This is my first fanfiction. It was inspired by a writer's prompt from JengaChan on Gaia.
Disclaimer: I do not own any ATLA characters. They belong to Mike and Bryan. I, however, own this story.
Enjoy!
"OOOH more useless stuff to buy!" Sokka shouted as they entered the small fire nation shop. To Zuko, it was obviously a junk shop. The owner probably spent years collecting all these worthless things. The shelves were filed row after row with random trinkets. Some looked authentic, and others were clearly rubbish.
"Maybe you can add something to your collection of dolls?" Toph remarked.
"I do not own dolls!"
"Really? Because I saw you playing with them last night." Toph said over her shoulder as she walked through the beaded curtain.
"For your information I was playing with my boomer…. Why do you feel the need to do that?" Sokka sighed and followed her.
"C'mon guys, we don't need any of this stuff" Katara remarked.
"But its fun to look!" Aang said enthusiastically.
Zuko, as usual, didn't have much to say as he followed the Gaang through the aisles.
"Doesn't this look handsome?" Sokka commented about a red stone encrusted dragon, which was clearly a knockoff.
Zuko shivered, remembering the creepy monkey statue his uncle bought from the pirates. "I'll pass" he quickly said.
"What about this?!" Aang exclaimed, throwing a bright yellow turban on his head. The turban had a ribbon, which was an eye wrenching shade of red, interwoven among the layers of yellow.
"Perhaps after you defeat the Fire Lord" Katara said gently, lightly taking the offending headwear off his head and placing it back on the shelves.
Zuko scanned the merchandise, easily picking out the real relics from the fake ones. Most of the stuff was junk, but several pieces caught his eye.
One of those things was a red pendant, with similar stones to the ones in the turban, but these were real rubies. How had the shop keep missed this? It was worth a small fortune.
He picked up the small trinket, examining it further. He heard Toph teasing Sokka gently in the background and ignored them. The ruby rested inside a flame pendant. The ribbon it hung off of was made of a cheap fabric and the clasp's metal was tarnished. But there was no denying it, the stones were real rubies.
"What are you looking at?" A cold voice said, breaking Zuko's concentration. He could feel two eyes penetrating the back of his head. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
"Nothing" he commented softly, placing the necklace back on the shelves. "It's nothing."
Katara continued to glare at him, but said nothing.
Zuko turned to walk away, but was pushed aside by a flash of gold and yellow. "OOOH, Look at this" He heard the Avatar cry before seeing a heart shaped statute tip over the shelf. Aang must have bumped the shelf in his zeal.
Zuko reached out to grab the falling object and noticed Katara do the same.
As soon as Zuko's hand touched the relic, he felt a jolt and the world went white.
Zuko felt himself return to consciousness, immediately noticing that he was not in the junk shop anymore.
Glancing around he saw the entrance of a cave surrounded by a forest. Where am I?
With no where to go, he entered the cave. Once he ventured into the mouth, however, a giant rockslide sealed the entrance. Looking at the rocks, Zuko couldn't believe his luck. I must have hit my head in the shop. This is only a dream.
The cave immediately blackened. He was alone and trapped. There must be an exit somewhere. So he began his journey into the interior, feeling against the walls for direction. The further he went into the cave, the darker it got. Instinct took over, and he held his left hand out to firebend… but nothing happened. Panicked, he stared at his hand in anger, furiously shaking it, willing it to ignite.
Before he knew it, his temper took over and he was hitting the cave wall. Pain shot through the unlucky hand and caused him to stop.
Dumbfounded, all he could do was stare at his hand. At least when he lost his firebending before, he was able to produce a weak flame. This, this was like not being able to breathe. His knees gave out and he slid to the ground.
He sat there for what felt like hours. At first his thoughts were only on his firebending, than they moved to his past. He thought about his mistakes and traveling on his ship for years. He remembered the first time he saw Aang, Sokka, Katara. It was bitter cold that day. How could any one live in those conditions?! He also wondered how Aang wasn't cold in that thin Air Bender outfit.
He shook his head at that disturbing thought and moved on to happier things. He thought about the incident with his uncle and that poisonous plant. Why would anyone try something if they thought it could be poisonous? Uncle's love for tea must have been greater then his want to stay alive.
Zuko's thoughts drifted some more. Soon he was thinking about his mother. Where was she? Was she safe? If she was here right now, she would probably hold him, and tell him he was okay, he was safe. She always protected him, even in the darkest of places. Smiling, Zuko stared at the darkness. He remembered his mothers love like it was yesterday.
Suddenly his world became brighter. At first, Zuko thought he was imaging it, but the ceilings glowed a soft green. Squinting, he saw that green crystals were the source of the light. Almost like Ba Sing Se…
Renewed that he could escape from this place, Zuko traveled farther into the caverns, looking for an exit.
It wasn't long before he heard muffled noises. Alarmed, but curious, he attempted to find the source. He rounded a corner only to find a beautiful long haired girl crying. She jumped at his sudden entrance, scooting herself closer to a cave wall.
"I'm not going to hurt you" he said softly. "Do you know a way out?"
"No" Her voice shook.
"Are you okay?" He walked over to her. "Are you hurt?"
