(Zuko's POV)
I groaned my head was throbbing as I turned onto my side, Damn her…she hits hard I thought to myself I released a frustrated sigh as I thought back to last night. Was she really telling me the truth?Flashback: I stared up at Kiki in shock, pain, and anger as she had sent me flying into the stone. She was standing there in front of me but I couldn't hit her like I would any other enemy, "I loved you Zuko…and you betrayed me" these words bounced around in my head as I tried to grasp them. I had watched them get away, knowing that her secret was blown End flashback. I couldn't get any sleep last night…I wonder if she's ok? No you don't you don't care if anything happens to her she's the enemy and you know what wemust do we have to demolish her the next time we see her. I shook my head trying to clear my conflicting thoughts as there was a knock on my door, "Go away I do not want to be disturbed" I called. I had my eyes closed the image of Kiki danced before them her angry eyes burned with hate and fire towards me. "Of course she couldn't have been telling the truth when she said she loved me" I mumbled to myself I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned quickly. I caught sight of the invader of my privacy and seen it was no other then Mai she was looking at me face expressionless like normal. "W-What are you doing here?" I asked sitting up slowly, she smiled…if you can call it a smile,
"I heard what happened with you and Azula and came to check on you…how's your head, I heard it took awhile for the cut on your head to stop bleeding" she looked down at me as she sat on the bed beside me and brushed my hair away from the cut on my head that was now slightly black and blue.
"Yeah…it's ok just a lump and a slight head ache" she still had her hand hovering over the cut as her brown eyes stared into my golden amber ones. I remember when Mai and I used to date before this war came between us "So tell me…who was it that gave you this lump anyways?" she asked me I glanced at her but didn't say anything. "Well…I guess you aren't going to tell me…but I think you should know that Azula is on the lead to the Avatar." I looked at her,
"What do you mean she's on the lead to the Avatar? She hit him in the middle of his transaction to Avatar state he isn't a threat to us anymore?"
"She wants him to bear witness to the mayhem that's bound to come in first person" she says. Mai leaves and I lay there in my bed thinking about what is going to happen to Kiki and Katara if we catch them. Kiki…where are you? A couple of days went by of me doing my prince duties with Azula and being happy, the four of us hanging out again like in the old days. Azula, Mai, Ty-Lee and me we went to the fire nation where we attended parties, and played volley ball. It took me awhile to realize that this isn't what I wanted.
(Katara's POV)
I glared at the sky for what felt like the millionth time, I don't see why they are trusting him…I wouldn't trust him…I won't trust him, I refuse to trust him after he betrayed us. I was brought back to reality by arguing I turned to see Zuko being restrained by Toph and Sokka as he yelled at Aang. I rushed over and stood in front of Aang already in a water bending position in case he tried to attack.
"What do you mean she isn't here?" he hollered my heart slammed against my rib cage as I continued to listen to what Aang was yelling back.
"I don't know where she is when I came to she was gone" He yelled back then he got a sad look on his face, "Maybe she realized all hope is gone now that I can't use my avatar state anymore against the fire lord to stop him."
"Now look at what you did" I yelled in rage as I turned towards Aang, "Aang it's ok Kiki probably just went on her own quest…I mean nobody knows what she was thinking when she decided to abandon us" I said placing a hand on Aang's shoulder his usual bald head now had dark brown hair covering it.
"That's not true…You know why she left" came Toph's voice I forgot she could tell when people were lying. I released a sigh and turned facing the blind girl, all eyes were on me now,
"Yeah I know why she left but I can't tell any of you" I say avoiding their direct eye contact as I turned slowly looking at all of their faces skipping Zuko's completely. "She left for her own personal reasons and on her own" I said trying to steady the rhythm of my heart beat.
"Well…is she lying?" asked Zuko looking to Toph it infuriated me that he thought I was lying.
"No…not that I can tell anyways she's telling the truth Kiki left on her own" said Toph looking down at the ground with her eyes not necessarily seeing anything. It grew quiet I caught the look on Zuko's face and couldn't tell if it was worry or joy,
(Aang's POV)
I sat up it was dark I rubbed my eye with the back of my hand and caught sight of Zuko sitting by the fire staring into the flames. I made my way over to him and sat down beside him,
"Are you ok Zuko… you seem different" I say quietly so I didn't wake anyone up as they slept next Appa. He glanced at me and I know I'm young but I could of sworn that I was now witnessing something in Zuko's eyes, something I've never seen before.
