"I love you, (Y/N)"
"Why didn't you tell me? I thought you trusted me."
"I love you, (Y/N)"
"I thought you might want some company."
"I love you, (Y/N)"
"(Y/N)? Promise me you'll stand with me?"
"I love you, (Y/N)"
My mind raced with thoughts of Zuko.
We've had few encounters with him since that day. We had a run-in with him and Zhao on the Winter Solstice, but that was all really a blur. I'd really just become a vegetable. I didn't fight. I didn't eat. I didn't sleep. I barely even moved.
I missed so much. Aang had been to the spirit world, and started learning to water bend. Katara's getting good at water bending. Sokka... Well, I don't think I missed much there.
Either way, I've been sitting around like a potato, and I wanted to do something useful. I was tired of having absolutely no role to play. So currently, it's the morning after this huge storm, and we were at the ruins of Taku. Seeing as though Sokka was out in the storm, he was clearly ill. He was wrapped in a sleeping bag and laying on Appa. He started to hysterically cough. Katara walked up to him and placed a warm cloth on his forehead, "this should bring your fever down."
Sokka smiled, "You know what I love about Appa the most?" He slurred his words together, "his sense of humor,"
Appa groaned, Sokka giggled "classic Appa,"
I slid off the bison and yawned. "He needs some serious help."
"(Y/N)? You're still alive?" Katara asked me.
"Haha very funny can't believe I forgot to laugh," I rolled my eyes and smiled.
Katara returned my smile, "glad to see you're doing better,"
"me too."
Aang flew into where we were on his glider, "I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea, but I did find some maps. There's a herbalist institute at the top of that mountain. I'm sure they have a cure for Sokka there,"
"Uh Aang, have you seen the guy? There's no way he's going to get up and travel," I said, Katara nodded in agreement.
"Woah- (Y/N), you're alive? Haven't heard you speak in forever," Aang said, and Katara laughed.
"I hate you," I looked at Katara, "both of you,"
"Awwww don't be like that," Katara said
I smiled, then Katara started coughing. I took a step back.
"Don't worry about it it's just a co-" She started coughing again.
"Uh-uh that's how Sokka started yesterday, now look at him! He thinks he's an air bender!" Aang said. I looked at Sokka who was waving his hands around, "take that you rOCK." I shuddered. They really are crazy.
"(Y/N) and I are going to go to the herbalist institute to try and get you guys a cure." I nodded, I mean it's more than I've done in a while so, I was ok with it.
Aang took off, using his air bending as an extra boost. I watched as he left a trail of wind. I sighed. "You have got to be kidding me" I muttered to myself. Then I started running, keeping my hands behind me and lighting a fire. It made me faster, but not nearly as fast as Aang.
***
I finally got there, at least 10 minutes after Aang, completely out of breath.
"Took you long enough (Y/N)."
I let out a breathy laugh, "air bending? Don't. Have. That."
Aang laughed, "come on, lets go inside"
I followed Aang as he ran into the institute. Hopefully we could just get the medicine and get out.
As I entered I saw an old lady making some kind of herbal mixture? I wasn't really sure. She gave me the creeps though.
"I'm sorry to barge in like this but we need some medicine for our friends. They have fevers and they're coughing a-"
"Settle down young man, your friends are going to be fine," the old lady cut Aang off.
I'm telling you, she's creepy.
"I've been up here for over 40 years, used to be others, but they all left years ago," she reached down to pet her cat, "now it's just me and Miyuki."
Great, she's a crazy cat lady who hasn't had company in years, "Ok that's nice, but like my friend said, we need some medicine,"
"The Earth kingdom troops to come by now and then... Brave boys... And thanks to my remedy, they always leave in better shape than when they arrived,"
Wow, I see why all her friends left years ago, she's insane...
"That's nice, are you almost done?" Aang asked, gesturing to the mixture.
"Hold on... I just need to add one last ingredient," she roamed off to look for the ingredient.
I sighed and sat down on the floor. We were going to be here a while. Aang groaned, and I laughed at his misery.
