Wild At Heart (Zuko)

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Kali lays on her back staring up at the stars as they twinkle against the darkened sky. She's finding it hard to sleep because she can hear and feel Aang training by himself, despite the late hour. She could have gotten up and gone over to help him or stop him, but he wasn't looking for either of those things. Nothing any of them say right now is going to help him. Or perhaps she doesn't know how to help him. This is breaching beyond her expertise. And whilst she knows how to comfort people, comforting people who are nervous about war is not something that she knows how to do. Zuko runs his fingers over her cheek as he searches her eyes. He knows her well enough to see that she is struggling because Aang is struggling. Her kind heart wants her to help him but she doesn't know how. She turns her face into his hand and he gives her a soft smile.

"If you could have anything you want right now, what would it be?" She asks him, he lets out a breath and looks up at the stars, thoughtful.

"A bed" He teases a little, she chuckles and curls into his side. "My back is killing me" He continues, drawing his arm around her.

"You get used to it" She assures him. "I rather like sleeping outside"

"We could do that with a bed" He counters teasingly. "Can't you make us one?"

"Can I make a bed?" She counters and he hums in question. "I don't...think so, unless it's...made up of plants....perhaps a wood frame and a.....mattress made of...." She stops as she considers what would be needed for that but she's unsure if she could. Perhaps a hammock made of interlocking palm leaves. That might be the best she could do with her bending. Zuko leans closer and kisses her head, having successfully distracted her from Aang. She snuggles into Zuko's chest as she thinks about floral furniture instead of worrying about Aang.

"What about you?" He asks her softly. "If you could have anything you want right now, what would it be?"

"A big fancy fruit tart, with rose petals on top" She admits and holds out her hand. "But a real one...." He frowns a little. "When I was with Rana. When she was my owner......there was a bakery in the village we lived in" She explains. "I would see them coming and going with these tarts, but I....was never allowed to have one because it would mean revealing my face....my green skin to the villagers" She looks up at Zuko. "I would like to go back one day and have one...and feel no shame for who I am or what I look like...." Zuko nods in agreement.

"We can all go" They both jump at the voice turning to look across at Toph. "Sounds delicious"

"Ah, man, I'm hungry now" Sokka complains curling around his stomach. "Please tell me this place still exists and the Fire Nation didn't burn it down or anything" Zuko leans up and gives Sokka a dirty look at that statement, but deep down, he knows. He knows that Sokka is right. There is a chance that this bakery that Kali talks about is long gone. Kali focuses and draws her hands down in front of her to bend some apples. It is not a tart, but right now, this is the best she can do. She throws them around the group.

"I know it's nothing fancy but..." Kali defends and turns an apple around in her hand. Zuko stands as Bing runs off, dragging Sokka's pack with him.

"Bing" Zuko scolds but all it does is cause Bing to run faster. Katara sits next to Kali as she bites into the apple as the two of them watch Zuko disappear into the dark of the trees.

"You never told us about the whole skin thing" Katara whispers to Kali who glances at her. She has made mention of her slavery past, but nothing about the way she felt about her skin.

"It is something that I have come to terms with" Kali assures Katara. "Katara, you don't have to worry about me"

"Of course, I do" Katara argues. "You're my friend and....." Katara's eyes flicker to Kali's neck. Her collar isn't there anymore, but there are still marks on her neck from it. Even in the dark, Katara knows what they look like. "And you've been through so much...." Katara looks away and shrugs. "Does it hurt?" She asks. "Thinking about....what you went through?"

"A little" Kali answers. "But my life is better now...I have my freedom" Katara turns back to her. "I have my friends...I have Bing and Ran-Ya" Kali smiles softly. "And I have Zuko...." Katara unconsciously flinches with the mention of Zuko but she tries to hide it. It is very clear that Zuko being here makes Kali happy. Kali is Katara's friend. And she is trying. She wants to try. To push past her own past trauma to see the person that Kali sees when she looks at Zuko. "Zuko makes me very happy" Kali states firmly, with complete conviction.

"I want to be okay with him being here" Katara admits quietly. "But I can't...the Fire Nation...they have taken so much..." Kali shakes her head.

"Zuko is not to blame for the crimes of those that came before him or the crimes of those that command the armies" Kali whispers to Katara. "And he might have hunted Aang, and you, but he only ever did it because he thought it would allow him to go home....what lengths would you go to, to go home, after losing everything else...?" Katara closes her eyes and looks away. "He wants to help....he wants to be here....And you don't have to love him, just accept it" Katara takes a deep breath before turning back to Kali only to find her walking away, heading off in search of Zuko and Bing.