Fire and Aether

Chapter 17: The Cave of Two Lovers

    On a sunny morning, Rose and Katara practiced waterbending at a nice cozy nook while Aang played and splashed in the water and Sokka critiqued. Rose had mastered most of her waterbending...except for that one move that made her accidentally send Aang headfirst into the water. Katara ran to check on him and Rose smiled when she saw him blush at the attention. At one glance, she knew they were into each other. 
    In a way, she almost felt sad, thinking of how her love for Zuko could never be. Despite the words of Aurora and Iroh, she doubted she'd ever have a chance to be with him the way she wanted.
    She was brought back to reality at the sound of someone playing music. A gang of what looked to be a sort of gypsies were playing a song. They only stopped their song to greet the group.
    "What kind of people are you anyway?" the leader asked.
    "Just people." Aang said, confused.
     "Aren't we all, brother!"
     "Who are you?" 
     "I'm Chong and this is my wife, Lily. We're nomads. Happy to go wherever the wind takes us."
     "We're nomads too."
     "Hey! Me too!"
     "I know. You just said that."
     Sometime later, the nomads and Team Avatar sat down to exchange stories. Lily braided Rose's hair, adding flowers to it as she did so. "Your hair is so beautiful!" she said. "I've never seen a shade of hair like this before!"
     "Aw! Thank you, Lily. That's very sweet."
     "So question: wildflowers or daffodils?"
    "Why not both?"
     "I like the way you think."
     One of the guys started talking about giant night crawlers and a waterfall that makes a rainbow.
     "I hate to be the wet blanket here," Sokka said, "but since Rose and Katara are busy," he gestured to them each getting their hair done, "I guess it's up to me. We need to get to Omashu. No side tracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows."
     They explained to the nomads that they were headed to Omashu so Rose could learn earthbending. "You know there's a secret tunnel right through the mountains."
      "Two lovers, forbidden from one another
      A war divides their people and a mountain divides them apart
     Built a path to be together"

     "Yea I forget the next couple lines but then it goes..."
     "Secret tunnel, secret tunnel
      Through the mountain
      Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel!"

