"I love you." Zuko tells me, resting his head on my chest, which I suddenly realize is bare.
I gasp as I take in our surroundings. A beautiful fire nation bed chamber, adorned with lavish hangings and steely columns. The bitter scarlet flashes at me, making my eyes sting.
With a jolt of my heart I realize that we are in bed together, unclothed, the thin sheets strewn around us, clinging onto our legs and Zuko's arms are gently stroking me, his lips playing a satisfied smile.
I cry out in alarm.
"What's going on?" Comes from a bleary eyed Sokka, who is sitting upwards with his boomerang in hand, but he's useless while he is still tied up in his sleeping bag.
My heart continues to pound as I realize that it was all a dream, but one that Ihad conjured up.
About Zuko, and me.
Doing…something unmentionable.
"Nothing…I just had a bad dream…" I mutter, turning as red as the wall hangings in that bed chamber. Its image is ebbing away from my memory with every second, but the blood crimson is still imprinted on the back of my eyelids. Every time I blinked, all I saw was red…red…red…
"Oh…" Sokka says dreamily, all set to return to his slumber, and "Was Momo in it, because I find my scariest dreams always include Momo." He adds, snatching a suspicious sideways glance at the sleeping Lemur, who is curled up close to Aang.
I watch them for a moment, their chests rising and falling, half in my world, and half in another as they embark on their adventures in their own dreams.
I imagine Aang's lips on mine, our hands entwined, and our eyes interlocked. My heart begins to stir once more, as I feel a light fluttering in my stomach. I smile coyly, my head cocked to one side so my hair falls with me. I imagine a life with him, forever touring the clouds and touching the edges of what we know. I remember our sweet moments alone, our fleeting glances and tinted cheeks. I can still feel every kiss I've planted on his cheek flowering around me.
But then Zuko walks through into my mind, and obscures everything. Aang disappears. Everything is consumed by red…red…red…
My blood hammers through my veins and I feel dizzy with…something I can't define. Is it passion? Or just lust?
I think of when his hand slipped into mine, the discrete action making my inner being explode and erupt. Fireworks surge through me, fizzling down to my fingertips, making me giddy.
That must mean he likes me…
Of course he likes you! I tell myself. He kissed you didn't he? He held you together just a few hours ago.
But still...what about Aang?
Whatabout Aang…?
I still love him. Through all the storms battling inside of me, through all of the confusion I know this.
I try desperately to keep this in mind, but every time I close my eyes…
Red…red…red…