The DragonBorn

Chapter 33

It had been a couple of weeks since Zeraphina woke up, and things were going as well as they could be. Sokka and Katara came to respect Zeraphina after hearing about her life in the Fire Nation and about how she was raised as nothing but a puppet. Hakoda even started to warm up to her, especially after seeing her fighting skills while they trained to stay in shape. New members of the crew, Pipsqueak and The Duke, warmed up to her quickly, seeing that she was kind and unique

Everyone on the ship had come to respect Zeraphina, and she enjoyed finally being able to be herself. She was smiling much more and felt so much lighter, and it wasn't just because of her haircut.

She gently stroked her much shorter strands of hair, almost missing the heavy weight it once brought. But Zeraphina was happy with the change, she even loved the scar that was now on her stomach. It reminded her of her actions for the greater good, and her decision to finally deflect from the Fire Nation in a much more public way.

"Zera!" A voice brought her out of her thoughts. Zeraphina turned around to see Sokka and Katara walking up to her on the deck. She was standing on the deck to enjoy the darkness of the early morning.

"Sokka, Katara. Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No, we just saw that you weren't in your room." Sokka said.

"So we figured you came up onto the deck." Katara smiled and leaned over the rails next to Zeraphina, "So, why'd you come out here so early?"

Zeraphina chuckled and looked out at the slightly dark waters below, "I like to watch the sunrise. Especially when it's rising over the water. Reminds me of home."

"Home?" Toph questioned as she and the rest of the crew came onto the deck behind them.

"That's right. My home is on an island so we lived on the shores. It was nice to see the water explode in the bright colors of the sun."

All of a sudden, they heard something rattle near the entrance to the lower deck. When everyone turned to see what made the noise, only to see Aang running onto the deck and looking stunned when he saw Momo being scratched by Hakoda dressed in a Fire Nation uniform.

"Momo?" He questioned, the lemur running onto Aang's shoulder and licking his cheek.

"Twinkle-Toes, that's gotta be you." Toph shouted as everyone ran up to see the now awakened Avatar.

"Aang, you're awake." Katara said excitedly.

"Are you sure? I feel like I'm still dreaming." Aang said rubbing his eyes, but stopped when Katara hugged him tightly.

"You're not dreaming, you're finally awake." Katara pulled back and Zeraphina smiled at the Avatar.

"Avatar Aang. It's so good to see that you're finally awake." She said.

"Wait, is that.... Zeraphina...?" He questioned, but it was far too much for him to process.

"Oh, no, somebody catch him! He's gonna--" Toph shouted just as Aang stumbled on his feet and fell back. Thankfully, Zeraphina was able to catch him before he could hit the floor.

"Is he okay?" Katara asked and knelt down next to Zeraphina and Aang. She carefully took Aang from Zeraphina and lay his head on her lap.

"He'll be fine. It's just a lot to take in." Zeraphina explained, "He found himself on an enemy ship and all of his friends are dressed like the Fire Nation. We can explain everything better when he wakes up." 

~~~~

Zuko stood on his ship, finally going back home, to the Fire Nation. It was dream that he didn't think would ever come true, and yet here he was. But there was something missing with this trip back home: Zeraphina wasn't by his side. One of the only people who stood by his side no matter what. Now, if anything, she succumbed to her injury. And if she did survive, she probably wouldn't want anything to do with him.