She collapsed in front of another building, shaking from the sobs. How could she have let that happen? Her, of all people, who had always believed he had had a good side hidden inside of him. Hadn't she seen that side for herself?
"Alex?" a familiar voice said above her.
She raised her head and heard the voice coming from inside the building, it was Iroh.
She opened the curtain and found the crew; they too were tied up in the same fashion. She untied Iroh, and they each in turn freed the others.
Iroh looked at his captain and noticed she was shaking uncontrollably. It was then he thought of what had happened.
His eyes narrowed in fear, "Where is Zuko?"
She looked at him, a tear rolling down her cheek. Sobbing, she poured out the story of what had happened, although hardly any of it was understood. Yet Iroh had heard enough to get a clear picture of what had happened.
He felt an immense pain inside him he would never duplicate. After losing his son to the Face Stealer so many years ago, Zuko had been like a second son to him. And he had already been through losing Zuko to an extent when his ship had erupted in flame. But now he knew it was all too real.
Alex looked at Iroh, who was kneeling on the floor, eyes closed. She bent down and gently touched his arm, "Iroh, we need to leave," she said silently.
Iroh looked at her, at the one person beside himself who had seen the good in Zuko. He looked at the girl he had known remotely for so many years. He looked at the girl he had once seen Zuko looking at in the garden. He looked at the girl who had once before risked her life for Zuko, and now he had returned the favor. In all his life he would never be more proud of his nephew than at this very moment.
They met Luke and Troy on the bridge and they hastily escaped the place. Luke informed Alex as he helped her down from a branch that they had imprisoned the rebels in their own chains, they would be found by someone much later and taken into a secure prison area.
Alex and the others ran through the forest quickly, in case over looked rebels were hidden in the surrounding shrubbery.
Alex ran past the area where Zuko had fallen and she stopped and looked in the direction of the nearby clearing.
Luke stopped and took her hand, "We have to go!"
She looked at him, "I need to do something," she gulped, "If I'm not there in five minutes, leave without me."
Luke hesitated but finally nodded and ran off, after first giving her a quick peck on her cheek.
Startled, she shook her head and dove into the brush.
She came to the clearing in a matter of seconds, and what she saw broke her into pieces.
Zuko's body lay sprawled on the forest floor, his arm bent at a frightening angle. His face was cut and bruised, and his chest was still.
Biting back a sob, Alex shakily approached him. She sat down beside him and looked at him. He was so peaceful, yet the look on his face was not fear. He had not died in fear; he had died in love, in care, and in compassion.
Alex bent her head to his chest and closed her eyes. She heard no heartbeat.
Crying now, she ran a finger over the scared side of his face. He had died to save her. If she had held on they both might have died. He had saved her, as she had saved him from the pirates.
She grasped his hand – already losing heat – and placed it over his chest. She would have done the same for the other, but the odd angle at which his arm was bent made her sick to look at it. No, it was better to not disturb him any longer.
She took a shaky breath, "I know you can't hear me, but thank you, thank you so much." She breathed, "I always knew you weren't completely cruel, whatever your father did to cause your hate, it was leaving you. And just when it was leaving, you died." She bent her head, "I'm so sorry, so, so, so sorry. The last thing I said to you before we landed was cold and heartless. I'm so sorry, I know you can never forgive me, but I forgive you. I forgive you for trying to capture Aang, I forgive you for being angry at me, I forgive you for locking me in that closet, I forgive you for hurting Luke, I forgive you for hurting me, and most of all I forgive you for—" she hesitated, "I forgive you for falling in love with me. Because the truth is, I think I was falling for you,"
She stood to go but something erupted above her head. She watched in horror as the canopy of the forest caught flame immediately. She watched in despair as the forest around her alit almost instantly.
Luke watched in horror and shock as the forest caught flame. He tried to run into it but Troy caught his arm, "We have to go!" he shouted at the struggling Luke, "She has to make it on her own, we have to save the crew!"
Luke struggled one last time before obliging, sending his prayers to the spirits to protect her.
The area surrounding the clearing caught fire, leaving only one available exit. As she moved toward it she stopped and looked at Zuko's body. She couldn't leave him like this, she couldn't leave him here to burn into ashes, not after what he had done to saver her.
She knelt by him and sat him up, gently embracing him. And just as a branch fell around her, she encased them in a protective shield of fire. And there she sat, holding her dead friend as she prayed to the spirits to forgive her.
Kyle – in his search for Katara – found Aang sitting atop a small bridge near the entrance to the city. Curious, Kyle approached the silent monk
Aang was staring out at the ocean, a hand rested on his knee. Kyle looked too and saw the sun setting below the horizon.
To his surprise, Aang spoke silently.
"It's awful, love," Aang blinked slowly to clear his head.
Kyle looked over at Aang and knew what he was thinking and felt all too guilty. He had been pursuing the Waterbender girl, when he should have left her to someone who deserved her: Aang.
Aang took a slow breath, "I can't have her though, I'm a monk, and monks can't love like that."
Kyle looked at the young boy thoughtfully, he sounded so much older than he appeared, "I'm sorry Aang."
Aang looked at him seriously, "I don't deserve it, I'll always have to save the world." He turned and slide off the bridge and walked slowly away.
Kyle watched the retreating back of the Airbender and felt so stupid. He had broken this boy's heart. And it was really his fault.
Josh was pacing the campsite feverishly, thinking. He needed to write Alex, he needed to so badly.
Frustrated, he pulled a piece of paper and an ink pen out of his bag and began to write quickly:
Alex,
I need to talk to you, I need to hear your voice, I need to see for myself that you're all right. I need to see your face again. I miss you so much Alex, I need to meet you, you need to find us. If you don't, I don't know what else I can do.
Please respond,
Josh
He sent it away with a bird and watched the small animal disappear beneath the treetops.
Tina whistled to herself as she roamed the forest. She was 78 positive she was going north, but it might be more like north-west.
Sighing, she sat down on a fallen tree, resting her head in her hands. This was not going well. And to think about all the times she had wished she was in this world was almost laughable. If she had known when she had whished that she would be roaming through a strange land in a desperate attempt to relocate her friends, she would have not only laughed it off but assumed it was crazy.
Not that this wasn't crazy.
She thought about Alex, where was she? What was she doing? Josh had told her Aunt Wu had said Alex was fine, but she still had an uneasy feeling something was wrong.
Still, the thought of the Prince being dead made her quite cheerful. Throughout the entire existence of the show she had resented the teen, although Alex had frequently stood up for him (why? She had no idea). Still, it was better to be here in the earth kingdom than trapped in the fire nation.
A bird flew overhead and she took this as a sign to head back to camp.
