ᗪㄩ乇ㄥ 乃乇几ᗪ乇尺

Chapter 18

"So I got something to say..."

I broke the silence on the way to the Western Air Temple. Sokka motioned me to continue. "I talked to Katara about this a couple of days ago. She said if you guys are willing to, she'll try to accept Zuko into the group. Aang said the same thing a couple of weeks ago." Sokka sat up and crossed his arms. "And why would we accept him? If you haven't noticed, he's been trying to capture Aang this whole time." I sighed and looked at Appa's saddle.

"Because if you haven't noticed he stopped chasing us a long time ago. Aang still needs to learn fire bending, and I'm teaching him all I can, but Zuko can do a better job."

"And what if he's trying to manipulate you into letting him so he can take Aang?" Sokka asked. This made Katara tense up.

"He won't. He's not like that."

"And how do you know?" Katara questioned.

"Because he sent me these." I handed her the letters he sent me. "Remember when I got that job in Ba Sing Se? I worked at a tea shop, and it was run by him and his uncle."

It got quiet fast. It made me feel so awkward as if I had said something horrible. "Ok look...I know I should've said something. But I knew you guys would react like this and make me quit, but we really needed the money so we still had food. And-" I was cut off by my rambling from Toph. "I don't know the guy, but if you're that in love with him he must be ok." She shrugged.

"I'm not in love with him he's my friend!" I blushed.

"Your face is really red." Sokka teased.

"Based on your fast heartbeat and how frantic you are, you're in love." Toph joined in on the teasing.

"Wait so, that coworker that saved you from the creepy guy was Zuko?" Katara asked.

I nodded and put my letters back in my journal."He'd also walk me back to the house every night because the shop is in a dangerous place." Sokka sat up straight, raising an eyebrow. "He saved you from a creepy guy, paid you for working, stopped tracking us, and had plenty of times to catch Aang but didn't...? Yeah, I'll give him a shot." Sokka shrugged. "But if he ends up hurting you, he's a dead man." Sokka pointed at me with a serious look, I couldn't help but smile big. Zuko just got everybody's approval now all he has to do is win them over.

We made it to the Western Air Temple just before sunset. We found a nice spot and started to set up camp. Katara and Aang were tasked with getting water, I was tasked with getting firewood and food, and Toph and Sokka stayed at camp to watch Appa and Momo. I walked into the forest and started to pick up stray sticks and logs that were fire-appropriate.

The sun was setting and I now had a good amount for a fire to last the night. I took a deep breath enjoying the fresh air. I took in my surroundings enjoying the peaceful night. This was truly the first peaceful night we'd had in a long while. While I was taking in the nature I saw some flowing in the sky. Someone lit some fire and it wasn't where we were staying. "Zuko..?" I mumble to myself as I cautiously walk up to it.

I peeked through the bushes and saw Zuko pacing back and forth. He was deep in thought and mumbling to himself. "Zuko, you came!" I smiled happily coming out from the bushes. "(Y/n)! You scared me, you didn't hear that, did you?" He scratched the top of his head awkwardly. I shook my head causing him to let out a sigh of relief.