Author's Note: Ok, some of you were probably disappointed at what i did at the end of the last chapter. Others probably think i'm crazy or "unhealthy" *raises eyebrow at SapphireMoon10 * lol. anyway, i hope this chapter makes up for it.
Katara's P.O.V. (continue)
There was a knock on the door. Zuko got up, slowly letting go of Malika's hand. He answered the door. "Fire Lord, a message."
"Thank you." The door closed. Zuko sat next to me.
"What's that?" I looked at the cylinder shape in his hand.
"I don't know." He uncapped it and tilted it. A blue and silver vial rolled out, the cap was a crescent moon.
"The spirit water." I said. He handed it to me.
"What will that do? It's too late, she's…"
"These few drops do wonders, Zuko. It's going to bring her back. It has to. It brought Aang back."
I bended out the spirit water and it quickly spun in the air. I pressed the water to Malika's chest. It sunk into her skin and we waited and waited and waited. A few minutes later there was a flash of blue and Malika's eyes snapped open. The dark rings around her eyes were gone. She wasn't super pale anymore and her breathing was as normal as can be. She looked around, breathing heavily. She slowly sat up and looked at Zuko.
"Malika?"
Malika smiled, and it was a strong one. "Zuko!" She quickly, but carefully jumped out of the tub. Zuko grabbed her into an embrace. She was…alive.
Malika's P.O.V.
I tightened my arms around his neck and his arms tightened around my waist. I was soaking wet, but neither of us cared. I was hanging on a thread that snapped, but Katara brought me back…and I was happy to be in Zuko's arms again. I looked at a smiling Katara over Zuko's shoulder. "Thank you." I said.
"What happened?" Aang woke up and his startling voice woke up Toph.
"What's going on?" She asked.
Of course they were asleep. And that was good. They didn't have to know that I actually died. "Malika's up…and no longer sick." Katara said.
Aang stood up and ran behind me. Throwing his arms around both me and Zuko. I might've been crushed, but it was because I was being hugged by relieved friends. Aang and Zuko finally let go of me and I hugged Katara. "I don't know how to thank you enough."
"You don't have to. It was no big deal."
"It was a huge deal. I almost died, but you prevented that from happening. Thank you." I let go of her and ran over to Toph who surprisingly hugged me tightly.
"I'm glad you're ok, Tough Cookie."
I heard the strain in her voice. She was holding in her tears. "Toph, you're so brave and confident. I love you like the sister I never had. Thank you so much."
"What about me? I saved you!"
I laughed and rubbed my eyes, pulling away from Toph. "You're like my sister too, Katara." She smiled. I ran over to Zuko and hugged him again.
"I'm glad you're ok." He whispered. I slightly pulled away and kissed him.
"I might be glad that you're ok and everything, Tough Cookie, but could you two do that later?"
I pulled away. He put his hand on my face. "I'm so glad you're better."
A tear fell down his face. I wiped the tear off his face. "Zuko, are you…"
His eyes widened. "What? No, I just…I-I have…uh…something in-in my eyes."
"Yeah, they're called tears, Sparky. You're feeling emotional." Toph said.
"What are you talking about?"
I turned his attention back to me. "I think it's cute." He smiled.
"All this worry has made me hungry. Can we go eat now?" Toph asked while walking out of the room.
"The real Toph is back." I said.
"Sadly." Zuko said. We walked out with his arm around me. I was back. I was safe. I was with friends who really care for me.
Aang's P.O.V.
We sat in the dining room and ate. I stayed away from both Katara and Toph. I stayed away from Katara because I didn't want to tell her I didn't love her anymore. She must have feelings for me somewhere and I didn't want to break her like she broke me once…or multiple times, I should correct myself. I stayed away from Toph because she told me everything and I didn't react to her response. I had no idea that she liked me and…I wished I knew that a long time ago. I sat next to Malika and obviously my behavior didn't go unnoticed.
She put a hand on my shoulder and I looked at her. "You feeling ok?" She asked. Worry filling her eyes.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem…worried about something. And you're staying away from both Katara and Toph."
"You know about Toph, don't you?" I whispered. She nodded. "Can I talk to you for a second about it?" I asked. She nodded. We stood up. Zuko looked at us with a confused look. Malika put a hand on his shoulder before we walked into the hallway. "Ok, so how do you know?"
"Toph told me."
"When?"
"The night of Zuko's coronation. That's why I ran away. So you could be with Toph, and Katara with Zuko. If I hadn't come into the picture it would be like that."
"Why would you do that?"
"You're making it sound like it's a bad thing."
"Well…I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But…you could've told me."
"I wasn't supposed to tell you."
"You still could've let me in on the plan and maybe this wouldn't be happening." My voice began to rise, as did Malika's.
"Like I said the first time. I wasn't supposed to tell you. That would've ruined the whole thing!"
"Is there a problem here?" We turned to see Zuko standing there with a surprised look on his face.
"No, there's not a single problem. Just talking." Malika said, crossing her arms and looking away. Her robe was tightly tied around her and her hair was still damp from being in the water. We stayed silent for a while.
"Uh…you guys should come back and eat. Your food is getting cold."
"I lost my appetite." Malika said while turning around and began walking down the hall.
"Yeah, so did I." I took the other hall and just walked down until I ended up who knows where.
Toph's P.O.V.
I played around with my food while Tough Cookie and Twinkle Toes were arguing in the hall. When the yelling had stopped I sunk down into my seat, knowing what they were talking about.
"Are you ok?" Katara asked.
