Life of Air

Chapter 15

Discovering New Feelings

Upon returning to the beach house it was rather late and everyone took their leave to go to bed, everyone except Zuko and I that is. Once the house was quiet and the coast was clear, Zuko and I both left our rooms and met up in the hallway. I used a little bit of my bending to soften our steps as we escaped out to the beach. Finally away from the house I couldn't hold in my giggles any longer.

"Oh what would the others say if they knew we were out like this?" I asked, circling my partner in crime with a gust of wind under my feet.

Zuko grabbed my hands as I allowed him to catch me from the little tornado I had been making around him, he smiled at me and pulled me in closer to wrap his arms around my body. I rested in his embrace, laying my hands and cheek on his chest.

"I doubt they would say much of anything." Zuko whispered in my ear, making my skin tingle.

It was an intoxicating sensation, to be held so gently in the arms of the person you care so deeply for. Zuko set my body on fire in ways I didn't know could happen, it frightened me but it also excited me. There were other girls close to my age in my tribe who would talk about all the wonderful things they'd do with their lovers and boyfriends, there was only a small group to choose from but the girls had plenty of experience with them. I would listen occasionally, trying to socialize as my mother told me to, but their stories only reminded me of what I couldn't have so I didn't stick around very long.

Now, being held by the prince of the Fire Nation, their stories came back to me. I thought of the way they were touched and the way they touched their lovers. My face seemed to grow even warmer at the thought but I knew these were the things Zuko must have done with other girls. We had only talked about it once but he did have a girlfriend before he left to join the Avatar, so it seemed only logical to me that he had experienced that type of affection. Not wanting to disappoint him, I built up the courage to try an act of physical love I had heard of, lifting myself on my toes slowly and pressing my lips to his neck. It seemed I was getting the reaction I was hoping for because Zuko let out a slow breath and gently rubbed my back and the back of my neck. As I continued I realized this was doing more for myself than I would have originally thought it would and I relished in the feeling of pleasure that came from pleasing.

Feeling braver I continued my kisses, softly placing them all over his neck and moving slowly up the his chin. I pulled back a little and Zuko released his hold on me just enough to let me put my head up to look into his eyes. His expression was so calm but his eyes held his deep burning fire which I would never be able to miss. In a heartbeat his lips were on mine and I felt myself falling to the warmth of his movements. We kissed over and over again, barely catching air in between, and our arms were wrapped tightly around each other. All the while Zuko had been guiding our bodies over to a large log on the sand and I didn't realize until I almost fell back tripping over it and breaking our kiss, but Zuko had such a tight hold on my body that there was no way I was going down. He pulled me back up and leaned his forehead against mine, breathing deep.

"Would... would you like to... sit?" Zuko asked in between breaths.

I nodded, not being able to find the words, and Zuko gently pulled us down to sit on the log. With how close we were standing we were nearly as close sitting, the sides of our hips pressed together while our upper halves were turned in toward each other as we still clung to one another. Zuko slowly combed his fingers through my braid, easing the strands apart to flare over my back. I shook my head a little as he did that, allowing my long hair to flow around me. We pulled apart just enough to look at one another and we both seemed to have trouble fighting our smiles. Zuko tucked a bit of hair behind my ear and then laid his hand on my cheek.

"Not that I would complain but umm... what brought that on?" He asked, rubbing my cheek gently with his thumb.

I look down and grinned from embarrassment, trying hard to hide my inexperience. "We're.. together, Zuko... I just wanted to make you happy... but it felt like... my body reacted to it so well that I couldn't... help myself."

The prince then pulled my gaze back up to his with a finger under my chin. "Iyashi, you make me happy by being near me, no matter what we do." His serious tone softened as he continued to speak. "While I never want you to do anything for just my happiness, I am glad to know you... enjoyed yourself with it." He then placed a kiss against my temple. "And it would make me... so happy to return it."

His words were like ribbons tied around my heart and I felt my chest growing tighter and tighter. I couldn't help but feel for this man, he was more than I could have ever asked for. And with the overwhelming joy I found myself kissing him this time, with more passion and care than before. Zuko responded so gently at first, caressing my cheek and back, until his movements became more desperate as our mouths opened together and the heat of our tongues took center stage in our kisses. It was the most wonderful feeling I had ever experienced and I never even knew it was something I could do.

While I imagine we could have stayed that way all night and never slept, Zuko pulled away gently and rested his head on my shoulder, suggesting softly that we slow down in a whisper to my ear. I nodded, heat rising even further to my cheeks, as I realized this was not what we had actually sneaked out to do. We were there to talk, and talk we did. But we held each other as well.

