*Comes out from under rock" Hello my beautifuls! I know it has been forever since I updated ^-^; School has been intense lately and i probably wrote and rewrote this chapter at least 9 times over -_- finally I just decided to write it one last time and leave it alone haha So this chapter is dedicated to Sukki18 and my guest reviewers, you guys are awesome and thank you for the encouragement to keep writing guys! Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 8-Proposal
Pulling strands of fur and long feathers from the brush Amaya sighed in relief and stepped back to admire her handy work. The weather was getting warmer and the ostrich-horse was shedding both its fur and feathered coats alike as if it was going out of style…and fast.
"There, you are all brushed down and now prince moody pants can't complain anymore" She stated cheerfully to the animal. The beast raised its head momentarily to look at the spirit and squawk before returning it back into the nesting ground of the grass it was currently feeding on. Amaya let out a short laugh at the animals reply as she stuffed the brush into one of the satchels resting by the near-by bushes. Just as she closed the satchel a strange clicking noise caught her ear, looking around she found nothing in her sights that would be making the sound.
Amaya cocked her head at the persistent noise, her hand going to her hip as she looked toward the feeding ostrich-horse "Do you hear that?"
To which the beast just slid its glassy eye to look at her, not even bothering to raise its head as if saying 'you know I can't understand you right?' Amaya scratched the back of her head and blushed lightly as she realized she was talking to the animal again, making a mental note not to do that while anyone else was around. When the noise started up again the little spirit decided to go exploring, thankful that the ground here was covered in lush grass and she wouldn't have to go all the way back to camp to retrieve her shoes.
Looking down she smiled inwardly, her leg had healed a great deal within the time-span of a week. So much so that all that was left of the wound now was a light pink scar and barely noticeable limp. Unfortunately she waited too long to heal it before it wouldn't leave a permanent mark but at least the limp would go away in a few days' time and luckily her tattoos were able to be restored, though not as strong, even through the wound. This allowed them to finally move from that dreadful hill and further up the river into the marshy lands they temporarily resided, thanking the spirits for this she padded on through the soft grasses and considered some bending practice in the river later.
A loud noise suddenly shaking her from her thoughts, she was getting closer. Tilting her head she noticed that now that the sound was louder it sounded more like a clacking than clinking. Blue eyes scanning the riverbank they finally came to rest on a large thick bush just in front of the water's edge, whatever was making that sound was defiantly behind the large plant. Striding over to the shrub curiously she made her way to the edge of it and peered around the green bushel of leaves, rolling her eyes when she noticed it was Zuko.
He was sitting on a large rock, a long wooden stick in his lap and a stone in his hand mercilessly pounding at the end of the branch. Bingo Amaya smiled triumphantly at solving her mystery. Amaya stood watching him for a few moments, he must either have not noticed she was there or was pretending not to care for his features stayed focused on the task he was doing…whatever that was.
Shrugging to herself the spirit stepped carefully around the shrub and cocked her head "What are you doing?" The question barely past her lips when the fire bender jumped obviously startled and with barely a glance threw a vast amount of fire in her direction. Leaning backwards Amaya escaped the heat of the licking flames and fell into the wet mossy grass on her butt with a yelp.
Jumping off the rock in a huff Zuko strode toward her when he realized what just happened "For fucks sake Amaya don't do that!" he bellowed at her. Unhappily huffing through strands of white she glared at him "Me?! What the heck was THAT?!" she screeched waving her arm to the now several yards of burnt and smoking grass before them.
Zuko didn't even glance at the damage he created as he rolled his eyes and turned on his heel back to the rock "what were you doing sneaking up on me anyway?" he asked curtly.
Quirking an eyebrow Amaya's face twisted in confusion as she crossed her arms over her chest "First of all I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, actually I didn't think I was being all that quiet" she stated truthfully, thinking back she was certain that she had stepped on a few noisy twigs on the way over and that her feet would show the proof of it. Watching as he picked up the stick once more from the rock she continued "And second I was curious of what that noise, that turns out you were making, was"
Zuko just snorted as he lifted a pack onto his shoulder and strode past her "Curiosity will get you killed" he stated heading down toward the river.
