Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The last airbender.
Chapter 12
Akemi woke up at the crack of dawn at the sound of footsteps right outside her door. Rolling over onto her back, she yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes from the sleep and looked to see the shadow of the person that were noticeable beneath the door's gap disappear as they walked by. As she listened to the heavy footsteps, she realized it was Iroh; he was also saying something incoherently under his breath. Suddenly curious, she stretch out of bed, put on a robe, and walked out to see him moving the opposite direction with a piece of parchment in his hands. She crossed her arms underneath her chest and brisked her pace to catch up, yawning, "Iroh, wait up..."
He stopped in his strides to turn to see who addressed him, then smiled.
"Oh! I'm sorry for waking you up from your sleep, there."
The girl shook her head. "It's nothing, I was just about to get up anyway!" A small white lie, but she didn't want Iroh to deter her back to her room since she now wanted to know what he was up to.
Iroh gestured to the rolled-up paper in his hands grimly and responded, "Yes...well, I have to talk to Prince Zuko about this...small problem, so if you would like to join me." Akemi nodded dazily and followed Iroh; she couldn't go back to sleep, anyway, even if she tried. The interior of the ship was surprisingly warm despite being out at sea and recently departing from the south pole. She was glad to be out of there, since her firebending didn't do much to keep her warm her entire time there. Maybe it was because she wasn't that advanced with her firebending control, she mused.
Finally, they both arrived at a relatively plain-looking door and Iroh opened it, revealing the meditation room. As Akemi's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she spotted Zuko inside sitting in front a few lit candles on a desk, meditating. With each breath he took, the size of the flames changed; with every inhale they dimmed, and with every exhale, they grew and illuminated the room. Truly a true firebending exercise depicting how fire comes from the breath, the very core of firebending. She casually wondered if she would ever have to teach someone firebending one day...
Iroh looked ready to say something, but Zuko cut him off without even looking, "The only reason you should be interrupting me is because you have news about the Avatar." He stated calmly, and Akemi shrugged at the elderly man who cleared his throat. She wasn't even sure what was going on, but something told her that Zuko wouldn't be too pleased by whatever news his uncle would have to deliver him. At least she would have some early morning entertainment today, she thought with a modestly smug look on her face.
"There is some news about the Avatar. But you might not like it. Don't get too upset." Right on the mark, she expected Zuko to get angry. Instead, he surprised her by remaining rather mellow.
"Uncle. You told me that keeping a leveled head is a sign of a great leader. Now whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it." He replied, his gaze never leaving the flames as he stared into them without breaking his concentration. Akemi's lip twitched and she held back the urge to say otherwise, knowing him very well. But otherwise, she was just here for the ride. Iroh opened up the parchment and she took this opportunity to lean over Iroh's shoulder and inspect what otherwise wouldn't be good news, according to Iroh. As her eyes trailed over some diagrams, she quirked an eyebrow and looked up expectantly at Zuko to see if he had a change of face.
When his mood remained the same, she suddenly got bored and she looked at her nails, her expression going rather dull. 'Wait for it...' Outstretching her hand, she stared at Zuko from the corner of her eye.
Iroh sighed. "All right then. We have no idea where he is." He said bluntly, and Zuko's eyes widened. Akemi was aware that the flames intensified without caution while continuing to stare at her nails, and Zuko nearly burning the ceiling when he let out a loud, "WHAT?" His voice echoed, loud enough so that could wake the whole ship. Akemi stuck her tongue out and looked rather mischievous, lowering her hand that she inspected and muttered cheekily, "And there it is..."
"You really should open a window in here..." Iroh commented and started fanning himself with a small fan he took out of his robes. Did he always carry that around in there...? Zuko abruptly snatched the map from Iroh after standing and proceeded to look over it, as if he thought Iroh was lying. The crumpled paper in his hands looked as if it was at risk of burning up in the boy's hands the longer he kept glaring at it. "There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar...but he is impossible to track down." Iroh noted, watching his nephew nearly crumple the map in his hands out of frustration.
Akemi suddenly realized she could breathe through both her nostrils once again, and she took a long breath in as she embraced the feeling of being relieved from her cold. As she exhaled, she walked towards the side of the room with windows in it and climbed up a nearby chair to look out the window. Smiling, she watched as the rays of the sun shone just above the horizon...it was a pretty sight...and then remembering the situation, she looked back at the map held by Zuko and raised a brow, aware once again that Zuko was rather miffed.
"How am I going to find him, Uncle? He is clearly a master of evasive manuvering." He was clearly distraught.
Akemi jumped out of the chair and trotted over to snatch him, much to his displeasure, and looked it over. While scanning it, sometimes she would shift it diagonally, then upside down as if it could be readable that way. Zuko raised an eyebrow at her mischief; clearly noting that she was pretty much pretend-reading the map, knowing she was bad at reading maps in general. She let out a hum and nodded as if she had affirmed something (Zuko doubted it) and shoved the map back into his hands.
"Either it looks like someone put a bunch of scribbles on the map...or the Avatar is lost." She stated.
Zuko stared at her momentarily, then back his uncle. Then to the map, looking it over once again as he considered what she said...then he crumpled the map and threw it to the side grumpily. "The Avatar probably is lost." He grumbled, putting a hand to his aching forehead.
Akemi blinked and looked at Iroh. They both shrugged at the same time; they hadn't expected him to agree with her, considering he almost never does when it comes to tracking down things. She was initially joking about this entire thing, given she can't read maps well.
