"Seriously? That's what you two talked about?" Zuko's head is cradled in his hands and dropped down between his knees as Toph berates him. "I can't believe you two idiots."
"Toph, don't be mean." At least Aang's on my side. "I mean, you guys didn't really talk at all and you both came to the wrong conclusion, so there is that." Or maybe not.
"Guys, please," he looks up at his friends, their glowing eyes trained on his. "I know I'm a dumbass, alright? You really don't have to keep telling me. But she said it didn't mean anything, so what else am I supposed to do? I'm not going to push her, I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable, so… that's that. There's nothing else I can do." Aang's eyes shine with sympathy, but Toph's just roll in her head.
"It'll be okay Zuko." Aang pulls him up by the hand and gives him a quick hug. "You guys'll work it out. I know you will." He wishes that he had that same faith in himself, but there's just not enough confidence in him to scrape together into anything useful.
Aang and Toph head back to the tents, leaving him with his thoughts on the edge of their camp. His two friends had interrupted him in the middle of his kata, but he doesn't have the will power to start up again after their taxing conversation. Apparently he hasn't been doing a great job of hiding his sour mood, and Toph had come to knock some sense into him, followed closely by Aang, whose kind words never fail to soothe the latter's harsh truths. But how did they expect him to feel? He jogs farther out into the woods, his pace soon becoming that of an all out sprint before he's forced to come to a panting halt next to a clear stream. Why did I kiss her? Why did I have to fuck everything up again? He's pathetic; his father had always told him such, and as much as he doesn't want to believe it, it feels truer by the day. Just get over it! Stop acting like a whiny baby! Tears sting his good eye, and he launches back into his kata, anger and hurt fueling the raging flames that fly from his fists and feet. Emotion swells inside him, and just when he feels like he's going to explode, he tilts his head back and lets it all out. A shout rips from his throat, a wounded animal lashing out inside of him, some pained combination of a wail and a roar dragging fire up from his gut and pushing it out of his mouth, propelling massive flames into the sky until his lungs scream for air. Pebbles crunch beneath his knees when he drops to the ground, but the pain doesn't even register over the hollow ache in his chest.
Xx
The sun hangs heavy in the autumn sky, the yellow heat just enough to stave off the ever-present chill that rides through on the breeze. The group is relaxed as they travel along the beaten road, but Zuko's senses have been itching all day, something lurking just on the periphery of his awareness tugging at his concentration. He knows that Suki is on alert as well, and through a series of looks he and Sokka had silently communicated the approaching danger. Whoever it is, they're close, and they'll be making their move soon.
"Something's moving through the trees," Toph says, and stops in the middle of the road, turning bodily towards the dense forest just off the path as she slides into a low stance. This is it.
He's glad that he had spent so much time perfecting Katara's reflexes all those months ago, otherwise the man that swings out of the forest would have barrelled right into her. In a flash there are more than a dozen people around them, having materialized from the trees faster than he could even keep track of. Zuko's dao are in his hands in an instant, and he charges towards the man who had almost hit Katara. He prefers using his dao in tight spaces; fire isn't nearly as controllable as a blade, and when the man turns around with two hook swords, he's glad that he's had years to train with them.
"There you are." The man has a wild look in his eyes and a slit for a smile where a single piece of wheat sticks out from between his teeth. "I've been looking for you." Zuko bats away one of the man's hooks and tries to attack, but the man is fast, and he catches Zuko's other blade and twists his own around it to knock his attack off course. "You know, there's a massive bounty on your head." He says it so nonchalantly, as if they aren't trading blows with deadly weapons and instead are just taking a stroll through the woods. The man comes at him with a series of vicious horizontal cuts that has Zuko backpedaling as he parries.
"Yeah, I bet there is." He feints right, and as the man shifts his body to follow, Zuko switches left, and just barely grazes his opponent's leg. This guy is good. "But you're not getting it."