"Cheer up Aang, you heard what she said," I cleared my throat, "thanks to my remedy, they always leave in better shape than when they arrived," I said, perfectly imitating her voice. Aang chuckled and plopped down on the floor next to me.
***
I wasn't sure how long it had been. I almost fell asleep, how long does it take to find something. Not like this place was huge, there's only one room. She would really suck at hide and seek.
"Aaah, there it is! Plum blossom" She started to put the flower into her mixture. Aang shot up, "Finally! Thanks for all your help!" He reached to grab the bowl.
She snatched it away. "What do you think you're doing?"
Aang shrank away, "Taking the cure to my friends!"
The Old lady laughed, "this isn't the cure," she turned to her cat and gave her the bowl,"It's Myuki's dinner! She loves Plum Blossom."
I got up. I have concluded that she is in fact insane. "Lady, what about our friends?" I asked her.
"Oh, well all they need is some frozen wood frogs, there are plenty of them down by the valley swamp,"
Frogs? Is she joking? "Huh? What are our friends going to do with frogs?" I asked her, trying very hard not to lose it.
"Why, suck on them of course, the frogs secrete a substance that will cure them. Make sure they're frozen. Once those critters thaw out they'll be useless!"
I take it back. Now she has officially reached the point of insanity.
Aang stared at her blankly, "you're insane aren't you?"
Took him long enough to figure it out.
"That's right!" she said in a sing-songy voice. I stared at her. She looked at me, then back to Aang, and her expression changed to anger, "Well don't just stand there all day. Go!" she said, throwing green stuff at Aang. I laughed at him, and then we ran out. It was overly windy. Suddenly, I saw arrows flying at us.
"Aang! Watch out!"
"Hu- AAAH!" Aang flailed his arms, but arrows pinned his feet to the ground. I managed to evade the arrows, and helped Aang remove the arrows from his feet. I squinted my eye and looked for the source of the arrows. The Yuyan Archers. They were famous in the Fire Nation. They could shoot arrows which unimaginable precision. I grabbed Aang, and we ran to the swamp. Aang reached for the frogs, while evading the arrows. "Aang? Are you crazy? We are LITERALLY ABOUT TO GET IMPALED."
"But, Katara and Sokka need these!"He proceeded to stick the frogs in his shirt. I heard footsteps. The archers were coming. "Hurry up, Aang!" just as the words left my mouth, an arrow went through my shirt and attached me to a log. Seriously? "Aang ru-" an arrow lodged itself in Aang's shirt too, pinning him next to me. I tried to use my other arm to free myself, but then I saw the archers attempting to shoot that arm too. I used the arm to lift the water and freeze it, stopping the arrows. 3-6 more arrows were shot into my ice wall, which shattered. I was totally going to die. I watched as Aang and my one free arm was pinned to the log. I had no range of movement. Then, the archers shot a net in our direction, and everything went black.
***
You know, I was really starting to regret getting up this morning. The one day I decide 'yeah, (Y/N) let's get up, and do something good for once' I get kidnapped by the fire nation. My life is a joke. I went from coming from a prestigious fire nation family, living in the palace, to banished and on the run with the fire nation's number one enemy: The Avatar. Plus, my own nation had just kidnapped me. Probably going to die. It's cool. I'm fine with it at this point.
So there I was, chained to two pillars. My arms were spread out, one of my arms chained to one pillar, and the other to the other pillar. It was actually really uncomfortable. My arms were tired. This is torture in and of itself. I looked next to me, and Aang was chained in the same manner as I. I struggled against the chains, with no results. You know what would be really helpful? Metal bending. That should be a thing.
"So, Aang... how are those frogs?"
Aang looked at me in disbelief, and opened his mouth to speak when Commander Zhao entered the room, his footsteps echoing across the room.
"So this is the Great Avatar-"
"Commander Zhao. Still as annoying as ever, I see?"
His face turned red for a millisecond, but I caught it. He took a deep breath and turned to me, "It's Admiral Zhao now,"
"Wow! A promotion! I care so much! My respect for you has just doubled! Don't worry though, zero times two is still zero. I know your puny brain can't really do simple math," I laughed at him.
