Blood Benders
Chapter 14,
Better Left Alone
Suki paced. She was worried. Sokka was gone. They had some quest they felt they had to complete. Had to leave. Would be back within a few months, if they were lucky. But it could be as much as six months. She could send messengers after him. But that was risky. Even if she trusted her girls. Interception was a big problem. She couldn't very well leave herself. There was too much to do.
It was a thorn in her side. What was she supposed to do? Was it even worth mentioning? They knew she was on assignment. Didn't know where, and it was supposed to be like that. That was how that ridiculous league worked. But something didn't sit right. Katara had vehemently denied any ties to Suki. It was odd. Wrong.
Her knee was bouncing out of rhythm. What to do, what to do.
She rolled her shoulders back. She was unnecessarily stressing about all of this. Writing down her next orders, Suki decided. It wasn't important enough to go out of her way. If she remembered when they came back, she would mention it. They probably didn't want to know. She wasn't sure what would happen if they found out. Her eyes widened. Consequences. Right, she couldn't tell them. Couldn't risk it.
…
Zuko wasn't sure what her problem was. She hadn't come out of her room all day. He'd knocked, and she had told him to go away. At first, he was afraid. Was she hurt? Upset? Mad at him? For what?
Then, when she refused food, he became worried that it was something else. He had knocked several times. After the second time, she stopped answering. And he was much too gentlemanly to break down the door. At the moment.
By late afternoon, he could hear her the chittering of her lemur. It sporadically came and went. At the moment, he could hear her saying something to it. Her voice was low and sorrowful. It was then that he burnt the lock on her door and let himself in.
"Katara, what's going on?"
She looked him. Her eyes looked awful. She'd clearly been crying. Sobbing. Hurting, alone in this room.
"It's nothing. Please leave me alone." She tried to wipe her face.
"Did you remember something?"
Her lip trembled, "Please leave." She asked again.
"Katara, you know I'm here, right? You can talk to me."
"Get out. I won't ask again."
He sat next to her and tried to put an arm around her. She shook it off and lashed an arm at him. He expected to be hit, and was shocked when he went flying out of the room. Water pushed him out, and ice glued him to the wall. She quickly shut the door and he could hear her blowing ice on it. He shook his head. As if her solid- he noted pleasantly- ice could hold him. The liquid made a small puddle and he put a hot hand on her door. When he opened it, he expected to be hit again. That was not the case. Her room was empty, the window left open.
He sighed. Why was she so bent on being left alone?
He spotted a book poorly hidden underneath her pillow. He picked it up. The first page had 'Memories' written on it. There were only three pages sparsely filled.
'Boy and I playing with water'
'Woman (mom?) and I sewing'
'Penguins'
Zuko flipped to the last page, which was only a flip away.
'Woman killed in front of me and boy. Sadness'
Zuko looked back at the window. Some things just weren't meant to be talked about. At least not during the first hurt. Sometimes you have to let it scar first, before you can even think about it.
Zuko knew about hurt.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I'm feeling awfully loved!
(And did you notice how the last three chapters were D's? I didn't until just now...)
As for next week. Ah, school lets out. I promise that I will try and restrain myself and only post...two maybe three chapters. I'm up to like...21 in my writings, and I'm quite anxious to get them out. I'm ready for you all to be caught up with me!
Also. I would love to get some messages with your favorite character quotes. I want to work them in, no da? So, if you feel like being heard, lemme know. ^_^