Fuel To My Fire - Book Two (ATLA Zuko Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine

Sakari's POV

The next day, we were following a path on Ben, Iroh was groaning the entire time complaining about his wounds, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I was too busy thinking about the night before, Zuko told me he loves me! And that kiss, it was amazing. I could feel Zuko's breath on the back of my neck, since I was sitting in front of him, and I could feel my cheeks going red. I was about to lean my head back on his chest when we suddenly stopped moving.

"What are we doing?" I asked, slightly shocked that we were stopping.

"Were you not listening to a thing I said?" Zuko asked, helping me off Ben.

"Um, nope, sorry." I admitted, giving him a cheeky smile.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked me, a sly smirk on his face.

"Nothing." I quickly said, turning my face away so that he wouldn't see how red my cheeks were.

We suddenly heard a rumbling sound, Zuko and I got into fighting stances, ready for whatever was coming, while Iroh sat on a rock.

"What now?" Iroh complained.

Five men on rhinos appeared from the trees to surround us, Zuko and I were about to attack when Iroh stopped us.

"Colonel Mongke, what a pleasant surprise." Iroh greeted.

"If you're surprised we're here, then The Dragon of the West has lost a few steps." Colonel Mongke replied before all five of the men pulled out their weapons.

"You know these guys?" Zuko asked Iroh.

"Sure, Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary." Iroh told us. "Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist. They are also a very capable singing group."

"Not exactly important, Iroh." I told him, not taking my eyes off the man in front of me.

"We're not here to give a concert!" Colonel Mongke announced. "We're here to apprehend fugitives."

"Would you like some tea first? Because I'd love some. How about you, Kachi?" Iroh asked, clearly unfazed by the men. "I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?"

"Enough stalling! Round 'em up!" Colonel Mongke ordered.

And with that the men attacked! Iroh quickly took down two of them, while Zuko dealt with the archer. I was up against a Firebender. He tried shooting flames at me, but I quickly put them out with the water from my pouch, then I used it to whip him off the rhino and slam him into the ground. I ran over to him, ready to attack again, but he was unconscious.

"Sakari!" Iroh called from behind me, I looked back just in time to grab his arm as he raced past on Ben.

We continued running, allowing Zuko to jump on behind me, and tried to get away from the last remaining man. Next thing we knew, however, some kind of bomb exploded in front of us. We shielded our eyes from the smoke, but kept on running, losing the man in the smoke.

"It's always so nice to see old friends." Iroh stated.

"It'd be nicer if you had some old friends that didn't want to attack us!" I retorted, getting slightly angry.

"Hmm... Old friends that don't want to attack me?" Iroh said, thinking out loud.

I rolled my eyes at him and let out a sigh, relieved that we weren't just killed by those men.

*****

Later that evening we found a cave that would shelter us for the night, Iroh says he has a plan for the morning, something about the Misty Palms Oasis. For now, Zuko and I were practicing our bending while Iroh cooked some rabbits on the fire.