The Fire bender, the Avatar, and the Deity, oh my

The storm part 1

Lynn let out a bored sigh as she watched the water from her tea dance around her fingers. It had long gone cold, and Iroh would most likely be absolutely appalled if he saw what she was doing, but she didn't care. She had been on Zuko's ship for nearly two weeks now, and she had long ago run out of things to do.

All she could do was watch them train — which she did often, in an attempt to memorize their techniques — and daydream about what her friends were doing.   Did they feel betrayed? Are they safe?

Ōumi, who had arrived two days after she and Zuko had struck the deal, was fast asleep, which made sense seeing as it was still dark out. Lynn let the water drop back into her cup before reaching out her hand and taking a breath as she reheated it. It was the closest she'd gotten to actually fire bending. She was hesitant to try anything without a proper master.

Lynn picked up her cup as she made her way outside. The sun was just beginning to rise now.

"You should still be asleep."

She turned at the sound of Zuko's raspy voice. "So should you." Lynn turned her head back towards the sea. "There's going to be a storm."

He shot her a confused look. "What are you talking about, there's not a single cloud in the sky!"

She let out a hum. "There will be. You'll see." She was quiet for a moment as she took a sip of her tea. "How much longer till we reach the fire nation?"

"We have a couple more days of going north before we got to change course."

She let out another hum in response. She could feel his amber eyes watching her as she took another sip. "I never asked you, why did you turn yourself in? I've seen what you and your friends can do. Escaping would've been easy."

"Aang," Lynn started as she settled down her teacup, "is the last thing I have." A distressed meow sounded as the cat-owl landed on the ledge. "Of course I didn't forget about you girl." Ōumi purred loudly as Lynn pet her head.

"It's my priority to make sure the world isn't entirely defenseless, but I also wanted to spare him. And yes, I am aware of how selfish that sounds."

He shifted his gaze towards the sunrise, which was starting to paint the skyline with oranges and pinks. "No. I think almost anyone would've done the same."

Lynn leaned her head on his shoulder, causing Zuko's face to flush. If she noticed, she didn't mention it.

He scowled slightly. He had grown to hate how supportive she was of him, if only because it made him feel guilty about handing her over to his Father. It made it hard to hate her or dislike her.