IV
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR FOOS! Italics-her letter bold italics- thought
As we made our way deeper into the channel, thoughts of you mother, filled my head. I wanted to remember your face, but you felt so far away. The memories we had when I was little seemed so far..far away. It was Zuko who brought me out of my train of thought.
"What's with you?" He had asked Monica as they walked. She had apparently seemed so out of it that he had noticed. "You were like a sleepwalker."
"Shut up. I was thinking about my mom. I get out of it like that when I do." Their fight was long and silent, having gone through many trials in the dungeon; Monica's thoughts drifting back to every dinner she and her father have been having recently.
A rainy night; Monica and her father alone at a long dinner table; servents and butlers all around them.
"Your dinner is served Maddam." The round bellied cheif Ferdinan said; setting a plate of flounder infrount of her. When she didn't eat her dinner in a while, her father scolded her.
"Monica, eat your dinner." she poked the flounder with her fork; then looked up at her father.
"I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Its about...mother."
"We've been over this before Monica, your mother is doing work in a far away place."
"But what kind of work? where is she doing that work?"
"Eat your dinner." Monica stood up and slammed her hands on the table.
"Your always like this! You never tell me anything!" She turned her heel to her father and ran out of the dining room.
"Young mistress!" Stewert, the butler gasped. "Should I go after her sir?"
"No, she'll come home sooner or later."
"Watch out!" Zuko yelled at her; when she snapped back into reality; a sewer rat had bitten her and drawn blood. Zuko burnt the rat to a crisp and then tended to her wound. "You need to pay more attention if your going to be fighting like this." He patched her wound up with his ribbon but it wasn't a great job, but it was decent. When they got to the pump room; Monica looked around amazedly, Zuko too. As they walked down the metal stairs, and to the center of the pump room; the elephant from the circus slammed down onto the ground; and then Flotsom hovering over her.
"This is your last chance girl. Hand over that stone!"
"No!"
"Fine then, Go get them, my darling Linda!" He disappeared. Zuko and Monica looked at each other for a second; frightened.
"We can't lose." Monica told Zuko. "Not when we are so close." Zuko nodded; and attacked the elephant with her. But their attacks didn't seem to be doing any good.
"What are we going to do?" Zuko asked hesitantly. "It's not going down!" Just as he said that; the corridor behind them opened to reveal Cedric, a middle aged mechanic driving a robot made of wood; attacked the elephant.
"Cedric!" Monica gasped in relief. The elephant went down; but Flotsom brought her back.
"Oho! We got ourselves an 'onery son-of-a-bitch." Cedric smirked; when he made the robot raise his arm for one last attack; it froze. "Oh hell."
"What's wrong?"
"Looks like it ran out of ammo. Monica, you and the boy get on." Monica nodded; grabbed Zuko's wrist and pulled him on with her. Cedric turned Steve around and started running back toward his maintence shop.
"Looks like it needs an energy pack. I'll build one later. Who is your friend Monica."
"His name is Zuko." She told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What is this thing?"
"I call him Steve."
"How did you make him?"
"I used an engine that was an old part of a fire-navy ship; made a body for him out of metal and wood..." As Cedric went on to explain, Zuko felt so lost. The amount of technical talk was too much for him to understand. "So why was that freak after you Monica?" She showed him her pendant.
"I dunno. Its got something to do with this."
"Well, its too late to be worrying ourselves over that; I reckon' he won't find you here. You two can take a load off in my bed down there, I'll be working on the energy pack." Monica nodded and walked down to where his bed was. Cedric was like a father-figure to her; when she needed a place to sleep after a fight with her father, or when she stayed late to work on a project. Monica crawled into the bed and told Zuko to turn off the light.
"Don't you find this a bit...awkward?" She sat up and glared at him.
"Get your mind out of the gutter and sleep damn it." Zuko could feel a presence, but he assumed it was Cedric and hesitantly layed beside Monica. Just as soon as the candle was blown out; the presence was stronger; so strong that Zuko sat up, but he didn't know what was going on. He lit his hand on fire, and saw Monica asleep; a spark went through him as he saw her laying there, completely comfortable with sleeping next to a man! he shook it off and looked around, he saw the shadowy figure of the avatar! he jumped off the bed and readied an attack; when he saw the pupiless eyes and the lack of mouth.
"What's with you?" He asked, still assuming it was Aang. "Your all...lack of mouth and pupils." Monica rose and looked at the shadow Aang, and then at Zuko.
