A/N: It's been so long! I'm sorry! On the bright side, *gasp* a new chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Zuko or anyone else…such a pity.
Zuko attempted to produce the power necessary to levitate so he could make it to the shelter his new spirit friend, 'Umi', his mind corrected, had found, but he couldn't muster enough to do anything but manage to knock himself over. His cheeks reddened at his failure in front of…Umi, he reminded himself again. He struggled to sit back up and maneuvered himself until his back was to her. "I'll just stay here for the night." He muttered gruffly. She used her water to once again connect with him. "I cannot let the young man who saved me from my fate sleep out in the open when I can provide shelter!" She nodded her watery head in an attempt to seem firm but it just came out looking sloshy. The very corner of the young man in question's lip curled up, despite his resistance. It was a little cute, in strange way. Hold on, was the word 'cute' even in his vocabulary? Had he lost his mind? All this time with uncle and he thought he'd still managed to keep his sanity; now, he wasn't so sure.
Umi saw the tiny quirk of his lip and smiled to herself, he was certainly not a lost cause. They were in a spot of trouble though at the moment and for the life of her she couldn't figure out what to do. Suddenly, she had an idea. She laughed, it made an actual burbling sound and Zuko looked up, surprised. "There is a saying" she began, "if the you will not come to the mountain, the mountain must come to you. I'll be back in a flash!" With that, she instantly turned into vapor and disappeared. Zuko looked at the place she'd vacated with a small amount of consternation. What she meant by that was beyond him, he wondered what she was up to… He didn't have long to wait. Almost before he realized it, there was a strange scraping, crunching, creaking sound getting louder and louder. The boy firebender was naturally nervous in his weakened state, considering that things which made noise were generally less than friendly. All at once the source of the strange noises burst into view, Zuko was so shocked his mouth dropped open. It was a tree. There was a tree..walking… A tree was walking towards him. It wasn't possible; trees did not walk, his mind supplied him helpfully. Well, it was walking anyway, and it walked right near him and plunked down, settling in and snaking its roots down deep inato the earth. Just then, Umi re-materialized next to the tree. "There, didn't I say you'd have shelter?" Zuko blinked several times and shook his head in bemusement. "That you did…" he replied with the ghost of a chuckle in his voice. "I didn't know you could…" he paused, "tree…bend..?" he continued hesitantly. "Well, yes, it's more like bending the liquid in the wood. I couldn't have done that if the tree had been dead." "Will the tree live through the uprooting and be ok here?" Umi smiled widely to herself. The boy cared about even a tree, it was a wonderful thing. "Of course, it might even thrive here" she answered immediately "given the location."
It wasn't long before Zuko was curled up fast asleep beneath the transplanted tree; he'd had a rough day and he was bone weary. Umi misted about, spending time casually since she did not sleep. All at once a thought came to her, the boy's uncle, the kind man she had 'seen' in the water and helped save was probably quite worried about his nephew. She wondered if she should find him and assure him of Zuko's safety. Then she worried if the young firebender would be angry with her for meeting his uncle on her own. "I worry too much" she told herself, and inwardly frowned out at the starry sky; a sky that was much too beautiful to deserve the frown. She swirled her misty form into spirals and shot up into the sky, leaving the earth far behind in an instant. She mingled with a rather large cloud and got comfortable; how she had missed this during her time stuck in a tree. She had missed the freedom to move as she pleased, the ability to be weightless and have no mass, and her bending, ahh, she'd missed that the most. In the midst of her musings she played with a small piece of the cloud she was currently floating on, giving it just the right conditions to become a miniature storm cloud. She happily watched as the tiny cloud became dark, shot miniscule bolts of lightning and made the least scary thunder in the world. Soon the ever-so-small droplets of rain began to pour from her pet cloud, and she watched as they fell, evaporating before they made it too far. She allowed the 'toy' to follow along as the cloud she was hitching a ride on floating slowly on, the little thing sparking lightning and thundering for all it was worth. After a little while she'd tired of it and allowed it to dissipate as all storms eventually do.
