So sorry for taking so long on upload a new chapter, my old headphone broke down so I waited till I had new ones to make the dialogue as close as possible to the original. I know there's not a lot of Ulani in this chapter but next one it will be an original one and will be all about Ulani and Zuko. Pleas leave a review!
Chapter 9: Zuko not so alone
"Zuko wait!" I screamed and he stopped, looking back surprised. "Ulani, what are you doing here?" He asked a little angry. "First of all… let me catch my breath" I said panting and taking deep breaths, he was a good distance away from the village. "Ok and second of all, I've been a lone desert wolf for so long already, I know how to deal with the world" I said and Zuko opened his mouth to protest but I cut him up. "And third of all, I made a promise I would protect you and take care of you and I always take my words seriously" I said putting my hands on my hips. "I don't need your protection" he said turning around to leave. "I didn't promised it to you" I said and he looking back in surprise, understanding the meaning of that sentence. He sighed heavily and I took it as a sign of resignation and hopped on Ken.
Two days have passed and we where still going on, maybe without even a destination but we kept going. We where all hungry, weak and thirsty. Especially Zuko who was not used to being a whole day without food, let alone two. We passed an old wood bridge and it broke on us but luckily we made it to the other side without having destroying the whole bridge. There was a sudden stop on our ride and I heard Zuko sniff around the air. It was the smell of cooking meat. We looked down to see a bonfire with a stake cooking and a guy. Zuko's stomach growled loudly and he clenched it with his hand before moving it to his sword. "Don't" I said placing my hand on his to stop him, and then he noticed the pregnant lady resting on a nearby tree. He let go of the swords and we continued our journey.
We where passing an old dried up field with buried rock discs and I noticed Zuko's battling the urge to fall asleep and jerked his head up with a gasp when I placed my hand on his shoulder, he looked at me briefly but continued on. "Maybe we should res-" I was cut off as we made it up a hill and saw a small town at the bottom of it. We made it to the village, it was dry, hot and almost deserted. If it wasn't for the group of soldiers playing dice on a corner. On of them eyed us suspiciously and we returned the look. We dismounted Ken besides a shop. "Can I have some water, a bag of feed and a warm meal?" Zuko asked to the merchant offering two pieces of silver coins. "Not enough for a warm meal" he said. "But I can give you two bags of feed" he offered and we accept but still I had that weird feeling of being watched and I knew Zuko felt it too as he gave a side glance at the group behind us.
I heard giggles from the side of the stall before two mischievous kids peered from the side and one of them threw an egg that landed in one if the soldiers head. They stood up and ran away. I smiled at their rude but funny prank. "Hey! You throwing eggs at us strangers?" The bigger dude with hammers at each side of him said. "No" Zuko simply answered. "You see who did threw it?" He asked again. "No" this time I answered and we both turned around to face this thugs. Zuko grabbed his swords defensively. "Is that your favorite word? No" said one of the hammer dude followers. "Egg have to come from somewhere" hammer dude said. "Maybe a chicken flew off" Zuko said turning around and one of them laughed while I grinned. The merchant came back with the two bags of feed but before Zuko could grab them hammer dude did. "Thanks for your contribution, the army will appreciate your support. You better leave this town strangers, those who stay have it a lot stiffer than you can afford to. Trust me on this one" hammer dude said tapping the hammer by the side of him. "Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the fire nation, but they're just a bunch of thugs" the merchant said and Zuko moved to mount Ken and continue. Great, no food, no water, no place to stay. "Thanks for not riling me out" one of the kids said peering his head from behind Ken. But Zuko ignored him and mounted Ken, me following then. But the kid insisted again and took Ken's reins. "I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich- horse for you. Come on, I owe you something" he said pulling us towards his supposed house. We got off Ken and continued to walk. "Looks like you have a little admirer" I said elbowing him in the arm which he swatted back shushing me.
We made it to a farm with different kinds of pigs in a stall and they all where making a lot of noise. "No one can ever sneak up on us" the kid said while shrugging and Zuko and I answered at the same time "no kidding" we looked at each other and I smirked. He stopped and so did I but the kid continued to take Ken for food. Well at least one of us is eating. Zuko was looking at a rooster-pig when, I presumed it was the kids father, appeared from inside the house. "You're friends of Lee's?" He asked but the kid, Lee, talked before we could answer the boy, which we now know his name is Lee, came running out of the stables. "This guys just stood up to the soldiers! By the end they practically had them running away!" He said looking up to us, I smiled but Zuko's face stayed the same. "Does this guys have names?" Asked what I presumed was Lee's mom. "Im… ahhh…" Zuko mumbled trying to come up with another name. "He doesn't have to tell us who he is if he doesn't want to Cila. Anyone who can hold their own against this bully soldiers are welcomed here. Those men's should be ashamed of wearing earth kingdom uniforms" he said and they all looked sad at the floor. "The real soldiers are all off fighting the war, like Lee's big brother Tsentsu. Suppers going to be ready soon, would you like to stay?" She kindly offered but Zuko spoke faster than me. "We can't, we should be moving on" he said with the most unkind frown. I elbowed him in the side and he glared at me. "Gonzo could use some help on the barn, why don't you two work for a while and then we'll eat" she offered and he nodded. "I'll help too, six hands are better than four" I said and both of them nodded.
