AN: Fluff. Pure shameless fluff. Three thousand words of it. Hope you enjoy.

Also, I'd like to advertise my newest story, Through Their Eyes. It's a series of oneshots from the POV of different minor characters (and possibly some OCs, maybe ones introduced here, maybe not). So yeah. :) Enjoy.

Chapter Nine

Unusually for her, Min woke up with the sun high in the sky, in a house that she couldn't recognize immediately.
She sat up, the events of the previous night came back slowly. She struggled to separate one from the other, then decided it didn't matter too much.

Her head had a low throbbing to it, that was either due to lack of sleep or, more likely the drinks she had had last night.

She was trying to remember something... She had something to do.

Work? She thought for a moment, then remembered she had the graveyard shift that day. No work.

Her mind shifted around the fuzzy memories until she recalled.

Hiryu!

She had told him she'd meet him at the Jasmine Dragon that afternoon. Though she had very little time to settle down, he seemed nice enough and she'd like to see him by daylight.

She got up and looked down at herself. She was wearing one of Aurora's blue robes. It was about three inches too short.

Silently, in case Aurora was still sleeping, she opened the door and headed toward where she hoped the kitchen was.

She crossed through the living room, almost overlooking the fact that Fire Lord Zuko was asleep on the couch.

Ta Min hadn't had very many encounters with the new ruler of the Fire Nation. She'd seen his face in paintings and posters- people had latched on to both him and the avatar as symbols of hope and peace and whatnot. But, as far as she could recall, she had never seen him in person.

She had expected him to be taller.

And... more serious-looking, like he was in pictures. Though, him being asleep and all, she supposed she couldn't expect much from him.

Feeling a little bit embarrassed, she crept through the room and into the kitchen.

After a little bit of stumbling about in the unfamiliar area, she started on a pot of tea.

"So how long have you been here?"

Min took her tea and smiled at the young worker. "A few years, maybe. I just fell in love with the city."

He nodded in agreement. "It's pretty easy to fall in love with."

"Yeah," she said, smiling into her tea. "So what are you doing here? You said you were from the Water Tribe?"

"Just visiting. I heard the Fire Lord was in town, and about half of the Northern Tribe was leaving for here anyway, so I just left. I've always wanted to see the world."

Ta Min liked the way Hiryu looked then. He was tall and somewhat bulky, but at that moment he seemed like a little boy, talking about his dreams. It made him look, for lack of a better world, cute.

"Well, this isn't the only city to see in the Earth Kingdom. I've heard Omashu is something to see, with all the renovations."

He nodded. "Have you ever been there?"

"Not recently. It... It wasn't exactly pretty when I went. I mean, it was nice and clean and all, but..." She shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean."

There was a space of silence, during which Min blushed. "I'm sorry. It's just been a long time since I've been out with people, you know?" She stirred her tea aimlessly, without anything to stir into it.

He shrugged, still smiling. "I don't know about you, but I'm having a good time."

She smiled a little, still nervously stirring her tea. "Me too." She paused for a moment and eventually set the cup on the table. "I just feel like... we should be talking. Isn't that what people do on... dates?" Min felt like her cheeks were on fire.

"I don't know. Is it?" There was a pause, but Ta Min couldn't tell what kind of face he was making, as she had suddenly taken a great interest in the table. Very gently, he reached over to her and tipped her chin up so she was looking at him. "Well what do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know... I guess... You said you were from the Water Tribe. I've never been there. What's it like?"

"Cold," he answered without hesitating, causing Min to break out into giggles. The laughter lifted some of the tension. "Cold and wet," he added, laughing a bit himself.

"Is that it then? I've heard so many great things about it."

"Actually, it really is a nice place. There's whole buildings made of ice, and when the sun hits them just right you can see the whole city just light up. I used to watch the sunrises as a kid, not the sun itself but it's reflection in the snow."

Min's eyes lit up as she imagined. "Wow..."

He continued to describe it to her, trying to paint a picture in her mind of what it was like. He did it partly for himself- he had been away from home for a long time, now, and to have a second to remember was a nice change. Mostly, however, he did it for Min- the way she looked as he spoke was priceless. Beautiful. She wasn't nervous or tired or anything- she was enthralled, guard down. This was the girl he had danced with last night.

He finished when he felt he had said all that there was to say. "And now," he added, "it's your turn."

"Oh." She went back to blushing a little. "My turn for... uh, what?"

"Where are you from?"

There was a pause, and then Min, deciding she had nothing to hide, said very stiffly, "The Fire Nation."

"No, I wouldn't have guessed."

