I wake to the smell of meat sizzling on a fire. The crackling of the flames and the hiss-pop of fat hitting the coals reaches my ears next, along with a strange shhssniick sound that I can't identify. I can feel the warmth from the fireplace by my side, seeping into me. I draw in a contented breath, wondering what Aki's cooking, and if she's going to use her special herb sauce on it.

But when I open my eyes, it's not Aki's familiar surroundings that I see. Oh, right. I'm not with Aki anymore. I'm traveling to Ba Sing Se with the prince of the Fire Nation. Great.

I blink to clear the sleep from my eyes as I stretch, staring at the fire in front of me. That's strange, I'd have sworn it was next to me. I roll slightly and my right side comes up against the source of the heat that I'd mistaken for the fire.

I blink up at Zuko as he looks down at me, his amber gaze unreadable in the light of the fire. It casts hollows on his cheeks and eyes, making him seem unreal. But the smile on face is somehow obvious, and I can't help but smile back. I'm too tired to hate him right now. I'll ignore him later.

He shifts slightly, and I glance down... to see that I am curled around him like a contented panda-leopard as he sits before the fire, sharpening his swords. I feel my eyes bolt wide and I scramble away from him, blushing furiously. He watches me silently as I dart to the other side of the fire, trying not to stumble on the dragging skirt of the too-big robe I wear over the now-dingy wedding dress.

I pretend to be busy with the canteens while he stares into the flames.

After awhile, when my hands have stopped tugging uselessly at the already-tight strap of my canteen, the familiar shhssniick fills the air again, and I risk a glance at him.

He sits where I left him, cross-legged on the ground. His swords rest across his knees, and he carefully draws a whetstone across the edges of first one of them, then the other. This is something I've become used to over the weeks we've traveled together, and somehow the familiar sight calms me.

I settle in front of the fire, drawing my knees up to my chin and wrapping my arms around them. I let my focus drift over him, learning him. His cropped black hair flops ever so slightly over his forehead, and his lips are compressed in concentration. The scar across his left eye appears in darker shadow than even his eye sockets, a dark blast across his pale skin.

His burnt ear seems strange when viewed in contrast to his perfect right ear, but somehow the look suits him. He'd be too pretty without the scar, I think. Too... fake. The scar makes him look real, look human.

I wonder how he got it.

A training exercise gone wrong? An accident aboard ship? A childhood fight? I resist the urge to ask him. Somehow I know that it's a sensitive subject. My gaze travels lower, across the narrow planes of his nose and chin. My eyes trace his mouth, and I wonder if it's really as soft as it looks.

I draw my gaze lower, down the shadow of his neck, to the bits of pale chest exposed by the tears in his green Earth Kingdom shirt. I wonder if he can possibly be as toned as he feels when he's pressed against me. Suddenly he clears his throat, and I realize that he's stopped sharpening. His raspy, wry voice fills the air around us.

"See something you like?"

My gaze darts up to his face, and I can feel my cheeks flaming. I glare at him.

"No."

He chuckles, and I curse him for the laughter in his eyes.

"Whatever you say."

I resist the urge to smack him. Instead I look around, wondering where we are. I glance at him again. He's still chuckling softly as his whetstone whirrs across the blade of the sword.

If he's going to be a jerk, he can at least be a helpful jerk.

"Where are we?"

He glances up at me, seemingly surprised that I've spoken. I rarely initiate conversations. He eyes me for a moment, then sighs.

"Just out of the foothills."

"So how far to Ba Sing Se still?"

"Uh... we're still on the wrong side of the Lake. We didn't make it across. You don't... remember that?" I flinch and look away. I don't remember. The last thing I remember is... is... the Serpent's Pass. We were crossing the Serpent's Pass. I just assumed we'd made it across.

"My memory isn't the greatest, okay? Why didn't we make it across?"

Zuko sheathes his swords and leans towards the fire; his amber eyes study mine worriedly. I want to tell him to buzz off, but he seems genuinely concerned.

"The path... ended." He looks away. I glare at him.

"What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing. We just couldn't get across, that's all. We'll have to find another way. I've been looking at the map and I think-"

"Zuko."

He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, glaring into the fire. "We were going to swim across, but we couldn't. There were sea serpents in the water, and when we tried to get across they nearly killed you. You've- you've been out for three days."

I stare at him. Nothing he's saying sounds even vaguely familiar. Nothing. Yet I know that he's telling the truth- he has no reason to lie. And there's something in his voice, something I can't quite place.

It sounds like... like fear. But fear of what? And why? If we got away from the serpents then what is Zuko so afraid of?

I don't know the answers, not that I know much anyway. I clear my throat.

"O- okay then. Um... you were saying? About the map?"

He looks up at me and flashes that smile, and a curious heat curls in my stomach. I feel myself flush again and I look down, not meeting his eyes.

"I was thinking we could go to Omashu. Maybe King Boomi will know some way to Ba Sing Se. At least, he might be able to get us passports so we can take the ferry. It's only another couple of week's walk, and it'd be a lot less if we could get ahold of some ostrich-horses somewhere."

"Are you sure you want to do that? Being... who you are... that might not be wise, do you think?"

He smiles at me. "I've been all over the Earth Kingdom in the last few months, and no one's found me out yet. We'll be fine."

I meet his eyes; they glisten in the firelight like pools of amber flame. I can feel their pull, like the moon pulls the tides, calling me. Can I handle two more weeks out of our way?

And what will I do when we reach Ba Sing Se?

No matter how hard I try to hate him, it becomes more and more difficult the better I know him. He is my enemy... at least he should be. I am so confused.

I look down, and my gaze falls on the tattoo on my right wrist. A wreath of flame twining around a curling strand of glimmering blue-silver water. Moving together, strong together, but unable to meet. Complete opposites.

Like the yin and yang.

The sun and moon.

Zuko and I.

Why did the spirit give us this as our marriage symbol? I've heard of it happening before, if a match is well-made the spirits gift them with a standard. But Zuko and I are not well-matched. We are polar opposites.

We weren't even supposed to get married!

So why did the spirit appear to us? Why did she marry us? And why is our symbol so confusing?

I don't know. All I know is that I have nowhere else to go, nothing else to do. No one else to be. And though I try to deny it, the truth is that I don't want to leave Zuko, not anymore. I've been caught up in his quest and his determination, and I kind of want to meet his famous uncle, the Dragon of the West.

I kind of want to see where this will all lead.

Because he may be my enemy, but he is also my husband. I look up at him, see him watching me. His beautiful eyes bore into me, touching my soul. I give him a slight nod.

"Okay. Let's go to Omashu."

_______

So... I was totally craving PB.. and I looked in my cupboards and I HAD SOME... and then I opened the jar... and it... it was GONE...

And now I really just want to cry, so I need some awesome comments from all my awesome fans to cheer me up! :P

Oh and btw, I'm thinking of putting this in the Watty Awards, but I need more votes.. and I don't know how to.. so thoughts on that, anyone?

Should I, should I not...?

Anywho..

-Eon

Hey, P.S., just so y'all know, I dedicate SOMETHING to everyone who comments on ANY of my work... (a bit of incentive there.. lol...) :)