Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Late, In Love, And A Little Drunk

Kai sat up and recognized the look on Katara's face. It was that of blind rage, ignorant assumption that always seemed to throw her into a fit.

"You!" Katara spat as she laid eyes on the girl. Her water bag smacked loosely against her thigh with the cap unscrewed. "You led him here, didn't you!" She shouted.

Kai only had enough time to toss the book away from her, saving the delicate pages from being ruined forever by the cold splash of water that was delivered to her. She knew that if Katara had the ability to heat it up, it would've been boiling.

Thank god she wasn't a fire bender, she surely didn't have the emotional stability for it.

Kai sputtered and wiped her face, leaving only confusion to drench her features. "It would be nice to know exactly why I'm being attacked sometimes." She muttered.

Sokka finally caught up with his much quicker baby sister. With his hands on his knees and lungs burning, he choked out, "Zuko —" another wheeze, "— at the temple —"

The feeling of weightlessness overcame Kai as she stood to her feet. Her heart thumped just as wildly as Sokka's and her head felt swimmy. The tips of her fingers began to tingle.

"Huh?" Kai asked, and it seemed as if the air was too thin to deliver oxygen to her brain. She couldn't comprehend the words that Sokka had spoken.

It was only when Katara began readying a water whip that Kai came back to her senses. Chutes of solidified dirt shot out of the ground and encased both of the water bender's fists, stirrups surrounded her feet.

"Zuko?" She asked again breathlessly, "He's... what?"

Katara grunted, struggling to free her hands. "He was at the temple, putting on some show about how he's changed and wants to teach Aang fire bending."

Kai had long forgotten about the fact that her hair was dripping wet. Now she couldn't shake the itchiness in the souls of her feet. It was restlessness sensationalized, and it could only be driven off by running full speed.

"Did you know that he sent Combustion Man after us?!" Katara demanded to know.

"I told you, his name's — Ugh, nevermind!" Kai'd already begun back away from the three others. "Where is he now?? Still at the temple?"

She was behind Katara's fixed stance now, and the girl wasn't willing to strain her neck to help Kai. Sokka rubbed the back of his neck nervously, uncomfortable with telling his old flame how their encounter had ended.

"We, uh.. we couldn't let him join us, Kai." He said softly. "It's his track record. We can't trust him. Not after we just failed to bring down his own father."

The weightlessness lifted and now it felt like cement had hardened around her ribs.

"So, what? You just turned him away?!" Kai spat, and Sokka nodded solemnly. Her hand ran over her face, holding back angry tears that were bubbling to the surface. "I can't believe this..."

Katara shouted over her shoulder, "He hunted us down for months. He turned on us once and it almost cost Aang his life!"

"He saved my life, you imbecile! If it weren't for him, I would've rotted away from infection! If it weren't for him, we still wouldn't have Appa!"

Haru's brow knitted together as he looked on from the grass. The air surrounding Kai grew bubbly and distorted, like it was melting around her. Her fists were clenched tight, and if he looked hard enough, he swore he could see steam emitting from her fingertips.