AN: Oooh my. I screwed up.

I forgot to post Chapter 5, so the chapters after that have been all messed up.

I'm so sorry for that, I hope it won't happen again. Please go back and read chapter 5, and maybe chapter 6 will make a tiny bit more sense.

Thanks!

Chapter Seven

A little while later, Min was knocking on Aurora's door. It was sunset and the ball was about to start.

"Aurora?"

"Coming!"

Min looked down at herself and noticed how the red looked slightly golden in the setting sun. She still couldn't believe how long it had been since she had worn a dress like this. It was so sparkly and the shoes were really cute, even if they did hurt like heck. She adjusted the red flower in her dark curled hair.

Aurora opened the door and literally squeaked with excitement.

"I knew it! That dress is completely gorgeous on you! I am so happy you got it!"

"More like I tried it on and you instantly paid for it without my consent."

Ta Min couldn't help but notice how lovely Aurora looked. Her hair color perfectly complemented the teal color of the dress and the silver specks sparkled. The teardrop neckline wasn't even as low as Min thought it would be.

"You didn't curl your hair?" asked Min curiously.

Aurora tugged on a small piece of her straight hair that fell around her shoulders shyly. "Trust me when I say it doesn't curl. At all. It's too thick."

"Bet I could make it curl," said Min.

"I'll hold you to that," laughed Aurora. "But not tonight! We have a party to get to!"

The two girls walked quickly toward the heart of Ba Sing Sei, laughing and talking. Aurora was practically skipping with excitement.

"Don't your shoes hurt?" asked Min at one point.

"Nah, I'm used to it by now."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Years in the Palace can toughen a girl's feet."

Min giggled a bit as they reached a large crowd of people. One could pretty much tell who was from where by what they were wearing. Fire Nation citizens, all looking like wealthy supporters of the new Fire Lord, wore reds and golds and yellows. Very few were wearing the colors of the Water Tribes, all blues and whites. Unsurprisingly, most of the partygoers were from the Earth Kingdom, and they wore all sorts of colors- greens and purples and pinks.

"Well that's nice," Ta Min said, almost to herself. "They're not identifying themselves with one place or another..."

"A step toward peace," Aurora agreed, moving to stand in line.

They stood silently in line, looking at other people dressed in an array of colors.

Ta Min was still asking herself how she managed to get herself in such a position when they were let in to the expansive ballroom.

The enormous tiled room was already pretty much filled with people, as much as it could be while remaining comfortable. Many of the people didn't seem to be particularly wealthy, just wealthy enough to buy a fancy dress.

The two girls headed straight for the tables on the sides of the dance floor, which had various drinks and small dishes laid out on them.

Aurora glanced at the tiny appetizers. Between the dim lighting and the whole fancy table layout, neither of them could tell exactly what they were supposed to be. Aurora picked one up and popped it in her mouth.

"They're... okay."

Min laughed a little bit as a couple brushed past them on their way to the dance floor. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Either ask someone to dance, or wait for someone to ask you to dance."

"Hm."

They sat there for another moment before Ta Min picked up one of the pinkish drinks. "What do you think these are?"

"Dunno. Try it."

Min shrugged and sipped it. "Tastes good. Maybe some kind of juice or something."

"Who knows."

Ta Min took another sip when she noticed people rushing past them to get to the door. Important-looking people, civilians... Though some made a point of staying behind.

"Looks like the man of the hour has arrived," Min said, looking down into her drink.

"Oh, absolutely lovely."

More silence between them followed. There wasn't too much to talk about, and besides, they could hardly hear one another- between the live band and the endless talk from the general crowd.

Despite all the attention received at the door, once he and Mai were in the crowd, Zuko seemed not to gather too much attention. Which was entirely fine by him.

"Shall we dance?" he offered, holding out his hand.

Mai took it, though she made a face. "You know I don't like dancing."

"Just one."

"All right."

It started out slow, though the band eventually picked up pace to the point where Mai was trying to keep up.

"Where did you learn all this?" she asked, glancing between her feet and his arms in a vain attempt at matching him. She had never danced- she had never liked it, and it wasn't done in the Fire Nation anyway.

