Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Smile Because It Happened ❯ Chapter 27

There IS an edited version on deviantArt for those of ye who don't like graphic love scenes. The link is as follows (just take out the spaces): http : / / theamberdragonfly dot deviantart dot com / art / Smile-Because-It-Happened-27-101335603

 

Co-written (mostly written, in my opinion- I barely had to be there XD) with SaintCesare from deviantArt. Be forewarned- it's LONG AS HELL. TWICE as long as my normal chapters. -whew!-

 

Chapter 27 (-insert evil cackle here-)

 

The sky was a dark velvet blue, stars sparkling from its mantle like so many gems dropped there by careless Airbenders from millennia past. The moon shone down benevolently, illuminating the countryside in a glow of pale silver.

 

One lovely Waterbender sat on a rooftop, gazing up at the moon that had once been her brother's love. Tomorrow night is a full moon… but our battle will be before then. So if I need to bloodbend… it may kill me. At the very least, render me unconscious. She shivered, not just from the coolness of the night. But to stop Azula from killing everyone… I'd gladly make the sacrifice.

 

“Why so serious, beautiful?”

 

Katara turned to see Zuko land gracefully on the rooftop, dropping from a nearby tree to stand beside her. She blushed slightly before turning her blue eyes back to their contemplation of the moon. “We're facing your sister tomorrow,” she murmured. “So I was just… saying goodbye to Yue.”

 

Zuko sat down next to her. From this angle, the moonlight made her glow like she was some ethereal spirit come to tempt him- and he grinned in spite of her solemn mood.

 

“Don't give me that. You just couldn't sleep again. The moon's almost full, isn't it?”

 

She glanced at him in surprise. She shouldn't have been overly stunned- after all, he himself was a slave to the sunrise, unable to sleep past dawn.

 

Zuko looked up at the moon, admiring it despite the fact that it was considered the antithesis of his power by many Firebenders. Clueless bastards… too blind to see beauty, no matter what form.

 

Speaking of which, he turned his gold eyes back to the woman by his side. His betrothed. His fiancée. His Waterbender.

 

FINALLY.

 

Well, almost. They still had to get married in front of the Fire Nation and all that. But who knew what would happen tomorrow? Azula could very easily finish what she started four years ago and kill him this time. And all the Oasis water in the North Pole wouldn't be able to bring him back.

 

He reached out and gently rubbed his knuckles across her smooth cheek. “I have something I wanted to show you,” he said softly.

 

Katara blinked. “Oh, no. Not up here. Aang likes to hang out on rooftops and I really don't want him having to see something like that.”

 

“Pervert,” he chuckled, leaning over to kiss her quite chastely on her cheek. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet before picking her up bridal-style and leaping nimbly off the roof. He set her down on the ground and grasped her hand again, leading her on a run through the nearby forest.

 

“Are we playing ninja again?” Katara giggled, keeping up with the swift-footed Firebender easily.

 

“You liked that, didn't you?”

 

She tried to shrug nonchalantly but failed when she couldn't stop grinning. “It was… kinda kinky.”

 

Zuko gave her an “ah-ha!” look. “I wasn't aware stuff like that turned you on…” he observed with a smirk.

 

“I-It doesn't!”

 

“Riiiiiiight.”

 

He slowed, coming to a stop deep in the forest. She glanced around. “What in the world could possibly be around here that I'd want to see?”

 

“Besides myself?”

 

“Arrogant brat.”

 

“Only around you.” He pulled out a red cloth and tied it around her eyes. “Now, no peeking.”

 

“I don't do bondage, Zuko.”

 

He laughed. “Neither do I. This is just to keep it a surprise.”

 

Katara allowed him to lead her along, brushing past foliage and the like- until abruptly, the branches and leaves tickling her arms and legs ceased. She could feel something against her ankles, something soft and silky, but she had no idea what it was. Abruptly, Zuko stopped her.

 

“This is what I wanted you to see,” he whispered, taking off the blindfold.

 

Katara blinked, adjusting her eyes to be able to see again. It was almost pitch black where they were and she turned to him, skeptical. “There's nothing here.”

 

He watched the moon, just peeking out from behind a passing cloud. “Just wait.”

 

Confused and slightly irritated, Katara followed his gaze to the moon, watching silently as the cloud drifted by and the moon's rays poured down on them in the middle of the field.

