Fire Heart

Chapter 49

Aang was missing this morning. Originally we had split up to search for him. But we couldn't find him. Right now we're flying on Appa.

"So Zuko. Why exactly are we flying to the Earth Kingdom?" Rin asks.

"Just trust me." Zuko replies, steering Appa towards a tavern of some sort. I hand Masumi to Rin before climbing up with Zuko. I rest my head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to go in there." I mutter. Zuko chuckles.

"Don't you want to see the person who will be able to find Aang?" He asks with a smile.

"Well if that's why we're here. Then fine. I'll go in." I sigh. We land and Zuko helps me off of Appa. We enter the tavern.

"So can you tell us why we came here now?" Sokka asks. Zuko points at a girl arm wrestling a guy, who's weight must be entirely muscle.

"June." Zuko replies. I cross my arms.

"Well I don't know who this June lady is. But I like her." Toph says with a big smile. I stare at her with an eyebrow raised. Everyone ignore what Toph had said.

"Oh. The lady with a giant mole." Sokka says. Suki raises an eyebrow.

"Giant mole? But her skin is flawless!" Suki says in shock. I huff.

"I wouldn't say flawless." I mutter. Rin raises an eyebrow at me.

"No. She has a giant mole rat thing that she rides around on." Sokka explains. June spots Zuko.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you around here. Where's your creepy grandpa?" June asks, taking a drink from her cup.

"He's my Uncle. And I don't know where he is. Look, I need your help." Zuko says, walking over to her.

"What do you need me for?" She asks boredly.

"I need you to track the Avatar for me." Zuko replies.

"Ugh. That doesn't sound very fun." June huffs.

"Does the end of the world sound like fun to you!?" Zuko exclaims. June rolls her eyes at my husband's dramatic sentence.

"Alright. I'll help." She sighs. Zuko walks back over to us and stands between Katara and I. June then stands in front of us.

"Well I see you worked things out with your girlfriend." June says, glancing at Katara then back at Zuko.

"She's/I'm not my/his girlfriend!" Zuko and Katara yell at the same time. I huff.

"Whatever. I'm out." I snap and go to exit the tavern.

"Now her, she's my wife." I hear Zuko say. I look over my shoulder to see everyone watching me.

"I like her. She's pretty, but not annoying like the water girl." June says. Katara looks at June in irritation. June walks over to me.

"Do you have anything the Avatar held recently?" She asks me. I nod and go out to Appa. I airbend onto his saddle to grab Aang's staff.

"This was his." I tell June, handing the staff to her. She nods and takes it over to a monstrous creature. Zuko helps me down and hugs me as we watch June's creature sniff in circles. Then it stops and whimpers, putting it's paws over it's nose.

"What does that mean?" Zuko asks.

"It means your friend is gone." June replies, patting her animal friend on its head.

"We know he's gone, that's why we're trying to find him." Rin says. June rolls her eyes.

"No I mean he's gone gone. He doesn't exist." June says. My eyes widen in horror.

"You mean he's dead!?" I cry. She shakes her head at me.

"No. If he were dead we could find him. Since Nala can't pick up his scent, it means he never existed in the first place." June says. I shake my head.

"No. He's still out there. I can feel it." I argue. She sighs.

"Well if that's all you need me for..." She begins, moving to climb onto Nala's saddle.

"Wait! I have another smell sample." Zuko exclaims, releasing me before climbing onto Appa's saddle. He finds an item and jumps back down. I spot Uncle's shoe in his hand.

"Ew! You carry your Uncle's smelly old shoe around with you!?" Sokka exclaims in disgust. Zuko rolls his eyes at him before giving the shoe to June.

"Well I think it's sweet." Toph says. I giggle and nod.

"Alright she found a trail. Let's go." June says, hopping onto Nala's saddle and making her follow the trail.

"Hey wait for us!" Zuko exclaims. We all climb into Appa's saddle, Zuko is on Appa's head with the reins in hand. Appa goes after June and Nala.

"Will we really find Uncle Iroh?" I ask Zuko with a big smile. He looks back at me and smiles.

"Yes, Ivy. We'll find Uncle." Zuko replies before turning his attention to where June and Nala are.

*Time Lapse*

We arrive at the outer wall of Ba Sing Se and Nala stops. We land beside her.

"Your Uncle is around here somewhere. Good luck." June says before making Nala run away. The sun had already went down.

"Let's make camp here and look for Uncle Iroh in the morning." I tell Zuko. He nods in agreement.

"Sokka can you get some fire wood?" Zuko asks. Sokka nods and goes off to get some fire wood. I start setting up Masumi's crib on the ground. I then put mine and Zuko's sleeping mat next to Masumi's crib. I put our blanket on top of the mat. Rin hands Masumi to me.

"Hey there Sweetie." I coo and rock her gently in my arms. Zuko lights the fire wood once Sokka sets it down. He then walks over to Masumi and I.

"Hi Princess." Zuko says softly before kissing the top of Masumi's head. I smile at him before placing Masumi in her crib. I kiss the tip of her nose before pulling her blanket over her. Zuko hugs me and buries his face in my hair.

"I love you." Zuko mumbles. I smile and place my hands over his, which are resting over my stomach.

"I love you too." I reply softly. I turn around and look into his eyes. He kisses my forehead and I place my hands on his chest. He looks down at me and holds my waist gently.

"You're still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He says softly and presses his forehead to mine. I place my hands on the sides of his face.

"And you're still as handsome as when I first met you." I reply lovingly before kissing him. I close my eyes and savor the kiss. I feel something hit the back of my head and I open my eyes in confusion. Zuko does the same. We pull away and look around to see Toph and Rin with disgusted looks on their faces.

"Not in front of us please." They complain. I roll my eyes and plant a kiss on the bottom edge of Zuko's scar.

"Let's get some sleep." I say, beginning to feel tired. We lay down on the sleeping mat. I cuddle into his side and close my eyes.

"Goodnight Ivy." Zuko says softly. I smile tiredly.

"Goodnight Zuko." I reply sweetly. He drifts off and his breaths even out. I feel my body relax as I listen to Zuko's calm breathing. And soon I fall asleep as well.

Hey Everyone! I feel horrible about not updating lately, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll have the next one out soon. And I wanted to let you all know that I have an account on Wattpad's Tap app. It's the same username there as on here. I hope you all will enjoy that account as much as this one!

Thanks everyone!

- Day