Humming softly Zoe walked with a small bounce in her step, alone along a cliff side of the Western Air Temple. She had not felt this contented in quite a while. Perhaps ever.
She stopped in her place, breathing the sweet air in deeply and taking in her wide, breathtaking surrounds. She nearly did a full circle, when her eyes came across the most incredible sight yet.
One that made blood rush to her cheeks, her head go dizzy and her heart beat a little faster.
Zuko was standing before her, apparently surprised to find her here, completely shirtless.
"Zuko?" blurted Zoe surprised, trying not to look at his smooth, toned chest. "I…uh, what are you doing here?"
Zuko's mouth curled into a small smile at her obvious discomfort at his…nakedness. "I've been training with Aang, I was just heading back to camp." He had his shirt in one hand and a towel in the other, drying his dripping black locks.
Zoe realised he must have taken a bath in the stream near here. Her breathing increased as every little droplet of water from his hair fell, as if in slow motion, onto Zuko's strong shoulders and down that chest of his. "Uuh…I," she cleared her throat and looked away from him, staring at the canopy of blue sky around them instead. "Good, well then, I'll just let you be on your way."
But, he moved closer to her instead, the water seemed to have made his subtle, gingery sent flow off him and it surrounded her, enticed her. "What are you doing here?" He asked huskily.
"Uhm…taking a walk…" she said in an attempt at impassiveness. A strand of her hair blew in front of her face with the wind, but she did not try to move it. Instead Zuko's hand reached out, his fingers lightly brushing her cheek and he tucked the shining strand behind her ear. Zoe took a shaky breath, and then turned to face him. His golden eyes pierced hers and she nearly fainted.
He smiled at her when she looked at him and he wished she would smile too, but she didn't seem like she was going to. Something in her eyes was bothering her. "What's wrong?"
That was an odd question in her opinion, she was quite happy. "Nothing." She said confused.
"You look…" but then he stopped when Zoe stiffened, her head snapping to the edge of the cliff side. "What is it?" he demanded, getting into a stance.
Zoe ran to the edge of the cliff, then her face broke into an enormous smile and she jumped off.
Zuko's heart jumped to his throat, "Zoe!" he cried in shock, fears clogging his mind.
He ran to the edge, only to see Zoe on a smaller crevice just below, kneeling and humming once more. His brow furrowed; what in the world…?
She stood up and Zuko saw her hand was full of daisies that she had just picked. Fluidly she then jumped gracefully back up to the top of the cliff beside Zuko, threading a daisy through her hair.
"I love daisies." She crooned happily.
But, Zuko was not happy. His heart was pounding hard in his ears and suddenly he was furious. "You went jumping of a cliff for some flowers?" He cried outraged, his stomach still flipping at the thought.
Zoe looked at him, surprised by his anger. "Yes." She said, "They're my favourite flower!"
"What would have happened if you lost your balance?" He demanded, "If you fell? Tripped over your own feet? You could have died!"
Zoe struggled not to giggle. "Zuko, I'm an airbender…" she couldn't help herself, a small giggle erupted from her mouth. This merely made Zuko angrier. He flushed slightly in embarrassment that he had forgotten in his moment of fear that she could indeed bend air. "That…" he hissed, "is beside the point!"
Zuko glared at her for a moment, and she stared back, laughter dancing in her eyes. She looked down at the flowers in her hand, then back at Zuko's furious face. She picked one of her nicest daisies and held it out to him.
Zuko looked to the flower being offered to him, and then back to the giver. Fury welled up inside him once more and he stormed past her, ignoring the flower and throwing his arms in the air grumbling angrily. Zoe caught something about, 'infuriating, reckless women'.
She shrugged, turned round and went off to see what else she could find.
That night, Zuko made tea for the group. But, when he came to give it to Zoe he had still obviously not forgiven her for the cliff incident. He glared at her as he passed her the cup.
Zoe smiled innocently. "Thank you, Zuko." She said politely.
"You welcome." He snarled. Then he headed over to hand the last cup to Sokka who was sitting aside from the group, seeming a little off.
Zoe checked that everyone was busy, finished gulping her tea down and then stood up. She yawned, announced that she was off to bed, and then went round the corner. Grinning, she then ran off to the spot she had found earlier that was filled with curious objects and stones. She was going to collect some to show Aang and ask if they ancient air temple artefacts.
She walked over to the outer edge of the cave like room where many roots and vines choked the entrance, carefully she stepped across them; she could see a small chest lodged just out of reach. Then, very suddenly, the vine beneath her feet snapped and in one heart thumping second she fell straight through. Well, nearly. She was caught halfway, her arms pinned to her sides, her clothes completely tangled and her body absolutely stuck, dangling in the roots.
