The Girl and the Fire Lord

13 Not Feeling Well - Kaori's POV

I stood in disbelief. There was no way she hadn't seen me. Firelord Zuko was practically staring.

She recognized me. I was sure of it.

Attempting to gather up the fire flakes I dropped, I tried to come up with a reason. Why did she just leave? It made no sense. 

What did make sense was her firmness the day before. Hiromi had more than insisted on continuing her walks at the garden, and I thought it would be nice to walk and spend the morning together. Meanwhile, she had been spending her mornings with the Firelord and had no intention of stopping any time soon.

I mean, how could I blame her? It seemed like she'd had feelings for him for years, but there had never been an opening or a time she could make a move. When I told her about my run-in with Firelord Zuko that first morning she must have seen her opportunity and seized it. She was a smart girl, and she knew what she wanted. 

It all made sense now - the strong reaction to me walking in the garden, the sudden breakup with Naoko, the lateness at breakfast - but I still didn't understand why when she saw me she turned around and left. Surely she could have said hello or at least waved. And that wasn't the only thing that was bothering me. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but something about seeing her with Firelord Zuko roused the tiniest bit of jealousy in me. Jealousy was never my natural tendency, but I couldn't stuff the feelings down. He was a strong leader, selfless, honorable, fair, and endlessly handsome. I pushed the thoughts out of my head and grabbed my apples. I needed to get to breakfast, and I needed to process. 

When I got checked in and walked into the grand hall, my usual table was empty. Hana and Hiromi usually got to our seats before I did. What if I'd done something to hurt Hiromi and now she was snubbing me? They lived together, it was possible she'd told Hana and they were both avoiding me. My stomach swirled as I walked to the seat. 

For almost fifteen minutes I sat alone at the table, checking the menu and making small talk with Taiyo. He was very kind, but it was getting a bit awkward. Finally I saw Hana walk in wearing a beautiful purple silk dress and her dark brown hair in a neatly pinned bun. She was smiling - good sign.

"Good morning, gorgeous!" She said as she took her seat. 

"Morning, Hana! I absolutely love the gown. You look stunning." I said, grateful at least one of my friends was happy to see me.

"Sorry I'm late! Slept in a little bit. I stayed out pretty late with Taiyo. He's probably going to be tired this shift, but I'm sure he agrees that it was worth it." 

"Ooh! What did you two do?" 

"He took me in to town! We went to see a play, and afterwards we walked through the city and tried the most interesting foods we could find. It was incredible. Oh, and he kissed me. A lot." We both laughed and her eyes sparkled. I loved seeing her so happy. "Have you seen Hiromi yet?"

"I saw her earlier, but I was actually wondering the same thing. Did she not come back to the room?"

"No, she was gone when I woke up this morning. I figured maybe she'd made up with Naoko."

"Oh. Hm." Was all I decided to say. I didn't know if Hiromi wanted to share her developments with Zuko with Hana yet, so I thought carefully before I spoke. "Maybe she's busy. I'm sure we'll see her at lunch." 

We had a nice breakfast, and my morning shift in the garden was peaceful and satisfying. One of the fire academy teachers brought a group of students to study some of the traditional fire nation plants, but other than that, it was uneventful. 

When Hana and I showed up for lunch, Hiromi still was nowhere to be found. 

"This is getting a little weird, don't you think?" Hana asked, and the wrinkles on her forehead and her clenched jaw showed just now worried she was getting. "I feel like something bad's happened to her. It's really giving me the heebie-jeebies." 

"Honestly, I'm getting kind of nervous too. Maybe we should make a round and try to find her? There are really only a couple of places she could be." I suggested. Hana nodded and bit her lip. My mind started running through all of the possible outcomes. Maybe she had a lot of rooms to make up today and she needed to work through lunch. Although if that were the case, Hana would be busy too. It was possible she was working through things with Naoko and needed to discuss things over lunch. Still, judging based off of how she was looking at the Firelord this morning, it seemed like Naoko was as good as gone. 

My thoughts wandered to a dark place, and I pictured where her and Firelord Zuko may have gone after their walk. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, settling the nauseous feeling in my stomach. If that were the case, at least she'd be safe. As of right now, we had no idea where she was.

Hana and I left our table and went out into the main hallway. 

"I'll fill Taiyo in later. For now, we should probably focus on all of the places she may be. We can go on down to the right and check the staff hallway. Down there, we can hit the lounge, the resource center, the clinic, and the supply closets. I've found her and Naoko in there more than once while switching out cleaning carts." Hana said. We headed down the hallway and came to the lounge first. She wasn't there, and neither was Naoko. Or Zuko. 

We made our way to the resource center, and Anzu at the front desk said she hadn't seen Hiromi. The clinic was next in line, but I really hoped we wouldn't find her there. We didn't. 

We even checked all six of the supply closets, and she wasn't in a single one.

"I'm getting really nervous." Hana said, and her eyes started shining. 

"No, baby, don't cry! I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this." I said, pulling Hana into a hug and resting my hand on the back of her head. "We can check the room." A light nod from Hana and I was on the way.

When we reached the door, she slipped her key in and turned it, opening it hesitantly.

"Hiromi?" Hana said, and we walked into the room. She wasn't in their small kitchen, and she wasn't in her bed. We walked to the back of the room and peaked through the doorway into the living room. She wasn't there either. Just as we were leaving, I heard a voice behind me. 

"Oh! Hey girls!" She said. I turned around and saw Hiromi standing in front of the bathroom door, looking messier than usual. Her two neat buns were loose, the black wing on her right eye was smudged, and she didn't have any lipstick on. It looked like her dress was tied differently than usual. My heart sank as I came to the realization - this look was familiar. I usually saw it after she came back from a long date. Hana saw it more often than I did, so I was sure she recognized it too.

"Hiromi, where have you been? I was getting pretty worried about you. I almost started crying outside of closet four." Hana said, walking to her and wrapping her in a hug.

"Oh... I'm sorry Hana. I really didn't mean to worry you both." Hiromi said. She didn't look up at me.

"I'm just glad we know you're safe and everything's okay." I said, smiling and walking to her. 

"Hana, you're too sweet. You really don't need to worry about me, I promise." Hiromi said, seemingly ignoring me. 

"Well you're always on time! This was kind of out of character for you. It freaked me out!" Hana answered. She took a step back from Hiromi. "Where were you anyhow?" 

"I went to feed the turtleducks this morning, but after I left the garden I started feeling sick. I came back to the room for a little while to rest." 

"Okay..." Hana said, raising her eyebrows and folding her arms. "Are you sure that's all? Did you see Naoko today?"

"Oh goodness, no, I told you he and I are done. No, nothing like that." 

"Okay, well I just thought I'd ask." Hana shrugged. 

"Yeah, nothing different. I just wasn't feeling well this morning." Hiromi said, and she put on a smile. 

I was in disbelief. My honest, genuine, trustworthy, and loyal friend was lying straight to Hana's face - and she was doing it well.