He glared at me, then smiled "Well, if it isn't the dual bender."
I scoffed, "That's what they're calling me?"
He ignored my comment, "shouldn't you be out with your boyfriend?"
I gritted my teeth, "The prince is not my boyfriend,"
"Hm. The Fire Lord will be so pleased when I deliver you to him, traitor."
I took a high pitched tone to my voice, "The Fire Lord will be so pleased when I deliver you to him, traitor. " I curved the corners of my mouth into a smile, and stared at him unwavering.
"Remember your fire breath (Y/N)" Iroh's voice echoed in my mind. He had taught me that 3 years ago, when we first embarked on our mission to capture the Avatar. He really did treat me as is own. Iroh was good at heart, but I knew he couldn't leave Zuko.
Zhao rolled his eyes and turned to Aang, "I don't know how you managed to hide from the fire nation for 100 years, but your game of hide and seek ends now."
"I've never hidden from you," Aang struggled against his chains, "untie me, and I'll fight you right now."
I couldn't help but admire his passion.
"Uhh.... No." Zhao answered unemotionally, then he leaned in close to Aang's face, "tell me, how does it feel to be the only air bender left? Do you miss the-"
"Shut the hell up Zhao." He turned to me.
"My goodness (Y/N), you really don't know when too and when not to speak do you?"
I've noticed that bad guys get really mad when you don't let them finish their evil monologue.
"My goodness commander, you really don't know when too and when not to leave us alone do you?"
"it's Admiral. But never mind, you better learn how to keep that mouth of yours in check or else"
"Or else what Zhao? You're going to kill me? I'd like to see you beat me when I'm not chained up coward."
Zhao leaned in close to me, and used a finger to lift up my chin. He was close now. Perfect. "I'm only going to make you wish you were de-" I took a deep breath, and let a blast of fire out of my mouth. Zhao ducked away just in time. Great, now he was probably going to bind my mouth.
"Is that a new trick? You almost had me there, guards get something for the girl's mouth. She's beginning to bother me."
I spat at him. "Now (Y/N), where are your manners? Didn't your parents teach you better than that," he faked a gasp, "oh wait- they never got the chance,"
I opened my mouth to speak, but Zhao took the butt of his sword and banged it against my head. My head whipped back, and my eyes started welling. Then he took the sword butt again, and slammed it against my mouth. I spit blood out of my mouth and then attempted to speak again. A guard wrapped a metal cuff around my mouth. "mnmmmMNMM" I tried to scream at Zhao.
"(Y/N)!" Aang yelled in concern
"Huh? What was that, I don't think I heard you."
I really wanted to kill him.
Aang blew air from his mouth, hurling Zhao across the room. I let out a muffled laugh.
"Hmph. Blow all the wind you want. There's no escaping this fortress. And no one is coming to save you,"
Aang looked dejected. I shared his sentiment. Sokka and Katara were sick, and they had no idea where we were. There was no one to help us.
Once Zhao had left Aang turned to me, "Don't worry (Y/N), we'll get out of here." Aang's hope never ceased to surprise me. He looked up at my head, it was starting to bruise. "Are you ok?"
I laughed again. It seems I laugh in unnecessary moments way too often. "mhm"
Aang and I hung together (literally) awkwardly for what felt like hours. Aang continued to struggle against the chains, but I knew it was no use. I looked to the side of the room. They had my water. If only I could use my hands to bend, I could freeze these chains. Aang started breathing heavily. I looked over to see something wriggling in his chest, and then 5 or 6 frogs jump out.
"No! Don't leave frogs, my friends are sick and they need you!"
They continued to leave. "mhmmmnmmnmm,"I tried to tell Aang.
Aang ignored me and struggled against his chains some more.
I heard banging and clattering from outside the door. What was going on?
Soon screaming and grunting could be heard too. Then silence. The door creaked open, and a person in a blue mask entered. Aang looked horrified. The masked man took out a sword and started swinging it.
Well. This is how I die. It was a crappy life, but it's fine.