We where tiling the ceiling and Zuko was doing the worst job ever, he didn't held the hammer properly, and all his nails where crooked but I did not dare to say anything to him and neither did Gonzo. "You don't seem like you're from around here" Lee asked as he watched Zuko work, he stopped and shook his head. "Where you from then?" He kept asking, what a curious boy. "Far away" and to be honest I'm surprised Zuko is answering him. "Ohhhhh, where you going?" He asked once again. "Lee give it a rest, stop asking the man personal questions" his father scolded him and he sighed "yeeeees" he finally gave it a rest. "So how you get that scar?" He blared out making Zuko hammer his thumb, I bit back a smile. "Is not nice to bother people asking them about things they might don't want to talk about. A mans past is his business" Gonzo once again scolded him and Zuko hammered louder and harder.
After we where done with the barn and ate supper, Cila and Gonzo offered us to stay in the barn and I accepted, earning a glare from the royal diva but I managed to survive. We slept on a pile of hay, then I heard the door creak open and the not so light steps from the not so sneaky Lee. I heard him grab Zuko's swords and Zuko stirred indicating he wasn't asleep but Lee still took the swords and took off. When the door closed both of us opened our eyes and looked at each other. "Still think he is not your admirer?" He scuffed and stood up to go after the boy and I followed. We ended up in a sunflower field and he was near a dead tree trunk, swinging the swords recklessly around, cutting leafs and flowers, grunting and making lots of noises. Then he started stabbing the tree trunk while panting. "You're holding them all wrong" Zuko said scaring the living out of him and making him fall off. He stood up with a sunflower in his head which fell off and stretched the swords to Zuko but he held his hands, instructing him. "Keep in mind, this are dual swords, two halves of a single weapon" he took the swords and swing them gracefully, without cutting a single leaf. "Don't think of them as separate, cuz they are not. They are just two different parts of the same whole" he said and with one last swing he cut several flowers, clean off their stems. He gave them back and he imitated Zuko's moves and jumped cutting off a bit of the branch. Zuko nodded and smiled and Lee smiled back at him. "Hey I can teach you cool stuffs too!" I said doing some backflips, cartwheels and landing on my hands. "Tada!" I said and Lee laughed while Zuko had the most bored look ever. "Acrobatics does not help him win a fight." He said and I crossed my arms. "Says the boy who lost a fight against me doing acrobatics" I returned and stick my tongue out. Lee laughed again and we made our way back to the farm. "I think you'll really like my brother Tsentsu, he used to show me stuffs like this all the time." He said and literally talked about his brother all the way to the farm.
Next morning we where up early and ready to go, we mounted Ken who was back to good shape thanks to Lee and his family. "Here, this will take you through a few meals" Cila said giving us a box with food and as Zuko was about to grab it, the bully soldiers came into our vision. "What do you think they want?" Gonzo asked sounding annoyed and worried. "Trouble" we both said at the same time, it fascinate me how I'm turning into Zuko or he is turning into me, or we just think alike. The ground thundered and the pigs screeched loudly. They stopped right in front of us. "What do you want Ghao?" Gonzo asked. "Just thought of someone had to tell you, your sons battalion got captured" Ghao said with a sadistic smile on his face. "You boys heard what the fire nation did to the last earth kingdom prisoners?" Ghao asked to his mans who they all had horrible smiles on their faces. "Dressed them up in fire nation uniform and put them on the frontline, unarmed, where I heard it" he paused and spat on the ground. "Then they just watched" he said and Gonzo pointed an accusing finger to the thugs "you watch your mouth!" He said firmly. Ghao approached but Zuko blocked him and we stared at each other for a moment. "Why bother rooting around in the mud with this pigs" Ghao said before turning around and leaving, forming a cloud of dirt on their way.
"What's gonna happen to my brother?" Lee asked very sad and worried, they hugged. "I'm going to the front, I'm going to find Tsentsu and bring him back" Gonzo said walking away and Cila started sobbing, we just looked down. "When my dad go, would you stay?" Lee asked, a hint of hope in his voice. I'm sorry. "No, we need to move on" he said before taking his dagger out of his bag and handing it to Lee "here, I want you to have this. Read the inscription" he said, Lee read the dagger "made in earth kingdom" he said and I giggled. "The other one" Zuko said a little awkwardly. "Never give up, without a fight" before he finished the sentence we moved. I saw Lee follow us for a bit before stopping, Zuko never looked back. "You know, a knife for a kid is not a good idea" I commented and he didn't said anything. We kept riding for a while until we stopped for a little rest on a hill, Zuko was really quiet, lost in his memories. I had my sedge hat over my head and kept hearing Zuko grunt and sigh, whatever was in his mind was really troubling him. I didn't knew what to say to him so I did the second best thing, I held his hand and squeezed it firmly. I felt him tense to my touch but it eased and squeezed back.