Amaya rolled her eyes at his pessimism and harshly buried her palms into the grass to help shove herself back to her feet. Brushing herself off she watched as he made his way to the river "So what ARE you doing anyway?" Zuko clenched his fists at her persistence and kept walking as he growled "Fishing" Amaya crossed her arms slightly angered at his tone and grumbled beneath her breath "yea cuz that worked out SO well the last time"
Thinking back to the tiny fish he had 'miraculously' caught she began to giggle. Hearing her laughing the fire bender spun on his heel "What's so funny?!" he demanded harshly.
Quickly silencing her laughter Amaya held her hands up and smiled innocently "Oh nothing, just reminiscing up some tiny memories. Have fun fishing" she stated leaning forward slightly and giving too sweet of a smile before abruptly turning on her heel and headed back through the lush grass to camp.
Zuko glared at her skipping figure trying to ignore the urge to figure out what she meant by her statement. That smile was too sweet even for her. Finally giving up he shrugged and huffed out a stream of smoke, he had a feeling knowing the answer would probably only anger him further.
Stretching out lazily Amaya ran her finger tips over the blades of the cool grass beneath her and yawned satisfied with her short nap. Pushing herself up with one hand she rubbed the laziness from a blue eye and spotted Iroh leaning against the ostrich-horse, both still snoring loudly.
Smiling to herself at the old fire bender and animals sleep noises she held back a giggle and glanced around the camp finding it empty, cocking her head to the side she wondered where Zuko could have gotten off to. She pushed herself to her feet and lightly padded across the moist grass as not to disturb the two sleeping beauties and decided to head back for the river.
Looking up toward the sky she raised a hand to block the harshness of the sun, ultimately taking a guess that she slept until early afternoon. Sighing she came down to the spot where Zuko burnt the ground out of surprise, scrunching her nose up at the dusky smell she quickly strode past it and headed in the direction of the river below. Pulling her hair over one shoulder Amaya finally came to the river's edge; scanning her surroundings she found that there was no sign of the scared teen anywhere.
Shrugging to herself she picked up the fabric of her green skirt and waded her feet a few inches into the cool water, smiling as her element tickled her toes and reminded her of her home world. Lightly humming a simple tune she decided to travel upstream to see if she could find the cranky younger fire bender before the older snoring one woke up.
Splashing lightly down the length of the river the little spirit continued her humming and looked for clues to where Zuko could have gone.
Growling angrily golden eyes watched as another fish yet again evaded him and successfully continued to make its journey down the river. Gripping the stick in his hand harshly he soon caught the scent of burning wood and exhaled a hiss of hot air through his nostrils. Why can't for once, just once in my life something just turn out easy?!
Gripping the short strands of dark hair by his temples the fire prince growled through his teeth and mentally cursed himself over enough times to make a pirate blush. Glancing up his gaze suddenly caught a hint of white, wonderful he thought as he tore his hands from his hair and glared fully at the wide eyed spirit on the edge of the water.
Narrowing his eyes at her he tightened his grip further onto the now smoking stick "how long have you been there?" he asked curtly sending her the same glare as he did that morning after he burned the marsh grasses. Blinking a few times Amaya threw her hands out in front of her obviously frustrated and rolled her eyes "I honestly don't see how you think I am being quiet!"
His eyes narrowed further as she watched his lips pull into a scowl and she sighed "I, once again, wasn't trying to sneak up on you. You had been gone for hours so I figured I'd at least look for you, plus Iroh would have a fit if you weren't back soon and you know it" she explained coolly. Turning his head away he instead glared at the other end of the river "I can take care of myself" he stated bitterly.
Raising her eyebrow the little spirit huffed and crossed her arms slightly aggravated, her blue eyes scanned the riverside and landed on what she presumed to be the peak of his hostility. The fishing bag. The empty fishing bag to be more precise. Blinking back up at the angry fire bender a coy smirk formed at the edge of her lips. Zuko eyed the girl suspiciously as he watched her wade her way into the river, not even bothering to pull up her skirt, she made it to where he stood in the middle of the river stopping but a few paces in front of him. He could feel his muscles tense slightly, she wasn't too close but close enough.
He wasn't used to being in close proximity of other people and he didn't know one soul alive, save for his uncle, that actually liked being in his presence yet this spirit annoyingly swayed herself into his personal space constantly as if it was her comfort zone.
Swallowing hard he looked up to find her concentrating on the river, her blue eyes scanning the depths of her element as she spoke softly "you know Zuko you are traveling with a water bender" Zuko just rolled his eyes at her obvious statement as she continued "and water benders can be very helpful in situations like this" Crossing his arms across his chest he sneered doubtfully "Oh really?"