The young prince grit his teeth in irritation at his lack of information on his target. "Where could he be going?" He wondered aloud, hoping for an answer.
He however, was not about to get the answer he expected.
"Well, we can assume it's near water." Akemi responded.
He glanced at her with an exhausted expression, clearly illustrating that she answered the question quite...ludicrously.
"We must be close then..." He said facetiously and walked out. Akemi blinked and yelled, "It was an attempt to brighten the mood!" She had tried to make a joke to make him in better spirits, but she supposed he didn't seem to be in the mood for it right now. Letting out a defeated sigh, shoulders sinking, she followed him just seconds behind after he left the room, leaving Iroh who blinked while still fanning himself at the change of events.
Akemi for the rest of the time was training out on the deck.
Standing still, she slowly placed her hands together and breathed in deeply, and released her intake of air just as she reopened her eyes. Her exercise was rather quick this time; she released a large stream of fire from her hands to the sky, followed by a spinning kick on the ground releasing a ring of fire surrounding her, then she jumped up and shot another stream of fire towards the sky, the fire emitting more of a slightly green haze this time. Akemi smiled with pride; her firebending was becoming stronger, and she hoped to keep that up to be stronger (and even be better at fighting at Zuko's side).
She knew she wasn't an expert firebender like Zuko or Iroh. Sure, she was good at hand-to-hand combat that was up to par with Zuko's skills, but in terms of having experience firebending, she was behind by a couple of years. Zuko more than likely was encouraged to firebend at a younger age before she ever met him, so it would make sense for him to know a couple of more drills or forms than she did even if Iroh was helping her improve her techniques. While being good enough, she was rather...not so lucky and didn't have the same privilege to learn and be encouraged to do firebending at an early age.
The reason being unknown to pretty much everyone. Except her.
Letting out a long sigh, she straightened up and lowered her hands in front of her. After taking a few, calming breaths, she smiled lightly to herself, muttering a small, 'yes' in self-confidence to herself. Eyes suddenly locked and came in contact with some hair that managed to pull themselves from her braid, she blew the hair out of her face with a small puff.
Iroh suddenly appeared and walked up next to her. "I must say, Akemi, your firebending is improving more and more everyday." Akemi jumped in her spot, obviously not noticing he had approached from behind, and glanced back at him with a boastful grin. "Yeah, I am but-" She let out a small laugh of modesty; a sudden, contrasting shift from her previously egotistical mood. "I'll never measure up to Zuko." Though she was proud of herself, she knew that she was far behind in terms of firebending compared to Zuko and tried not to seem so prideful about it. She knew she can do better, but...she wished she were already the best she could be now.
The elder man, however, seemed to read her thoughts and commented, "You'd be surprised. I've seen the most improvement in you so far, actually." Akemi blinked and angled her head away with a small blush, hand covering her face. "You're just saying that!" She replied, suddenly feeling rather shy about herself.
"I'm not! And even if you don't believe in yourself, I do...and so does Zuko." Akemi's eyes widened at Iroh's statement. "And you're still young, so you have a long life ahead of you to improve if you are dissatisfied with the level you are at now."
Comforted by this, Akemi relaxed her rather tense shoulders. He was right, she realized. She can improve, and by the sound of it, Zuko didn't think of her any less for not having the same privilege he did in learning firebending at an early age. Akemi scratched her head, nodding a little. "I suppose so. Thank y-" She sneezed before she could finish; a loud, unladylike one.
As she sniffled, Iroh 'tsk'ed. "Well, you shouldn't probably stay out for too long. It seems that you still have a cold from the first encounter from the Avatar; being buried in ice, you know. Please, allow me to escort you inside."
'Shoot,' She thought, her mood dropping slightly. And here she had assumed she wasn't sick, anymore. One of the worst things she hated feeling was being ill...she already was impaired already due to her lung disorder, and it made her feel bad about herself someway.
However, not wanting to be rude, she looped around Iroh's outstretched arm to offer her an escort. Iroh placed a hand on top of her arm before leading her back inside the ship and out of the rather cold, windy weather. Once they got into the dining room, he released her arm and gestured her over to the small table. Once she sat, she suddenly sneezed a few more times before Iroh handed her a hankerchief, allowing her to blow into it. "Ugh. Also, you probably don't need Zuko to know about this. I don't want him to possibly stress out more than he already does." Akemi's muffled voice said through the hankerchief. "I don't think he'll look good in gray hair."
A part of her considered that Zuko wouldn't care that much, but after that incident with the Avatar burying the ship under the snow, he was more alert than ever. Maybe it was because the Avatar suddenly escaped and now was probably half a world away, she assumed. She suddenly imagined Zuko with gray hair, and she laughed hysterically in her mind.
Iroh faked a gasp of offense at her notion and she smirked. "Why, there's nothing wrong with gray hair! You know, my nephew might just take after me someday! So dashing and handsome!" He patted his gray hair with a grin. Akemi snorted.
"Sure, Iroh."
"You keep addressing me with such formalities. I would rather encourage you to address me as uncle, you know." Iroh quipped. Akemi crinkled her nose.
"But it feels weird...I mean, you're technically Zuko's uncle!"
"Yes, but you addressing me in such a manner makes me feel old." Iroh gave her a fake pout and Akemi chuckled. "Okay, uncle...I'll do my best." Iroh beamed at her resignation.
A servant decided to walk in as they chattered away. "The ship will be docking at a market in just a while. Do you have any requests for your dinner this evening, General Iroh and Miss Akemi?"
