COLLISION - a zuko and yue centric tale

Chapter eighteen

The Earth Kingdom was HOT. So hot. How did people stand it? How did Sokka stand travelling here from the South Pole? Yue didn't want to think about how hot the Fire Nation must be. Zuko had mentioned how the heat radiated from the mountains, many of which were active volcanoes. Yue shuddered. The heat radiating from the sun was enough for her.

They had arrived on Earth Kingdom shores two days prior. The stones under her moccasins stabbed at her feet in a way that snow and ice never did. She wore her lightest moccasins — abandoning her fur-lined mukluks a few days prior as they sailed into warmer waters — and she was still sweating more in them than she ever had before. She eyed the airy "sandals" that some of the crew had from a previous rare trip to the Earth Kingdom. They had an extra protective layer on the bottom. Yue would have to get a pair for herself as well as some for the crew that lacked them.

In the North Pole, nearly every building was made from snow and ice. Here, they had passed buildings of earth and wood. She waited eagerly for the chance to examine one up close, as opposed to being stuck on the ship under the watch of Hahn. While even the air was drier in the Earth Kingdom, there was water still. In the streams running down the mountains, in the bountiful plants and trees, underneath the ground even. Yue could feel the currents running above and below the ground.

Yue placed a protective hand over the waterskin strapped to her waist that held water from the spirit pond. It soothed Tui. Tui hadn't been exactly upfront about her purpose in the Earth Kingdom, but logically speaking, it was something Yue should already know. Spirits. Tui was Yue and Yue, Tui. They were one and the same. Supposedly. This lack of understanding only escalating Yue's frustration. Suppressing the urge to sigh, Yue let her gaze sweep across the ship over to Doraq, who was helping lift the anchor so that they could be off.

Doraq had come along with her, mainly using his waterbending to help propel the ship through the waters. He would be remaining with her and the party going to Ba Sing Se. Yue appreciated it immensely. She hadn't seen him much over the previous weeks due to the... circumstances. She figured he appreciated the break anyway.

The small pouch that lay next to her spirit waterskin contained a lovely blueberry bannock. Yue recalled Mrs Huemodo's words as she bid her farewell. The Water Tribe will always be with you, wherever you go. From missing her daily canoe ride through the city to altogether leaving her people? It had seemed the best choice for Yue at the time but now she had ended up in this position she had never intended. But she had bannock and spirit water at her side so she would be okay. For backup, she had a knife attached to her belt along her waist on her other side, and a waterskin with regular water for drinking. She had copied Katara's method, hoping it would make her feel safer. Perhaps she would see Katara again in the Earth Kingdom... and Sokka. And of course the Avatar. He was going to learn earth next, after all. Maybe Yue was supposed to reunite with them there.

Or maybe she had a different purpose. Learning how to be a spirit and a human while the Avatar learnt how to bridge the two worlds. Maybe she had to discover something about earth from someone in Ba Sing Se, forge an alliance with the Earth King, or find an Earth spirit who was connected to Tui and La.

///

Zuko had worn his hair the same way for as long as he could remember. His mother had cut it for him in the style when he was a small child, and he had never wanted to change it.

It was a symbol of royalty, of honour.

He gazed at his broken reflection in the swift stream, thinking of Yue. Her hair had been done up in tight, flowing braids and loops surely done by numerous servants. But over the first few weeks, they had come undone. Her moon-white hair had grown longer, freer. He had seen her caress it with curiosity as if discovering it for the first time. Then she had left. When she returned, her hair had more braids than ever. It looked like a cage, trapping a secret inside.