Double Bender

Part 32

Something happened. Something big. I don't know what it was. All I knew that it was very close to killing me. Yet, somehow, I survived. I didn't even know how I was alive, but all I knew that the event, whatever it was, left me dizzy, paralyzed, and a little nauseous . "Wake up," someone whispered. "Don't go dying on me now." "What the hell?" I groaned. "Good." The voice said. I opened my eyes. Pale skin, bronze eyes, black hair, red scar. Crap. It was Zuko. I looked around but when I turned my head, I didn't see another person. I saw the ground. The hell? I thought. I also realized, my feet weren't touching the ground. But I was still moving forward. Then I realized that someone was holding me. But the closest person to me was...Crap, don't tell me! Zuko was carrying me. "Put me down," I said weakly. "Sorry," said Zuko. "No can do." "Why not?" I said. "Because you just passed out and you're too tired to even move." "Well I don't want you carrying me." "Then what do you suggest?" he asked slyly. "Why not have Geo shoulder me?" "Geo's right arm is numb. She can't even shoulder herself." I gave him a look. "That was the worst pun in the world." He rolled his eyes. "Why not Suki?" I asked. "The entire left side of Suki's body is numb. She can't even walk upright without help." That only left Hakoda and Chit Sang. Either way, it'd be really creepy. I guess I had to settle with being carried by Zuko. "Are you alright?" Zuko asked. "You don't get to ask." I said. "Just because I have to be carried by you doesn't mean I'm going to like it." I felt another wave of unconsciousness roll over me again and everything went black. I guess that's what happens when you metal-bend something that was broken and the tear was over a hundred yards away from you. Either way, the next several hours were about to result in an entire wave of random unconsciousness and it wasn't going to be fun.

Something jolted me awake. I looked around. The whole room looked familiar, except a little bigger. I suddenly realized that I was on another one of those zeppelin things in one of the holding rooms. But instead of an uncomfortable wooden bench, I was in a bed. A large, comfortable bed. I had almost forgotten what a real bed felt like, seeing as I hadn't slept in one since we stayed at Hama's inn, and even then I couldn't sleep because of the sneaking suspicion that I was being watched. I guess the last time I actually slept in a bed was way back in Ba Sing Se. After that was a lot of sleeping in tents, caves, and on Appa's back. So being in a bed again felt a little unnatural.

Someone was in a chair, sitting by my side too. "Oh crap," I said. "You again?" "Yes, me again," said Zuko. He straightened his posture and then asked, "Are you alright? Did Mai hurt you?" "Why do you care?" I asked. "I-" he began. "No," I interrupted. "No matter what you were about to say, just no. You don't get to worry about me, or ask if I'm okay anymore. You're not allowed to. You gave that up! You clearly showed that it wasn't important to you." I rolled over onto my side as he reached to touch my shoulder. "Go. away." I growled. "You need someone to watch you." he said gently. I rolled my eyes. "I don't want you with me right now. I don't even want to be this close to you!" I said forcefully. "Why do you hate me so much?" he asked. "Why do I hate you?" I asked sarcastically. "Use your brain moron! I mean, you were back at your palace while I was going all over the world, confused, scared, sad, and broken, to several places where not only myself but my friends nearly died multiple times!" He finally put two and two together. His eyes widened. "Oh no," he said. "I'm so sorry-" "I don't want to hear it!" "Please!" he begged. "Give me another chance." "Another chance? I gave you another chance when you ran off to find some stupid lightning. I gave you another chance when you wouldn't back off about that damn dream. I gave you another chance when I thought you were going out with Geo. I gave you another chance when you kissed that girl. I gave you another chance when you ran off in the middle of the night to find Appa. I gave you another chance when you wouldn't come with us and instead stayed back to fight Azula, resulting in you getting captured. But I came back and found you and I forgave you. That was my first mistake. I gave you six chances. You are out of chances. You burned me! I couldn't move for a whole week! Even after that, I could barely move around or walk or bend, especially not bend. It took forever for the pain to stop, in fact, it hasn't even stopped! It still hurts now! Even more, you left us and you let your own Uncle get arrested. I can't even believe I ever loved you. After what you did, you don't even deserve love! I don't even want to see you anymore!" Zuko sat there and just listened to me yell at him. He just sat there in silence and took everything in, listening to me say everything that I wanted to say for so long, suddenly bursting out from the pressure and stress I had put myself through by not telling. It had built up inside me for too long and the first chance it got to escape, it took that chance and the yells I produced burst out and flew all around the room at the speed of light, bouncing off the walls and finally making it into his ears. When I was done, he simply sat there, not protesting, not saying a word.