Iroh stroked his beard and smiled. "Some fish would be quite alright...if that is no trouble."
"What he said." Akemi added.
The servant bowed. "Very well, then." He curtsied before exiting the room.
Akemi sneezed again. Iroh sighed.
"Perhaps I can get you a cup of jasmine tea?"
"That would be nice."
Letting out a frustrated grunt, Zuko tapped his finger on the table impatiently; he was clearly still agitated by the earlier events that transpired today. His leg bounced as he waited in hopes of expecting some good news to come about soon. He was probably getting his hopes up too high, he bitterly thought as he glanced over to his side. Next to him, Akemi was nearly asleep; she was resting her cheek on the table, bending over in an uncomfortable position, with some drool hanging from her lip. He didn't care that much to be hypercritical of her bad habits right now, but he still couldn't help but scowl.
"Wipe that off." He told her, having nothing else to do and knowing she was still awake enough to hear his request. Demand, more like, considering he wasn't overly fond of the salivation that trailed down her mouth to her chin.
Akemi, lifting her head slightly in a daze, grumbled and wiped off the drool with the arm sleeve of her clothes. "Somebody got off the wrong side of the mattress today..." She chuckled and he shot her a rather annoyed look. She didn't seem to mind his rather foul mood today; in fact, she rather seemed to dance around it and was rather entertained. However, refusing to give her the satisfaction of bickering, he turned away and grunted, "Whatever..." Akemi was his friend, he knew that deep down, but a part of him wishes that those childish habits of hers would go away; they were practically adults now, for goodness sake.
Zuko's attention drifted to his uncle when he sighed from across the table. "Are you still troubled about losing the Avatar?" Zuko nearly scoffed at the notion, almost answering outright sarcastically. He hesitated, and wondered if some of Akemi's sarcastic nature was rubbing off on him. Akemi seemed to think so, as she continued to stare him down with one of her trademark impish grins, hand resting against the knuckles of her hand now.
It was then he decided to respond by promptly slamming a fist down onto the table, rattling some of the dishes that had little food and tea on it. The other two people in the room hadn't even flinched or budged at the reaction; they've more than likely have gotten used to it as if it were a daily routine. Akemi sighed and rolled her eyes, feeling suddenly exhausted as she realized how little sleep she had gotten last night. But soon after, her thoughts trailed back to Zuko who shouted, "Yes, I am! Uncle, how am I ever going to find him if I don't have a clue about where he is?"
Akemi subconsciously smiled and opened her mouth.
Zuko pointed at her accusingly. "And don't say he's 'near water'!"
She closed her mouth. 'Still not in the mood for the joke, still. Oh, well...he'll come around,' She conceded and let out a loud sigh to show her disappointment in Zuko's lack of humor today. Zuko, however, chose to ignore that as he definitely was not in the mood for her games right now.
"If we wait too long like this, Zhao will get the Avatar before me, for sure!"
As Iroh poured more tea into each of their cups, he decided to try and coax Zuko, "You must be patient. The Avatar will still be out there, and the information will come if you just be patient..." He hoped Zuko would listen to his reassurance and calm himself down. He was rather relieved that Zuko relaxed his tense shoulders as if he was actually calming down...before he immediately gripped his head in his hands and slammed his forehead onto the table in frustration, obviously reflecting not the very patient type compared to his uncle. Iroh wondered if he got attitude aspect that from his father.
'Touchy...' Akemi thought to herself and reached out to take a sip of her tea nonchalantly, looking rather calm in contrast to Zuko. Iroh glanced back and forth between them and wondered how their friendship manages to stay intact despite contrasting so greatly. He observed over the years how many people assumed they were at each other's throats because of the way Akemi didn't take a lot of things seriously and Zuko usually got rather outwardly frustrated about that consequently; they never failed every single time to amuse Iroh. Even half the crew got amused by their little interactions, and the other half remained confused about the relationship between them, but even Iroh couldn't sum up their odd friendship with just few words.
Just then, Iroh was pulled from his thoughts when the main crew chef brought in a steaming plate of fish. He also looked as if he had something important to tell, and Iroh was curious. "I have brought dinner and some great news, Prince Zuko." The servant said. Yes...he did have something to tell.
Zuko suddenly shot his head up off the table, nearly startling Akemi out of her seat. His eyes were wide with apprehension, but suddenly narrowed with doubt of receiving the news he's been expecting to hear. "It better be important."
"It regards to the whereabouts of the Avatar." Akemi looked rather impassive about the news as Zuko immediately asked/demanded, "Where is he located?"
"I was informed that the most recent area he was spotted in seemed to be on Kyoshi Island." The servant concluded and placed the fish on the table, and Akemi's eyes all of a sudden fixed on the food ravenously as if she were about to leap at it while no one was looking. During which time, Zuko leaped from his seat. "The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island?" After the servant confirmed the information, they exited the room.
Akemi was still staring at the food, saliva nearly trailing out of her mouth again.
Zuko shot a demanding look to Iroh. "Uncle, ready the rhinos! He's not getting away from me this time..." He ordered and made long strides around and away from the table, going to get ready for battle. Akemi hardly paid attention to everything that transpired, and Iroh looked at the fish as well before he asked, "Are you going to finish that?"
Akemi's concentration on the steaming fish was immediately broken when Zuko quickly stomped up to lift the plate from her sight as she let out a small whine.