"Zuko... can I ask... how do you feel now about the... person you were with before?" I asked, looking out at the slowly moving tide. We had changed positions, I sat between his leg and had my back against his chest while his arms were wrapped around me, his chin resting atop my head.

"Mai?" He asked, then sighed. "I feel... the same I guess. I cared about her, I still care about her, but she isn't the person I find myself drawn to..."

Zuko trailed and I could feel he was holding something back or perhaps trying hard to choose his words. To gently encourage him, I rubbed in hands slowly. "Go on.. please."

There was another sign released from his lips and I waited while he gathered the words. "We didn't talk about this and I didn't know how to talk about this because I wasn't even planning to tell you to begin with and now I feel like I'm lying to you somehow."

"Lying to me? About what?" I urged gently, a hint of fear seeping into my heart.

"When Sokka and I went to the Boiling Rock, the prison... Mai was there. Her uncle is the warden and told her I was there so she came to talk to me." He answered softly, as though testing the waters.

I still couldn't bring myself to turn my head and look back at his face. "And what did she want to talk about?"

"The letter I wrote her and the fact that I left after we had had a huge fight." He said, his voice trailing off as though his mind was going back into that memory. "Mai didn't understand why I was doing this and why I left her by herself."

"Did she need protecting?" I asked, honestly curious.

He chuckled then and I felt him shake his head. "No, not physically at least. She was able to hold her own in a battle, that's for sure. But she was also struggling with things I couldn't... help her with. We tried, trust me, we did but... caring for her wasn't enough."

I took in the new information, letting it soak into my mind as I came to terms with the fact that Zuko had a very complicated relationship with someone and it was more serious than anything I had experienced before. "I wonder how she'll do on her own... if she needs you."

I felt the firebender shrug. "Mai doesn't need me, she needs to rely on herself and her own feelings instead of searching for something inside... someone else. I think she's figured that out. She protected us, that day, and I think she finally forgave me for running away which I'm grateful for. But I hope when this is over I'll be able to see her finding her own way instead of following behind my sister like she was."

"I hope I can meet her." I said, finally allowing myself to look back at Zuko. "You care about her and that means... I do too. I want to be able to help you support her in whatever she needs."

Then I felt Zuko kiss the top of my head. "You're too good for this world, you know. Most girls would be jealous, heck I was jealous of some girl Mai was talking to at a party once."

My eyebrow rose. "Some girl? Why were you jealous?"

Zuko smiled sadly and looked away. "I watched Mai's eyes light up... in ways I couldn't make happen. And that's when I realized I wasn't going to be enough for her no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help her." He then looked at me and gave my temple a kiss. "That's for the best though, I met you. When I saw her that day I realized how different my feelings for her were from my feelings for you... and how I was feeling for you out of more than just care and obligation, it was deeper. I was drawn to you, Iyashi, more than anyone I've ever met. I hope you believe that."

I nodded and returned his smile. "I believe you... because I know that feeling now too."

Zuko only smiled down at me but then his expression darkened and he looked out the the water. I waited, knowing he'd speak to me about whatever was weighing on his mind when he found the right words.

"Iyashi... are you planning to fight?"

I looked down at my feet and wiggled them a little, trying hard to contain my nervousness. "I plan to, but that doesn't mean I feel good about it. But the others don't seem too concerned so I'm sure I shouldn't be so worried. Things can't get worse than they are now and I believe in Aang being able to restore balance when the time is right."

"We have to defeat my father before the comet, Iyashi... or the world is going to be consumed in fire."

I shrugged and turned to catch Zuko's gaze. "Hasn't that already happened? Aang said that the Earth Kingdom was taken and that was the largest battle that had to be faced. What else can be taken away? The Water Tribes?"

"It's about to get much worse than just losing in battle... I haven't told the others about this. Just before I left there was a war meeting where my father announced his plan to use the comet to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground. He plans to destroy their hope by destroying everything around them." Zuko squeezed his arms around me tighter and I saw the pain on his face. "I couldn't speak up then, but I can't let this happen. We have to defeat him."

I reached my hand up to Zuko's face and he locked eyes with me. "Then we will defeat him and stop this from happening. That comet destroyed my people, we didn't have the chance to fight back but now we do. We will defeat him, Zuko, I know we will."

Zuko closed his eyes and rested his face into my palm, I could tell the burden of the knowledge of the Fire Lord's horrible plan had been lifted from his shoulders and now we shared the weight together. Even knowing Zuko would protect me, I was still very aware of the fear that had taken hold of my heart. No matter how much faith I had in my comrades, the idea of failure terrified me. Not only did this small group of teens hold our own fates... we held the fate of the world.

