Chapter 4: Prince's Rejection

Zara leaned against the rocky wall as she watched Zuko plead for the chance to help the Avatar... who looked 12-13. This was whom the fire prince had chased all over the world? But why didn't he seem angry? The two in blue appeared much more furious, holding weapons and ready to use waterbending against the now-bowing fire nation boy. He even held up his hands, offering himself as a prisoner while the group berated him for his attacks and imprisonment of their persons. These were tales that he had chosen to leave out. And the redhead chose to voice this with mild amusement.

"Really? That's what you choose to focus on?!" Zuko asked with an exasperated sigh and a small glare.

Zara shrugged and chuckled. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn. You know I am not one for... formalities." She walked closer to him and carded her fingers in his dark locks, making him bat her hand away with a scowl. "Offering yourself as a prisoner does not become you. How do you expect them to listen when you act so foolishly? No one would dare pay any mind to one who gives up so easily..."

The small girl in green stomped forward, ignoring the kneeling prince in favor of the girl she didn't remember hearing. "Who're you?" Her voice sounded tough.

"My name is Zara. And you are?"

The girl opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by the boy in blue putting his hand over her mouth. She promptly licked the hand so he would let her go. While the blue boy whined in disgust, the girl dressed in blue chose to address the strange red-haired girl. "Why are you with him?! Don't you know he's gonna stab you in the back?! You can't trust anyone from the Fire Nation!"

The uncaged girl toyed with her red hair as she looked from Zuko then back to the dark-skinned girl. "He helped me out of the cage. Besides, if no one from the Fire Nation can be trusted, how does the Avatar intend to harness the power of fire? You can not have it both ways."

Both blue siblings opened and closed their mouths like fish, not wanting to concede to the point but not knowing what to say at that moment. The green girl had a huge grin on her face. "Exactly! I say we take Zuko up on his offer of fire-bending training and keep an eye on him."

"Toph, no! We can find someone else! Jeong-jeong can't be the only fire bending master that would help Aang!"

Zara sighed, rolling her eyes. "Nice to meet you, Toph..."

"Katara!" the blue boy gasped in exasperation.

Katara growled back, "Sokka!"

"Aang!" The avatar popped up, obviously trying to ease the tension with some comedic relief. The flying lemur jumped onto Aang's shoulder, chattering as he raised his arms to mimick the Avatar. "And this is Momo!"

The redhead chuckled again and turned her burning gold eyes to Zuko. "I can see why you hunted them down for so long. Such entertainment is hard to come by~" Her voice held a teasing lilt, lips tilted upwards in a small smile. The air around her warmed and startled the group. Katara flung her water forward, intending to do damage but it quickly evaporated as it entered strange girl's radius, turning to steam a mere inch from her skin and the added humidity that arose caused her wavy hair to fluff and frizz. "We are not your enemies..."

Zuko's eyes widened at the fire bending that had taken place... was it even true bending? He didn't know but he was running out of time to convince the Avatar to let him join and teach him. Looking at Aang, he sighed. "You once said that we could be friends... if only..."

The monk silently addressed his friends, 2 of which were clearly against Zuko joining them. "I'm sorry... but I can't have someone in our group unless everyone is okay with them. We can't let you come with us."

The fire prince rose to his feet, trying to vocalize how he was good now but Katara took what was left of her bending water and used it to push Zuko back, drenching him. Sokka lifted his boomerang threateningly as he told him to leave and not come back. Zuko's eyes pleaded with them before dulling as he stiffly got up and walked away.

"I can't believe we had someone who could teach Aang fire bending and you won't even think about it! He needs a master!" Toph growled, stomping her feet and making the ground shake.

"Forget it, Toph. There's no way we can trust him. You know that..." Katara gathered water from the nearby stone pool into her bending pouch. She didn't even want to regather the water used to dismiss Zuko. And the water that evaporate was long gone... "Hey, what about that girl, Zara? She didn't use any bending moves to get rid of my wave. Maybe she can help..."

Sokka looked torn. On the one hand... pretty girl. The other hand was fixated on her association with the banished prince.

Toph rolled her unseeing eyes and stomped over to where Zuko had just left, leaning against the rocky wall. "Will you help train Aang?"

The other members of the group were so caught up in the need for a bending master and the upset Zuko caused that they failed to realize that Zara never left. The redhead was just standing in the shadows, listening to their every word as she looked out into the open air beyond the temple in the cliff side. She sighed softly before looking at them. "I will not train you. I have nothing to teach... but I also cannot leave."

The Avatar raised an eyebrow in confusion. When Katara asked the question they all wanted to know, she pointed at cliff wall Zuko had walked towards. "He took the rope with him."

"Wow... what a jerk."