Zuko's POV
As Sokka packed up the last of our things, he turned to us and announced,
"Okay. That's everything."
Toph who was sat a few feet away replied,
"No, it's not. Where's Aang?"
We all ran into the house and searched for him,
"Aang? Aang!"
"Come on, lazy bones. Let's go."
But he wasn't in the house, he left his staff behind and his footprints led up to the ocean.
Sokka said that there was no sign of a struggle, so he hadn't been captured, Toph thought that he had run away but Sokka disagreed since he'd left behind his glider and Appa.
Sokka was certain that Aang had gone on a spirit world journey but I countered,
"But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?"
He slumped forward in defeat. Katara suggested we all split up and searched Ember Island for him.
Toph quickly grasped onto my arm and announced,
"I'm going with Zuko!"
I felt my cheeks heat up, being on team avatar was very different from the life I had lived back home, I wasn't used to casual physical affection besides uncle and Y/N- and also back when I was in a relationship with Mai.
My sister and my father looked down on me, like I was nothing, the last time I had come into any physical contact with my father, he burned half of my face off, and the last time I had come into near contact with Azula, both of us and Y/N nearly died.
Everyone questioningly stared at Toph who responded,
"What? Everyone else went on a life changing field trip with Zuko! Now it's my turn!"
Sokka left on Appa, whilst Suki and Katara left to search the town and I made my way further down the beach with Toph.
She was going on and on about her life story whilst I mumbled "uh huh" a few times as I continued looking around for Aang.
Whilst she was talking and I was searching, my mind drifted to Y/N... I wondered what she was doing.
Was she safe?
I should've tried to stop her.
If I had asked her to come with me on the day of black sun, before she had read my note, would she be with me now?
I shook my head.
Focus on the task at hand.
"And then when I was nine, I ran away again."
"Uh huh."
"I know I shouldn't complain. My parents gave me everything I ever asked for. But they never gave me the one thing that I really wanted- their love, you know what I mean?"
I hung my head and groaned before turning to Toph and bluntly stating,
"Look, I know you had a rough childhood. But we should really focus on finding Aang."
I pivoted back around and continued walking as she mumbled,
"This is the worst field trip ever."
After over an hour of searching, we all returned to the house without Aang.
Toph sat up and asked,
"Hey, wait a minute! Has anyone noticed that Momo is missing, too?"
Sokka's eyes grew wide and he turned to Appa,
"Oh, no! I knew it was only a matter of time! APPA ATE MOMO!"
He pulled Appa's mouth open and jumped inside yelling,
"Momo, I'm coming for you, buddy!"
Katara rested her head in her hand, clearly fed up and told him,
"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang."
Sokka yelled back,
"That's just what Appa wants you to think!"
I snapped,
"Get our of the bison's mouth, Sokka. We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."
Katara turned to me,
"What should we do, Zuko?"
"I don't know..."
All of them continued to stare at me.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang."
Toph chimed in,
"Yeah, if anyone's got experience hunting the avatar, it's you."
I took a moment to contemplate the situation before jumping onto Appa and telling everyone to get on.
As nightfall came, we were almost there, Sokka leaned over the saddle to ask me,
"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."
"Just trust me."
As we entered the old bar, Katara raised an eyebrow,
"And the reason you've brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?"
I pointed forwards,
"June."
Sokka exclaimed,
"Oh, yeah! That weird bounty hunter with the giant mole!"
Suki scrunched her eyebrows in confusion,
"Mole? Her skin is flawless."
"No, she has this giant mole-creature she rides around on."
I took a step towards her as I replied to Sokka,
"The shirshu. The only animal that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot we have at finding him."
As June slammed a man into the table and flipped another one behind her before taking a sip from her drink, Toph stepped forwards and smiled,
"I don't know who this June lady is, but I like her!"
Sokka furrowed his eyebrows and said,
"Hey, I remember why I remember her! She helped you attack us!"
I sighed,
"Yep. Back in the good old days."
