Chapter Fourty Six

Realization

I slept restlessly. Aang slept in Zuko's room, leaving me alone with my thoughts and frustration. I was so confused with my emotions that it was mentally draining. I tossed and turned throughout the night, fatigue not willing me sleep.

Finally, morning rounded the corner, allowing me to get out of the bed, which was now a mountain of quilts and sheets that I had kicked while tossing and rolling. I stared absently at the pile before glancing at the mirror, quickly placing my curls into a high pony-tail to keep them out of my face. Bags were present under my eyes and I looked frazzled. Frankly, I didn't care. My thoughts were on Aang — as if that was a surprise.

During my sleepless night, my mind was on the sole question—do I love him?

I let out a shaken sigh, my mind racking my thoughts, my emotions, my feelings. My knee bounced slightly as I refocused on the reflection staring back at me. I felt so confused, so unsure, so...lost.

A sharp knocking on the bedroom door drew me from my thoughts, causing me to glance behind me in mild surprise. I hesiantly walked over, praying that it was Aang, but then again, praying that it wasn't. I desperately wanted to set things straight; yet when I was confident to do so.

I slowly opened the door, dragging my eyes upwards, a sense of relief present in the faint smile that I wore as I gazed at Olin.

His eyes flickered past me and into the bedroom — of course he was checking to see if Aang was in here. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his persistence. "Good morning, sis," he greeted after making sure no boy was in my room and on my bed. He grinned lazily down at me.

"'morning. You're up early," I commented drly, leaning against the door frame as I subconsiously picked at strands of hair that escaped my updo.

Olin shrugged nonchalantly, "Not really. Everyone else is up. And I see somebody isn't in a good mood." he raised an eyebrow, reaching forward and ruffling my hair as his arms locked playfully around my neck, holding me under his armpit as he continued messing up my hair, "What's got Vinca down? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" he teased.

I let out a squeak, squirming away from his grasp and sending him a deathly look at the sight of my hair, which looked like a rat's nest. "I was perfectly fine until you showed up and hassled me," I grumbled, swatting away his hand as he tried to mess up my hair once again.

"Right. I'll just assume that your just tired, not being a smart-ass," Olin's grin expanded at his statement, mischievousness glinting in his eyes.

My lips curved into a frown as I pretended to be hurt. "Who knew my only brother could be so mean," I whimpered softly, lowering my head as I sniffled, shuffling backwards as I laid the guilt-trip on him. I was barely out of his reach when he let out a quiet sigh, a look of shame on his face,

"I was just teasing." He apologized, his grin vanished.

I chuckled at how sorry he sounded, and my chuckle made him sigh as he realized that I had merely played him. "And I was just joking. Sometimes I forget how you can be," I quickly fixed my hair before moving past him.

"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?" Olin grunted as we walked down the hallway. I reached up on my tip toes, wrapping my arms around his neck and gently forcing him down, hurriedly messing up his neatly done hair. He drew in a sharp take of breath, ducking out from under my grasp. "That took ten minutes to fix!" My brother whined, nudging me in the side as he easily did his hair to its original state of messiness.

I only laughed, skipping ahead of him, "Now we're even!" I singsong, sticking my tongue out. He opened his mouth to make a reply but stopped upon realizing that we had entered the kitchen that was crowded with my friends. Their voices died down slightly as they awknowledged our entrance, and then they continued their conversations.

My eyes rested on Aang, who was blantly ignoring me. I stared at him for a few seconds, watching as he lovingly scratched Momo's chin, smiling widely. My heart dropped as he made no move to even look at me.

I let out an unaudible sigh as I turned and joined Katara by the kitchen counter. She was frying a pan of bacon, Zuko on her left, his golden eyes straying from the waterbender to the smoldering fire, which he kept alive by small flames that arched from his fingertips. I raised an eyebrow at his sudden interest in the girl, and also at Katara's ease at him being around. Maybe it was because they had both went out on a day-long search to find Katara's mother's murderer. They were sucessful — but the Southern Water Tribe girl couldn't bring herself to kill the man. Yet it seemed that Zuko and Katara had formed a...bond, at the time they were gone. It made me jealous that they could actually talk, while I couldn't bring myself to even approach Aang.

Well, he would move away, anyways.

My eyebrows scrunched up as I absently drummed my fingers against the countertop, my thoughts scattering. I needed time alone. Even though I've had two days almost to myself with Aang's absence from me, I needed more time. Always more.

I glanced upwards. Judging by the way that Zuko wasn't sweaty or frustrated, I assumed that firebending practice hadn't been held yet. Perfect. This meant that I could be alone for at least two hours. I wasn't hungry, so I could leave now and have even more time to sort out my thoughts — and, not to mention, feelings.

I drifted away from the chattering group, which didn't seem to notice that I was leaving. Slipping out the door that lead to the courtyard, I headed towards the ocean.

The feeling that someone was watching me was heavy and slightly bothering, and I quickly cocked my head to look behind me. Of course, nobody was watching me, but Aang's head seemed tilted slightly in my direction. I breathed outwards, scolding myself for that thought.