The sounds of his companions fighting their own battles permeates the air, grunts and clashing metal harmonizing with crashing water and crushing rock, a violent backdrop to the music of his own swords. The two men hack and slash at one another, the feral smile on his attacker's face cluing Zuko in to the fact that this man absolutely intends to kill him right here and right now. They twist and turn around each other, taking turns advancing on one another as sweat starts to bead on the back of Zuko's neck. The man clearly isn't trained, but he's wild and unpredictable, and he's got Zuko on his toes, his friends fading away in the background as his attention is sapped by the fight. They trade blow after blow, and it's not long before Zuko is bleeding from multiple shallow wounds on his arms and legs, the other man looking just as worse for wear. He finally knocks one of the man's hook swords out of his grasp, but one of his own soon follows and flies off somewhere out of Zuko's sight.
"Just give up!" The man comes at him with powerful blows, and Zuko tries desperately to think of a way to stop the man's attacks without killing him. "If I don't kill you, there's a whole army right behind me that will!" This catches Zuko off guard, and he's just a second too late in jumping back, his hesitance resulting in the man's hook tearing his shirt and dragging a shallow cut across his abdomen. His attacker lets his guard down for a split second in his hubris, believing that Zuko will be stunned by the superficial wound, but he's made a dire mistake. Zuko takes advantage of the man's misplaced optimism and surges forward, the heel of his boot connecting with the man's ribs and shoving him to the ground.
"What army?" It's hard for him to push the words out between his heavy breaths with his body sore and exerted from the taxing fight as he stands over the violent stranger.
"The King of Ember has his whole army mobilizing just days behind us!" The heart pounding in his chest stutters as the man's words. "I can't imagine they want you for the reward, but an easy death from me will be kinder than whatever they have in store for you!" His mind can't keep up with the words the man below him is spitting, and in his confusion the attacker jumps up off the ground and twists his hook sword around Zuko's dao, flinging it off to the side. "Now I've got you."
Zuko narrows his eyes, his blood boiling beneath his skin, heart fueled by haunting amber eyes and a cruel smile, and as flames burst from his outstretched palm towards his assailant, the man's eyes hold nothing but fear. His attacker's scream splits the air, ringing out above the sounds of the dying fight around him. He hears his feet pounding on the dirt as he runs towards the man on the ground, but he feels nothing as he kneels to inspect the burn. It's big, spanning across the man's entire chest, but it's not fatal, and Zuko's lungs heave out a wobbly breath that contains all the relief he can muster.
"Zuko!" Katara is running towards him, her hair trailing behind her like a thick veil. "Are you okay? You're bleeding!" He looks down at the shallow cut on his chest— it looks worse than it is, but he remembers in that moment that it isn't the only injury he's sustained as various cuts and gashes begin to sting all over his body. Katara doesn't fight with her blade, and thus doesn't realize that minor injuries usually accompany a sword fight whether you win or lose.
"I'm okay, it's not that bad." Somehow he manages to speak around the acid bubbling in his throat, but he feels like he's going to vomit nonetheless. He's coming.
"What's wrong?" Concern is etched into every line of Katara's face, her dark brows pulled low over shining blue eyes. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"My— the King of Ember has his army following us." Her eyes blow wide as the rest of their gang crowd around him. "This guy said they're just a few days behind us."
"Who is he?" Sokka looks thoughtfully at the attackers face as Zuko and Katara stand up.
"I don't know. He said—" he takes a deep, shuddering breath. I have to tell them. "He was after me. There's a bounty on my head."
"A bounty? For what?" Aang's shining eyes lock with his, and his heart lurches at the disappointment he knows he'll find there after he tells them the truth.
"The King of Ember put a bounty on my head because I'm his son." The only person he can bear to look at is Katara; her face is stricken, but the anger he thought he'd find there is shockingly absent.
"He doesn't want people to know his son is Othered." It's Toph that speaks first, and he thinks that out of everyone, she's the only one that could even remotely understand his situation.
