Lanterns

Day 1: October 11

The light was slowly starting to die, the orange dulling as the dark crowded around the flame. Mai held the flame up to her eyes, observing the wavering fire as each breath of air, each blow of the wind, threatened to kill it.

"This lantern is about to die at any time," Mai told him, turning around to look at him. Zuko didn't look at her, but instead dropped his head down to look at the ground.

A sigh escaped him.

Mai put a hand out, meaning to put in on his shoulder. She moved closer to him, until her fingers stroked across the fabric of his clothes.

"Just when I try being romantic," he said, with a small chuckle. Mai didn't laugh. Instead, she said, "I didn't know that this was supposed to be a romantic occasion."

She placed the lantern back down into the fountain, letting the soft currents of the water carry the glowing flame away from them both. Zuko had lit and then relit all the candles, but they were still going out. Either snuffed out by the breeze or dying due to lack of fuel. Whatever it was, the night was creeping in around them, dark and beautiful.

Mai secretly hoped that they would die out, if only for the stars to shine. She locked her gaze on the ripples in the water, and the soft orange glow that scattered across the liquid surface.

Zuko looped an arm around her waist, and pulled her in close to him. Now, he did look at her face. "Every moment with you is an opportunity to be romantic," he said with a grin."

Mai gave him a playful smack. "You're such a nerd," she told him. Her voice remained monotone, but she couldn't stop a small smile from creeping across her face when Zuko chuckled and gave her a coy grin. Turning her eyes back to the candlelight drifting across the water, she added, "It is beautiful though."

"I hoped you'd like it," he replied.

Still a nerd, Mai thought, but she found that she didn't mind.

Zuko watched the wavering candlelight for only a second before he turned back to face Mai, who still watched the scene serenely.

"Mai," he called her name softly, and she turned to look at him. The golden hues hidden within her brown eyes was gleaming brightly in the dying light of the lanterns.

He said nothing more, but pressed a kiss to her lips. Mai's hand came to the back of his neck, deepening the kiss between them. It was slow and hot, drawn out to the very last breath they had within them, until they had to break apart to inhale.

"Perfect," Zuko whispered, though Mai thought that it was a slip of the tongue instead of something he'd actually meant to say aloud.

"Yeah," Mai responded, "it kinda is."

She pulled him into another kiss, one longer than the last. It was deep and passionate, pulling their two souls together and intertwining their heartstrings. In the dying light of the lanterns, they could have spent all night.

Or at least until the final flame flickered out, the lanterns had all died away for good, and they were left in the dark alone.