Edited and Updated 3/9/2015

Chapter 9: Friends and Futures

Kunai hastily threw her bag over her shoulder, heart pounding in her chest, and a series of thoughts firing in her head. She was free. Why now? They were leaving. They were going to join the Avatar. Zuko hadn't let her down. She looked up at the young man, inky black locks hanging over his eyes that bore a steamy gaze into a frame picture on the wall, a royal portrait of what seemed to be a picture of family nobility. His eyes were dark but soft, a type of vulnerable she hadn't seen since Ba-Sing-Se. He sighed and threw his sack onto his shoulder, turning to his silent companion. They shared a moment, trust and respect silently held behind both of their eyes before Kunai spoke.

"What's the plan?" Zuko did not answer, rather nodded and kicked over a side table, revealing a dark metal tunnel. Zuko hoped down and extended his arms.

"Take my hand." With a hesitance that shouldn't have surprised either of them she grasped his hand and allowed him to help her down. He reached up and pulled the side table back over them, encasing them in darkness before Zuko held a small flame in his hand that he allowed to idly pulsate with his breaths as started down the cavern.

"These tunnels lead to my father's bunker under the volcano. He'll be hiding there for the eclipse," he explained quietly, almost coldly. "I need to talk to my father. There are... Some things I need to deal with." Kunai nodded, fully excepting the slightly vague answer with a nod. She couldn't imagine the Fire Lord was a quality father or that Zuko had turned out the way he was from an abundance of nurturing. She didn't say anything though. Private things stayed private.

"No."

"But Sheo, for the vitality of the group-"

"No."

"You are I no place to-"

"Until Kunai turns 18, I lead this group. I say no, that bastard can't come back to base camp. He can run numbers and recon along the coasts but he broke code, he is not a Dragon!" The young man growled as he stalked through the bustling camp, being followed by an irritated older man.

"A little misunderstanding don't warrant losing a warrior to running numbers on the coast." The man snarled. "Besides, I outrank you, boy." Sheo turned quickly, using his immense stature to his advantage as any traced of his immaturity and boyhood melting away to be replaced by rage and seriousness.

"And personally, I believe the mental stability of a thirteen year old girl and the future leader of The Dragons outranks you."

Kunai had just enough state of mind to notice the guards marching past the wide opening of the tunnel ahead where Zuko had not, lost in his thoughts. With a sharp intake of breath she swung her arms out and knocked him against the wall, with a harsh whisper of the threat ahead. Zuko scowled as he stared at the uniformed men. He hadn't planned for guards, hindsight 20 20. If anyone saw him, his father would be immediately alerted and undoubtedly there would be questioning as to why he'd brought along his rejected concubine.

"Plan?" She whispered softly in his ear. Without pretense or warning he flung himself towards the largest guard, lunging at him and landing a heavy punch across his cheek. It was a well matched fight, a little too well matched as it seemed to drag on for eternity. The thought of Kunai's wellbeing suddenly came to him and he checked out of the fight just enough to search for her, wondering if she was holding her own. He saw her, not too far down the tunnel, forearm wrapped around the neck of the brawny man as he sunk to the ground, helplessly clawing at her as his eyes rolled back in his head. Once sure he was no threat she dropped the man unceremoniously and jumped onto the back of Zuko's assailant, grabbing his arm and pulling it behind his back until it unintentionally popped and fell limp as the man screamed, flailing around in a clumsy attempt to shake her off. She dug her forefinger carefully into his neck and the once intimidating man fell with a thud on his face. Kunai stepped back and panted, unaware of how Zuko was gaping at her, partly because of the skilled display and partly because he was having trouble processing that she practically saved his life. With a physically spent breath, Kunai palmed a few loose strands back.

"That... was not a plan." She looked up at him and smiled and Zuko's lips twitched just slightly at the edges as he started back down the hall, her footfalls close behind him. After a considerable amount of running they arrived at two immense double doors. The two stood there in silence, gaping in quiet realization of the gravity of the situation.

"Ready?" Kunai asked. It was a simple question but it took Zuko a long moment of thought before he could sincerely nod and stepped forward to open the door with a blast of fire. With a whistle and a deep resonating loud groan of protest from the tightly hinged metal, the doors opened with a huge dust cloud. The pair stepped forward just as the fog cleared and presented to them the Firelord, sitting casually on his throne, frowning over a teacup. His noble gaze fell over her, regal and pompous and powerful, trying to make her feel small. Her stomach flipped, her lip curled and she clutched her fists. He was a handsome man with strong jawline, amber eyes, shiny black hair and bore a striking resemblance to his son which made her desire to crush him under her fingertips even stronger.

"Prince Zuko? Why are you here and how dare you bring your slut into my presence?" Kunai and Zuko snarled in unison and Zuko stepped in front of her.

"She's coming with me and you won't talk about her like that!"

Ozai hummed quietly and sat back, the smallest of smirks painted across his distinguished features. "So Azula was right about you and this little peasant, the treacherous Dragon."

Zuko drew his blades, pointing one at his father's throat.

"This is how this is going to work! I'm going to speak my mind and you're going to listen!"

"Speaking your mind during an eclipse. Very well," Ozai said, waving his tense guards away ad folding his hands in his lap.

"First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me."