"I was going to save it for later!" Zuko retorted and walked out of the room, leaving the table with only two other inhabitants who stared at the spot the food was once placed at. It was almost a sad sight for them to see the empty spot where their dinner once was. Iroh crossed his arms and pouted a bit as Akemi held a hand to her abdomen when a rumbling noise emitted from it. "I'm still hungry..." she muttered, rubbing her upset stomach. She wondered if there would be anything else to eat before they departed for the island, but she knew there was little chance considering how urgent Zuko's orders were. In that case, she would just have to bear with it.
Iroh yawned and said, "Well, Kyoshi Island is a while away, so you best prepare to join Zuko." He stood, folded his arms within the sleeves of his robe, and strolled away. "I am going to get some shut eye before you two young one's cause a racket soon."
"I'm still hungry, though!" Akemi whined, but her protests went unheard as Iroh exited the room. The door was left ajar, half-open as the footsteps trailed away, and she suddenly realized how awkward she felt being in the room all by herself. She brushed a hair from in front of her face before she decided to follow suit and leave her seat, heading towards the door. As she walked out, she felt her stomach let out a growl of protest and she patted it, muttering, "You're just gonna have to deal with it for a while longer..."
Zuko finished assembling his armor with a resolute sigh. This time, they would definitely catch the Avatar! There would be nothing to stop or prevent them from achieving his goal, and even if there was something, he would swiftly eliminate that. He would ensure that nothing, and nobody, would get in his way of capturing the boy this time. He only hoped that Zhao wasn't close enough to the island as well, seeing as word somehow got around that the Avatar was present on this island. He heard the ship's engine slow down, and knew they were getting close. He would have to ready his rhino, and other things.
'Kyoshi Island may have warriors," He suddenly thought, placing his hand to his chin and pondered his strategy and options available. With forethought he wondered what could possibly go wrong during their advance on the island. Without even realizing it he started pacing the room as he mulled over his course of action they would take; wondering if they should set up an ambush to intercept any of the warriors that would be on the island. He knew about the warriors; they were said to be the most skilled around the area. He knew they would be at a disadvantage if they were unprepared and disadvantaged-
He paused, halting his tracks as a thought suddenly occurred to him. His fingers that were resting against his chin curled a bit, almost making a small indent into the skin as he pondered. 'Maybe Akemi shouldn't come this time...' He inquisitively thought to himself as he realized the situation he would probably be placing her in. Until now, he wouldn't of doubted her capability of being able to fight. In any other time, he wouldn't worry so much about her when it came to fighting, despite not being on the same level of firebending skill as he was; she was an adept fighter when it came to non-firebending skills, after all. But there would be a large number of these warriors they would have to get through, and a part of him opted to bring her along as part of their offense.
Another part of him worried that she would slip into one of her asthmatic attacks and suddenly fall during battle. He lowered the hand resting on his chin and clenched the hand as he resigned to his final decision. He slipped into his boots and walked out of his room. 'She shouldn't come.' He concluded and walked towards Akemi's room that was a short trip down the hall and around the corner.
He knocked on her door. "Akemi, I need to talk to you." There was no response from inside,and Zuko wondered if she was even in her room. But then, he heard small shifting of bed covers, and decided to rap on the door again, this time more louder. "Akemi?" He called, wanting a response as soon as possible; they didn't have that much time before they reached ashore.
Still no response, so he sighed and opened the unlocked door. "Akemi, I need to-" He initially addressed, but paused when seeing her lying on her bed asleep. Zuko walked over to the bed silently and looked down at her; she was curled up in a fetal position, looking rather peaceful where she laid. He gazed over at the lit candle by her beside, watching as they grew every time she let out a calming breath and came to the conclusion that she must of fallen asleep while meditating. With a flick of his wrist, he extinguished the flame and slowly sat on the bed. He didn't want to wake her, but he had to let her know he didn't want her to come, so he gently shook her shoulder.
"Akemi, wake up."
The girl mumbled something into her pillow that sounded something along the lines of, "No, don't eat my mango..." Zuko raised an eyebrow awkwardly and almost chuckled, wondering what she was dreaming about, but frowned again when he remembered the reason why he was here. He shook her shoulder once more and urged with more of a raised tone, "Akemi, wake up." She unconsciously slapped his hand away and mumbled, "Five more minutes..." The last word drowned out with the sound of a light snore emitting from her, and was as almost if they were young, again. He wished that they could go back to those times...they had been so much simpler back then.
Realizing that their time was even more limited now, he grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to sit up despite her drowsy attempts at protesting, making her snap out of her sleep. Rather satisfied she was now awake, it still seemed like she was out of it, looking still rather in her half-asleep daze. Zuko hoped she stayed that way so she wouldn't object to whatever he was going to tell her. Staring up at Zuko with half-lidded eyes, she mumbled,"W-Wha?" She let out a huge yawn. "What is it, Zuko?"
He released her shoulders."We're almost at Kyoshi Island right now."
Akemi blinked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with both her hands. "Really?" She yawned out, and smacked her lips to try and alleviate the cotton mouth building up. Stretching her arms out, she let out a sigh of satisfaction and then started, "I should get ready then-" Zuko decided to cut her off before she even got ready to shift out of bed. If he was lucky, she would be too tired to try and fight him about this next issue and go back to sleep; he doubted that would be the case, though, but he could only hope.
"That's what I came to talk to you about."
She blinked a few times, and Zuko almost hissed under his breath when noticing she was now fully awake.
