The rain stopped pouring by the time Kai closed the door behind her, the same seafoam green wooden door with the iron knocker that had looked inviting not too long ago. She willed the stone at it's sides over it as retribution. That seemed to be enough to put the anger inside of her at ease.
A dangerous amount of fog still lingered around the cliffs. Far too thick for them to safely start back out toward the ocean. Which was a shame, Kai wanted nothing more than to sail as far away from this place and never look back. Nero had settled into a peaceful looking slumber at the cave's edge. She nudged him awake gently, her damaged back and shoulder muscles screaming at her in the process.
"Come on, boy. We can't stay here tonight." She said as the crawler stirred. He was slow to start, but welcomed her onto his back. Kai was made aware of all the damage she'd suffered as she clung to Nero's body. The fingernails she'd caught on the floorboard had been nearly ripped off completely, the other hand had a fractured wrist connected to it, deep burns on her back were still cooling off, and the pain in her scorched ankle was almost unbearable.
Nero carried them up the cliff walls to the top of the small island. He lowered his body to the ground so the fall wouldn't cause her any more pain. It was like he was in tune with the girl. She couldn't bear to turn over onto her back, knowing that the pressure of her own weight against the burns would've been immense. So she remained on her stomach with her face nestled against the cold, wet grass. Nero fell asleep beside her, like he always did. But Kai laid awake for hours that night.
She laid in the dark, listening to the insects chip and far off animals "baaah"-ing in the distance. Another emotion was growing inside of her. One that both surprised and frightened her even more than when the anger made its appearance. Loneliness. Vast, painful loneliness with a hint of emptiness lacing it's edges. And for the first time she felt exactly how her mother had described her. Devoid of any light at all. Like it'd all been vacuumed right out of her. But instead of darkness rushing in to fill the empty space, she just felt hollow.
Kai was stirred awake early in the morning by the sound of Nero's jaw snapping shut. The crunching of bones echoed over what she could now see was an open pasture. Amongst the rolling green hills sat her "pet", covered in blood and feasting on an unfortunate koala sheep.
"I see you've already helped yourself to breakfast." She groaned as she struggled to pull herself to her feet. Every inch of her body fought waking up for the day, but it had to be done. She still had one more journey to start and finish before seeking out the gaang again.
Nero gobbled up his meal and crawled back over to his master. He was up and at 'em for the day, bouncing off his heels like a puppy that was ready for a walk.
"Nuhuh, you can't come with me this time, babe." She said while leaning down to scratch him between the nostrils. He seemed to understand her just fine and didn't like what he was being told. The crawler dropped to the ground in front of her feet and offered up the sappiest pair of beggar's eyes a beast of his kind was capable of.
A sad smile forced its way across Kai's face. She joined him in the grass, stroking the hair on his neck as she spoke to him. "You've shown me more humanity than most of the actual humans I've ever met, y'know that?" He rolled onto his back for a belly rub and shimmied across her lap, forked tongue snaking its way through his canines to give her monstrous kisses.
"It would be selfish of me to take you where I'm going, and dangerous. I can't risk your life just because I don't want to be alone." She said while indulging in his polite request for affection, "Besides, you'll like it here. You'll be able to find food easier than at the Great Divide and there are tons of caves for you to explore."
Nero still didn't seem happy with the decision she'd made. He withdrew his tongue and didn't offer her any more love, but didn't protest when she pushed him off of her and walked to the edge of a nearby cliff.
"I'll try to make my way back to you, but no promises." She said, and that was that. Kai watched him scurry over the hill and again heard the sound of bones crunching in the distance.
*****
Zuko stood before his uncle for the first time in weeks. It angered him to see what was once a ruthless leader look so broken on the floor of a dingy jail cell. Everything angered him lately. He'd expected life to be a dream from the moment he stepped foot back in his kingdom, but he'd been proven wrong before they even docked the ship. Zuko knew that the avatar was still alive. He also knew that Azula had used him as an insurance plan to save her own ass if things went awry. But he didn't know what to do about it.
