Fire Carries On The Wind
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Chapter 2: Found
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"..."- Speech
'...'- Thoughts
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Aang sat there for a few moments, sobbing into the dark loneliness. But he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye...He looked to his right and saw a large, dark figure a few feet away from him. The mystery person snapped their fingers and a small flame appeared. It illuminated the persons face...It was the firebending general, the one that followed him with Zuko. Aang stood, expecting a fight.
"Oh my...What happened to you?" was all Iroh said.
"Huh? Oh...I just...fell..." responded Aang. The front of his body, his face, and his arrow tattoos were completely covered with mud, making him unrecognizable.
"Well...That wasn't very smart, was it?" was said with a smile from Iroh. "Do you need any kind of help? Food...Maybe a bath?"
Aang thought the bath was out of the question for the moment...He actually just wanted to sleep...He must not have been asleep long before him, Sokka, and Katara were attacked. Plus he had just ran for what felt like forever...
"Hello? You still here?"
Aang jerked out of his thoughts. "Uh...yeah...Sorry. I actually am just really tired..."
"Okay...Come with me and you can use one of my extra wool blankets...I find it very cozy." Iroh began to walk, and Aang followed. "And perhaps we can even have some tea." Aang smiled sadly. This man was kind...It was hard to believe he was a firebending general, let alone related to Zuko.
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As the two of them walked towards the camp, they talked about things such as how the world was before the war, and how everyone lived in harmony. They finally arrived at a small cave to see Zuko sitting next to a large fire. He looked up at his uncle and the mud-covered companion Iroh had with him. Zuko merely looked back into the flames. Aang sat across from Zuko, also gazing at the fire. He needed to start thinking about how he was going to find Sokka and Katara. Iroh stood next to him, holding out a blanket. Aang looked up to him and, with a thanks, took the blanket. He wrapped it around himself. Iroh was walking back into the trees.
"I'm going to go take my bath. Don't let the fire go out while I'm gone."
Aang sighed and tightened the blanket around himself. He felt his eyelids begin to close when he felt other eyes upon him. He looked up to meet eyes with Zuko for a few seconds before closing his eyes and laying down. He quickly fell asleep.
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Aang woke up in the middle of the night, his face feeling stiff. He moved his hand up to his head and touched the dry mud. It made his sleep uncomfortable, so he scraped all the dried mud off his face and head before going back to sleep.
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Aang awoke once more, this time in the bright morning. He yawned and realized he was sitting up and couldn't move...He looked down to see his hands and feet bound, and he was tied to a tree. He looked up and saw Zuko standing above him.
'B...but how? How could he have found out!'
But Aang then remembered waking up in the middle night and scraping the mud off of himself.
'No...Zuko must have woken up before me!'
"You know...For being the Avatar, you aren't very smart." Zuko smirked for a few minutes before the smirk turned into a dark, angry glare. "I've finally caught you. Now...I would take you straight to my father, but you've caused me much too much trouble and pain. So, instead, I will challenge you to a battle." He got on his knees and was about to cut Aang free, but he hesitated. "And if you even think about running...well...You're not worthy of being the Avatar." And with that he cut Aang from the tree and cut the ropes binding his hands and feet. Zuko took a few steps backwards, not turning his back on Aang. Aang stood up and took his stance. Just then, a large rock was hurled at him. He blocked it with a burst of air.
"What the-?" But then Aang looked behind Zuko and saw a fleet of earth benders behind him. Zuko turned just in time to see a rock fly at his face. He was knocked unconscious and when Aang looked up again, he saw another rock flying at him. He dodged it and turned to run when he saw Zuko lying helpless. He knew the earthbenders would know who he was and would kill him...But didn't he deserve it?
Aang felt a pang of guilt and saw dozens of rocks flying at him. He blew them all back to the attackers and ran and picked up Zuko, throwing him over his shoulders. He blocked another wave of rocks and disappeared into the trees. He knew the earthbenders wouldn't give up nearly that easily, so he began to jump into the branches of a tree. Although he was weighted down by Zuko, he was still able to make it to the top of the tree, hidden by the leaves. As soon as he was sure the earthbenders were gone, he jumped back down to the safety of the ground.