 

Katara became aware of a glow shining from beneath her and she glanced down, gasping aloud in surprise and awe.

 

They stood in an immense field of flowers, their silver-white petals opened to bask in the radiance of the moon and reflect its light back like mirrors. The entire field seemed to glow.

 

“Zuko,” she breathed, her eyes wide as she tried to take in the immeasurable beauty around her. “You found an entire field of moonflowers. How? They're supposed to be one of the rarest of all flowers, blooming only with the light of the moon.”

 

He chuckled quietly, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist. “Just like you,” he whispered in her ear. “Except you will bloom just for me, here beneath the moon that governs your element.”

 

She turned in his arms, her oceanic eyes soft and large in the glow of the moonflowers. “Zuko…”

 

He kissed her, slowly at first, as if he were afraid she'd flee if he were too eager.

 

“You got that line from your uncle, didn't you?”

 

He choked. “Why would you say that?”

 

“Sounds like something he'd come up with. Tell me- how long were you waiting to use that on me?”

 

Zuko laughed. “Okay, okay. You caught me. He suggested I try that line on you… well, years ago. After… after I was going to ask you… if I could court you. To be my wife.”

 

Her eyes widened. “You've been waiting four years… to propose to me? What about Mai?”

 

“She and I had been together for so long. We grew up together. She claimed she loved me. I suppose, in my own way, I loved her back. But it never felt… right. Like we were both trying to play a game of make-believe- but the illusion always faded.” He sighed. “After Sozin's comet… she came back and said we were going to be together again. I thought you and Aang were a… thing… so I kinda let it happen.”

 

“Zuko…”

 

“That was the past,” he told her, gripping her gently by the shoulders. “All that's behind us now. I love you, Katara. I've loved you for so long, but I couldn't have you.”

 

The Waterbender smiled up at him. “You can have me now,” she whispered, sliding her hands into his hair. “And for as long as you want me.”

 

“I'm going to want you forever,” he told her honestly. “But given that we're fighting Azula tomorrow… we might only have tonight.”

 

“Then make me yours tonight… and we'll see what fate has in store for us later.”

 

He smiled against her lips. “Now who's being corny?”

 

“Shut up and kiss me, Dragon.”

 

He complied, eagerly. The warmth of her breath seemed to fan the already building flames inside him, and when she allowed her tongue to dance with his…

 

She could've been born a Firebender, with the way she could control the level of fire in his blood. Not to mention her fiery temper, her stubborn nature, the very spark that made her so… Katara.

 

He lowered her to the ground in a minor explosion of moonflower petals and pollen. She laughed as a petal landed on his head.

 

Seeing the mocha-skinned beauty like that, the pale moonflowers contrasting her rich chocolate skin and blue eyes, had a slight stab of worry enter Zuko's heart. He knew...they knew the power his sister possessed, a power heightened by her absolute madness, as well as the sadistic glee Azula used in brutalizing her enemies. Mai's back was a clear sign that no one, no matter how loyal or devoted they were to the bronze-eyed maniac, was safe from her casual cruelty. If given the chance, she'd kill them both with no hesitation or remorse.

 

As much as the Fire Lord hated to think it, the pragmatist within Zuko knew that something could happen in the coming combat. Yet, as he saw Katara lying underneath him, he knew that the odds were damn well good she wouldn't just be taken down...she'd be taken out. For the sake of the Fire Nation, his family's honor and the world at large, it had to be done.

 

"Don't look at me like that," Katara whispered, reaching up to lightly touch his scar. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion, isn't it?" She arched up and kissed him again, wishing with all her heart she could take away his lifetime of pain. Her other hand rested on his chest, feeling his heartbeat underneath his tunic and knowing, without him having to say anything at all, that it beat because of her. For her. It was rather humbling, really.

 

Once again, Zuko found himself impressed at the strength the Waterbender had in her. She knew just as well as he did the dangers they faced, but Katara wasn't allowing it to affect her or ruin their evening. Looking into her eyes, he could see she already had everything planned out. Tomorrow, they and the rest of their friends would meet and make their plans. She'd protect Zuko, just as he would protect her, when they challenged his mad-eyed sister. After sending Azula to the fiery hell she so richly deserved, they would go back to the Fire Nation, plan a course of world peace and rule wisely and lovingly in-between their kinky bedroom adventures.

