A Princess' Destiny ✘ZUKO ✘

41

According to Soana's hourglass, Zuko and the boy's time was up. No word had been heard of by either Messenger Hawk or any other person, so when no one was willing to listen, the princess took matters into her own hands.

Bravely, Soana used vines and unoccupied spaces on the side of the mountain to make it over the cliff side and onto the flat ground.

She heaved in deep breaths as she kneeled against the grass, taking in the smell of the blades.

She swallowed after catching her breath then stood on her feet to begin her journey.

"The Western Air Temple isn't too far from the Sun Warrior Ruins. It's only two islands over." She muttered to herself.

The princess began her journey as she brought one foot in front of the other. She automatically knew where she was going due to her sense of direction, and unlike her journey to Ba Sing Se, this one wouldn't be as long.

Determined, she kept her gaze ahead of her, and every once in a while she would glance at the sky to see if there would be a flying bison soaring above, unfortunately, there was no evidence that anyone had been through the passage for the last week. Even their tracks from the day they came had disappeared.

With Soana's fatigue not straining her one bit, she traveled until she came to a shoreline where waves of seawater crashed on the sand.

The princess took a deep breath and shot her arm in a half circle to create a sheet of ice. She was about to jump on it, but she let it drift away for the waves to take when she heard a voice.

"Soana!"

A rumbling roar could be heard above, so she looked to finally see the familiar sight of Appa.
"What are you doing!" Zuko peered over the edge of the saddle. "Are you insane! What are you doing out here!"

Although Soana knew she should've felt relieved to see Zuko, however, she didn't.
Her blood boiled.

Before Appa could land on the sand, Zuko jumped and landed with such agility.
"Seriously, Soana! What're you doing out here!"

"I was going to the ruins to look for you guys since you decided to go awol for two days!"

"Why would you think that!"

"You left and you never bothered to say that you would be gone for that long!"

He approached her only for his wife to stop him by placing her hands on his shoulders and then giving him a hard shove.
"You said a day at most!"

The prince stumbled with his feet sinking in the sand then gritted his teeth.
"Look, we ran into some trouble alright! But we're fine now! See!"

Zuko used his hands to gesture towards Appa where Aang was perched on his head with reigns in hand while Reid looked in between Zuko and Soana, a bit frightened from their slightly heated argument.

Soana snorted through her nose.
"Whatever, Zuko."

She stomped her way through the sand as Zuko followed her back to Appa. After boarding the sky bison, the four set off to head back to the Western Air Temple.

Upon arrival, everyone gathered and looked to be happy until they saw Soana jumping down from the bison's saddle.

Sueh frowned.
"Soana, we were looking everywhere for you."

"Yeah!" Sokka scoffed.
"Toph and I thought you fell off the edge of the temple to join Sparky Sparky Boom Man!"

Soana rolled her eyes and ignored the boys who were coming from the hall of statues to greet Reid.

"Watch this, guys!" Reid took a deep breath then flailed his arms and head back to breathe and bend streams of fire from his hands and mouth.

"Watch it, Reid!" Katara warned.

The boy controlled his flames and bended them into thin air.
"Sorry."

As the group talked amongst themselves, Zuko noticed Soana making a beeline toward the corridor that led to their chambers.

Although he had been frustrated with the way she was yelling at him, he knew he had to keep his temper under control, so he made the choice and decided to follow his wife.

"Soana?" Zuko leaned against the doorway when he made it to their bedroom.

The princess was standing with her back towards him, wiping her hands across her face as she leaned against the window ledge.
"I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but there was a change in plans and we had to stay to find out more."

"Zuko, you don't have to be sorry about anything. It just would've been nice to know that you would be gone for a few days rather than letting me stay and worry myself to death."

"Well, there wasn't exactly a messenger hawk around to send you a note." Zuko huffed and then crossed his arms.

"You know why I worry, Zuko, right?"

"I don't see the point in worrying."

"Yes, but I do. I worry because I care." She turned and leaned against the wall.
"We're traitors to the Fire Nation, and I'm sure by now there's a bounty for our heads. I was afraid you and the boys were hurt or, spirits forbid, killed. I didn't want to wait around because that's exactly what I did when I was with Niko. He went missing, but I only sat and waited until they brought his body back."

She inhaled then exhaled but her breaths grew so shaky that she thought she would pass out. Not only was her breathing overwhelming her but so was the lump in her throat.
"I don't want to sit around and wait for that to happen to you."

Instantly, Zuko took a stride towards Soana and brought her into a tight embrace. At first, she took it as a shock but she gladly accepted his comfort and released her sobs into the fabric of his tunic.

Zuko petted her back to soothe her pain emotionally as she convulsed in between sobs.
"Soana, my love," He spoke, turning his lips towards her scalp. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Zuko! Zuko!" They heard Aang's voice echoing through the hall.

"I'm a bit busy at the moment!" Zuko called.

"I wanna show everyone that dance we learned."

"But if you're going to be smooching with your wife, you could at least do it with the door closed." Toph teased.