Wild At Heart (Zuko)

Chapter Fifty-Four

The sun is only just starting to rise in the distance as Zuko practices his firebending moves. His eyes are closed as he moves. But he is distracted and he doesn't really mind all that much. It is eyes on him. Kali and her animal companions are watching him as he works. He can't say he hates the peaceful mornings that being out of the world brings. The mornings that he wakes to Bing licking his face or Ran-Ya stealing his blanket. The birds that sing in the trees or the vines that Kali tickles his ears with when she is being impatient with him and wants to start the day. He has never had nothing to do before, not like this. He has never had a life so void of duty or honour. Even his dreams can't bother him. Not today. He woke in a good mood. Kali at his side. Animals all around them. He lets out a breath and opens his eyes.

"Must you watch me whilst I do this?" He asks, shifting into another bending move. Kali sits around the fire, staring rather dreamily at him as he practises.

"It's not like there's a theatre here" She answers. "You working out is my main source of entertainment" He fights a smile as he tries to focus on what he is doing. He hums and turns to do another move. When he turns, when he looks at his side, and he finds Kali has moved to stand with him. "Will you teach me?" She asks, he raises an eyebrow. She steps back and waves her arms around mocking bending. "Like you do. Fire is the only one I haven't tried yet" She admits. He nods a little and then shifts, taking up a fire-bending stance, she turns and copies him. She's watched him fight enough that she already seems to have the stance ready and perfected. Zuko turns and then thrusts his hand forward, and flames erupt from his fingers. Kali follows and attempts to do the same. She thrusts out her hand but nothing happens. She pulls a face and shakes her head before trying again. But she can't produce a flame. She lets out a breath and closes her eyes. Zuko straightens up and moves to her.

"Fire is destructive," He tells her. "And that's not you" He touches her arm softly.

"But it is nature" She argues. "Nature can create and heal but it can also destroy...storms, lightning, earthquakes, tsunamis...." She turns to him. "Some naturebender I am" He lets out a small laugh as he crouches next to her where she sits now.

"You are one of the most powerful benders I have ever met," He tells her. "And you don't need fire for that" She looks at him. "The things you can do...Petal...and I would maybe wager that you and the Avatar....pretty even" She snorts and shakes her head. "Nature is everything" He adds. "What does the Avatar do?"

"Can bend everything" She whispers, he hums and strokes her hair.

"Not that much difference between the Avatar and the naturebenders...." He brushes the stray tear on her cheek away, then leans closer. "Bet he doesn't talk to animals the way you do though" He offers, she chuckles and nods. "Or..urm moody teenage fire princes" She turns to him. They share a soft look. "Do you want to keep trying?" He asks as he stands and resumes his practice. Kali shakes her head though. Once is enough for now. He is right. She doesn't need it. She moves back to her place at the fire and resumes watching him instead.

......

Later in the day, at a new campsite, Zuko throws some logs down next to the fire pit set up. He glances across to where Kali has perched herself on a cliff edge to watch the sunset. He softens a little. Going soft, he supposes. Free from dark influences. He's seen what he could have become. Azula is the person he could have become. He heads towards her, to join her. Kali is one of the reasons he is not like that. Iroh, Lu, and his mother are three more. She has a pile of freshly made flowers in her lap, a few have even grown from the ground around her. He sits next to her and takes an orange flower from her lap, she glances at him and smiles before she goes back to making more. He pulls her hair around so he can braid the flower into it. She chuckles a little.

"How do you know how to braid hair?" She asks, he shrugs a little.

"My mother taught me" He answers as he ties the end of the braid, bringing it around her shoulder. She touches the end of it and smiles to herself. He lets out a breath and then looks out over the horizon in the distance.

"What is it?" She asks, sensing something in that sigh of breath. And there is something that has been bothering him, something more than his dreams and his purpose, but the Avatar.

"Do you think the Avatar is dead?" He asks, she shrugs a little and then shakes her head. She's been thinking about it a lot since they left Ba Sing Se. They saw him laying there in Katara's arms. The way she was with him implied that he was dead. But something in her is telling her that he is still alive. And out there somewhere.

"No" She answers, sure in her statement, he looks at her.

"Why do you think that?" She shrugs and glances around.

"Because...I think everything would know he was dead" She voices and digs her fingers into the grass she is sitting on. "Even nature itself....and" She closes her eyes and concentrates. "No, he's not dead" She offers and looks at Zuko, then pokes his nose. "I just know it" He hums and nods. He feels the same way. "Do you want to go and find him?" She asks. "To capture him?" He shakes his head softly. He actually has no desire to capture the Avatar. For the first time in three years, he does not want to go off chasing Aang. That's not his life anymore. And as long as Azula and the Fire Lord believe Aang is dead....then there might be hope for this world after all. He and Kali might get their happily ever after.

.......

It's the middle of the night now. The fire has died down to embers. Just enough to keep the group warm as they sleep under their shelter. The animals are all curled up together, fast asleep, Bing's ears wrapped around Ran-Ya. Peaceful. They are all sleeping peacefully. Zuko subconsciously curls around Kali who shifts to allow it. Even in sleep, they reach for one another. Suddenly something wraps around Zuko's ankle and his eyes snap open just before he is dragged through the dirt and across the camp.

"Kali!" He yells and she sits upright, immediately awake at the sound of his voice, her hair covering her eyes. She pats the space beside her but finds it empty.

"Zuko" She stands using airbending and glares across the opening just before a masked figure appears behind her, pressing a blade into her back, a warning not to get involved. Ran-Ya growls and lurches before he is caught in a bag. Kali makes a noise and goes to help, throwing her hands out but the figure behind her stops her, yanking them back. Bing and the mongoose lizards shift, wanting to know what to do, but they are outnumbered. Five more masked figures step into the camp, two grabbing Zuko's arms and dragging him up. Ropes used to tie his hands behind his back.

"Let her go!" He growls as Kali is yanked back against the figure behind her. One of the masked figures produces a knife from their belt and walks toward Zuko with purpose. Kali's eyes widen.

"No!" She yells, tugging to be free. The assailant with the blade stops. "Don't hurt him....please" They stop and turn to Kali, seemingly studying her before they tuck the blade away and move towards her. Zuko tries to break free, but he is shoved into the dirt and one of the men kneels on his back. The figure reaches Kali, reaches out and touches her face and she turns away from it. Suddenly, Zuko and Kali are both submerged in darkness as bags are placed over their heads.