Zuko
I knew it was just a matter of time before those stupid fugitive posters came back to bite us in the ass. Hiding in the Earth Kingdom only works for so long.
After Uncle and I escape the Rough Riders, we find ourselves in some kind of desert ice oasis. Uncle says he knows a friend, the old man who has a Pia Sho board set up. But even in that bar we're ambushed by bounty hunters, and we almost don't get away.
Once we're safe, Uncle explains he's a member of some kind of ancient order called the White Lotus, and they can help us get to safety. Before long, Uncle has two passports with our fake names on them: Mushi and Lee. I'm surprised he kept the Mushi name, and I'm just grateful he's not going to keep calling me Jr. around people. The passports are to get us in to Ba Sing Se. Even Azula can't find us there. But I'll also be trapped in the life of an Earth Kingdom peasant, rather than a Fire Nation prince. And I may never have the chance to capture the Avatar again, thus never get a chance to go home.
Part of it sounds tempting. To not have any responsibilities on my shoulders anymore. To be able to just live a quiet life. But more of me is grieving inside. I just want my father to accept me, and my nation to want me. To get my honor back and live in it instead of shame. I may never do that now.
They tell us they'll have to split us up to sneak us out of the village. Uncle doesn't like it, but I honestly agree it's for the best. I can't process my decision if Uncle's hovering over me. He deserves a quiet life, away from the war. He'll find that in Ba SIng Se. He should go. I'm the one with a decision to make, and if he thinks I might not join him, he'll never go himself. I can't let him sacrifice yet another thing for me.
"You go first, Uncle. I'll meet you in Ba Sing Se."
"Why don't we just wait until we can go together, Zuko? I don't want to leave you alone with bounty hunters all around!"
"I'll be okay. I need to take this journey alone. I think you know that. But I will meet you in Ba Sing Se, that's a promise." I tell him, not sure if I'll be keeping my word or not. I just hope he can't tell. He stares at me a long moment.
"Fine. Don't keep me waiting too long. I worry for you, Nephew." He says and wraps me in a hug. I hesitate a moment, then return the embrace. I may never see him again, after all.
"See you soon, Uncle."
"Very soon I hope, Zuko." He pulls back and looks at me. "I love you, my Nephew." He tells me, then walks away to where they're smuggling him out.
…..
After a couple days of waiting, I get tired of the White Lotus' caution. I'll head out on my own, and if anyone gives me trouble then I don't have to hide my fire bending. So I thank them for their help, accept the money and supplies they give me and head out into the village to buy some more food, just in case it takes longer to happen upon another village than I think.
"You're not trying to go through the desert, I hope?" A stranger asks as I pay for some fresh fruit. I snort.
"No. For now, I'm choosing life." I tell him. I've been in this particular desert before, two years ago while searching for the Avatar. I paid some Sandbenders to ferry me around on one of their sand boats, certain that he'd be in hard to reach places where no one had looked before. I learned that the desert is harsh, hot, and merciless. I never want to go back again.
"Good. Some teenagers took a trip in a little less than a week ago, none of them made it back. I hope they found another way out."
"Yeah, I hope so to." I say and walk off. Death in the desert is a terrible way to die.
As I walk, I look at the vast expanse of sand. It's hot, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere. The sooner I get out of here, the better. I start to turn to walk away, but I squint my eyes when I see a shape staggering towards me. Then it falls, whoever it is. I groan and look at the sky.
Agni, why me? But I jog over to the person, see if they're just drunk off cactus juice from a brief stroll or if it's someone who needs help. When I get close enough to see who it is, though, my heart stops and my world turns upside down.
"Katara!" I Yell, sprinting now to get to her side. I slide on my knees to a stop next to her. She's passed out in the sand, her body hot but out of sweat, her hair tangled and matted, and unconscious as I pick her up in my arms. "No no no. It's okay. I've got you. You're going to be okay." I tell her as I sprint back to the White Lotus hide out.
"I thought you left." Uncle's friend says as I rush back in.
"I need a physician!" I yell. "She's-she's-"
"Desert sickness." He says as he comes over to look at her. "She was here with the Avatar last week. No one else knew it was him, but we white lotus keep up with the news. They left for the desert on his sky bison."
Something must have happened. Sokka and The Avatar would never leave her behind on purpose.
