Find Me | Zuko x reader | Avatar the Last Airbender | Book 1

Chapter 26: What Could Go Wrong?

           Y/N was absolutely exhausted. The past 4 days had been mostly travel, and the stopping times were less than restful. 

          A tornado pulled them into a weird swamp, where half naked men stole Appa and, upon finding out Y/N could bend plants like them, flirted non stop with her. 

          She had eagerly left, leaving the weird hallucinations and creepy men behind.

          Then they stopped in a village, that was apparently an anti-Avatar cult, and although they showed some hospitality, the constant anxiety coming from people glaring at her all the time didn't make her feel welcome.

          Y/N now sat, slumped, against the side of Appa's saddle, her eyes droopy, but brain unable to sleep. She missed home. She missed dad. She missed her daily hunting. 

          She missed Zuko.

          "We'll be at Gaoling soon, Y/N." Sokka patted her on the head, obviously noticing she was dead inside. "And you know what there is in Gaoling?"

          "Hopefully an earthbending teacher?" Katara asked from the other side of the saddle, looking at Sokka expectantly. 

          "Well, yeah, that too, but also..." Sokka wrapped his arm around Y/N's shoulders. "Gaoling is known for its shopping." Y/N immediately sprang to life, looking at her twin excitedly.

          "Shopping??" She asked. Sokka grinned right back.

          "SHOPPING." He whispered loudly.

          "Oh boy, here we go..." Katara muttered.

                             —|➖◾️➖|—

          "Make up your MIND Sokka, I want to move onto the next store!" Y/N frowned at the bag he was considering. He was taking forever.

          "It's so expensive, though!" Sokka worried.

          "This is why we can't have nice things." Katara rolled her eyes.

          "Sokka, if you like it, and you'll use it, just buy it!" Aang exclaimed.

          "Okay! Fine! Fine!" Before he could change his mind again, Sokka walked up to the counter and paid, walking out the door with a new fancy bag.

          "It looks great." Y/N complimented as they window shopped down the street. She only ended up buying a bracelet and some nicknacks, not all that much appealed to her.

          She wasn't the only one not finding what she wanted in Gaoling.

          Aang got completely clobbered at an earthbending academy, before being offered a year's worth of lessons for a high price. Aang politely declined, but Y/N gave the woman a nasty scowl on the way out.

          It was seeming like a flop, until Katara chased after a couple of guys who had been talking about a tournament, The Earth Rumble VI, happening in the city. The guys had snarkily refused to talk about it, but after being interrogated by Katara, her methods apparently "not important", they told them where it was taking place.

          They were now walking through an underground tunnel, giving Y/N flashbacks of the collapsing caverns she had been stuck in. She felt claustrophobic, but the feeling immediately dispersed when the hallway opened into an enormous arena.

          A crowd cheered for the two earthbending competitors in the middle, the constant roar ringing in her ears.

          "YESS!" Sokka was immediately hooked, cheering loudly as soon as they sat down. He hooted and yelled as the huge man, called The Boulder, won fight after fight.