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Secrets

"Very good, Zana, very good," praised Iroh with a smile. "Thank you," Zana replied, but she didn't return his grin. Zuko bared his teeth in an animalistic way as he lunged toward Zana's back-flames spitting from his hand. Iroh's eyes widened, "Zana, block!" She turned to face the oncoming fire, but instinctively spun it away with a powerful flip of her hands. Her eyes became large and unblinking and personified her dumbfounded emotions. "Enough, Zuko! You lost, the practice is over!" Iroh called out as he went to Zana's side. "You are becoming as bad as General Zhao was after you defeated him," Iroh's eyes narrowed at his panting nephew.

"You…you know General Zhao?" Zana stuttered as she took a step away from Iroh. "Of course," replied Iroh, "why?" "Nothing! I am, uh, going to the river. I'll be back-there's no need to follow me this time," she became flustered and jogged off into the woods. After her figure disappeared, they could still hear some sticks being clumsily broken through the trees. Iroh turned and shrugged to Zuko.

"Why did you have to interfere, Uncle?" he yelled, his frame still bobbing with his heavy breathing. "All I did was stop you from making a grave mistake, Nephew…" "I wouldn't have regretted it!" Zuko bellowed in return. "This girl, Zana, is probably one of the only people from the Fire Nation who believes that you can end the Fire Lord's rein of bloodshed and war. Not to mention she stood up and spoke her mind. Knowing my brother, and having witnessed what he did to his only son…, I am truly surprised that she wasn't killed and just merely banished," Iroh spoke. "Well, if it is that big of a deal for her, then why does she push all of my wrong buttons and purposely defy and fight with me?" Zuko argued back loudly. "Is it really that hard to see, Zuko?" he looked his nephew in the eye. "You two have exactly the same strong-willed personalities. Both of you feel like you constantly have to prove something, that if you just take one more step, you'll win the nonexistent race…" This made Zuko think-and now that he did; he realized his uncle was right. All of the fights that they had had were over who was more in charge or more powerful. Zuko's muscles began to relax a little. He realized that he had overreacted a bit at Zana's comment, but she had been the one to go a little too far with her words.

I suggest that you apologize now, or we may lose our greatest ally in the battle against the Fire Nation…" Iroh said softly. Zuko sighed deeply and contemplated the idea. "I-I will when she gets back…" he replied. "No, now or she may not come back," his uncle commanded. Zuko grumbled, but slowly made his way in the direction that the girl had run off to.

Zana's head broke the surface of the river's water. She was lucky enough to have found a calmer section to cool down in. It had been a grueling fight with Zuko-no one, not even a full-grown man, had gotten that close to beating her-ever. It startled her slightly that someone of Zuko's age could contain that much power, but waste it on anger and hatred. She ran her hands through her soaked hair and checked to make sure no animals had run off with her clothing. It was still there though, unmoved in a little heap on the river's bank. She sighed, enjoying the calming effects of the water, and allowed it to make her body buoyant.

Zana closed her eyes as the sun beat down on her. That last attack from Zuko had caught her completely off guard. It didn't help that it had come from the one person that she had believed in for years without fail. Now that Zana had actually met the Prince, she realized he was madder at the world than she had anticipated. She had always pictured him as less willing to judge-especially with his own…personal issues. Most of the main Fire Nation citizens had been there when their Prince was struck down by his own father. Zana had been there as well, it was expected of her because of her military origins. She had to leave just after the incident, though. It was just too painful to watch.

She shuddered and submerged her body in the water. Zana held her arm up and looked at one of the deep purple bruises already beginning to form. She wasn't a wimp, but her neck hurt the worst of all. It was tender and her windpipe was just beginning to loosen up from the hard pressure that had been exerted on it earlier. In her mind, though, her entire image of Zuko had been shattered. He was becoming nearly as ruthless as the Fire Lord when his anger was extorted. To tell the truth, Zana felt if he wasn't saved soon, he might destroy himself from the inside out.

