Coming Together

Dinner and Departure

The moment the two stepped through the door, the whole place seemed to stop what they were doing and stare at her and the Avatar. He seemed unphased, she thought to herself that this must be normal for him everywhere he went. She was absolutely not used to the attention and became shy, letting him lead them to a table that was far away from people. She let go of his arm as he pulled out the chair for her, giving him a small bow of respect as she sat down, then he sat across from her. Everyone was still staring and it was making her uncomfortable, as Aang could tell.

"They'll stop looking in a few seconds." He said softly, trying to encourage a conversation to bloom between them once more. She engaged him.

"How are you so calm?" She asked, her eyes darting around and giving little stare-offs to the few who still dared to look.

"I'm not. I just don't care about them right now. I'm not out to dinner with them, I'm here with you. So you're my focus." He said so simply, completely unashamed of how he sounded.

She blushed and met his eyes, silver crashing into ocean blue, and it was like the rest of the world didn't matter. She wondered if he had this effect on all women while he wondered how she was single, completely captivated by her beauty... how that blush along her dark skin made her look unreal, like she was a painting. She wasn't looking away from him this time, feeling a pull toward him she had never felt toward anyone before.

"I hear you go through this a lot." He said with a smirk.

"Go through what?' She asked, lost.

"Being set up with strange men on dates."

Buttermoths took flight in her stomach and her blush deepened. She blinked in disbelief. "Do you count this as a date?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know later." He said with another smug smirk. She wondered if he was this smooth and quirky at the same time all the time.

"You'll be surprised to know how many people we have in common."

"Really? Like who?" She asked, amused at the fact that anything could connect them.

"Zuko was my firebending master. Toph my earthbending master. Pakku was my waterbending master..." He trailed off, knowing her connection to all three.

"That's right. Pakku trained you shortly before he moved back down to the southern watertribe and then I became his new apprentice... it seems something you said made him change his life for the better..." She said softly.

"I didn't appreciate that the fighting side of waterbending was limited only to men. I found that sexist and unfair. Just as much as men were not taught to heal, something I still can't do."

"Well, I became a Master at 14, in both healing and waterbending." She smiled, proud of her accomplishment.

"I know. From what I hear, you are the best healer in the world, and the most powerful waterbender there is..." He said, looking her over curiously. She didn't take compliments well and she looked down at her menu. "I would love to see you bend sometime." She blushed again and laughed nervously.

"It's nothing for you to see. You're the master of all four elements... what could my bending possibly look like to you?" She said shyly, folding her hands in front of her.