Push and Pull
The Find
Disclaimer: I own literally nothing.
Zuko's POV
"Aang!"
Zuko watched as Katara cried out in relief and ran towards the airbender, the stream of water she'd bended splashing to the ground, forgotten.
The Avatar was rushing out of the cave purposefully, but skidded to a stop just outside of it at the sound of his name, stirring up a cloud of dirt. "Katara?" he asked, surprised, but elated as she wrapped him in a hug. "What are you—ah!" He broke off with a startled yelp as he caught sight of Zuko over her shoulder, jumping out of her arms. "Zuko!"
Why does this kid never look at me like he hates me? Zuko thought to himself, not for the first time. He knew that the Avatar should, especially with all the trouble he'd caused them, but somehow the young monk never looked at him as the enemy, even when his friends did.
"He's with us," Katara assured the boy quickly, and shot a warning look back at Zuko. "And he won't hurt us."
Zuko scowled at her. He'd noticed that she'd gotten a lot more annoying than the last time he'd managed to find their little group, and blamed her recent waterbending instruction for it. She'd surprised him with the intensity and technique she'd shown with her attacks back in the oasis, and he'd been struggling against her strength under the moon when they'd fallen into the pond. He still wasn't sure he entirely believed that she hadn't brought him here, especially since she'd been so familiar with the panda bear spirit. But she'd wanted to find the Avatar, and something inside Zuko had known that even though they weren't friends, the Avatar wouldn't have let anything terrible happen to him. And he was the only lead they had for getting out of this place.
The Avatar's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hei Bai!" he crowed, delighted as he spotted the black and white spirit, and Zuko heard the light rumble that the spirit gave to greet him. "Okay, I'm really confused, but we should get out of here before Koh hears us."
"Who's Koh?" Katara asked, but the Avatar just grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the mouth of the cave and towards the black and white spirit.
"Hey buddy," the boy greeted him happily, and Zuko saw Katara smile as the spirit rumbled merrily back at him. "Wait a minute," he said, and frowned as he turned to Katara. "Did Hei Bai bring you into the Spirit World?" He quickly turned back to the black and white spirit. "Your forest is doing okay, right?"
"I don't think he was the one who brought us here—" Katara began, but Zuko cut her off.
"No," he affirmed, marching up to them. "But he did bring us to you, and we need you to take us back."
"I'd love to—only one problem," the airbender said, his smile fading. "I don't know how to get back either."
That threw Zuko. "What? Haven't you gone to the Spirit World before? How did you get out then?"
"Someone else always took me back." He shrugged his slim shoulders helplessly. "But wait, if Hei Bai didn't bring you here, then how did you guys get into the Spirit World?"
"We're not really sure," Katara supplied helpfully when Zuko didn't answer. "We think maybe a spirit brought us here, but we really don't know."
"Spirit?" The boy's look of confusion turned into one of alarm. "The spirits are in trouble! I almost forgot! I have to find Roku." He whirled around and glanced about, his eyes lighting up once he spotted the small pool of water off to the side of them. He rushed off toward it and Katara followed him, mystified. Zuko trailed after them a second later, curious despite himself.
Roku? As in Avatar Roku?
The airbender stood by the edge of the pool and looked intently down into the still water. Zuko followed his gaze and his eyes widened when he caught sight of his reflection. Instead of the excitable, bald, tattooed monk he expected to see, there appeared an elderly man dressed in the robes of the fire nation, a royal artifact adorning his long silvery white hair. Avatar Roku.
"Roku!" the airbender said. "The spirits are in trouble. My friends and I need to get back to the physical world, but I don't know how to get there."
Zuko quickly glanced at the boy, trying to hide his disbelief at being called his friend. I know I helped him escape from Zhao, but is he really that stupid?
"Hei Bai will be able to send you back, Aang," Avatar Roku replied, his voice grave and calm. "But I am afraid your friends must remain."
"What?" the airbender looked up at the two benders and then back at Roku. "Why?"
"Your friends were brought here by the ocean and the moon spirits," Avatar Roku continued, but his eyes had shifted to rest on Zuko. He looked at him with an unreadable look in his eyes and Zuko stared right back. "And their hold over them is too powerful to break." He turned back to Aang. "They cannot go back into the mortal world with you."