 

The look in Katara's azure eyes indicated she would not accept or even entertain the thought of any other outcome.

 

Beginning to grow impatient, Katara grabbed the edge of his tunic and tugged, trying to get the garment off of him so she could see more of him. Pale flesh beckoned her, taunting her even. She pressed her lips to the skin she had revealed, causing him to shudder slightly in reaction. She smiled against his chest. "Liked that, did we?" she murmured into his skin.

 

"We did... almost as much as you're going to like this."

 

Warming his palms up slightly, the Fire Lord ran his hands up and down her toned arms, feeling the stubborn Waterbender shiver from the soothing heat. He thought about removing her clothing with a burst of Firebending, but decided against it. He was so keyed up and hot for her in all senses of the word that he didn't want to risk things going awry.

 

His fevered touch made her grow warm in places he hadn't even gotten near yet. His body seemed to be radiating heat as well, permeating through his own tunic, through her dress, and seemingly up her spine. She wanted to be closer to him, and these damn clothes were in the way. "Why are you so slow? What happened to the guy who wanted to get a little freaky on the back of a ten-ton bison a few hours ago?"

 

“Agni above, you're impatient," he smirked, running a hot finger down her neck and loving how she arched from the sensation. "Here I am trying to go slow and make it good for you, and all you can do is ride me about it."

 

She rolled him over in another flurry of moonflower petals and pollen. "That's what I'm trying to do," she purred from her dominating position. "Ride you." She rubbed her rear against him from where she straddled him, grinning at his expression.

 

"Well, I'm not stopping you." Though Zuko meant to say that in a smug, casual tone, it came out considerably hoarser than he wanted it to be. "Go ahead, my Lady. Ride the dragon."

 

She giggled before leaning down and licking him from collarbone to jawline, feeling his heart rate increase underneath her tongue. "You're naughty," she mumbled into his throat, biting him lightly. "You know that?"

 

Trying to summon back his brain after she licked him like a piece of rock candy, the black-haired male ran his hands to caress her rather firm ass. "Are you complaining, Katara? Because I don't recall you bitching about my being naughty before."

 

She bit back a needy moan as he gripped her behind, bringing her closer to his body as if he could take her right then, clothing or no. Utilizing her advantage as any good warrior, she quickly divested him of his belt and opened his tunic, spreading it wide so her eyes could feast upon his well-toned flesh.

 

Her gaze saddened at the sight of the starburst-shaped scar on his stomach- and inside that, newly healing, was the stab wound he received from a brainwashed Mai. Lightly, almost as soft as a feather, she ran her fingertips over the lightning scar, remembering how he had been willing to give up his life for hers. Time and time again.

 

And all of those times, it was Azula who had been behind the attempts on Zuko's life. She had come closer to killing him than anyone before, and with her crazed mindset, anyone and everyone around the Firebending prodigy was in constant peril. Her blue eyes hardened as she vowed to finish it. By the next evening, the bronze-eyed psychopath would be meeting her patron deity face-to-face.

 

Katara leaned down and kissed him on the pinkened scar, wishing she could heal it better than she had been able to. Zuko's hand on her chin brought her eyes level with his, and he saw the sorrow therein- and it was all for him.

 

Aside from his mother and Iroh, no one had shown such concern. He felt a lump settle in his throat at staring into her warm eyes, so loving and compassionate. With a slight smirk gracing his features, the Fire Lord attempted to lighten the mood, mirroring her emotions in his bright bullion gaze. "What happened? I thought you were going to 'ride me'. Don't tell me you're breaking your word, Katara."

 

The stubborn look returned to her azure eyes, as did the mischievous smirk. "You are wearing too much clothing, my Lord Dragon," she said in a rather husky voice. She untied her belt and tossed it aside, leaving her dress to gape at the front- and the shadows to hint at what lay beneath. "How can I ride a dragon so laden with... unnecessary items?"

 

Damn her. She knew that tone of voice got him harder than steel, and it was doing its magic then as well. Zuko growled like the dragon Katara nicknamed him, and that tiny perverted part of him suspected that she was wearing very little underneath that dress.

 

If anything at all...

 

She leaned forward, causing her dress to fall open and reveal the insides of two tanned globes. Her lips touched his again, this time with a bit more sensuality in it than before. As she pulled away, heavy-lidded eyes tempted him with everything she had to offer: her heart, her body... and her soul.

