Thank you for all of your reviews! I really want to thank someone for their long and VERY constructive review (you know who you are and thank you sooo much for it!) and I will try to make my chapters longer, but i pretty much already have 9 chapters typed out and they are getting longer as I go! It is soooo much fun writing this story and I hope that all of you enjoy this story and keep on reviewing-the more reviews, the more chapters!
Sparring
The sun rose while Zuko slowly awoke. He stood and stretched above the indented patch of grass that was his temporary bed. The great ball of fire now appearing through the trees made his inner flame pulsate with newfound power. Zuko loved that feeling. He turned to find Iroh still sound asleep, but the girl had gone missing again-he knew that that meant one thing…
"Shit-Uncle! Get up, now! We have to move out!" Zuko rushed over to Iroh. He knew that Zana had been a spy, and now she was going to tell Zulema of their whereabouts. It was the only explanation of her disappearance. That story had put Zuko off guard and now he felt so stupid for not staying awake to watch the girl. He tried to shove Iroh's round and sleeping frame to help rouse him, but to no avail.
"Uncle!" Zuko yelled, but suddenly Iroh mumbled something in his sleep. "What?" Zuko asked urgently. "Zana…breakfast…back soon…" Iroh snored in his nephew's face. Zuko couldn't help but raise an eyebrow-he hadn't thought of that. He decided to try and find Zana to see if she really was doing as she said she was. With Iroh still out cold, Zuko slipped away into the forest in the direction some small tracks led.
He shoved aside low hanging branches and slowly made his way on the path of the tracks. He moved quietly as to not alert Zana to his presence if she really was nearby. Finally, the tree line broke to reveal a wider section of the river. Zuko looked around for any trace of the girl as there was no efficient way to track someone through the constantly shifting gravel on the river's banks. He let out a low and involuntary growl. He thought he had lost her until he spotted Zana lying comfortably on the pebbled beach beside a fire. Zuko suddenly felt very dumb as he made his way over to her splayed out body.
Zana heard Zuko coming and sat up. Their eyes met as she greeted him, "Hello, your highness." Zana had said it with an undertone that hinted to sadness, but even Zuko was not dense enough to miss it. He sighed deeply and sat beside her, staring out at the water. Zana laid back down and placed her arms behind her head. Zuko couldn't help but sneak a glance down at her. Zana's dark hair spilled out and over her arms and the ground like a wide halo, her piercing blue eyes focused on the horizon, and her tiny frame relaxed while moving slightly with her rhythmic breathing. He swallowed and looked away. "What woke you up so early?" Zana broke the silence, but she did not break her gaze from the treetops across the river.
"I always wake up at this time…" Zuko frowned. He felt as if she had hinted that he was some kind of a spoiled brat. Zuko gave her a dirty look, but she still never looked away from a spot across the river. "Me too…" Zana replied in a near whisper. "I know why you came looking for me…you don't trust me at all," Zana turned her head to look up at Zuko. He didn't meet her eyes, those eyes… He had never seen such eyes on a Fire Bender. Everyone in the Fire Nation had either gold eyes like Zuko's or dark eyes like Iroh's, but there were never any blue eyes. Those were only seen on Air Benders and People of the Water Tribes. This baffled him slightly, but he just figured it as a fluke-a nice fluke at that.
She spoke again, "I can give you my word, though, that my story is true. You should be the one in line for the throne, not your sister. She will be as harsh a ruler as the current Fire Lord…" Zana trailed off. Those words didn't hurt Zuko since he knew that his father was indeed a tyrant and his sister would follow in his footsteps, but he also knew that the Fire Nation desired a strong ruler, not some banished Prince. Zuko stood slowly and crossed his arms. "We'd better head back…" he said in a deep and commanding voice.
"Just wait," Zana replied. Zuko glared down at her-if she believed in him so much, then why didn't she obey and show more respect. "Why are you even laying here? We have a perfectly good fire back in the clearing, why not just cook there?" Zuko snapped back and flung out his arms. Zana closed her eyes and shushed the standing Prince. Zuko's fists balled while his teeth began to grind. Suddenly, the sun's rays burst over the trees' tall tops and cast its glow on the river. The light soon caught Zana's laying frame and she took a deep and pleasant breath. Zuko couldn't help but show a little pleasure in the sun as well as he closed his eyes for a moment. He had a quick flashback to when that Water Bender friend of the Avatar trapped him in ice back at the North Pole. It was the sunlight that had saved him and he was able to take the Avatar. It nearly cost Zuko his life, but he had made it out alive with the help of the warming glow.
