𝑯𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆

𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚

               Chapter twenty
Aang

The night was thick with the scent of jasmine and the soft hum of insects, a quiet symphony of peace that wrapped around me like a blanket. I sat in the palace courtyard, feeling the grass beneath me, I inhaled deeply, trying to clear my mind, but it wasn't working. My thoughts kept wandering—she kept wandering back into them.

The only thing I knew was that Inara had made herself comfortable in my head. It was maddening.

Is she still staring at that tree from her balcony? I wouldn't put it past her. She had a way of becoming absorbed in things, silently contemplating whatever thoughts she buried so deep no one could ever guess.

Two weeks. That's all it had been since we got back to the Fire Nation, and yet everything had shifted between us in ways I couldn't quite explain. Before, we were fire and ice—constantly at each other's throats, jabbing, pushing, pulling. And now... now we were... something else. What? Friends? Acquaintances with fewer arguments? Allies in strange, unspoken ways?

I wasn't sure. But I knew one thing—I wanted to be close to her. More than I had any right to.

It didn't help that every time I thought about her, my chest did this weird, tight thing. Like my heart was trying to leap out and do something reckless. And then there was Ryu—the guards' commander. He hovered at the edges of my mind, and for reasons I couldn't quite name, the idea of her going back to being with him gnawed at me.

I wasn't even sure why I cared so much.

It's not like I could stay in the Fire Nation forever. My time here had a countdown, and soon, I'd be gone again. But in the meantime, the thought of ruining any chance between her and Ryu? I'd thoroughly enjoy that. In fact, I already did.

The idea gave me a little thrill I tried not to dwell on too much. Maybe I just wanted her attention on me.

Or maybe it was because I missed getting under her skin. She had this infuriating way of ignoring me, but at the same time, she never failed to react.

I remembered the way she used to snap at me, how easy it was to get under her skin. Half the time, I was pretty certain she enjoyed the game but the other half? I was sure she was going to throw me off a cliff. There was something satisfying about it, the way we could provoke each other so effortlessly. It was a dance, one we'd both mastered.

Other girls didn't stir anything in me. There was no spark, no fire. But Inara? She was different. She was my damn fuel, burning brighter than anyone else I'd ever known. Except now... the fire had changed. It no longer scorched me. Instead, it warmed me, wrapped around me in ways that felt dangerously comfortable.

I like that feeling. I like it more than I should.

Just as I was sinking deeper into my thoughts, her voice broke through the night, startling me out of my reverie.

"Is that seat taken?"

I whipped around, eyes wide. Inara stood there, bathed in the moonlight, arms crossed and her face set in that signature mix of irritation and something else. Of all the people in the world, she was the last person I expected to seek me out.

"Make yourself comfortable, Petal" I grinned at her, unable to resist. It was habit at this point—poking at her, seeing what I could get away with.

She rolled her eyes, as expected, but sat down beside me on the grass without further complaint. Her presence was electric, buzzing with an energy I couldn't ignore.

For a few moments, we just sat there, the silence between us comfortable but I could feel her mind working, something simmering beneath the surface.

"I did it, I got rid of him" she said abruptly, cutting through the quiet like a knife.