Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Zuko strolled downstairs after waking up, yawning as he went. Izara wasn't in her room; the door was open, and she wasn't in the bathroom either. He guessed she'd already gotten up, so he came down to check on her. One of the shoji doors was open, and Izara was hanging wet clothes on the small line outside. A bucket of soapy water and a washboard were on the ground next to the line, and he guessed she'd been out there for a while. Sighing, he slid on some shoes and headed out to join her.

"You know I brought you here to relax and heal, right? Not do laundry." He said loudly to alert her to his presence, even though she'd likely heard his footsteps.

"Well, I'm basically out of clean clothes. I don't own much." She offered with a shrug, pegging a pair of pants up.

There were only a few pieces of clothing were on the line, and Zuko sadly assumed she'd not had a chance to buy some new casual clothes since the attack.

He recognised the pair of pants as his own, then saw that she was hanging up his shirt. "Wait, you did mine, too?"

"Yeah. I wasn't just going to do mine and not yours. Are you embarrassed that I've seen your unmentionables?" She teased him with a smirk over her shoulder. A moment later, she winced in slight discomfort.

"You haven't even given yourself a chance to heal properly." He scolded softly, worrying about her.

"I'm fine, really. I can't just do nothing." Izara pegged the last shirt up and then turned to face him.

"Even if I ask you to?" Zuko allowed his tone to become a little more forceful. She wasn't listening to him.

She raised an eyebrow at him in response but didn't say anything. Her silence was enough of an answer anyway.

"Your uncle, Uzan. Did he ever give you a day off?" Although he didn't want to mention her uncle, he knew this would likely hit home with her.

Her answering scoff said everything, and she turned her back to him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He growled in answer to her affirmation, but made a mental note to ensure Uzan retired very soon. "And before you were with him?"

She whirled to face him, narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly, but schooled her expression a moment later. It didn't matter. He knew her well enough to notice those slight changes on her face and figure out how she felt. Her mouth was usually the giveaway, and it was downturned in frustration.

"Ah, yes. Remind me to punch Kazan in the nose for that. I had fully intended to leave all that behind—the moniker, the skillset, the blood—all of it." Izara said slowly, hinting at menace, as she moved to lean against the clothesline pole.

"We aren't much different." Zuko knew he'd hit a nerve but felt it was necessary, so he wanted to remind her that they shared common ground.

"Is that right?" She asked sarcastically.

"I hunted the Avatar. The fucking Avatar. Intending to capture him once I found him. I had plenty of ideas about what would happen to him after." He felt his temper bubbling inside him, but his stranglehold on it was loosening.

Izara took a breath, staring. Her golden eyes bore into his as her face fell into the blank mask he'd seen when she had reported to him and his council about what had happened during her capture. It was a definite attempt to intimidate him, but it wouldn't work. It felt like she was just throwing his attempts to relate to her back in his face. Stalking towards him as she lowered her arms, he stood his ground.

"I spied. I ambushed. I sabotaged. I slit throats. I killed. Murdered." She corrected herself. "We are not the same." Her voice was dark and erred towards threatening.