Raising her head slightly she glared at him, her eyes warning him that he was standing in the middle of her element "Yes really"
Looking back to the water she ignored the princes exaggerated huff and scanned the river once more. When her eyes finally caught movement her mouth quirked into a victorious smirk and whispered lowly "Gotcha"
Zuko raised an eyebrow at the spirit about to ask why she was talking to herself when she fluidly lifted her arms and a large string of water followed from the depths of the river. Zuko got halfway through rolling his gold eyes again when movement in the water caught his attention. There in the water that the spirit was currently playing with, bending the strand in circles before her were two large king salmon-trout. Shaking himself from his stupor his eyes narrowed when they found the coy quirk at the edge of the water benders lips "I told you we could be helpful" Her smug smile making his fists ball up and hot air to slip between his teeth. "I never said that so don't mock me" he growled angrily and harshly dug the end of the long pointed stick deeper into the riverbed below.
At this Amaya's face twisted in confusion until her eyes came to rest on the bare spear-like stick in his hands, glancing toward him her features softened "Zuko I wasn't trying to upstage you I just thought I could help" Searing through the wood of the stick it burned in half as Zuko stated bitterly "I don't always need your help." Watching the pieces of wood float past her Amaya made more circling movements with the water in front of her and tried to hold her ground "Well no but when I do see that a friend needs help I-" turning his head back toward her his harsh glare and vicious words cut her off immediately "I don't need friends I can survive on my own!" His sudden outburst almost making her drop the water and fish back into the river Amaya flinched at the strength of his words.
Swallowing hard the spirit glared back at the fire bending teen "So you're saying that even without me you, by yourself, are perfectly capable of catching both these fish?"
He glared back at her and nodded curtly "Exactly"
Her facial features hardening in annoyance Amaya raised the water strand above the height of her head and glowered at the prince angrily "Fine" pushing her hands quickly out in front of her Zuko didn't have any time to think before she let down her arms "Then catch!"
Suddenly the fire prince was drenched in cold water, the weight of one of the large fish landing with a thud on the top of his head before making it back into the river as the other came down brutally on his left shoulder. If she weren't so pissed off Amaya would have been gasping for breath with laughter, but now she found that none such effect would come to her. As Zuko grunted and sputtered Amaya crossed her pale arms across her chest and turned swiftly on her heel satisfied and determined to make her way back to shore and return downstream. Pausing a few paces from the shoreline she glanced over her shoulder at the soaking wet teen still in the river lightly gripping his shoulder, Amaya could feel an angry blush of red spread over her cheeks as she hissed back at him "I am not your enemy Zuko!" before pulling herself from the water and stomping her way back down stream.
Shooting a blast of fire at the river below him Zuko winced as the muscles in his shoulder screamed at the sudden movement and his head began to pound. Growling low to himself he ignored his now sore muscles and made his way back to shore, deciding he should probably head back to camp and change into some dry clothes and dreading having to explain this to his uncle.
Stomping his way back into camp Zuko inwardly groaned at the flowery scent of tea invading his nostrils, silently praying that his uncle didn't want to give him an 'importance of tea' lecture.
As Zuko quickly made his way toward his bag he could hear his uncle pouring himself a cup of tea, obviously so incased in the beverage he didn't bother to look up as he spoke cheerfully "Good afternoon nephew"
Zuko only huffed a reply as he slapped his wet shirt down onto a nearby rock and continued to free himself of his wet clothing. Hearing the strange noise Iroh looked up from his steaming cup and quirked a greying eyebrow at his nephew "your soaking wet… how did fishing go?"
Wincing slightly as he pulled on a dry shirt Zuko took a seat across from his uncle "I was handling it until SHE came along" he stated bitterly. Iroh gave a wise stare and lifted the heated cup to his lips before answering "you seem upset about this" Zuko just glared and picked up a small rock, twisting the stone between his fingers he felt the rock heat up "I just don't get it, why can't something in my life just be easy?" he grumbled while still fiddling with the small rock.
Iroh stayed silent, taking another sip from his cup as his aged ochre eyes urged him to go on. Staring down at the stone Zuko caught the hint "It just seems as if whenever I start to think that I am getting anywhere in life I end up taking more steps backwards than I do forward" another sip of tea caught Zuko's ears before he continued "why can't something for once just be…simple for me to figure out"
Placing his tea cup in front of him Iroh placed both hands on his knee caps before speaking "You're not talking about fishing are you?" Zuko didn't look up "Why is it she can get along with everyone else just fine, so simply but when it comes to me…I can't even make peace with a spirit for agni's sake!" Zuko could feel the temperature of the rock rise along with his own "She's just so difficult!"