"Picked it up as I went along." He tried to spin her- it didn't work. "I'll have to teach you, before some other big event rolls along."

"Big event? One we'll have to dance at? Like what?"

"I'm thinking there'll be some dancing at our wedding, for example..." He smiled at her. His traitorous thoughts kept returning to his lost childhood friend, but he knew Mai didn't deserve that treatment. So he was bent on letting this be the best night ever, just he and Mai.

She grimaced. "Don't talk about that."

"What? It'll happen sooner or later."

"Why can't we just leave things the way they are? I like this."

The music had slowed, but the volume of the crowd was enough to mask their conversation.

"Well, we can't stay like this forever, and given the state of things I think the sooner the better."

"Why? What's wrong with what we have?"

"We've just come out of a century of war. That's a long time. The people need something... Happy." He pulled her slightly closer. "Like you and me."

She pushed him away. "I don't know. Sure, we'll be happy for a day or a month or whatever... And then what? You have a country to run. I don't want to run it."

"You won't. I will. We've talked about this befo-"

"Well even if I don't, you will. And you'll be so busy with this whole mess that there won't be time for us..."

"Well if you haven't noticed, I already have been busy. And there's still been time-"

"Not enough."

"Well, once things settle down..."

"You said it yourself. We've been at war for one hundred years. It'll take a long time for things to 'settle down.' And even if there's peace throughout the world and everything's all fine and dandy, you still have a country! Countries just don't go away."

Zuko frowned. "Well, we'll just work around it. We'll make things work out."

"This is about her, isn't it?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You know who I'm talking about." She let go of him, halting their dance, though not the movements of those around them. Some people seemed to be slightly alarmed at their rapid change of tone but decided it was none of their business.

Zuko didn't deny that he knew exactly who Mai was referring to. "You're being paranoid, Mai..."

"I'm not, and you know that." She scowled at him. "You haven't stopped thinking about her. I can tell. When are you going to think about me for a change? Not the Fire Nation, not the Earth Kingdom, not the avatar, not some girl you used to make mud pies with. Me. Your girlfriend."

"Mai..." he pleaded.

"No!" She was shouting now. Mai shouted so little that Zuko, and anyone within hearing range, knew it was serious. "I'm through with this! I'm through with you! Let me know when you decide to put a little time into the things that matter!"

"I'm doing my best, Mai!"

"Well it's obviously not good enough," she hissed. "I'm going home."

And he was alone, in a small circle of mostly silenced people.

He pushed his way through the crowd, which had quickly resumed talking at a volume slightly louder than normal.

He had half a mind to follow her, but eventually decided that she needed some time to cool off before he could approach her again.

"Oh dear," Aurora said.

"What?"

"She's got him mad."

"...So?"

"If there's one thing I learned, it was never get Zuko mad." There was a pause. "Ever."

"Hm."

They were silent as the crowd began to pick up again.

"You should ask him to dance." Min didn't know what made her say that.

"What? No..."

"Yes! This is your chance!" Min gave Aurora a playful push toward the crowd.

"No, I couldn't..."

"Go!"

"All right... All right..." She stumbled toward the crowd and was soon lost in a sea of people.

Min stood there for a moment, eyeing another little pink drink. However, the distinctive buzzing in the back of her skull told her that might not be the best idea.

She rubbed her forehead. Between the huge number of people, the loud band, the thick atmosphere...

"You look awfully lonely there."

She spun around to find she was face-to-face with a rather tall Water Tribe man.

"I'm fine. Thanks for your concern," she said shortly.

"You're welcome. The name's Hiryu, what's yours?"

"Ta Min."

"That's a lovely name."

"Thanks."

"Would you grace me with a dance?"

Her first instinct was to say no, which is why she was surprised when her lips said, "Why not?"

He took her hand and lead her to the dance floor.

As they began to move, in perfect sync, to the music that pulsed over the huge crowd of people, Min smiled. This moment was perfect.

She wasn't really going to ask him to dance, she didn't want to. But if it got Min off her back, Aurora would stay hidden in the crowd for a while and just say she danced with him.

