"Zoe?" came Aang's voice from the doorway of Zoe's bed chamber.
"Hey, Aang." said Zoe distractedly, not looking up from her desk. "I know; I'm coming."
"No, no one's ready to leave yet. It's…not that, there's someone here to see you." Something in the young Avatar's voice made Zoe stop what she was doing and turn to look at the boy.
"Who is it?"
"Come and see." he said, beckoning her forward. Zoe put down the piece of parchment she had been writing on and followed her airbending teacher.
He did not elaborate on anything as they walked, and Zoe looked at his face curiously. "So, you and Katara huh?" she said cheekily. Aang blushed, but grinned goofily.
"I guess so." He said happily.
"Have you kissed?" asked Zoe, though she already knew the answer having heard it all from Katara. Aang blushed even more, looking rather flustered and Zoe laughed, patting the boy on his back. "Good job, Aang."
They walked into the entrance hall and came face to face with the entire gang, plus a few extras. Zoe scanned the group, her eyes coming to rest on one person in particular and her expression went blank.
There was a girl, a few years younger than Zoe, but a girl who looked just like her. Her hair was the same colour; except she wore it back in a tight bun and her eyes were different. They were very dark brown, wide and emotionless. Apart from that the two could have been twins.
She did not speak, but merely stared at Zoe, her face betraying no emotion. Zoe glanced at Zuko who was frowning. "Who is this?" she asked the silent room, her voice echoing slightly in the large chamber.
"My name is Min." said the girl, her voice like a song; sweet and elegant. She walked over to Zoe, a strange expression crossing her face, almost as if she was curious despite her better judgement. "Do you know who I am?" she asked, stopping right before Zoe, the top of her head reaching her chest.
Zoe frowned, leaning away from the girl, "I…I'm sorry." mumbled Zoe, "I don't know you…"
A flicker of disappointment and…something else appeared for the briefest of moments in the girl's eyes. Then it disappeared as if it were never there. "I'm your sister." She said bluntly and everyone's jaw in the entire room seemed to drop to the floor.
After a lengthy and awkward silence Zoe said, "I'm sorry…what?"
"Your sister." repeated the girl. "You know: same parents and all that?"
Zoe frowned at the slightly patronizing tone of the younger girl. "I don't have any siblings."
"She does look just like you." said Katara reasonably, coming to stand beside Zoe.
Zoe's frown deepened. "How old are you?"
"I'm thirteen." Replied the girl immediately, almost as if she was trained to respond to questions promptly.
"How did you know that we are related?" continued Zoe suspiciously, crossing her arms across her chest.
A saddened expression took over the girls face. "Our mother told me about you."
The compassionate side of Zoe was wielding, but she was not done questioning her yet. "How did you know I was here?"
"You and your friends are known all over…" said Min sadly, "I just thought…I just wanted to meet you. I just wanted some family." Her head dropped to her chest and Zoe worried that she was crying. She placed a hand on her shoulder gently, kneeling down to look at her face.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly, "I just had no idea I had any family left…I…thank you for finding me."
Min looked up, her eyes bright. For a moment she looked angry. Scarily so and Zoe nearly jumped back in shock. But then a warm, soft smile appeared on her face. "I knew we'd find each other one day."
Toph growled angrily all of a sudden and everyone looked at her. "Why do you show nothing?" she snapped and Min stared at her, looking taken aback and confused. "Your heartbeat." continued Toph, "it never changes. People's heart pace changes when they talk depending on what emotion they are experiencing, it's just natural. But, you…you just stay the same, one steady beat like nothing is affecting you."
Min's eyes began to tear up again and her mouth trembled. "I…I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. I just…I just wanted to find my sister. I didn't come to be…clinically observed…" her voice cut off and she buried her face in her hands.
Katara knelt down quickly beside Zoe and placed an arm around Min's shoulders, throwing Toph an annoyed look for her lack of tact. She shushed her quietly while Sokka too walked over and patted the girls head reassuringly.
"Hey, don't worry about Toph; she's blind and sees with her feet, so it's harder for her to know what's going on." said Sokka, smiling at the girl.