She looked away from him, shaking her head gently from side to side.
Her clothing seemed to be in Earth Kingdom style, even if they were red. Looking down, he was startled to see he was also wearing Earth Kingdom cloths too, only in blue.
"Which way did you come from?" He asked. She continued to look at the ground but raised her hand, indicating a direction.
"Okay, lets go, we can leave from there" He said happily, moving closer to her. He reached out his hand for her to take. She stared at it, blinking back tears.
"There was a rockslide. It trapped me, we can't leave that way."
"A rockslide trapped me in here too." Zuko stated, silently cursing the world. "We'll have to find another way out."
"I tried looking… for hours. It's a maze." She looked him in the eye with conviction. "You can't find anything in here."
"Well, I found you. It's a start." Zuko commented dryly. He thrust his hand back in her direction. "We should at least try."
The woman glanced at his hand, then at his face, before breaking out in a smile. It was a beautiful smile. She gently reached out and grabbed his hand.
A jolt passed through Zuko again, just like the one that passed through him at the shop when he grabbed that relic. The girl looked a little frazzled too. She looked like she would topple over any minute. He gently grabbed her other hand and tried to steady her. The electricity increased and Zuko felt dizzy. It didn't hurt, but it left him feeling like there were butterflies in his stomach.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
She exhaled loudly. "Yes, I felt a bit dizzy there for a second, but I'm fine now. Thank you."
They stood there for a couple minutes, holding on to each other's arms.
Soon, Zuko felt this urge… this incredible, undeniable urge to kiss her. He reached up and cupped her chin. It was like holding back the ocean. He felt like he would never breathe again unless he kissed this strange girl.
Cautiously, he leaned in towards her face, and happily noticed her doing the same. Their lips touched and the electricity increased. Zuko felt like time stopped, he could hear his own heart beating. It was like riding a war balloon for the first time, the feeling of floating came to him.
She tasted sweet, like a fresh picked wildberry. He deepened the kiss, feeling her arms wrap around him.
He pulled away for air. Blinking, he noticed the green crystals growing brighter… too bright. It wasn't natural. They started to consume the cavern, enough that he couldn't see the woman's face. He heard her wordless cry as the world got brightly white.
Zuko blinked. He wasn't in the caverns anymore. In fact, he was back in the Fire Nation shop. Was I daydreaming?
Glancing around, he noticed the Avatar lying on the floor, Sokka frantically running around like a chicken with his head cut off, Toph laughing herself silly, and Katara sharing the same shocked expression he felt.
Looking down, he observed that they were both still holding onto the heart shaped relic.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Sokka yelled furiously, trying to grab at Zuko. Katara stepped in between them, holding her brother at bay.
"Why? Why are you going to kill Zuko? And what happened? Why is Aang on the floor? Toph, stop laughing and answer me!" Katara frantically questioned.
Through bouts of laughter, Toph giggled "Zuko kissed you!!"
"WHAT?!" Both Zuko and Katara shouted simultaneously. They both looked at each other and blushed.
"I didn't kiss her!" Zuko insisted, pulling the relic out of Katara's hand.
"I didn't kiss him!" Katara turned angrily around away from him, crossing her arms.
"Zuko and Katara, kissing in a tree. K! I! S! S!" Toph got interrupted by Katara pushing her aside, kneeling down to Aang.
"You kissed him and he fainted!" Sokka shrieked. "I'm gonna kill you!" He turned his attention back to Zuko.
"I don't remember, I swear!" Zuko defended himself. "I grabbed that thing, and suddenly I was in a cave."
"Uh huh, and in this "cave" do you remember KISSING MY SISTER!?"
"Wait" Katara grabbed Sokka's hand, pulling him towards her. "Zuko, what did this cave look like?"
"It was dark. And there were green crystals. I met a strange woman in there. I think she was from the Earth Kingdom." Zuko said, a hand rubbing his neck. "I couldn't firebend. It was weird."
"I thought I was in a cave too." Katara said quietly. Sokka stopped struggling and Toph stopped laughing. "Only I couldn't waterbend. And I met a strange man too."
They both looked at each other, blushing again.
"The world went white, and I was back here." She continued.
"The same happened to me." Zuko acknowledged.
"They're both telling the truth. Both of them believes they were in that cave, and neither remembers kissing the other." Toph said quickly. "I think we should get out of here. We've already been making a scene. And when Twinkle Toes wakes up, he'll probably go all glowy on Zuko."
"I'm good with glowy" Sokka stated.
"Sokka!" Katara fumed.
"What, he kissed you! Whether he remembers it or not!"
"C'mon, let's leave!" Katara huffed. She pushed her brother towards Aang. "Let's go before we get ourselves in trouble."
Sokka picked up the unconscious Aang and slung him over his shoulder. "Fine, but we are SO talking about this when we get back to camp… and I am STILL going to kill him."
After making sure Sokka (with Aang) and Toph walked out the door, Katara turned to Zuko, surprised to see him examining the heart shaped relic.
"Zuko?" She questioned.
"There is an inscription here. It says "Oma" and "Shu." What do you think that means?"
Blushing, Katara ran out the door, leaving the beaded curtain to sway behind her.