 

She rotated her hips atop his experimentally.

 

Feeling that lush body grind atop of him was burning away Zuko's restraint at an alarming speed. The image of pushing Katara onto her back, burning her clothes off and fucking her into the ground was becoming more and more appealing by the second. No man could blame him, after all. Being exposed to such beauty and sensuality on a daily basis, combined in a woman whose fire and spirit matched his own, would drive any male to such salacious thought.

 

Truthfully, he deserved some recognition for holding out this long.

 

Katara could sense his hesitation, and it worried her. Was it her? Deciding that he needed a bit more... encouragement... she sat up again and slid her dress off her shoulders, letting is drop noiselessly behind her. Now she was clothed in only moonlight and the glow of the moonflowers- she had forgone all other garments. Her cheeks were slightly pink with maidenly modesty, but she showed no signs of backing down in this particular battle. "Does this help?" she whispered, softer than the wind that stirred her long brown tresses and set them dancing over her bare shoulders like a lover's caress.

 

...Yep, there it went. At seeing Katara completely naked, the last bit of Fire Lord Zuko's self-control evaporated like smoke on the wind. It was everything he dreamed of and had fantasized about, right there in front of him.

 

And... dear Agni. A hint of a sweet yet earthy aroma filled the air around them. His golden eyes widened at just what that scent was.

 

Her hands trailed down his abdomen to tickle his navel before venturing further... south. She straddled him just where he wanted her to touch him most, so it was either move out of the way, or continue torturing him. A naughty little smile crossed her lips. Zuko swallowed. Hard.

 

When he felt her soft hands lightly stroke the cause of the tent in his pants, the Fire Lord hissed, a small burst of fire escaping his mouth. He had been teased and tormented for too long. Self-restraint be damned. Moving with surprising quickness, he pinned the Waterbender to the ground, her arms held above him as Zuko looked down at her, golden eyes radiating lust, love and a simple message.

 

Now...it's my turn.

 

It was her turn to swallow hard.

 

She watched as he yanked his pants off with surprising agility, considering that he held both her hands with one of his. The reflection from the moonflowers only served to illuminate his already impressive countenance and highlight his pale skin and dark hair. His gaze was molten as he ran his fingers down her taut stomach to... test the waters, as it were.

 

Lightly stroking her opening with his fingers, Zuko found out three things.

 

1. Katara was delightfully wet, which was even more boosting to his ego considering he hadn't truly done anything to her yet.

 

2. Katara was very responsive, moaning his name from the feather-soft touch to her womanhood while her body arched like a great fox-cat.

 

3. He liked the way she whispered his name. Only Agni knew how he'd respond when he made her scream it. His member twitched in anticipation.

 

Her eyes were dark with passion as she lay beneath him, subject to his exquisite torture. Panting and oversensitive to even the slightest breeze, she squirmed and wriggled underneath him, aching for him to take her and end their torment. She could see by the predatory gleam in his eyes that he was just as needy as she- and she wanted to help him release that desire. Reaching up, she cupped the sides of his face. "Zuko..." she pleaded.

 

"I need to tell you something, Katara," he breathed out, his lips ghosting across her neck. She was tastier than any chocolate, and were their respective need not so great, he would gleefully taste every square inch of the Waterbender's body. Donning a shaky smile, he whispered the secret into her ear.

 

"I wasn't wearing anything under those pants, you know."

 

She laughed. Sliding her hands down his torso, she gripped him gently for the first time. "I kinda guessed that," she murmured. "What with your `dragon' tickling my leg and all."

 

"Well, now I won't have to unleash the `dragon' myself anymore."

 

Meeting her shocked blush, almost unbelieving he just said that, the Fire Lord laughed lowly. "That's right. My right hand hates you so much, Katara."

 

Her cheeks red, she stroked him tentatively a couple times, watching his eyes first go wide, then nearly roll back in his head. She stopped. “Am I hurting you?”

 

"NO!" Zuko shouted, almost fearing she'd stop. With a faint hint of crimson on his cheeks, he repeated in a calmer voice, "You're not hurting me. In fact, your Fire Lord insists you continue this treatment."

 

Somewhat skeptical, she repeated the motions, aware that the flesh in her hands seemed to tighten and swell even more. She paused, gazing curiously at it. "...This isn't going to work."