Picking out a spare cup from his bag Iroh nodded curtly "Others get along with her easily because they are willing to trust her, after all she is about as intimidating as a cup of white rice" The old man chuckled at his own metaphor lightly and caught the light movement of his nephew shaking his head less than amused. Helping the flame under the kettle in-front of them with his bending Iroh continued "You're making it difficult for yourself to let yourself trust her"
At this Zuko's fist clenched around the stone harshly "Well she isn't making it any easier!" he bellowed as he angrily threw the rock in the direction of the river, completely disappearing out of sight.
Blinking his eyes a few times at the impressive distance the stone had made Iroh sighed heavily and proceeded to reach for the now steaming kettle "Nephew I do not think that you are looking at the big picture" to which he earned a scornful glare from the aggravated prince "Amaya was the one who saved your life from fever, tried to heal your scar and even went looking for you when she thought you were lost" Zuko watched his uncle pour the contents of the kettle into the empty cup as he narrowed his eyes and growled bitterly "I never asked her to do any of that for me"
Placing the kettle down Iroh gave an intelligently aged smile and winked "Exactly"
Taking the cup from his uncles offering hand Zuko's faced twisted in utter confusion "What?" Iroh stood to his feet quickly and brushed himself off "You said you wanted it to be easy, nephew I don't think it gets any easier than that. Now the rest is up to you, life is only as simple as you decide to make it" Zuko sat motionless on the ground still soaking in the last five minutes of their conversation as Iroh stretched "Well I think you need to figure it out from here, my old bones need a good stretch. I am going to take a walk up stream if you need me" he stated jovially as he made his way through the moist grass and out of sight.
Looking up Zuko found that the ostrich horse, who was previously enjoying a nap in cool grass, was staring at him lazily as if annoyed that his shouting woke him. Blowing a large huff of air through its nostrils the beast finally closed its eyes and fell back asleep within minutes. Looking away from the animal Zuko stared down into the cup of swirling hot tea in his hands, he hated it when his uncle was right about things like this.
Glaring at the little pieces of fragrant plant that still floated in the beverage he scrunched his nose at the drink. He didn't much care for tea and couldn't for the life of him ever remember a time when he did, the drink was bitter and quite frankly had the same effect on taste as licking a wet tree on a hot day in his opinion. Taking a timid sip of the drink he instantly cringed and dumped the drink into the nearest bush ignoring his uncle's voice in his head about what a disgraceful act that was and placed the cup by his uncle's empty one. Zuko winced lightly at the now apparent throbbing in his shoulder, lightly gripping it to keep the hanging weight of his arm off those muscles and quietly made his way down to the river side to think.
Sighing deeply the young prince pushed himself off the ground and tried to distract himself from what he was about to do with focusing on the headache he had recently obtained. He guessed that she would be down river since she had not shown up yet, he inwardly growled at this thought for once more she was making things all that much more difficult for him.
Blinking through the rays of late afternoon sunlight Zuko made his way downriver scanning for any signs on where their new female companion might have went off to. Looking up from the wade of the water near his feet he paused, in front of him the river split down into two streams. One stream veered to the left, it had no shoreline but several rocks one could easily walk across and a gentle current. The left stream's current was stronger but there was a light sand shoreline on one side. Glancing into the distance it seemed as if the left stream went into a valley of some sorts, in the distance of the other direction he could see the tops of trees and by what he could make out they seemed to be moon-peach trees.
Blowing out a heated breath through his nostrils the aggravated prince took off down the right stream, he noticed that when the spirit stomped off earlier that morning she was not wearing any shoes. He also remembered that even with shoes on she wasn't the most stable person he had ever met so she probably wouldn't take the left stream if she had to walk over slimy rocks to get down the stream even if the current was gentler. Thinking back he couldn't remember her eating that morning either so if those were indeed moon-peach trees she would definitely be down this stream, she absolutely loved sweet foods and those peaches would fit the bill perfectly. Certain that he would find the spirit down this stream he slowed his pace slightly and swallowed hard, he didn't like what he was going to have to do but he also knew that either way he would have to do it, even just for the sake of making traveling a little easier.