Toph stared at the place where Sokka must have been standing in disbelief. "Excuse me? What did you just say?" she snapped furiously.
"Nothing…" shrugged Sokka, "just that-"
"I heard what you said!" snarled Toph, "I just couldn't believe what came out of your mouth!"
In a huff, Toph then turned on her heel and stormed out of the chamber, her footsteps echoing loudly.
"I didn't want to start an argument." said Min, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry…I'm causing nothing, but trouble…"
"No, no." said Zoe, smiling at her new sister. "It's OK, um, why don't you come into the tea hall and we can all sit down and talk about…missing years?"
Min smiled and nodded and Zoe took her hand, leading her out of the chamber, everyone else following silently.
Everyone sat awkwardly in the tea room, the whole group deciding to put off their departures till the following week and Iroh served them all tea.
Zoe's forehead continued to furrow into a deeper and deeper frown as her sister told the story of her life. The way she spoke sounded like an overly rehearsed piece from a rather boring play. Their parents were dead and she was raised in an Earth Kingdom family. Full stop. Nothing about the Dai Lee, nothing about why they had taken her and their parents, but left Zoe, in fact, nothing important whatsoever.
She was, however, an airbender. That, aside from her appearance, proved her blood relationship with Zoe.
"Well, I can teach you how to airbend properly." Said Zoe, when Min admitted she had a lot to learn. "And, Aang will be sure to teach you some moves right, Aang?"
"Absolutely!" he grinned, throwing his arms in the air and Momo chirped agitatedly.
Aside from that, the whole conversation was rather awkward and uninteresting. So after showing Min to her room, Zoe quickly departed, unsure what to think about this new course of events.
That evening Zoe snuck into Zuko's bedroom through his window. He was sitting on his bed surrounded by sheets of paper, studying them closely. He looked up when Zoe climbed over his windowsill and smiled at her warmly.
He moved the sheets to the end of the bed and Zoe sat down next to him. She looked at his face closely, her eyes lingering on the dark circle shadowing his good eye. Reaching out her hand she brushed her finger under his eye softly.
"You're working so much." She said softly, concern coating her voice.
"There's a lot much to be done..." he sighed, turning away to stare at the sheets covering the foot of his bed.
"Can't I help you?" asked Zoe, also peering at the sheets. "What are all of these about?"
Zuko turned to look at her, "I'm trying to find my mother." He said.
Zoe turned her head, locking eyes with the Fire Lord. "I'll help you find her." She smiled suddenly, "We finally get to have our own field trip!"
Zuko had to smile, shaking his head bemusedly. He leant back against his bed head heaving another sigh, "Weird day." He commented.
"Yeah." agreed Zoe frowning, following Zuko's lead and leaning back herself. "Min is… interesting."
Zuko looked at her curiously, then suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. "You didn't react the way I thought someone would if they discovered they have a sister that they never knew about…"
"Well, how do you think I should have reacted?" retorted Zoe, "It was so unexpected…I mean it's nice, but…" she looked at him, "how would you have reacted?"
Zuko raised his eyebrow, "I would have been seriously concerned and have her checked out by a mental health specialist before she came within 5 metres of anyone else."
"Right…" mumbled Zoe bashfully, "Do mental health specialists exist?"
"Apparently. There is one with Azula everyday."
Zoe was silent for a moment, her fingers fiddling with the material covering Zuko's chest. "So, do you have any leads?"
"Not really." Sighed Zuko, "and Ozai won't talk…" Zuko paused, thinking of the fears that he had not voiced even to his Uncle. "I…I'm worried he will kill himself before I can find out her whereabouts."
Zoe tilted her head to look into Zuko's face; he looked almost relieved. Having someone to confide in was a pleasant feeling.
"Whether he talks or not won't make a difference Zuko. We will find her. We won't stop looking until that day." She told him firmly and his heart thudded in his chest. He caressed the side of her waist tenderly and tilted her chin up to face him, lightly pecking her lips. Zoe smiled, understanding the gesture to be of gratitude without the use of words.