Akemi didn't seem to register what he meant at first...but as the gears in her mind rotated and the implication clicked, she then she frowned and crossed her arms tightly, her conviction making itself known in her angry gaze immediately. "Are you suggesting for me to stay here?" She interjected, and Zuko suddenly realized how upset she was at him asking her this question. Maybe he shouldn't of woken her up, he suddenly thought and regretted now even informing her as he realized it would've been easier to have just left her asleep.
Unable to lie at this point, Zuko nodded.
Akemi shook her head at his answer, shooting up out of the bed. "No way!"
Not wanting to argue with her about this, he too shot up and towered right in front of her, showing how much taller he was than her, hoping to intimidate her into listening. Any other person it would've successfully worked, but Akemi had a strong resolve (along with extremely stubborn). "Akemi, I'm not repeating myself! You're staying here, do you understand?"
"No, I frankly don't!" She stomped her heel against the ground in objection. "Because I'm not going to sit here while you're out there fighting, and worry about the possibility you might die out there!"
"I'm not going to die out there!"
"How do I know that? What if you get wounded? Hurt?"
"I won't get hurt! You have to trust me on that!"
"That's real funny coming from you! Do you suddenly not trust me when it comes to fighting out there!" Akemi started to go off on a rant, "I can handle myself out there, Zuko, so why should I have to stay here while you're out there fighting! What reason do you have to keep me here?"
Zuko grit his teeth, unaware of keeping his emotions in check and answered, "Because I don't want to lose you!"
Akemi's upset look suddenly paused, and it slowly molded into surprise at his statement, and even he too was shocked by his choice of words. Over the years he'd become less inclined to reveal most of his deepest fears or feelings, even to his friend, but...he didn't regret saying it, as it did make her shut up and stare at him rather wide-eyed. He sighed and loosened his grip on her, keeping himself in check once more.
"You...might not fare well against these warriors in your condition." He hinted at her detrimental health condition, and glanced down at her arms that were suddenly exposed by her sleeves rolled up. His hands that lingered on her shoulders to her arms suddenly traced the outline of her arm down until they reached her forearms where her rather obvious burn scars were exposed to the world now. The fingers traced the calloused scars, briefly remembering that awful day as he took in the detail of the scarring. It was a rare instance to actually see her scars out in the open; she wasn't very preempt in revealing her scars to anyone since the time she got them, as that grew to become one of the things she became rather self-conscious about and always wanted to cover up.
Akemi immediately knew what he meant, and shook her head. "Zuko. You worry too much." She let out a gentle smile, very different from her usual playful smirks usually sent his way whenever they interacted.
"No."
"Please," She whined, and angled her head downwards so she could try and catch his eyes to stare into them. Zuko couldn't help but look up, and he saw how Akemi's eyes were pleading him...they looked so sad, as if they were ready to burst into tears.
Zuko's expression softened.
"Please, Zuko..." This time, Akemi's voice voice cracked a bit as she lowered her head, looking ready to burst into tears, and Zuko suddenly felt from beneath his hands as her arms and shoulders starting to shake when he didn't respond after a long time. Oh, gee, she was going to start crying. He didn't want that! He just wanted to her to be safe-agh! He couldn't stand to see her sad...'Dang it...' Zuko finally let out a resigned sigh of defeat, knowing he couldn't protest when she had that look on her face.
"Fine. You can come, but if things get too difficult for you out there, get back to the ship." He said in defeat.
At that moment would he be taken by surprise by whatever she did next: her shot up, her face adorning a huge smile as she vowed, "Deal!" She then started pushing him out as she chimed in, "I better get ready, so get out!" Before with a final shove, she had him out the door and slammed it behind him as he stumbled out, still caught off guard by the sudden mood shift. Zuko had a dumbfounded expression on his face.
Realizing what she had just done, his eye suddenly twitched and growled out, "I feel like an IDIOT!" Fire flared through his nostrils as he shouted at himself in particular for falling for his friend's fake tears and stomped away to look for his uncle to get his temper in check, while silently drilling into his mind not to fall for that trick and wondering how he would get back at her for that later.
When he spotted his uncle, he quickened his pace and ran up to him. "Akemi is apparently coming with me onto the island..." He admitted, and his face heat red in embarrassment when his uncle gave him a knowing grin.
However, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Uncle, where's the remedy?"
Iroh didn't know what he meant at first, given there were many different remedies on the ship, until Zuko pointed a thumb in the direction from where he came from Akemi's room, then nodded in understanding and responded quietly, "In the kitchen, I put the ingredients in the smallest cabinet." Zuko nodded and ran down the hall, heading towards the kitchen to brew a batch of the medicine required for Akemi's health.
Just in case.
After a few minutes, he was able to make some tea and fill it in the small canteen he had handy on him. Sniffing the tea, he noted that wasn't as good as his uncle's, but as he poured the tea into the canteen and shut it tightly, making sure that the contents don't spill out, he reminded himself it would be enough. Zuko slung the strap over his shoulder, the canteen hanging to the side of his waist. He still had a hand on the canteen, gripping it and securing it as if he was afraid that if he let go, worried that it would suddenly disappear.
He always made sure this was on him at all times when they were in rather dangerous environments.
'Just in case...' Zuko thought to himself and walked out. At any given moment, Akemi's life would be depending on this remedy to survive and if she didn't drink it...
He didn't want to think about it. Hurriedly he left the room just as the ship crashed onto the shores.