The next day while everyone trained I sat on top of the roof of the beach house and watched them, sketching. Though I had intended to sketch the entire group, my inspiration was drawn to the firebender below just as my heart was. As my charcoal moved over the pages I found myself drawing him over and over again. On one page I'd focus on his eyes, the intensity in them as he trained, and on the next I'd draw his body as he moved between bending techniques. Even just drawing the man made my body burn, but the fact that he was down on the beach releasing intense bursts of flame around him certainly didn't help to cool me down.

Though I tried to distract myself with my artwork, the weight of what Zuko had told me still clung to me. My faith in my own abilities was starting to lack and I wondered if there was going to be anything I could actually contribute to the battle. With a deep breath I decided to join everyone down on the beach and train along with them, so I stuffed my art supplies in my bag and used my staff to fly down to the group.

"Looking for a close up view, Iyashi?" Aang asked me with a wide smile, breaking his stance much to Zuko's annoyance.

I smiled sheepishly. "Not this time. I just figured that I might need a little... different training than I've received before. Maybe you guys wouldn't mind helping me?"

Aang rubbed the back of his neck. "Well I mean if you want to, you don't have to fight you know. If anyone understands how hard it is for you to have to go into a battle it's going to be me."

I shook my head. "No, I need to fight, I need to help however I can. Please," I looked to Zuko then, "help me get strong enough to protect everything I care about."

Zuko nodded. "She should know more about battle if she's going to be stepping into one."

Aang released a sigh then gave me a weak smile. "Alright, have it your way."

"Good!" I said, jumping into the air a little with a soft landing. "Now fight me with fire, it's not like I'm going to be facing any airbenders out there."

Zuko and Aang looked at each other and nodded, both dropping into a stance. I followed suit, tossing my bag aside and pointing my staff towards them. They came at me with quick fire blasts but it was easy for me to dodge since evading attacks was the lifeblood of an airbender. I spun my staff and started creating a mini tornado, hoping to catch the boys in it. They held their ground and tried to go around the tornado but had to fight off objects that were flying towards my tornado, like sand and sticks. Once I figured they were rather confused I release the tornado and hopped above them, using my staff to send a strong blast of air to their backs. Zuko was taken down by it but Aang was not, airbending out of the way on instinct.

Once Zuko took to his feet again I noticed he was holding his arm for a few seconds before he went back into position and countered my attack. Just as I used my air to calm his fire I saw what made him hold his arm, blood dripping down from a large gash in his flesh, probably from something he fell on. Something inside my chest tightened and I felt my head get heavy before everything went dark.

Zuko's POV

Just as I was about to release another blast at Iyashi, sure she'd find a way around it as always, I noticed she wasn't protecting herself anymore and was floating right towards me. Her feet hit the sand and she slowly walked in my direction. The glazed look in her eyes confused me but it felt familiar as well.

"Iyashi? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I asked, trying to get something from her rather than that blank expression.

Before answering she gripped my wounded arm tight, making me wince, but it wasn't the sweet voice of the airbender that I had become so used to that came from her lips. "This is what struck her heart with such fear? A scratch to her beloved?"

"What is she talking about?" Aang asked me as he joined us.

I shook my head. "This isn't... Iyashi."

A laugh unfamiliar to the airbender I cared for escaped her lips as her glazed over eyes finally met my gaze. "We are her soul, her power, her future. We are Iyashi as much as she is, more so." She then glared down at my arm and squeezed it again. "We do not exist for this. But we will for today."

Slowly a gust of wind wrapped around her hand along with my arm and I felt the pain fade just as the wind did. When she removed her hand the blood was there but the wound had disappeared and I no longer felt the pain. I looked back up at Iyashi's face and started to reach for her but she quickly grabbed my hand.

"Do you intend to bring her back?" The voice said from Iyashi's mouth, practically teasing me.

I glared into her glazed over eyes. "What are you and where is Iyashi?"

"Hey guys don't fight!" Aang started to try to get between us but Iyashi sent a blast of air at the Avatar, so strong it knocked even him off his feet. Then she laughed, again with a sound I didn't recognize from her.

"We will tell her and she will tell you, that we are sure of. Just keep her body safe."

Then her eyes shut and I watched as her body fell limp but I caught her quick before she could crash into the sand below.

A/N - Enjoying writing more and exploring the relationship between Iyashi and Zuko. Here is a little extra info that doesn't really matter to the story, just a bonus fact: Iyashi is demisexual. If you're unsure what that is, it means she doesn't feel sexual attraction without first having a strong emotional connection with someone. The connection she had with Zuko was almost instant and then it grew and grew and this opened up very new doors for her that she previously thought were shut.

There will be more info on Iyashi's stange abilities and whatever is taking over her body in the next chapter, I hope you tune in to see what happens. :)