White Hot Flames (ZukoxOC)

14

A few days later, Iroh finds Zuko sitting in the cave with his Blue Spirit clothes still on and Rezalia sleeping with her head in his lap. "Looks like you did some serious shopping," Iroh remarks quietly as he sits down by the fire, inspecting a solid gold teapot. "But where did you get the money?"

Zuko ignores the question. "Do you like your new teapot?"

"To be honest with you, the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin cup," Iroh replies as he moves to kneel at Zuko's side. "I know we've had some difficult times lately. We've had to struggle just to get by. But it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty."

Zuko's hand pauses it's carding through Rezalia's hair, picking up the movement again when she grunts in displeasure in her sleep. "There's no honor for me without the Avatar."

"Zuko..." Iroh sighs. "Even if you did capture the Avatar, I'm not so sure it would solve our problems. Not now."

Zuko jerks away from the hand Iroh had set on his shoulder, jostling Rezalia and causing her to blink sleepily with a scowl. "The hell are you...?"

"Then there is no hope at all," Zuko snaps, ignoring Rezalia's question.

Iroh grasps his nephew's sleeve. "No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength."

Zuko stares at his uncle for a moment before gently lifting Rezalia into a sitting position and leaving. Rezalia leans against the wall of their cave and frowns as she watches her friend walk away. It wouldn't be until near sunset that Zuko returned. "Uncle, I thought a lot about what you said."

Iroh seemed pleased by this as Rezalia comes to stand at his side. "You did? Good, good."

Zuko's next words cut right through Iroh despite that not being his intention. "It's helped me realize something. We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together. I need to find my own way." Zuko packs up his things, tossing his bag over his shoulder. He stops and looks back at Rezalia. "Are...are you coming?"

Rezalia smiles a bit and shakes her head. "No, Z. You said it yourself. You need to find your own way and you need to do it yourself. I can't help you with it."

Zuko frowns but nods and moves to leave again. "Wait!" Iroh calls. Zuko turns back once more to see his uncle holding the reins to the ostrich horse to him. He takes them silently and leaves for good.

"I-"

Iroh cuts her off. "I know, dear. I do not have a ride for you, but I wish you the best. With luck we will cross paths again."

"Thank you, Uncle Iroh. Good luck."

Rezalia packs a bag of her own, complete with some of her old clothes, food, water, and a few knick knacks Zuko had picked up for her on his excursions. And with that, she took off with a final hug from Iroh and a promise to have tea with him next time they saw one another.

The trip was, uneventful. She walked, she rested, she walked, she rested. Rinse, wash, repeat. She ate a little bit about three times a day, less if she felt that her rations were running low, and always made sure to keep her bending under wraps just in case. Which turned out to be the best move as about two weeks later, someone was watching her. She knew he was there from the moment he passed by and she knew that he didn't leave. Sometime in the late afternoon, he was joined by two others. Eventually, she got tired of the waiting game.

"Are you going to come out or just stare for ten more hours?" Rezalia asks as she lights a fire the normal way. Or, normal for people who don't bend fire. Slowly, the three of them step out of the bushes near silently.

"Sorry, miss," the shortest of the three says.

Rezalia leans back so that her weight rested on her palms and she could comfortably look up at the newcomers. "I don't really care as long as you aren't being creepy or weird about it. Though, it just looks like you're refugees trying to make sure I'm not Fire Nation, yeah?"

The apparent leader raises an eyebrow in surprise. "Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Hunch," Rezalia replies with a shrug. The leader smiles a bit and holds out a tanned hand.

"I'm Jet. These are my freedom fighters Smellerbee and Longshot," he says around the wheat in his mouth. At least it looked like wheat, Rezalia didn't really care about what it was.

She lifts her hand and grasps Jet's. "I'm Rei. Nice to meet you guys."

"We're on our way to Ba Sing Se. They're taking in refugees like us. Want to come with us?" Jet asks. Rezalia idly notes that he had a habit of speaking for the other two.

"Sure. Why not."