Façades [A Zuko x OC Story]

9 - The Sniffer Mole

"Get on!" June orders as she grabs Katara's necklace from Zuko's grasp, dangling it in front of the shirshu's nose. I jump up onto the shirshu, sitting behind Iroh while Zuko sits behind me. I feel an arm wrap around my waist. I look at Zuko behind me with a confused expression. He simply scowls, "I don't want to fall off." He says in a grumpy tone. I simply shrug my shoulders and try to ignore how closely pressed Zuko is to my body.

After riding for a while we come to a small hut where a small old woman stands, "Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?" She asks.

"We're looking for someone," Zuko responds.

"I hope it's not Miyuki," The woman turns to her cat, "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation, again?" The cat meows in response. Again?

"The Avatar's been through here. Let's keep moving." June says, cracking her whip again commanding the shirshu to keep moving.

We ride into a small village terrifying all of its occupants, "Sorry," I say as we ride through. We stop in front of one building, "Why are we stopping?" Zuko asks, annoyed.

"Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here," June replies from the front of the shirshu.

"We have no time for this!" Zuko slips his arm away from my waist sliding off the shirshu. I exhale a large breath I had been holding. Zuko dangles Katara's necklace in front of the mole's nose again before it shoots its tongue out at the prince, "Hey! Watch it!"

I laugh along with Iroh, "Oh look, he likes you!" June comments. An older woman approaches Iroh, "Care to hear your fortune, handsome?" She asks calmly.

"At my age, there's really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery," Iroh responds with a soft smile. Zuko walks back to the end of the shirshu, jumping onto its back and wrapping his arm back around my waist, returning the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.

We head into an abbey scaring a bunch of nuns, "We're getting close," June confirms. We continue on through the abbey and into the woods. We run onto a path where I'm met with two familiar faces. I jump off the shirshu, "Sokka, Katara!" I exclaim happily smiling at the two water tribe siblings but they both frown at me, "Stay back!" Sokka warns about taking out his boomerang.

"So this is your girlfriend," June looks at Katara, "No wonder she left, she's way too pretty for you," Zuko jumps down as well pushing past me to get to the siblings, "Where is he? Where is the Avatar?" He demands. Sokka looks down at the ground, "We split up. He's long gone."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko questions.

"Pretty stupid," He grabs his sister's hand while I nod in agreement to his statement, "Run!" Sokka yells at Katara. Before they can get far the shirshu jabs them with his tongue.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Zuko looks back at June. The shirshu moves toward Katara and Sokka, "It's seeking a different scent. Perhaps something that the Avatar held," June states. He knocks a map off of Sokka's bag, smelling it.

We all hop onto the shirshu putting the siblings on the very back behind Zuko, "So, Li. Long-time no see, am I right?" Sokka says. I lean to the side and turn to face the boy, "What makes you want to travel with grumpy pants here?" He asks.

"I'm right here," Zuko says angrily.

"I like his company. Isn't that right, Firefly?" I joke, enjoying the sour look it earns me from Zuko.

We arrive back at the abbey, scaring the nuns once again. The shirshu stops and starts circling in one spot.

"What's it doing? It's just going in a circle." Zuko states the obvious. The shirshu looks up and I follow his gaze to see Aang gliding toward us. The shirshu stands on his hind legs knocking all of us riding him onto the ground. The shirshu then falls as well.

"Up!" June commands her shirshu. While everyone gets ready to fight I help two nuns pull Sokka and Katara away from the battle.

Zuko and Aang stand on the roofs firebending and airbending, respectively, at each other. The Avatar's sky bison fights against June and her shirshu. I slide into a sitting position next to the water tribe siblings, "I'm ... starting to get some feeling back!" Sokka cheers until a piece of rubble lands on his leg, "Ow!"

One of the nuns holds a perfume under Sokka's nose to relieve his paralyzation. Sokka's face lights up, "That thing sees with its nose. Let's give him something to look at." I smile at his bright idea.

"The perfume?" The nun asks, slightly confused. Sokka nods his head in approval. We pull out four pots full of perfume and on Sokka's signal, we push them all over. Katara takes the perfume and waterbends it into a large ball, dropping it onto the shirshu. The shirshu then goes crazy and slashes its tongue at everything, "June! No!" Iroh cries as the shirshu hits its owner. Iroh grabs June in his arms.

I look between the angry prince and the Avatar indecisive about who I should go to. Sokka grabs my wrist pulling me towards the tired-looking sky bison.

"Come on! We have to go before they get their feeling back," I take one last look at the prince as he shifts his gaze to me.

I smile at him, "Don't miss me while I'm gone! I'm sure we'll meet again, Zuko!" I say before climbing onto the sky bison's saddle as Aang calls, "Appa, yip-yip." And we set off, "Woah!" I gasp as we rise higher into the sky.

"Pretty cool, right?" Sokka smirks from beside me, leaning on the edge of the saddle. I continue gawking at the view, "Yeah. This is much cooler than being on a boat." I swirl around leaning on the saddle to face Katara across from me.

"So... where do we go?" Aang asks from Appa's head.

"We're getting you to the North Pole." Katara turns to Aang.

"Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is," Sokka chimes in. Aang turns to face us, "Don't you want to see your father?"

"Of course we do, Aang. But, you're our family, too. And right now, you need us more," Sokka says sincerely.

"And we need you," Katara adds. I simply smile at the young Avatar.

"I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you..." Aang smiles.

"I'll be okay." Katara smiles back softly.

"Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like," Aang holds up Katara's necklace, "This?"

Katara looks shocked grabbing the necklace as Sokka rubs his eyes, "Aang, how'd you get that?" Katara questions.

"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you." Aang's smile grows. I laugh, "Wow, who knew Zuko had a soft side?" I joke, touching my heart with my hand.

"Aw, that's so sweet of Zuko. Could you give him a kiss for me when you see him?" Katara jokes as well.

"Sure." Replies Aang with a smile.

"Or maybe I should ask Li Mei to do it," Katara glares at me before she leans over and gives Aang a peck on the cheek causing the younger boy's face to flush slightly. Sokka looks at me with a confused expression after Katara's remark. I shrug my shoulders in response.