Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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Chapter Twenty-One: Secrets
Zuko woke up before sunrise that morning, something he hadn't done in a while. He saw Katara on the side of him; his arms weren't around her, though. He'd rather them be, but he swung his legs over the bed and stood up. He would wash up before the others and maybe talk to the owner of the place later. Their three nights were up; maybe he could talk the price down a little. He sighed as he walked into the hallway.
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Everyone was awake and ready now. It had been several hours since Zuko was awake alone. He liked it better that way. He never got to talk to the owner, he had all day. They decided to spend the day together, all six of them.
"Let's go somewhere to eat!" Sokka said.
"We just at e less than a half hour ago." Zuko responded. They had been getting along pretty descent all morning, to everyone's surprise.
"Well, I'm hungry." He had his hands on the back of his head as he walked. It was a relief to have everyone get along.
"What else is new?" Katara rolled her eyes as she spoke.
"Guys, why don't we…um…I don't know what we should do." Aang said, a little embarrassed that he opened his mouth while having no idea what to say.
"How about we find a place to practice bending?" Toph suggested.
"Um…hello? Group activity." Sokka said.
"Oh, yeah. Snoozled is a non-bender." Toph smirked.
"Look, there has to be something to do in this town." Zuko looked around. It was a giant empty town.
"Hey, today's our last day at that place! We should get our things." Katara stopped and spoke.
"I could pay for a few more days." Zuko said.
"No, guys, I forgot to tell you yesterday. I saw this place that had three rooms and they were all half the price!" Sokka exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air while doing so.
"You couldn't have told me earlier?" Zuko glared.
"Well, sorry. Let's go get out things!" Sokka walked off, the others followed. They walked into the shop to see their things in a pile on the floor.
"Uh…is this our stuff?" Sokka asked the old man.
"Yes, I rented your rooms out this morning. I figured I'd get your things out before they went through them."
"Oh, thanks!" Everyone picked up their bags, but Zuko stopped before walking out the door. His bag was unusually lighter. Everyone faced him. He opened his bag, keeping his mask out of the other's sigh, and began frantically looking through it. He found all his money gone. He walked up to the man and with one hand, pinned him to the wall by his collar. He was a few inched off the ground.
"Where is my fucking money?" Zuko asked in a dangerously low voice.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The man was strangely calm with a smirk on his face.
"Tell me or I'll-"
"I only stole from a thief. I think that what you had was about the award the Fire Nation is willing to pay for the Blue Spirit." The man's smirk widened as he whispered. Zuko dropped him, wide-eyed.
"You went through our shit?" He calmed himself a little.
"It doesn't matter. Just leave or I'll tell your friends and the Fire Nation." The man replied. Zuko quickly walked passed the others and out the door.
"That guy took your money? Why didn't you take it back?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah, Zuko, what did he say to you?" Aang was just as curious.
"Sparky, your hearts thumping pretty fast." Toph was being serious. Katara and Iroh were silent. They waited for a response they thought would never come.
"It's nothing! God dammit! Just get off my ass!" He stopped and yelled, and then he continued walking. Everyone stared at him for a moment before following. He continued his quick pace.
"Whatever you say. There's that place!" Sokka yelled as he pointed to a meat shop.
"You would find somewhere in a meat shop." Katara laughed.
"We have those silver coins still. The rooms cost three a piece. So that's…one, two, three-"
"Nine for one night." Zuko finished.
"I would've gotten it! But how are we going to pay? I was relying on Flame Boy's prince fund." Sokka said.
"Tell the man we'll pay for tonight with the five coins. We'll pay him the rest tomorrow, if we don't, he can send the army after us." Zuko said.
"How will you come up with the money, Zuko?" Aang asked.
"Don't worry about it." Zuko walked inside with Sokka. Katara gave him a confused look and Iroh nodded in disappointment. They, along with Aang and Toph, waited outside.
"The guy totally believed us!" Sokka yelled as he ran out.
"They should. We are paying." Zuko kept a stern face. He was still pissed about the old man taking his money. "There are three different rooms. Two beds in each." Zuko finished.
"Well, me and Toph will share again." Sokka said. Katara thought about it. She really wanted to share with Zuko again, but how did she say it without causing an argument onn such a good day?
"I'll share with-" Aang was cut off.
"I'll share with Zuko!" Katara blurted out. She knew Aang wanted to share with her. She also knew he still really liked her.
"Whatever." Zuko said as he walked back inside. He wasn't in a good mood, and didn't want to hear Sokka lecture his sister while his uncle and Toph grinned at him. Surprisingly, Katara was thinking the same thing as she followed him almost immediately. Aang frowned, Sokka gave a confused stare, and Toph and Iroh smirked. They looked at each other and nodded.
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They reached their room, which was similar to their old one. Zuko threw his bag on a bed. Katara remembered they wouldn't be sharing again and sighed.
"Zuko…" Katara tried to start a conversation.
"Why did you kiss me?" Zuko asked. He wasn't looking at her, he was going through his things, but it still caught her off guard. She stared at him, stunned, before answering.
"I-I…don't know." She looked to her feet. He frowned at her response. He sat on the edge of his bed and leaned forward to face her.
"You don't know?" He asked.
"Well…it just seemed, I don't know…right. At the time, anyway." She blushed. He never seemed so determined for answers from her before.
"At the time?" His expression frightened her. He seemed angry.
"Well, yeah." She looked up to him. His eyes went soft. He looked a little upset by her answer. She was, too. She wanted that kiss to be so much more, but it couldn't. It was a thank you kiss. She just thanked him; she didn't want to kiss him like that…right? She sighed. That one kiss complicated their friendship, kind of like the kiss she had with Aang.
