鬼
"I didn't find anything to eat! I can't live like this! I wasn't meant to be a fugitive. This is impossible!" Zuko shouted, looking over to Iroh. "Uncle, what are you doing?"
"You're looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking. That, or it's the white jade which is poisonous" Iroh informed.
"We need food, not tea. I'm going fishing" Zuko announced as he began walking away, faintly hearing Iroh continue his rambling.
"Hmm... delectable tea?" He inquired, already dreaming of the amazing taste against his tongue. "Or deadly poison?" He added afterward.
Zuko heaved a sigh and walked closer to the river, but before he could crouch down, his ears picked up the sound of a tree falling and someone shouting "Heads!"
He raised an eyebrow and made his way into the woodland, to the source of the noise.
It was Shoko, and he was practicing his waterbending. After all, he had shared his little curse with Iroh as well, giving him full freedom to do whatever he pleased with his bending. He swayed his arms upwards, the water from the river quickly following after and forming a huge icicle. He slashed the trees in front of him with the sharpness of the ice, cutting them to the trunk and forcing them to the ground.
He smiled triumphantly and looked over to Zuko.
"Hey," He greeted, "What are you doing here?"
"I was going fishing but I heard trees falling so I came to check up on you."
"Oh, well I'm fine, you don't need to check up on me, I can handle my own."
"Don't doubt that. So your way of training is making trees regret the day they were grown?"
"Yeah, kinda."
There was a short silence, they faced each other until Shoko broke out into a quiet laughter. Zuko rolled his eyes playfully, "You're good at this, waterbending, I mean."
"Thanks" Shoko wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Actually, I was planning on practicing with my eyes closed, but I'm afraid when I open them, you and Uncle Iroh will both be crushed by flying trees. There are too many obstacles here." His eyes lit up as a sudden thought crossed his mind, "Could I help you fish? Might be easier with a waterbender."
Zuko nodded slowly, "Sure. Just don't blast any more trees."
They both walked back to the riverbank and took a seat next to each other. Shoko relaxed while Zuko hopelessly tried to catch a fish. A few moments later, Shoko lied on his stomach and looked down at the water. "What are you doing?" Zuko asked.
"Hush" Shoko sprawled his hands out to place them inside the cold river. He closed his eyes and waited patiently, until he suddenly froze a small circle of water and waterbended it out, landing softly in between Zuko and himself.
"Dinner."
Zuko threw his fishing rod back into the river, "I'll catch one too!" He shouted, determined.
❥・❥
Zuko and Shoko were both walking back from their little fishing trip. Shoko took hold of a large fish while Zuko held a single, tiny one that could fit in his palm. Shoko tried to contain his laughter at the funny sight. "Zuko, remember that plant I thought might be tea?" Iroh said from where he sat.
Zuko dropped the fish from shock "You didn't..."
"I did," Iroh confessed as he turned around. Shoko let his fish fall to the floor as well with wide eyes. The General's face was swollen and covered in red marks. "And it wasn't."
"Ah!"
"When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing" Iroh informed, surprisingly calm. "But look what I found!" He exclaimed excitedly as he held his arm out to reveal berries. "These are bacui berries, known cure to the poison of the white jade. That, or maka'ole barriers that cause blindness."
Zuko quickly took hold of the branch and hurled it into the bush. "We're not taking any more chances with these plants! We need to get help."
"But where are we going to go?" Iroh asked. "We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives from the Fire Nation."
"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed," Zuko said to himself.
"But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula," Shoko added right after. The two teenagers looked at each other, nodding and walking away, as if they telepathically knew what the other was thinking, "Earth Kingdom it is." The trio said out loud.
❥・❥
They had luckily found a hospital. Currently, a girl was treating Iroh's allergic reaction as Zuko and Shoko were waiting patiently on a bench. "You three must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the White Jade, much less make it into tea and drink it" The girl began approaching them. She flickered Iroh's hand away when he scratched his rash.
"Whoops!" Iroh said, his face and cheeks still swollen.
"So where are you traveling from?" The girl asked.
Zuko nervously rose from his seat, Shoko raised a brow and remained seated. "Yes, we're travelers."
"Do you have names?"
"Names? Of course we have names" Zuko quickly replied. "I'm, uh... Lee and this is my Uncle, uh... Mushi?"
"What about him?" The girl pointed at Shoko with a small smile, a blush lightly spreading across her fair skin.
