(1) Augmentum | Zuko

Chapter Forty-One

Rana and Zuko move through the trees following after Rockruff who leads the way, sniffing at the ground to track Aand, Sokka, and Katara. Pichu clings to Zuko's back, he's been unable to shake the mouse at all and eventually caved, allowing it. Ninetails and Wartortle follow behind them and above Noivern searches the skies. Rana and Zuko crouch in some bushes, watching the pirates on the beach as they set up camp for the rest of the night. They know that they'll have to go back past Zuko and his soldiers to get to their ship, and will likely wait it out until they think they've left. Zuko then frowns slightly before he lets out an amused breath.

"Is that your hand on my butt?" He asks her. She scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"It was an accident" Rana answers, her eyes on the pirates ahead of them, Zuko looks at her.

"Princess, your hand's still on my butt" He points out, his lip twitches into a smirk.

"It's still an accident" She argues. She then turns sharply and looks at Ninetails. "That is not what this is" She scolds, Zuko raises an eyebrow as he looks between them.

"Pichu" Pichu comments and Zuko hums a little, his eyes then soften as they look at Rana, she's blushing, turned back to keep an eye on the pirates who have Sokka gagged now, which is probably a smart move on their behalf.

"You know you are going to have to make it look good" Zuko starts, she frowns and turns to him, finds him already watching her.

"What?" She asks him.

"Your escape" He answers, he looks away and she just stares at the side of his face. She has no idea what he's playing at here. He wants the Avatar but he's talking to her about an escape plan.

"By that you mean....?"

"All of you" He answers, seemingly understanding what she's asking him.

"I don't get you" She whispers with a deep frown. He hums slightly. Right now, he's pretty much confusing himself.

"Neither do I" He agrees and then looks at her. Her eyes soften and she reaches up, touches his cheek, cupping her hand around it, thumb brushing over his scar, he leans into her hand and closes his eyes. He doesn't like people making note of his scar, touching it, even looking at it. But there is something soothing in her touch. Comforting.

"You're not so bad" She whispers teasingly, he opens his eyes to look at her. "Not really" He reaches up and covers her hand with his own. Movement out the corner of his eye catches his attention and he is quick to lay back flat on the ground, pulling her down with him. The two of them holding their breath as they listen to the pirate's footsteps moving closer to their hiding space. Rana curls up, laying on his chest, her ears flattening against her head to hide them. She can feel his heart beating under her hand on his chest, rapidly pounding against his ribcage, her fingers curl into the cloth of his uniform. He has an arm around her, hand flat against the small of her back, his other touching her arm, holding her from completely sinking into him. The two of them remain still, silent, they can hear Aang talking, a few pirates talking. Footsteps and the crackle of a fire. Rana presses her forehead to Zuko's shoulder and lets out a breath. How do they keep ending up in these positions? She lifts her head and looks at him, finds him looking back at her. His hand coming up to brush her hair back from her face. He lowers an arm so he can lean on his elbow, pushing himself up. His nose brushing over hers. Everything in him is telling him to kiss her. To just do it. He wants to. That's not the issue here. The issue is her moral stance. They could give it a try at least. If nothing comes of it then what they are feeling is to do with that former friendship and nothing more. Easy to move on from that. She draws her hand to his neck. Eyes searching eyes. But Aang's voice stops them both. A reminder of just what they are here to do. Zuko swallows a little and nods, Rana touches his shoulder as she pushes herself away from him. Just as she does, a purple spark jumps between them, heart to heart, seeping into both of them.

"What did you just do?" Zuko scolds her under his breath, she pushes herself up a little but hisses at her to stop.

"I didn't do anything" She grumbles. "I don't know what that was" She risks a look through the bushes and finds that the pirate has moved on so she leans back touching her chest. He frowns and touches his own. Nothing feels out of place. Nothing feels wrong, but something definitely happened there.

"Let's just get this over with" He mumbles and turns to look at the pirates, all sinking in to relax for the night. Sokka has even started to doze against Katara who pushes him over so that he face plants into the ground.

"Wartortle" Rana states and nods towards the pirates. The blue turtle pokemon nods and then heads through the bushes. Waddling along towards the camp. Zuko closes his eyes and lets out a breath, then turns to Rana to apologise but she's disappeared. He looks around for her before he sinks into the ground covering his face with his hands. Why is he so bad at this whole thing? He can't pick which target he's running after. He can't admit to himself that he's got these real feelings for a girl he shouldn't. He can't pick between his head and his heart. He scrubs at his face and then sits up determined. There is no time for self-pity now. He needs to help her deal with the pirates. She can't do it on her own.