So comfortable was she in her solitude and play she hardly noticed the sun peaking over the horizon. She half registered it, noticing that the sunrise was rather glorious. Wait…sunrise?! At that moment she remembered Zuko down under the tree and mentally slapped herself. She hadn't meant to leave him alone on the ground at night, vulnerable to attack by wild beasts, and asleep at that! She'd been a tree too long, she was careless! She gathered herself from the cloud and shot back down in the direction she'd come, hours before.
Zuko awake with a crick in his neck and his arm itched something awful. He scratched absentmindedly and slowly maneuvered into a sitting position, rubbing his neck and moving his head carefully. He looked around and remembered the events of the previous day. He smiled slightly and then quickly felt the call of nature and managed to make use of his new balancing ability for something slightly less heroic than previously, but he felt that it was just as pressing in that moment; Mother Nature had a way of making herself impossible to ignore. When he'd finished he looked around for Umi, but didn't see anything. He wondered if she'd left him, if he'd even see her again. He knew she had no reason to stay with him; she was free now and could do whatever she pleased. He just wished she pleased to come with him. He sighed. He was thirsty too, and there was no water nearby. Maybe she had really abandoned him. He couldn't wait forever, uncle was sure to be worried about him, and he was anxious to show the older man what he could do. Before he had a chance to decide anything a large cloud of mist practically sailed into him, dampening him well, and making him shiver. "Wha..?" he muttered ineloquently and the mist quickly morphed into the vaguely humanoid water form that he'd come to associate with as Umi. He couldn't stop the smile that slowly slid over his face. "Miss me?" he teased brazenly, surprising himself. She let some of the water of her 'hand' flow over his, "I'm so sorry Zuko!" she gushed, "I got all caught up in riding this cloud, and playing with a tiny storm I made and the sky and freedom" Zuko blinked when he heard "tiny storm I made" and decided he'd ask about that later as she wasn't finished; "oh it's just been so long…" she paused "I'm really sorry, it was careless and mean for me to leave you here all alone and unprotected for the entire night!" Zuko shrugged, "I'm fine though, see? No harm no foul."
She could feel that he truly wasn't upset, and for that she was glad. However, she still cursed herself for her carelessness and fervently vowed that it would never happen again. "Thank you for being so understanding". He smiled at her and she suddenly wished she had a body that could smile back. It wasn't long before she was misting along nearby Zuko as he masterfully used those jets of flame to propel himself across the ground. She carefully doused any tiny fires that dared attempt to ignite themselves in his wake. She did not mention them to him; she thought he probably had enough to worry about just staying balanced without having to worry about the vegetation too. A little scorching wouldn't permanently damage it.
Using his newfound ability to levitate, Zuko alternately walked hopping, balancing himself using his flame jets, and moving along in the air. It felt so freeing to be able to move without the crutch he had come to believe to be his only means of moving about. He realized quickly that he would need to learn to hone this ability as to be able to move faster across greater distances and save energy.
The journey back to the camp where Uncle awaited him seemed slow, yet passed by too quickly. Before the sun even managed to reach its zenith they spotted the camp. As they drew closer Umi held back and a tired Zuko paused and stopped to lean against a tree. "What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. Was this when she would leave him? She moved close enough to communicate and waved her 'hands' in a cancelling gesture. "No…" she hesitated "what if your uncle doesn't want me here? What if he doesn't like me? I am different…" Zuko shook his head emphatically. "That isn't possible" he assured her. "My uncle will just love you; he is a kind and wise man." The boy looked pensive for a moment. "That's something I learned a little late…" he added quietly. Umi began to move forward and projected a grateful feeling to Zuko as she headed towards the camp. She went slowly so as to make sure the firebender was the first to reach the small camp, she felt it might be best that way.
