not from around here | Zuko X OC

| chapter twenty four |

It had been a few hours but the two teens had still refused to say a word to each other.
Iroh had tried to make conversation but it always ended fast, so he gave up.

As Saki walked along, she could feel her legs burning. She was exhausted but refused to say anything because she didn't want to ride on the stolen ostrich horse.

Zuko glanced back at her as her eyes closed every now and then, almost drifting off into sleep.

After a while of this, she fell asleep standing and fell against a tree, muttering something like "just five minutes."

Zuko noticed and sighed.
He pulled the reins, getting the animal to stop, and hopped off.
Iroh watched him slightly confused as he walked over to Saki, before realising what he was doing.

He scooped the small, sleeping girl up in his arms and looked down at her peaceful face before gently placing her on the ostrich horse, and then getting on the front so she leant against him.

Her head rested just below his shoulder on his back and he grabbed her hands in his, pulling her arms around his waist so she wouldn't fall off as he grabbed the reins and started on his way again

"You really care about her, don't you?"
Asked Iroh, smirking slightly.
"Tsch. I guess." He muttered as he felt her arms tighten around his stomach that felt like it had a million tiny butterflies inside.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

Saki opened hers eyes to see that she was somehow on the back of the ostrich horse.
Despite wanting to do everything herself and not have to rely on Zuko, she appreciate him not leaving her in the middle of a forest.

She moved one hand and rubbed bed eyes, blinking a few times to adjust her vision to the light.

"You're awake." He said a sleepy voice in front of her, making her jump slightly.
It took her a few seconds to realise that she was behind Zuko on the ostrich horse, with one arm around his side, and then other up to her face.

"Y-Yeah." She murmured, recovering from her initial shock.

"You fell asleep, so I put you on here, with me." Zuko told her, his voice hoarse and exhausted.

"Thanks Zuko." She glanced at the reins in his hands. "Want me to take over?"

"Don't worry about it." Zuko shook his head.

"But you seem tired." She pointed out.

"I'll be fine. You can go back to sleep." He told her, pulling slightly as the reins and turning them, steering out the way of a tree.

"Okay, thank you. But if you get tired, wake me up." Saki said, then leant closer to him and kissed his cheek from behind.
His face started to flush red and his eyes widened slightly.

Saki put her arms back around his waist and her head on his back, just below his shoulder.
"Mmm. You're really warm." She murmured.

"I-I can use firebending to change my, uh, body temperature." He blurted out, trying to keep focused on what was happening now and not flash back to just a few seconds ago.

"That's so coo..." She never finished her sentence as she drifted off into a light sleep.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

When Saki woke up this time, she found herself asleep on the floor.
She quickly sat up and looked around.
It was daylight, and judging by the temperature and location of the sun, early morning.