I take a step, and a sharp pain digs into my right foot. I sigh and lower myself down to the ground. I pull off my slipper and shake it as Zuko stops beside me.

"Rock?"

I just nod. He sighs.

"You can't give me the silent treatment forever, you know."

I ignore him. Ever since I woke up four days ago, I haven't said more than two or three words to Zuko. It was bad enough having no memory of what happened on the Serpent's Pass. But when I remember the things I thought about Zuko that night... I can't stand myself. I'm supposed to hate him!

From now on, I'm going to ignore him. That, at least, I have control over. Unlike this strange attraction that I feel towards the prince of the Fire Nation.

"Kara." He sinks down in front of me, but I don't look at him. I just keep shaking my slipper, even though the rock fell out already.

His hand enters my field of vision, and my focus narrows on it. His long, pale fingers. Turning over, his palm a shadowed dip in the glinting sunlight. The warmth that pervades me as he comes closer; the heat that is a part of him.

I'm not breathing. I should really breathe. But I can't seem to make myself.

His fingers catch my chin, tilt my head up. I don't have the strength to pull away, to avoid his eyes. They capture mine, burnt honey, hold me here.

The silence stretches, fills the air around us. I can't take it anymore.

"Say something."

He smiles, just a little. He is so close to me. I can see every nuance in his eyes, the way they fade from yellow to gold, the darker outlines of his pupils. And I can trace every line, every bump of his scar with my eyes. The lighter outlines, the dark red around his eye. The jagged flame-shape of it. I raise my hand, slowly. Touch him.

I flatten my palm against his scar, feeling the rough texture of it. He freezes. His beautiful eyes go wide. Neither of us is breathing.

I trace my fingertips along its edges, through every indent. Across what was his eyebrow, back along his cheek. Feather them around his burned ear. Zuko's eyes slide closed. His shoulders curl inward and he groans, as if in pain.

He leans into me, breathes deep. I wish I could breathe.

I don't know why I can't move. Why I can't stop myself. Why I can't hate him. I just know that hating him is as impossible as drinking the sea.

His eyes open, capture mine again. There is an inferno in his gaze. His hands come up, cradle my face. His thumbs stroke across my cheeks, against the corners of my eyes. And his lips touch mine, firm yet soft as water.

A million thoughts scream through my head.

He is my enemy!But he isn't.

He is Fire Nation! Not all of them are evil.

I'm supposed to hate him! Am I?

I don't understand any of this. How can I feel so much, want so much, when I don't know who I am? Who I'm supposed to be? How can I know him when I don't know myself?

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" The voice penetrates the fog like a bucket of icy water. I leap away from Zuko, stumbling over the ground before falling again. He blinks, as if coming out of a daze. I know the feeling.

I stare past him, up at the man who stands behind Zuko. The men. There are three of them, dressed as Earth Kingdom soldiers. One of them shifts, and I see that their ostrich-horses are held by a fourth.

Their clothes are dirty and disheveled. They could all use a shave and a bath. And there's something about them that's familiar. A sense of desperation.

I stand slowly, forcing a smile to my lips.

"Hello."

Zuko stands as well, and steps forward to stand by my side. I fight the conflicting urges to lean into him and shove him away. Instead I don't move. I just watch the soldiers, wondering what they'll do next.

Zuko speaks. "Can we help you with something?" They don't respond, and the tension in the air escalates.

Finally one of them, a tall, stocky man who stands in the middle of them, replies. "You can, actually. We've been traveling for quite awhile and could use a bite to eat."

Zuko nods warily. "Sure." He steps back, towards where he dropped our pack. But as he picks it up I study the soldiers, and suddenly the familiar sense clicks in my head.

I've seen men like these once before, in the woods near Sen. They were hiding from soldiers. The next day in the marketplace, Jon and Hon were particularly irritable.

I leap back, grabbing Zuko's arm.

"Don't give them anything! They're not soldiers. They're deserters!"

The man in the middle curses and makes a gesture. One of the men steps towards Zuko, another comes towards me. Before I can think, Zuko is between them and me, his Dao swords drawn and ready.

The deserters laugh and attack him, but it's over in a matter of seconds. Zuko is so fast, so coordinated. He never takes a step that he doesn't have to, and every blow from his swords strikes true.

Three of the men are unconscious. One of them is running away on an ostrich-horse. Zuko starts after him, but I catch his arm.

"It's not worth it. Let him go."

He is tense, the fight in him not ready to go out. I meet his eyes. "Zuko. It's not worth it."

Slowly he relaxes, breathes in, then out. He smiles at me and raises a hand, as if to brush my hair out of my eyes. I pull away from him and move to the ostrich-horses.

"We should get going." I swing up into the saddle of one and start down the road. Soon, I hear the steady beat of Zuko following me.

Riding now instead of walking, we'll make Omashu twice as fast. Another four or five days and we'll reach the City of Balance.

I focus my mind on the journey ahead, on the animal beneath me, on the sun on my face. On anything but the memories that won't go away, of his lips on mine and his fingers in my hair. Of his scar beneath my palm.

And of the pain that flared in his eyes, that always flares in his eyes, when I pulled away from him.

_____

Soo... first kiss... what'd y'all think? Yes, no, maybe?

and I TOTALLY BOUGHT PB YESTERDAY, SO HAAAAPPPPYYYY LOL.

Anywho, COMMENT, read, vote, and above all ENJOY!

-Eon

P.S. - I also want to say a HUGE THANK YOU YOU'RE AMAZING to everyone who's supported me throgh this story and any of my others, you guys are awesome and I don't know what I'd do without you.

And to everyone who has commented, I've tried to dedicate something to all of you, but if I've missed anyone tell me, m'kay? Cause I DIDN'T MEAN TO!! I like votes and all, but they're not what I'm here for. The main reason that I started putting my work on Wattpad is so that I can get actual reader's thoughts on my stories.

All of you deserve 18million servings of your favorite ice cream/cookie mix (or some other desert, if you're like my crazy best friend Tiana and don't like cookies...).

I can't say THANK YOU enough, and even that will never express how amazing it is to have you guys supporting me and helping me, even when you're critiquing.

So, just... you know... YOU GUYS ROCK. :D

And I'll stop being sappy and just post the blasted story now, because we all know that that's why you're really here, and not for my crazy Author's Notes.

Over and Out! (I've always wanted to say that, but I'll just have to stick to writing it...)