[This does a little to assuage her, if the fact that the tears don't come back as fiercely when she wipes them away on her sleeve, but the wide-eyed panic in her expression remains.]
I-I thought—I couldn't— [Words have never come easy to her, and even if she were any sort of eloquent, there may not even be ways to string together the awful hollowness in her chest carved by fear of loss that she has not quite shaken, that she may never find out how to drive away; she can't imagine what it would mean to lose Zuko who is her best friend, who has always looked out for her, who supports her endeavors even as others dismiss them, who has made her feel safe when she thought she had forgotten what that meant—much less articulate it.
And instead of putting all her fear and fondness and feeling into words, Aoi lunges forward to Zuko and kisses her.
It's a little closer to inelegant face-mashing, all desperate emotion and instinct and uncertainty—in seconds she pulls back, wide-eyed and trembling.]
I—I was so scared! I... [Her entire face turns bright red as she actually processes that she's done something. She fumbles for something else to say, like she needs to justify it.] I...I was so scared!
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I-I thought—I couldn't— [Words have never come easy to her, and even if she were any sort of eloquent, there may not even be ways to string together the awful hollowness in her chest carved by fear of loss that she has not quite shaken, that she may never find out how to drive away; she can't imagine what it would mean to lose Zuko who is her best friend, who has always looked out for her, who supports her endeavors even as others dismiss them, who has made her feel safe when she thought she had forgotten what that meant—much less articulate it.
And instead of putting all her fear and fondness and feeling into words, Aoi lunges forward to Zuko and kisses her.
It's a little closer to inelegant face-mashing, all desperate emotion and instinct and uncertainty—in seconds she pulls back, wide-eyed and trembling.]
I—I was so scared! I... [Her entire face turns bright red as she actually processes that she's done something. She fumbles for something else to say, like she needs to justify it.] I...I was so scared!
[A+.]