"Yeah." He dares to look at the faces of his friends, but none of them seem particularly angry. "I found out about his plans to destroy The Source and threatened to tell everyone, so he removed me from the line of succession and banished me. I knew he put out a bounty for me when it all happened, but he must have increased it recently. He's probably been tracking us." He drops his head, unable to look at the only friends he's ever had. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It was wrong of me to hide the truth, but I didn't think— I didn't know he'd be tracking me. I put you all in danger and—" he's cut off by Katara's hands sliding around his waist and pulling him into her arms. Her hold is gentle, even if it stings his wounds, and he almost feels like he's going to cry.
"It's okay, Zuko." Aang comes up by his side and rests a sure hand on his shoulder as Zuko returns Katara's embrace. "You didn't know."
"Plus, even if your crazy dad wasn't following us, we'd be in danger anyway. This whole mission is dangerous, but that's what we signed up for." Toph shrugs, shoving her hands in her pockets and aiming a lopsided grin in his direction. "I didn't agree to join a travelling tea party, I wanted to go on a kick ass adventure!"
"What's important now is what we decide to do next," Sokka says as he tilts his chin down in a nod at Zuko.
"Wait, you guys aren't mad at me?" The group's easy acceptance of his lie is startling, and he can't help but feel like he's just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Zuko," Katara pulls herself back just enough to look up into his eyes. "You didn't know that he'd send people after you. We're not going to blame you for something you were unaware of." He has to blink a few times to push back the tears; all his life he's been chastised and punished for every little thing he's done wrong, every tiny misstep met with anger and and cruelty, and the lack of negativity from his friends is foreign and confusing. His eyes dart between Katara's, glowing blue meeting shining gold, and the magnitude of his love threatens to claw its way up his throat and spill out from between his lips.
"We should dress our wounds and keep going." Suki's voice drags his eyes away from Katara. The Kyoshi warrior and Sokka are sporting a number of their own cuts, their skin and clothing both torn during the fight.
Katara insists on helping him bandage his chest (he tells her that he doesn't need the help, but she refuses to take no for an answer), her cool water stinging the shallow cut as she cleans it. It's a miracle that she doesn't feel the thundering heart inside his chest, the storm he feels whenever she gets too close raging inside of him at the touch of her gentle fingers on his bare skin.
"You should be more careful." Katara is stitching up a particularly bad gash on his thigh, working in the window created by his ripped pants as he does his best to think pure thoughts.
"You're bound to get a few scrapes in a swordfight." He winces, but she doesn't look up from her work. "That's the inherent danger of close combat."
"Well, you should still be more careful." His lips tug up at the corner of their own accord.
"You're not hurt, are you?" She shakes her head, but still doesn't look at him. "Are you mad at me?" Now she looks at him, her head snapping up to meet his eyes.
"Of course I'm not mad at you." The unadulterated kindness held in her gaze is intense, so much so that he has to drop his head down to look away. "Zuko..." He startles at her touch, the delicate pads of her fingers barely ghosting his jaw as she guides his head back up to look at her. "It's okay. We're not— we aren't like your father. We're not going to hurt you." He must be imagining the love written all over her face, the affection sketched into the crease between her brows, the tenderness housed within her luminous eyes. He wants to kiss her more than he ever has before, wants to lose himself in the intimacy of her gaze and melt into her so completely that he can't tell where he ends and where she begins.
Instead, he leans into her embrace and breathes her in, and realizes that this is all he really needs, regardless of how much more he wants.
Xx
They arrive in Shu Jing a few days later with healing wounds and overzealous anxieties. It's imperative that they find who they're looking for as fast as they can; they've come to the consensus that the Army of Ember is probably following them to get to The Source. Their only hope is that they can get to it before his father's army does, and hopefully set up some kind of defense to prepare for the attack. He tries not to think about the possibility of seeing his father in the inevitable battle, the uncertainty churning his stomach and birthing a bitter taste on his tongue.
