ANYTHING BUT; avatar the last airbender

chapter 3

[act two; chapter three     -     transcending lifetimes]

    "Lian!"

    He was chasing her through the many halls of the palace, hands reaching for her at all moments. Finally, he caught up to her as they breached the courtyard, his arms wrapping around her waist, lifting her from the ground.

    Lian was all giggles, her hands laying atop his as he spun her through the air, her back against his chest. "Zuko, put me down!"

    He laughed in her ear, "No, you're mine now!"

    All they could do was laugh, surrounded only by one another, by whatever lingered between them, now. They could not quite place, could not name it. But, perhaps, they could, just that neither would name it. They were young, yes, but they knew the meaning of the word love. They knew what such a thing did to a person, how it influenced the way they lived. And while they would not speak it, while they may not have understood it, those around them knew. Lian and Zuko loved each other in whatever childish kind of way that they could, even with their little understanding of such complex feelings.

    When Zuko released her, she sat herself on the ground, balancing on her knees. Zuko, still standing, took a moment to observe her. Everything about her. He took her in and memorized her, swearing that he would never forget her face or her laugh or her voice or the way she cared for him in a way that no one ever had, not even his mother, not even his Uncle Iroh.

    He admired the small dip of her nose and the rise of her pronounced cheekbones, or how her nose and cheeks seemed to always be painted red in some way. He admired the way her ears slightly pointed outward, only enough to truly be noticed if her hair was pulled away from her face. He admired her dark green eyes and the natural downturn of her lips and the way her cheeks creased when she smiled or laughed. He admired how her hair always seemed so free in the world, how her spirit seemed to do just the same—they reflected each other, he supposed.

    "Zuko?"

    He turned to her, expecting her to be looking back at him, to be speaking. But she wasn't. She was still—completely still. Frozen. She didn't blink, she hardly breathed, and her hair seemed to be the only moving thing about her, blowing in the wind.

    He reached out to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. She was cold to the touch, like ice. "Lian?" No answer. He shook her gently, and, suddenly, her body toppled over, falling to the ground. "Lian?"

    She didn't move, didn't do anything but lie there.

    He grasped her face, searching her eyes, but they had gone milky white. There was nothing there anymore, she was simply just...a body. There was nothing living or human about her.