This chapter contains mature themes and strong language that may not be suitable for younger readers.
I heard a knock on the door.
"Come-"
Zuko put a hand over my mouth, "This is my room," he hissed, "And you're not wearing any clothes."
"Right," I whispered.
Another knock on the door, "Zuko?"
Sokka.
Zuko stumbled out of the bed, "One minute Sokka!" He picked his pants off the ground and slipped them on. Then he tossed me his shirt.
I put it on and he pushed me into a closet.
"Hey!" I whispered.
"Shhhh," he closed the closet door.
I heard another knock, "Zuko?? Hello?"
"Yes!" I heard a door open, "What's up, Sokka?"
"Can I come in?"
"Uh- well-"
"Thanks," Sokka cut him off.
I peered through the gap in the closet door.
Zuko looked like he was panicking. Sokka was walking and Zuko noticed my pants and underwear on the floor.
Sokka turned around and Zuko kicked my clothes under the bed.
I suppressed a laugh.
"So," Zuko said, "Do... do you need something?"
"Nice room," Sokka mused, "Nicer than mine."
"This is my house."
"Fair enough," Sokka shrugged, "Well, we got Appa ready for our journey to fight the Fire Lord... but uh... Aang's missing."
What?
"What?" Zuko exclaimed, "What do you mean, missing?"
"What it sounds like," Sokka said, "We can't find him. Did he tell you he was going anywhere? He left everything, his phone, his staff, Appa."
"Shit," Zuko said, "We have to find him."
"Yeah," Sokka coughed and whistled, "Did you get all that, (Y/N)?"
Oh shit.
"Yeah," I squeaked from the closet.
Sokka nodded, "I'm gonna... go."
I groaned and stumbled out of the closet, "We'll be down in thirty minutes."
Sokka nodded and walked out of the room.
Zuko and I looked at each other and laughed.
"Can you grab some clothes from my room?" I asked Zuko, "Something I can fight in, who knows what's going to happen. Oh," I smiled, "Make sure you get me some underwear."
Zuko nodded, "Noted," he started walking then he stopped, "Wait, what are you doing?"
I grabbed a towel from his dresser, "Taking a shower."
Zuko grinned and walked up to me, "Was that an invitation?"
I smiled slyly and stood on my tippy toes. Zuko leaned down and met me halfway. I pressed my lips to his.
Zuko smiled against my lips, "I'll take that as a yes?"
I laughed, "No," I patted his bare chest, "Go get my clothes. And," I took off the shirt I was wearing, "Wear your shirt," I handed it to him.
"(Y/N)!" Zuko's eyes moved across my body.
"Go get my clothes," I turned around and walked into his bathroom. I felt his eyes staring at my body, "Stop staring at my ass," I shut the door.
I heard Zuko laughing.
I took a 25-minute shower and then wrapped myself in a towel, stepping out of the bathroom. I opened the door and Zuko was holding a pair of leggings and a fire-proof crop top I had bought the other day. He also held undergarments for me.
His hair was wet, and he was wearing different clothes, so I assumed that he just took a shower in another bathroom.
He smiled and handed me my clothes.
I let my towel drop and he stared at me, his eyes wide.
"Alright, look away, pervert," I laughed.
"Why?" He asked me as I slipped into my underwear, "It's not like I haven't seen it before."
I shrugged and put my shirt on, "Good point," I finished getting changed and walked up to him.
I raised my hand and waterbent the water out of his hair, "You don't want to get your clothes wet."
He kissed my forehead, "Thanks, (Y/N)."
I slipped my phone into my pocket and we headed downstairs.
"Where have you guys been?" Katara asked.
Zuko's face turned red.
"Oh you know," I said, "Here and there."
Suki laughed, but Katara and Toph (for once) looked clueless.
We decided to split up and look for Aang on Ember Island, but we had no luck. We met back at the house.
"Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you guys didn't find Aang, either," Sokka said.
"No. It's like he just... disappeared," Zuko said.
"Hey, wait a minute. Has anyone noticed that Momo is missing, too?" Toph asked.
Sokka's eyes widened, "Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time!" He turned to Appa, "Appa ate Momo!" He forced Appa's mouth open, "Momo, I'm coming for you, buddy."
Katara sighed, "Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang."
"That's just what Appa wants you to think," Sokka climbed into Appa's mouth.
I lifted my hand and controlled Sokka's limbs. I pulled him out of Appa.
"H-hey, (Y/N)! What gives?" Sokka exclaimed.
"(Y/N) was right to get you out of the bison's mouth," Zuko rolled his eyes, "We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."
I dropped Sokka on the ground.
"You know what Zuko?" Sokka grumbled, "At least I didn't have a girl-"
I used bloodbending to shut Sokka's mouth.
Zuko's face was red, but he shook it away.
Katara blinked, "Uh... okay?" She turned to Zuko, "What should we do Zuko?"
Zuko looked surprised, "I don't know. Why are you all looking at me?"
"Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang," Katara said.
"Yeah, if anyone's got experience hunting the Avatar... it's you," she turned to me, "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if (Y/N) was the brains of that."
I laughed, "Actually, I mostly just sulked in my room during those times."
Zuko looked determined, "I have an idea. Let's get on Appa."
We all got on Appa and Zuko directed Appa towards the Earth Kingdom.
"Zuko, I don't wanna tell you how to do your job, but why are we heading towards the Earth Kingdom? There's no way Aang's there," Sokka asked.
"Just trust me," Zuko said.
We finally arrived at an Earth Kingdom Tavern.
I blinked, "You know, I'm all for getting drunk, but I don't think now's the time, Zuko."
"The reason you've brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?" Katara raised an eyebrow.
"No, no," Zuko said to me. He pointed to a woman halfway across the tavern, "June."
A really pretty woman who looked at least ten years older than us was situated at a table.
"Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole," Sokka said.
"Mole? Her skin is flawless," Suki said.
"No, she has this giant mole creature she rides around on," Sokka said.
"The shirshu. It's the only animal that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot we have of finding him," Zuko said.
Why do I have no idea who June is?
"She helped you attack us!" Sokka yelled.
"Yup," Zuko smiled, "Back in the good old days."
"Huh?" I said, "I have no idea who this woman is."
Sokka blinked, "Actually, I don't recall you being there, either."
Zuko placed a hand on my shoulder, "You were asleep when we met her, and then you locked yourself in your room and played on your laptop while Uncle and I had June track Aang."
"Oh," I shrugged, "Sounds like me."
We all walked up to June.
June cocked her head when she saw us, "Oh great. It's Prince Pouty. Where's your creepy grandpa?"
"He's my uncle. And he's not here," Zuko replied.
June looked at me, "Is that the Bibender? Isn't she too good for you?" She smiled at me, "Nice to meet you, (Y/N)."
I laughed, "I like her."
June chuckled and turned to Zuko, "So what do you want?"
"I need your help finding the Avatar," Zuko said.
She blew her hair out of her face, "Hm. Doesn't sound too fun."
Zuko looked angry, "Does the end of the world sound like more fun?"
June rolled her eyes and we went out to her mole-thing (Nyla).
"Okay. So who's got something with the Avatar's scent on it?" June asked us.
Katara pulled out Aang's staff, "I have this."
June nodded and took the staff from Katara. She let Nyla sniff it, but the mole simply walked around in circles. Eventually, she whimpered and lied down.
"Well, what does that mean?" Zuko asked.
"Means your friend's gone," June said.
"What?" I asked, "Aang's dead?"
"No, no, don't worry your pretty little head, (Y/N). We could still find him if he were dead," June paused, "It's a real head-scratcher."
"Helpful. Real helpful," Toph said sarcastically.
"Wait. I have another idea. There's only one other person in this world who can help us face the Fire Lord. I'll be right back with a smell sample," Zuko said. He climbed onto Appa and took out his backpack. He reached in and took out a sandal.
A pungent odor entered the air.
I coughed, "Zuko, what the hell?"
"It's Uncle's," he said, sliding down Appa. He looked slightly embarrassed.
"You saved your uncle's sweaty sandal? Ugh!" Sokka pinched his nose.
"I think it's kind of sweet," Toph smiled.
Nyla caught onto Iroh's scent and we all got on Appa, following Nyla.
We made it to the partially broken wall of Ba Sing Se, well past nightfall.
We landed Appa.
"We're going to Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked, jumping off of the bison.
"Your uncle's somewhere beyond the wall, Nyla's getting twitchy so he can't be too far. Good luck," She and Nyla left us at the wall.
"It's been a long day. Let's camp and start our search again at dawn," Zuko said.
Suki, Katara, and Sokka fell asleep on Appa's tail, and Toph made herself an earth tent to sleep in.
Zuko and I sat down next to each other, our backs to the wall.
"Ba Sing Se, huh?" I said.
"This is where I first told you I loved you," Zuko sighed and put his head on my shoulder, "Isn't it?"
I chuckled, "Yeah," I paused, "When did you start loving me?"
"I told you. I've always loved you."
"I mean, when did you realize it?"
"When did you?" Zuko asked.
"I asked you first," I said.
Zuko adjusted his position and laid down in my lap. He looked up at the sky, "When I first realized?" He thought for a moment, "I knew for sure that I loved you that night I caught you waterbending. You panicked and it was the first time I've seen you genuinely vulnerable. You had never cried before that, not when your father died, though I understand why. You told me everything that night. You told me about your father, your mother... I... I felt even more connected to you that day," he turned his face towards me and smiled, "I knew since then that I didn't want anyone to hurt you like that ever again."
"Zuko..."
"Well?" Zuko asked, "What about you?"
I stroked Zuko's hair, "I guess it was obvious that I liked you from the start. I mean, I got jealous when girls asked for a picture with you or talked about you from a distance. I was always flustered when I saw you without a shirt, and every time you came really close to me my heart would beat ten times faster. But," I sighed, "I guess I didn't really realize I loved you until I was scared of losing you. When you told me that I was nothing to you-"
"(Y/N), I'm sorry. I was just a kid-"
"Shh, I forgave you a long time ago. The point is, it never hurt me when people would say mean things like that to me, at least it didn't until it was you saying those things. Only the person I love could hurt me in such a way. I guess it's not as sweet as how you realized it, but... it's true."
Zuko got up from my lap, and faced me, "I'll never hurt you again, (Y/N). I promise."
I leaned forward and we kissed. It was soft but still passionate.
"I believe you, Zuko."