"You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could've been a hero!"
Iroh heard what was said to him, but he didn't respond. He shifted in his seat and ignored his nephew. He'd come to the same conclusion as Kai in the Crystal Catacombs all those weeks ago -- that Zuko had to find his way on his own terms. He wasn't going to choose right from wrong for any one person. Not for his uncle and not for some girl. It had to be for himself.
"You have no right to judge me, Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me."
Still, nothing.
"You're not going to say anything??" Zuko spat. He grew even more frustrated when met with additional silence. For the first time in over three years, he had no guidance at all. He felt just as lost and alone now as he did sailing through the ocean with a fresh wound on his face. The feeling of deja vú stirred up unwanted emotions from the ocean floor of his mind. They had to be expelled. Zuko kicked up a wooden stool and shot a furious fireball at it. It burned to ash in the corner, but the confusion and anger inside of him still remained.
"You're a crazy old man! You're crazy!" He shouted at Iroh. "And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!"
With that, he stormed out of the tiny prison. The iron door slammed shut behind him, closing Zuko off from one of the only people that'd loved him unconditionally for his entire life. He didn't get to see his uncle's chin drop against his chest, nor did he see the defeated tears slip past Iroh's eyelids. But his sadness didn't go completely unnoticed.
"He doesn't mean that, you know." Iroh heard from the small window far above his head. "He's just confused and angry and taking it out on you. Don't take it personally."
He looked up and, illuminated by the moonlight, was someone that'd strayed far, far away from home. Kai sat on the ledge with her uninjured leg tucked against her chest. It'd taken her four days to make it to the shore closest to The Gates of Azulon and through the villages that littered the Fire Nation. Four whole days of limping along with her eyes cast down so no one could see that she was an intruder. A solitary lifestyle, just like her father had planned for her. She'd turned into a wandering ghost all over again.
"You shouldn't be here." He said as his chin dropped back down.
Kai slid down the wall, careful not to land on her burnt leg. "Neither should you, but here we both are."
She sat down on the cold prison floor in front of him. When Iroh glanced up, he almost mistook her for a feral cat. Her loaned robe had crisp burn holes, fresh blackish-purple bruises and older ugly yellow ones decorated her skin, and she'd lost a small but noticeable amount of weight.
"Spirits, Kai.. What happened to you?" He asked in horror.
She shrugged casually while pulling her bag over her shoulder, "I met my mother. As you can probably see, it didn't go so well." A woven game board and a drawstring purse full of tiles that she'd picked up in a small Fire Nation village emerged in her hands. She laid the items between the two of them. "Fancy a game of Pai Sho?"
Iroh's spirit began to lift immediately, he was always up for a round or two of Pai Sho. The game ensued and she quickly proved herself to be a worthy opponent. They caught up while they played.
"I must admit, it is quite nice to see your face after weeks of being locked up in here." He complimented while carefully considering his next move. "Aside from the.. 'altercation' with your mother, how have your travels treated you?"
Again, she shrugged. "Uneventful, for the most part. I domesticated a canyon crawler and ran into my father. Went to see mother. Stayed at a few hostels during my journey through the Fire Nation. They're much nicer than the ones in the Earth Kingdom, though the food is lacking."
From the looks of it, Iroh wasn't sure he believed that the girl had partaken in any meals at all for at least the last week. And if she were being honest, she hadn't. Not much, anyways. The empty feeling that she'd been left with when her mother rejected her didn't leave much room for anything else. Not even hunger.
"Forgive me, dear —" He said. His pleasantry brought a smile to the girl's face, it was the first ounce of kindness she'd been shown in this strange, new land. "But something tells me you didn't wander all this way just to indulge in a strategic game of Pai Sho."
Kai's face fell as her mother's words played on repeat in her mind. There is no place in this world for something so devoid of light. Before the catacombs, she'd felt plenty full of light. That space of time between being banished and the Earth Kingdom falling, it'd been the happiest years of her short life. They were difficult sometimes; finding food, shelter and staying out of trouble. Especially staying out of trouble. But she'd been free. Now it seemed as if none of that even mattered. The good memories she had didn't make her smile anymore and the bad ones only brought a slight pinch of sadness to her chest at the absolute most.
"Iroh.." She said while absently looking down at the game, "Do you think that who we are is preconceived? Like, is it possible that people can be bad or good right from the very start?"
"If this is about my nephew —"
"It's not." Kai interrupted. "This is about me. I learned that my mother did some very dark things while she was pregnant with me. Good things, I guess. Good for other people at least. But dark things. She seems to think that her actions.. I don't know, ruined me."
Iroh scrapped the game. He was going to win anyways. "I believe that most people have good inside of them. Even my brother and Princess Azula. But the worth of our character is molded by our lifestyle, the company we surround ourselves with, and the choices we make when nobody's looking."
No one was looking when she killed Shin. If someone had been, they surely would've stepped in to save him. The question that haunted her now though, would anyone have stepped in to save her, too? Or would they have turned a blind eye to an "honorable" man having his way with another homeless teenage girl that was too drunk off of ale to defend herself? There was no need to speculate, she already knew the answer.
"I've made bad choices. Terrible ones. Does that make me evil?" She looked up at him from the ground and Iroh could see that something had changed. Her bright green eyes now looked dull and lifeless, absent of the lively spark they once held.
"Of course not, Kai. That makes you human. What's important is that you learn from your mistakes and give yourself room to grow."
Kai forced a smile for the man sitting in front of her. It was the kind of reassurance she'd be searching for, but still not the reason she'd risked traveling to the Fire Nation Capital.
"Toph was right, you do give the best advice." She pushed her belongings back into her bag and limped to her feet. "Now get up."
Iroh's brows knitted together in confusion. Where was he going to go? The other side of his cell? He couldn't scale this wall like she had and he sure as hell couldn't fit through the minuscule window above their heads.
"The Day of Black Sun invasion is happening with or without the Earth Kingdom's support, either by me or my friends. I'm not going to let you sit here and rot."
"I can't leave this place. Fire Lord Ozai will assume —" He was abruptly cut off.
"And I'm not going to help you escape. You're going to help yourself. So if you want to be ready by the day of the solar eclipse, you need to start training now."
He stood to his feet, shaking and wobbly from sitting stationary for so long. Iroh felt every bit his age plus an extra ten years.
"Push ups. Now." She ordered.
Iroh lowered himself onto his toes and palms, looking up at her one last time. "How many?"
Kai bended a small tunnel underneath the cell bars, barely big enough to shimmy her body through. She made it to the other side and grabbed the door handle.
"As many as your arms will allow. After that, crunches. Then squats. I'll be back in a few days."
*****
Zuko realized the moment he boarded the ship back home that he really had told a lie. An accidental, little white lie that he'd forgotten all about over three years time. That lie was tall and thin with dark hair and an affluent family. Mai.
Mai had been his childhood crush. They'd shared their first kisses together and had more or less grown up side by side, thanks to their families being so close. As they got older, Mai grew into a personality that was just as testy as his own. He'd adored her and the way she loathed almost everything.
But now that Zuko had bared witness to a different perspective on life, her apathetic gaze almost annoyed him. It angered him, sure, but what didn't these days? And if he were being completely honest, she was now more of a distraction. An appreciated distraction that allowed him to stuff away the constantly racing thoughts that filled his confused head, but merely a distraction.
Now, the two of them sat on a cliffside watching the sunset. It was a view much like the one he'd shared with Kai at the oasis before taking her home for the night. That was the most recent memory that he was allowing Mai to distract him from. He kissed her generously, trying his damndest to fool himself into believing that these were the hungry lips of a free spirited earth bender.
"Ahem." Zuko heard from in front of them, their view of the sunset suddenly obstructed. Mai pulled her lips away from his and before them stood Azula. "Zuko, could I have a word with you?" She asked, though she didn't plan on giving him much of a choice either way.
