The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 3: Earth, Chapter 6: The Blind Bandit

"Do you really have to leave so soon, Aangy?"

Aang winced upon hearing the pleading voice that came from behind him. He'd slipped out early this morning to prepare Appa for their journey back to the Earth Kingdom mainland, and he'd hoped none of the villagers would be awake yet.

He gave one last tug on the ropes wrapped around Appa's right horn, took a deep breath, and hopped back down onto the ground, landing gently in front of the gaggle of girls that had been attempting to follow him everywhere the past week and a half.

"Well, I need to keep searching for an earthbending teacher," Aang replied with an apologetic smile. "So we have to go back to the continent. I'm sorry, Koko."

The tiny girl did not seem to like this response, immediately pouting and folding her arms. "It's not fair, Aangy. We've hardly gotten to see you at all since you got here!"

"Come on," one of the older girls, who looked to be around Katara's age, added, grabbing hold of his arm. "Suki still has one more healing session with Katara today, right? Come hang out with us!"

"I... Well..." Aang began, feeling a tug of guilt in his chest as many of the girls stared at him with wide, pleading eyes.

"Ahem."

The girl holding his arm jumped back with a squeak, and as Aang looked to his left to see none other than Zuko leaning against one of the nearby trees, his heart skipped a beat.

"The Avatar and I have some things we need to take care of today before we depart," Zuko said coolly, pushing himself off the tree. As his sharp amber gaze surveyed the group of girls, several of them regarded the Fire Prince with a fearful look, while others simply appeared annoyed.

"Like what?" another girl demanded.

"Important... Avatar stuff," Zuko replied, straightening his posture.

Koko narrowed her eyes. "But it's not fair! You're always hanging out with Aangy!"

Before the Fire Prince could answer, Aang grinned and sauntered over to Zuko, slinging his arm around the other boy's shoulders. "That's because Zuko here is my personal bodyguard, and he takes his job very seriously." With his other hand, he patted the firebender lightly on the chest. "Don't you, hotman?"

"Uh... Yeah," Zuko, ever the terrible actor, replied awkwardly.

"He's just doing his job," Aang continued, removing his arm. "You guys understand, right?"

Several of the girls were now looking at them with confused expressions. After a brief moment of murmuring amongst one another, the girl who had grabbed Aang's arm earlier was the first to speak up.

"...Come on, everyone. If the Avatar says it's important, we should be respectful."

With that, to Aang's surprise, the girls began to disperse back towards the village, and he sighed in relief.

However, a handful lingered, each giggling amongst each other until one of them—a pretty girl with shining green eyes—stepped forward.

Aang groaned internally and opened his mouth to insist that the small group of stragglers head back to the village with their friends, but stopped short when he saw that the girls' attention was not focused on him.

"Um... I just wanted to say that it sounds like you have a pretty cool job, being the Avatar's bodyguard," the girl said shyly, pulling her long dark hair over her shoulder. "You must be really brave."

"Oh," Zuko replied, blinking several times. "Uh, thanks?"

The girl and her friends giggled again, while Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion.