The next morning, Rumi woke up with Zuko's heavy arm still pinning her down. Not wanting to wake him up, she lifted it as carefully as possible, and gently placed it back on the bed.
He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, and Rumi just wished he could feel as relaxed as he looked right now all the time.
With a sigh, Rumi made her way downstairs, where she was greeted by Katara.
"So, you didn't sleep on the couch, huh?"
Rumi smiled sleepily and shook her head.
"You were with Zuko!" Sokka exclaimed, pointing at her. Toph joined in by laughing loudly.
"He asked me to stay," Rumi shrugged, acting as if it were no big deal.
"That's rare for Zuko," she heard Iroh speak from behind her and spun around. "He's never asked someone to stay with him, he must be really fond of you!"
For a while, Rumi thought Zuko was going to sleep all morning, but that thought vanished when he came stumbling down the stairs in a sleepy haze.
"Ah, owe, oof," he grunted with every step, his side still incredibly sore.
"Zuko! What the hell?!" Rumi rushed to him and helped him down the last few stairs, "You need to be more careful!"
"S-sorry," Zuko said with a sheepish grin.
When Rumi went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee, Sokka marched over to Zuko.
"So buddy, how was your night?" he asked, raising his eyebrows a couple times.
"What?! Nothing happened..." Zuko explained.
"You wish!" Toph shouted, and the others laughed as Zuko's face turned red.
Iroh patted his nephew on the back, "Don't worry, you just need to be persistent with her. How do you think I ever got married?!"
This earned a small laugh from Zuko as he fidgeted with his hands.
When Rumi came back with her coffee, she held a plate of food in the other hand and gave it to Zuko. "Everyone else already had breakfast before you got up, so I made sure there was still some left."
"Awwww, isn't that cute?" Sokka mocked.
And for the next few days, things became rather routine. Rumi would spend much of the day helping rebuild the area destroyed by the meteorite. However, she made an effort to keep a low profile. The others were curious about it, but no one asked.
All the free time Rumi had was put to good use by taking care of Zuko. She made sure he ate, and tended to his injury. Often, he would try to resist. He probably resisted food more than aid though, but Rumi was determined, and unswayed by Zuko's defiance. She eventually got through to him, but it was a bit of a battle every day.
She had also taken to sleeping on the couch, unsure of what was appropriate, but Zuko's face when she told him she was going downstairs to sleep, had been almost too much to handle. He was disappointed. Maybe he blamed himself, but Rumi didn't know for sure. It must've appeared as though it was his fault. After all, she slept one night with him, and then hadn't done it again since.
The others spent some time helping with the repairs as well, especially Aang. Sokka seemed to help more so to show off to the ladies. Much to Rumi's dismay, his attempts seemed to work. Girls swooned. Rumi was never one to swoon. At least, as far as she was aware of.
Eventually, Zuko was able to walk without leaning on Rumi anymore. She almost found herself missing it, although it did tend to get difficult at times.
"Everybody, look! Zuko's taking his first steps!" Rumi had announced when Zuko walked effortlessly down the stairs. The others had humoured her and sarcastically cheered.
***
One evening, just as the sun was going down, Zuko interrupted Rumi's nightly reading. Everyone else was already shacked up in their rooms for the night, so it was a shock to see Zuko approach her.
"Hey," he scratched the back of his head, standing above her as Rumi sat on the couch. She looked up at him expectedly, but he seemed to blank.
"Just here to stare at me like I know you love to do, or did you actually want something?" If it weren't for the smile on Rumi's lips, Zuko would've been offended, maybe even a little angry, but he had grown accustomed to Rumi's joking. Although sometimes it did get under his skin.
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to uh, go on-go, um," he began stuttering, and his attempts to stop didn't help. "Would you wanna go on, uh—"
By this point, Rumi was giggling. The whole situation was just so entertaining to her. He was getting so nervous.
"Wanna go get food?" was what Zuko finally settled for.
