The Dragon (Avatar the last airbender story)

Chapter 19: Zuko Alone (Plus Kaida)

I followed behind Zuko quietly, so he wouldn't hear me. It's been three days since he snuck off to go on his own. However, beginning the caring and concerned sister I am I followed him. In all honesty, I figured he was going to try and find Aang so he could regain his stupid honor. I love Zuko, but do I trust him enough to let him go off on his own? Not for one second. Not only could he most likely get himself put into a life threatening situation, he's not the calmest person in the world. "Why are we following prince ponytail? You have a duty remember?" Mushu asked in a hushed tone. "I also have a duty to make sure Zuko doesn't end up getting himself killed or worse captured. Besides, it's not like I haven't been working on mastering the elements. I've almost mastered water and earth." "The key word there being almost. Almost is not going to help the avatar. Do you think he's focusing on anything else than mastering the elements?" 'Knowing Aang. Most likely.' "Shh. He'll hear y-" "You know, usually when someone is trying to follow someone else, they're quiet about it." "Ahhhh hahaha, Heeeyyyy Zu, what a coincidence to bump into you. Mushu and I were just out for a stroll." "Kaida." I sighed, "Fine. But, really Zuko, you and I both know being with each other is better than you going off on your own." "Did uncle put you up to this?" I shook my head, "Nope. This was all me. Though I did tell him I was going after you. Plus, I just found you, I'm not ready to loose you again." "...Kaida. You can't come with me. I need to do this by myself. Alone." "You will be alone. I'm just following you." He let out an irritated sound. "Go back to Uncle and your friends Kaida." He turned away and started walking. I followed him, "Maybe I wanna go on my own too." "Go away Kaida." "You're stubborn you know that?" "Kaida. I mean it." "Haha, you're being followed." "Kaida." "Wow, did you know your nose flares when you're angry?" He glared at me as he continued walking. "What part of I have to do this alone don't you understand?" "The alone part. Come on Zuko, you said you missed me." "Yes. But, I need to find myself okay? Which means by myself. No uncle, no dragon, no sister." "Yeah. You don't really get a choice. I'm my own free person. Meaning I can go where I please. In this case, I'm going wherever you're going. You get me whether you like it or not." He growled and faced forward, I smiled triumphantly. "Love you too Zuko." He ignored me, "Are you ignoring me now?" Silence. "Alright. Then you won't mind if I tell you about how my training is going." 

5 hours later

"And then Mori tried to teach me how to do the water whip, which if you think about it is a lot like the fire whip. Anyways, he accidentally smacked Mi-" "Alright! Enough with story time! You're driving me insane." I grinned as Zuko pleaded me to shut up. "See, I knew you couldn't ignore me forever. Anyways, what happened with you and Uncle after Azula tried capturing you? I know you cut your hair considering it's shorter. Which by the way, looks much better than your ridiculous ponytail." "It's the hair style of the prince of the fire nation." "It's the ridiculous hair of the prince of the fire nation." He opened his mouth to retort, "Don't even think about saying anything about my hair. Unless you want your eyebrows burned off." I stated, "Fine." He pouted as he tried to ignore me again. I rolled my eyes but remained quiet as we continued walking. "So...do you know where we're going or are you just planning on walking in circles?" I asked causing him to stop and turn towards me. "You don't happen to have a map do you?"I shook my head, "Well, that's just great." "Hey, I'm not the one who went off by myself without a map or any idea as to where I'm going." I stated, "You didn't have to come, and what about you huh? You didn't think to bring one when you and your dragon decided to follow me?!" "I'm sorry, I assumed you knew where you were going!! It's not my fault you couldn't remember to bring a map! You just had to go out on your own and leave everyone. 'Oh, look at me! I'm Zuko, I need to regain my honor by walking a thousand miles to the middle of nowhere!'" I imitated Zuko, "You didn't have to come with me! And I don't sound like that!" "Uh, yes. You do." "No, I don't!" "Yes, you do!" "No!" "Yes!" N-KAIDA!" "Ahhhh!" I screamed as I got caught in some type of trap. "Zuko!" "Hold on, I'll get you down. Don't move." "Oh, no I thought I might go for a stroll through the woods." I replied sarcastically , he just shook his head and looked for the rope that had me suspended from a tree. Zuko cut me down and caught me, "Are you alright?" "No. But, at least I'm not hanging from a tree anymore." I stated as he placed me on my feet. Suddenly we heard a twig snap and the bushes started to rustle. I jumped into Zuko's arms as I screamed, "Zuko, I'm too young to die!" A lop-eared rabbit hopped out from behind one of the bushes. Zuko gave me a dead-panned look as he held me, "Oh no. It's going to eat us." "Hey, I didn't know it was a rabbit." "You're such a girl." He stated as he dropped me. I glared at him as I got up and dusted myself off, "You know just for that I'm riding Mushu the rest of the way." I stated as I got onto Mushu. "Wait, Kaida...I was joking. Kaida!" I ignored him as Mushu started walking ahead of him. "You two are going to be the death of me, you know that." I shushed Mushu, "Keep walking and I'll catch you something to eat." I said which caused him to happily oblige. After an hour or so, Zuko had managed to find an ostrich horse. He caught up with me and smirked, "Not one word." I hissed as he laughed. "I am sorry, though." "It's alright. I wasn't really that mad." We made it out of the woods and into a desert area. "So, you didn't happen to bring water and food, did you?" I asked, "I have water and some food. It should last us long enough to make it to a village." I nodded as we continued onward. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" "Don't worry Mushu, we'll be fine." "That was what you said when we went to the north pole and we almost died!" "Calm down, if worst comes to worst you can fly us to the nearest town." I reassured him. "Oh, so I get to be the pack mule. That's great, just great." He stated. "Come on, we should get moving." I stated while patting his neck. He grumbled but started walking anyways. "You worry too much Mushu, what could go wrong when we're all the way out here?"

Hey guys! :D I hope you liked this chapter. Just an FYI, everything is good with my grandma and I'm gonna be moving after I get back from Vidcon. So, I figured I'd finish this chapter before I go next week. Thanks so much and I'll talk to you guys sometime soon. <3