Searching (Zuko x OC)

Chapter 23

"Uncle, look!" I said, sending one of my ice knives shooting through the air and slamming into my target.

It shattered upon impact and I winced slightly. That wasn't my original plan, but I had gotten so excited that I lost my concentration. The ice shards melted back into water and pooled on the floor.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind," I said, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"I thought it was very nice," Uncle assured me.

I grinned at his encouragement and collected the water back up off the floor. I brought it close to me and swirled it around my hand. The sunlight reflected across its surface and glimmered as I moved it around. Ever since my original training with Zuko I hadn't been able to stop my waterbending training. It was almost like an addiction. I was so driven to become the best I could be at it.

Akemi and I had also patched things up since our last conversation. I had explained to him that I only thought of him as a friend and he promised that it wouldn't change anything. Currently, he was watching me bend from beside my Uncle. I promised him that I would train with him after I was done with my bending.

"So," I said, moving the water back into the bucket it came from and turning to Akemi, "What do you say we start training?"

"Sounds good to me," he said, stepping aside from Iroh to stand in front of me.

"I promise no bending. Just good old fashion ass whooping," I joked, getting into my fighting stance.

He laughed and did the same. We began training and it felt like everything was back to normal. I was training with Akemi, Uncle was playing Pai Sho with some crew members, and we were making our way to capture the Avatar.

If only things were back to normal.

After Zuko got back from another failure at capturing the Avatar, he hadn't spoken a word to me. He was almost more of a recluse than usual. I rarely ever saw him and if I did he would avoid me like I was diseased or something. I tried to brush it off and pretend like nothing was wrong but I was hurting. I missed him and I was still so confused about what had gone on between us. We hadn't talked about it at all.

I was brought back to reality by Akemi waving his hand across my vision. I shook my head and looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry, I got lost in thought," I sighed, pushing some fly aways out of my face.

"Let me guess. You're thinking about Zuko?" he asked, a sad smile on his face.

I was about to argue but decided against it. No matter what I said he knew he had caught me. I hadn't told Akemi the details about why we weren't speaking again. I told him that we had a disagreement and that he was avoiding me. That was technically a partial truth so I didn't feel as bad lying about it. Besides, the truth would only hurt him and I didn't want to do that.

"I'm sure you guys will patch things up. You always do," he comforted me.

I wanted to believe him. I really did. I nodded my head, not wanting to argue. I didn't see the point. What use was it?

"Prince Zuko! I'm surprised to see you outside," Uncle said from his game table.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Zuko walking out onto the deck. He was wearing his training gear and he walked right up to his Uncle. He didn't even acknowledge me. I felt my anger towards him begin to grow.

"I need to train. We're a week away from any land and I refuse to sit around all day and do nothing," he explained.

I turned away from him and focused back on Akemi. He put a hand up to my shoulder and squeezed it supportingly. I smiled thankfully at him and then turned to go inside. As I passed Zuko, I saw him look at me out of the corner of my eye. Just as I was about to open the door that lead below deck, Zuko spoke.