"Can't you see we're busy?" Zuko snapped. His face turned back to Mai's and he started to lean into her again before Azula's nails-on-chalkboard voice broke through the moment of silence.
"Oh Mai, Ty Lee needs your help untangling her braid." It was a poor, obvious lie, but Mai wouldn't dare disobey the Fire Nation Princess. That was one of the bigger things that Zuko had found irritating about Mia, that she never failed to ask "How high?" the moment Azula told her to jump. This time was no different. His fill-in girlfriend replied, more cheerfully than usual, "Sounds pretty serious." and left the two of them alone to discuss whatever it was Azula needed to speak to him about.
"So, I've heard you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso in the prison tower."
Zuko thought he'd made it perfectly clear to that guard that his visitation hours were strictly confidential. Apparently not. He stood to his feet, knuckles balled into a fist with rage. "That guard told you."
"Nope, you did. Just now." She smirked. Zuko realized that he'd fallen for that one too easily. He slumped back down against the boulder with his arms crossed and sulked, "Okay, you caught me. What is it that you want, Azula?"
Her mischievous smile darkened as she cut her eyes at her brother. Azula didn't give a shit if her idiot older brother was visiting the crazy old man while he rotted away. Hell, she didn't even really care if they were plotting an unsuccessful coup of their own. But what she did care about was the sanctity of her home, and of all of the Fire Nation. She wouldn't stand for it to be contaminated.
"A guard outside of the prison tower was found choked unconscious a few nights ago. When I reported to the medic ward to hear his statement, he described someone that sounded faintly familiar.. Long braid, two swords, unnaturally green eyes." She cocked an eyebrow. "Ring any bells?"
Every hair on Zuko's body stood on end. A radiating tingle went up his spine. Kai'd promised to fulfill her end of the universe's plan for them, but part of him hadn't really anticipated her traveling all this way. Suddenly Zuko felt the overwhelming sensation of being watched from every direction. Like no place was safe.
"That's impossible." He lied. "There's no way Kai could have made it all this way on her own."
"Oh so that's who 'Kai' is.. The girl from the catacombs. You two seemed awfully comfortable with one another. Or at least that's what the water tribe girl thought when she spilled about how she'd caught the two of you sneaking around together."
Much like Iroh had done to him a few nights prior, Zuko didn't bother responding. He turned his nose up, refusing to admit that he'd indulged in a bit of self satisfaction when he was supposed to be working diligently to restore his honor.
"Did you bring that filthy commoner back to our kingdom, Zuko?" Azula nearly hissed at him as she asked.
More than anything, Zuko felt the overwhelming desire to fire blast the girl off of the mountain. Filthy commoner. He'd seen plenty of "filthy commoners" all over the world by now, and Kai was not one of them. But the insult still struck a nerve.
"Of course not!" He spat, though he remembered offering during the peak of their last duel.
Azula looked her brother up and down, from head to toe, feeling out his trustworthiness. A long, tense silence clung to the air between the two of them.
"Very well, then." She said, turning on her heel, "Believe it or not, I am looking out for you. If people find out you've been to see uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him. And if father found out you were a blood traitor..." She shook her head in shame and tsk, tsk, tsk-ed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "Just be careful, dum-dum."
*****
Zuko waited in hiding that night behind the prison tower. He slipped the hood of his dark robe over his head and made himself comfortable behind the shadow of a boulder. He just had to see for himself.
The night dragged on. For hours, all he could hear was the bubbling of magma from the volcano and the screaming of summer locusts. The notion that Azula had merely been lying to him entered his mind, and he cursed himself for falling for her tricks yet again. Until he heard the pained grunt of someone nearby. Zuko peeked over the boulder, a shadow scaled the side of the tower.
Kai sat on the ledge for a moment to allow her damaged muscles some rest. Iroh laid on the ground below her. He was doing push-ups against the cold prison floor. She dropped down behind him, once again sure to land on her uninjured leg.