Ozai rolled his eyes. "Why would she lie to me about that?"

Zuko smirked. "Because the Avatar's not dead. He survived."

Ozai's eyes widened and he drew back. "What?"

Zuko continued, standing a bit taller. "In fact, he's probably leading this invasion. He could be on his way here right now."

Ozai stood up and Kunai flinched much to her own chagrin. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

Kunai scowled deeply and looked over at Zuko who was still staring ahead defiantly. This wasn't a battle they had to fight no matter how much Zuko needed to get off his chest.

"That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

"You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!"

Kunai's head snapped to face Ozai, her fear quickly replaced with delicious defiance. "We're not going anywhere."

Zuko looked at Kunai out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't alone in this.

For the first time in his life, Zuko spoke his mind. He let himself be angry at the source of all of his problems and every condescending remark brushed by him. At this moment, Zuko was completely sure of what he was meant to do and no one could knock him down from his high, not ever his father. When he was finished, he sheathed his swords, turning and striding towards the door as Kunai clapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh so you plan on leaving so soon. But don't you want to know about your Mother?"

Zuko and Kunai turned. Zuko was being baited, Kunai knew but there was no point in trying to drag Zuko away from this so she stood next to him, focusing on the earth at her feet that she could bend and the knife tucked in the waistband of her pants.

"What did you do to her!" he barked.

If Ozai saw a threat, he didn't show it.

"Your Mother did treacherous things that night, things punishable by death. But that would've been too much trouble." Zuko's jaw dropped, the whole word stopped, he struggled to even stay upright and somehow manage to ask in hopeful shock as the world came back into focus through tear covered eyes.

"She's alive?" He knew he must sound broken and childish. He didn't care. Ozai pursed his lips thoughtfully

"Perhaps. But that's none of your concern is it?" Neither had time to ponder the words as the Fire Lord stood, blue light pulsating from his fingertips. In a terrifying display he conjured pure energy into his fingertips and sent it hurtling towards the heart of his only son. However, the now former Prince was prepared. The last thing he registered before checking out completely was his name being desperately shouted but he did not react. His Uncles teachings came to him instantly in this time of crisis and as he took the lightning into his body he just as quickly forced it out, a mind altering, unfathomable sense of power coming over him as he release the current into the far wall causing a small explosion of dust and debris. When it was all over he bent over and grasped his knees, coughing and panting, his body spent. He felt small hand grasp his shoulder as his companion felt the rise and fall of his shoulder, silently ensuring herself he was alive.

"Zuko... he's gone." He looked up and sure enough, the Firelord was gone. However, he did not have time to dwell. He grabbed Kunai's hand, not her arm, not her wrist but her hand, and practically dragged the girl behind him through many more labyrinths and chasms before they somehow resurfaced on the face of the volcano into the blinding daylight. Kunai blinked through the rays and a gasp escaped her as she gazed upon the mess of an eventful battle long passed.

He'd mentioned an invasion but…damn. "Zuko wha-"

"I'll explain later, we need to get to the balloon."

She followed him down the slope of the mountain where a small war balloon awaited them. He noticed as he helped her in that he had yet to let go of her hand and dropped it rather awkwardly once she was steady on her feet. He made quick work of lighting the coals and once they had ascended he collapsed back on the seat, physically and emotionally exhausted. In the course of a few hours he'd thrown all he knew away in pursuit of something that stunk of imminent rejection and failure and on top of that, he'd learned that the loss he'd mourned years ago may not have even happened that out there, somewhere, his Mother was alive and he had no idea how to find her. The numbness he'd developed towards her memory drifted away and he was overcome by everything he could remember about her, how she always smelled of jasmine tea, how shed sing to him every night, it was all painfully clear in his head. His high was gone. He almost mistook the quiet voice that spoke to him as hers before reality set in and he was pulled from his heart aching day dream.

"Hey... are you ok?" He hadn't noticed her siting now so close to him, nor had he realized the tears forming in his eyes. He flushed crimson and turned coldly away from her, quickly swiping away any evidence of pain. He went rigid as her hand fluttered to his knee and her hip pressed against his.

"You don't have to say anything, I get it. But we're in this together, ok?"

He hadn't considered them friends for a long time; in fact they'd been enemies for what seemed like an eternity. But then he remembered her seemingly blind faith in him when he woke her up without a shred of a plan but a gut feeling and he remembered her shrieking his name in terror when he took a lethal bolt of lightning. He turned back to her slightly, meeting a sad smile, desperate to provide comfort. There was no need for words, he only let the edges of his lips curl so slightly and his head nod just a bit and it was sealed. Friends. They rested there in a comfortable silence for a good while, his arm in her hands and her head on his shoulder. The moment of what neither would dare call intimacy was shatter when Zuko spotted the fluffy white figure of a bison flying past in the distance. He explained to Kunai as she joined his side what this meant, that they had their trail and were correctly headed towards the Western Air Temple. He held back a shudder when she excitedly grasped his forearm.

"We're really doing this," she breathed. They caught eyes. All the hatred, betrayal and anger were irrelevant now as they were a team now. It was them, quite literally against the world now and for a moment, Kunai didn't think about her past or imminent future and Zuko did not feel so broken. They looked back out into the horizon, at the disappearing white dot in the distance.

Maybe the feeling would last.