Along the streams side it seemed as if he had walked for miles before a light noise caught his attention. Looking up he found Amaya just a few yards in front of him, she must not have noticed him approaching for she did not turn around and kept her attention on a string of water swirling in the air as her main focus as the melodic sound he heard before continued.
Blinking a few times Zuko stood at the streams edge and watched her, her hands, fingers and arms moving gracefully along with the water strand. These moves were much different from the powerful almost violent moves involved with fire bending. After a while he noticed that the waters moves were composed of basics and it seemed as if the girl was only half paying attention to the strand as it went in the same basic pattern several times over.
When she still didn't seem to notice his presence he decided it was now or never and exhaled a deep breath from between his lips "Do you always hum when you're bored?"
He watched as her figure jumped at his voice, obviously startled and she turned her head ever so slightly to look over her left shoulder at him. His golden eyes kept her blue ones from behind strings of white bangs for what seemed like half a second before she abruptly snapped her head back forward, strands of her white hair turning a light blue in the sunlight as she huffed "What do you want Zuko?"
The prince rolled his eyes at her as he took a step forward; if she was trying to mask her bitterness she was doing a horrid job at it.
Stopping mid stride Zuko tensed, he didn't exactly know where to go from at this point. Clenching his fists he lowered his voice "You didn't come back" Dropping the water back into the stream Amaya gave into the curiosity biting at her heels. Quickly turning in his direction arms crossed, eyebrow raised as her face twisted into a mix of amusement and confusion "and? I thought you said you didn't need my help"
Feeling his arm muscles tighten he didn't take his eyes from her "I never said that I was looking for you for help I said you didn't come back" Eyebrow quirking higher the spirits curiosity peaked "sooooo then you were worried about me?" Taking a short step forward Zuko tried to hold back a snarl "Would you stop doing that?!"
Blue eyes quickly narrowing into a glare the spirit held his hard gaze "doing what?" she asked obviously irritated. Gesturing toward her with his good arm the prince took another step forward "Putting words in my mouth, I never said I was worried about you so don't assume so highly of the situation" Huffing angrily the spirit matched his step forward "Well then if you weren't worried about me then what are you doing?!" straightening his back Zuko couldn't help the rising tone in his voice why couldn't she just shut up and go back to camp, why did uncle insist on tagging her along with them?! "I told you, you didn't come back to camp" he stated bitterly.
He watched as the spirit took another step toward him, she was close enough now that he could see her cheeks reddening slowly in anger "so what if I didn't? Why do you care?!" It was his turn to step forward leaving only inches between the two as he threw his arms out in front of him and finally lost control of his volume "Why does it matter?!" he bellowed back at her.
Narrowing icy eyes the spirit tensed, her cheeks were burning as she spat bitterly through her teeth "You right, it doesn't"
He watched as her eyes fell and her shoulders dropped, the spirit usually had a bit of fight in her but her fire was usually small and short lived. Turning away from him he could hear her huff as her footsteps stomped out an angry splashing rhythm to her exit. Rolling his eyes Zuko groaned and resisted the urge to kick himself, he wasn't a social person and he was so far failing miserably at trying to fix that. Pushing that thought aside his feet moved before his mind could stop them, he finally caught up to her only a foot or two from where the edges of the stream met with the sands of the shore. His fingers wrapping tightly around her small wrist he forced her to stop "Wait" he breathed as she finally came to a halt.
Turning swiftly around toward him he could tell she attempted to pull her arm away, however his grip being stronger than her strength she was unsuccessful. His fingers tightened around her small wrist further as he caught her blue eyes; wide, upset and frightened. In the seconds that ticked by like hours in his head he must have run through at least a thousand thoughts why is she looking at me like that? I didn't threaten her...I didn't hurt her…she is scared.. Why?! Exhaling a breath he hadn't realized that he was holding he thought back to the times when he reveled in that look from others, he was a prince one to be feared and submitted to…was... This look was one that he had grown accustomed to from his men and from those who were in his way; there was nothing about it that had really made him think twice about it until now. Now that he was no longer a prince to be frightened of for fear of punishment, now he was supposedly just another commoner no different than any other person without a rule and title. Now he was just a normal person, just Zuko and yet she still looked at him as if he were going to devour her alive. Like a frightened animal under the hungry stare of a monster.
