Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Lukewarm

"So how'd you get that scar?"

The boy's words interrupted Zuko's voyeurism and the hammer met his thumb with little forgiveness. The father scolded his son, "It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. The man's past is his business. You don't ask Kai about her scars, do you, Lee?"

The child huffed and climbed down the ladder. Zuko slipped another peak through the hole in the ceiling and his gaze immediately met the girl's. Kai was her name, he'd just learned. He cast his eyes quickly away from hers and pretended he hadn't been admiring her.

That was it, not spying. Admiring from afar, like a bird watcher in the midst of spring. Zuko was no creep, he had respect for most women. But he was also a teenager that'd been thrust into the world on his own before any meaningful.. interactions. Aside from sneaking small kisses with Mai behind closed doors.

**

Dinner was awkward for Zuko. It made him uncomfortable, being around a seemingly happy family. He didn't know what the girl, Kai, had told them. If she'd told them anything at all. She wasn't here anyways, Zuko hadn't seen her since the barn.

He slurped down his noodles as quietly as possible. They weren't delicious, definitely not Fire Kingdom quality, but they were better than the rotten food he'd been settling for recently.

"Where's Kai?" The young boy whined with a mouthful.

His father pursed his lips, readying himself to deliver the bad news, "We knew she wouldn't stay long, Lee. She told us that. I believe she's gone, at least for the night. I saw her packing her bag when we were working on the barn."

Zuko felt a thin veil of disappointment fall over him, but he didn't know why. He thought maybe he just missed being around someone his own age, someone besides his tea loving Uncle.

"I wish she would've said goodbye.." The mother said, "Well, you can take her bed for the night then. The linens should still be fresh."

They finished their meal without much else being said. Lee ran off to finish his chores and the adults gathered the dishes, cleaning off their table made of stone.

"There's a hot spring, if you'd like to clean up. It's a ten minute walk through the clearing behind the house, take an oil lamp with you."

Zuko felt so grateful for these strangers. They'd given him so much and for close to nothing in return. He followed the path that the woman had pointed out to him. The woods around him were dense and he could hear hidden creatures making noises through the trees. The sun was beginning to set, allowing hues of orange and pink to illuminate the sky above. A ten minute walk, that's all it took before he reached the small clearing.

But he wasn't the only one there. Kai sat in the deep spring, leaned back against its edge with just her bare shoulders showing above the milky blue water.

Zuko considered dipping behind a tree, but that would be hard to explain if he were caught. Besides, he was too confused to move at all. The girl before him, the one he knew to be an earth bender, was threading a long strand of water through her fingertips while humming slowly. The water moved like a snake, slithering against her skin. Zuko knew she was the one controlling it.

"I thought you were an earth bender?"

Kai was not startled by his presence, she'd felt him coming as soon as he entered the trailhead. And his harsh tone didn't break her concentration at all, "Mhm."

She resumed humming her song. For a moment Zuko considered the possibility that there may be two avatars, that the world may have tried to reset itself during Aang's absence. Or maybe there were dual benders that could manipulate two elements.

"It's mineral water. The sediment from these mountains make their home in this spring. I'm earth bending, the water is only clinging to the minerals. Probably from fear of abandonment."

Kai dropped the water and finally cast her gaze up at Zuko. He couldn't get over how bright her eyes were. He'd never seen anyone with a color quite like it, light green with sparse speckles of amber inside of them.

"They said you'd left." His eyes trailed from hers down to her shoulder. There was another scar there, just above her collarbone. It was mostly faded, but Zuko had spent so much time staring at his own scar that he could now notice one from a mile away.

"I did. I just needed to recharge before starting my journey. You can join me if you'd like."

Zuko was taken aback by her statement. He didn't know her, she didn't know him — yet she was still offering to share her precious mineral water with a stranger.

"I.. I shouldn't. You're—"

"Not naked, I promise." Kai lifted herself up a few inches to reveal the sand colored bandeau across her chest before lowering herself back in, "Besides, this is supposed to be a hot spring. As of right now it's only feeling slightly above lukewarm."

Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion but before he could ask what she was getting at, Kai continued. She summoned a small rock from the outskirts of the clearing and a ball of water the same size from the spring. Juggling the two with the slightest flick of her fingers, as if it took barely any thought at all.

"I showed you my powers, now you show me yours."