Zana's feet easily found the slippery riverbed and she began to stand. It wasn't a difficult task as the water only came up to just below her waist. She trailed her fingers in the water around her and held up her hands, creating little rivulets that ran down her sides. Zana smiled at the water's cooling touch. Then there was the comment about General Zhao. She knew all about him and his vicious ways, but she didn't know if she should tell them that-her train of thought was interrupted when a twig suddenly snapped in the brush near the edge of the river.

Zana quickly sank down to the water at chin-level and faced the noise, "Who's there?" Zana demanded. She listened carefully for any more signs of life, but there was nothing more. She was still wary however and stayed in the water as long as she could, but that soon became impossible as hypothermia began to set in and she had to create a flame by concentrating her breath. As quickly as she could, Zana ran out of the water, covering what she was able to, and tugged on the bottom part of her black under-suit and then her thin-strapped shirt. She put on the upper portion of the under-suit, tied it, and then lashed on her dark tunic. All of her clothes were damp and she decided to make them dry faster by raising her body temperature to soaring heights. This caused steam to emanate from her entire being. After that was complete, Zana took the ribbon from around her wrist and tied her still slightly damp hair back into a high bun in one sweeping motion. Then, slipping on her shoes, she made her way back to the campsite where Iroh and Zuko waited.

Zuko crouched behind a great tree near to the campsite. Zana was coming back in his direction. He had seen her… He had been on his way to apologize after Iroh's lecture and came to the gap in the trees where he believed Zana had gone. He peered around the trees, not sure how the girl would react to him following her after his last sneaky move. He ducked back immediately after what he saw, though. Zana was in the river, alone, her clothes discarded on the river's edge. He hadn't seen anything since her body was almost completely submerged in the blue-tinted water.

Zuko didn't know what he should do. He contemplated going back to camp and telling Iroh that he couldn't find Zana and just waiting for her to return, but his uncle had already given him one lecture and that was all he could handle per day. He also thought about waiting behind the tree as he was now, but Zana wasn't stupid and she would deduct that he had been watching her, then he probably would get his ass kicked again… All Zuko knew was he had to find out approximately how much time he had before she would be done. He silently peered around the tree, but his heart skipped a couple of beats at what he saw. Zana was standing in the shallow water with her waist-up exposed. His breath caught in his throat with every swelling hill and valley of her toned flesh and muscle. Zana's curved figure fluctuated slightly as she ran her hands through the silky water surrounding her. She was too far away to see in too much detail, but he allowed his imagination to fill in the rest. Even from his distance, he could see the smile paint itself across her face. Zuko couldn't help but lean forward to see better, he was a sixteen-year-old young man with raging and unstoppable hormones after all. As he did so, though, he stumbled and crushed a small stick beneath one of his feet. Zuko crouched down as low as he could in the bushes beneath him.

Zana had dropped down into the water, concealing everything and she cried out in a threatening voice. He quietly peeked out from the leaves of his hiding place and saw that she was pissed. Zuko crept away as quietly as he could and made his way back in the direction of the camp.

And so, Zuko was crouched behind a tree, trying to slow his racing heart and quell his sudden onslaught of male desires. He had never felt that way before about anyone. Iroh had hinted to him about finding someone before, he was even pushing Zuko on that Tracker girl who had helped him find the Avatar. Not to mention how many times he had been teased about his "girlfriend" being that very Water Bender who had trapped him back up at the North Pole. Zuko took a deep breath and shoved his palms into his closed eyes. He didn't know what Zana had been thinking. She was the one who warned them about how this land was crawling with soldiers of the Fire Nation. Who knew what they would do to her if they found her in that…condition, Zuko thought. But he did in fact know, the soldiers would shamelessly ravage the banished traitor-stop thinking like that! What do you care? he scolded himself internally. Zuko felt there was no reason for him to have those feelings for Zana.

