𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 [ᴢᴜᴋᴏ]

Chapter 33

Episode 20, The Crossroads of Destiny

We all parted our ways with a huge group hug. "Yeah, we love each other," Sokka said and patted our heads, "Seriously."

I'm gonna miss Sokka the most, not gonna lie. The others don't need to know that.

And in addition to that, my siblings' friends, the Kyoshi Warriors, were here in the city as well. Things couldn't get any better for us.

After the meeting with the generals, Katara made her way to get the roll the King has to seal to him. And meanwhile, I went to the tea shop.

But literally no one but the owner who sat at a table and sulked was there. When I entered, he looked up but let out a sigh when he saw me.

"If you're looking for your friend, he and his uncle aren't here anymore," he told me and I knitted my eyebrows.

"What happened?" I asked and the owner only shook his head, looking at the table.

As Ieft the shop I couldn't believe what had happened in just two days.

Zuko and Iroh moved to the upper ring after they had been offered to open a tea shop of their own.

With a shake of my head and a small smile I quickly made my way to the upper ring. It wasn't hard to find the tea shop since it had just opened this day and everyone was talking about it.

When the shop came into sight, I quickened my steps. And right in front of the entrance I stopped.

Zuko hugged Iroh and when they parted the hug I ran up to them. I let out a squeal and engulfed Zuko in a hug. He seemed so different, I had never seen him hug Iroh before.

Zuko stumbled before gaining his balance back and putting his arms around me as well. "Congratulations," I said after parting the hug.

He shot me a smile and I hugged Iroh as well. Zuko definitely was acting odd. I don't think he had genuinely smiled before.

Iroh smiled warmly at me before glancig at Zuko briefly. "Though I must say, the name is the best thing," I teased their idea and Iroh chuckled.

"It just happened to be a great coincidence that my favourite tea and niece have the same name."

I blushed and awkwarly chuckled. "I'm not your niece."

Iroh nodded, "Not yet." He had a half smile on his face as he glanced between me and Zuko. I tensed but Zuko didn't look bothered by it at all.

"Now let's make these people some tea," Zuko broke the awkward silence and Iroh nodded. "Yes, let's make some tea," Iroh followed Zuko to the back of the shop where they were making all the tea. I shook my head slightly at the old man's enthusiasm before following them too.

After a few hours of helping as much as I could, Iroh told me and Zuko to make the next kettle of tea.

We sat beside each other in a comfortable silence. "I'm glad to see you so happy," I whispered and broke the silence. He looked up from the kettle with a smile. "It's different but I like it," I added.

"Thanks to you and my uncle I have realized that things actually aren't looking that bad," he told me. That made me unbelievable happy. He was finally at peace and could look forward.

"But where have you been for two days? I thought you would be back by sundown," he said and slowly stirred the tea.

I eyed him while he was focused on the tea. "I'm sorry, I kinda got caught up but I found the others and we finally found Appa again."

He turned to me with a smile, "That's great." He quickly pecked my lips.

I froze and blushed as I put my hand over my mouth. "What are you doing?" I asked him in a whisper and with wide eyes. I really need to get used to this new Zuko.

"I'm happy for you." I couldn't suppress the smile at his statement and looked at my lap.

"I just know that everything will turn to the better from now on," he told me and I looked up into his amber eyes. Warmth spread through my body when I thought about how in about three months everything would be over and we could live like normal people witout having to fear anyone or risk our lived for the world.

Little did I know that there must be destruction before everything could fall back into its proper place. Just like it is with stars; it needs to collaps before it can start to shine and be a star.

A few more hours later, when the shop closed, I helped to clean up. "It's late already, I should go," I said after I put the broom away.

Iroh nodded and thanked me for helping them and I waved at him as Zuko walked me out of the shop.

"Thank you," he said and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I didn't do anything, you shouldn't thank me," I told him and let out a breath. "I will probably leave in about a week or so."

He nodded and we were consumed in silence for a few moments. "Do you know when you will be back?"

I looked at the sky and shook my head. "No idea," I whispered and turned my head back to him. Somehow something didn't feel right at that moment. I mean, my friends and I were literally on a mission to defeat my boyfriend's nation and father. This was weird.

"I guess, it won't be more than four months before we will meet again," I said and shook my head slighlty as my eyes watered.

"Well, we still have one more week," Zuko said and I let out a chuckle. It was good to have an optmistic Zuko.

"Yeah, we still have." I nodded and smiled at him. "But I should get going now, I bet Katara is already freaking out."

He pulled me in for a slow kiss and I swear I could've exploded out of happiness. After we parted, I slightly bit my lips to not smile like an idiot.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I waved at him and walked back to the palace where Katara and I were currently staying.

For the whole time I was smiling to myself until I entered the palace. Something was definitely wrong here. Not a single soul was in the palace and when I entered the Kings's throne room to check if someone's there, I was met with three girls and no King.

I knitted my eyebrows at the sight of them. They had armour on that looked like a dress and white make-up on their faces with red eyeshadow. From all the stuff Sokka told me they had to be the Kyoshi Warriors but somehow they gave me a weird vibe.

I raised my eybrows at them and crossed my arms when I took a more careful look at them. "I bet you aren't the real Kyoshi Warriors," I said as I remembered Suki from the Serpant's Pass.

And none of these girls looked like her. Not only that was weird but also that the girl in the middle had that murderous look in her eyes and a smirk on her lips when she saw me.

"Finally my second favourite person after the Avatar, a real challenge," she said and stepped closer to me.

I narrowed my eyes as her voice sounded familiar. "So it's you, psycho," I mumbled and took a step back, "Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm hurt," Azula said with fake sadness, "Shouldn't someone like you with a gift that has never existed before be on the winner's side and not side with a bunch of peasants and an Avatar that can't bend all elements?"

I clenched my fists. "Trust me, I only side with winners," I told her calmly. The princess only distracted me so Ty Lee could sneak behind me.

But when I noticed, it had already been too late. She blocked all my chi before they injected some kind of drug in me which made me fall asleep immediately.

Everything will go well from now on my ass. Never had I felt more betrayed by my own life before. Things would only go downhill from here.

A/N - Heyy, we're coming closer to the end of book 2 and there's finally some Zuko and Jasmine time. I have absolutely no idea what their ship name could be. I'm not creative at all when it comes to these things. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this story so far! Stay safe and healthy everyone :)