      Everyone applauded.
      "Sorry but we've dealt with the Fire Nation before." Sokka explained.
     "I don't know." Rose said. "I'd feel better if we didn't have to fight them."
     After some arguing, they agreed to go through the tunnel.
                         * * * * *
    Iroh stared at a flower in contemplation. Zuko came from out the woods, gasping for air. 
    "I didn't find anything to eat. I can't live like this." Zuko complained. "I wasn't meant to be a fugitive! This is impossible." He ran his hands through his barely-there hair then noticed his uncle hadn't responded. "Uncle, what are you doing?"
     Iroh grinned. "You're looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking." He thought for a moment. "That or it's a white jade bush which is poisonous."
     "We need food, not tea. I'm going fishing."
     "Hmm...delectable tea or deadly poison?"
    Zuko came back some hours later with no luck, only to find his uncle in the same spot as before. 
     "Zuko, remember that plant I thought might be tea?"
     "You didn't."
     "I did." Iroh turned to face Zuko, showing his face to be swollen, splotchy, and red. "And it wasn't." Zuko fell back in horror. "When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing." Iroh said casually as he scratched his back. "But look what I found!" He pulled out the branch he'd been rubbing his back with. "These are pakui berries known to cure the poison of the white jade plant." Once again, he hesitated. "That or makaola berries that cause blindness."
     Zuko slapped the branch out Iroh's hand. "We're not taking anymore chances with these plants. We need to get help."
     "But where are we going to go? We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives from the Fire Nation." Iroh reminded.
     Zuko thought. "If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed."
     "But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula."
     "Earth Kingdom it is." Zuko decided.
     Together, the pair headed off to get help.
                         * * * * *
     "So how far are we from the tunnel?" Sokka asked.
     "Actually, it's not just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love so they built a whole labyrinth." He shrugged. "I'm sure we'll figure it out."
     "All you need to do is trust in love." Lily said. "According to the curse."
     Sokka stopped walking and screamed, "Curse? What curse?"
     "The curse says that only those that trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever."
    Sokka argued about how well thought out the plan was but when firebenders were spotted chasing them, they rushed inside the caves. The firebenders were smart enough not to go inside and instead, trapped the two groups inside.
     While Katara soothed Appa, Sokka came up with a plan to create a map of where the dead ends were so they could find the way out.
     "Good job, Sokka!" Rose said. "You are occasionally a genius."
     "Thanks." Sokka replied. "Hey, wait a minute!"
     Team Avatar and the nomads headed further into the cave, hoping against hope that they'd make it out alive.
                         * * * * *
     "You must not be from around here." A sweet young woman said as she worked on curing Iroh. "We know better than to touch the white jade much less make it into a tea and drink it." Iroh laughing, muttering an "oops". "So where are you travelling from?"
     "Yes, we're travelers." Zuko piped up quickly. 
     "Do you have names?"
     "Of course we have names. I'm...Lee and this is my uncle...uh, Mushi." Zuko said, picking out the first names he could think of.
     Iroh sent him a dirty look. "Yes my nephew was named after his father so we just call him Junior."
    "Mushi and Junior, huh? My name is Song." Song responded kindly. "You two look like you could use a good meal. Why don't you stay for dinner?" Zuko began to protest. "That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck."
     "Where do you live exactly?" Iroh said in excitement.
     During dinner, Song spoke about her father, reminding Zuko of how his own father couldn't be bothered with him. After dinner, Zuko went outside to clear his head and Song came out to check on him. She continued their earlier conversation, talking about how the Fire Nation had hurt them both.
     As she touched his scar, Zuko had a flashback of Rose stroking his scar, the words, "This doesn't define you," swirling in his head. He pushed Song away. "I'm sorry. I love someone else."
    Song smiled. "A girl back home?"
    Zuko shook his head, frowning. "Someone I've known awhile. But I don't know if she could ever love me."
    Song placed a gentle hand on Zuko's shoulder. "How would you know if you never ask? Maybe she does."
    Again, he shook his head. "I doubt it. I've hurt her...a lot."
    Song sighed. "Well, things happen. We all hurt the people we love sometimes. That doesn't mean it's not worth trying."
    "Even if I could tell her, I don't know where she is."
     Song smiled. "Trust me. If you love her and she loves you, you will always find each other."
                     * * * * *
     The map plan wasn't working as every time they tried a different route, they kept ending up at dead ends. Unfortunately, the tunnels were changing, making it impossible to find a way out. Even worse, they were suddenly attacked by a wolf bat. Appa freaked out, causing the tunnel to collapse, separating the group: Rose, Katara, Aang, Appa, and Crystal on one side, the rest on the other.
     Rose, Katara, and Aang found themselves inside a giant tomb that told the story of the two lovers. The story had Rose tearing up inside. Those two who made the labyrinth fought for their love, even though it was hopeless. Maybe she could do the same with Zuko...if only she could find him first.
     Sokka and the nomads argued, the nomads claiming that Sokka wasn't helping while Sokka claimed he was the only one coming up with ideas. At the mention of this, Chong said, "Well I've had an idea for over an hour. Well then listen to this: if love is the key out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song."
     After running out of light, Katara and Aang kissed, revealing a path of glowing crystals on the ceiling which they followed. Rose followed behind, thinking how jealous she was that she couldn't love out in the open like that. 
     Meanwhile, Sokka and the nomads used badger moles to escape the cave. Soon, everyone had made it out.
                     * * * * *
     Iroh said goodbye to the family, thanking them for the meal. Zuko tried to slip away but Iroh told him to thank the nice people so he did, feeling like he wanted to leave.
     "I know you think there's no hope in the world but there is." Song promised. "The Avatar has returned."
     "I know." Zuko said to himself. And maybe there was a chance he could find her but, even so, she hated him, so why should he waste his time? 
     With that, he stole the family's ostrich horse and he and his uncle took off once more.
                         * * * * *
     Team Avatar said goodbye to the nomads as they finished their journey to Omashu. "The journey was long and annoying." Sokka complained. "But now you can see what this is really all about--the destination."
     "I don't think that was the point, Sokka." Rose said.
     Sokka shrugged her off. "I present to you, the Earth Kingdom city of--"
     He stopped in his tracks when he saw what was waiting for them.
     The Fire Nation had captured Omashu.