We've been walking forever.

This is the thought that echoes through my head as we cross the Serpent's Pass. I can feel Zuko close behind me. Once, I tripped, and he was there, catching me, so fast that I wondered if he was even paying attention to his own footing.

How closely do you have to watch someone to know that they're falling before they do?

We've been walking forever.

Does this path ever end? Up and down, up and down, over and over and over again. I'm getting sick of it.

On the bright side, it's obvious that the only real danger of the Serpent's Pass is death from boredom.

There's nothing to see but the cliff and the water. Not that the water is a bad sight- I could stare at it forever.

But this constant trudging, up one rise and down the next; watch where you put your feet, take two steps forward, then one step back. Turn around, go around that outcrop, step carefully over that crack- it's concentration and inattention all at once.

Just like gardening.

One half of my mind is engaged, focused, but the other has nothing to do.

We've been walking forever.

I'm so tired of walking!

"Let's stop for a minute."

For a second I don't register Zuko's voice, but then his hand touches my arm and I leap away from him. His touch is like a brand against my skin, burning its way to the fire-water twining around my right wrist. He looks away from me, and I blush, but I don't know why.

A part of me wants to say I'm sorry, but I don't dare.

He is my enemy!

That is the other thought that ricochets through my mind.

I ignore the answering question that rises from my heart. Is he?

There is so much that I don't know. I clench my jaw as I sit on the edge of the path, staring down into the crystal clear waves of the lake. I've never seen water so clear before. So blue.

It's beautiful.

"What're you thinking?"

I glance at Zuko- he's watching me from a few feet away. His legs dangle over the cliff edge and he's laying on his back. His head is turned towards me and his amber eyes burn into me.

He is my enemy!

I look away to keep myself from being captured in his gaze. I don't answer him. I don't know what to say.

He is my enemy!

So how come he doesn't feel like one?

I stand. "We should keep going."

He nods, but I don't wait for him. Soon we are walking up another steep incline, the blue lake stretching out around us. I wonder if this is how it feels to die- surrounded by feelings you don't understand, going to a place that you're not sure you want to go.

We crest the rise and head down, but I'm getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just like the bad feeling I had when Zuko showed up in the marketplace that day, and right before Jon and Hon burst into our dinner at Aki's house.

Something bad is about to happen.

I stop, searching the dip in the path, the cliffs that rise above us, the water to our sides. But I see nothing out of the ordinary. Zuko steps up beside me, and he is also searching. He looks at me.

"Something's wrong."

I just nod, and start walking again. If there's trouble ahead, at least it won't have the element of surprise anymore.

We top the next hill and turn a slight corner, little more than a bend, and start down again.

But I've taken no more than two steps before I stop and stare.

Stare at the path that stretches out below me, and at the place where that same path ends. It just... stops. Leads right down into the crystal blue water, and starts up again about twenty feet across the lake.

Zuko stands beside me, and lets out a curse. I ignore him. It's okay. It's not the end of the world. I know how to swim. This is just water- it can't hurt us.

"Come on." I start toward the water. Zuko grabs me by the arm.

"What? No! We can't swim that! We don't know what could be in there." My gaze locks onto his long, pale fingers, clenching around my upper arm, then travels further, to the fire-water circle visible on his wrist. The similar mark on my own wrist seems to burn as I stare at the conflicting elements.

"Take your hand off my arm."

He shakes his head at me. "Kara, I know you don't like me, but we have to talk about this. We have no idea how deep this lake is or what kinds of creatures live in it. We can't just go swimming across it without knowing what we're putting ourselves into. I've got a really bad feeling about this."

"Take your hand off my arm, Zuko."

He groans. "You're not listening to me! We have to-" I look up, catching his eyes. He stops talking.

"Take. Your hand. Off. My. Arm."

He drops my arm like it's hot and takes several steps back. "Let's talk about this, okay?"

"There's nothing to talk about. This is the way to Ba Sing Se. We need to get to Ba Sing Se. So, we're swimming. You can swim, right, Your High Fiery-ness?"

"Yes, I can swim, but I'm not going to! We can't just-"

I ignore him, turn away. And step into the water.

I sink immediately- it's really deep. But Aki taught me to swim, and I pull myself to the surface and start stroking across the lake. The water is cool as it brushes across me and drips down my face.

It feels amazing. For the first time in days, I feel calm. Cool. Collected. And ready to deal with Zuko and his Fire Nation-ness.

My Fire Nation-ness.

I should go swimming more often.

Then, suddenly, the bad feeling in my stomach lurches, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

"Kara!" Zuko's terrified shout reaches me as a huge shadow looms above me. I raise my eyes slowly, and in a moment of clarity I know exactly why they call this Serpent's Pass.

Then I'm backpedalling, swimming away, eyes wide with terror and vision blurred with drops of water, sweat, and tears.

I have a new mantra.

I do not want to die.

The sea serpent's mighty jaws descend, clapping into the water mere feet from my face. I scream and jerk away, and then there is another one, or maybe the same one, it's hard to tell.

I do not want to die.

They twine around me, and I can feel their scales brush my legs, swirl the water around me, and I realize that I am screaming.

I do not want to die.

And then suddenly there is heat in my eyes and near my skin, and the serpent closest to me lunges away, plunging into the churning waves of the lake.

I do not want to die.

Then strong arms are wrapped around me, pulling me away, up onto the shore, holding me. A panicked, raspy voice is calling my name, telling me that it's okay, it's going to be okay, they're gone and they can't hurt me.

A part of me wonders why he hasn't said 'I told you so' yet.

The other part is too busy passing out to care.

______

Update.... you love me...

Lol. COMMENT and vote, por favor, mi amigos!

-Eon