If nothing else, the ambush and his subsequent confession had, for whatever reason, ironed things out between him and Katara. She's been spending more time with him since then, their friendship returning to what it had been before Ba Sing Se for the most part, and he's grateful to whatever gods have smiled down upon him. She's magnetic, and he's a man made of metal; he's constantly drawn to her, and just being close to her makes him feel like he's wrapped himself in a plush robe and curled up by the hearth to rest. Katara is a breath of fresh air in a world of ash, and he's been suffocating his entire life.
They walk side by side through the unremarkable town, their four companions spread out behind him as their feet hit the road in a rhythmic dance. He's not even sure what they're looking for; their contact could literally be anyone.
"How are we going to find who we're looking for?" He's glad that Aang speaks up; sometimes he feels like he's the one that's supposed to have all the answers, and in this instance, he doesn't have any.
"We can always go find an old guy to play pai sho with," Sokka suggests, and as silly as the idea is, it does hold some merit.
He groans and tilts his head back. "I'm so sick of pai sho." His protest isn't meant for anyone else's ears, but Katara smirks at him from her place at his shoulder, and he can't help but smile back.
"Excuse me." The group turns around as one at the voice of a stranger behind them, and comes face to face with an older looking man with a passive face. "I believe you are to be guests of Master Piandao. We've prepared some lotus cakes for you to enjoy during your stay." Zuko and Sokka share a sideways glance and a nearly imperceptible nod, and they agree to follow the strange man, hearing the code shrouded in his innocuous words.
The man, who introduces himself as Fat, leads them through the town before turning onto a smaller path that leads up a modest hill. A beautiful castle comes into view as they ascend; it's not huge, but it's clear that whoever this Master Piandao is, he holds a fair amount of wealth. The grounds are extensive when they pass through the large gate that walls of the castle from the surrounding area, and he smiles at the look of awe painted on Katara's face. Once inside the castle, the assistant leads them through an opulent foyer to a more relaxed seating area, where a polished man is standing with his hands behind his back. He's dressed much more modestly than Zuko had been expecting, his simple robes merely lined with a shimmering gold to signify his status.
"Before you ask," the man— Piandao, he's assuming— holds up a hand to stop their predictable questions. "I am the contact The White Lotus has sent you here to meet."
"Oh, good." Zuko winces at Toph's inevitable crass language. "I was curious why we were just wandering into some random dude's massive castle for no reason other than rumored lotus cakes." He's surprised to see Piandao smile, just the corner of his mouth rising up in a genuine gesture.
"The lotus cakes were a signal, Toph. The White Lotus, Lotus cakes." Sokka waves his arms around a bit to make his point, and Zuko has to stifle his laugh behind a cough.
"Yes, well, I do have real lotus cakes, so please," he gestures to a comfortable looking couch, "sit down and I'll have Fat bring out some refreshments."
They all squeeze onto the couch, which is larger than usual, but still has Suki and Aang sitting on either arm rest. Of course, the rest of the group has made sure that Katara is sitting right next to him, and their legs touch from knee to hip, the contact sparking like static and making him hyper aware of her presence. Sokka reaches for the snacks as soon as they are brought out, and after a few minutes of silence, Piandao speaks.
"So, I hear you are in search of additional warriors to help your cause." The six of them nod in tandem, Aang, Toph, and Sokka's mouths still too stuffed with lotus cakes to speak. "Well, I think I can help you with that. I happen to know two very talented warriors, one of which just so happens to be Othered."
"Wait, really?" Aang holds a crumbling lotus cake halfway to his mouth, the surprising information putting a pause on his indulgence. "Is their gift elemental like ours?"
"No, but it is no less useful. On top of the gift, this person is also skilled in a unique form of combat which I think will come in handy on your journey."
"Are they here in Shu Jing?" Zuko asks. He's excited to meet whoever this person is, but they're on a tight schedule. "We were ambushed on the way here, and one of the men told us that the King of Ember has his army mobilizing just a few days behind us. We can't afford to waste any time."