Once the fire nation ship docked onto the island, the townsfolk quickly took to themselves to flee into their homes out of fear just before the ship's hull opened up with a hiss. About five firenation rhinos emerged from the ship, each holding about 2 soldiers each, with the exception of Zuko and Akemi who had their own rhinos. As they made an advance towards the village, Akemi took this time to look around, admiring some of the forestry in the area. There weren't as many trees as there were in the fire nation, she noted, but it still did not distance itself from looking rather serene. She noticed more than a few burnt ones as they traveled, which made her expression darken; by now, how could she not recognize the sight of ashes? She shook her head disdainfully.
A shifting noise from the side suddenly caught her attention, and she angled her head in the direction it came from as it settled down. The noise didn't do a good job in being gone discreetly, it was rather perverse against the tranquility of the atmosphere around. "Hm?" Akemi hummed and stopped her rhino to stare at the boulders a few feet away. When nothing was done, she thinned her lips in a line and considered that it may have just been her mind playing tricks and spurred her rhino to continue. However, when she heard a noise again, she halted her rhino and whipped her head in the direction of the noise from the boulders, now certain that she wasn't just hearing things. She also swore she had seen something move behind them. Maybe someone...she speculated as she urged her rhino towards the source so she could peer over the rocks to see what was there-
"Akemi!" Zuko's voice called from up ahead, and she stilled in her spot. From here, she could only see just barely above the surface of the rock, and she thought for a moment and considered waiting around, but when Zuko called for her again, she took one last remaining glance at the rocks before taking off, leaving whatever it was as it is.
In a short amount of time she returned to her spot and rode next to Zuko, who turned to look at her questionably. "What were you doing back there?" He asked his friend who stared blankly at her saddle. "I thought I saw something, but there was...nothing." She responded, and Zuko turned his head up to face forwards. Attention shifted towards the front, Zuko was diligent and alert for any signs of enemies whereas Akemi looked back at the pile of boulders thoughtfully. She bit her lip slightly and turned her head back, looking forwards just as they entered the village.
The first thing she realized as they entered was that it was too quiet. Too quiet to be normal. Her bad vibes returned...and she knew something definitely wasn't right. Gut instinct told her so, and she never doubted it for a second.
"Find him." Zuko ordered. The soldiers all strode their rhinos through the village besides Akemi and Zuko, who remained side-by-side on their rhinos as they observed the general area from the center of the village. Akemi gazed at the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, but then snapped her gaze from it when she heard something rustling. She saw a shadow move at the side, and then knew there was trouble lurking. She had been right about something bad about to happen; in less than a few seconds, about three different people dressed in warrior uniforms jumped from the roofs and knocked over one soldier from each rhino up ahead. Her instincts never seemed to fail her, Akemi mused and shifted her eyes to the side, spotting another warrior. She jumped off and over her saddle as she dodged from her incoming attacker that aimed for her head with a kick. Once she landed, she immediately shifted into a battle-ready stance and resorted to hand-to-hand combat with the warrior. She blocked a punch, a swing of their fan, and a kick.
As she took a good look at the enemies, it was then she noticed then that they were all female warriors. Not that they cared, considering they seemed preempt on taking them down. The woman did a roundhouse kick and Akemi ducked, before grabbing the collar of her uniform and throwing her over her head, who ended up crashing into a pile of hay. It was a good thing she and Zuko were good with hand-to-hand combat, otherwise this would've been a real big challenge. Or so she thought
Some of the fire nation soldiers were knocked off their rhinos. A woman with short, brown hair ran full speed at Zuko, dodging every fireblast he threw at her. When she jumped in the air and got close enough, Zuko turned his rhino so its large tail hit the woman, knocking her to the side. Zuko blasted fire at the woman, but another warrior came out of nowhere, got in the way, and blocked it. Akemi swooped over Zuko's head, landed, and swept the warrior's legs, and she was allowed to get a good look of the person's face; she blinked, seeing it was a man dressed in traditional female warrior attire and face painted, making his complexion look...feminine. This was not the time for hysterics, she reminded herself.
With her distracted momentarily, another one of the warriors soared over her head from a roof and knocked Zuko off his rhino. Gasping, Akemi narrowed her eyes and launched her attacks in that warrior's direction and felt even more determined to take them down.
Meanwhile, as Zuko got up, his hand came up to rest on his chest as he tried breathing some air back into his lungs after being thrown off and having the wind knocked out of him. As his hands traced the outline of the breastplate, it was then he realized something was missing. His eyes widened immensely, and he snapped his gaze down to realize...the canteen he had equipped was gone. That vital canteen, the most important item he carried...Zuko frantically searched around, while mentally cursing to himself. It wasn't anywhere, and he just couldn't seem to find it! He thought in a state of panic of the worst-case scenario.
Zuko finally saw the canteen, and his breath nearly hitched in his throat when he how far it had landed from him; which the path to it was suddenly being blocked by a warrior who had stepped in. He let out an audible growl as he was surrounded by more warriors, completely surrounded. They were in the way! He quickly dropped down and did a spinning kick, a ring of fire lashing out and knocking away the warriors into unconsciousness. He scrambled to his feet and frantically grabbed the canteen and strapped it on over his chest again, making sure it was secure, before looking around. It was then he realized that these warriors were the only people who had been fighting this entire time.
"Come out, Avatar! These little girls can't save you!" He called, wondering why the boy hadn't shown up the entire time...he looked at Akemi, who had finished taking down the one warrior who he had the unfortunate encounter of being knocked off his rhino by. She seemed to be holding off just fine, with no early signs of her illness rising. "Akemi check the other side of those houses for the Avatar."
