Fuel to my Fire - Book One (ATLA Zuko Fanfiction)

Chapter Eighteen

Sakari's POV

It was later in the night when we barged into a crowded pub, looking for the lady that had put a hole in the ship

"Out of my way! Step aside, filth." Zuko said as he barged through the crowd.

Aaaaand he was back to his old self for now.

"He means no offence." Iroh assured the people, following behind Zuko.

I followed them, squeezing my way through the crowd of men until we reached the lady, she was in the middle of an arm wrestle with a large man.

"I need to talk to you." Zuko informed her.

"Well, if it isn't my new friends. Angry boy, uncle lazy, and little water girl." The lady said before slamming the man's hand to the table.

I crossed my arms and glared at her; who's she calling "little water girl."

"Your beast wrecked my ship." Zuko stated, ignoring her nicknames. "You have to pay me back."

"Well, I'd love to help you, but I'm a little short on money." She said as she gathered up a pile of coins from the table. "Drinks on me!"

Cheers and shouts were heard all through the pub, the lady looked very pleased with herself and went to take a sip of her drink when Zuko suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Money isn't what I had in mind." He stated.

He dragged the lady outside by her arm, Iroh and I followed, I still wasn't sure what Zuko had planned. That was until he pulled out Katara's necklace.

"I need you to find someone." Zuko said.

"What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you? Seemed like this one here was your girl." The lady said, pointing her head to me.

I crossed my arms and was about to retaliate when Zuko cut me off.

"It's not the girl I'm after. It's the monk she's travelling with." Zuko told her, and then pointed to me. "And she's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever you say." The lady said in a bored tone.

"If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for." Zuko said.

"Forget it." The lady said, climbing onto her shirshu.

"And! We'll pay your weight in gold." Iroh added.

"Make it your weight, and we have a deal." The lady argued, pointing to Iroh.

This made Iroh burst into laughter and he agreed to her terms, she indicated for us to all climb onto the back of her shirshu and took the necklace from Zuko.

"The names June, by the way." She told us.

As she let the shirshu sniff the necklace we all climbed onto its back, I was sitting behind Zuko who was sat behind Iroh. The lady jumped on in front of Iroh and we were off! This thing was fast, we were racing through the forest at a high speed and came to a stop in some ruins, where we met an old lady and her cat.

"Out for some fresh air, are we?" The old lady asked.

"We're looking for someone." Zuko told her.

"I hope it's not Miyuki." The old lady said, indicating her cat. "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?"

This made me smile, the old lady was clearly being unhelpful on purpose.

"They've been through here, let's keep moving." June announced.