Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Tell The Wolves I'm Home

Zuko was tossing his overnight bag onto Appa's back when he received company.

"Running off again already?" Kai asked from across the commons. "And stealing our bison, too. I didn't take you for a thief."

He hung onto the side of Appa's saddle, watching her sway toward him. She moved like a pendulum, hypnotizing Zuko in such a way that it was impossible for him to divert his gaze.

"I've lost my stuff. My fire bending is gone. Aang and I are traveling to the ruins of the ancient sun warriors to see if we can find a new source of energy for my bending."

Kai nodded and stopped in front of him.

Something was wrong. Zuko could tell by the way she pursed her lips and simply "Hm"ed in response to him.

"You're upset." He stated plainly.

"I'm bored out of my freaking mind, Zuko." He joined her on the ground. "This is the first time in years that I haven't been preoccupied. I'm not fighting anyone, not running from something — hell, I can't even really train without running the risk of shaking this place off the side of the mountain. I'm getting cabin fever."

The two of them weren't alone in the open air room. Katara was serving hot stew to the other members of their gang and Toph overheard the conversation from close by. She rejected Katara's offering, jumping at the chance to get out of this glorified safe house.

"This place is HELL for an earth bender!" Toph shouted. She leaped into Appa's saddle and hijacked the boys' bags, tossing them back onto the ground below. "Me and Kai wanna go on an adventure, too!"

Zuko dodged the overstuffed luggage and glared up at the girl, "We aren't going on an "adventure", we're going to master fire bending."

"Yeah, well, tough toenails! Either we go too or nobody goes!"

Zuko really was no match for Toph, not when he might as well be a non-bender. He looked at Kai, pleading silently for back up, but she just shrugged.

"You and I can go on our own adventure, Toph. Let the boys have their fun, we can make a girls weekend out of it." Kai told her friend. "Aang, we're confiscating Appa for a few days. You two can hop on an air current, I can't bend the ocean floor at the speed I plan on going without running the risk of causing an earthquake."

"Fine by me." Aang got his staph ready and stuffed his pockets full of enough vegetables to last the weekend, plus a few strips of jerky for Zuko. "Not to be nosy, but where are you going anyways?"

Kai had been simmering on this trip since the failure of their first operation occurred.

During the eclipse, they had dozens of warriors on their side, yet it still wasn't enough. Now, who did they have? A couple of kids and a handful of teenagers. They didn't have Hakoda or Bato anymore, all of their experienced adults had been captured.

Kai had doubts about if they'd be enough to take down the Fire lord at his most powerful.

"I need to go back to the divide." She admitted reluctantly. Her chest hurt at the thought of returning to that place. "My father wouldn't have given up his troops willingly. I'd bet money that they're still hidden inside the caverns there, and if they are, we could use them on the day of the comet."

Aang seemed jarred at her admission. He took a step back, a sheen of concern coming over his eyes. He may not have ever known his own parents, but he'd seen plenty of terrible ones — like Toph and Zuko's — and he would almost put General Fong at the top of that list.

"You really want to see your dad again?" Aang asked.

She didn't. Lord, she didn't want to ever set eyes on that man for the remainder of her days.