𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓, ᵏᵃᵗᵃʳᵃ

iv

₊˚ ִֶָ ʚ THE KING OF OMASHU ! ˖̥ ₉

SHE SAT UP   with a gasp, looking around. Lian could feel someone under her, someone who noticed she was awake. Jumping off of the person, she stared at the water tribe boy with suspicious eyes.

"Where am I? Why have you taken me with you?" The Avatar stops ahead of him along with Katara.

"Are you alright? You were unconscious the whole ride here." The Avatar states with a worried expression.

"Avatar, answer me. Where am I?" He looks at Lian sheepishly as Katara rolls her eyes next to him.

"You can just call me Aang! We brought you with us, since you were injured." Lian recalled the events that had taken place, along with the firebender who scorched her back. As soon as she remembered, she realized she didn't feel any pain in her back.

"You're welcome. I healed your back." Katara says while crossing her arms. "My name's Katara, and the one who carried you is Sokka."

"I'm Lian, thanks for healing my back. However, I need to go now." She says before attempting to leave.

"You can't leave! It was hard enough to get you into Omashu, you can't just go!" She raises one eyebrow and stares back at Aang in defeat.

"...Alright, but I'm leaving as soon as you finish whatever it is you need." Aang nods his head with a grin before turning back to walk down the road. After the torment of being dragged onto a cart, slide, of a sort, crashing through fences and walls, and breaking some man's cabbage stand, Lian ends up with minor bruises and an exhilarated Aang next to her.

That is until soldiers surround them and capture the four.

Lian almost trembled with frustration as Aang revealed himself to be the Avatar. All she could think was about what a stupid, and loud kid he was. She was merely waiting patiently for the moment when she could return to Zuko and Iroh.

"I should have let you all burn on Kyoshi Island." Lian mumbles, annoyed as she plops down onto the bed she was given. She catches Katara rolling her eyes as she whispers something to Aang.

"Have something to say, Katara?" Lian questions as she lifts herself up.

"You're lucky Aang didn't leave you on that island. You should be thankful and get rid of your sour attitude." She states with a scoff, turning her head back to Aang.

"They're fire nation soldiers, if any of them killed me they would've gotten hell from Zuko. I have no reason to be thankful when you have only made my life harder by taking me with you."

The girl growls in return as she stomps her foot.

"Just shut up!" She yells, enraged.

Lian dropped back down onto the bed with a sigh, her eyes slowly closing. Who even stomps their feet like that nowadays? Her mind rummages through my memories back to the one of Zuko.

"Lian?"

Azula stares at me in shock, before her mother walks in.

"Lian dear, you're awake." She steps closer to me, avoiding Azula's presence. Zuko stays in his spot, one arm securely wrapped around mine as his mother gently touches my head.

"That was quite an accident, do you feel any pain in your head?" I shake my head, giving her a closed eye smile.

Azula watches from the doorway with watery eyes and runs towards my bed. She smiles slightly at me until her mother grabs both her and Zuko's arms.

"Come on children, let's allow Lian to rest."

"I- I want to see Lian too! You allowed Zuko to visit her!" Azula yells out, as she resembles nothing of her usual self.

"Azula! Don't bother her." Zuko waves goodbye to me with a frown, as his mother drags an upset Azula out the door. I sit up before watching them leave.

"Azula's never been that worried about me..." I say softly to myself, before closing my eyes and resting my head on the warm pillow.

Lian wakes up as soon as she senses someone shifting. Her eyes snap open at an alarming rate, only to see that the dictating Katara has slid off her bed. She sighs before stepping closer, gently placing the newly acquainted girl back onto her bed. Once she's in the comfort of her bed, Katara's face relaxes as her eyes flutter open. This goes unnoticed by Lian as she slips back into bed, shutting her eyes.

The next time she woke up was quite abrupt, and she was dragged into another room by one of the many soldiers. She fought the urge to shove his rough hands off of her and instead shot him a sharp glare.

Aang was out through multiple tests, and was threatened by the fact that Lian and the others were covered in a growing rock. Sokka and Katara screamed with fear, imagining their horrible deaths once they were fully encased. Lian however, was unable to decide whether or not to tell them that the rock they were coated in was actually rock candy. Honestly it was too obvious. It smelt– and tasted– sweet and was sticky like most other sugary things.

Eventually her impatience got the better of her.

"Can the both of you shut up for a few minutes!" Lian exclaimed.

"Excuse me, we are in a life-or-death situation here!" Katara screamed back in disbelief.

"I didn't know rock candy could kill humans."

"Wh-"

"It's obviously sugar." Lian interrupts unamusedly.

Unfortunately, Aang was already on his final test when Lian revealed Bumi's secret about the rock candy, so all Katara could do was sulk over the fact that she didn't realize before. The whining ceased and the siblings sat in silence for the duration of the test.

As Bumi revealed that the three were actually covered in candy, they looked at him boredly, all except for Aang. Lian was running out of patience, her hands were almost twitching to just run out of there and head back for Zuko.

As they left the cave-like place, Bumi and Aang rode down the mail system as if it were a slide. They seemed to be reminiscing old memories. Katara and Sokka watched from the bottom, laughing hysterically, along with Lian who stood behind them indifferently.

What a bunch of fools, she thought before allowing herself to laugh softly at the scene.