Fiery and Forbidden (a Zuko love story): 3
Hello again! It took me a while to come up with more story. Writers block is a bitch!! Watevs, this is something that I finally came up with. Cya!
Zuko awoke to the sound of birds chirping in the sky. He had dreamed of Chiye the night before, but it was not a good dream.
He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. There was no use in thinking about Chiye now, she was gone. Today, Zuko had to go with his Uncle to the next town. He had made too much of a scene with the three men, and it was likely that the town wouldn't welcome the travelers back.
With only a few minutes of packing, Iroh and Zuko started on their journey. The next town was Ninjong, famous for their cherry blossoms that were currently in bloom. If the three men from Denang tried to follow him, Zuko could easily hide in the crowds of tourists.
It was just a coincidence that the town was in the same direction that Chiye had left the night before.
As the two walked, Zuko tried to keep his mind on the dust in the road and not on...other matters. Iroh could guess his nephew's dilemma and allowed the silence to continue for a short time, but curiosity got the best of him.
"What happened last night, Zuko?" he asked.
"...nothing" Zuko muttered.
"But, nephew, you returned from the town with a girl and a gash in your arm. Something must have happened." Iroh reasoned.
"What does it matter?" Zuko snapped. "We're never going to see her again anyway."
Iroh pouted "It's just that I thought of something that I didn't before. When I was in the fire nation army, I heard rumors about a young girl."
Zuko looked up. "What did you hear?" he asked a little too eagerly.
Iroh smiled at his nephew's interest. "Of course, one would hear rumors about a young girl enlisted in the army, but she was more than just a strange exception. She became a legend. I didn't exactly know the girl, however, because she was in someone else's squad."
Zuko was engrossed in Iroh's words "how was she a legend?"
"Well, at the age of twelve, she had already participated in more battles than most soldiers do in their lifetime. She grew up under her father, one of the greatest fire nation generals of the time. Combined with her natural fire bending talents, she was groomed into the finest soldier ever. She became known as the Red Geisha. Red for her fire bending and the destruction she left, and geisha for her beauty and her style of fighting. I don't know much, but I know that it involved special fans that are like blades. The last thing I remember is that she ran away from the army, but I don't know why."
Zuko turned his gaze back to the ground, trying to take it all in. An ideal fire nation soldier is trained to be cold and mindless, but Chiye was kind and selfless. She was exactly the opposite of what a legendary soldier should be. So could it be true?
The travelers walked in silence until they finally came upon the city. Like the previous town, Ninjong was huge and surrounded by forests. However, this city had cherry blossoms on almost every corner; which meant that Zuko was dragged all over town by his uncle.
"I don't see why we have to see every stupid tree. They all look the same" Zuko muttered.
"Although they seem similar, every tree is different. This one for instance," Iroh said, pointing to a particularly large cherry blossom "has more branches than the last three that we've seen."
Zuko sighed and started walking away. At the very least, he could get away from the huge crowds gaping at the trees. As he was walking, two young boys ran past him.
"Hurry up, we're gonna miss it." One of them said.
"Shutup! It's not like they're going to kill a fire nation soldier right away." The other said.
"But I heard it was a cute girl. Maybe they'll go easy on her" the first pouted before they both turned the corner.
Zuko stopped in his tracks. "Could it be..." he whispered to himself. He took off in hot pursuit, hoping that the girl that the boys were talking about wasn't Chiye.