There was nothing she could do. She couldn't move, and her pride would not let her shout for help. So she sat, like an animal caught in a trap for what could have been hours. The sky darkened to pitch around her and she was nearly nodding off herself, despite her awkward position when she heard voices beneath her.
"Why is your war balloon better than taking Appa?" she heard Sokka ask annoyed.
"Because," her heart jumped as she heard Zuko's voice reply, "It's Fire Nation for a start."
Zoe twisted in her trap to try and get a look at the two boys below, but then the vine that had been holding her in place, finally gave way.
With a shriek she fell, flipping over and tumbling through the overgrowth. But, then she was caught with a heart stopping thud an inch from the ground by a tangled vine wrapped around her ankle.
Sokka jumped back in shock, but Zuko only showed his surprise with a brief widening of his eyes. Battling with the urge to laugh or get angry, Zuko crossed his arms at the slowly spinning figure before them.
"More daisies?" he said sternly, his mouth twitching.
Zoe couldn't see them, her skirt had fallen over her head, but she still scowled in mortification and anger. "Just get me down." She snarled.
Zuko obeyed, picking her up and slicing the vine off with a small sizzle of fire.
Sokka raised an eyebrow at the dishevelled looking Zoe, "Uh, what exactly were you doing up there?" he said as Zuko allowed Zoe to stand on her own two feet.
Zoe brushed her self of snobbishly and fixed her hair. "I fell." She said attempting bravado and sticking her nose in the air. Sokka chuckled, but Zuko scowled.
"What did I tell you?" He snapped, "I'm an airbender!" he mocked and Zoe scowled at him. "Airbender or not you could have broken your neck just then!"
"Well I didn't, did I?" replied Zoe childishly.
Zuko growled in frustration, "You're so reckless!" He snarled, "Can't you just try to be careful, for once?" He demanded, "save me from having a heart attack every day?"
Zoe looked at him, as did Sokka. Was he so angry because…he's worried about her?
Zoe looked down guiltily, then to change the subject she said, "Well what are you two doing out here?"
"Nothing." said Sokka quickly.
Zoe raised her eyebrows at him. "Well if you're doing nothing, then I suppose I can come with you?"
"Absolutely not." snarled Zuko, his topaz eyes glistening.
Zoe looked from one to the other, "Well I'll just tell the other's that I saw you two sneaking off then…" she began to walk off, but Sokka grabbed her shoulder.
"Do you promise not to tell the others and let us go in peace if we tell you?" He demanded, and Zoe had never heard him so…serious.
Zoe glanced at Zuko; he was glaring determinedly away from her. She nodded.
"We're going to-"
"Go find some meat. We're going fishing." Cut in Zuko angrily, shooting Sokka a look.
Zoe's face went slack. "I may not be Toph, but I can tell you're lying."
Zuko growled in frustration, "Just go back to bed like a good little girl?"
Zoe felt her blood boil and she turned her icy silver eyes on Zuko. "Oh I'll be a good little girl alright." She hissed menacingly, stalking toward him and grabbing the front of shirt shoving him backward against the wall. Zuko felt a sudden thrill of excitement as she thrust him against the stone behind him. "Don't you ever try to patronize me again." She snarled through her teeth, putting her face right in front of Zuko's.
Then, before she could think of another threatening thing to say, Zuko's lips were on hers, hot and urgent. Zoe felt like she had been struck by lightening as scorching electricity coursed through her veins and her grip on Zuko's shirt tightened. She pulled herself closer, feeling his arms wind themselves around her waist, crushing her to him. Heat pooled in her stomach and she allowed Zuko entrance to her mouth causing him to let out a low growl, pulling her closer than she thought possible. Zoe moaned in pleasure at the new sensations, but then suddenly, she found her self being ripped from them, and thrown aside.
Sokka was standing between them, looking mutinous. Zoe had completely forgotten he was even there. She blushed furiously, but was unable to stop her heavy breathing.
"What are you doing?" He hissed, his blue eyes flashing. "Keep you hands and…." He seemed to struggle for a moment with the word, "…mouth off her!"
Zuko fell back against the wall again, taking a few breaths to steady himself. He struggled not to glare at Sokka, and then turned apologetically to Zoe. "I'm sorry." He said, his eyes locking with hers and it was all he could do to stop himself from pushing Sokka out of the way and picking up where they left off. He turned away quickly, "Come on Sokka." He growled, "We need to get going."
Sokka looked like he was about to argue, but then he glanced at Zoe and thought the better of it. "We'll be back in a few days." He said in a voice that wasn't his own, seeming unable to look Zoe in the eye.
"Zuko, wait!" She called quickly as they both began to walk away.