Slowly releasing his grip he let go of her arm "just…wait.."
Pulling her arm back Amaya blinked at him, if she had been breathing only a bit louder she wouldn't have heard the soft whisper he exhaled. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other she silently waited for him to continue. Zuko pressed his lips into a hard line, the streams running melody filling his ears as his mind raced with his own thoughts, finally sighing in defeat he lowered his eyes from the spirits gaze "I was thinking…and…you're..you're right"
To this Amaya returned with a quizzical look "I am…right?" Inwardly groaning the prince nodded not wanting to have to repeat his last statement. Amaya's eyes darted quickly from him to the stream and back several times as if somewhere in between laid an explanation, sensing that she didn't get it Zuko inhaled deeply and put his hand in the pocket of his pants "You're not my enemy" he stated as her features started to soften from confused to curious. "I was thinking and…well I have enough enemies in my life" pulling his hand out of his pocket he held out a small pink abalone-clam shell "and maybe...sometimes change doesn't always have to be such a bad thing" Amaya's blue eyes blinked rapidly at the small shell as her features twisted in utter confusion, tilting her head curiously at him she waited for him to explain.
Zuko shifted uncomfortably under the heavy weight of her curious eyes; trying to avoid them at all costs he lowered his gaze to the shell and gently flipped it open. The spirit almost lost her breath at all the beautiful abalone colors on the smooth inner sides of the delicate shell as he uneasily spoke once more "I saw this by the river...and well..I guess it's pretty..and…I thought you.." sighing deeply he dared a quick glance and met her gaze before retracting his sight back to focus on the shell "…I guess…I just…I never thanked you for…anything"
Seeing the questions start to fill her eyes he cleared his throat and took the shell in between the fingers of one hand as he gently reached toward her with the other. Amaya swallowed hard at this, she could feel her heart racing and her mind screaming at her to back away, the last time he reached for her he almost seared her arms and blasted her ear drums out.
Her better judgment however told her to stay put, backing away would only challenge him and he wasn't a patient person, this she had learned quickly.
Amaya felt herself flinch as the warmth of his fingertips gently touched her collar bone, a small frown appearing on the princes lips at this. Quickly pushing the flinch of her skin out of his mind he gently grabbed a hold of the spirits gem between his thumb and index fingers, it was warm and in a way felt as if he were holding a tiny living creature. Not daring to look up into the eyes he knew would be wide with both confusion and fright he flipped the shell all the way open between his fingers and in one motion slid the shell over the gem and retracted his arms.
Swallowing hard from confusion and relief Amaya's hand quickly flew to her collar bone as her gazed flicked down toward her newly decorated necklace to him and back again. When her fingertips finally found the edge of the bumpy shell she felt her breath lock itself in her lungs momentarily, examining the object closer she noticed that Zuko crafted the shell to make a barrier around her delicate gem, the connecting part of the shell held up by the string around her neck while the two sides created a protective layer around the gem just as they would to protect a pearl. There was a small wire that strung up from where the shell connected with itself all the way down to the edges of the delicate lips where the wire created a loose fit lock.
Fingering the small space in-between the two sides of the shell's rough pink outside the spirits lips parted lightly in confusion as her eyes cast upward with curiosity. Noticing her lingering fingertips he spoke quickly "I figured there should be a space for the..uh….energy to get to it"
At this he heard the spirit exhale a small breath, eyebrows knitting together "you…made this for me?" reaching back to idly rub the side of his neck with his fingers and setting a firm gaze downward he continued "it really wasn't hard, I just heated up some old wire and..." swallowing hard he looked up, her eyes were staring at him softly. Resisting the urge to step away he forced himself to regain as much composure as possible, setting his lips in a strong line he continued firmly "and leaving your gem out for people like that bandit to see is just…just stupid!"
Quirking an eyebrow at him Amaya inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that he was seemingly still acting like his normal irritated self. Squeezing his eyes closed he gently pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed superficially exhausted "Ok look, I am not very good at this" to which he received a sarcastic look and eyebrow raise from the spirit "you don't say?"