All the people seemed to close in on her, like a hoard of lion-bears preparing to pounce. Aurora wasn't sure why she felt so skittish. She had been to plenty of political get-togethers and was always fine with those. But now?

So many people seemed to be staring at her. She pushed her way farther into the crowd, aiming to get out on the other side. People dressed in reds, greens, yellows and every other color blocked her way. Everywhere she turned seemed to be blocked.

I am so gonna kill you Min.

A few agonizing minutes later, she found the other side. She gasped for breath and turned to see the crowd was much larger then when Min and her had first arrived at the party. Carefully, she walked backwards until she bumped into someone. Instantly she turned around.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going and-" That's when she saw who it was. "Oh. It's you. Never mind."

Fire Lord Zuko probably looked more shocked than she did.

"Never mind? Well that's rude," he said. It looked to Aurora like he was almost teasing her.

"I don't have to apologize to you." She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm again.

"When did you get so uptight? I was kidding. A joke."

She spun around almost instantly. If one thing irritated her, it was being called uptight. "I am not uptight! What gives you the right to call me uptight?"

He was grasping at straws here with her. "I... I really missed you, Rory."

The blue-eyed girl involuntarily blushed. "Well, I didn't miss you! Not a bit! As a matter of fact, I didn't even think about you at all and-"

She hadn't noticed her voice rise until Zuko covered her mouth. "Please, don't shout."

"Sorry," she muttered from behind his hand.

"I'm sorry." He removed his hand and she eyed him questioningly.

"For what?"

"For not... For being stupid. Do you... forgive me?"

There was a long pause.

"Maybe," she teased.

"Would a dance help?" He held out his hand and she took it. Then, he led her into the crowd.

"I heard you an Mai arguing earlier. Stupid of her to get you mad. She does know that, right?" asked Aurora once they had found a spot.

"I don't know. She just... gets like that sometimes."

"So... You two are together?" She hated the question. Hated what she knew answer would be.

"I guess. We just... disagree."

The song began to pick up. All in a blur, they began to work in sync, their feet moving forward and backward as one unit.

It was the same movement, but one was fire and one was water. They continued to dance like that, two parts of one being, Zuko fighting with fire and Aurora fighting with water.

Faster and faster, more energy went in to the dance and into the music, it was all winding up...

And the song abruptly ended. The two of them froze in place, breathing heavily.

Only now did Aurora notice the small crowd that had gathered around them. They apparently didn't notice or care that this wasn't the girl he had walked in with- they were cheering all the same.

A slightly slower song came on. A shared look brought them closer together, waltzing slightly, as the crowd dispersed back into their own dances.

Why was he with Mai? Aurora just couldn't understand it. This dance? This dance she understood. This feeling she understood. Though she couldn't name it, she could understand it. She could remember it.

It drove her nuts that she couldn't think of what the name was. As they danced, she tried to think of it. Aurora finally looked up to ask Zuko if he knew but froze. Why was he looking at her like that? She didn't stop dancing but felt like all time and space had come to a stop.

What the heck is going on?

Zuko didn't realize he was doing it. He had said he wouldn't think about Aurora, even if she was there. So how did he wind up dancing with her? How did he manage to look at her and forget everything? Forget his promise and forget Mai? And most importantly, why did he kiss her? Why, why, why?

He hadn't realized what he was doing until he had done it. Kissing her felt like waking up from a daze. Made him realize the damage he had done to his relationship with Mai. The funny things was, he didn't care. Zuko simply didn't care.

She was the first to pull away, though they remained within a few inches of each other.

"I shouldn't..." he began, but couldn't quite remember where that train of thought was going.

"Why shouldn't you?"

There was a pause as he tried to gather his scrambled thoughts. "A lot's changed, Aurora..."

She reached up to touch his scar, slowly, as if she was unsure. "I can tell," she whispered.

He moved away from her, almost as a reflex.

"But that doesn't matter," she continued. "You've changed. I've changed. But in the end, the things that matter are the same."

He laughed quietly. "That sounds like the sort of thing my uncle would say..."

She giggled and leaned against his chest. "I guess it does."

All in all, the moment could not have been more perfect.