 

"What?" It was a good thing Zuko's prick didn't have a voice, as it would have been screaming at the Waterbender's statement.

 

"You're too... well, um ...endowed," she explained, albeit lamely. "There's no way you'll fit." She continued her motions almost unconsciously, unaware of what she was doing to her beloved. "You'll kill me."

 

He was almost too distracted by the way she absently stroked him to take in her words.

 

Too endowed... no way you'll fit... you'll kill me...

 

Zuko was halfway ready to comment it was her fault he was so endowed in the first place, but knew she needed some reassurance. Silently, he offered his hands to the Waterbending master as he moved between her legs.

 

Curious and more than a little frightened of the dragon she had unleashed (literally and figuratively), she gazed up at her would-be lover with azure eyes darkened by passion. She bit her lower lip, uneasy now. "Zuko?" she whispered.

 

"I heard that the first time is...never easy for a girl." When he was sailing on his ship for those years prior to meeting Aang for the first time, the then-banished prince heard some of the crew share stories and such on their down time. And while he wanted Katara so much it couldn't possibly be healthy, he didn't want to hurt her in the process... mainly because she'd hurt him as well.

 

She nodded. Her Gran-gran had already warned her a couple years ago, when she had come of age. "I know," she murmured. "But I trust you. You would never do anything to hurt me intentionally." A wry grin danced across her lips. "Well, maybe this time, but it won't be like that every time. Right?" She hoped he wouldn't see through her bravado.

 

Looking down at her, the anticipation and slight worry in her eyes matched his own. Zuko gave her a reassuring smile, then again offered his hands. "That's why I want you to grab my hands. If you feel any pain at any time, squeeze my hands as hard as you need to. I don't care how hard you need to do it."

 

Katara gripped his hands carefully, her eyes locked with his. This was it. After all those years of wondering, waiting, wishing, and wanting... she would finally be Zuko's. She felt him nudge her legs apart a bit more, and she shifted them, bringing them up so that her feet were flat on the ground and her knees were raised on either side of his hips. They were shaking, but that didn't concern her now. All that mattered was Zuko's eyes and the love she saw within them.

 

"I have another secret I need to tell you, Katara."

 

“Now, Zuko?”

 

“It's kinda important.” The head of his engorged prick nudging against her opening, Zuko leaned over and said in a quiet yet intense voice, "I love you."

Her world nearly exploded as he slid inside her in one slick movement, breaking her barrier and nestling himself deep within her. The beast made itself right at home, pressing right up against her womb. Katara's eyes were wide in shock and pain... but it wasn't as bad as she had led herself to believe. All that training must've kept her limber. She blinked at Zuko, who appeared as if he were about to die- or, at the very least, pass out. "Zuko? Zuko, I'm okay. Really. Are you... are you all right?"

 

For a moment, the Fire Lord just got used to the rich velvet heat surrounding him. It was moist, tight and delightfully warm, and it wouldn't have bothered him a single bit to just stay like that. When he heard Katara asking about his condition, dangerously bright golden eyes stared into cerulean orbs that were much darker than normal. All he could manage was a slight nod.

 

Seeing Zuko apparently working with 10% of his brain brought the smugness back into Katara's voice.

 

"Well, Lord Dragon- is that it? Are we finished here? Because if we are, I'm going to have a long talk with those liars Suki and Toph because-!" She gave out a little squeak as Zuko shifted his hip just enough to recapture her attention. "Quiet, Peasant," he rumbled, making her shiver once again in anticipation.

 

"You dare to talk to your Fire Lord in such an impudent manner?" Every word was followed by increasingly powerful thrusts, though Zuko was still a bit concerned she was sore. Though, if the taunting grin on her lips told the tale, she was more than willing to take whatever the Firebender dished out.

 

He growled in a spine-melting purr that would have been intimidating had she not known him so well, "You should know your place."

 

She gripped his shoulders, digging her nails into the taut muscles there, and moved her hips in time with his own movements. At one point she flexed her inner muscles, watching in amusement as he groaned and lowered his head to her throat. "If my place is underneath your body, Dragon, then I will gladly accept," she replied in that same husky tone.

 

"Your place isn't merely underneath me, Waterbender." Though it was uttered in that low growl, she could hear the sincerity in his words. "I'm a just ruler, and I have no problems allowing you to be on top...from time-to-time."