Zana gave a contented sigh and stood to face Zuko. He opened his eyes and saw that the girl was looking up at him-the top of her head his eye level. She turned and took the rows of cooked fish and shoved them into her bags. Zuko found himself wondering why it seemed so easy for her to catch so many fish. He hated admitting it, but whenever he had tried, he had failed miserably. "What are you frowning at now?" Zana asked, multiple bags in her hands. Zuko sighed, "Here, let me help," he stuck out his hand to assist Zana in carrying her load. She pivoted away from him, "I can handle it, I'm not a baby…" She had said it slightly louder than she had intended. "You go on back to Iroh, I'll extinguish the fire," Zana grumbled. Zuko begrudgingly obeyed-he never had to listen to anyone, but it was slightly different circumstances, so he did. He turned on his heel and stormed away.
Zuko turned back, however, when he heard a loud and definite hiss behind him. There stood Zana over the now extinguished fire. "What?" she demanded. Zuko rolled his eyes at the girl's cheekiness. She had no idea that he could extinguish her flame in a matter of seconds if he'd wanted to.
Zuko made it back to Iroh and the clearing first. The old man was just beginning to rouse himself with a great yawn. "Zuko…where did you run off to?" his uncle attempted to banish his fatigue by blinking heavily. "No where. Just…watching the sunrise…" Zuko replied listlessly. Even though the sun was up, he suddenly felt drained. "Where's Zana? Is she back with breakfast yet?" Iroh questioned hungrily.
"I'm here," came Zana's voice from behind Zuko. Iroh looked back and forth from nephew to girl and then back again to Zuko. His uncle's eyebrow rose suggestively again, causing Zuko to blush slightly. "Uncle!" exclaimed Zuko, flinging his arms in the air. His uncle cared for him deeply, but could have a twisted mind at times.
Zana seemed to take no notice of the hint and brushed past Zuko. She handed Iroh a sack and he smiled widely in thanks. Zana side-tossed Zuko a pack as well and he caught it with ease. All three sat down and ate in silence, Iroh making an occasional grunt in enjoyment. Zuko was the first one finished, "We'd better get moving, there are probably hundreds of Fire Nation troops out here looking for us." Zuko stood and tossed Zana's sack back to her. Without looking up from her meal, she caught it and set it aside. "Now, Zuko can we not wait at least until we have finished our meal?" Iroh whined. "No, Uncle, there isn't enough time to enjoy ourselves. We did that last time and look where we are now!" Zuko's expression became painful at the memory of Zulema's betrayal, but switched quickly to anger to hide all emotion.
Iroh seemed to pick up on the cue and spoke again, "Well, nephew, why not practice your technique? We are so far deep in this forest that it will take them hours to find us." Zuko sighed exasperatedly, "We need those hours to get far enough away…" "We can work on the issues you had fighting Zulema," Iroh interrupted Zuko. That was the last straw. Zuko just snapped-he hated when his fighting was criticized, especially in a battle that he had lost. He stormed over to his uncle, eyes aflame, "I don't ever want to hear about that again! Is that clear?" Zuko bellowed. He turned, allowing torches to form around his white-knuckled fists.
Zana leaned in and whispered to Iroh, "Was it really that bad?" "That bad? Well, he was nearly killed by his only sibling. It was the ultimate treachery-first his father scars him for life, emotionally and…physically," Zana averted her eyes and examined her hands, "and now his little sister nearly got the best of him as well…" Iroh sighed sadly.
"Besides," Zuko turned back to Iroh, "who am I going to fight-the trees?" he yelled. "Oh, yeah, that's a battle…" he said sarcastically. "No," Iroh replied, "you should spar with Zana!" "What?" the teens cried at the same time. "I can't fight her, she's a girl!" Zuko yelled. "And I can't fight him because he'll get hurt!" replied Zana. "Hey, wait a minute, I'll get hurt? I think it's the other way around!" exclaimed Zuko. He felt the conversation was pointless-there was no way she could defeat him. "Zuko," Iroh spoke up, "you saw how easily she took out all of those soldiers. Zana got fifteen down quicker than you beat seven!" "Barely…" growled Zuko, arms crossing his chest in frustration. "Uncle, she's just a girl!" he cried and turned his back to them.
