Traitor - Zuko X Reader

Chapter 14

I desperately climbed behind Sokka up the rope that was our only way out of the ancient library which was now caving in on us. Sokka had hit the large owl creature but we had no idea how long it'd stay out for and, with the walls crumbling around us, we didn't want to stick around to find out.

We had been searching for this place for days in the scorching heat, hoping it would hold information on a weakness of the fire nation. We had been accompanied on this journey by a professor who was knowledgeable in the library and its history. Our search for information on the fire nation had led us to a large planetarium which revealed to us that the best time to strike the fire nation would be during a solar eclipse. During this eclipse the nation's firebenders would be rendered useless with the absence of the sun to power their bending. After discovering this, Wan Shi Tong had overheard us and was infuriated by our actions, accusing us of taking advantage of the library's knowledge.

This is how we ended up narrowly escaping our deaths as Aang flew all four of us on his glider out of the library. We were practically thrown to the ground and I coughed up sand before turning to see that the remains of the library were now completely gone, sunken underground. I jumped to my feet and checked to make sure no one was left behind (other than the professor who had chosen to stay in the library forever). I noticed Toph sitting on the ground with her head in her hands and wondered what was wrong.

Aang approached the girl, "Where's Appa?"

Toph shook her head and Aang gasped. She explained that some sandbenders had taken Appa while we were in the library. Shit. Not only was the beloved bison gone but we were now stranded in the middle of the vast desert. I frantically looked around but all I saw was expansive desert sprawling out for miles and miles. The sun was high in the sky and I was already sweating beads down my face. This was definitely not good.

Aang yelled, "How could you let them take Appa? Why didn't you stop them?"

"I couldn't," Toph defended, "The library was sinking, you guys were still inside, and-"

"You could've come to get us! I could have saved him!"

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for-"

"You just didn't care! You never liked Appa, you wanted him gone!" Aang accused, cutting off Toph once again.

I finally decided to get between the two, "Aang, that's enough. We're all upset that Appa is missing, but it is not Toph's fault. She saved our lives."

"Who's gonna save our lives now," Sokka questioned as he looked out at the endless desert surrounding us, "We'll never make it out of here."

"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves. You don't care whether Appa is okay or not," Aang took out his glider.

Katara spoke up, "We're all concerned. But we can't afford to be fighting now."

"I'm going after Appa," Aang said before he flew into the air, his form quickly receding in the distance.

Katara called after him, but it was no use. I walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder, "We better start walking. We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se."

Everyone nodded and we began the first of many steps that we would take while traversing this desert. Sokka tried to lighten the mood as he walked beside me, "You think if we dig out that giant owl, he'll give us a ride?"

"I suggest you start digging now then," I smiled and Sokka poked my side and I elbowed his arm. 

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