"Who are the ocean and the moon spirits?" Zuko demanded, moving closer. "What do they want with us?"
"I do not know, young Prince. But they are in danger, and will not be able to send you back if Aang cannot save them."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Zuko saw the boy shaking his head. "But I can't just leave my friends here."
"I will watch over them," Avatar Roku replied, and he glanced at Zuko again briefly before turning back to the airbender. "They will not come to harm. But you must hurry, Aang, if you wish to help the ancient spirits."
The boy's anxious eyes lifted to Katara's, and Zuko saw her force a smile. "It's okay, Aang. We understand. You should go."
Zuko didn't want to be understanding at all and opened his mouth to argue, only to hear his uncle's voice in the back of his head.
You must let him go, Prince Zuko. The spirits are not to be tampered with, and you must let the Avatar do his duty to maintain balance in the world.
With a sigh of frustration, Zuko snapped his mouth shut. I'll just wait until the boy comes back, he thought and glared at the Avatar, who was looking back at him. And he will. He won't leave his waterbender here, and when he comes and takes us back, I'll get him.
The airbender stared at Zuko for a long moment before nodding, seeming to come to a decision. "I trust you," the boy told him firmly, startling Zuko, and then turned back to Katara, who was staring at them both with an odd look on her face. "I'm sorry, Katara. I have to do this."
Katara seemed confused about the boys' exchange, but nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. "Okay. Be careful. And tell Sokka not to worry."
"I will." He turned back to the pool of water where Roku had been patiently watching. "Thank you, Roku."
"It would be best for your friends not to linger around Koh's lair. Perhaps Hei Bai can take them back to where you all arrived." Zuko watched as the water began to ripple, and the reflection started to fade with it. "Good luck, Aang."
Koh's lair? Zuko turned and glanced back at the mouth of the cave. He could hear some faint chattering coming from behind the enormous tree, and figured it was the faceless monkey they'd seen earlier. So this Koh must be the one stealing faces.
"Zuko?" he heard Katara call out to him and turned to find her standing a few feet behind him, waiting for him; the airbender was already sitting on the back of the black and white spirit. She looked over his shoulder at the cave and then up at him. "What's wrong? Let's go."
Zuko's already bad mood darkened even further. He couldn't help being troubled by the girl. First offering to heal him, and then waiting for him; she was starting to act like the airbender.
"Trust me, Zuko," the Avatar called out to him. "You don't want to go in there."
Zuko gritted his teeth, not bothering to respond, and started to walk towards the panda bear spirit, Katara leading the way. He waited, fuming, for Katara to get on the spirit's back, and then pulled himself up behind her. He put his hands on Katara's waist automatically, prepared this time for the panda bear spirit to start moving as soon as he was on. But Zuko was sitting closer to her this time, since there was less room on the bear's back with the Avatar there, so he noticed that she stiffened when he touched her. Zuko removed his hands immediately, and his bad mood vanished in a puff of smoke as his face began to burn red.
Stupid. Even if they were enemies, she was still a girl. He vowed to keep his hands to himself for the rest of the ride.
That proved to be quite difficult when the panda bear spirit began to leap onto the floating rocks that made a path back to the cliff. It was easy for Katara to stay balanced; she simply held onto the airbender as they bounced up and down on the spirit's back, catching herself on Zuko's chest every time she fell back. Zuko on the other hand had to find a way to stay balanced himself while feeling her body bump against him now and again, threatening to send him tumbling off the spirit and down into the abysmal valley that waited for him below.
He stubbornly managed to stay upright for the first few rocks, his arms out slightly to help him balance, and then felt himself falling back when the panda bear spirit leaped for a rock that was somewhat further away than the others. Zuko's heart leaped into his chest as he felt himself fall, and quickly reached for the girl, for anything really, to pull himself back up. One of his hands caught onto something, and he yanked himself up without thinking, barely hearing her cry out in pain. Only when his arms were wrapped securely around her body, hanging on for his life, did he realize in horror that he had grabbed onto the thick braid of brown hair that swung down her back.
"What are you doing?" Katara exclaimed, her voice strained, and it registered with him that his position now was far worse than what he'd done initially by grabbing her waist. He quickly let go of her, only to immediately lose his balance and reach out and grab onto her again.
