Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Blood Traitor

Nero still didn't seem happy with the decision she'd made. He withdrew his tongue and didn't offer her any more love, but didn't protest when she pushed him off of her and walked to the edge of a nearby cliff.

"I'll try to make my way back to you, but no promises." She said, and that was that. Kai watched him scurry over the hill and again heard the sound of bones crunching in the distance.

*****

Zuko stood before his uncle for the first time in weeks. It angered him to see what was once a ruthless leader look so broken on the floor of a dingy jail cell. Everything angered him lately. He'd expected life to be a dream from the moment he stepped foot back in his kingdom, but he'd been proven wrong before they even docked the ship. Zuko knew that the avatar was still alive. He also knew that Azula had used him as an insurance plan to save her own ass if things went awry. But he didn't know what to do about it.

"You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could've been a hero!"

Iroh heard what was said to him, but he didn't respond. He shifted in his seat and ignored his nephew. He'd come to the same conclusion as Kai in the Crystal Catacombs all those weeks ago -- that Zuko had to find his way on his own terms. He wasn't going to choose right from wrong for any one person. Not for his uncle and not for some girl. It had to be for himself.

"You have no right to judge me, Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me."

Still, nothing.

"You're not going to say anything??" Zuko spat. He grew even more frustrated when met with additional silence. For the first time in over three years, he had no guidance at all. He felt just as lost and alone now as he did sailing through the ocean with a fresh wound on his face. The feeling of deja vú stirred up unwanted emotions from the ocean floor of his mind. They had to be expelled. Zuko kicked up a wooden stool and shot a furious fireball at it. It burned to ash in the corner, but the confusion and anger inside of him still remained.

"You're a crazy old man! You're crazy!" He shouted at Iroh. "And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!"

With that, he stormed out of the tiny prison. The iron door slammed shut behind him, closing Zuko off from one of the only people that'd loved him unconditionally for his entire life. He didn't get to see his uncle's chin drop against his chest, nor did he see the defeated tears slip past Iroh's eyelids. But his sadness didn't go completely unnoticed.

"He doesn't mean that, you know." Iroh heard from the small window far above his head. "He's just confused and angry and taking it out on you. Don't take it personally."

He looked up and, illuminated by the moonlight, was someone that'd strayed far, far away from home. Kai sat on the ledge with her uninjured leg tucked against her chest. It'd taken her four days to make it to the shore closest to The Gates of Azulon and through the villages that littered the Fire Nation. Four whole days of limping along with her eyes cast down so no one could see that she was an intruder. A solitary lifestyle, just like her father had planned for her. She'd turned into a wandering ghost all over again.

"You shouldn't be here." He said as his chin dropped back down.

Kai slid down the wall, careful not to land on her burnt leg. "Neither should you, but here we both are."

She sat down on the cold prison floor in front of him. When Iroh glanced up, he almost mistook her for a feral cat. Her loaned robe had crisp burn holes, fresh blackish-purple bruises and older ugly yellow ones decorated her skin, and she'd lost a small but noticeable amount of weight.