Iroh had been on edge ever since the massive sound of an explosion he had heard the day before. Prince Zuko had yet to return and he had just about decided if he didn't see him by noon he was going searching and that was that! Just has he nodded his head emphatically to himself he felt more than heard sounds from the forest, from the direction his nephew had gone. It didn't feel like one person either, something was off, but Iroh cared little at that moment. He sprang to his feet and raced out of the shelter, making it to the edge of their small clearing before he saw a wonderful sight. The boy who had become a son to him, moving without the crutch he'd made, using jets of flame to keep his balance and propel himself forward; coming home. He pulled himself to a halt and stared momentarily, then yelled a hearty welcome as he trotted closer. "Nephew!" he couldn't keep the massive grin from splitting his face almost in two, it was good to see the boy uninjured and safe back home. He opened his arms wide and didn't care of the boy wasn't the affectionate, hugging type, he was going to be hugged or the man's name wasn't Iroh! Just as he got close, the younger firebender released his jets and suffered himself to be hugged; even going so far as to pat his uncle on the back, albeit awkwardly.
"I'm glad to see you managed to survive without me for awhile uncle" Zuko teased as the older man released him from the hug, yet supporting him with an arm around the shoulders. The old general smiled, pleased to see Zuko could tease, "It was difficult, but somehow I managed" he blinked "tea helped." He added sagely. The boy smiled and moved to turn to his side. "Uncle there is someone I'd like you to meet." 'Uncle' turned in the direction his nephew was looking and his eyes widened in shock as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. He opened his mouth and closed it again, realizing he was gaping. He snapped out of his initial shock when Prince Zuko began introducing the fantastic creature in front of him, a creature he never thought he would actually see in his lifetime. "Uncle, this is Umi. Umi, this is my uncle Iroh." The water that was currently in the vague shape of a human female reached out to him and he extended his hand; the waters of her 'hand' flowed across his skin and suddenly he heard words and felt the kind nature, gentleness, excitement and nervousness of the being in front of him. "I'm very pleased to finally meet you sir." The voice and feelings seemed to come through the connection of his hand and the water, Iroh was so entranced he nearly forgot his manners. "Ah…yes, that is.." he stumbled over his own words for a moment before recovering. "The pleasure is all mine Ms Umi" he smiled his most winning smile. "Might I ask a slightly personal question?" He could feel the uncertainty and he quickly continued "I merely wondered if you might be an ancient water spirit as I have read about in the old tomes from the water tribe?" He felt the surprise through the water link and momentarily it was broken as the being moved back slightly in surprise. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" he began "I am an old man with an old man's curiosity, please forgive me." The spirit, as he was very sure it was now, quickly moved forward once again to make the same connection as before. "No, I was simply surprised, I would not have expected you to know what I am, especially being a firebender." Iroh chuckled in response; "you can find a great many things in a library." His nephew stared at him. "Do you mean you know what Umi is? How come I never heard of water spirits before?" The question came out sounding almost petulant and Prince Zuko frowned. Iroh smiled gently. "Nephew you were preoccupied with other things, and an old man has much time, with little to do but read and study." The old general looked back over at the water spirit, Umi, and smiled again. "Come" he boomed, "let's go settle down at camp, I'm sure you've had a long journey and I have food!". Carefully he stepped away from Zuko and allowed him to regain his balance using his, apparently new, fire jets and they all made their way into the camp that had been home to the two firebenders for far too long.
Umi did not need food or a seat, and merely floated about, checking out where the two lived. Zuko ate the rabbit jerky hungrily as his uncle sat across from him patiently waiting for him to finish. Once he was no longer famished, the boy looked up at his uncle. "I bet you're wondering how this happened…" he began.
A/N: My apologies that this is again rather short. The inspiration for this did not come very well and it seems a bit fillery to me, but nevertheless we moved the plot a bit, yup! I may finish this story yet, someday! ;) Please review, I may be slow but I still looove me some reviews! (My apologies for any grammar errors, I'm my own beta and I want to go to bed…haha!)