Flameheart | Zuko

ELEVEN

The days passed pleasantly even though there wasn't much time for anyone to spend on their own, but the group of friends didn't mind at all. Of course, some things stayed the same.

Zuko was always busy during the day. They would see him during the morning while they trained and then some days Sokka would pass by his study for a few minutes but other than that, they caught sight of him again during dinner. He seemed tired most of the time, drained, but he always smiled when he joined his friends and they were happy to have him around. He hardly ever got to his room when dinner was over, and Homura would go to the pond with the turtle ducks some nights she had trouble sleeping herself, knowing the Fire Lord was most probably there. His company was soothing and with time, she felt at ease in his presence, even though there weren't many things she knew about him.

The rest of the company passed their day in other, creative ways. Ty Lee would run off every day without fail to Mai's house and the moment she got back, she would tell Suki and Homura all about their adventures around the city. She claimed she helped Mai with her duties but at this point, her help seemed rather pointless, as everyone knew Mai preferred to do things on her own. Suki and Homura believed she conceded to not hurt Ty Lee's feelings.

Sokka was always busy. If he wasn't with Suki, he was somewhere with Toph. The girl was rather energetic and commanded the attention of everyone around her, no matter whether she wanted to or not. Sokka seemed to be her favourite person when Zuko wasn't around and he was keeping her rather preoccupied so far. Suki didn't seemed to mind at the kidnapping of her boyfriend at all. Instead, she found other ways to pass her time.

Today was no different. Toph had taken Sokka away to show him an apparent secret passage in the palace and so, Suki had taken to walking around aimlessly in search of something to do. A while later, she got to the garden. She wandered around, finding herself at a pond not too far away from the palace. In the pond were turtle ducks swimming around, being rather close to the shore as someone seemed to be feeding them. Suki crept closer to take a look at the person sitting on the truck of the tree feeding the turtle ducks.

It was Homura. She had taken out her ring and seemed to be inspecting it with a frown, not looking where she threw the food. Suki slowly made her way towards her and sat down beside her. Homura instantly looked up and put on her ring as she attempted to send her a smile.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Sokka was abducted by Toph, she says she found some secret passages leading inside the palace she wanted to show him," she shrugged with a smile of her own. "It sounds interesting but knowing Toph, there's going to be some digging around and I don't like being under the earth. I'd rather I stay out in the sun."

"I get it," she chuckled as she looked in the distance, growing quiet. The turtle ducks in the absense of food started protesting. Suki gently took the food off of Homura's hands and started feeding them herself, letting the silence sink in as she thought of something to say. It was a while before she thought of a topic of conversation.

"What's your opinion on Zuko?"

"He's a nice guy," she murmured as she moved to the side, resting her head on Suki's shoulder as she thought, fighting the urge to admit she thought he had a nice smile as she attempted to think of something that couldn't quite let Suki know of her fondness for the Fire Lord. Suki didn't attempt to stop her smile as Homura made herself comfortable against her and kept talking. "He tries hard to make the Fire Nation better. I'd be honoured to serve him as a Fire Nation citizen."

"So, you respect him and trust him," she mused as she threw a small piece of food at the turtle ducks. "He seems to like you."

Homura briefly looked up at her, fighting her smile all the while. "He does?"