— i adore you.
earth.
senna rushed through the streets of ba sing se. she was only a few blocks away from zuko and irohs tea shop. she passed by the gaangs house, grabbing stumpy and her bag, incase they'd have to leave quickly.
after a while, she arrived at the tea shop. she ran a hand through her hair, took a deep breath and headed inside.
the shop was surprisingly empty, even though the door was unlocked. they usually had plenty of customers.
senna looked around, trying to find some note or anything to tell her where they were. of course, she found nothing.
senna went upstairs to the house section of the building. as she approached one of the rooms, senna heard a faint whispering.
she pressed her ear against the door to listen in.
"you're burning up. you have an intense fever." she heard iroh say softly.
senna pushed the door open by a crack and she saw zuko lying down, looking rather sick, with iroh next to him.
iroh stood up and put the bucket of water he was holding on the floor, "my dear nephew, it seems we have a visitor. come in."
senna froze in the doorway but she walked in anyway, immediately joining zukos side. he was asleep, "what's wrong with him?" she asked, placing a wet cloth on his forehead.
"he has done something new. something that goes against everything he has ever done before. his inner self is at war, because this choice was a violation against everything he believed in."
"what did he do?"
"what is important is not the deed, but the principle behind it." he said and looked over at the girl, "what has happened?"
senna took a deep breath and sighed, softly touching zukos face, "the dai li and long feng captured me, brainwashed me and i hurt my friends..."
she tried her best to hold herself together and to not start crying but she couldn't help it. she began to cry hysterically. iroh pulled the girl into a hug, "it is not your fault, little one."
"yes it is, iroh. i-i watched myself attack them. i hurt sokka and katara even aang and toph. im a monster."
"no, no, no." iroh shook his head and held the girls face in his hands, "you are no monster, senna. you are a warrior, a special kind of warrior. you hold this great power inside you that you'll soon figure out."
senna took in the mans words of wisdom as he stared down at his nephew. she felt bad for iroh and for zuko, she knew iroh saw zuko as his own after the death of his son.
"i hope so. can you now tell me what's wrong with our dear zuko?"
"as you know, he has dedicated a lot of his time and energy to hunt down the avatar. he has done something that helps him, because he knew it was the right thing to do."
that's when she realized, "he's the one who freed appa, wasn't he? it wasn't long feng who got there first?"
he nodded, "yes, that was him."
she smiled down at the boy, knowing that he's changing, "hopefully, he'll come out of this and not make aangs life hard anymore."
"senna, you must never tell your friends who did this. at least, not until he does. the time is not right for them to know. give me your word."
senna nodded, "of course, i won't say anything."
she suddenly felt a pain in her head and a feeling of nausea in her stomach. she covered her mouth and closed her eyes.
"would you like me to get you some jasmine tea? it will help with the headache."
she nodded.
iroh smiled and stood up, "please stay with my nephew until i come back."
"i will." iroh then left, leaving the two alone.
senna moved closer to zuko, the nausea vanishing but the headache was still there. she stared down at him and frowned, she didn't like seeing him like this.
zuko turned in his sleep, and his eyes opened, "water." he rasped, reaching over.
senna grabbed the ladle and gave him some water from the bucket. he drank it all and then lifted himself to grab the bucket, chugging it.
he threw it across the room and was about to go back to sleep when their eyes locked, "senna? what are you doing here? i don't even have a shirt!" he hurriedly pulled the sheet over his chest.
"relax, iroh knows im here." she replied, now sitting crisscross applesauce.
he stared at her eyes, cocking his head, "have you been crying?"
"no." she answered, shaking her head, "it's nothing."
"tell me. what happened?"
senna sighed and met zukos gaze, "i was brainwashed by the dai li and forced to attack my friends. that's where the bruises came from." she held up her wrists that had even more bruises on them.
"you were what?! why didn't you tell me?"
"because i had no memory of it, zuko!" she yelled at the boy, "nothing..."
he frowned at the girl. she was in bad shape. her hair was a mess, her face had scratches on it and her eyes were red from crying, her clothes were all dirty and ripped and her hands were all bruised.
zuko then lifted the sheet up, "come."
she looked at him, puzzled, "what?"
"come lay with me."
"zuko-"
"don't worry, i won't do anything. i just need comfort and i think you do too."
she nodded and crawled in next to him. he put this arm around her, and she laid her head on his bare chest, feeling his deep breaths. the skin on skin contact was what made them feel comfortable.
with his free hand, he took her hand in his, examining the bruises, "they really hurt you. im sorry..."
"it's not your fault, zuko. it's mine..."
senna intertwined her fingers with his, "why did you let appa go?"
"uncle told you?"
she nodded, "yeah."
he lightly squeezed her hand, holding onto it, "it just felt like the right thing to do."
she smiled, "im glad you did. he saved us. you saved us. im sure aang was happy, i was kinda knocked out at the time."
he laughed, rubbing his thumb against her hand, "good."
they stayed like that for a while, in silence. senna cuddled closer to him, the warmth of his body soothing her cold one.
"i missed you, you know."
"really?" she giggled, "it's only been a day."
"i know but after our date, i couldn't stop thinking about you. i wished you were here, with us. i missed you since you left me that note. when i read it, i was crushed and demanded to look for you but uncle told me to let you go and i did."
she smiled against his neck, remembering the note she did leave him all those months ago.
"i wish we met differently. i wish you weren't traveling with the avatar and you could stay with me. we could forget about the war and live in peace." he continued, "we'd get a house and i'd ask for your hand in marriage."
sennas eyes widened and she sat up, "what?" zuko smiled, sitting up as well.
"you want to marry me?"
"yeah...i always wanted too."
senna stared at zuko and smiled, can't believing what she heard come out of his mouth. he felt the same. the way she felt for him, he felt that too.
"and i wish i could give you everything. i'd get you as many turtleducks as you want. and you'd have everything you ever wanted and dreamed of. you'd have gourmet food, and all the fine clothes and jewelry in world. you could also order around all our servants, and we'd spend our days on the beach, and our nights reading and having feasts."
"i like that."
"that's what i want, to spend the rest of my life with you." she could hear the smile in his voice as he said that.
senna couldn't help the smile growing on her face as she wrapped her arms around him. his big, strong arms were holding her, weighting her down.
"i want to spend the rest of my life with you too." their faces were close and senna could feel his breath against her face. his eyes looked down at her lips and she got the idea.
they leaned in and kissed. his hand rested behind the crock of her neck and her hand rested on the side of his face. the kiss was a passionate kiss.
this was their first time ever feeling each other and senna loved it. they pulled away after a few seconds, smiling at each other.
she felt at home. it was peaceful and for a moment all senna wanted to do was run away with him. to forget about the war and stay on some remote island together. and she'd do anything to make that possible. she was ready to abandon aang and everyone else at that moment, if it meant staying with him forever.
after a few moments, zuko tangled their legs together, bringing them even closer.
"i freaking adore you." he whispered, smiling.
"i adore you too."
and with that they shared one more kiss before they fell asleep, holding each other close. stumpy strolled over and laid with them too, liking zuko already.