"Will she be okay?" I ask as he leads me to a cot to set her down on.
"We'll see. The Avatar left 5 days ago. She's been in the desert that long. Some recover, some do not. It depends on how strong she is."
"If it's a matter of strength, she'll pull through." I say, grabbing her hand. "She's the strongest person I know."
"We need to get her hydrated." He says and hands me a water skin. "Pour this in her mouth a little at a time until it's gone. Be careful not to give it to her too fast, or she'll get sick. I'm going to go find my daughter to change and bathe her in cold water. Once her body cools down enough, she should wake up. If not, then she likely's too far gone."
"Wait. What's your name?" I ask, realizing I didn't pay attention when we met. "I can't just keep calling you 'Uncle's Friend." For the first time, he smiles at me gently.
"My name is Chi Ty. Be ready to get out when my daughter gets here. I have a feeling this young lady values her modesty."
...
She's unconscious for three days. In that time, I hardly leave her side, just like Uncle tells me she did when she was healing me from the lightning. The more time that passes, the more likely her eyes won't open again and that makes me sick to my stomach.
I hate myself for caring so much. My father and Azusa would call me pathetic if they knew, and a traitor at that. I guess they already think I'm both, though, so this wouldn't really change anything, only add to it.
I'm pretty sure we don't owe each other anything anymore. We're square. But for some reason I can't leave.
Chi Ty keeps shaking his head when he comes in to check on her, not saying anything.
Then finally, after three horrible days, she groans and opens her eyes. I shoot up from the chair I was sitting in, and grip her hand tightly as I gently try to help her sit up.
"Katara?"
"Water. Please." She croaks. I nod and rush over to the basin, bringing back a large cup of it and hold it to her mouth as she drinks, coughing as she finished.
"Thanks." She looks at me and confusion crosses her face. "What are you doing here, Zuko? Where am I? Where's everyone else?" Her gaze changes into a glare. "You didn't hurt them, did you?" I feel a stab of irritation at the accusation, but it isn't like I haven't earned it. It isn't even like I wouldn't drop anything to capture the Avatar right now if I thought I had a chance.
"No, I didn't hurt your friends." I roll my eyes. "What I did do is find your body collapsed from Desert Fever and bring you to a healer. What happened to you?"
"We went into the desert to check out this special spirit library, but sand benders stole Appa, so we couldn't get back. I got separated from everyone else during a sandstorm. I don't know where they are or if they made it out."
"I see." I answer. This could be huge. Without the Sky Bison, The Avatar can't make such quick escapes. But if Katara's being honest, and she probably is, then I don't have the first clue as to where to even start looking for him. It was hard to find him before, and that was when I had Fire Nation resources at my disposal. Now I have nothing.
"Avatar Aang and his companions made it out." Chi Ty says, coming back into the room with some stew on a tray. "I heard the story from some other sandbenders. When they ran into one of the tribes in the desert, the Earthbending girl recognized one of the voices as one of the Sky Bison's kidnappers. Avatar Aang went into the Avatar State, almost killing the sandbenders. After things calmed down, the sandbenders agreed to help search for you but were unsuccessful. They told the Avatar you had surely died in the desert. The search was called off the day before your arrival. Everyone was upset, but Your brother was particularly distraught."
"They think I'm dead?"
"I'm afraid so. Otherwise they'd still be searching, I believe." Katara pulls her knees to her chest.
"How am I ever going to find them?" She mutters.
"Is she going to be okay?" I ask Chi Ty. He nods at me.
"I recommend at least another day's rest, as well as a cold bath and plenty of water and iced mango juice to restore your strength, but you'll be fine. You've conquered the Desert Sickness. I am most impressed. It looked quite dicey there for a while."
"Do you know what my friends' plans are?" She asks. He shakes his head.
"I'm sorry. They didn't come back here. I just heard the story from the sandbenders." She looks down, biting her lip as her eyes turn red from tears she's trying not to let fall. I feel an almost overwhelming urge to hold her and comfort her. Instead I just bite the inside of my cheek until it bleeds.
She's the Enemy. She's gotten in the way of getting home more times than I can count. She'll keep getting in the way if she has the slightest chance to keep me from catching him. I need to think about my Honor. Don't think about how close she came to dying again. Don't think about her eyes, her hair, her mouth. Especially not her mouth. Especially not that kiss.