He lied Zuko against the tree and saw his head was swelled and his face was covered with blood. He gripped the fabric of his shirt and was about to rip off a piece, but he hesitated, 'No...I shouldn't...' So he gripped the fabric of Zuko's sleeve and tore it instead. Aang smiled to himself. He tore the piece of cloth in half. He looked around for water, but saw none. He then looked down and saw he was kneeling on mud. "Hmmmm..."
Aang then tried and succeeded in waterbending the water out of the ground and moistened the piece of cloth. He then wiped the blood off of Zuko's face. He took the other piece of ripped cloth and wraped it around Zuko's head. He tied it at the back. Aang then brushed a hand across his skin, amazed at the beauty of Zuko's sleeping face. Aang smiled. He then realized what he was doing and furiously rubbed his hand on the cloth on his leg and shook the thoughts from his mind. He stood and turned his back on Zuko, disgusted that he thought this about another guy...I mean...Didn't he like girls? What about Katara... Well, she was pretty, and he loved her like a sister... But he never had those kind of thoughts about her... He then felt a mental slap across his face.
'Wait...Who cares if he's a guy or a girl? He's a firebender! Not only that... But he's been chasing me around to turn me in to the fire nation so I can be killed! I can't believe I even saved his life!' Aang once again was filled with guilt. Were these his own doubts, or the doubts of someone else? He sat against a tree across from Zuko and decided to test himself. He looked at Zuko and smiled and let his thoughts wander about how Aang had admired him as a fighter, and felt sympathy for him for his horrid life. Aang drifted off to sleep with these thoughts still in his head.
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Zuko awoke with a massive, almost crippling headache. He rubbed his forehead and his hand brushed a lump and his headache only got worse. He slowly opened his eyes and thought about what last happened...He was hit in the head with a rock by the earthbenders and was knocked out...That explained the pain, but it didn't explain where he was. He finally got a good look at his surroundings. He was still in the woods. He looked across and saw the Avatar...Had he saved them both? No...Why would he save Zuko? And what was that in his pants...was there a branch stuck there? Why else would his pants be sticking up like-Oh. It was one of those- Oh. Zuko knew about that type of stuff...But he couldn't say he ever really thought about it...He never really had interests in girls. To be honest...He generally admired his male soldiers. They were stronger and he could relate to them better.
"Zzzzko..."
Zuko looked back at the Avatar. What had he heard...?
He stirred slightly "Zzzzukoooo!"
Zuko froze. The avatar was dreaming...about him? Zuko started to wonder what he was going to do about this. He was tempted to pick up a rock and throw it...no...What about a little fire? No, not that either, something might catch it... He then saw the Avatar's eyes start to open, so he played like he was asleep. He heard him yawn...He opened one eye slightly and saw the Avatar notice the bulge in his pants. The Avatar began to panic...He stood up and was...talking to it?
"Go down! PLEEEEASE go down!" he whimpered, "Please! Um...Just think about cold water...and uhhhh...airbending...That's it!" Then, quite sudenly, the Avatar dropped his pants. Zuko almost choked from holding in a gasp at how...big it was... The Avatar then began to push gusts of air that was, Zuko assumed, ice cold. The Avatar's member then relaxed and he pulled his pants back on. Zuko thought he saw the Avatar begin to turn his head to look at him, so he quickly shut his eye and hoped with all the strength in his body the the Avatar didn't see him looking. Apparently he didn't.
"Good...you're still asleep. Now I can leave you knowing that neither you, nor I, will be killed."
Zuko heard the smugness in the Avatar's voice. So, just to spite him, he acted like he was stirring from his sleep. He opened his eyes to glare at the Avatar. The Avatar's expression became disappointed.
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As Aang saw Zuko wake up, his hopes of escaping scott-free were shattered. Now Zuko would know Aang saved him...And would probably want to know why. It was as if Zuko had read his mind.
"Why did you save me?" Zuko stared intently at him.
Aang sighed. "Because not all people are like you. They do things because they're right, even if they don't benefit from it...even if it can ruin their lives."
Zuko stared at Aang for another few minutes before standing up. "Well we're both stranded and lost now. So we might as well work together to get out of here."
"Uh...okay." Aang couldn't believe he had heard this, but he couldn't complain. He'd rather put up with Zuko and get out of here quicker than have to worry about his mortal enemy and getting out of a dangerous forest. Besides...He got to spend time with this forbidden fruit he now cared about.
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Hey...I felt it was a good place to stop.
R&R, please.
-JoJo