Glancing at her warningly he continued "for most of my life I have only relied on myself, that's all I ever thought I needed. I needed to stand on what I thought was my own strength because I had a mission that only I could complete. For the longest time that made everyone else was a potential enemy but now…I don't know everything is changing and things…my life has changed…so.." growling at himself he clenched his fists and looked to catch the spirits gaze "look if we're going to be traveling together I just…I don't want you to think that were enemies, I don't want you to think that that's the way I look at you"
Tilting her head to the side the spirit sighed "so then what do you see me as?" Mentally rolling his eyes at the question he was hoping she wouldn't ask he turned his head quickly focusing his gaze to the distant hills and shrubs as if examining the source of a strange noise "I don't know…a waterbending, healer, spirit…unexpected…traveling companion?"
Golden orbs flicking back down he saw Amaya twisting and examining the shell around her neck between pale delicate fingers, the soft straight set of her lips obviously less than amused with his sarcastic answer. Turning on his heel he took a few steps onto the shore unable to take the bitter bite of the icy stream on his ankles any longer.
Tilting his head slightly his voice carried over his shoulder "but at least more of a friend than an enemy"
Not hearing any response from the girl he turned intending to look back over his shoulder at her, stopping quickly for his shoulder muscles were screeching with pain halfway through the movement. Amaya blinked rapidly as she watched Zuko grasp his arm and mutter a curse under his breath, thinking back to that morning with the fish her lips parted guiltily and she slowly made her way toward him.
Finally in front of him Amaya reached for his injured shoulder cautiously, ready to pull back and move away or for him to step back and out of her reach. Her eyes flicking up to him in confusion and surprise when he remained still and let the pads of her fingers come to rest on the sleeve covering his now aching shoulder "That fish weighed a ton, it probably came down pretty hard on you" Zuko gave no answer for her words came as more of a statement than a question.
For a moment the only thing making sound was the melody of the water and the distant chirping of far off birds hidden in the trees, looking back down Amaya removed her fingers and made her way back toward the stream "either pull down your sleeve or take the shirt off"
Zuko's expression quickly changing to surprise and confusion about to open his mouth to object to her strange request when the spirit turned around and he spotted a stream of light blue glowing water flowing gently between her hands. "oh" he stated quietly as Amaya quirked a light eyebrow "what did you…never mind" she stated holding back a laugh and shaking her head.
Amaya bayed her time swirling the water in-between her fingers and over her hands as Zuko proceeded to remove his layers that covered his upper torso, biting her lip guiltily when she caught his light winces. Lowering himself to the ground Zuko fiddled idly with the cloth of his shirt when he heard her light steps behind him. A few breaths later he felt her kneel down next to his left shoulder and decided suddenly that the grass was of great interest keeping his gazed focused on the little green blades swaying movements in the light breeze.
Cocking his head to the side slightly he noticed something familiar about these movements, the blade moved back and forth in the wind much like the gentle pushing and pulling movements of the basic water bending moves Amaya had previously been preforming. Looking at the blade itself a bit closer the movement the wind made on the blade reminded him much of the swaying movements of the flame, everything in one acting as one. The wind recreating a push and pull movement of water that makes the blade dance like the flame, signs of opposite elements seeming to work together to create nature.
Leaning slightly Amaya tilted her head feeling several locks of long hair fall over her shoulder trying to see what Zuko was so interested in. Eyebrows lifting slightly confused when she found that he was staring at nothing more than the grass, shrugging Amaya pushed the thought off he was probably just trying to distract himself.
Inhaling a deep breath Amaya brightened the glow of the water and gently pushed it toward his injured shoulder, her eyes blinking in surprise when he flinched but once more didn't move away.
As she watched the muscles in his back relax she couldn't help a small quirk at the edge of her mouth "better?" she asked softly, Zuko only nodding his head once in reply.
"See I told you that we can be helpful"
The tone of her words making the prince roll amber eyes "I wouldn't need to be healed if it weren't for your 'help' in the first place" Amaya's lips setting firm at this as she continued her work on his muscles "That's not the way I remember it"
Looking back toward the blades of grass Zuko suppressed the urge to growl a response, thinking better of it he settled for clenching his jaw and exhaling hot air through his nostrils. Amaya giving an amused eye roll when she heard the hiss of hot air, moving the water further up his shoulder she smirked and leaned over to catch his eye "So how'd your talk with Iroh go?"
His amber eyes narrowed momentarily at her for this before snapping his head forward "shut up"
Ok so there's chapter 8! I really wanted to focus this one on Zuko and Amaya finally coming to start to accept each other as friends, it took forever to write this one out like I said I probably changed this chapter at least 9 or so times haha So I really hope everyone enjoyed!
-XxMissXWonderlandxX