Southern Star

Chapter Seventeen: Oh, My Broken Open Child

"More ferocious!" demanded Zuko as he watched Aang go through his seventh attempt at a Shirshang firebending circuit. Nothing came of that demand, so next he said, "Imagine striking through your opponent's heart."

The fire did not come out exactly right, so Aang groaned, turned around, and said, "I'm trying!"

"Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo."

Aang roared pathetically, and little to no fire came of it. "That sounded pathetic," said Zuko. "I said roar!"

And, to his credit, Aang really did roar. Enough fire came from his hands in mouths that Momo chittered and ran to Zuko, clutching his boot. Zuko nodded at Aang.

That morning, Zuko had enlisted Sokka, Suki, and Toph's help in attempting to find any clues to Song's disappearance. They found nothing, and had wasted the entire morning to no avail. They would have to leave Ember Island to try and find her, but Zuko doubted it would be safe to leave anytime soon. Aang still had so much to learn.

He really, really hoped that Song was okay.

"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?" asked Katara suddenly.

Aang's response was a little too immediate for Zuko's taste. "Oh, me!" he said, starting to run over.

He didn't make it very far. Zuko grabbed onto the back of his robes and said, "Hey, your lesson's not over yet! Get back here!"

"Come on Zuko, just take a break!" said Suki. "What's the big deal? We spent the whole morning looking for Song, and you've spent most of the afternoon training Aang. You could use a breather."

"Fine," grumbled Zuko, hating that she was using Song against him like that. Even the thought of being at a dead end made him feel like he was abandoning her. He released Aang, who ran over to Katara to receive his watermelon juice. "If you wanna lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day, then go ahead!"

With that, he turned and walked towards the beach. Maybe there was a clue he had missed.

Sokka and Katara ran past him, towards the water. He ignored them.

A half hour later, Zuko had found nothing, so he made his way back to the house, only to find it abandoned. He found everyone else at the beach, where they were having some sort of beach party. Aang had made a sand Appa, Toph had made a sand Ba-Sing-Se, and Sokka... He didn't know what Sokka had made, and he didn't care. The day's failures and the infuriating nonchalance of the others made him snap.

Zuko hurtled a fireball at Sokka's monstrosity, and he leapt down, towards the beach, sending fireblast after fireblast at Aang. No sand sculptures could save him. "What are you doing?" yelled Aang as Zuko destroyed the sand Appa.

"Teaching you a lesson!" roared Zuko. And with that, they began a game of cat and mouse as Zuko sent all the fire he had after Aang, pursuing him up a cliff and towards the house.

They eventually made it to the roof of the vacation house, where Aang was waiting, crouched in a battle stance. "Get a grip before I blast you off this roof!" he yelled.

"Go ahead and do it!" replied Zuko, launching another series of attacks at Aang.

Aang fled, back inside the house. Zuko followed, and was assaulted by a dresser thrown at him, which he burnt to a crisp before it hit him. And with that, the chase was back on.

Zuko created a tunnel of fire that engulfed the walls, floor, and ceiling of the hallway, and he sent it after Aang. Not able to run anymore, Aang used his airbending to blow it out around him, and then they were glaring at each other through a shimmering haze of heat.