"You're looking thinner already." She said.
Iroh stopped his workout and rolled over onto his back, lifting himself up into the sitting position. He'd been moving his muscles for three days straight, only stopping when the guards entered to throw slop at him or to sleep for just a few hours at a time. He looked Kai up and down and. She still looked slightly malnourished and her skin was paler than it'd been a few days ago. Her movements were stiff and slow and painful to watch.
She dropped her bag over her shoulder and pulled out a couple of small boxes. Bento boxes. One for him and one for her.
"Where have you been? Where did you get these?" He asked without really caring where they'd originated. Anything was better than the food he'd been forced to eat off the dirty floor.
"The Fire Lord's estate. That place is so massive, I don't even really have to hide. All I had to do was bat my eyelashes at the chef and he was more than happy to give me a few extra portions." She passed the old man a pair of chopsticks while gloating about how poor the security actually was around there. They ate in silence for a few moments. It hadn't been said, but they both knew this was the last time they'd meet for a while. Kai wasn't here to fulfill the destiny that her father had chosen for her. Not now, not in this state. She'd just needed to make sure that Iroh was going to get off his ass and be ready to make a break for it come the day of the solar eclipse.
And she needed a friend. One that was unbiased and could still see the good in her, unlike her parents. Unlike herself.
"How is Prince Zuko doing? If you don't mind my asking.." Iroh asked.
Though Kai hadn't needed to hide much at all around the estate, she still chose to sneak. Turns out the Fire Nation uses an ungodly amount of coal, which meant there were plenty of rafters and ducts for her to climb around in. She'd seen Zuko, alright. She'd seen him plenty. Along with the pretty girl that hung off his arm like a brand new, sparkly watch. Their scowls looked like they'd been painted on with the same stroke of a brush, one and the same. And if there weren't already a hole where her heart used to sit, there would've been the first time she watched that polished new piece of jewelry lean in to kiss him.
"I haven't spoken with him, but he seems fine." She told Iroh. It wasn't her place to unload on him about things that shouldn't even matter. Shouldn't, but still did.
They finished their meals and she packed up the boxes to protect him from being caught with them. He offered her a hug goodbye but she shied away from his embrace knowing that the man's growing strength would be too much for her broken body to handle right now.
"Where will you go?" He asked to which she shrugged and responded, "To find my friends and beg for their forgiveness."
Kai didn't know where the hell she was headed. The Fire Nation was a massive territory with ruthless citizens. She'd have to lay low in order to avoid any confrontations, fighting would be too dangerous in her current state. Iroh feared for the girl but he knew he couldn't very well keep her locked in a cell with him.
They bowed in place of a hug and like before, she slipped through a cubby bended from the stone at the base of iron bars, irritating her scorched back even further in the process.
Zuko watched the door swing open and a shadowed figure strut out. He didn't believe it to be Kai. Not his Kai. Her steps would never betray her like this stranger's was. No, he vividly remembered being hypnotized while watching her wander through the streets of the lower ring, hips swaying like a silk scarf in the wind. But the blades that clung to her spine were a trademark that forced him to believe the inevitable. Zuko creeped behind her, his footsteps masked by the searing pain that pulsed through her body.
It was her. It was her long, loose braid and her burlap backpack full of everything she had to her name. It was her rich olive skin and thin fingers that were filed down to a dull point. It was her, and she was headed straight for the guard that was on high alert for an intruder.
Zuko began closing in on her. He didn't know what he was going to do once he got there.. in fact, there was a loud voice in his head telling him to fuck off, she threatened to kill you. She tried to turn you away from everything that's rightfully yours. Let her get burned alive. But as the distance between them closed he could see that she already had been burned. Badly.
He reached out and gripped the girl's shoulder forcefully, feeling his palm sink into her skin. Well, where there used to be skin. In a second, she was on her knees. Intense pain ripped through Kai's body. Her mouth opened to let out a scream but was silenced by Zuko's other hand, saving them both from the alert ears of the guards nearby.