As I walked towards her, June spoke first,
"Oh, great. It's Prince Pouty. Where's your creepy grandpa and your little body guard?"
I furrowed my eyebrow,
"He's my uncle. And he's not here, and neither is Y/N... and she's not my bodyguard."
She darted her eyes to Katara,
"I see you worked things out with your girlfriend."
We were both taken back before immediately yelling in unison,
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"I'm not his girlfriend!"
June threw her hands up,
"Okay, okay! Sheesh! I was only teasing. So, what do you want?"
"I need your help finding the avatar."
"Hm. Doesn't sound too fun."
I felt my fists clench as I yelled back,
"Does the end of the world sound like more fun!?"
June took us back to the front of the tavern where her shirshu was sat with Appa.
After sniffing Aang's staff, the shirshu walked around sniffing the ground and the air in circles before lying down and covering it's nose, growling.
I folded my arms and turned to June,
"Well, what does that mean?"
"It means your friend's gone."
Toph replied,
"We know he's gone. That's why we're trying to find him."
"No, I mean he's gone-gone. He doesn't exist."
Sokka stepped forward,
"What do you mean Aang doesn't exist!? Do you mean he's... you know... dead?"
"Nope, we could find him if he were dead. Oh, it's a real head scratcher. See ya."
She went to mount the shirshu as Toph sarcastically muttered,
"Helpful... real helpful."
I jumped forwards,
"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."
I pulled out uncle's sandal from my bag as the rest of the team, except for Toph, covered their noses.
Sokka looked at me in disgust,
"You saved your uncle's sweaty sandal?"
Toph chuckled,
"I think it's kind of sweet."
We all jumped on Appa and followed June and her shirshu all the way to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, it had taken us an entire day to get there.
June turned to me,
"Your uncle is somewhere beyond the wall. Nyla is getting twitchy, so it can't be too far. Good luck."
Y/N's POV
As we waited, my heartbeat accelerated more and more.
Maybe this wasn't the right decision.
I hate this. I hate that I know that I'm fighting on the other side of the battlefield to Prince Zuko.
I've been trying to protect him, I've been trying to make up for not healing him all those years ago.
I shouldn't have even asked, I shouldn't have even made it an option, I should've fixed it then and there.
He was so selfless.
And I left him AGAIN.
I left again and now I'm here, I'm stood amongst the Fire Nation army waiting for the royal family to begin a genocide and he's not going to be arriving on a palanquin behind Princess Azula- no, he's probably going to arrive on a flying bison, heading straight to his demise.
I could've been with him, I could've been beside him, protecting him.
I've known all along that he is my weakness, he's the only one that's ever been able to rattle me like this, he's the only one who has ever had me question the honour of my nation.
But then again, I'm from the Water Tribe anyway...
It's sort of funny because, I always thought one of my parents had Water Tribe ancestry, or maybe one of them was a runaway from there, I'd never once thought that the only one out of place was me.
And now I was standing among soldiers ready to destroy another nation, hoping that I wouldn't be discovered, knowing that I'd either die fighting or die when I'm discovered... because who was I kidding? The Fire Lord shows no mercy... it doesn't matter what I do today, it doesn't matter if I'm a hero to the Fire Nation, I'll never have the life I worked for, I'll never be as successful as my father, because they're going to kill me anyway.
I couldn't help but think about simpler times, I was once a waitress in a tea shop in Ba Sing Se with Zuko and General Iroh; I used to practice water bending in secret in our secret spot behind the royal palace; I would learn to wield new weapons whenever my parents had a moment to spare; I used to wake up early every morning and train with Princess Azula at the Fire Nation Royal Palace; a few days ago I slept beside Prince Zuko and for once, felt completely safe.
That's all I want right now, I want to be beside Zuko, I don't want to be here waiting to be discovered and killed.
But I suppose that was something that I'd realised way too late, because through the gaps between the soldiers, I saw a palanquin approaching... the Fire Lord was arriving.