"I need to go." I say and abruptly get up. I can't be around her. "Chi Ty said you'll be fine by tomorrow, I need to go. I'm three days late leaving anyways."
"What?" She asks as I walk out. "Zuko, wait!" I don't listen to her. I just pull the brim of my hat down and walk out the door.
Just keep walking. Don't turn back. Just keep moving forwards.
"Zuko!" She calls, louder and more irritated this time. I keep moving.
"Miss, you musnt get out of bed yet!" I hear, making my stomach clench as his words are followed by hurried footsteps. In a few seconds, she's in front of me.
"Stop it!" She pants, pushing me backwards. "Stop!"
"Katara, get out of my way." I say through clenched teeth.
"No!"
"You're out of breath from running 10 feet. Get back in bed."
"Not unless you come with me!" She says, then blushes up to her hair line. I feel my cheeks get rosy too. "Not like that. Just don't leave yet."
"I need to go. You can't stop me."
"Just like you can't stop me from following you."
"I'd like to again point out you're breathless from running 10 feet."
"Which only means I'll have to work harder to keep up, not that I won't go with you."
"You'll collapse on the first mile!"
"Then it's a good thing I know you'll just carry me back here. Come on, Zuko. Either you wait to leave until tomorrow when Chi Ty said I'll be ok, or you start a journey you'll just have to turn back from to bring me back here and start tomorrow anyways."
"Why do you even want to come?!" I yell, frustrated. Her face darkens.
"I don't know why you're losing your temper, Zuko. I'm just trying to make sure I don't have to travel by myself. It's dangerous for a girl to travel alone, even if I am a waterbender." She says, her eyes skirting the ground. "Besides, We have a common goal now: Finding Aang."
"I'm on my way to Ba Sing Se to find Uncle, not the Avatar." I tell her, hoping that will shake her off.
"Perfect." She says. I narrow my eyes at her.
"The Avatar's in Ba Sing Se?" I ask. If he is, that's both good and bad news for me. Good news is, I'd know where he is and be in the same place as him, giving me a shot at finally catching him. And Azula won't be there to get in the way. Bad news, we'd be in the heart of the Earth Kingdom, surrounded by people who would want to help him and kill me. And even if I do catch him, I don't know how I'd get out of the city alive. Plus it would mean another battle with Katara, and even though I'm willing to do that if I have to, I dread it every time I think of it.
"I have no idea where Aang is, or any of the group. My guess is they're looking for Appa. But news about the Avatar travels fast, I'm guessing I can get some information on him in Ba Sing Se easier than I can get it here, in this oasis in the middle of nowhere. Now what about you?"
"What do you mean, what about me?"
"You said you're looking Iroh, not for Aang. Does that mean you're not going to try and capture him anymore?"
"No." I say quickly. She can't get her hopes up for that. "Katara, I know you don't understand this because you have a family who loves you and you'll always be welcome with, but not all of us can go home just because we want to. My home is the Fire Nation. And despite what my sister thinks, I'm not a traitor. The only way I can go home is if I capture the Avatar, and I'll do whatever it takes to accomplish that."
"But-" She starts, but I cut her off.
"No buts! Katara, Stay away from me! We're on opposite sides of a war for crying out loud!" I fume. I have to get away from her, before I become a traitor for real. Her gaze gets dark and hard.
"You think I don't know that?!" She yells back at me. "How many times have you hunted us down, tried to capture my friend? You attacked my village and held me prisoner on your ship for weeks! And lets not forget this!" She says, turning around and slipping one arm out of her dress, lowering the back of it enough for my eyes to widen as I see a white sunburst scar on her shoulder, where I hit her with my fire. She slides her arm back in the sleeve and turns back to me.
"I know you're the Fire Prince. But if we can call truce on the ship, we can call truce while we travel to Ba Sing Se, Deal? Otherwise I'm going to try and make it on my own, and who knows how that will go with me still recovering from Desert sickness." She tells me, planting her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows as she waits for a response. I growl and run my hand over my face, but accept the waterbender is more stubborn than I am.
"Fine. Go lay down and get some rest. We'll leave at sunrise. Don't slow me down too much."