Double Bender

Part 5

Zuko fell asleep instantly, but I couldn't sleep a wink. I couldn't erase the image of Zuko standing there on the mountain, cursing the universe for everything that happened. It was just...scary and disturbing. I was also a little angry at him. Not only for running off and being an idiot, but also for feeling sorry for himself. He had Uncle and Geo to guide him (well, Uncle to guide him and Geo to make him feel like an ass) and up until now, I had nobody. And he was acting like some kind of martyr? I mean, running off just to find some friggin lightening? I sighed, left the tent, and sat on the edged of the cliff. The rain and wind had stopped, so it was a little less than scary as hell. "I shouldn't be getting so mad at Zuko," I thought. "After all, he did practically save my life. Wow, it's kinda odd to think that just twelve hours ago, I was still there. Still afraid, still..." I shuddered. "Best not to think about it," I put my hands behind my head, lay down and looked at the stars and yawned. "Well, he /has/ had it pretty hard. His own father... again, it's best not to think about it. I mean, the past is the past, what matters now is that nobody died." I just blankly stared at one of the constellations. It was my favorite one too; "The two lovers" Oma and Shu, the first people to learn earth-bending. That was a really old story, probably older than the Avatar him/herself. My mom always told me the story before bed. I started to tell myself the story and I even tried to tell it in my mother's voice (and totally failed at it). My eyelids started to droop and before I knew it, I was asleep.

Soon, it was morning again and Zuko was shaking my shoulder, telling me to get up. "So, why'd you leave the tent last night?" "No reason." I said. Zuko obviously didn't know that "No reason" is code for "I really don't want to talk about it". "Are you claustrophobic?" "What? No," "Have a nightmare?" "No." I said getting a little annoyed. "You still mad at me?" "It's none of your business, Your majesty!" I said defensively. "Geez, don't bite my head off!" he said, as equally annoyed as I was, which annoyed me even more because he's the one who wouldn't leave me alone in the first place. I didn't even bother to apologize and, judging by the size of Zuko's ego, he wasn't going to either.

We saddled up the ostrich-horse and rode back to the old broken down shack.

Uncle was waiting for us and Geo was probably still asleep. Zuko kept his eyes on the ground the whole time. "We need to keep moving," said Uncle. I pulled some of my extra things into my pack and went inside to wake up Geo, who was still asleep, as I guessed. "Wake up, Geo." I said, even though I knew it was a hopeless mission to try and wake her up. "Five more minutes, mommy," she muttered absent-mindedly, sucking on her thumb. I tried every method I thought of but nothing worked. "Step aside, please," said Uncle, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He grabbed the pot full of tea that Zuko failed at making, poured a cup, and held it in front of Geo's nose. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, then they jerked open once she realized what she was sniffing. She shot up quickly and gave Uncle a dirty look. "You dirty, evil old man," she said, angrily shaking her head. Uncle and I gave a devious laugh, and Geo stood their for a second, then joined in our little laugh fest.

Zuko shot us a look that signaled for us to leave. Uncle, Geo, and I rode on the ostrich-horse while Zuko took hold of the reins and walked on the sides.

We rode for almost an entire day. It was after noon when Uncle started moaning obnoxiously. "Is your burn acting up again?" I asked. Uncle didn't answer, he just kept moaning. "This is his way of getting Zuko to stop," Geo whispered. "Does Zuko know that this is a just a prank?" I whispered back. "No," said Geo, "that's what makes it so funny." I giggled to myself. Uncle kept moaning. "Maybe we should make camp," said Zuko. "No, please." said Uncle, still a little moan in his voice. "Don't stop just for me..." Then he started moaning louder and more obnoxious. Zuko tugged the reins and the ostrich-horse stopped. Geo hopped down first and I jumped down after her and landed flat on my face. Zuko shook his head as he help Uncle down.