When Hatred turned to Love (ATLA Zuko x OC)

Chapter Seven - Training

The morning light of the sun entered the window of her room. Slowly she began to stir. It's been long since the time she had managed to sleep nicely. She missed a good night's rest and that barely ever happened to her. She opened her eyes noticing the light of the sun entering her room and she smiled at its brightness.

She woke from her bed and she started changing. When she was done she walked out of her chambers and she walked on deck. She met once again the Prince with his Uncle taking their breakfast. Iris sat on the table opposite to Zuko.

"Good morning," Iroh said first from anyone as always.

"Good morning," She said dryly as well.

They both tried to avoid each others' gazes and the awkwardness couldn't get any worse. Last night's events were enough to make things look as awkward as they could never be. And that was pretty much obvious to Iroh who looked at the two youngsters with suspicious glares.

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"Great you're back," Aang said jumping from his place using his air bending to land close to Katara who was taking care of their clothes. Sokka came with the sack of food and he knelt along with his friends saying.

"We've got a few options, first, raw nuts, and some kind of oval-shaped nuts, and some rock-shaped nuts that just... might be rocks," Sokka said as he started taking some nuts off the sack. "Dig in!" he said smiling.

Katara and Aang glared at each other and Katara asked "Seriously, what else you got?"

Sokka tried to look deeper in the empty sack until they all felt a small earthquake. "What was that?!" Sokka exclaimed.

"It's coming from over there!" Aang exclaimed and he with Katara started running towards it.

"Shouldn't we be run away from huge 'Booms!' and not towards them?" Sokka asked and he forcefully followed the others. He just wished Iris were there. She was always thinking locally the way he did.

They all saw an earth bender practicing his earth bending lifting and moving boulders. "And earth bender!" Katara whispered excitedly.

"Let's go meet him!"Aang said.

"He looks dangerous so we better approach cautiously," Sokka said but before he was able to understand his sister had already walked towards the earth bender and she said.

"Hello, there, I'm Katara, what's your name?" Katara asked.

The earth bender stopped bending and he turned and looked at her with a sad and guilty expression at his face. Then he started running away.

"Nice to meet you!" Aang shouted.

"I just wanted to say 'hi'," Katara said.

"Hey, that guy has been running to somewhere, maybe near a village, and I bet that village has a market!" Aang said.

"Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara said and they started running towards the village.

"Hey, I worked hard to get those nuts!" Sokka exclaimed irritatingly and he finally started walking with them as Momo landed on his shoulder. "Yeah, I hate them too" he agreed with Momo who started flying.

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She dodged the next fire blasts using her air bending drifting them in different directions. She continued dodging them walking closer and closer to the Prince trying to find an opening. He was spending most of his energy in one attack and that made him weaker. But he was trying to burst somehow. They had managed to fall onto the Avatar already three times and he still was unable of capturing him. And that made him furious.