"And if you're going to insult me or any- wait, what?" She paused. "You...knew? Know?"

"The eyes are a tip-off," he said with a smirk.

"Oh. Yes." She was blushing again.

"So what's it like? The Fire Nation, I mean."

"It's... nice. It's different, than here... Much more..." She tried to find the word. "Much more... Well, there's a lot more city. It's almost all city, now, except for a few vacation spots and things." There was a pause, and Min noticed that Hiryu wasn't going to say anything. "But... It can be nice. In the springtime, the cherry blossoms are everywhere, and it's like the place changes overnight... Just one moment, all paved and built, and the next it's full of life and springtime..."

"I'll make you a deal," he said. "You take me to the Fire Nation someday, and I'll show you around the Northern Water Tribe."

"Oh..." Min thought. She thought about everything. She thought about her job, about the city, about Aurora, about her dreams, about everything. "That would be really nice," she decided. "I'd like that a lot."

Aurora walked through the market, grabbing fruit, vegetables, and meat. She had been running low on groceries for a while. She was quite grateful that most places nowadays accepted Water Tribe money.

Once she was done, she went home and expertly pulled out her key with one hand (which was fairly difficult considering she had three paper bags in her arms). Finally, she managed to unlock the front door and open it.

Zuko was still asleep on the couch, even though by now it was around noon. The golden-haired girl smiled and walked into the kitchen. Immediately, she saw the tea that was still sitting out from when Min had made some earlier this morning. Aurora rolled her eyes and washed it out before putting the groceries away and starting to cook. Some time later, Zuko walked in, still wearing his clothes from the night before.

"What time is it?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Lunchtime," she said shortly. "Are you hungry?"

There was food everywhere, he noticed. It was hard not to be. "What? Oh, yeah."

"It should be ready in another few minutes or so."

He nodded and went back to the couch. The Fire Lord couldn't exactly remember where he was or what had happened the night before.

Mai kicked you out, remember?

Right... Now he was at Aurora's house and she was making lunch. Zuko froze. Aurora's house? He blinked and looked back into the kitchen where the girl stood at the sink with her gold hair tied back away from her face. He could hear her humming quietly to herself as she rinsed something off. Mai was furious with him.

But now he was with Aurora... He couldn't decide what exactly to feel.

He watched her light a small fire in the stove with a pair of spark rocks.

"If you're just going to stare and linger in the doorway, you could help me with dessert," she said without looking at him.

"How do you do that?" She couldn't see him... Right? It made the Fire Lord wonder if women truly did have eyes in the back of their heads.

"It's a girl thing." I knew it. "Actually, if I remember correctly, maybe having you cook isn't the best idea."

She laughed as she went back to the counter. Zuko walked up behind her and eyed something next to him. A bowl of icing. He smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"The last time you were in a kitchen, I had to waterbend to put that fire out." She was stirring something that smelled delicious in a bowl.

"It wasn't that bad!" He grabbed the bowl and dipped his hand in, covering it with white fluffy sugar. "Hey, what's this?"

She fell for it. Aurora turned around. "What's wha-?"

Her face was suddenly covered in icing. She gasped and brushed the white substance from her eyes as Zuko laughed out loud.

"Oh, never mind. It's icing, right?"

"Yes, it is."

He suddenly froze. "And you're going to get back at me, aren't you?

"Yup." A sweet dressing was suddenly poured on top of his head. It dripped down his face and onto his shoulders as the Avatar giggled like a little girl. The Fire Lord brushed some of the sauce off his face and glared at her.

"You do realize this means war."

"A war means both parties stand a chance of winning," she shot with a smirk.

"So true."

He reached behind him and grabbed the bowl of salad. Before he could dunk it on her though, a pie flew into his face. A pie of all things. He took a finger and tried some.

"Really? A pie? You made a pie?"

The girl shrugged, another pie in hand.

"And where did you get all the food?"

"Bought it."

"All this food for one person?"

"No. You're here and Ta Min is coming later."

"That makes-"

Another pie in the face. He brushed off his eyes.

"So you're going to play that way, huh?"

She nodded. They both stood there for a second. Suddenly, food was flying everywhere. Tomatoes, cabbages, all kinds of food. Finally, Zuko grabbed Aurora and dunked he rest of the icing on her head, followed a cake to the face. The girl screamed as Zuko laughed.

"You seriously made a cake? Rory, you always over-do things."

The dark-haired boy didn't realize he had his arms around the girl's waist, holding her still as she kicked, thrashed, and screamed.

"Let me go!" she laughed.