Akemi nodded and ran around a corner to the other side of the area.
"Hey, over here!" A voice suddenly called from behind Zuko. He turned to see Aang yards away, staff ready.
Zuko grunted to himself in satisfaction, "Finally..." He hissed, and launched a few fireballs at him. Aang used his staff to dissapate the flames and propel closer to him. when he got close enough, he knocked Aang's staff away which made the boy jump away and grab two fans from the ground that a previous warrior had dropped before. Aang did some fluid motions and with a yell, used the fans for airbending to blow Zuko into a house.
On the other side, Akemi looked around. She ducked from an incoming fan that acted like an assassin's dart and hurtled into the alleyway where it came from and knocked a warrior unconscious by hitting the back of her head with a few swift movements. With that, she crouched down and continue to sneak around and inspect the area for more enemies. It was then she heard voices and she immediately planted her back against the wall of a house, and shifted over to where she heard them. She heard a female and a male voice talk:
"There's no time to say goodbye!" The female voice said.
"What about 'I'm sorry'?" The male voice said.
"For what?" The female voice responded back, almost in a curious way.
"I treated you like a girl when I should've treated you like a warrior." The male voice spoke, almost guiltily.
"I am a warrior-" Akemi heard a smacking sound of lips mid-sentence of the female's voice talking, which meant she must have kissed the owner of the male voice. Akemi furrowed her brows when she realized how familiar that voice sounded to her. "-but I'm a girl, too." The female voice finished.
Akemi smiled warmly and heard the footsteps run in the opposite direction from where she crouched. Her smile faltered as she finally started observing the surroundings of the houses. At that, she just then finally realized the damage they had inflicted on the people; there was fire burning on top of most of the huts. She also realized that there were families that lived here, and they were potentially going to get hurt by the fire...she looked downcast, and contemplated her options.
Stealthily she moved away from where those two were and jumped onto a building near where a fire raged on top of one of the roofs. Nobody was in the house, which satisfied her. Suddenly, she took a long, deep breath and pointed one fingertip to the flames burning the roof. Gradually the smoke that was produced from the fire twirled and absorbed into her fingers. Pointing the other finger out parallel to the direction of the other arm, the smoke trailed out from the arm pointed outwards. The heat continued to redirect off the building as the fire grew smaller and started to extinguished. Once that fire dissipated, she jumped over onto the next building over and did the same thing.
Over time some of the villagers inside the hut watched, mesmerized by her deed she was performing, a great majority of them shocked.
Aang, who was running, heard the steps from the roofs and looked up. His eyes widened in awe as he recognized who was extinguishing the flames from each building. 'Why is she doing this? Isn't she in league with Zuko?' Aang thought to himself, his eyes followed her as she jumped from the building while continuing to put out the flames and save the buildings that threatened to collapse from the fires, seeing sweat trail down the side of her face as he observed closer. He then thought about his last encounter with her when he got captured. She hadn't ratted him out when she could of had, so maybe...
'Maybe she's not like Zuko...'
Akemi landed on the rooftop closest to the statue of Kyoshi and extinguished the flames burning it. As of now, all the flames had been extinguished albeit some of the smoke from the fires lingering in the air coating the atmosphere. But at least none of the houses were going to burn to the ground, she thought with a huff of satisfaction as she landed back onto leveled ground, glad she was able to at least do one good deed despite her array of attacks.
Suddenly, she coughed. Hard. Her hands flew up to her throat as felt some of the smoke in the air she had breathed in infiltrate her lungs, which were already weak since birth. Breathing heavily, more beads of sweat started covering her forehead from overheating, and she felt her lungs grow tighter and tighter and restricting her circulation. She couldn't help it; she dropped down to one knee and keeled over while clawing at her throat as an attempt to try and open up her airways. Of course, these attempts proved to be futile, and seemed to only worsen the problem.
'N..No. Not now! Not when Zuko needs me to fight!' Akemi moved to stand, but found herself too weak to even move from her position without feeling faint.
She lifted her head and suddenly noticed Aang a few feet away from where she stood. Akemi's eyes bore into his as he stared at her, mouth agape, eyes wide. At first, she wondered why he was standing that close of a distance from her and not attacking, but then she asked herself while breathing heavily, 'Should I attack? Or just let him go?'
Akemi's eyes widened when she felt a strong pull in her chest, and gasped as hand a hand flew to it. She felt her lungs constricting even tighter and her breast area tightening, then began coughing more harshly and unrelenting until phlegm was spitting from her mouth. Other hand to her mouth, she suddenly felt something wet and sticky splatter onto it. It was warm. She pulled her hand away and she felt nauseous.
Blood coated her hand. Not much, but...it was still enough to get her terrified.
She felt her vision blurring and felt dizzy. Unable to see straight, she saw the world go blurry and move in slow motions, her hearing fading in and out. Colors shifting and blurring together, she had no sense of which way was which, or whether or not she was still on the ground even. But she heard a voice; through the blurred imagery and her world going topsy-turvy on her, and despite having little to no control of her senses, she could make out the distinct orange and yellow figure closing to her...to be Aang. Through clouded vision she saw his lips moving, and she was able to catch some of his words,
"...You..okay?..."
Akemi could hear the concern in his voice, but her body did the opposite of how she wanted to respond. She shook her head and coughed some more. 'Zuko...' Was the only thing she could think of in desperation. She suddenly felt her body gradually become colder...and colder...and colder...her eyelids started to droop.
