You're My Path (Zuko X Reader) Book 3

Chapter 43

Previously on Chapter 42

After a while, Katara finished treating my wound. I smile softly at her. "Thank you, Katara..." I said. She smiles at me. She places a hand on my shoulder. "Now you just need to rest some more, okay?" She said. I just smile and nod my head. The two of them walks away, leaving me along. I just stare at the roof above me. Zuko... why'd you make me love you only for you to break me? Why Zuko... why??

-Conflicted-

Y/N P.O.V

It's now the next morning. I'm sitting next to Aang as Katara serves everyone breakfasts. She hands me a bowl. I give her a soft smile in return.

"Has anyone seen Toph?" Katara said. "I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday" Sokka said. I turn to look at the two of them with a confused expression.

"Why? What happened?" I asked. Katara turns to look at me. "Zuko came to us..." she said. My eyes widened at what she said. "What did he want? Did he hurts you, Aang?" I said, turning to look at Aang. He shakes his head.

"No... actually, he said he wants to join our group" he said. He starts to tell us what's been going on while I was out. I turn my head to look at the ground in disbelief.

Suddenly a loud rumble can be heard. I turn my head and see Toph stumbling through the hole. We quickly get up and rush over to her. Thankfully, the only one hurting is my shoulder now. So I can still move around freely.

"Toph! What happened?" Katara said. "My feet got burned!" She said. "Oh no, what happened?" I said, kneeling down in front of her worriedly.

"I just told you, my feet got burned!" She said. I let out a huffed. "I meant how..." I said. "Well, I kind of went to see Zuko last night" she said. I clench my hands into tight fists. First he broke my heart. Now he hurts my friend.

"You what?" Aang said, in shock. "Zuko?" Katara said. "Uhhh...!" Sokka said. "I thought he could be helpful to us. And if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out" she said. Katara starts to try to heal her wound.

"So he attacked you?" Sokka said. "Well, he did, and he didn't. It was sort of an accident" she said. "But he did firebend at you?" Aang said. She lets out a sigh. "Yes" she said.

I let out a sigh and take a seat on the ground. "See? You trusted Zuko, and you got burned. Literally!" Sokka said. "It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. I wish I could have worked on them sooner" Katara said, as she stops healing the burns on Toph's feet. "Yeah, me too" she said. I'm worried for her. She needs her feet to see her way around. But now that they're injured... how will she navigate her way?

"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him" Sokka said. "I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice" Aang said. I look down at my hands which are on my lap. I want nothing to do with him. But if he's here somewhere, at one point... I'd surely meet him.

"He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him. He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once" Toph said, as Sokka and Aang lifts her up. "Yeah, get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner, then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it!" Sokka said. I roll my eyes at what he said.

"If you guys are going after him... count me out. I'm not ready to see him after what he did" I said. They just nod their heads, respecting my choice. They all knew what Zuko did... and how hurt I was.

We let Toph dip her feet into the water. "Ahhh, that's the stuff. Now I know how the rest of you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks" she said. I just place my hand on her shoulder.

Suddenly, there's a loud explosion. We turn our head and notice Combustion Man. We quickly make a run for it. We rush to hide behind a wall.

"Stop!" Someone else said. I froze slightly because the voice sounded familiar. I look around the wall and see the same man that have broke my heart. "I don't want you hunting the Avatars anymore! The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop" he said.

"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you! All right, I'll pay you double to stop!" He added. My eyes widen at what he said. I turn to look at the others. "HE sent that assassin after us??" I said. They nod their heads at my question.

"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph said, as the Combustion Man kept on blasting explosions at us. "I can't step out to waterbend at him without being blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here" Katara said. Sokka pauses to think of a plan.

"I know how to get an angle on him!" He said. He takes out his boomerang. He points it at the way of the explosion. "All right buddy, don't fail me now!" He said. He shoots the boomerang. The boomerang manage to hit right on his head.

"Yeah, boomerang!" Sokka said, rushing forward to grab his boomerang. I turn my head and notice the Combustion Man standing up. "Awww, boomerang" he said. We quickly run back to our hiding spot. He tries to shoot another explosion at us, but it ended up exploding around him.

***

We are now gathering on a spot. Zuko walks towards us. He makes eye-contact with me. I just look away from him a few seconds later.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but... thanks, Zuko" Aang said. I just keep my gaze away from him. "Hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing" Sokka said.

"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday, I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's been hard" Zuko said. I take a glance at him. I can see his eyes still lingering on me.

"But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you both restore balance to the world" he said. I turn to look at him in surprise. He still stares at me.

This time we make a longer eye-contact. All the emotion that I have pushed down are slowly coming back to me. I can feel tears slowly building in my eyes. But I blink them away, because I don't want him to know that he still have some sort of effect on me.

I give him a cold gaze, as he stares at me. His eyes held both sadness and regret. For a second, my gaze soften. But I shake my head. I'm not going to forgive him... not that easily.

*to be continued*