"Are you stupid?" She asked him, getting out of Cedric's bed and walking over to him.
"Shut up!" While Zuko's attention was averted, Shadow Aang fled once more. "See what you did? He's gone!"
In the morning, Cedric finished the energy pack, and told Monica she and Zuko could take Steve.
"I'm gonna go see if I can't pump Mayor Need for information. Any other chores you need while I'm out?"
"Go tell my uncle what she and I are doing. He is probably at her mansion where we spent the night."
"Gotcha." Cedric told them and started off. Monica got on Steve and motioned for Zuko to hop on.
"I'm not getting on unless I know it won't kill me." Zuko protested.
"Zuko, you'd be safer up here than down there. Didn't you understand a word Cedric said when he explained Steve?"
"No, not really." She sighed.
"Steve is a robot made from fire nation parts. He socks a punch like you wouldn't believe! Didn't you see him back there? and with this energy pack, he can go on longer!"
"Isn't a girl suppost to not know about all this..mechanical crap?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Well your no prince charming." She barked back. "If your coming then get on. If your staying then fine by me!" She started Steve and when she started to leave. Zuko stood there and sighed.
"I know I'm going to regret this.." and he went after her.
"Need!" Cedric barked when he walked into Mayor Need's office. "What are you hiding?"
"W-What? I-I'm not hiding anything!" He lied, Cedric could tell.
"C'mon Need, we used to be buds. What happened?"
"Oh..damn."Need sighed. "I had hoped to keep Palm brinks out of the war. Please understand Cedric that I didn't want to get Palm brinks involved. It was for the best of the town! Really it was!"
"Just get to the point Need! Why is that Clown after Monica?"
"Well..it goes like this..."
Cedric walked out of Need's office, still unbelieving of the story he had been told. But as he made his way to Monica's mansion to tell Zuko's uncle where he was, the story became more and more believable. When he got to Monica's mansion, he saw Iroh sipping tea on the frount lawn, looking, and waiting for Zuko.
"Sir. Your Iroh correct?" Cedric asked. Iroh nodded. "I'm Cedric, Monica's friend and she works at my shop, well anyway. She and Zuko have some weird plan to see the outside world and all, so Zuko wanted me to inform you of what they are doing and that he is just fine." Iroh looked relieved to hear that.
"Thank you."
"And hey." Cedric caught Iroh's attention again. "We re-opend the Blackstone Railroad and will be meeting Zuko and Monica once they get out of the channel. Care to join?" Iroh nodded, and followed Cedric to the Blackstone Railroad.
They had beaten up Linda, gone through the last two floors, and reached the final room. Before they started out; Monica stopped.
"Whats up?" Zuko asked. Wondering why she stopped all of a sudden.
"Zuko, you come from the outside right?" He nodded. "What is it like? What do I have to look forward too? Is it like I've seen in books?" Zuko smirked.
"You'll find out. That's all the-" He stopped himself in the middle of the sentence. He had never thought of the world around him before; all he could think about was capturing the avatar and going back to the fire nation. "..fun." Monica nodded. She raced to the middle of the room, almost to the end! Zuko eyed something at the top of the room. It was Halloween! "Monica!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of Halloween's landing spot. "Watch yourself! If you want to see the world you've got to be on guard all the time!" Monica was too shocked to really respond.
"You sure are a stubborn one. You and your boyfriend."
"He isn't my boyfriend!" Monica yelled at Flotsom.
"Whatever. Hand over that stone girl! This is your last chance!"
"I told you once, I've told you a million times, I'm NOT giving up my pendant!"
"Fine. Have it your way!" Monica and Zuko fought Halloween, getting hurt a couple of times, but overall succeeding. Zuko had to help Monica stand up because Halloween gave her a pretty bloody wound on her leg.He put her arm over his neck and lifted her up.
"Ready?" He asked, she nodded and he helped her walk to the end.
It was like nothing I've ever seen before. The sky, stretched out as far as the eye can see. It was one thing to see it in photos, but seeing it in reality was breathtaking! I looked at Zuko and noticed he too; was quite amazed. He hasn't payed much attention to the outside world before, and our quest from then on was a big surprise, for the both of us.
Just saying now. Zuko WILL be OOC sometimes. No flamies over that pleaze! Also, no flamies over why the avatar is with them instead of learning the elements. I really didn't want to think that deeply into the story when all the funnieness needs to take place.