In the meantime Zuko was looking for Akemi, he had mentally berated himself for letting the Avatar slip from his grasp again. He knew that he hadn't escaped the island. As he searched the area, he turned up flat with his findings, and looked around at the soldiers who were starting to rouse from their unconsciousness. He let out a disapproving grunt when he rounded another corner and couldn't find the boy. It was then he wondered how Akemi was doing...he hadn't seen her in a while since he ordered her to scout the perimeter.
A part of his mind jerked towards the worst case scenario, but he shook his head. She was fine, she could handle herself. However, that would soon become the biggest lie during which time he rounded another corner of a house. As he turned the corner, his eyes widened in horror when he saw Akemi's hunched over form and distinctly catching something red dripping from between her fingers that covered her mouth. Noises suddenly fell deaf to his ears as his fears had truly become reality, and his hand instinctively grasped for the canteen at his side. The world blurred until she was the only thing in his field of vision, continuing to cough her lungs out.
She was in trouble! This wasn't good, he had to help!
Another figure shifted in her direction, and he recognized by the clothing immediately that it was the Avatar. His mouth parted slightly in anticipation.
He was there! But...he was getting closer to Akemi, who already looked weak and vulnerable from where she was hunched over. His heart skipped a beat when she suddenlly collapsed, unconscious, and the Avatar made a break in her direction. His eyes widened and narrowed intensely, suddenly developing a new-found determination to disperse the situation. Despite what he had vowed to himself before they had arrived here, his mind entirely focused on his friend that was on the verge of dying, with the Avatar suddenly not seeming to be prominent in his train of frantic thoughts as he ran in the direction of him AND his friend. Eyes lit with fury when he saw the boy just a mere foot from the girl, he made a dash towards them, assuming he was probably going to hurt her. 'OVER MY DEAD BODY!'
He screamed at the top of his lungs,
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Aang, hearing his shout, whipped his head around in shock and jumped out of the way with airbending just as Zuko launched a large streak of fire at him, being mindful to not let them lick Akemi's form. Once he landed a few feet away from where he once stood, he was ready to flee. He was ready for Zuko to attack, and expected Zuko to come after him by the sound of his warning shout to stay away from her. Aang assumed that it was because he wanted to be the one to fight him, but...
He came to be utterly bewildered and frozen in his place when Zuko didn't even glance at him as he ran towards Akemi. It was then he noticed the absolute terror the angry prince had in his expression, and the worry...he looked utterly human for the first time since his first encounter with him.
Zuko, in panic mode, threw all caution into the wind as he raced towards his friend. Finally, he dropped to his knees next to Akemi, gently flipping her over onto her back and laid her back on the ground, his shaking hands clawing desperately at the canteen to rip it open. With one hand he then lifted her head up as the other held it up to her mouth swiftly, pouring the tea remedy into her mouth. Once it was empty, he closed her mouth by pushing up her jaw so she wouldn't cough it out; every drop was precious right now. When she finished drinking it, he released her mouth and she suddenly jerked in his arms as she resumed coughing. Gradually, as time passed, her coughing ceased and slowed until her breathing returned to normal. Zuko let out the breath he held in, staring at her as she continued to remain unconscious, overwhelmed with relief when he realized he had made it in time.
From yards away, Aang was just lost throughout the whole thing. His assumptions had been right the first time he'd seen the interaction between them; he cared about her deeply. Wanting to help somehow, despite Zuko being the enemy, he took a step towards them.
However, once Zuko heard the step, his instincts reacted once more and he immediately curled Akemi's head protectively towards his chest with one hand, the other lashing outwards towards Aang; it was dangerously lit with fire, Aang gulped and paused in his tracks. Aang was still as he watched Zuko bare his teeth in his direction, almost daring him to get closer to them. Glancing down, he saw how tightly he held the girl in his arms close to him protectively.
His train of thought was broken by Zuko, who yelled, "GET OUT OF HERE!"
When Aang didn't budge from his spot, Zuko was furious and took this as an intent on getting ready to attack. He launched the flame building up in his hand at him, who dodged out of the way, before he hollered at the top of his lungs,
"LEAVE, NOW!"
Aang shivered in fear at the look and the tone of Zuko's voice. Without having second thoughts, he obliged at the threatening tone and swiftly unfolded his glider and flew away before he could throw another shot of fire in his direction.
Zuko slowly relaxed his arm from where it was outstretch and looked down at Akemi, who was still unconscious. But, she was breathing normally. As he stroked her face with the thumb from the hand holding her head, he thought in anguish, 'I almost lost you...again...' He shut his eyes and bowed his head, the reality crashing down on him. As a large shadow flew overhead, he looked up and frowned; it was the Avatar's bison.
Recollecting his thoughts and the events that led up to this point, he realized again what had just happened: The Avatar had escaped from him. Again. He had let him get away, this time.
And this was because of Akemi; she had been in critical condition, and he'd focused his attention on her health. He would've reprimanded and blamed any other person who would've slowed them down, but...he wouldn't throw Akemi's life away just the small possibility of being able to catch the Avatar. Akemi was worth it, he knew deep down as he picked her up bridal style and carried her back towards one of the rhinos. Once he got on board it, leaning her body against his, her head resting against his shoulders, he urged the rhino back to the ship where the soldiers had long since retreated to due to the Avatar's departure .
The village elder came out of the house and stood in front of the statue of Kyoshi. He smiled; today, he had just witnessed a lot of miracles.