He walked into the coffee shop and saw her sitting alone at a table studying. She had a tea next to her, her laptop open, and several textbooks surrounding her. She had ear buds in her ears and was moving slightly her head to the music she was playing. He walked up to her and tapped her shoulder lightly. She looked up at him with an expression of surprise paused her music and removed her ear bud.

"Oh hey, how are you?"

"May I?" he asked gesturing to the seat across from her.

"Of course, of course."

When he was sitting across from her, he smiled at her warmly. "So, about that text last night?"

She giggled and looked down, her hair falling across her face. "Haha, yeah…" she looked at him again, her face serious, eyes brazen. "I was thinking about everything I've ever experienced in my life, and how they've made me the person I am today." Her eyes grew more solemn. "You were such a large part of my life for so long, and because of that, you have had a very large influence of who I am."

"I bet I've made you bitter towards men and relationships."

"Oh, God, no! If anything, you've made me have standards for the next guy I date. Because of you, I know how a man should treat me. …Maybe not how an ex should treat me, haha, but definitely how a man should treat me."

"And how should a man treat you?"

"Like a queen. With love, devotion, and protection. He should understand me, even when I can't understand me. He should walk with me and surround me with an air of protection; he should make me feel like the most beautiful girl in his life, even when I don't feel like it. He should treat me like you did."

He nodded his head to her words. "Exactly, I'm glad you know that."

"I just wish I'd known how to be a girlfriend when I dated you, maybe we would have been able to get passed, you know, everything."

"What do you mean?"

"You were the first person in a really long time that I could lean on. Because of that, I completely depended on you, and didn't let you depend on me much. If we had been more equal, maybe we would have been able to get passed everything. I should have let you lean too."

He reached his hand to hers and grasped it tightly. "It's alright, you know that now."

She just smiled.

"Tara?"

"Yes?"

"What would you do if I were to kiss you?"

"I don't know."

"Care to find out?"

"I don't know."

He smirked and leaned across the table to her, touching her face lightly with his fingertips. When she didn't pull back, he pressed his lips to hers lightly. At first her lips were still against his, not kissing back but not pulling away. When Zuko pressed his lips together slightly, capturing her bottom lip in between his, he felt a shiver run through her, and then her lips were alive. She kissed back, taking his bottom lip between hers instead, and running the tip of her tongue along it like she used to, in a past life. Zuko shivered then and placed his hand along her jawline, pushing her away gently. She looked confused and breathless before realizing they were still in the coffee shop and sitting back in her chair, neither of them having realized she had met him in the middle.

"Um, I, um…" she trailed off breathlessly. It hadn't been a very intense kiss, a tongue barely touched a lip, yet they were both breathless and dazed. It hadn't been an intense kiss, but it was an intense experience. Zuko kept his hand around hers, and he searched her eyes for regret, he found none.

"I guess we know what you would do now," he chuckled.

She only nodded and looked back to her computer. His face fell as he watched her attempting to compose herself.

"You don't wanna do it again, do you?"

She shook her head. "I don't think that's best."

"Why not?"

He inhaled sharply when she looked at him again, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "It just isn't."

He looked at all of the textbooks surrounding her. One was about beating the GRE for psychology. Of course, she was focused on school. And she didn't want anything to come before that, even a small kiss that stole her breath away from her by a man she never stopped loving.

"I'm going to respect that, and I'm going to respect you. But I want you to know that I've never stopped loving you, and one day, I will see you again. You understand?"

She wouldn't meet his eyes, nodding. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the inside of her wrist, sending another shiver through her. He smiled against her wrist and grazed her fingers against the scar on his lower jaw, something he knew used to drive her crazy. The stiffening of her spine showed that was still the case. She finally met his eyes dazedly. He stared into her deep brown eyes for several minutes, promising a reunion in the future. She just stared back unwaveringly, meeting his promises with acceptance, even hope. She wanted to see him again as much as he wanted to see her; right now was just not the right time.

"I'm not going to tell you where I end up," she said. "I want you to find me. I believe you'll find me when it's the right time."

He nodded and kissed her fingertips, causing her to shiver again and reveling in the fact that he could barely touch her and still cause such a reaction from her.

"I will find you, my wife, if it is the last thing I do."

She raised her eyebrow at the word wife, and smirked, suddenly playful again. "That doesn't sound sketchy at all."

"You haven't seen sketchy yet, my sweet love, but I will show you. The next time we see each other will be at night, and I will show you what sketch really means."

She shivered yet again and waved him away. "Well, if you and I are going to meet again in the future, we should get started on our futures."

He arose and nodded to her. "If you say so. I will see you soon." He turned to walk out the door but she jumped up from her seat. "Wait! You did not hug me goodbye."

He smirked and walked back to her, pulling her into his arms. He had grown taller, but she had stayed the same. Despite the larger height difference, she still fit perfectly into his body. His hands found the small of her back; hers found his shoulders, pressing her face into his chest, inhaling the scent of his cologne. As they held each other close, they smelled the other's scent and fell in love all over again. Of course the small kiss caused so many feelings; it had been like a sip of water after days in a desert. He moved his arm in between them and lifted her chin up so she made eye contact with him again.

"Remember that I love you."

"I will. Find me soon, alright?"

"Of course. Goodbye, ma cherrie."

And then he left the shop, leaving her dazed and lightheaded. She returned to her seat, but had a really hard time focusing her attention on schoolwork after that.