 

He wrapped his arm around her waist for better leverage before driving home again, earning him a moan of pleasure from his woman. "But now... isn't one... of those times... I'm guessing...?" she managed to ask in between body-jarring thrusts. She was only teasing- she was perfectly content (at least this time) to lay there and let him do all the work. Plenty of time for her control later.

 

"You're quick to...catch on..." Zuko's ears rang with her cries of pleasure, the blood boiling in his veins at feeling her luscious body and great curves. You're mine, Katara, he thought possessively, wanting to have all of her. You're all fucking mine.

 

...And apparently, he had said that out loud, judging from her gaze of surprise and lust.

 

As his rhythm increased, so did her moans and pleas. "Oh, oceans," she whimpered, feeling something strange building up inside of her. She arched against him and was rewarded with his lips on her nipple, nibbling and suckling as he continued to move. His hand came up and caressed her bare breast as he feasted, earning him a breathlessly loud "Zuko!" in return.

 

The Fire Lord had never felt so powerful before. Constantly moving inside of her, making Katara scream in delight... his vision grew hazy from it all. Images appeared unbidden in Zuko's mind. Uniting fire and water when they finally took down Azula. Having her by his side to rule the Fire Nation. Arguing and playfully fighting, only to end up engaging in combat of a different sort. Marrying her in front of their friends, family and the world, uniting themselves in all senses of the word. Seeing her with a child in her arms. His child.

 

That last vision didn't provide him as much joy and pleasure as the others had.

 

Katara shifted her hips just a bit and was rewarded with a different sensation than before. This one almost made her faint in its intensity- but she wanted more. She moved them again. And again. Until she was matching her Dragon's tempo and drowning in a sea of sensation. The ocean slammed into her with the force of a hurricane- and she screamed out Zuko's name, her passage clenching around him and coating him in her essence, throbbing violently and pulsating with every rapid beat of her heart.

 

Zuko felt like he was slowly being incinerated from the inside out, in a good way. Feeling her juices coat him only added fuel to the flames and intensified Zuko's movements, wanting to drag out this incredible sensation for the both of them as long as possible. Damn, it would have been so easy to just let go. He could picture her with his child, his blood.

 

His blood.

 

The same blood that carried madness and corruption, an insanity that had gripped Sozin, Azulon and Ozai.

 

That same blood that flowed in the veins of the crazed Azula, pumping through that long atrophied thing she called a heart.

 

The blood that flowed in him, an apparent punishment by the spirits for Sozin's mad dreams of conquest and forced dominion to the Fire Nation. A spiritual imbalance that might never be removed.

 

She could feel his movements intensify. Any minute now, he would release, and they would finally become completely one. If the spirits favored her, they might even give her a child... a little Zuko, with his bright gold eyes and black hair... or even a sweet little girl, with her mother's blue eyes. Her heart swelled at the prospect. She lifted her hips off the ground just enough to give him better leverage. "Please, Zuko," she pleaded, kissing him deeply.

 

Damn. He knew what she wanted, and he wanted to give it to her so badly. Zuko knew without hesitation that Katara would be a wonderful mother. T he thing that unnerved him was whether he'd be a good father. If he indeed gave the Waterbender a child, what guarantee would he have that little boy or girl wouldn't be the next in his family's line to succumb to ultra-violence or insanity, becoming the next Ozai or Azula? He couldn't do that to an innocent child... and he sure as hell couldn't do it to Katara.

 

Zuko's face seemed to be twisted in some kind of pain- or an attempt at control. Katara didn't understand why. She touched his scarred cheek as gently as she could, the love and trust in her eyes shining clearly in the silver moonlight.

 

"Katara..." Trying as hard as possible to hold back, his voice was a mixture of pain and apology. "I... I can't. I can't give you what you want..."

 

She stared at him in utter confusion as his whole body tensed- and he pulled himself out of her body and spent himself on the ground between her thighs. She watched, both baffled and stunned, as the young Fire Lord regained control of himself- but refused to look her in the eyes. The Waterbender sat up, hesitantly reaching out a hand as if to touch his bare shoulder. The night was now completely silent, save for the gentle rustling of leaves and petals. Tears filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks. What had she done? Why would he... do something like that? Was it her fault? Because of her Water Tribe blood? He didn't want to mix with her? What happened?