The torch in Zuko's hand was close to burning out, but they were nowhere near free of the tunnels. Kara was right- the tunnels were changing, and Zuko had no idea how to get them out.

Beside him, Kara clenched his arm. Worry puckered her brows and kept her lips pressed flat.

Suddenly, a low, rumbling growl filled the tunnel, and Zuko stopped. He raised the torch, looking around, ready to firebend at whatever was coming. Kara tugged on his arm, and when he looked down, he saw that she was blushing furiously.

"Um... that was me."

Zuko didn't understand. "You?"

"Yeah. I'm... uh... pretty hungry."

"Oh." Zuko smiled- come to think of it, he was pretty hungry, too. He tugged his pack off his shoulder, but in the process dropped the torch. He sighed as it fizzled out. He bent to pick it up and the pack fell off his arm. He growled. Zuko snapped his fingers and a flame appeared in his palm, brightening the rock walls considerably.

The pack had dumped out all over the ground, and Kara knelt down to pick up the mess. Zuko grabbed their last piece of stale bread that had rolled up against the tunnel wall and dusted it off.

He was just about to break it in two when Kara gasped, and Zuko whirled around, the flame in his hand turning into a throwing ball with a barely discernible motion.

But there was no danger.

Kara still knelt on the ground, and her gaze was on a cloth-wrapped object that had been at the bottom of the back.

Zuko's Blue Spirit mask.

She raised her eyes to his slowly, but in the bright light all Zuko could see was their glistening reflection. He couldn't tell what she thought of it.

"You're the Blue Spirit."

Zuko shifted on his feet. "Um... yeah."

She grinned. "You should've told me that from the beginning. There's not a girl in the whole Earth Kingdom that wouldn't follow the Blue Spirit off the edge of the world."

Zuko blinked at her. "Really?"

"Really. You're a hero."

Zuko's amazement faded, replaced by sadness. "I'm no hero. I just became the Blue Spirit to get food for Uncle and I. And then I used it to chase the Avatar down. I was selfish."

"Still. You did a lot of good, too. Otherwise the Fire Nation wouldn't hate this mask so much."

She stood and placed her hand against his scar. The coolness of her palm against the raised skin was heaven. Zuko breathed deeply, closing his eyes.

When he opened them, she was smiling at him again. She was so beautiful when she smiled! Zuko had been afraid that she would never smile at him again. Now he just wanted to make sure that she never stopped smiling.

He grinned at her. "I'm nothing like you, though, Painted Lady."

She laughed. "I was bored. It was something to do." Zuko shook his head.

"Don't play that game! I know you. You care about people. You'd have never forgiven yourself if you hadn't tried to help the villagers stop those earthbenders."

Kara stared at him. Her eyes were wide, and her breathing was shallow. "I- I didn't think anyone knew me. I don't know me." Her voice was a whisper, but Zuko heard her easily.

He pulled her to him with the arm not lighting their path. "I've always known you." He almost winced at the irony of that. If she ever got her memory back, she was really, truly going to hate him.

Now that she'd confessed that she didn't hate him, that was going to be so much worse. It might kill him. Zuko sighed softly into her hair, then pulled away.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

They kept walking, this time hand in hand. Their bread was gone too fast, but Zuko vowed that he'd go fishing as soon as they got out of here.

He wasn't the world's best fisher, of course. In fact, he was horrible at it. But food was food.

They took a right fork and kept walking. Zuko's feet were starting to hurt. The ground was uneven and rocky, and his boots were worn and practically useless from the long journey they'd been on.

Suddenly Kara gasped and ran ahead. Zuko glanced up to see what she'd seen- the flickering flame in his hand had revealed a round door with writing carved into it.

"Zuko, look!" Kara's voice was excited, and Zuko grinned as he ran after her. "We've found the exit!"

They ran up to it, pushed and shoved.

It didn't budge.

Kara stepped back, wiping her forehead. "It's no use. It's too heavy."

Zuko frowned. "No, it's not. We just need more force. Stand back." He dropped into a stance, elongating the flame in his hand. He sent it spinning in an arc around his body, gaining momentum.