"He's um... Shishu" Zuko responded for him, earning a kick to the shin from Shoko.
"Yes, I'm Shishu. And Lee here was named after his father so we just call him Junior" Shoko stood up and gave Zuko a pleased smile. The Prince glared at him angrily and moved his finger across his neck, signaling that he was dead meat but abruptly halted and brought his hand back to his side when the girl turned to face them once more.
"Mushi, Shishu, and Junior, huh. My name is Song. you three look like you could use a good meal. Why don't you stay for dinner?"
"Sorry, but we need to be moving on," Shoko said.
"That's too bad" Song flashed them an innocent smile. "My mom always makes too much roast duck."
"Where do you live exactly?" Iroh asked excitedly.
❥・❥
They were all in an open-wall dining room, sitting around Song's kitchen table. "My daughter tells me you're refugees. We were once refugees ourselves" Song's mother tells them as she sets down a platter of roast duck and takes her seat.
"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father" Song explained sadly.
Shoko stared at her blankly, trying to figure out the storms in his head.
"I haven't seen my father in many years," Zuko suddenly added. He looked at Shoko, expecting him to say something else to add to their "fake" lives. But he didn't. He only looked to the side, his face not showing a trace of emotion.
"Oh, is he fighting in the war?" Song asked sorrowfully.
Zuko hesitated and set the dish down. "Yeah," He replied, looking away in dismay as well.
Shoko stood up, "If you excuse me," He nodded slightly at Song and her mother, thanking them for the meal before quickly walking out of their house.
Zuko stood up as well, "I'll go after him" He informed the others and walked after.
Song turned to Iroh, "Are they... you know?" She raised a brow.
Iroh shook his head slowly and sighed sadly "I'm afraid they don't know the answer either."
Shoko continued walking, hurrying his pace when he heard the door open and close, faint footsteps walking behind him. Zuko quickly took hold of Shoko's arm and forced him around, "What's wrong with you?"
Shoko glared at him, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You've been acting like a silly loverboy ever since this morning! Don't you know love will only distract you? You need to focus on your mission if you ever want to succeed!"
"What?! Do you really think I love her?" Zuko stood silent for a while as he thought. "You're... you're jealous?"
Shoko's eyes widened, and soon they sharpened with fury. "Get over yourself! Why would I be jealous?! Of her!? Never!"
"Then why have you been acting so cold to her when she's only been offering us food?!"
"It's because I can't bring myself to pity her!"
"Our nation caused all this destruction, yet how can you say such a heartless thing?"
"I'm not from the Fire Nation anymore, remember? I'm from no nation! Tell me Zuko, how can you belong somewhere when you have both of these?!" Shoko pulled a stream of water from the nearby river and created a small flame in his other hand.
"There were people trying to assassinate me! From both the Fire Nation and the Northern Water Tribe! They thought since I was born the way I was, that I would break the Avatar cycle, they called me a curse and nothing but back luck! Yet she's still crying here for what she doesn't have! I just wanted a normal childhood!"
Zuko's eyes widened with shock before narrowing, "Well it isn't her fault you can't feel anything. Because you turned yourself into this killing machine with no feelings!"
"And that's how I've survived all these harsh years, Zuko. I don't let others distract me."
"Then you might as well leave!" Zuko yelled at him, "Cause you're my biggest distraction!"
Shoko angrily glared at his feet, something deep within him stung. He faced Zuko and bowed, "As you wish, your highness" His voice was no longer laced with anger or sadness, it was cold and plain. Just like his feelings. And without any other words to escape any of their mouths, he turned his back to face Zuko and started walking away.
"Shoko wait! I didn't mean any of that!" Zuko called after him. But he received only silence. The Prince muttered something under his breath before running after him, taking hold of Shoko's wrist, only this time, more gently.
Shoko heaved an annoyed sigh as he turned around to face him, but instead of harsh words leaving, Zuko's warm lips welcomed his own, which were cold.
Shoko froze from the sudden act, he looked up at Zuko wide-eyed. The Prince reached in once more for another kiss, even though Shoko wasn't making an effort to return it. A little soft voice spoke to him, whispering soothingly to stay in his arms forever, to never feel the coldness again. But Shoko shook that voice out of his head and pushed Zuko away.
"No... no - don't" He tried to say, but his mouth wouldn't move as the warmth from Zuko faded, slowly, but surely.