"Just hold on," she snapped at him, apparently too annoyed to care that his hands were on her waist again. "My hair can't take it if you fall again."
That embarrassed him further, and he opened his mouth to retort, but was saved from exacerbating the situation when the airbender spoke up, apparently having missed the entire episode. "Everything okay back there?"
"Fine," Zuko called out gruffly when Katara didn't reply. "And sorry," he added after a second, trying to push past his embarrassment.
She said nothing, and Zuko tried very hard not to think about the feel of her waist under his hands. He focused on the blur of the trees as the panda bear spirit leaped over the last of the rocks and picked up speed. The smell of the swamp grew stronger as they got closer Zuko ducked behind Katara with a grunt when the wind made his bad eye tear up and in front of him, Katara and the boy started up a conversation.
They talked about the spirit in the cave, who Aang revealed was the one responsible for the monkey's stolen face, and about the ocean and the moon spirits and how they were in trouble. Zuko listened closely, surprised when the topic of bending came up.
"You can't airbend in the Spirit World?" Katara asked, also surprised.
"No. Wait, can you guys?"
"Yeah, Zuko and I can still bend."
"Hey, that's not fair."
Capturing him now would be so simple, Zuko thought, and then winced when he heard his uncle's chastising voice in the back of his head. But where would you take him, Prince Zuko? he heard his uncle say. How will you take him back to your father?
No, he thought, it's better to wait until we go back, even if it would be easier to take him now. He felt Katara shift under his hands, and amended his thoughts; there was still the waterbender to get around. Okay, maybe not so simple. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the two in front of him.
"I bet it's because your body is still back in our world," Katara was saying. "I think both of us fell in body and all, so we kept our bending."
"I didn't know you could do that. Roku said the ocean and the moon spirit brought you here, right?"
"Yeah, but we don't know why."
"I wish I could take you guys back with me."
"Me too. I just wish I could go back and help against the Fire Nation siege."
"Don't worry, Katara. Everything will be okay."
It didn't take long for them to reach the wooden landing that Zuko had woken up on that morning. The panda bear spirit slowed as he neared the platform, and Zuko slid off of him quickly, moving away from Katara as soon as he could. He noticed that she avoided looking at him, a faint redness to her cheeks.
"Take care of Sokka," Katara told the airbender as they climbed off of the spirit and into the swamp water. "And don't let him worry."
The airbender nodded, and looked at Zuko. "You saved me from Zhao once, and I haven't forgotten. I'll come back and get you guys as soon as I can. Just stay here and wait for me."
He is stupid, Zuko thought, but called out to him as the airbender started to turn away.
"Wait."
The boy turned back.
"My uncle is back there," Zuko continued, and ignored Katara's look of surprise. "Would you tell him what happened?"
A smile flashed across the boy's face and he nodded. "I'll tell him not to worry." He ran up to the platform and turned to face the panda bear spirit. "This is where I came in," he said. "But how do I get back?"
Zuko and Katara watched as the panda bear spirit reared back on legs and let his mouth fall open, letting out a beam of blue light. It hit the Avatar's body, and he began to turn transparent, slowly disappearing until there was nothing there at all. The panda bear spirit dropped down to his front legs and turned to face them with a low rumble.
Zuko inclined his head, his hands coming up in the traditional flame like sign as he bowed to the spirit. He hadn't forgotten what he'd said he would do if they'd found the Avatar. "Thank you."
The spirit rumbled again, and began to walk away, his purpose apparently fulfilled. He disappeared through the trees, leaving two teenagers who couldn't bring themselves to look each other in the eyes in the middle of a swamp.
lol Zuko's such a dork
I originally wrote this chapter in Katara's POV and I hated it so much that I trashed the whole thing and rewrote it all in Zuko's POV. I hope you liked it!
Thank you so much for the reviews!
DylPicklezz: Thanks a bunch! I was feeling pretty meh about the first draft of the chapter I had going and your review really perked me up :)
meldz: Good question! I planned to just keep this going until they returned to the physical world, but I keep getting ideas for scenes after that. Maybe I'll do some one shots showing how they're doing after they get back, but for now the story won't go past Book One.
Flutterby Rose: Thank you :3 I really worried about making Zuko seem kinda OOC in this chapter, but hopefully it's not so bad.
Reviews are much appreciated! (seriously) (pls) (thank)