Avatar: The Return of The Songbirds

Chapter Forty-Four - My Life Does Not Matter

The day came and went without any other setbacks, and once night had fallen the family drifted to asleep...well apart from Väluka, who had been nervously watching over Zuko. Making sure he was okay.

As the night progressed, Zuko began to shift in his sleep because he couldn't shake the feeling that there were eyes on him. He slowly started to open his eyes, only to be met with Väluka's peering back at him. "Väluka...why are you staring at me?" Zuko asked tiredly.

"Sorry, I was just checking to see if you were okay." Väluka replied shyly.

"It is alright, but I am fine." Zuko reassured, trying to sit up.

"Stop!" Väluka hissed. "Why are you always so stubborn when you get injured!" He continued, using all his strength to lift Zuko into a seated position. "You think you are invincible when you are not." Väluka barked.

"Hey alright I am sorry, I was just trying to sit up." Zuko exclaimed in both irritation and confusion. "I am not trying to be invincible. I just don't want to be the reason why we have to stop." Zuko groaned. "I want to get there so they can be at peace." He paused. "And regardless of all that, why are you always yelling at me?" Zuko growled. "Everything I do you always find a reason to get mad at me." He added looking over at Väluka. "Or you make jokes that aren't funny." He hisses. "Have I done something to upset you?" Zuko questioned. "Because if I did I am sorry. Whatever I said or did I apologize." Zuko barked, visibly upset and hurt.

Väluka's face contorted in a multitude of emotions. "What are you talking about?" Väluka hissed.

"There." Zuko shouted softly. "You are looking at me like you hate me." Zuko confessed, as his tone began to drop.

"Hate you?" Väluka whispered in confusion. "I do not hate you Zuko." Väluka tensed up. "You are my best friend! I could never hate you!" Väluka paused for a moment, trying to read Zuko's eyes. "But you do not think." He continued, scooching closer to Zuko which caught the injured man off guard. "You run head first into danger all the time. You do not care if you live or die, and I cannot stand that!" Väluka spat out, lowering his head to the ground. "That makes me angry." He hissed, as his hand became fists.

"If I am helping someone I do not care what happens to me." Zuko growled. "My life does not matter." He added looking forward. "It never has." He whispered. Väluka lifted his head in rage and punched Zuko's arm. "Ouch what was that for." Zuko cursed, but once he looked over at Väluka he was met with a shattered look in his friends eyes.

"Your life does not matter?" Väluka exclaimed. "That is a lie. Your life matters to my sister...to me. You have always mattered to me. My whole life I have worried about you, feared that something would happen to you and that I would never see you again." Väluka paused, trying to keep whatever composure he had left. "If you died I would be broken." He proclaimed, but the words could barely come out. "But I guess that does not matter to you...because your life does not matter right?" He hissed looking into Zuko's eyes.

"Wait, I am sorry." Zuko exclaimed. "I was speaking out of frustration." He added. "I did not mean to." But he was interrupted.

"It does not matter." Väluka replied, in a tone Zuko had never heard before.

"Väluka, I am sorry." Zuko replied, trying to reach for Väluka's hand, but Väluka ripped his hand away.

"You should rest." Väluka ordered, before laying down with his back facing Zuko. Zuko just looked at his friend, unsure of what just happened and how to fix the rift he created by saying things he shouldn't have. Zuko just sat there, feeling like he was drowning in his thoughts, eventually drifting back to sleep, but it was by no means a rest-filled night.