as possible.)
"I was... I was going to meditate. My spot is just," he motioned weakly with one hand, "up there."
"Oh." She chirped. She decided that she was in just the right mood for a challenge. "Can I see it?"
His jaw locked, and his lips compressed into a thin line on his face. A very straight line. His eyes were deliberately not on her. Great, she thought. She'd crossed a Zuko Communication Boundary and he was shutting down. Again.
"You're all uh, wet." He finally said.
"Oh that's okay, I can just... Oh." She trailed off as she looked down and was suddenly aware that the combination of cool night breeze, water, and parts of her anatomy had conspired against her. She quickly bent the water from her underclothes and grabbed her tunic, slipped it over her head as fast as possible, the red in her cheeks burning. "I guess I..."
But before she could finish her sentence, he motioned to her and started to scramble up the rocky shelf by the river bank. Grateful that he had chosen to move on so quickly, and surprised by his decision to suddenly share something personal with her (as confused by that as she was), she scrambled after him. She was also glad that he had turned his back to her, as she was hopping around in a most undignified manner on the beach, struggling to put on her shoes and get up the just sharp enough to not go barefoot rocks before he disappeared from view. She left her leggings behind.
When she finally did reach the top of the small cliff overlooking the river, she found him swinging his arms restlessly and shuffling his feet.
"This is it." He said.
"I can see that, Zuko." She giggled, and noted the small twitch in his lips when she said his name, and a look in his eyes that reminded her of a frightened squirrelmonkey. She decided not to toy with him any further. Part of her still couldn't believe that she spoke to him at all, after everything. But, things were as they were, and the fragile truce they had had at the beginning of their alliance (just a few short weeks before) had dissolved into something else. She wasn't sure what. An uncomfortable silence, an electricity, an awareness. Part of her was still seething with bitter questions and anger. With fear that he will betray them. Part of her was just curious as to what made this prince with the terrible scar and the terrible temper tick. She hadn't offered to heal it again, and they hadn't talked about what happened beneath Ba Sing Se, or after. She was afraid if they did, everything would shatter. And she was barely able to get him to start fires those days. She didn't need him completely useless.
"It's beautiful." She finally said and turned to look at him. She was a bit stunned to notice that his eyes were quite interesting to look at when he wasn't trying to kill her. Mostly a dark honey amber, they were also flecked with bright molten spots and ringed with a darker umber that was almost but not quite red. She suddenly realized that she was staring. The whole meeting each others eyes thing was new, as she found hers flitting from his to her feet, to the tree line, his from the rocks to his feet. Finally they both settled on the tree line.
"When the sun rises, I can feel it first from here." he said, motioning again vaguely at the horizon.
"It must be amazing. But, why did you choose a spot so close to the water?" She wondered out loud, before she could stop herself. "I mean, I would have thought since you are a firebender that you wouldn't... like it."
"Uncle says that studying the other elements and paying attention to balances in nature will help me be a better firebender."
"Your uncle is very wise." She was surprised by just how wise Iroh was, actually. He had been a very effective teacher for Aang. Patient, kind and able to reassure him while simultaneously correcting him. The Avatar was a (very) reluctant pupil, feeling residual guilt and fear from his first firebending attempt. And he hadn't fully recovered from Azula's attack (and Zuko's, for that matter) as well as his fight for his Avatar Spirit in the spirit realm. Aang's truce with Zuko was much, much tenser and laced with bitter mistrust. Despite Katara's constant vigilance and supervision of his training, Aang was still weak and dubious. But, Iroh's sense of humor was gradually wearing away at Aang's defenses, and Katara's as well. They all genuinely seemed to like one another those days.
"He is." he sighed, with more than a little darkness tingeing his voice.
"Zuko," She began hesitantly (there was that twitch again) "can I ask you a question?"
He didn't answer, so she took that as a yes. He was already on her left, but he turned his face further away from her gaze, completely obstructing her view of his scar.
"How old are you?"