"Don't what?" Zuko asked, his cheeks tinted a light pink. He was slightly confused as to why Shoko acted the way he did. Actually, he wasn't really sure what he felt about the other boy, at that moment, he felt butterflies in his stomach, as if nothing else existed other than the two of them. All he wanted to do was kiss him again.
"Don't love me!" Shoko shouted, running into the forest, tears escaping his beautiful amber eye. Zuko stood still, confused even more. He walked back to the front porch and sat down. He wasn't really expecting him to react like that.
Zuko only went in for the kiss because he assumed Shoko felt the same way after everything they'd gone through together. He sighed loudly and exhaled, this was so confusing and conflicting.
"Argh, why couldn't I just shut my mouth!?" He shouted at himself. Five minutes later, Song emerged from the door and looked at him blankly.
"Can I join you?" She asked. Zuko nodded hesitantly "I know what you've been through. We've all been through it. The Fire Nation has hurt you."
She reached out to touch his scar but Zuko pushed her hand away.
"It's okay. They've hurt me too" She pulled her pants up to reveal the burn scars on her leg. Zuko cast her a surprised look but remained silent.
❥・❥
He ran deep into the forest, soon falling onto his face all thanks to the root of a tree sticking out. But the darkness blinded him. He furiously stood back up and held onto his head painfully. His past flashed quickly yet he understood everything. The kiss. It reawakened the memories he worked so hard to hide, but why does it have to be so painful!?
'We both knew that this day would come.'
Shoko pulled at his hair, "Shut the fuck up!" More tears escaped the corners of his eye. "I wouldn't be in this situation if you had just died!"
'If I die, you'll lose every last piece of humanity that you have, which isn't a lot. You won't be able to love anyone.'
"I don't want to love anyone!" He slashed an angry blast of flames at the tree in front of him.
'Then you won't be able to love yourself either.'
"I don't care! Just make the pain go away!"
'But he loves you-'
"No! He doesn't!"
He clenched his fiery fist tightly, allowing the burning flames to catch the grass on fire, surrounding everywhere but the tiny circle of his sobbing figure. His past memories flashed repeatedly in his head, the soft chuckles of when he was only eight causing his head to hurt more than it already did.
If only forgetting was as easy as killing.
After a while, he sat up and acted quickly to put the fire out, thankfully, he was at the heart of the forest. He was glad no one decided to check in on the situation.
He slowly walked back to Song's house. No one was waiting outside, only their little porch light was lit. He took a seat and pulled his knees to his stomach, hiding his face with the help of his arms.
He misses everything.
The laughter.
The happiness.
He never had a care in the world.
But he actually did without noticing.
His father sold him. And he holds a large amount of hatred for the Fire Nation. Never, will he ever go back to that horrible life.
He flinched when he heard the sudden sound of the door opening slowly. Iroh and Zuko stepped out. The Prince poked Iroh, "Uncle, he's back."
"Good news" Iroh smiled and turned to Song and her mother, "Thank you for the duck. It was excellent."
"You're welcome. It brings me pleasure to see someone eat my cooking with such... gusto" Song's mother said.
Iroh patted his belly, he sure was pleased, and so was his stomach. "Much practice" He looked over to Shoko who had already stood up on his feet, "Shishu, where are your manners? You need to thank these kind people."
"Yeah, I wonder the same thing," Shoko responded, his voice raspy and emotionless.
"Thank you," Zuko said and bid his farewell.
"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned" Song called out. Hearing her voice made Shoko clench his fist.
"I know." Zuko looked at her bitterly. He left and stopped when he came across an ostrich horse. Quietly, he walked over to the animal and unfastened it from its post, leading it away.
"What are you doing? These people just showed you great kindness" Iroh sighed.
"They're about to show us a little more kindness. Well?" Zuko gestured to the animal, before mounting it. Shoko sat behind the Prince. And Iroh took the last seat behind the youngest. They all rode away, not knowing that they were secretly being watched by Song.
When the ostrich horse ran at a faster pace, Shoko hesitantly wrapped his arms around Zuko's waist. He rested his head on his back, trying to sleep. But he only ended up muffling his cries.
Zuko tensed up when a few wet drops fell upon his back, later loosening his muscles and frowning.
❥
"No matter the past, present, or future, they will always call you a monster. And you can do nothing to fit in with people that despise you. All they see is a mad dog who can't control itself and destroys everything in its way."