Fan 'n' Flame; Earth 'n' Sword

Part 1: Repaying A Debt

A/N: This series began in late 2017 as a 4k word one-shot that morphed into over 100k words across currently 6 separate parts. To keep the series as one thing here on Wattpad, I'll be slowly updating this individual work, and each new part will be labeled clearly as above, and a summary of the main plot for that section will be at the 1st chapter for each new part. However, the first two parts are single chapters, as they were the original two one-shots!

This series follows two different pairings, that of Zuki and Tokka. If you're only the fan of one them, or even neither of them but are interested in checking out one or the other, I would love if you read all parts and enjoyed them. However, if you only want one ship, Zuki should start here, while Tokka only readers should begin at Part 3: Unintentional Dating. (When it is posted)

I know that technically it's bad to say this, but the quality between my first few fics and my current one are leagues apart. I think the earlier ones are cute and perfectly good for someone's first fics, they aren't bad. But since then, I have improved leaps and bounds, which I hope you'll stick around to see!  

This first part is set some time after the Gilak Incident of North and South.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy my series! ^-^

Summary: Zuko, during a diplomatic trip to the Western Earth Kingdom, decides to take a detour to a village to repay an old debt that happened early in the show. During the detour Zuko and Suki find themselves bonding, alone together, in Zuko's carriage.

OoOoO

Zuko stretched his back and legs as stepped out of the meeting hall in Omashu and shielded his eyes from the beating sun in the sky. He just spent 3 to 4 hours discussing new deals and how to heal old wounds between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation with King Bumi and others, and his head was hurting.

"The longer I spend away from that insane old man the better," Zuko whispered to himself as Bumi came out the same door, munching on some jennamite and doing his signature cackle. Zuko was thankful that the meeting hall was so close to the entrance, he wouldn't of been able to handle the full descent. Zuko reached the bottom and saw his convoy waiting for him. The Kyoshi Warriors, his personal bodyguards, were standing around making small talk with the many citizens who were curious why there were Fire Nation carriages in Omashu. Many fell silent as the Fire Lord strode past them.

"Zuzu!" came a shout to his left, and as he turned Kiyi rushed into him and hugged him. He scooped her up into his arms, laughing as his mother and Suki walked towards him.

"How did the meeting go, any new developments?" Ursa asked, smiling at the pair. Zuko waved away the question.

"If I have to talk any more about politics I'm going to going to start breathing smoke," He said with a small smile. "Other than finalising the trade routes nothing of interest." Zuko and Ursa talked a bit more as they made their way towards the family carriage, where Zuko saw Noren having a nap, he envied that man. After handing Kiyi to Ursa as they climbed into the carriage he followed Suki to a small table with a map of the Earth Kingdom.

"Ty Lee stop that!" Suki commanded as they watched Ty Lee doing a handstand on a chair, balanced on it's back legs. Her green kimono was close to folding down. Much to the dismay of the many young men who had been cheering on the acrobat, she tipped back and landed on her feet.

"Sorry everyone, I'll show more tricks when I return," Ty Lee promised as she gave a playful shrug and sat down at the table with Zuko and Suki, who both looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Thank you," Suki said. "Now we can finally get back onto the road. We're currently in Omashu," placing her finger on the city and began to trace along a path south. "We'll be travelling down, keeping to the edge of the desert and then cutting through the Foggy Swamp until we arrive on the main road to Gao Ling. You'll be attending a party at the Bei Fong estate, followed by a meeting." She glanced up at Zuko as he leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes and let out a groan.