𝑺𝑬𝑬𝑫 𝑶𝑭 𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑹 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

27 ~ break my heart again

AN: HELLO HAHA IM BACK

Night had long since fallen and Toph was nowhere to be found.

He shouldn't have let her go, should've he? Sure, she could take care of herself, but...she was still a child, albeit one that could kick his ass into oblivion. Still a child nonetheless. And since he was the oldest among their bunch, he kind of felt responsible. So that was how he found himself trekking down the dark halls of the temple, and towards the seemingly even darker forest Zuko resided in.
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.
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Perhaps he should've alerted Aang and the others, but that would reveal the fact that he knew Toph went to see Zuko and he did nothing to stop her. He wasn't in the mood for their reprimands. Toph could take care of herself, no? They trusted too little. What a hypocrite he was, right? Here he was, going after her even after all that.

Sighing to himself, Guren continued on his way, dodging low-hanging branches and avoiding thick shrubs left and right. At least there was flora here. He thought he was going to either die of the cold or die from dry-coughing back at Yifei's place. Why did she think living in an almost desert was a good idea? Here, he could at least breathe properly...even though the coldness didn't go away.

Hm...what should he do about that?

His inner monologue was quickly drowned out by the sound of cracking rocks. Almost instantly, he knew Toph was near him. Picking up pace, he began running in the direction the sound came from. Not long after, he stumbled across a stumbling Toph.

"Toph!" He called out.

She came to a stop, turning in his direction. "Guren!" Within a moment or two, she had her arms wrapped around his middle, face buried in his stomach.

Caught off guard, he froze. Then he remembered to ask. "What happened? Where's Zuko?"

"Somewhere behind me...He's not following me." With that, she staggered backwards, a light hiss leaving her.

"What happened?" Furrowing his brows, he looked her over, as much as he could in the pitch dark. "Are you hurt?" And then- "Did he hurt you?"

Furiously, Toph began shaking her head. "No! I mean, yes! But no! It was...an accident."

An...accident? How the fuck could he accidentally hurt her?!

"Can you get back to the temple on your own?" He asked, even though he didn't really want to let her do that.

She nodded.

That was all he needed.

_

After a few minutes of going in a straight line, Guren saw the light of Zuko's camp. A warm light emitted from the campfire, casting an orange glow over everything in its vicinity.

Including Zuko himself.

As if sensing him, the boy raised his head and looked straight at Guren. For a moment, a single, short-lived moment, all Guren saw was Little Wolf staring back at him. The same Little Wolf that would look at him with poorly concealed sadness each time they had to part ways. The same Little Wolf that wouldn't leave his side.

And then the moment was gone, and in his place was a prince that cared for no one.

"I didn't...mean to." Zuko said, eyes darting to the side.

How convincing.

Then Zuko stood up, lightly raising his arms, gesturing around himself. "She...showed up out of nowhere and I was asleep and she startled me and I...burned her and-"