Footsteps fell upon the ground. Suki looked up to see Zuko approach the riverbank, and her eyes followed him as he bent over the water and splashed a bit on his face and neck. It wasn't until a moment later, as he glanced around, that he saw Suki perched on her rock, watching him.
"Sorry," he said, standing and moving away from the river. "I didn't realize you were here. I'll leave you alone if you want –"
"It's okay," Suki said. "I've been spending too much time alone anyway."
It was true; Suki would go off by herself more out of habit than anything, and would find herself lonely. But she was still shy around the others. She couldn't seem to win; she wasn't happy alone, but she wasn't comfortable surrounded by people, either. She still felt like an outsider.
The Fire Nation boy sat a small distance away from Suki, staring down into the water. Gentle silence settled.
This is what Suki liked about Zuko; he always knew when someone wanted to be left to their thoughts. He was good at reading people – Suki had seen it in his interactions (or lack thereof) with the others. Zuko knew when to let Katara concentrate on her bending, and knew not to ask Haru if he was okay when he was acting surly. Zuko never tried to tell The Duke to behave – Jet's free spirit had rubbed off on the boy. He knew Sokka was prone to moments of silence on moonlit nights and it was best not to bother him during these times. And he knew never, ever to ask Toph if she needed help.
Suki tried to read Zuko. He looked . . . sad? Well, that much was obvious. She didn't have quite the aptitude for reading people he had. Her mind wandered to Azula. From what Suki had heard of her, Azula could read people, too. She thought about how the two siblings used this ability in vastly different ways, but her thoughts were interrupted when Zuko said, timidly, "Uh, Suki, you were in prison for a while, right?"
"Right." Suki was guarded. She had barely spoken with anyone about her incarceration, let alone Zuko, who was still a stranger to her.
"Well, while you were there, did you hear anything about General Iroh?"
"I heard that he was there, and that on the Day of Black Sun he escaped. But there are a lot rumors as to how he did it – some said that he was able to firebend even during the eclipse, and others said he had help from the spirits – but all of them were rubbish. All I know for sure is that he did escape."
"So, you don't know where he went?"
"No."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks, though. I just thought you might know something."
"I take it you haven't seen him for a while then, have you?" Suki had softened, and was genuinely concerned about Zuko.
"No, I haven't. And I haven't heard anything about him. I just hope nothing bad happened to him."
"I'm sure he's all right. If he could get out of that prison, I'm sure he could survive being out, too."
"You're probably right. It's just that, if anything happened to him . . ." Zuko trailed off.
"What is it?"
Zuko sighed. He'd been carrying this weight for some time now. Maybe telling someone would help.
"Well, if he got hurt, it would sort of be my fault. If I'd never joined Azula, he never would have been arrested."
"Zuko, you can't let yourself think that way. There is no 'if'. What happened is what happened." Zuko was looking at her intently, listening hard and ruminating on what she had said. Suki found this not awkward or uncomfortable, but pleasant. Zuko was very easy to talk to. She continued. "We've all made a lot of mistakes – but all you can do is try to make things better. And you've already made the first step – you joined the Avatar." As Suki spoke, she realized that she wasn't the only one with a journey to complete. Suki picked a fallen leaf up from the ground. It was brown, cracked, and crumbling. "You have to let yourself move on from things. You can never have a future when you're dwelling on the past." And with that, she tossed the leaf into the river and watched it get carried away. A breeze blew, shifting the branches of the trees, and at first she was covered by shadow. But a second breeze rippled, and sunlight danced around her.
"You know, it's not always that easy," Zuko said, sounding slightly defensive.
"No, it's never easy. But we can't stop just because it's difficult. Or painful. That's when we need the hardships most. That's when we need to heal the most." Suki found the words just coming to her, as if they'd always been a part of her. Maybe they'd formed as she healed. Or maybe she healed as they formed. Either way, she felt the two connected.
Zuko's hand absently found its way to his scar, his white fingers running over the red mark. "But some scars . . ."
"Survive to remind us of the wound. We can't erase them. But we can learn from them."
"You don't know what it's like." He sounded bitter and he looked away, staring at the water, anger lingering in his eyes.
"Look at this." Suki lifted her shirt a bit, revealing the scarlet kiss. Zuko's eyes widened.
"How did you get that?"
"Azula," Suki said. She didn't say any more – she didn't want to go into details. She wasn't sure if she was ready to quite yet.
"I'm sorry." From Zuko's expression, one might have thought it was he – not Azula – who had scarred her.
"It's not your fault."
"I guess not, but still . . . Azula is my sister, and, well . . ."
"And you're very different."
Zuko found a dead leaf on the ground and picked it up. He looked at Suki, and they shared soft smiles. Zuko released the leaf into the air, and it drifted down into the river and out of sight.
"Thanks, Suki."
"I didn't really do anything," she said with a half-shrug and a smile.
"You forgave me. I was responsible for burning your island, but you treated me . . . nicely. And you're the only one who isn't watching me all the time – you're not not expecting me to go back to the way I used to be. You're the only one who doesn't treat me like . . . Prince Zuko."
Suki shrugged. "I guess I'm just tired of being angry."
Her words resonated with Zuko. He rose to his feet and bowed, saying,"You are very wise."
He turned and started to walk away, but Suki called, "Zuko?"
"Yes?"
"Could you maybe . . . not tell the others about my scar yet? It's just that . . ."
Zuko nodded with a gentle smile on his mouth. They shared an understanding.
"It's okay. I won't tell them."
"Thanks." Zuko bowed again and then left.
Suki stretched out on her rock, staring at the leafy canopy above her. Another piece of the void filled. Another ray of sunlight. Another leaf taken away, down the river.
