The Forgiven (Zutara)

Lost & Found (Season 2 of The Forgiven)

Hey guys I know it's been way way too long and I'm really sorry about that. I won't give you a shit ton of lame excuses but on the bright side I've got the entire book mapped out, which was more than I had done when I wrote this book. But anyways I'll be uploading probably about four chapters today, so...ya know....Forgive me? Anyways, Author Note over.

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Zukos POV
She's changed so much. She wore a hood over her head, she still proudly displayed her tribe, her mother's necklace still in its respectful place. Her eyes were a dark murky blue, instead of their beautiful light blue. I thought of nothing else except for how much I wanted to hold her, pick her up and spin her, hear her laugh, see her smile, and watch her eyes light up. In the past four years we've only talked to each other four times. Not even in person. In the form of letters. Just to let each other know we were okay. Whatever these past years had brought her, it was clear that it wasn't happiness.

"Zuko?" She asked pulling me back from my own world. "When do we leave?" She asked again.

"A couple hours." I nodded. "Where's Freya?" I asked.

"She's never far. She wasn't sure how this would turn out so she's still out in the hall. Why don't you come in and say hi?" She called back. Freya trotted in, She too had grown up, gotten bigger and stronger. She came straight to me. I smiled and got down on my knees to hug her and say hi to her.

"Is there anything I can get for either of you? There's plenty of food, hot, fresh. If you guys want to rest before we leave I can have a chamber arranged for you, a place to freshen up? A change of clothes if you wish " I offered wanting only to take care of her. She gave a small smile and shook her head.

"We're alright. Just anxious to get on the road. We've been pretty nomadic in the past couple of years." She explained. I nodded. She hesitantly stepped towards me. "You look great Zuko. These past couple of years have treated you well haven't they?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yes. They've been good. Busy, but busy isn't a bad thing I suppose." I shrugged standing back up. "And you Katara? How've you been?" I asked. She shrugged.

"We've been getting by. Just traveling taking care of things that need the attention of a helping hand." Katara continued.

"You look beautiful Katara, but you're eyes always tell when you're sad." I pointed out. She shrugged again.

"Its been a long couple of years Zuko. A long couple of years." She whispered it again seeming to go into her own world.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a place to rest and relax?" I asked.

"Zuko." She said sternly. "I'm okay." She emphasized. I sighed.

"I just worry." I replied.

"I know. I do too. But look. We're both okay." She pointed out I smiled and nodded.

"You're right." I said. For a minute we stood just staring at each other.

"Well are you going to give me a hello hug or not?" She chuckled looking down at her feet. The second she said that I swept her up in a tight hug.

"I've missed you." I whispered.

"I know. Me too." She replied. I reluctantly let go of her.

"Well if there's truly nothing you need, we can leave now if you're alright with that?" I asked. She nodded.

"Druk!" I hollered walking out to the balcony. Druk came flying in. He was a dragon from the fire bending masters Aang and I learned from. They had gifted me him when he was still in his egg.

"Do you want to ride Druk, or do you want to stick with Freya?" I asked walking up to Druk giving him an affectionate pat.

"I think Freya can manage something like that as well." Katara chuckled nudging freya who turned into a magnificent dragon, the same size as Druk, but a brilliant icy blue. Katara mounted Freya, so I followed her lead. "Where are we going by the way?" Katara asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure." I replied. Then I left. Freya quickly followed after me, and we circled each other, it was Druk and Freya doing it. Both Katara and I tried to get them to stop. We got them both under control and when we crossed into Earth Kingdom territory I sent Druk home since he couldn't change into other less obvious animals, like Freya could. Both Katara and I had agreed it probably wasn't best for everyone to recognize me as Firelord. There were a lot of people in the Earth Kingdom that weren't happy about the changes. So from the middle of the forest, we walked into the Earth Kingdom. I kept my cloak on, hiding my face and fire nation clothes.

"If you don't even know where we are going how are we supposed to find this contact that supposedly knows where Lady Ursa is?" Katara asked. I shrugged.

"All I know is it's one of the smaller, quainter parts of the Earth Kingdom. Let's see...We just came out of HeiBei's Forest which means that Omashu should be the next real city we pass through." I thought outloud.