"Of course I'm different for once I'm not throwing fire balls at you" he said in a hushed voice, I laughed slightly
"That's not what I mean" I say,
"I know…I know what you meant…but no offense I'm not going to talk about it to a kid" he was looking back into the fire.
"Believe it or not but this kid knows how your feeling right now" I said looking into the flames as well,
"How can you possibly know how I feel if I haven't even told you anything yet?" I heard him ask I turned and looked at him.
"You're worried about Kiki…worried if she's ok and you blame yourself for her not being here where she belongs…with us, her friends" I say.
"Heh…I should of guessed the Avatar would know how well people feel about stuff since he's so close to the spirit and all" I heard him say,
"No I know how you feel because if I were you and it was Katara out there I'd be just as freaked out and worried as you are. How about you take Appa out for a ride the night sky may do you some good to relax" I say.
"Are you sure?" I smiled at him and nodded,
"Yeah go ahead, just don't abandon us" I say half jokingly he didn't laugh as he nodded and stood,
"Thanks Aang…I'll only be a little while" he said as he made his way to Appa climbing on his back and whispering Yip, Yip into his ear I watched as Appa took off with Zuko holding the reins attached to his horns. As they disappeared into the night sky I walked back to my spot beside Katara scooted closer and laid down in my sleeping back falling back to sleep.
(Zuko's POV)
I continued riding Appa I didn't know what I was going to do I didn't know where I was going all I knew is I wanted to put as much distance between me and the others as possible right now so I can think about what was happening in my life right now. I didn't realize that Appa was losing altitude until we were below the tree line and landing,
"What are you trying to pull you stupid air bison…yip, yip" I said flipping the reins, he yawned slightly but didn't move, it was like he was trying to tell me something. That's when the smell collided with my nose, I lifted my head sniffing the air as if I was a dog Someone's out here…I can smell the meat cooking I thought to myself I jumped down from Appa following the smell realizing how hungry I actually was. I didn't eat earlier tonight when Aang offered because I knew it was making Katara unhappy, I followed the smell until I found the light from the flames I slowly approached it. I stopped finding a small camp I seen a bed of leaves and a blanket of woven vines, there was a small camp fire with what I'm assuming used to be a boar skewered above it and roasting. I glanced around and didn't find anyone; my eyes found their way back to the boar and my mouth began to water as my stomach growled loudly. I don't think they'd mind if I had just a little I thought to myself as I crept forward bringing my dagger out from its place on my hip and slicing into the boar I cut off a decent size and bit into it the juice exploded into my mouth caressing every inch of my taste buds sending them into ecstasy. I was half way through when I heard a gasp,
"What do you think you're doing?" the voice sounded only slightly
angry but I could of sworn it sounded familiar.
"I'm sorry I was just so hungry and I" My words stopped frozen in shock on my lips as I had turned and standing there looking sexier than ever, stronger than ever, and more enraged then ever was Kiki. Her eyes went wide with shock as she took in my face, I shoved myself forward dropping the meat she dropped the pile of wood she was carrying her eyes had hardened she went towards her hips. It was then I noticed the blades criss crossed there but it was too late to stop everything that was put into motion. She spun the blades coming at me aiming to drive them through my chest I reacted sliding my arms between hers and smacking them down hard so that the blades were now at her thighs. She was thrown forward by the force she had put behind the attack and slammed into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "Kiki…I found you" I whispered more to myself then to her, she struggled against me trying to lift her arms up with the blades,
"Let go…LET GO OF ME!" she screamed in pure anger, I only tightened my grip on her, her face was pressed against my chest I suddenly felt warmth. Is she…crying? I thought to myself, "I hate you…I HATE YOU ZUKO!" she screamed I heard her sob after wards I tightened my grip with only my left arm and reached down with my right. My hand found her chin and I forced her head up so that she was looking at me.
"KikiI'm sorry…I'm sorry I betrayed you…I thought it was the only way" I explained, she tried to turn away but I had her, "Please…I need you to forgive me" I say my eyes burning into hers.
"NO, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. YOU BETRAYED ME, YOU HURT ME….I HATE Y" I closed the space between our lips kissing her hard at first then softly. I put as much feeling as I could behind the kiss, Kiki please…I need you in my life I thought to myself she stopped struggling her arms dropped to her side and she kissed me back. But just for a second before there was a sliver of pain in my lip and I pulled back there was slight blood on her lip,
"You bit me" I said stunned wiping away the blood on my lip.
(Normal POV)
"Why are you here" I asked I didn't dare use his name again afraid that instead of the anger I wanted to put into my words would fail me and he'd hear confusion instead. Why did he have to find me…why couldn't it be someone else…anyone else Azula even I thought to myself watching him still.
