Double Bender

Part 34

The next few hours consisted of slipping in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, I'd wake up and I was alone. Other times, I'd wake up, barely conscious, and Katara was by my side healing me. A few times, I even saw Zuko. I didn't know what to think. I couldn't process everything all at the same time. All I knew was that all I could do was just lay there uselessly. I just felt so...helpless.

I woke up hours later, it was still dark out. My head was reeling, my heart was pounding. "What the hell happened?" I asked myself. Beside my bed was a bowl of rice. I instantly grabbed it and started to wolf it down. It was honestly the best thing I'd ever eaten. Now, I know what you're thinking; How can a bowl of rice be the best thing you've ever eaten? It's just a plain bowl of rice. Well, you're forgetting that I had just spent a week on prison food. Not even prison food. Suki told me that I got the half portion of what everyone else got. So, this was the first real food I'd seen in a week. Trust me, if you had lived on a loaf of bread and a cup of water a day for a week, and you were presented with a bowl of rice, you'd wolf it down too. Anyway, after I'd finished the rice, I looked over at the chair to my left. Sitting on it was a green dress, folded perfectly. Just a simple light green top and a light green skirt with a white sash. Even better, sitting on top of that was my mother's ring. I dashed over and picked it up. Tears of joy flowed from my eyes. My mother. I had my mother back. I had my childhood back, the last piece of my family. I slipped the chain over my over my head and held the ring, the last thing of my mother, in my hands again. I took off the prison uniform, about damn time, and pulled on the dress. It felt so natural and comforting and yet, at the same time, it was a whole new feeling. Then I walked outside. It was beautiful, absolutely breathtaking. The odd thing about the whole building was that it was almost completely upside-down. There were buildings that looked like temples on the ceilings, obviously for smart ass air-benders who liked walking around on the ceilings. There were other rooms on the ground, thankfully. Outside, was a cliff with the most stunning view I'd ever seen. There were other cliffs and mountains off in the distance, just barely visible in foggy morning mist. And in the center of the temple was a little lobby with several flying buttresses opening to the view with a small fountain in the center of the lobby. It was the most amazing view ever. I was left breathless. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked. "Yes," I said. "I came here once before," the voice said, "and I don't ever remember it looking this amazing." I looked at my side and...oh no. Again? "Are you stalking me or something?" Zuko laughed. "No." "Then why do you always turn up where you're not expected?" "I was sleeping out here," he said. "Remember? You're in my room?" "That was your choice," I said. "Well," he said, "I couldn't just let you sleep out here. You were barely conscious and you were sick. It was the least I could do." I rolled my eyes. "The 'least' you could do was stay with us." He looked at the ground again. "How many times do I have to apologize for-" "I'm not looking for an apology," I said calmly. "Why did you go with them?" "I thought my father would accept me. I thought I'd be happy." "You would have been happy with us. I mean, you had an uncle who cared about you, a good friend and...." I hesitated. I didn't want to think about it, we were together and it was gone in less than a day. Thinking about it hurt to much. "And your 'father'," I said, using air quotes, "can't restore your honor for you. That you have to do yourself." He looked up. "But then again," I continued, "you do have the common sense of a rabbit-monkey hyped up on sugar, so I'm probably just wasting my time." I turned on my heels and started to walk away. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, obviously very annoyed. "It means that your an idiot who runs around all day making the stupidest decisions without common sense." "Well at least I'm not the one who hesitated when she had a chance for freedom." Ouch. That was true. I did hesitate. If he hadn't come back and offered, I would have stayed there. "At least I'm not the one who kissed some slut in Ba Sing Se when he knew he was in love with another girl." I snapped. "At least I'm not gullible." he said. "I'm not gullible." I snapped. "Oh really?" he said. "Then who's the one who thought I was dating Geo just by listening to an argument through a wall?" "I had good reason. It sounded like it!" He rolled his eyes. "You are so gullible." "At least I'm not stupid." I retorted. "At least I'm not naive." "At least I didn't let my uncle get arrested and I didn't burn the person I loved." I said coldly. I turned into the hallway. What the heck was that? I thought. I was being so mean to him. I always say I'm going to forgive him, but as soon as I see him, I go straight into bitch mode. I mean, we had just had a very civilized conversation and he thought I was close to forgiving him. But no, we just had to go and be stubborn and have an argument. I walked back into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed. I don't know. I thought. Why do I hate him so much? I promised myself that I'd forgive him. But why haven't I? What's wrong with me?