He ran towards us, wielding his sword. Aang screamed. He closed his eyes in anticipation, I however, embraced this imminent death with open eyes.
That's not what happened.
The masked man cut our chains off effortlessly.
Wow, that's some sharp metal. Remind me not to be on the business end of that.
He cut off the cuffs on Aang and my wrists. Then he turned and gazed at me, lifting one hand to touch my bruise, then stopping in mid air. He lifted his sword and pried the metal cuff off my mouth. I spat more blood out and started coughing up more blood.
"Thanks for that."
He reached for my face again, and stopped. Then he nodded, and gestured for us to follow him as he left the room. Something about him seemed familiar. I grabbed my canteen of water and followed him out the door. I saw a guard tied up next to the room. Then I saw the frogs, crawling away. Aang gasped, "My frogs!"
"Seriously Aang, they're all thawed out now, they're useless,"
He didn't care. He bent down to pick them up, but the masked man dragged him away.
"Wait!! My friends need to suck on those frogs!"
He didn't seem to care. I followed them out.
We were using a rope to climb a wall when I heard yelling, and a guard cut our rope. Aang screamed, and blew a blast of air to cushion our fall. Damn. This sucks.
The man drew his swords.
"The Avatar and the Dual bender has escaped! Close the gates immediately!"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. Aang looked at me and the masked man and said "stay close to me!"
He ran and blew a gust of air moving all the guards away. The man fought the guards away. I took a deep breath and blew fire in the direction of the guards from one side, then quickly froze them in place. Then I used more water to create an ice bridge leading up to the 2nd gate. "Come on!" I gestured for everyone to go up the bridge. We ran up, then I melted the bridge, causing multiple guards to fall off. I returned the water to my canteen.
More guards were waiting for us at the top. I looked down to see dozens of them running with ladders to climb and get us.
We are so screwed.
The man cut down a few guards, Aang blew some away, and I ran up to a ladder, and ignited a flame, burning it, causing the guards to either fall or jump off the ladder in order to avoid getting burned.
We grabbed the ladders and used them as stilts. All three of us managed to get past most of the gates. At the last one, someone ignited a fire and the bottom, which rose forcing us to jump off. We were so close.
They blew fire in our direction. Aang made a barrier of air. "Hold your fire!" Zhao entered, "they must be captured alive!"
At those words I watched something click in the masked mans mind. He ran up to Aang and crossed his swords around his neck.
Smart.
Zhao glared at us, "open the gate."
"Admiral? What are you doing?"
"Let them out. Now" He said through gritted teeth.
We walked out, the masked man still holding Aang as a hostage. I turned around. Then an arrow hit the man squarely in the middle of his face. He knocked out immediately, turning his face to the side, revealing an all too familiar scar.
Zuko
Aang looked back in shock. He sent a blast of air up, and I took the mask off. Aang gasped. I grabbed Zuko and looked at Aang. "Let's go." He nodded.
***
We ended up in a forest. Zuko was still out. Aang turned to me, "100 years ago I used to have friends in the fire nation. My best friend's name was Kuzon,"
I watched Zuko intently. His eyes fluttered and he awoke. Aang looked at Zuko, "Kuzon? The two of us, we'd get into so much trouble. And he's from the fire nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then do you think we could've been friends?"
Zuko got up and blew fire in Aang's direction. Aang got up and ran away. I knew the way back, I'd meet up with him later.
I leaned against a tree, "you are unbelievable."
"(Y/N)." he stepped towards me, raising a hand to touch my face. He didn't stop this time. His hand grazed my bruise and I flinched.
"Did Zhao do this to you?" Zuko asked, anger etching his voice. I nodded. He moved his hand down to my cheek. He was warm. I missed him. I unconsciously pulled him in for a hug. He used one hand to stroke my hair.
"I'm going to kill him for hurting you" He said through gritted teeth.
I took a step back, and moved away from him. What was I doing? This wasn't right.
"Using that logic, you would have to kill yourself." I said coldly.
"I would never lay a hand on you."
"There's more than one way to hurt someone."
"(Y/N) I-"
I didn't hear the rest of his sentence. I was long gone.