Falling for the Enemy (Sun and Moon Book 1)

Chapter 15 - Questions

I run without thinking of where I'm going to go. I simply run, unable to reconcile in my mind the truth of what's just happened.

I don't hear him behind me, but I don't bother to look. I don't care if he follows me, I won't stop running. He can't make me stop. Maybe if I don't think about it, then it won't be true. Maybe this is all some horrible dream, and when I wake up I'll be safe and warm and happy in Aki's cottage, if not in my own home, wherever that may be.

But the sensible part of me, the part I am doing my best to deny, knows the truth. This is no dream- it's not a nightmare or a figment of my imagination. This is happening- has happened.

I am married, and to a man I barely even know. Don't know, in fact. And what's worse, he's a firebender. The enemy. Lee has been lying to me from the moment we met, even if we didn't speak a word during our first meeting.

He lied. And somehow, though I can't quite fathom why, that is more important to me than all the rest put together.

I stop only when I stumble over a tree root, then trip on my muddy white skirts, flailing my arms uselessly in a vain attempt to catch my balance.

It's not necessary, anyway. Almost before I can blink, and certainly before I can fall, Lee is here, his warm hands steady on my arms, holding me upright against the heat of his chest. His too-big robe billows around me, cocooning me, and I have the strangest urge to lean into him and let him shoulder all my troubles.

To melt into him and never come out again.

I repress the urge with a barely concealed snort of disgust, jerking myself away from him. When I turn back to look at him, his amber eyes are unreadable. The scar across his left eye seems darker than before, somehow, and his left eye is nearly completely shut.

His right is cast to the ground, not at me, though he looks up when I clear my throat. He meets my glare with a wince, then sighs and jerks a pale hand through his jet-black hair.

"I'm sorry, Kara. I didn't know that wou-"

I cut him off. "You're appolgizing? Do you have any idea what you've done? You have ruined my life! What little I had of one, anyway! And you think that a simple 'sorry' will make it better?"

He shakes his head, black-silk strands falling in his eyes again. "No! That's not what I meant, if you'd just lis-"

But I slash a hand through the air. "No. I am done listening to you. I don't even know you, Lee! No. As far as I'm concerned, that never happened. Nothing happened. Do you understand me?"

He meets my eyes now, and I'm surprised at the anger I see in them. It almost matches my own, giving me pause for a moment. But that's before he starts speaking.

"It did happen, Kara. It's not going to go away just because you wish it to. We are married before the Spirits, and that isn't going to change."

I shake my head wildly. No, he is wrong! Wrong! There must be some mistake, this cannot be happening! It cannot!

"I don't even know you, Lee!" Somehow, repeating the simple phrase makes me feel better. It is the only thing that seems capable of expressing the feelings welling up inside me. I can't be married to this man. I can't. It defys everything I know to be true.

I don't even know him!

I expect a reply, something along the lines of 'we can fix that' or some other nonsense. He just looks at me, his amber eyes suddenly guarded. "What now?" I snap at him, hoping to break through his defenses. He just shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair again. I can't help but wonder if it's really as soft as- no!

"Kara..."

I cross my arms across my chest, and he shakes his head rapidly, staring at a point above my head. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but for a moment I'd swear that he's blushing...

He frowns again, sighing. "We should really talk, Kara."

"So. Talk. There's nothing else to do now that the soldiers are gone. They are gone, aren't they?" For all that I try to supress it, there is still a healthy bit of anxiety in that last sentence.

He smiles slightly, which only makes me mad. "Yes, I think they're gone. But Kara..." His smile is gone again, replaced by the frown.

"If you have something to say, Lee, than come out and say it! Don't waste more of my time."

He swallows roughly, then nods, meeting my eyes again. I get a heady feeling in my head that sweeps down to my stomach, curling it with curious heat. There's something about his gaze now- it's so intense, as if all of his attention is focused on me. On this moment.

I can barely breathe, and the tight dress isn't helping. I uncross my arms, swallowing thickly, and fumble them into my skirts. My fingers clasp at each other as I watch Lee, but I can't seem to look away from his gaze.

Finally he swallows again and nods to himself. "First of all, my name isn't Lee." Well, that breaks the spell. I start in surprise, opening my mouth to yell at him, but his next words freeze me in place.

"My name is Zuko."

It takes several seconds for the familiarity of the name to become clear. I've heard it before but I can't quite...

And then it comes to me, like a bolt of lightening from a clear blue sky.

Zuko. As in Prince Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation.

I am staring at the future Fire Lord.

That thought alone is enough to make my knees weak and my hands begin to drip sweat. But the next implication makes me sway on my feet.

Lee and I were married by the Spirit of Marriage. So that means... that means...

That means that I am.. that I'm...

My eyes roll back in my head, and everything goes black.

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-Eon