Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Metamorphosis

A/N - This is a really long chapter I'm so sorry

Season 2, Episode 18.

"So what you're basically saying is.. you're a highly trained assassin that went against military orders, was banished for it, spent the last three years wandering around the globe with no real purpose—" Sokka gave a quick run down of the long, drawn out story that Kai had just told them.

"— and the real reason you came to Ba Sing Se with us was to hunt down your dad, but now you're looking for your mom because Long Feng told you that she lives in the lower ring?" Aang finished it off perfectly while still holding tight to the top of Appa's round, fuzzy head.

Kai sat against the rocky shore of the small island they'd found amongst the miles and miles of water. When they put it like that, it made her travels seem so.. boring. She'd done so much growing into herself during those years of "wandering around the globe with no real purpose", but without all the bells and whistles, they were pretty much spot on.

"Sounds about right." She said, rolling a clump of wet clay around in her palm.

The two boys and Katara stared at her blankly for a few moments, waiting for her to tell them that this was some sort of poorly timed joke. Their eyes devoid of any blinking out of fear that they might miss a subtle change in her otherwise stoic expression. Toph sat right beside her, ready to defend her friend if any of them tried to claim she was lying.

Sokka and Aang both glanced at each other and Sokka's shoulders shrugged casually, "Makes sense."

Aang went back to stroking Appa's fur as if they'd just had a conversation regarding what they were going to eat for lunch. Katara continued bending small amounts of water into whips and lassoes, always keeping her abilities sharp as a whistle.

"That's it?" Toph asked, "You know little to nothing about her and yet you're so quick to believe that she's skilled enough to kill the freakin' Fire Lord?"

"I mean, her father did use me as bait in order to force Aang into the avatar state." Katara stated bluntly. General Fong was a mere cliff note in Aang, Sokka and Katara's biography, while there were whole chapters dedicated to him in Kai's.

"I've never been able to call him 'inconsistent', that's for sure." Kai mumbled under her breath. It should've been a relief, really, telling her friends the truth about her origin. But she knew that if she spilled about any further, about whose pillow she'd laid her head against the night before, they would turn their backs on her in an instant.

Katara and Sokka were bickering back and forth about whether or not approaching the Earth King now was a good idea. It was petty sibling squabbling that Kai hadn't been subjected to growing up, but enjoyed nonetheless.

"Look, we escaped the Dai Li. We got Appa back. I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan while we're on a roll." Sokka argued.

"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll." Katara said, and she was right. The Earth King likely didn't even know that they'd been in the city at all and if he was being let it in on it now, it probably wasn't in the best of light.

"I hate to go against our self proclaimed leader," Kai mocked Sokka, gaining the attention of them all, "But Long Feng is who's really in control of the city. His conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful."

The two extremes of Kai's mind tugged back and forth with each other. One being the responsible, resourceful side of her that knew going back into those walls was a battle just waiting to happen, and the other being undeniably selfish. That side of her was self serving, and was willing to put up a rigid fight if it only meant being able to say goodbye.