not from around here | Zuko X OC

| chapter fifty nine |

"Come on, we might miss him." Saki whispered to Zuko as she pulled him along.
"You seem more eager about this than me." Zuko said, grinning at her.
"I just don't want Sokka to get into any trouble." She said as they rounded the corner into the main temple area.

Quietly, they both crept over to Appa and climbed up him, Saki whispering to Appa the whole time about what they were doing. Zuko found her communication with an animal that probably had no idea what she way saying amusing and he couldn't help but have a lopsided grin on his face as he watched her.
They sat in the saddle together and waited for Sokka.

Saki rested her head on Zuko's arm, fighting back sleep. Zuko could tell what she was doing and knew that the thing she needed most was to get some rest.

"Go to sleep Saki." Zuko whispered in her ear, making her feel even sleepier.
"But...I have to wait for...Sokka.." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"Sleep." Zuko whispered again, gently stroking her hair lovingly and then planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Mhm." She hummed, nuzzling into his arm and making him smile.

Saki fell asleep and had none of her horrible dreams, much to her relief. Half an hour passed and Zuko's hand didn't leave her hair at all. He gently played with it and sometimes nuzzled his face into it to smell her familiar scent.

Zuko suddenly stopped his fawning over Saki and looked up after hearing footsteps.
Sure enough, a few seconds later Sokka's head popped up over the side of the saddle. His eyes went wide when he saw Saki and Zuko waiting for him.

"Not up to anything, huh?" Asked Zuko from where he was sat, his hand still buried in Saki's hair. Sokka jumped and screamed, falling off the side of Appa, making some of his stuff fall out of his bag.

Saki suddenly woke up at Sokka's scream and sat up with a jerk.
She looked at Zuko, who was staring at where Sokka had fallen, and crawled over to the edge of Appa's saddle. Zuko joined her and they both peered down at Sokka.

"Fine, you caught me. I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?" Sokka said, shoving stuff back into his bag angrily.
"I'm never happy." Zuko said, watching Sokka.
"That's a lie." Saki said. "Remember the other morning when we were in bed an-"
"That's enough from you." Said Zuko, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong." Sokka explained as Zuko jumped off Appa, leaving Saki there by herself. "It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko." Sokka finished.
"Ooh, don't mention that word with Zuko." Saki cringed, shaking her head at Sokka.

"I hate to say it, but Saki's right about honor. Believe me, I get it. We're going with you." Zuko said as Sokka tried to climb up onto Appa.
"No. I have to do this alone." Sokka said.
"How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison daycares." Zuko pointed out, making Saki grin.

Sokka got to the top of Appa and Saki spread her arms out, stopping him from getting any further onto Appa's saddle.
Sokka sighed and turned back to Zuko.
"We'll take my war balloon." Zuko told him.

"Alright! Let's go!" Yelled Saki, only to get shushed by the two boys.
"Sorry." She winced, waving her hands apologetically.

The three of them all got in the war balloon and Zuko lit the fire. The balloon began to float away, carrying all of them.
Saki seemed overjoyed by the start of their adventure, much to the confusion of the other two.

"Saki, how are you so excited about going to a prison in the middle of a lake of boiling hot water?" Sokka asked.
"It's not the location I'm worried about, I'm just excited to go on a field trip with two of my favourite boys!" Saki said, grabbing one of Zuko's arms and one of Sokka's arms and pulling them together into a hug.
"Saki! Let go!" Grunted Sokka, trying to pull away from where he was being squashed.