Ablaze || Aang x Reader

9: Bald Besties

Zuko and I rarely talked since our argument. I'm not sure why, but I felt a little embarrassed to have told him all I did. He had no business knowing that much about me but it kinda was his fault for insulting me and my family the way he did. Once I started, everything kinda gushed out like a geyser.

As the prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko had a few connections at different posts around the world relaying to him any information they had about the Avatar. We got word yesterday about a nearby prison on a massive ship that saw a "giant flying buffalo" with an empty saddle fly away from the rig. I knew it would have only been Aang and Appa. That was the last we heard from Zuko's informant.

I came out onto the deck, tightening my head band to cover my arrow. It saddened me to have to cover up the mark of my greatest achievement as an airbender but it was necessary if I didn't want to get caught.

We waited for our ship to align itself with the prison. The only problem was that the prison was much, much taller than Zuko's boat. Zuko scowled at the prison for a solid five seconds before turning to me where I stood a few feet next to him.

"You. Fly me up there." He demanded.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"Use your glider to take me up to the prison's deck."

"Um, rude. I have a name. There're also better ways to ask."

Zuko huffed and two small flames came out his nose.

I opened my glider and sighed, "Grab on tight."

Zuko grasped onto the top bar of my glider. I could tell he wasn't hanging on as tight as he should.

I decided to mess with him. As soon as Zuko tried to say something, I launched us into the air. I had never heard him scream as loud or as long as he did.

Once we got to the top, I threw in an extra loop just out of spite.

I landed as abruptly as possible. This made Zuko tumble off the back of my glider. That didn't stop him from jumping back up and yelling at me.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" He demanded.

"What was what?" I asked, very obviously feigning innocence.

With another grunt-huff-growl-roar A.K.A what I internally like to refer to as The Zuko Noise, he stormed off to look for signs of Aang having been there.

The place was a wreck. There were bits of coal scattered about and little mini fires burned from the ground here and there. Most of the metal that made up the ship was bent or dented. There definitely had been a fight here. A big one.

I looked around to see Zuko crouch down and pick something up. I caught up to him to see what it was.

"What's that?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

"A Water Tribe necklace. It must belong to the girl that travels with the monk." Zuko scowled. I'm not sure how he does it, but he somehow verbally scowls

"Katara?" I suggested.

"How should I know?" Zuko snapped.

- - -

We spent another day or two at sea before Iroh decided we should make a pit stop at a bamboo forest nearby. He said he remembers the hot springs in the centre of the forest to have been relaxing from his days as a General.

As hotheaded as he is, Zuko didn't have the willpower to defy his uncle. He was still pretty mad, though.

With the free time we then had, Zuko and I decided to get some training done. This time, we were going to see if I could produce fire. I had already mastered every basic form Zuko and Iroh threw at me.