"Oh, Ok." Zuko placed the bag under his bed and walked out. Once again, lost in his thoughts.
He seemed kind of…hurt. She thought to herself.
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The rest of the day everyone spent in their rooms. Iroh was telling Aang his life story, literally (sorry Aang), while Toph and Sokka sat and talked. Zuko was gone most of the day, leaving Katara to herself. Suddenly, he came back. It was just about sundown. He just nodded at her.
"We should get some sleep." He said as he pulled his shirt off and pulled down the blanket. Katara blushed.
He's so…built. She shook her head. No! No no, no! I'm just…confused. Yeah, confused.
"Yeah…ok." She thought about it for a minute. He had a smirk on his face. She had been subconsciously staring at him. "S-sorry." She mumbled as she looked down.
"For what?" He still held his smug look as he lay on his bed.
Is he really going to make me say I was gawking at him? Jerk…
"Earth to Katara."
"Oh, for, uh… never mind. It's not important." She quickly went under her blankets. It felt weird since he wasn't there.
"Girls are freaking crazy…" He sighed as he rolled over and faced her in her bed.
"No, boys are confusing." She smiled.
"It's like I told you, good thing I'm not a boy." He smiled back.
"Zuko, do you think we could…" She didn't know how to ask.
"If you promise your brother won't flip the fuck out on me."
"Such a bad mouth." She stood up. "And if he does, I'll flip out on him." He pushed over for her to lay next to him.
"Flip the fuck out." He whispered in her ear. She turned to face him, he drew his head closer to her until their lips met. His tongue passed through her lips. She was in shock, but returned the kiss. He quickly backed away, realizing what he just did. They were both blushing and staring. Neither knew what to say.
"Why did you kiss me?" She smiled.
"I don't know." He stared at the wall across from them.
Did he just? No…he's juts so… Katara felt rage. Did he do that just to humiliate her? She sat up.
"Calm down, I did it because I wanted to." He smiled as he lay in his bed. She blushed, she felt a little embarrassed. She lay back down at his side. He wrapped his arms around her and she smiled as she leaned into his embrace. He sighed. Tonight he had to leave to get the money. He just wanted to sleep straight through the night knowing he was holding her. He waited for her to fall asleep.
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It was at least midnight when Zuko got up. Katara was still in his arms. He carefully let her go and climbed over her. He looked over his shoulder as he walked to the bag to make sure she was asleep, she was. He dug out his black, stealthy clothes and quickly threw them on. He went in his bag and pulled the mask out. He smiled. He grabbed his duo swords and quietly crept out the window.
Zuko quietly crept through the dark allies of the town. There were only a few people out, probably bums and criminals. He was one of the criminals. He couldn't go to the man who robbed him; he already knew who he was. The town wasn't exactly big. Beggars can't be choosers, then again, he never considered himself a beggar. He saw the jewelry shop, where the woman really ripped him off. He smirked behind his mask. It was a small shop, one story, so nobody should be there. He crept through the doorway. As he began quietly moving things around, looking for the money, someone came out from a room in the back.
"Hey, You!" The man yelled. Zuko rolled his eyes, he wasn't even armed. Zuko pinned him to a wall, he crossed his swords at the man's neck. He couldn't talk; he might give too much away.
"W-what are you doin' with those, Son?" The man asked, Zuko didn't respond. "OK, the silver coins are in the back, she takes all the gold with her, I don't know where she keeps it, though." The man replied nervously. Zuko nodded and backed the swords away from his neck. He followed him to the back room, keeping his swords ready in case the man tried anything.
"OK, here you go." The man gave a bag of coins to Zuko, his hand trembling. Zuko nodded and tucked away his weapons. He walked out of the shop and carefully made his way back to his room.
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Zuko slowly crept back through the window. It ended up being Iroh and Aang's room. He removed his mask and made his way for the door. It squeaked open.
"Zuko?" Iroh mumbled.
"Yes, Uncle?" Zuko asked from the doorway. His uncle was still facing the wall with his eyes closed.
"What do you need?" Iroh asked, half asleep.
"I thought I heard something and came to check on you." Zuko lied. He hated doing that, he had always been honest, but he needed to.
"OK, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Uncle." Zuko slowly closed the door before letting out a sigh of relief.
"The damn Blue Spirit…" Iroh mumbled after Zuko closed the door.
"Sup, Sparky?" Toph appeared in the hallway. He waited for her to say something, but then he remembered she was blind. He slapped his forehead.
"Nothing, I'm going to sleep." Zuko quickly paced to his and Katara's room.
"Just relax; it's not nice to lie to your uncle, Sparky. He can read you like a book." Toph walked the opposite way to her room. Zuko sighed. He quietly opened his door. Katara was still sleeping. He quickly changed back to what he was sleeping in and stuffed his mask in the bag. He wasn't caught, at least he hoped. He climbed back over Katara.
"Zuko?" She asked with her eyes closed.
"Yes?" He wrapped his arms back around her.
"Where'd you go?" She still had her back faced to him.
"Nowhere. Don't worry about it." She yawned and nuzzled into his embrace. He smiled. As long as she didn't learn where he really was, he was OK. This was his little secret. He fell asleep.
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They kissed. THE END. Nah, I'm lying. Yes, I am a jerk, sorry guys. So, how long will it be remain unknown? Iroh knows where Zuko went, I need to bring Azula back to the offensive. They need to leave this town too. Hmm…..how am I going to do all this? Don't worry, though. There's still plenty of time left in this story.