Acceptance of Fate

3: Starting over

"Excuse me…But do I know you from somewhere?"

Blue eyes met gold. It wasn't the first time the two colors had met, and it wouldn't be the last.

But it was the first time in a very long time, and that made it matter more than anything.

---

There was a soft smile, a pause of breath: "I think so. You aren't from around here either, are you?"

A sadder smile returned. "I'm not from around much of anywhere, not anymore."

"Me too."

---

There was silence, uncertainty; noiseless panic took over momentarily as he struggled to find the words.

"…Who are you?"

She laughed. "I'm nobody, who are you?"

"I guess I'm nobody, too." He chuckled, taking a seat beside her. He watched her as she took another drink of her ale before speaking again.

---

"My name is Zuko." There was no title, no honorific, no label placing him above her.

The Prince is dead, she noted to herself, for this bandit isn't him, but who he has become.

"Mine is Katara." There was no hesitation, no explanation, no reason to place her below him.

The Peasant is dead, he thought to himself quietly, and this witch is all that was left of her.

They smiled at one another and shared a drink.

What a wonderful thing it is to start over.

---

XXX
END

Part of dialogue inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson:

I'm Nobody

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us — don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

Reviewers: Jakia, you're avoiding writing the next chapter of Kiss THIS! Aren't you?

Jakia: lalalalalala can't hear you.

Jak