He stood up as fast as he could once he heard shuffling footsteps approaching. It was only one step so he could easily and safely deduct that it was not a platoon of Fire Nation troops. Zuko stepped out to face Zana. Seeing her so soon caused a deep blush to creep to his face, but his solemn expression didn't change. He hoped that Zana didn't notice. "Zuko?" her quizzical expression matched the tone of her voice. "What are you doing here?" He cleared his throat and tried to keep his eyes locked on hers and refused to let them wander to any other…part of her. "I…um…wanted to say that I am…" he wasn't good at apologies-he'd never had to say he was sorry before, to anyone. In fact, the last time he'd tried to apologize, his father gave him a scar he would never forget.

"Yes?" Zana leaned forward, waiting for him to finish his sentence. "I wanted to apologize for the way I…behaved earlier, it was…wrong. I hope you can accept," Zuko couldn't help but stutter. Zana gave a thoughtful Hmmm… and responded, "Well, I guess that I'm at fault too. I should have never said such mean things to you while we were fighting," the look in her crystal eyes seemed so sincere that it actually moved him. Zuko's eyes got wide, "I guess…you're right." His eyebrows raised and for a second he resembled Iroh. Zana tilted her head and smiled a little, "We'd better get back to your uncle and move out." She began walking and all Zuko could do was stand there and watch. He found himself noticing how her hips swayed a little as she moved. His head shook as he dismissed the thoughts running through his head. Zuko soon followed: far behind her.

When the two of them reached the clearing, Iroh was passed out again, snoring loudly. Zana went over and shook him gently to wake him. Iroh snorted a little, but immediately sat up when he realized it was Zana who had woken him up. "Oh, my, Zana! Did everything work out ok?" he turned to his nephew. "Yes, Uncle, can we finally get moving?" Zuko grumbled. "Iroh, we really should be going," Zana coaxed.

Within a matter of minutes, the three of them were on their way. Trudging along through the trees, they were silent until Zana spoke up, "Did I do that to you?" she motioned to the singed section over Zuko's heart. It had been when Zana blew him backwards with a powerful blast of fire. "Yes, actually," he looked down and examined the blackened area of his gray tunic. He thought it a little ironic because of the way seeing Zana earlier had caused his heart to fluctuate. "I'm sorry…" Zana didn't take her eyes away from the burn. Zuko just stared at her concerned face. Iroh interrupted by clearing his throat behind them. Both teens turned around, "When are we going to rest?" he whined. Both of them rolled their eyes.

After traveling for hours, the river could be heard and it soon came into view. It glittered like scales beneath the late midday sun. They decided to take the path along the river's bend because it would be harder for the soldiers to track them. There was hardly any communication except for Iroh's occasional grunting complaints. Their pace slowed when they felt that they were far enough away from their previous campsite. Iroh decided once again to break the silence, "So, Zana, I couldn't help but notice your very unique eyes. In all my years, I have never seen such gems on a Fire Bender," he looked up into Zana's face. Zuko also looked, but slyly and out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, they're not that big of a deal," she gave a little nervous laugh and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Of course they are," Iroh huffed. "They are just a lovely fluke!" he smiled. "Well…they really aren't a 'lovely fluke'," Zana growled and stormed off to the water's edge. The two men looked at each other, puzzled by the girl's odd behavior. They caught up to her easily and stood nearby. "What's wrong?" Iroh asked as Zuko stared on. "They're not…because I'm a Double Bender…" Zana trailed off.

"A what?" Zuko's voice rose. He honestly believed that she had lost it. "A Double Bender…" she turned to face them, "It's kind of like being half an Avatar; only I am like this because of heredity. It means I can Fire Bend…and Water Bend. Zuko's features became a smirk, "Looks like we picked up a-" his words were cut off by a little grunt from Zana and a wet smack across Zuko's face. "What the!" Zuko yelled and put a hand across his stinging cheek. "I believe she just whipped you with a stream of water," Iroh's eyes were wide in disbelief and his mouth was so large and open that it looked as if his jaw had been dislocated from the rest of his skull.

"I told you…" Zana shrugged.