"Will you stay in here tonight?" asked Zuko hesitantly after a moment.
Zoe considered, torn between her own personal wishes and the thoughts of what others would assume. "What if someone comes in tomorrow morning…?"
"You care too much about others opinions." replied Zuko, though his voice was not unkind.
Zoe hesitated before replying, casting Zuko a look from the corner of her eye. "I only care when people think I'm the Fire Lord's…slut." Zuko looked down at Zoe, completely taken aback. "There's a rumour going around that I'm like your mistress…your concubine…"
Zuko's mouth dropped in utter shock. It was clear that this had been bothering Zoe, but she had kept her mouth shut. "I'm not your concubine." She snarled, and then suddenly looked up at him when he remained silent. "Is that what you want me for?" she asked, her eyes very vulnerable, "as your…mistress?"
Finally Zuko managed speech. "I can't believe you even have to ask that. Would you think I'd even have one of those?" he snarled, "It's stupid palace gossip from little girls who are just jealous of you. I love you and you're my partner." He had to stop quickly before he told her how much he wanted her as his wife.
However, Zoe still frowned, "The Fire Lord isn't supposed to court women who aren't of the Fire Nation nobility…" she grumbled.
Zuko clutched her tighter, "That's only frowned upon… the law is that-"
He broke off and Zoe looked at him confused, "What's the law?"
"It doesn't matter." He said quickly and Zoe scowled at him.
"Zuko…" she started scoldingly, but he cut her off. Not with words, but a searing kiss.
Very suddenly he was leaning over her, hands on both sides of her body and his hot, urgent lips moving against hers, wiping all thought from her head and she moaned softly, her lips parting beneath his.
His tongue grazed the inner flesh of her lip before slipping inside her mouth to begin a war with her own and he growled lowly, slanting his mouth of Zoe's. Her breathing hitched and she hooked a leg around Zuko's while her hand trailed down his back. At the same time, Zuko's own hands were on a mission. While one remained beside her head, the other travelled her body, down her leg, up her thigh and along her hip bone. His heated fingers were just gliding firmly along her curved waist when,
"I thought I heard you both here."
Both Zuko and Zoe jumped and yelped in fright, their heads knocking each others before they whipped round to face the window.
"Min!" cried Zoe, clutching her chest, "For the love of all that is good! What in the hells are you doing in here?"
"I was taking a walk." replied Min without a change of emotion crossing her face, "and I heard you talking. I was lonely in my room." She dropped her head sadly, "I just wanted some company."
Zoe struggled with her annoyance and compassion for a moment. "Right well, firstly." She glanced at Zuko whose face was impassive, but she could tell he was seriously annoyed. "You can never enter the Fire Lord's bed chamber like that. You go through the door after asking permission."
"I'm sorry." said Min meekly.
"Well, just don't do that again. And secondly, you should always… just plain knock first. And don't come in through windows." continued Zoe in an awkward, scolding tone.
"You did." The girl pointed out, "I saw you."
"I am a different matter." replied Zoe snobbishly. "Do you want me to take you back to your room? I can…uh stay till you fall asleep?" suggested Zoe uneasily.
Min didn't reply to her question. "What are all of those papers?" she asked instead.
Zoe frowned, "Private business." She said.
"I thought I heard you talking about finding the Fire Lord's mum or something." She muttered with a shrug.
Zoe's eyes narrowed, "how long have you been listening outside of that window?"
Min shrugged, "I wasn't eaves dropping. But, you should look into getting some more security around this place; there are a lot of people looking to kill you, you know." She said matter-of-factly, her tone so casual it sent a shiver down Zoe's spine.
She blinked, "Excuse me?"
"If you were talking about Lady Ursa, I think I can help you." She continued and finally a look of interest sparked in Zuko's eyes.
"How can you help us?" he demanded, leaning forward and placing a hand on Zoe's thigh.
"I believe I may know where she is."
Thanks for the reviews XD you guys are great. And Romeo, don't worry xD I have many things planned, I just can't set them all up in the beginning chapters yet. ;D Not much heat in this chapter...hmm, I promise there will be more!