Fall of the White Lotus [Zutara/Taang]

36 | Addicted

Music: Release Me, Two Steps From Hell

                     "Hey there, little girl. Still know me?"

The young woman the male voice spoke to froze, her hand grabbing hold of the mokume-gane hilt of her katana as the women surrounding her slowly turned around, disbelieving looks on their faces. Who would dare to address their leader with such disrespect?

They saw a young man standing in the doorway to their dojo, his silhouette dark against the wintery surroundings of snow-covered pine trees and rooftops.

"Who dares to call me..." the young woman began to snarl as she spun around, her gold armband gleaming in the afternoon light. Within seconds, she'd trapped the man between her metal fans.

"Ow! Stop it, Suki! Stop!" he wailed as he squinted in mortal fear at the gleaming fans holding his face hostage.

The young woman leaned in, her blue eyes wide with bewilderment in her heavily painted features. "Sokka? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Way to welcome your fiancé, Suki," he moaned as he unsuccessfully tried to free himself. "Do you mind?"

She blinked and a moment later the fans were gone. Sokka stumbled back as the Kyoshi Warrior flung her arms around his neck. "Sokka!"

His face lit up in a smile as he stabilized himself, wrapping his arms around her as well. "Yes, it's me, Suki," he said softly.

The other women discreetly retreated as the couple held each other in a tight embrace, reunited at last.

Finally, Suki withdrew and wiped the tears from her face, smearing the facial paint in the process. A shaky smile formed on her lips. "But that still doesn't answer my question. What are you doing here? I hadn't expected to see you until spring."

Sokka made a mock indignant face. "Why? Can't a man visit his fiancée anymore?"

But Suki stayed serious and his face fell.

"It's Katara," he then said curtly.

                   Upon their arrival at the beach house, Zuko had made place for Appa to stay in the komodo rhino stables, as the dragon moose stables would be too small for him. But still the sky bison looked like a big, fluffy ball pressed into a small box, and he didn't seem too happy about being stuck in there with the cunning looks of the two komodo rhinos fixed on him. Three years ago, these stables had been empty, but now that the Fire Lord had moved back into the beach house, the animals had returned, too.

After a quick early morning training session, Zuko went to tend to Appa, shaking out a stack of hay for the sky bison and then absent-mindedly filling a trough with water for the animal.

"I'm sorry, boy, but I promise we'll be leaving soon," Zuko mumbled apologetically to the bison, and the riding animal grumbled softly in response. "...As soon as we know where to go."

As Appa took to his meal, Zuko folded his arms and leaned against the carved pillar, staring at the courtyard outside with a troubled gaze.

There was only a week left for them to find his mother, and she could be anywhere in the Fire Nation. They'd lost so much time in Senlin Harbor and he was to blame for it. He'd put way too much trust into the belief that someone would provide them with the next clue to follow on their journey. But he now had to face the fact that they'd only been lucky to have come this far. And with only one week left before the seasons would change, they now had to figure things out for themselves.

A string of water floated past the entrance. Katara.

Zuko's expression darkened violently.

How could he have been so stupid to tell her about his plans to propose to Mai, while he knew very well that they had lost all meaning when he had first became aware of his feelings for Katara - had kissed Katara - if they had ever held any meaning at all?