"Wow." Rumi said, hand clasped to her mouth to stop from laughing. "You wanna get food? That's a first, and after you've already had supper!"
Zuko's cheeks turned pink, "You're right... this was a bad idea." Why am I so stupid? Get food? Now I just sound gross! What's wrong with me?! Thoughts bubbled in Zuko's mind as he bolted for the stairs.
"No wait!" he turned back to see a sorry expression on Rumi's face. "I was just joking around. I think it's great that you wanna get food! Let's go!" she jumped up and was already putting on her shoes. Zuko happily followed her lead.
The two started with a walk, the lantern-lit streets made for a mellow mood. At one point, Rumi's hand brushed against Zuko's, causing him to get all flustered, and they eventually found a bakery.
"This probably the one place for food that's still open this late," Rumi laughed. "This better satisfy you."
It did, and the duo decided to sit on the edge of the fountain, surrounded by lanterns. Rumi had finished her donut, and looked over to Zuko, who had gotten a couple. She smiled, glad to see him so content and comfortable, happy even.
"Zuko?"
"Yeah?"
Rumi gave a cheeky grin, "You got a little somethin' on your face."
"W-where?"
"I got it," Rumi said as she leaned in and playfully licked a bit of icing off of his cheek.
Zuko jumped a little, "Hey!"
"What?! It tasted good!" Rumi exclaimed and licked her lips. Immediately, Zuko's eyes dropped to look at them.
For once, Rumi felt flustered, and quickly turned away from him. In her peripheral vision, she could see Zuko deflate a little. She ruined the mood, and now it was her job to lift it.
"Y'know, it's kind of cute," Rumi said, almost flirtatiously.
This perked Zuko's interest, "What is?"
"This!" Rumi perked up, pinching onto Zuko's
side.
Ashamed, Zuko instantly reeled back and nearly fell into the fountain, catching himself at the last minute. He looked at Rumi, wide-eyed and terrified.
"Woah! Sorry! I didn't know you were gonna react like that!" Rumi exclaimed.
"Well you just-you just... grabbed one of the worst parts of me!" he said defensively, then went quiet. "Wait, cute?"
Rumi nodded with a smirk, "Yes Zuko, cute. Very."
The rest of the way back, Zuko was blushing, and Rumi had a small skip to her step.
***
It was the next morning, and everyone was gathered in the living room when Aang pointed something out.
"Zuko's pretty much healed. Shouldn't we be going back to the village? There haven't been any shooting stars or meteors we've heard of, so maybe this is a good time to figure something out."
Sokka groaned, "Aww but I was just starting to get comfortable. The girls by the construction zone really enjoy my company!"
"Well fine, then you can stay and talk to girls, and we can save the world," Katara taunted, knowing her brother would cave and join them anyways.
"Aang's right," Iroh said, entering the room. "You need to get back on your mission."
It was settled, the small detour was nice while it lasted, but the problem still existed. The group spent their morning packing up, and boarded Appa at noon. They thanked Iroh for the hospitality, and Zuko hugged his uncle goodbye.
"Stay safe, I'll come visit you soon, uncle."
"You better!"
With that, they were off, but as they got closer to the village, Rumi began to grow uneasy, something was off. She felt sick, and it wasn't just due to the fact that they were flying.
When they landed, Aang and everyone felt the strange energy too, but it went unacknowledged.
Rumi went back to her treehouse wearily. Villagers gave her odd looks as she walked past.
Finally, she reached the comfort of her home, but grew suspicious when she saw a dim light coming from inside. Hesitantly, she walked in.
"Welcome home."
It was Kaito's voice.
"Now!"
-
A/N ~ hey guys, sorry it's been a bit longer since i've updated. i do still have chapters prewritten but i don't like posting one of them unless i'm continuously writing more. i still really enjoy writing this but i guess i've been in a bit of a slump. i should definitely be back to posting/writing more soon though! there will probably be about 30 chapters once i'm finished!
anyways, please vote/comment/share f you're enjoying this!
—Blaise⚡️