[Earth on Fire] Zuko x OC

Chapter 9: The Siege of the North Part 2

"I can't believe I lost him," Katara moaned, dropping to her knees.

"It's not your fault, Katara," I said, crouching down next to her. "I tried to stop Zuko as well, and failed."

"You guys did everything you could," Sokka assured us. "And now we need to do everything we can to get him back. Zuko can't have gotten far. We'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine."

Katara looked at her brother, her eyes filled with tears. I felt like crying myself. All the anger and fury that fueled my fighting while I was battling Zuko had disappeared, leaving me feeling hurt and tired. I took a deep breath, pushing my emotions back. The important thing right now was finding the Avatar.

"Kioni, your head!" Katara gasped, horrified, pointing to my forehead. I reached up and touched the wound, pulling my hand down to see blood. The wound must have reopened during the battle.

"Did Zuko do that?" Sokka asked, his voice growing angry.

"No, no!" I said. "No, that wasn't Zuko. That happened um... earlier," I finished vaguely, taking in their suspicious faces.

"You have quite a bit of explaining to do once we find Aang," Sokka said. I gave him a sheepish look.

"Here, let me fix that for you," Katara offered. She bended some water out of the pond and pressed it to my wound. Miraculously, I felt instantly better. The would closed up and faded into a soft, thin pink scar, and the water seemed to revitalize my body and my spirit. I felt my chi flowing more clearly.

"Wow, that water is something," I breathed, getting up and stretching my limbs. "I feel amazing!"

"It's because it has special healing properties," the other water tribe girl spoke in a soft voice. "Spirit Oasis water is almost magical."

"Oh, right, introductions!" Sokka cried, gesturing to the girl. "Kioni, this is Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. Yue, this is Princess Kioni of Omashu in the Earth Kingdom."

"Another princess, huh?" I smiled, stepping forward and shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Not to break up the party or anything," Katara said, sounding slightly annoyed. "But we should get going."

"Right, sorry," I apologized, climbing on Appa's back. We all looked down at Momo, who was still gazing sadly into the pond.

"It's all right," Katara said. "You stay here, Momo, in case Aang comes back,"

"Yip yip!" Sokka said, and Appa rose into the air and out of the oasis. Outside of the safe haven, snow was coming down in heavy flurries. The wind was cold and biting, and it was hard to see very far ahead. It was literally a frozen wasteland.

"There!" Katara pointed to a small trail in the snow. "Follow that trail!"

We traced the trail for about twenty minutes when suddenly, a huge chasm in the ice appeared. "That's not natural," Sokka said, looking grim. We touched down and Sokka slid off Appa, examining the area.

"I don't see anyone," I murmured, feeling worried. The storm was getting worse. How was it possible Zuko and Aang even survived this far?

Sokka turned back to face us, shaking his head. I felt Katara slump next to me and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll find them," I whispered, gazing out over the tundra.

Please be okay.

"Don't worry," Yue told Katara as we kept flying. "Prince Zuko can't be getting too far in this weather."

"I'm not worried they'll get away in the blizzard," Katara said. "I'm worried that they won't."

"They're not going to die in this blizzard," Sokka said determinedly. "If we know anything, it's that Zuko never gives up. They'll survive, and we'll find them."