He turned back to her and flashed her a grin, "We'll be fine." He assured her, "It's just a fishing trip."
Zoe glared at him and he chuckled.
"Don't go on any daisy hunts while I'm gone?" He said and Zoe struggled not to smile.
"Be careful." She said, and Sokka seemed to be barely restraining himself from saying something. "And you too Sokka. No Koy fish; I want you back in one piece." she said smiling at him in what she hoped would be an apologetic smile.
And with that they left and Zoe went back to camp, trying to convince herself that it was only a fishing trip, that they weren't doing anything stupid and reckless.
Nope, she couldn't even lie to herself to save her life; they were up to something.
"You left her!" Stormed Sokka furiously, "You betrayed her back in Ba Sing Se and now you come back and use her for your own-"
"I am not using her!" snapped Zuko, thrusting his hand full of fire into the furnace angrily. "I didn't mean…"
"You didn't mean to start sucking her face off?" cried Sokka like a maniac.
"Look," said Zuko turning to him angrily, "I have enough of this from your sister, can't we just focus on the mission at hand?"
Sokka seethed silently for a moment. "She's been hurt enough by you." He said finally, this time softer. "I don't want to see her go through that again."
"I will never leave her again." hissed Zuko icily.
"Sure…" sneered Sokka, "unless your honour is at stake…"
Zuko thrust another angry blast of Fire into the engines furnace. "Look, I know I have made a lot of mistakes in the past-"
Sokka snorted and Zuko scowled, but then he heard Sokka sigh. "Alright," said Sokka in a manly business like voice, "I won't bring it up again." He said and Zuko looked at him shocked, "right now I mean." Zuko nearly sighed, "Let's just…concentrate on getting to the boiling rock."
"Zoe, you're a mess." stated Katara that morning. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Oh…sort of." said Zoe, glancing at her uneasily.
"Did you see Sparky and Snoozles heading off on their fishing trip?" asked Toph suddenly.
"No…" Said Zoe weakly, trying not to display any emotion, technically that was the truth; Zoe didn't believe that they were going on a fishing trip. Toph didn't say anything else, her face confused.
"You've got scratches all over your arms!" noted Katara, shocked, and then she frowned. "How did you get like this?" she asked accusingly.
Zoe sighed, "I fell." She admitted, flushing and Katara pooled water over her hands, shaking her head. "Oh they're just cuts." snapped Zoe, "You don't need to heal them." but, nonetheless Katara bended the water over her skin, clearing the scratches immediately.
"Aang?" said Zoe, looking over to the boy who was currently doing hot squats. "Can we do some airbending training today?"
"Yes!" he said immediately stopping the squats. "Let's go right now!"
"Aang…" started Katara disapprovingly.
"It's good to keep up my practice on every element Katara!" he said quickly, giving her a large innocent smile. She shook her head, but a small smile formed on her lips. Zoe grinned and the two airbenders hurried off and launched into a flying, speeding airbending session.
Sokka had never felt quite so at home aboard a Fire Nation flying war ship. He glanced over to his father whom was currently talking to Chit Sang then to Suki who stood by his side. He smiled at her then told her would be right back and walked up the boy who stood alone, looking out to sea.
"Hey Zuko." He said.
"Hey."
"I just wanted to say…thanks." Said Sokka, placing a hand on Zuko's back appreciatively. "I couldn't have done this without you."
Zuko smiled, "No problem. I'm glad we found your father."
"Me too." agreed Sokka, then he looked down hesitantly, "And uh…there's something else I wanted to say."
"What is it Sokka?" Though Zuko was pretty sure he knew what it was about.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you about Zoe." He said, still looking down. "I reckon you've changed and…I'll stay off your guys backs from now on."
"Thanks Sokka." Said Zuko seriously, "but, I'm sorry for…kissing her like that…right in front of-"
"Yeah, yeah I know!" Said Sokka quickly, raising his hands, "please don't remind me!" Zuko grinned; this was more the Sokka he'd been getting used to. "Next time just don't do it in front of me. And uh…maybe take things a little slowly."
Zuko looked down, "I don't think there will be a next time…"
"What?" said Sokka confused, "but-"
"She probably hates me again for doing that." He sighed regretfully.
Sokka looked at him as if he were mad. "The girl's in love with you."
And Zuko really wanted to believe what he said. But, how could she? After everything he had done?
He sighed and looked back out to sea. "You should tell her Zuko." said Sokka seriously, and then he patted him on the back once more and left to check the steering of the ship.
Zuko's stomach twisted uncomfortably. How could he even face her after that kiss? What would she do if he told her how he felt?
A/N thankyouuuu! For your reviews! And thank very, very, very much to my anonymous reviewers too! You guys all made my day :D Now I have a question...Tokka or Sukka?