Finally, I took a breath and said,"You promised." "What?" he said. "You promised me, in Ba Sing Se. You promised that you wouldn't let anything hurt me. You lied. Even worse, you broke that promise yourself. You hurt me. You almost killed me." He looked even guiltier. The decent side of me said to stop because I was hurting him by reminding him of what he did, which he clearly didn't want to relive. But I didn't listen. I went on. "Tell me one thing." "Anything," he said. "Why did you do it?" No matter how mad I was at him, I was still aching to know the answer to this one question that had been swimming in my mind ever since Ba Sing Se. He took a breath and folded his hands, intertwining his fingers. "I don't know why, honestly," he said. "I-I....I was so angry and confused that my anger flared without warning. And...and it hit you. I was so angry and confused-" "That's no excuse." I said. "Please, let me say this." He said. "Every day I didn't see you, I felt alone. And every day I didn't get to apologize to you, I felt sad and guilty for what I did. I couldn't even escape my thoughts at night! I was almost always dreaming about you. It was always the same, us just sitting around a table talking. You ask why I did it, and I always say I don't know. Then you ask how the Fire-Nation is and I say that it's nice, but lonely. And at the end, I always said that I still loved you." I thought back, that night, when Katara and I were pretending to be the Painted Lady and I dreamed that Zuko and I were sitting at a table just talking. He had the same dream? Maybe, just maybe... No, he didn't deserve it. I struggled to sit up. "So that's it? You got angry and burned me?" Zuko nodded guiltily. "I'm so sorry." He said even guiltier than before. I felt betrayed. I was expecting a better reason than just "I lost my temper." I expected a better reason for him to burn me and scarring me for life. "Get out," I said. "Please," he said. "I'm sorry." "Get out!" I screamed. "Get out and never speak to me again!" He looked at me, guilt plastered all over his face, nodded, and left.

I sunk back into the bed, shocked at how exhausted that small gesture had made me. Some weird feeling fell over me. I felt sorry for him. I actually felt sorry for that bastard. Why? Why was I giving him my pity? He didn't deserve a speck of pity for what he did... What was wrong with me?! Here was a man, a man I used to love, begging for forgiveness, and here I am, all high and mighty, refusing him. It was so odd, he had forgiven me just now for opening up old wounds and tormenting him about it. That's not the same thing, a voice in my head said, he almost killed you! He doesn't deserve forgiveness! Yes he does, I thought, drowning out the other voice in my head. I just for some reason can't give it to him.... I couldn't think of a good reason. I rolled over painfully and put the thought out of my mind.

I did a mental check of myself. My legs felt sore and tired and numb. My arms felt like they're been ripped out of my sockets and shoved back in again. I looked at my hands. They were cut, blistered and bruised from mending the cable. I felt really tired and broken, like I'd been tossed out a window and stepped on. I rolled over, coughed, and went to twirl my ring (force of habit) when I realized it wasn't there. It was probably sitting back in some recreation room. I felt awful, sick, and alone. I needed my mother, but I didn't have her anymore, I didn't even have the last piece of her. Help me, Mother, I thought, with tears in my eyes.

Well oookay. That was depressing. So this is probably gonna be my last entry of this school year for two reasons, most of my free time is most likely gonna be taken up by homework and studying for exams. The second reason, as I said before is because I do all my wattpad updates on my school iPad, which I will not need over sumer break. Really sorry to leave you off on a depressing not so here's a really bad joke to leave you off:

What does Dracula take when he has a cold?

A coffin-drop!

Okay I know I used that earlier in the book but it's better than nothing right?

In all truth, I might do another one right before the end of the year, but that's like a 30 out of 100% chance.

I'm also gonna do one last Update on my newest story "Seniors vs. Freshmen" based on real events that happened in the duration of this school year.

Also 1.1 K READS!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!

I will see you in the fall!