"Not until you surrender," he said, tightening his grip.

"Never!"

"Suit yourself." He grabbed some lettuce and began to put it in her hair, one leaf at a time.

"Knock it off!" she giggled. "You jerk!"

"I won't stop until you give in."

"Fine! Fine! I give up! Stop it!"

He finally let go and Aurora spun around, as she smacked him in a teasing manner.

"You win," she admitted in defeat.

"You know," he said leaning towards her, "you have something on your face."

"I know, you put it there!"

Zuko wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, without warning. Aurora was so shocked that she froze for a moment. Her brain exploded with a million thoughts at once. What was he doing? Wasn't he with Mai? She hadn't thought about it the night before. But now...

The golden-haired girl pulled away quickly, turning away.

"You shouldn't do that. You're with Mai right now."

The Fire Lord blinked. "I'm..."

"Look," she said, turning back to him. "You and Mai are going through a rough patch right now. I'm hardly helping matters. But you know, and I know, that the two of you will get through it." There was a pause. "You should go talk to her. Apologise. Give her flowers or something. Girls like that."

He looked down at himself, disheveled and now covered in food. "Not Mai," he said, with an almost-smile. "But... You're right... That was out of line. I'm sorry."

Aurora nodded. "Now go change, and go home and make amends. Go. Now." She gave him a little shove. "And if she's not cooled off enough, yet, you're still welcome here," she added.

"All right."

Aurora gave him a little encouraging smile, and he walked out of the kitchen, grabbing his overnight bag.

Once he was gone, Aurora took a moment to assess the damage.

There was nothing left. Nothing that she would have served, anyway. The girl sighed as she walked to the sink. That boy was always giving her trouble, even when they were kids. Aurora was always the one who cleaned up the mess.

She grabbed a rag and began to wipe up the mess, calculating in her head what she would need to buy, how much it would cost, and how long it would take to remake everything.

In short: it would be a long time.

Aurora rinsed off her now white hair and her face. Food was just everywhere! She looked up to find some melon on the ceiling and sighed once again.

She could hear Zuko coming out. She gave him another smile she hoped was encouraging.

He smiled back and walked toward the door.

Ta Min was on the other side, looking as if she were about to knock.

"I'm sorry... Am I interrupting something?" She glanced at the icing still stuck on his arm.

"No," he said, shortly but not impolitely, and brushed past her.

She stuck her head in the door. "Aurora? Can I come in?"

"Yes! But I'd avoid coming in the kitchen if I were you," she called out.

"All right..." Min came in and walked down the hall into the spare room. She had left her dress there. "What's going on in the kitchen? Do you need help?"

"I'm warning you now, just don't do it."

"Well now you've made me curious," she said, smiling. "But I'll take your word for it." She headed back out towards the door. "I'll see you tonight."

"Alright!"

Min smiled and slipped out.

Aurora smiled as she wiped off the counters. It reminded her of a long time ago when they had a food fight similar to this one and Ursa had walked in. It must have been a sight to behold because the woman had laughed as she cleaned them off. Zuko had started that one too.

Zuko...

She mentally smacked herself.

Knock it off! He's with Mai, not you! And he'll probably never be with you! He is the Fire Lord after all. And what are you? A stupid little village girl who let her hopes get the best of her. You're being pathetic.

Am not!

Wait... Was she seriously arguing with herself? This time, she physically smacked herself. All these years she had hated him, but now? Was she actually... Flirting with him?

No... I wasn't.

Have you looked in a mirror? Yes, you were. And you know it!

Stupid voice... But...

I'm right, you're wrong. Admit it! You didn't hate him these past six years. You're mixing up hate with some other kind of emotion. What about that time those thugs you were with wanted to kill him? Hm? You remember that? If you hated him, you would have let them carry out their plans and do it. But what did you do instead?

Aurora shuddered at the thought. That time was a mistake. She shouldn't have done what she did.

And if you hated him, you would have thrown that necklace into the ocean like you had planned. But did you?

No...

Of course you didn't! But you already know what you're feeling, right? You just don't want to admit it because it's wrong. Trust me, I'm you. I know what you think and what you feel. I know everything. I felt your heart shatter as he walked out that door. And I remember the nightmares from when you took that kamujin leaf juice.

Why call it the proper name? It was poison.

Was not.

Was too! That's what I call it! Besides, that was nearly three years ago. It has nothing to do with what's happening now.

Whatever! The thing is, you love him. And you know it.

Aurora collapsed onto her knees and just that there. She couldn't argue with that voice in her head anymore.

Yeah... I do...