Finally I reached the shore and settled down, resting against my palms as the warm sun shone down on me, a feeling of relaxation coming from it. I succumbed to my thoughts.

"Vinca? Uh—Vinca?"

The familiar voice brought me into reality and I blinked against the sunlight, my eyes refocusing. I must have dozed off. I involuntarily rubbed my eyes, brushing off traces of sand that lingered on my body. I glanced upwards, squinting to see who had came. I relaxed at seeing that it was only Zuko. "Hi," I greeted lamely, moving my eyes away from him as he settled down next to me.

"Hello. You must've been pretty tired to be asleep on the beach," He noted, his golden eyes studying me silently.

I shrugged, "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Nightmares?"

I shook my head, "Why does it seem that almost every conversation we have is about sleep?" I wondered aloud absently, dragging my fingers through the thin sand.

Zuko chuckled breathily, "It does seem that way, doesn't it?" He let out a quiet sigh, his eyes flickering back to the house, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

At seeing his facial expression, I nudged him gently, "What's got you all worked up?" I questioned.

"It's nothing—well, actually, it's about Aang."

My body tensed up at the mention of his name and I stared at the firebender, "What about him?"

The former prince raised an eyebrow, "Why the sudden interest?" he only rolled his eyes, and then went on to explain, "He isn't focused on firebending. He seems distant."

"Oh."

"Do you know why?"

"Um—not particularly."

Zuko made a face, "Did you do something to him?"

I made a face back at him, "Why would you say that!"

"Considering that you are all he probably thinks about, you probably did something to make his firebending even worse than it is!"

"Don't be ridiculous—I can't make his firebending worse! Only he can!" I scoffed, furrowing my eyebrows together as I glared at the older boy.

"You're basically admitting that you did something to him." Zuko exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I didn't!"

"Vinca, he has to learn firebending—"

I crossed my arms in disbelief. "I know that, Zuko! Well maybe you should be focusing more on teaching him than fawning over Katara!"

His cheeks flushed a dark red but he continued to argue with the same fire, "Ugh—don't change the subject!"

I was growing more and more frustrated, my feelings bubbling into a boil, "I'm not! I'm just—just trying to fix things! Don't blame things on me!"

Zuko's eyes rested on me once again, "Trying to fix what?"

"It's none of your business."

"Actually, it is. If its concerning Aang, since I'm his firebending teacher..."

A long, annoyed, and rather defeated sigh escaped my lips. "Does it really matter...?"

"If its about that one bedroom incident with your brother and Aang, I don't need to know, truthfully." he forced a chuckle.

"I'm just going to go—"

"No, you're not." he grabbed my arm, making me sit back down, "You are going to tell me what you did to Aang."

"What makes you think I did some—"

"We're not going through that arguement again." Zuko stated firmly.

I rolled my eyes, taking a long breath, "I don't want to tell you."

"Listen. I see that whatever it is its obviously bothering you. And quite frankly, hurting Aang. So if you want to 'fix things', it'll help if you talk it out. Maybe I can help." The firebender's voice softened.

My lips settled into a firm line as I realized that he was right. "Aang told me that he loved me and I freaked out..." I mumbled with a frown.

Zuko blinked, "Oh. I—um," he paused, "That's rough."

"Thanks for the advice," I stated sarcastically.

He made a face at me that made me laugh half-heartedly, "I was thinking it over. Why'd you freak out?"

"I didn't literally freak out—well, not physically." I said wryly, "But I'm...I don't know."

"About?"

"I don't want to make any promises that can be broken way to easily."

"Saying that you 'love' isn't a promise...it's more like...like, uh, a declaration." he searched for the word.

"A declaration?" I wondered.

Zuko nodded, "Love is something you can't force. So instead of a 'promise', its a declaration that can't be broken as long as you love him."

"That's barely makes any sense...but I think I understand." I said.

"So, the question is—do you love him?"

I hesitated, thinking things over. Do I love him?

The answer was suddenly so clear, so pristine, that it made me blink in realization.

The answer was simply...yes.

"I'll take that as I yes?" Zuko snapped me back out of my thoughts.

I nodded slowly, still numb from the thoughts that had dawned upon me.

The firebender snorted, "I didn't even need to ask, it's kind of obvious, really. But at least you've realized it now." He shrugged, beginning to stand.

"What do you mean, 'obvious'?" I inquired as I stood along with him, dusting off the sand.

"By the way you two act and look at eachother. Even Toph could see it."

A smile tugged on my lips, "Oh." Was all I said as we began to walk back to the house. There was a silence before I asked:

"So...what about your feelings for Katara?"

AN: thanks for all the reviews! This chapter was written kind of quickly. I wanted to get it up because my internet randomly cuts out and I don't ever know when I'll get it back. So, some Zuko/Vinca bonding time, I promise that the next chapters will be much longer and more eventful.

With love, xoxsillygoose. :)