"It wasn't like I planned it Kiki…I was just flying around on Appa and"
"Appa?" I asked quickly, "What do you mean you were flying around on Appa?" my brows were narrowed slightly.
"Aang let me borrow him because I couldn't sleep" he explained my mind was going 100 miles a minute.
"Why would Aang let YOU of all people borrow Appa?" I asked,
"…because I'm with them…I left the Fire Nation for good Kiki…I've been with them since last night…Katara doesn't trust me as well as the others though." He explained,
"Good she shouldn't" I said darkly,
"Look Kiki about the night in the cave I have something to tell you" he began,
"No! I don't want to hear anything about that night…matter of fact I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth…leave and when you see Katara tell her I said I hope she's happy with the decision she chose." I turned my attention back to the boar that was still cooking.
"Kiki…what did Katara do exactly?" I heard him ask,
"She wanted me gone before I could even explain the fact that I was both a fire and water bender she wanted me away from Aang…so I left, and I think you should do the same." I didn't look at him
"We need your help Kiki…we can't do this without you" argued Zuko
"Yes…yes you can, I'm not going back to the group I'll do my own part in the war on my own I don't need anyone or their help" I said it was silent for a few minutes before he released a sigh,
"Be careful Kiki…and if you need me you'll know where to find me" he said and then he was gone, I watched him fly off on Appa when he was gone I released a sigh of relief,
"Ok he's gone" I called there was a few scuffles and standing before me was members of the white lotus including Zuko's uncle. He was watching me closely but I avoided eye contact with him,
"Kiki I know how difficult that must have been for you" began Iroh, I held up my hand,
"If you know how truly difficult it was for me then please master Iroh do not speak of it" he grew quiet and nodded his head as we all took our seats around the fire and cut up the boar evenly and ate in silence.
(Zuko POV)
Appa and I got back to camp late and had a slow rough morning getting up, the meeting between me and Kiki last night kept going through my head over and over again. Everyone was eating in silence when I cleared my throat and lifted my golden amber eyes to meet Katara's icy blue ones,
"So I know the actual reason why Kiki left" I say
"Why did she leave…how do you know?" asked Sokka he seemed the most eager to know followed by aang.
"She left because someone didn't want her aroud Aang anymore…someone judged her before even trying to find out why she lied to you guys" I explained. I didn't have to say any names as they all turned and looked at Katara who had her eyes narrowed at me,
"Katara what did you do?" asked Aang quietly.
"She lied to us…to ALL of us, she was a Fire bender the whole time…I don't know how she was pulling of the water bending moves she probably had a machine like those kids did with the air kites" she yelled quickly.
"Wait she was fire bending?" asked Sokka he was obviously confused,
"Yes she was fire bending and she told Zuko everywhere we went, she was trying to help him capture us" cried Katara.
"You never even gave her the chance to explain herself before you attacked her did you?" I asked now angry,
"Why would I even let her explain anything?" yelled Katara,
"So you admit you attacked her?" I asked yelling back, her cheeks flushed red either from anger or embarrassment or both.
"Katara…" said Aang as everyone looked at her,
"And for your information…she is a water bender…she is a fire bender, I'm not exactly sure why but she can do both her mom was a fire bender her dad a water bender. She lost not one but BOTH of her parents to this war…and she was still willing to give me a chance to come to the right side, she was always protecting you guys whether it was lying to me, or getting attacked for you" I said looking at Katara unblinking. She stared back at me eyes glistening with tears threatening to spill over,
"Toph" was all she said,
"He's telling the truth" she replied shaking her head slightly, that's when her tears spilled over and fell down her face. It was quiet for a few minutes, "Zuko…how do you know so much if Katara was the only one that knew" asked Toph.
"She wasn't the only one that knew…Kiki knew" they all gasped as their eyes shot to my face,
"You found her?" asked Aang quickly, I nodded my head,
"Yeah, last night when you let me use Appa when I couldn't sleep…it was like Appa could sense her, he brought me right to her. I tried to get her to come back with me but it was no use…she wouldn't come, she said she'd do her part in the war on her own and that she didn't need anyone."
Several weeks later…
I watched as Suki and Sokka cuddled and I turned my head ignoring them and redirecting my attention to Aang and Toph who were practicing earth bending. How did I come so far…abandoned the Fire Nation got my girlfriend locked up in jail for helping me free the Kiyoshi warriors and is now sitting here helping the avatar train to defeat my father in a mere couples of days.