"Yes, both warriors are here, although you'll have to wait until later tonight to meet them. You're more than welcome to stay the night here; I have plenty of rooms, and can provide a hot meal for you later on."
"Oh, we're definitely staying the night. No way I'm passing up a chance to sleep in a real bed." They all chuckle at Toph's enthusiasm, and Zuko is definitely looking forward to a proper bath and a good night's sleep.
They take turns using Piandao's washroom; he has this incredible contraption that directs water up through a pipe and out of a spout positioned high up on the wall, and when Zuko pulls on a rope the water comes crashing down to cascade over his body in rivulets. It's not as soothing as a bath, but the water is heated with coals and feels positively divine as it washes away the grime that he's collected on the road.
"Dude, that thing is awesome!" Sokka walks into the sitting area with wet hair and a bright smile. "I would have never thought to pressurize the water so that it comes out above you!"
"Listen Snoozles, don't get all technical on us here." Toph waves her hand in Sokka's direction, trying to dissuade him from telling them all about the finer details of pressurizing water. "You know I can't follow all that smart-people talk."
"Explain it to me." Suki grabs Sokka's hand and brings him down to sit with her, and he starts babbling away about a topic that Suki surely knows nothing about. But still, she listens with rapt attention and a permanent smile, and Zuko feels jealousy twist in his gut. He's happy for Sokka and Suki, and wants nothing but the best for them, but he can't help but want the same thing for himself. His eyes find Katara across the room, sitting on a cushion sipping her tea with a soft smile, and sometimes he wishes he didn't have a heart at all.
They wait for the two warriors with brimming anticipation, quivering excitement spilling over messily into their conversations, and as the sun lowers in the western sky, Zuko finds that his energy is becoming too much to handle.
"Aang, do you want to spar with me?" His younger friend always seems to have an endless supply of energy, and he can see the answer in his eyes before Aang even voices it.
"Sure!"
They walk out to the large courtyard and settle across from each other in ready stances. Zuko likes sparring with Aang; it's a good test of his control over his fire. It's so easy for Aang's blasts of air to fuel his flames, and he finds a strange joy in manipulating the already existing flames to work to his advantage. Underneath all of that, he likes spending time with Aang in general. He's goofy and can be a little dense sometimes, but it feels like within the six months they've known each other that he's gained a little brother. There's an easiness to how Zuko can open up to Aang, and he appreciates it more every day.
"So, you and Katara seem like you're doing well." Almost every day, that is.
"Yeah. After that ambush we've been getting closer again." They talk as they walk towards a bench on the side of the courtyard, their spar over and leaving both of them sweating but satisfied. They sit down on the hard stone as the last dredges of sunlight disappear under the horizon.
"She probably got scared because you got hurt." Aang meets his eyes, the glowing grey looking almost silver in the dying light.
"I didn't get hurt that bad. She's just prone to taking care of people, that's all." He can't indulge the wild fantasy in his head that Katara cares that much. It'll lead to nothing but a sore heart and a sore head to match.
"Whatever you say." Aang shakes his head, very obviously disagreeing with Zuko's assessment.
"Hey, guys!" Speak of the devil. Katara waves at them from the entrance back into Piandao's castle. "The warriors are here!"
They hustle back into the sitting room just in time to see a petite girl dressed in all pink walk into the room, chatting up Piandao's assistant with a peppy voice. She's slim, more so than that of the other women he travels with, but she doesn't look any less strong. Her brown hair is tied up in a high ponytail, and wispy bangs rest above her glowing grey eyes. He looks over at Aang and finds the younger man's cheeks tinted pink and eyes wide; Zuko's elbow to his side jolts him out of his stupor, and he clears his throat nervously. The girl in pink is followed by Piandao, who leads the second warrior into the gathering space. Is that— no, it can't be. Wait— it is!
"Mai?"