Then he took a deep, even breath, called to his inner fire, and ran at the door.

He blasted it with fire, streaming from his hands and his mouth. The earth rumbled and the ground shook, and Zuko stumbled back, shaking his head to clear the smoke from his eyes.

The door groaned, and a light appeared around its edges.

Kara cheered, and Zuko grinned at her.

The door sank back, then rolled out of the way. Zuko and Kara peered into the darkness beyond. Zuko frowned. "This isn't the exit."

Kara stood beside him, surveying the large room outlined in the firelight. "No. I think... it's a tomb."

Zuko and Kara walked down a set of stairs and stopped at the base of a long, table-like earthen box. Zuko held his hand close to it, and saw a bunch of pictures. Kara leaned towards them, cocking her head.

"These pictures... they tell a story. Two people met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages. The villages were enemies so the two could not be together. But their love was strong, and they found a way. The two lovers learned earthbending from the badger-moles. They became the first earthbenders. They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly.

"Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth. But one day the man didn't come. He died in the war between their two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending power. She could've destroyed them all. But, instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they would live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love."

Zuko stared at Kara for a moment, filled with the shocking similarity between the story of Oma and Shu and he and Katara. But she stared at him with wonder in her eyes. To her, it was just a really good love story. It wasn't personal.

But Zuko knew better.

Kara smiled. "Now I know why they call it the City of Balance."

And now it's on fire, Zuko thought. He dreaded having to tell Kara that part. She'd hate knowing that she'd forgotten something else important.

They turned around, and Zuko's flame revealed a huge statue of a man and a woman kissing. Between them was a stone banner.

Love is brightest in the dark. That was what it said.

Kara looked at Zuko. "I- I'm having an idea of how we might find our way out of here."

Zuko looked at her. "What?"

"Well, here, it says 'love is brightest in the dark'. And it has a picture of them kissing."

Zuko held his breath, wondering if she was saying what he thought she was saying. "And?"

"And so, I was thinking. What if we... kissed?"

Zuko stared at her for a moment, watching the blush that tinted her cheeks, the way she avoided his eyes.

"Never mind, it was a crazy ide-"

Zuko moved before she could finish her sentence. His right fist crushed the flame as his left latched around her arm, pulling her to him.

She gasped as he lowered his mouth to hers. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." He whispered the words against her mouth, felt her soft breaths push against his lips.

"Zuko."

She breathed his name, and he pressed his lips to hers. He wrapped his arms around her, molding her body to his.

The fire-water circles on his left wrist tingled, but it was a good feeling. He buried his fingers in her hair, tugged her head back.

He explored her mouth with his lips, learning its lines. Learning her. He felt her arms twine about his neck, and he smiled against her lips, clutching her closer.

Nothing had ever felt more right to him than kissing her.

Suddenly Zuko was aware of a light pushing at his eyelids. He opened his eyes, drawing back from Kara slowly. She blinked up at him, then gasped as her eyes traveled higher.

Zuko looked up to see a path of glowing blue crystals leading away into the tunnels, lighting the whole place in a soft blue-green glow.

Kara stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide with wonder. "They're beautiful."

"Yeah." But Zuko wasn't looking at the crystals. He was looking at Kara. She glowed in the light, her brilliant blue eyes reflecting the crystals like the night sky shining on the sea.

She turned to him, grinning. "That's how the two lovers found each other! They just put out their lights and followed the crystals. That must be the way out!"

She threw her arms around him, and Zuko held her tight for the few seconds she let him.

"Come on, I'm starving!"

She ran off, following the lights, and Zuko shook his head. There would be time to talk about what just happened later.

They had all the time in the world- as long as she didn't get her memory back.

Zuko followed her, calling for her to wait up. She grinned back at him as he led the ostrich-horse behind her.

"Come on, Your Highness, hurry up!" She laughed as she darted ahead again, and Zuko smiled to himself.

For now, she was his. That was all that mattered.

__________

WHOOT! What think you, lovely people who are awesome because you read my story(ies)?

TELLL MEE!! Lol I'm being a comment zombie, it's my new favorite passtime. :P

-Eon