"Azusa always lies" I heard him murmur seconds before a carriage and an ostrich horse startled us. "I need your help! It's Lee, the thugs came back as soon as Gonzo left, when they ordered us to give them food Lee pulled a knife on them, I don't even know where he got that knife! Then they took him away, they told me if he's old enough to fight he's old enough to join the army. I know we barely know you but…" I held her by the shoulders and gave Zuko a look that said I told you a kid with a knife was a bad idea. "I'll get your son back" Zuko said, dead serious and glaring. "We'll get your son back" I seconded to her and she hugged me.
We made it back to the town, the sun was setting in our back and everyone scattered to watch the imminent fight. "Hey he's here! I told you he'll come!" Lee said tied to a post. The thugs picked up their weapons and stepped forward as we got off Ken. "Let the kid go." Zuko said calmly but threatening. Ghao laughed. "Who do you think you are!? Telling us what to do" he said. "It doesn't matter who we are, but I know who you are, you are not soldiers, you're bullies, free loaders, abusing your powers, mostly over woman and kids. You don't want Lee on your army, you're sick coward messing with a family who's already lost one son to the war" Zuko leashed out on them, you go Zuko! Tell them! "Are you going to let this stranger stand there and insult you like this?" Ghao asked to his man who immediately pointed his weapon at us. I took a fighting stance but Zuko held his hand out and shook his head, I stepped back, this is his fight. He held his swords and when the thug attacked he used the handle to push him back, he stood up and run. Another one attacked but Zuko kicked away his spear, unbalanced him and pushed him all the way to the floor, letting him go away running. The last one ran towards Zuko growling but Zuko once again kicked the spear, breaking it in half and making the thug run away in fear. Cowards.
Both Ghao and Zuko wielded their weapons but Ghao attacked first. Sending rocks flying towards Zuko which he cut with his swords but still missed one. "Give him a left! A left!" An old man cheered. "It's not a fist fight" an old lady corrected him. "He got a left sword! Don't he!" He said and we is not wrong in that. Again Ghao send rocks towards Zuko who evaded two and received one that knocked him off his feet. "Look out!" I screamed. "Behind you!" Lee screamed. Zuko was having a hard time blocking the attacks and with one final blow Zuko went flying and hitting the floor hard. That's it. "Get up" Lee whispered. I saw Ghao get dangerously close so I interfered with a fire kick and made Ghao loose balance and tumble back, disoriented. Zuko screamed and created a fire ring that completely blew Ghao away. The look of horror in Lee's face was heartbreaking. Ghao stood up in a fighting stance but was easily knocked off again with Zuko's and I fire balls. "Who- who are you?" Ghao asked with weak voice and under a pile of rubble. "My name is Zuko, son of Urza and Ozai, Prince of the fire nation and heir to the throne" he said full of pride. You've found yourself Zuko. Murmur and whispers where heard before a shout disrupted it. "Liar! I've heard of you! You're not a prince you're an outcast! His own father burnt and dishonor him!" The old man from before said and I glared an him. I was about to yell something back but Zuko stopped me, kneeled down to a cowering Ghao and picked up the knife and walked toward Lee who was being untied by Cila.
"Not a step closer" she threatened, hiding Lee in her back. Zuko kneeled down and offered the knife back to Lee. "It's yours. You should have it" he spoke softly. Lee came out of her moms back and glared at us. "No. I hate you!" He said before turning around and leaving, not looking back. We got on Ken and made our way out of the town with the people on either side of the road, armed with rocks and farming utensils. Zuko kept looking forward but I can't stay silent. I dropped off Ken. "Ulani?" Zuko tried to hold me back but I pulled away. I saw them all get ready to fight me. I laughed. "If your stood up to those thugs as you are standing up to me all this unnecessary discrimination would have been evaded. I'm going to be brutally honest here. How dare you all?" I pointed at Cila and Lee. "He saved your life! He saved all of your life's and this is how you thank us? You hate us for the things our nation have done, you hate us for things we didn't do. The fact that we are fire benders doesn't make me any more or less different than all of you!" I started to see regrets and shame on their faces. I pointed at the old man. "You wanna know how he got that scar? He spoke up to defend his people! I got my scar fighting mercenaries who where railing a earth kingdom village! He is the heir to the throne and future fire lord! He will bring the war to an end! And you are all going to be ashamed for rejecting him. We are all branches of the same tree." I finally said and got back up on Ken and making him run a little faster. "Did you really mean that?" He asked and I hugged his waist. "Of course, we are all connected, different people front the same world" I said laying my head on his shoulder as we continued on our journey.
