Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

The End Came Anyway

"RISE AND SHINE, CHILDREN!"

Bumi's crazed voice ripped through Kai and Zuko's peaceful slumber, jolting them awake in their cot. Kai scrambled to make sure her nude body was still covered by the thin sheet they'd been provided. Zuko sat up, blindly holding his hands in a fighting position, ready to take on whatever unknown threat was among them.

"Fucking spirits, Bumi." Kai sighed. She heard the girlish laughter from Toph stationed right by his side.

"Come on, knuckleheads!" Toph yelled, "It's time to save the world, and we have some training to do beforehand!"

Zuko planted himself back on the cot and buried his head under a pillow, anything to stop their shrill voices from piercing through his consciousness.

"Meet us in the valley in ten minutes or we'll bring the training field to you." Bumi said, then chuckled.

They left the young couple be. Kai rolled back into Zuko, pressing her forehead against his chest while she tried to convince her brain to wake up.

"Has he always been so... loud?" Zuko groggily asked.

"Unfortunately."

She opted for all black attire that morning — much like she had the day of the eclipse. It represented where she was from; the shadows. And it represented where she was going; the darkness of the afterlife.

"Are you going to meet up with Iroh?" Kai asked as she watched Zuko pull on his trousers.

He nodded, "We've still got to decide where everyone will be stationed. Without Aang, we're pretty much going into this blind."

Kai combed through her hair and gave herself a fresh braid before kissing Zuko goodbye. He made her promise that they'd see each other again before the comet, and she did. She would keep that promise even if it meant risking her own safety.

~

Warm, fresh tea touched her lips as she strolled through the valley. It was a beautiful day, despite the impending circumstances. Cold dew coated the ground and made Kai's feet sink slightly into the ground. She liked to see nature in this way, just as sleepy as she was, just waking up from a nice dream.

And then her sweet autumn morning burst into flames. Literal flames, as a blazing ball of fire hurdled toward her. Kai dropped her teacup and fought against the mass, sliding back on her heels with the force of two identical poles of a magnet. She cast it back to where it came like a slingshot, sending it flying away from her.

The laughter began again, Bumi's maniacal chuckle mixed with Toph's girlish giggles. It made Kai smile because she felt at home.

"No warning?" She asked.

And Bumi replied, "The Fire Nation isn't known for giving warnings before they attack, and neither am I!"

He stomped and the ground below Kai shifted her up onto a pedestal at what felt like a mile a minute. She jumped off without a second guess as to whether or not the elements were on her side, and when she landed, the earth shook. The ground rolled in a tidal wave across the valley, knocking both of her assailants off of their feet.

The three of them jumped, one after another, on what looked like a waterbed from a distance — the ground having gone malleable at their touch as they bounced up and down on it like a trampoline.

"You're playing defense, Kai." Bumi said to her. "Because you will be on the defense."

He and Toph had set up the field similarly to how they'd tried to train Aang a few days before, with bowls of fire sitting in front of grease covered boulders. Only these boulders were much larger, mountainous, compared to the ones they'd put against Aang.