not from around here | Zuko X OC

| chapter forty four |

(BYE IM SENSE OF HUMOUR IS NOT IT, WHY IS THIS HILARIOUS TO MEEEE???)
(If you know the context it's even better, killing stalking fans where you at??)

The gaang were back at the campsite.
Sokka was examining his schedule with intense interest as Katara, Aang and Toph unpolluted the water to drink.

Saki had refused to help Katara because of earlier's spat, so instead she helped Aang.

"Our detour into town today has completely thrown off our schedule. It's gonna take some serious finagling to get us back on track." Sokka spoke up.

"Finagle away, O schedule master." Commented Toph.

"Sorry we wanted to get food and not die of starvation." Saki muttered, sarcastically.

"Well, for starters, it looks like we'll need to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day." Sokka continued, ignoring Saki's comment.

"Forty-three minutes?" Asked Katara.

"Look, we only have a few weeks to get to the Fire Lord in time for the invasion and the eclipse - which, by the way, only lasts for eight minutes. And we just lost a whole day. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to wake up early!" Sokka snapped angrily.

"If you say "schedule" one more time, I will take that piece of paper, and beat you with it." Saki finished darkly.

"Well, I'm not waking up early." Toph snapped.
"Neither am I." Saki added.

"Or we could just cut out all of our eating breaks." Sokka suggested.

"What?!"
"No way!"
"Forget it."
"Piss off."

They all let out their chorus of annoyance at what he had suggested.

"I got it, how's this: from now on, we'll take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time." Sokka suggested.

The rest of them all chorused "eww!" At the same time, making Sokka let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Hey, it might be gross, but it's efficient. Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning." Sokka snapped.

"That's fine with me, I think I'm going nose blind with the stench. Besides, the food here isn't even worth it." Saki told him, crossing her arms and accidentally dropping the water on Aang.

She repeatedly apologised to Aang as Katara glared at Sokka and Saki in annoyance.

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Saki hadn't eaten anything at dinner.
Partly because it wasn't very good, but mostly because she just couldn't. She didn't feel good at all that day.

It was strange, one minute she would be completely fine and laughing with everyone else, but the next, it was like it all hit her again and she felt everything inside her sink. Never mind, it was more like everything was being ripped out. Like nothing was left anymore.

What Katara had said to her today didn't help, it just made her feel worse for multiple reasons.

For one, it simply reminded her of him and how much she missed his presence.

Two, it made her really mad because she hated anyone being horrible about Zuko, whether he was there to hear it or not.

And finally, because it made her think it was true. The more she thought about it the more she realised that if he did have a heart he wouldn't have left her and his uncle.

Saki rolled over in her sleeping bag and breathed in and out, trying to calm down.
This didn't do very much, and she started to think back to everything they had been through; When they first met and always argued, when she teased him to get him to have manners, when they went to find uncle, when they swam through that icy tunnel to get to the Northen water tribe.

She specifically zoomed in on the memory of his arms being wrapped around her waist.
As if replaying it in slow motion, she remembered the way he pulled her into his chest, seemingly without a second thought. She was sure she could almost feel his hot breath on her neck again as he comforted her.

The memory made her stomach flutter slightly and her cheeks went slightly pink out of embarrassment. She rolled over in her sleeping bag and shook her head to bury her face in her sleeping bag. Even though no one knew what she was thinking about, or even the effect it had on her, she still wanted to hide away.

She closed her eyes, trying to wipe the thoughts and questions circling around her head that she didn't want to address.

Just a few minutes ago she felt like crying, but now she felt a slight feeling of warmth radiate through her at the thought of him, and something Iroh had told her popped into her head.

"My nephew is the one you love, isn't it?"

She remembered how she had responded to that question and smiled.

"Well, uh, love is a strong word."

She now knew the answer to the question, and what she should've said then to make the most of the time they'd had.

"Yes. Yes it is."

Word count: 855