Zana stood up silently. "Just a girl, huh?" she said, barely audible under her breath. The palms of her upturned hands ignited with her anger. Iroh looked over at her and raised his eyebrows when he realized what Zana was going to do, "Zuko…" "No, Uncle, I won't…" Zana charged Zuko's back with a loud cry. The prince turned and crossed his arms in front of his chest to deflect the blow. He gave a low grunt as Zana's force thrust him backwards. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Zuko yelled. He continued to block nearly every one of the girl's skillful blows. Once or twice she caught his hip or jaw, but those were never hot or hard enough to inflict serious damage, just enough to hurt. Iroh couldn't help but cringe at all of his nephew's occasional injured grunts. This was no longer a sparring session, it was revenge for harmful words.
"Fight back, Zuko, fight back!" Iroh yelled as he stood. "Yes, Zuko, fight back," Zana growled through bursts of flame, "because the last time you underestimated a girl, she kicked your ass!" She flew airborne and landed crouched, hands alight, chest heaving with panting. Zuko's own body was in a protective stance and his face began to twist. The look resembled the one he'd had before attacking those Fire Nation soldiers the day before, only his golden amber eyes were glittered with hurt. Zana's words had struck a painful chord inside of him. Zuko let out a low, guttural noise and leapt forward, his fist a flaming meteor. Zana dodged the strike by flipping backwards onto her hands and then to her feet gracefully. The furious prince attacked again with an uppercut aimed directly at Zana's jaw, but she easily countered that with one of her own.
The two were caught in a deadlock of sparks. "You're good, Prince…" Zana spoke through gritted teeth. "But you're fueled by anger. That's your weakness!" on the last word, she flung Zuko backwards with a great burst of flame. He let out a loud yelp as his head contacted with the ground. Zana cautiously went over to the motionless Zuko, but with one swift move, he'd swiped her feet out from under her. Before he was able to plant a flaming foot in her face, Zara rolled out of the way and allowed him to scorch the grass instead. More kicks and punches were exchanged from both sides, but Zuko was able to slam Zara against one of the trees surrounding the clearing. She couldn't help by cry out as the rough bark bit into her back.
Zuko's forearm was pressing against her neck so hard that she could barely breath and his entire body was pinning her against the tree. Zana could feel how tense all of his muscles were as it took nearly all of his strength to keep her pinned there and motionless. "Underestimating a girl is dangerous, huh? You're not so tough," Zuko's teeth gritted. He secretly enjoyed the power he had over her, the dominance he possessed while he pressed his body harder against hers, making her cry out in pain again. Zana had to gasp in order to breathe. She grimaced and looked up to Zuko's face. This was the face that she had so admired and hoped would someday rule the Fire Nation better than his father. That young man was now beating her-his judgment obviously clouded by years of anger. His wide purple scar was menacing around his fury-clouded golden eye. He looked exactly like the Fire Lord had when…
Zana took a deep breath and used her crossed arms beneath Zuko's chest to create a powerful flame. The intensity of it sent Zuko flying again about eight feet. Just before he got up, Zana pounced on him, holding his shoulders down with her knees and straddling his slightly burnt chest. She pulled cocked her right arm back and from it burst a white-hot flame. From her throat came a deep yell as she shoved the heel of her palm into Zuko's face. It stopped just short. He cringed, but opened his eyes when he did not feel searing flesh as he had two years earlier. The flames just barely liked his skin and his golden eyes were wide in disbelief. She had had a chance to waste him and she didn't. Zana bent forward, her dark hair cascading across Zuko's face-hers only inches from his, "Don't ever say I'm 'just' a girl." Zana sneered, blue eyes icy cold, and stood. She stepped aside from Zuko's chest and offered him her now extinguished hand. Zuko scooted away from her and refused to acknowledge her existence. He also stood as Zana began to walk towards the cheering Iroh.
I'll show her… thought Zuko.