"Uh…yeah. The guy I like is totally confused about the fact that I like him. Yeah, there's nothing wrong at all."
"I was only trying to help."
"Yeah? Well did you ever think that you try to help too much? Maybe you should lay low on the helping and help yourself. Teach yourself how to stay out of peoples business!" I didn't mean to yell, but that's how it came out. I didn't know what else to say, so I stood up and walked out. "Hey, Sparky." I mumbled as I passed him.
"Where are you going?"
"Who knows? Who cares?" I muttered, sounding miserable.
I know I shouldn't have yelled at Sugar Queen. She was only trying to keep us all together like she's been doing, but it did get annoying and she needed to respect peoples personal, private problems. She was never like that around Sparky. She used to bug him around. Begging him to tell her what was wrong. Finally he'd cave in and she'd start asking more and more questions. That's kind of how it was with everyone, but because Sparky had more problems it was usually him that she bothered. When it came to getting in my business, I'd end up being a stubborn, angry hog-monkey. I should actually compare myself to a dragon being in the Fire Nation. Make me annoyed and angry then compare me to a dragon. Who'd be scarier? Probably me. Well, I guess I'm even with a badger-mole. I did learn from them so I guess I picked up on their stubbornness.
I found my room (how? I didn't know). I walked in and closed it behind me. I fell on my bed and huffed. "Life sucks."
"Tell me about it."
I jumped at the sound of the second voice. I touched the ground and finally felt the pair of vibrations coming from the other side of my door. "What do you want, Twinkle Toes?"
"Nothing. I just happened to have passed by and heard you say life sucks. And you're right. It does suck." I sat there, startled by what he said. Twinkle Toes rarely agrees with me unless he's really depressed. "Can I come in?" He asked.
"Why not?" The door opened and closed. I felt extra weight on my bed. "I'm letting you know it's going to get really quiet because of the tension and awkwardness." I told him.
"I kind of figured that." And like I said it had become really quiet.
Malika's P.O.V.
Who knew that the Avatar could make people angry? Wasn't he supposed to keep balance? I sat on Zuko's bed. Well, I guess it's my bed or almost my bed. I shrugged. I wrapped my arms around myself and pulled my knees to my chest. The door opened and I looked up.
Zuko stood there looking at me. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just thinking."
He closed the door and walked over to me. "Thinking about what?"
"Nothing, or…nothing important." He stared at me. "Zuko, I'm fine."
"Ok, it's just that…everything is starting to…break apart I guess you can put it. Everyone left Katara in the dining room."
"Why didn't you stay with her?"
"I told her to go to her room since everyone else did that."
"Well, I'm perfectly fine. I just…need to rest." The room grew silent. I avoided Zuko's gaze, knowing that he was looking at me.
"What were you and Aang talking about?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
"If it's about Toph, I already know."
"Just forget it. I'm going to go practice in the garden. I need to be alone for a while."
I stood up and walked out of the room. I walked down the quiet hall, passing by few guards and servants. I walked out into the garden. I took a deep breath, my lungs filling with the nice cool air. I walked over to the tree. I rested my hand on it and closed my eyes. "I'm sorry." I opened my eyes and turned around. Aang stood a few yards away with a hurt look on his face.
"For what?"
"For yelling at you. I guess I was just…confused. Confused about everything and I just…don't understand any of it."
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back. "It's ok. Things have been…messed up around here lately."
"Got that right."
I pulled away. "Now don't yell at me again. Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean I won't beat you up."
He smiled. "I talked to Toph and things might…actually work out between us."
"That's great, Aang. Now go get some sleep. You look tired." He smiled and walked off. I took a deep breath and got into a stance. I began to practice my fire bending.
Zuko's P.O.V.
I lay down, staring at the ceiling. Malika had been gone for hours now. I got up and slipped on my robe. I walked down the halls and out into the garden. I stopped and watched as Malika was still practicing. I looked down and shook my head. I looked back up and walked toward her. I put my hand on her shoulder. She turned around, fist fired. I grabbed her hand to stop her. She looked at me and relaxed. "Sorry, you just scared me." She said, her eyes drifting away from my gaze.
"You need to sleep."
She looked at me. "I'm fine. Wide awake."
"Malika, sleep. Come to bed. You need the rest after everything you've been through today…or yesterday seeing as the sun will rise soon."
"I'm not tired."
"First you were tired and now you're not. Malika, go to bed. Go!"
She pulled her hands away. "I told you, I'm not tired." She turned around and her back faced me.
I sighed. "Malika, please. I don't need you getting sick again. You almost died, and I'm not gonna let that happen again."
I put my hand on her shoulder and turned her around. She didn't look at me. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet. She was crying. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
I pulled her into a hug. "Come on, let's get you to bed." I still held onto her and we walked back to the room.
I laid her on the bed and pulled the covers over her. She closed her eyes. I walked over to the other side and got in. I lay on my back.
"You ok?" I looked at Malika. She was looking at me with worry in her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled and closed her eyes again. I stared at her a little longer before my eyes closed. Thinking of how things could change with her around.
Author's Note: I CAN NEVER STAY AWAY! lol. you're probably all mad at me, whatever. i can't be mad back at u cuz guess what? MY BIRTHDAY'S THIS FRIDAY! yes. april 15. It's also my friend's bday, my other friend's mom's bday, mona lisa's bday and the day abraham lincoln died. and it's tax day. but yes, i'm happy. and no, i don't have a special bday thing for Malika...or do i? I didn't originally plan it, but i might put something in there.
