THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 3)

(V) Fire

I knew following Toph would be a good idea. I'm fairly sure that she didn't know I was following her, because I used my glider to do it through the air. She confirmed my suspicions when she headed directly toward a camp next to a Fire Nation balloon, where I could clearly see Zuko lying on the ground.

"Who's there? Stay back!" Zuko suddenly yells, throwing a fire whip recklessly in Toph's direction.

She reacts quickly and shields herself with a boulder, but her feet are still burned when she accidentally stumbles back. "It's me! Ow! You burned my feet!"

"I'm sorry, it was a mistake!"

"Get away from me!" Toph yells at him, throwing all sorts of rocks in his direction, while he tries to follow her.

"Let me help you! I'm sorry!"

"Get off me, get off me!" Toph says, as she continues fighting him back. At one point, she earthbends a large boulder and hits Zuko harshly, knocking him onto his back and away from her.

"I didn't know it was you! Ugh, come back!" At this point, Toph has effectively dug herself away. "Ugh! Why am I so bad at being good?"

I sigh heavily before landing next to Zuko. He seems surprised to see me, but also worried that I'm here.

"I swear, I didn't mean to hurt her—"

"I know. I saw the whole thing. But you have to be more careful, fire can really hurt people," I tell him, remembering when Aang hurt me by accident a while ago. "Even if you don't mean it."

"I know that. Why are you here?"

"My friends don't think I should trust you."

"And you don't agree with them?"

"You haven't given me a reason to yet," I say frowning. "But I have to know. You didn't tell them the truth about me. Even when it could've helped your case with them. Why?"

He shrugs. "It's not my secret to tell."

"So you do know. The truth about my father."

"Yeah. I learned it all the same day I learned the truth about my connection to Avatar Roku," Zuko admits with a sigh. "I won't tell anyone about you unless you want me to, but I want to know, why haven't you told them yet?"

"It's not that important. It doesn't change who I am."

"It does, though. You do understand that this means that you and I are family?"

"I'm really trying not think about that. No offense, but thankfully no one else can see our family resemblance," I retort with a smile, making him smile back. "I'm just not ready yet, I guess. I'll tell them eventually. At the right time. There's so much about me that I understand now... My temper, my combustion abilities..."

"Combustion abilities?" Zuko raises an eyebrow, before his eyes widen. "Oh, no! I think I know who I thought I saw earlier! We have to get to the temple."

***

When Zuko explained that he had hired an assassin with an expertise in explosives, I never thought that this was what he meant. This man, "Combustion Man", according to Sokka, is something else entirely. Sure, I'm able to create small explosions using my airbending, but this man is able to conjure them up without even lifting a single finger.

"Stop! I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore! The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop," Zuko tells him, while I watch my friends carry Toph somewhere safe down at the temple. Combustion Man simply growls before shooting again. "If you keep attacking, I won't pay you! All right, I'll pay you double to stop!"